Chapter 2.

I landed face first into cold hard sand. Literally.
"Pthew!" I spat it out, and back on my feet, swatting the sand off of my robe before taking in my surroundings.
All around me stretched a cold desert, grey sands, as far as the eye could see. Though, in the distance I could spot the vague outline of a mountain range jutting out of the horizon like a clawed hand. They broke into smaller foothills shortly after, with small patches of coniferous vegetation, shrouded in a thick, deep fog.
I pulled out my water bottle and took a swig, swishing the water around my mouth, cleaning out the sand from my tongue completely before I spat it out onto the sand.
Gross yes. But better to be clean and safe when I still don't know where I am or what bacteria or viruses the sand could have mixed in.
Though a cold desert was far from what I was expecting.
I checked the portal gun screen and connected to my datapad, going over the algorithm again.
I knew this was a magic world, something with fantasy elements.
A randomised world far outside the standard deviations Pa controlled.
My calculations told me as much.
But which world exactly, I didn't know.
It was by design, of course. To make myself untraceable. To buy time to prove myself.
I slipped the bottle back into the bag, as a cold breeze hit me.
"Brrr.... it's cold out here." I muttered, digging my hands into my pockets.
"Now which way do I go?" I looked at mountains in the north and the fog extending down across their foothills headed west.
To the north lay inhospitable mountains, probably chock full of monsters or something.
"North is clearly out of question. Those mountains are a deathtrap.
The south and east too. I don't know how far this desert goes, but I'll need to get a fire started soon if I'm to survive the night. And I doubt the desert is an ideal place to find tinder.
The west though...." I looked at the rolling fog again.
A fog meant there was water out west, somewhere to draw it from. And water means vegetation, wood, tinder and maybe even civilization.
The only question is, will whatever I find even be human?
Magic worlds mean magical races, some even outright hostile to humans.
"Well, only one way to find out!" I smiled.
I connected to the portal gun again and opened up a portal into the fog, leaping in.

.

It has been three hours since I have been wandering this fog, and yet there seems to be no end in sight.
And there is good reason for that.
It's something I noticed about the fog
It's not entirely natural. It was hard to spot at first, but after I flew into the sky a couple of time with my rocket boots to find a way out, I noticed it.
The fog seemed to be roiling, rotating around a certain axis, like a very slow whirpool. And when I found out about it, the fog seemed to shift it's movements almost with a purpose, trying to fool me into doubting my own judgement.
Something out there was controlling it, conciously, trying to keep me away or maybe it intended on keeping me lost?
Was it a sort of venus flytrap method?
The distinct lack of fauna in this fog was even more evidence to this.
Maybe this whole fog is some giant magical organism that feeds on the people it lures in and starves to death?
Sounds exhausting and very inefficient, but what do I know? Maybe it feeds off of the despair of lost travelers or something.
Magic worlds are wierd like that.
And it might have very well succeeded in it.
Because there was another thing I notice about the fog.
It is mildly poisonous. Not enough to kill or paralyze but rather just to enough to cause distress, nausea and hallucinations.
I have it kept at bay with force healing for now, but if it keeps on like this I might just have to portal back out.
The only reason I'm still in here is because I'm intrigued now.
Because the final piece of knowledge I noticed about the fog was this.
It had actual water in it. It wasn't a magic construct or illusion but rather made from naturally occuring water.
This meant there was a water source nearby, somewhere in this fog.
That's when it clicked.
If this was an organism, there would be an easy way to check that, wouldn't it?
I raised a hand, force lightning crackling on my fingertips and grinned.
Let's find out what makes it tick!
With a wave of my hand I sent force lightning flying in all directions, ionizing the air and vaporizing the fog, before extending my senses into it.
No screams. No twitching.
Did it not have a pain response? Or was it's response in a medium I couldn't hear? Ultrasonic waves?
Light frequency? I could still feel those with my technopathy, even if only slightly.
I jumped high and activated my rocket boots to get a boost into the sky, scanning the fog.
It had stopped moving. The slowly twisting whirlpool of the fog had stopped.
And it showed no intentions of moving again.
Interesting.....
Did it die from one hit? Or is it playing dead?
Maybe a couple more hits should clear that up!
I fell back down into the fog, and gathered lightning on my fingers again, ready to let out another volley when suddenly the fog parted, revealing a path before me.
"Now you let up huh? Would it have hurt you to do that hours ago?" I asked out loud, eyeing the fog accusingly.
"You know, I have already gathered this lightning.... wouldn't it be a shame to just let it go to waste~" I teased, slowly raising my hand at the fog that hadn't dissipated yet.
Suddenly, a desperate voice called out to me.
"Please wait! Don't attack! Don't attack!"
Hehehehe...caught you!
"Then show yourself fog monster!" I requested.
Something blue glowed in the fog to my side, and a humanoid figure walked out of the fog.
It was a woman, at least from the flowing dress and the boobs.
Unless their men have boobs too?
"There is no monster?" The woman said, her ears twitching in annoyance.
Her ears. Long ears.
An elf!
"But the fog was moving with intention?" I said, confused.
"It was being controlled by World Tree-nim. It is a barrier to keep out unwanted visitors." She said, that last part being particularly jabbed at me.
"Then why are there no animals in the fog?" I asked.
"We maintain the land well. It is our sacred duty." She said, eyeing me curiously.
"Is there something on my face?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Are you from the tiger tribe? But you look so human? Unless you are from a human tribe and those are tribal markings? I haven't heard of such a tribe on the western continent though....."  She mumbled.
"I am half human." I answered, as cryptic as she had been, "The markings are natural on my mother's side."
"I see." She said, taking the hint, "We usually don't allow humans into the holy land, but the World Tree-nim has made an exception for you. If you would follow me, I'll lead you out of the barrier. World Tree-nim wishes to meet with you."
"And what's in it for me? For all I know you could be cannibals, leading me into a trap." I said, smirking.
"Do you want to remain in the barrier?" She deadpanned.
I raised a hand and lightning crackled across my palm, as her face scrunched up.
"The World Tree-nim warned me this would happen." The elf sighed.
She was warned huh?
Was it from experience or foresight?
Perhaps this World Tree can see the future. That could be ... dangerous.
I heard something clinking and the elf removed a small coin pouch from behind her, extending it to me.
I raised an eyebrow and she jiggled the pouch, showing that it was indeed a coin purse.
I took the pouch and opened it to see it a handful of gold and silver coins.
The currency looked to be from various denominations, and maybe even time periods if the sheen on some of them is to be believed. Nothing about them was uniform.
Not to mention, I know little about what they are worth.
Still, the fact that there are gold and silver coins in there means that there is a hierarchy of money around here.
Then the gold has to be worth a fair bit, even by this world's standards.
But one thing bothered me.
"Is this money even accepted nowadays? How old is this coin?" I asked, raising a particularly tarnished silver to my eye.
"Just 150 years." The elf answered as if it was natural.
150 years. Just.
That's longer than my whole lifespan, lady!
"How long do elves live, exactly?"
"400 years, maybe 500 for some of our elders." The elf answered curious.
"Hmmm...and how old would you be?" I asked, eyeing the elf who looked maybe 28 in human years.
"It's rude to ask a woman's age!" She pouted, crossing her arms, her ears twitching in annoyance.
"All humans are the same, after all!" She muttered.
I sighed.
Well, I did need some money to spend in this world.
And who knows, I might be able to sell this as an antique?
More than that though was the fact that I needed food and directions right now. And that's something I can only get in civilization.
So I relented.
"Alright. Lead the way." I said, gesturing at the path in the fog.
"Finally! Come!" She said, walking into the path.
We walked for another ten or so minutes with me asking some more questions, making small talk and the like.
"So this is the Paerun Kingdom, in the North of the Western continent?"
"No. This is further north. This is one of the forbidden regions of the world, The Lake of Despair. Home of the true elves!" She patted her chest proudly. "We are not part of some human kingdom. If anything, they are part of our lands!" She huffed, offended that I would even consider such a thing.
"Uhuh?"

That sounds familiar. Maybe a little more info will refresh my memory.
That's nice to know.
Though that true elf thing seems like a loaded gun.
I snorted with laughter.
Is there such a thing as elf racism?
This world seems fun!
Just then, we cleared the fog, and walked out into a circular clearing, and the foggy lowland gave way to a lively lakeside town, children playing in the streets, houses made of stone lit up with the soft warmth of their hearths giving it a homely feel. I already felt warmer just being here.
But more than that, what caught my attention was up high, in the sky.
"Woah!" I found myself exclaiming, staring up at the evening sky.
An Aurora Borealis, river of blue and green light in the orange tinged sky, painting a desolate picture against the stark and grey mountains in the distance.
The lights danced in the sky like waves on the surface of a lake, rippling about with streaks of pink and purple, and I felt a serenity, like I was at the bottom, watching it all from below.
"It's beautiful....."
It reminded me of the time we went to pick out our kyber crystals on Ilum.
That was the first time I saw the Northern Lights.
I smiled. Those were the good days, before Julian became.... well, whatever.
Maybe this is why so many of my siblings chose multiversal travel over the governership of a world. To experience all these wonders first hand.
"Our land is indeed very beautiful. The best in the world!" The elf gloated.
"Truly..." I replied, speechless at it's beauty.
"Come on." The elf nudged me, pointing at a small grove at the edge of the lake.
"We need to meet the World Tree-nim."
I looked at the small grove and nodded.
"Let's go." I said, as I began to hum Aquamarine by Bigwave.