*ZZZZ*
Lannister grinned, watching the portal humming with raw power.
A few weeks of experimentation passed, and Lannister found his way into the mirror reality. He kept coming back, drawn to this dungeon entrace since his teleport mana resonated with the strange energy linking it to the mirror reality.
It was purely coincidence that he chose this dungeon entrance to toy with, this dungeon that kept the mirror reality in place and aligned with the real world. It was like a bearing, or an anchor in reality, holding its existence in fixed space.
Responding whenever Lannister tested it, he continued to probe and experiment until it finally cracked open.
A shimmering silver portal circled with chaotic violent energy, a tunnel directly into the mirror reality.
Normally portals did not hum dangerously or have such luminous crackling energy around its edges, but sensing some stability in his new portal, he eagerly tested it.
First a rock, then a branch which he pulled back through, and some time later his own hand.
Sensing its stability and knowing it would close soon, he grit his teeth and nodded to himself.
“Just do it.” He coached himself, and leaned into it.
Lannister stepped through let out a sigh of relief, and began exploring the other side.
But there was something so… boring about it. The other side of the portal offered no sense of adventure to speak of.
Walking through a forest, similar to his own of towering giant evergreens, hearing the familiar creaks and croaks of ancient trees which mirrored the forest he left, he wondered if he actually succeeded in portal travel to another world, or if he just made a fancy-looking mirror to step through.
All the trees were giants, some of the bigger ones half a mile high, all of them filled with different climates and ecosystems as you ascended—if you would bother to ascend.
As he strolled along the forests dirt floor, each step squishing moss or leaves as he went, he began to doubt himself, and decided to turn back to the dungeon for some more testing of the portal. Yet he was stopped in his tracks.
Lannister turned back, only to find a blade pointed at his neck.
A small dagger, the double edged blade silver and sharpened, behind it a black grip. A simple design. Yet there was no hand carrying it, it simply floated there, pointing at his neck despite having no obvious runes or enchantments.
“Fuck, cool.” He whispered.
Lannister didn’t feel threatened, instead he leaned on one foot, stepping to one side and the other, curious about this magic dagger as the tip of the blade followed his movements. The dagger pulled back for a moment, only to recoil.
*Swoosh!*
The blade shot forward.
Lannister dodged to the side and narrowly missed losing an ear. The dagger gave no rest. Small, it easily spun back around and shot back again.
But Lannister didn’t dodge. He held his right hand forward, his fingers flayed out and his palm open. The other hand he held facing a tree. Just before the dagger bore its way into his palm, both of his wrists suddenly flicked, rotating.
Shimmering portals opened in his palms, and swallowed the dagger before it could slow down.
*Thwunk~*
A tree became the daggers only victim, cutting an inch-deep hole into the wood. Lannister hastily grabbed it, holding it still so the pesky little thing couldn’t escape.
He felt a strange force pushing back against his fingers but he pushed harder, locking it in his grip.
“Just give up. You’re mine now! Mine! You hear me!?” Lannister called at the dagger, bringing his mouth close as he yelled at the metal, hoping whatever sentience this thing had would recognize him as its new master—and to his surprise, the force pushing his fingers back stopped.
But what was stranger was that he was able to store it in his inventory.
“Oh..?” Lannister raised a brow, looking at his empty hand and the hole in the tree for a moment, “Good.” He said, nodding.
Lannister wanted to immediately take it out, but wasn’t going to risk losing such a miraculous item. He already began to think of ways to release it inside a wooden box or somewhere he could trap it—in case it decided to defy him.
Hearing another groan of a tree trunk, Lannister crouched, silent, scanning for more threats. It was apparent that he in fact was in another world.
He cautiously stepped around the tree, using it like a shield to hide behind and holding himself close while doing a quick scan of the forest, looking for any other floating weapons that may decide to attack him.
So, I traveled to another world? Floating weapon world? Lannister thought, naming his finding with an excited feeling growing in his stomach. He wanted to cheer, shouting his discovery across mountain tops, but decided a world filled with floating weapons probably wasn’t the place to draw attention.
I could sell them, once I think of ways to control them. I’m going to be so damn rich… then I can fund more adventures into other worlds. I’ll make an entire industry of floating weapons. Ah, I didn’t even consider how this is going to change dungeons, the world as he know it. But how many of these weapons can I subdue?
Saving his mana for the return trip to his own world, Lannister swiftly retreated back to the dungeon, treading lightly as he kept his senses sharp. His portal had closed but he knew the connection was still there, a single thread connecting worlds in a dormant state, waiting for him to force it open again.
However, before he left the forest, his body became light as he leaped across roots, his feet made less and less contact with the ground as a mysterious force made gravity dry up until he found himself floating. And then, he heard a girls voice.
“Don’t try anything.” She said, “Others are already on their way.”
Lannister looked up to the sound—a girl floated further above him, watching him with a deadly stare, her eyes sharp as she watched his every movement.
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