True Immortals Are All Knowing.
And other lies we tell people. The most human looking human; beyond what could even be imagined, including those living in realms where humanity not only has different skin colors, but certain basic features like number of arms can be varied; shakes their head as they exist where existence is anathema.
Their name was [Human], which wasn’t exactly the best name. Felt a bit pompous when they were mortal and despite their change in status, still felt that way. It’s not like they were the first human. Humanity had been ancient beyond knowing even in the oldest True Immortal’s memory when they had first asked around about it.
Honestly? They aren’t even the only True Immortal right now tooling about with the name. Though theirs was [Human](Guide, Lore Keeper, Campfire in the Dark, Mage) and the other they had met most recently went by [Human](Conqueror, Emperor, Father). A generally disagreeable fellow who thought he deserved to rule all of humanity. Though that was cracking under the knowledge basically forced on you upon becoming a True Immortal. The proper context and understanding of what an infinite amount of something truly means.
Did True Immortals have infinite power? Yes. They did not, however, have infinite output of said power. Oh sure, it was an unimaginable amount of power, but compared to infinite? Nowhere close. So that fool could never truly rule all of humanity. Which was likely a good thing.
If humanity was one thing, it was diverse. They had seen so much over the epochs and their own race could still surprise them. A rare treat that few other pillars could accomplish.
Dragons? Once you’ve seen enough of them, you know what they’re about. Giants? Their ancient, hoary knowledge is beaten into their very life spiral to the degree that even one that had never seen a hammer would be capable of smithing. Even the more human pillars such as the elves and dwarves will tend towards the same sort of lives.
Yes, there can be outliers, though a shocking number of those are caused by humans in some way. But on the societal level? One elven forest will be similar to another, slight differences allowed for environmental difficulties.
Humanity though? And not just what that stuffy guy who claimed it as his name would limit it to. To call them chaotic would be wrong. They had seen True Chaos take a realm. True Order as well. Both proof that even as a True Immortal, there are things beyond. Though the fact that those events are labeled as “True” in the language of True Immortals shows more than a bit of hubris. They had always thought a single word such as [CHAOS] would be better. No need to add unnecessary details.
Anyway, humanity wasn’t either of those. Or rather, humanity acted like the dots on a ying-yang symbol. In an orderly system, they’ll birth chaos and disruption. When chaos reigns, they’ll become islands of order. Or sometimes? Because such things are expected? They’ll do the opposite. Really quite unpredictable. Which some would attribute to Chaos, but even in Chaos, you can find patterns. Otherwise, it wouldn’t truly be random if it was specifically avoiding them.
A barked laugh.
Humanity always has trouble with that. Which makes some sense given their own proclivities. Seeing a die roll 1 five times in a row? Clearly, a pattern: the die must be unbalanced. Reality actually being that each roll of the die has the same chance to roll any of the sides. A completely fair die could, in theory, roll a 1 over a hundred times in a row. Though at that point you’ll probably want to side-eye whoever is rolling or at least double checking the die isn’t rigged.
And right now, they were looking for a new spark, a new run of numbers which seemed like a pattern, but weren’t. A new dimension to observe. Guidance would come in time, it was in their name, after all. However, humanity’s reaction to guidance was one of their most varied things. Do they accept? Worship? Deny? Try to kill the unkillable? Or some strange Other option?
All possible, so they would watch. Not to predict. No, simply to get a feel for where to start. Because even advice ignored was guidance of its own sort. Similar to how not making a choice is a choice all its own.
There.
A dimension of humanity.
Few realms are actually purely one race. Though some can hold a tune. This realm sang out to the souls of humanity. In practical terms, that means most habitable planets will at least evolve humanity. Though, of course, dwarves, elves, and so on will also show up in numbers. Beastkin are also common, especially cat and dog variants. Sort of a human thing, that.
They had heard rumors of how, despite the kin also being ancient enough as to have no starting point, that True Immortals carried myths of their creation. That it was humanity who created the first folk and then kin. They wouldn’t be shocked at that, though this also felt like one of those things where while history rarely repeats itself, it does often rhyme.
They had spied on more than enough realms where humanity had created that dimension’s form of beastkin. Though oddly, dolphins tended to be the first? Not as in dolphinkin or folk. Just dolphins. They had never made sense of it? Though it might just be one of those echoes, you run across when dealing with souls.
Despite being perfect spheres or the equivalent, no matter how far up or down you go dimensionally, They had always felt that soul cores weren’t perfect blank slates. A concept laughed at by many others as more than a few True Immortals had followed a soul through many lives to try and see a pattern. Which sure, exists as long as the core clings to some of the soul shell. Once fully purged of past connections, though, those patterns vanish.
Except when they didn’t.
Statistical anomalies. Of no real importance. Minor variances.
People often said that about humanity as well.
Oh.
This realm wouldn’t do. Quintessence naturally devolved into Qi. Which, as a True Immortal, wouldn’t be a personal problem. Though once again, not all knowing, and They hadn’t researched how to teach Qi at the early stages.
Another Qi realm.
Something with the Dao? Not Qi, which is strange.
Blood energy? They think it might be somewhere focused on the physical.
Oh, Psionic. That’s fun.
And on and on, They travel, looking for the right conditions.
Hmm, what’s up with this one?
Not Mana, but whatever it is can be used similarly. They know this.
Ah, some sort of “spirit” system. Though elemental in nature. Quite limiting at the lower end. High end potential? Yeah, seems like there are spirits who can do all kinds of wacky things and are simply further from the “mortal” regions. Though it offends their sensibilities that a simple self-cleaning spell is limited to those at the top.
Oh, this dimension is. Odd. Er.
Humanocentric. Which is the reason They’re looking at it in the first place. But the power readings are strange.
I mean, They don’t really see what power is there? The possibilities mean Mana will be one of them, and to be fair, few realms are mono-powered. Quintessence doesn’t change cleanly into one power type or another. Though, of course, a realm can mostly be one power or another. There is simply space left for everything else, even if what is left ends up spread too thin for mortals to make use of.
Though this variance isn’t just at the galactic scale. Planets themselves can pick up a preference. Well, more of a resonance, but basically some planets will have elevated levels of one type of power or another and this also tends to filter down to whatever lives on said planet.
Anyway, this is mostly academic curiosity on their part. Such places are only “rare” in the sense that they didn’t expect to find one after finding a bunch of realms with an almost mono focus. After all, there is no such thing as “distance” in the Void.
No matter how much even True Immortals visualize what they do as “traveling” through the void, that is simply a limitation even if they can’t grow past. To have been born within a place where space and time exist? That puts permanent blinders on you.
They had listened to some of the less sane True Immortals and seen them attempt small-scale experiments. Because while it is a known fact that the void works off of conceptual closeness for “distance” between realms. Most leave it at that and don’t apply the air quotes. Because while They hadn’t seen “behind the curtain”, They had seen those strange True Immortals break the known rules for how travel works in the Void and move between realms without moving.
So, to find a realm that doesn’t really match its neighbors? That means there must be something else connecting them. Of course, there are infinite variables that could cause this, but even with the infinite possibilities of the Void, things tend to fall back on obvious things. After all, to be obvious means to be distinct, which is a good starting point to form a connection over.
Anyway, They were quite interested in this realm. They had been skipping past realm after realm, traveling in an approximation of “downhill” towards realms that would more closely fit what They were looking for. This though? It wasn’t quite what was needed. But you know what? Maybe a peek wouldn’t hurt.
They had been searching for a while now. A statement that holds more truth than any comment on distance as a True Immortal keeps an internally consistent timeline with themselves and any other True Immortal they’ve met or been in the same realm with. The Void’s timeless depths held in place by the network of personal connections stretched between every True Immortal who had known another. Otherwise, as some theorize, every True Immortal would have shown up in the Void at the exact same moment.
They have now paused for longer on this own realm, than any other since starting this trip. And they still aren’t sure what is up with the supernatural elements. It is all so low-key as to seemingly not be there? Yet there is a resonance among the soul cores around the realm that implies the common use of every supernatural element. Quite strange.
Yes, They decide, it is quite strange, and they’re going to figure out why. Since they aren’t seeing it with a simple glance, They’ll just skip right to entering the realm. After all, if it is a simple echo of a realm with practically no supernatural power within, just sending in their senses wouldn’t show anything. They just need to dip their toe in.
Wait.
Wait, wait.
They’re standing there, a finite portion of their infinite self inserted into the realm. Less than even the tip of a pinky finger. Enough though to notice the wave they just caused. A devastating wave.
They stop time passing in the Realm, but it is most certainly too late.
The realm had been mundane. HAD.
All the quintessence and potential for the supernatural locked away in a false island of stability. Well, not false, per se. That would imply that some natural internal element could have changed things. The realm would have existed for its entire lifespan without the supernatural and then died, what looks like it might have been, a heat death. It was only unstable when seen from the perspective of a True Immortal visiting. Like They just did.
They could just leave.
Nothing was stopping them.
And other lies we tell ourselves. There is a reason their name is [Human](Guide, Lore Keeper, Campfire in the Dark, Mage) and not [Human](Hermit, Hidden Sage, Mage). This was Their mess and They would help clean it up.
So as They took the time to examine the realm to try and figure out why They hadn’t noticed it didn’t have magic.
(Their own hubris.)
All while waiting for a particular service to show up. Which despite how far out They were, showed up quite quickly. Because while They were a guide, they weren’t a teacher. Which seems contradictory, especially since they have spent thousands of years teaching at various mage academies in various new realms they have found, but the distinction was important to them.
They would set people on their Path. Not handhold them to the end of it. Be a lighthouse in the night to warn of danger, not a wall blocking them from it.
And speaking of Paths, the System Seller They contacted has exactly what They wanted! It was rare as Class and Skill based Systems tended to have fewer problems. But their own personal beliefs meant that a Path-based System was the only way to go. They provided the most freedom of choice. Though They weren’t 100% on this specific implementation?
It could honestly be seen as more of a hybrid Skill and Path System, seeing as the Paths are powered by growth through Skills. Except all the actual power came from the Paths, and so the classification. They were a bit worried about how it stabilized the crafting of magical items. It could be hard for those new to magic to figure out the ins and outs of what counted as a “masterwork”. Mortals have a hard time understanding what perfection means in a mortal world.
Whatever the case, it didn't take long for the Path-based System to be hatched within the realm and time started to flow again as They left to continue on their journey to find just the right realm for their plans.