Zane had been watching Mia's peculiar behaviour for some time.
She was moving between peering through her binoculars and letting out soft giggles in a loop.
"Mia,"
Zane called, hoping for a response, but all he got was silence. Mia didn't seem to hear him.
Zane reached his hand forward, wanting to grab Mia, then he retracted it. His hand was trembling slightly.
After a minute of contemplating, he finally decided to risk it. He reached to tap Mia's shoulder but his hand passed through Mia like a hologram. Mia didn't exist, or rather she existed but wasn't tangible. Zane could have sworn he was in a holographic simulation, if not for his skill, Realm Traveller.
I can stand on the floor, so it must be tangible but I can't touch her. How can this be?
Zane thought as he looked at the strange place he was in that looked very much like Ashburn but wasn't.
Earlier I was in another place, that place looked similar to how I imagined realms could look like before I came here—
Bang!
A loud explosive sound erupted from all around Zane.
Bang!
Another one came, it sounded like a gun being fired. Then multiple bangs started filling the space, and the sounds seemed to come from everywhere around Zane at the same time.
Then reality fractured and started fading away like butterflies flying in the wind. The Ashburn view started fluttering away in the sky like shards of glass breaking apart in slow motion.
The wooden balcony floor he was standing on then disappeared into cracks, leaving behind the multicoloured ocean floor he had seen previously.
Zane looked around in surprise; he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Around him, there were five people holding weapons surrounding him in a circle. No, they weren't surrounding him but rather a peculiar-looking animal that lay on the ground in front of him. Its flesh had been sliced apart at the neck region.
The creature looked strange, but not as strange as the men standing around him looking at him in shock.
They happened to realize his presense and suddenly stood in a fighting posture while backing away slowly. They held their weapons before them.
After a minute of no action they perceived he was not dangerous, their stances dropped and they looked at him curiously.
They immediately signalled each other and went to a nearby space and started discussing in a foreign language.
Zane did not even know whether to call them human beings.
They had glowing blue crystalline heads that seemed to allow light to pass through them; the heads looked exactly like a human head. The crystalline blue heads even had hair, although their hairs where crystalline and blue. Each had different hairstyles.
They each wore different clothes that appeared to fade away with every breath. Surprisingly, one of them wore grey tracksuit bottoms, a blue shirt, white trainers and a baseball cap. Very much like a modern human back on Earth. The colours of the clothes seemed to be fading away with every passing second.
The others wore different clothes from different timelines. Another looked like an ancient Roman soldier; the others wore clothes that Zane had never seen before.
The rest of their bodies wasn't blue like their heads. Zane observed the uncovered parts of their bodies. It was a multicoloured expanse of skin. Each of them had a different assortment of colours in their clear, vibrant flesh.
Actually, they don't have flesh. Their bodies seem to be made of tough, elastic, crystalline jelly.
The one that dressed like a Roman soldier had more colours than the others and had a much more vibrant glow. He was giving commands to the others and appeared to be the leader of the group.
Zane watched in surprise as they discussed in a foreign language that didn't sound like anything from Earth.
The four others got into a fiery argument whilst the Roman soldier watched calmly. He didn't intervene but rather turned to look at Zane.
He sized him up whilst appearing to figure out what Zane was. He had a curious expression written on his blue face.
Zane stared back at him with the same intensity.
The colourful Roman soldier then diverted his attention to his counterparts who were arguing back and forth. He muttered something and they all immediately shut up. He seemed to be telling them an important detail.
Zane watched as their faces turned from curiosity to grim and serious.
The Roman soldier moved towards Zane and bowed before him. He then signalled for the others to follow suit. They approached him and then bowed in respect. They behaved as if they had seen a long-lost god.
The vibrant Roman soldier then started speaking to Zane using the same foreign language.
"Gula goto siglius mono, del pasute min granto. Sivos Mon bisec tolsi pilqamar."
Zane was confused. Did the blue-headed man think he could understand him?
"Excuse me, do you understand English?"
Zane asked, hoping the blue-headed Roman soldier understood English. Though he doubted he understood. After all, this wasn't Earth.
The man replied in the same foreign language. This confirmed Zane's suspicion. The strange people did not understand him.
He then shook his head, signalling the language barrier between them.
The Roman soldier also shook his head as though he understood what Zane meant.
Zane could tell he didn't understand from the pleased expression he now made.
This was getting frustrating for Zane. How could he make them understand him?
"Nyx, can you translate what they mean?"
Zane asked Nyx whilst looking around him. A green dome surrounded them within about a three-metre radius. The odd creature lay by their sides. The other people were looking at each other, waiting patiently for their leader to communicate with Zane.
The soldier was now looking at Zane with doubt on his blue face. He now seemed to understand that Zane wasn't speaking the same language as him.
[The system is currently analysing the language. Continue speaking to them for the system to pick up patterns.]
Then a panel materialised before him.
『Language analysis - 21%』
Zane felt pleased that the system wasn't overly useless. He wasn't sure if the system could translate the foreign language, but now he was relieved that it could.
At least it can do this. How am I supposed to conduct trading without a translator? I was worried for a second that it couldn't do this at the very least.
Zane thought as he contemplated how he was going to 'speak' with these people when he didn't understand them.
Zane nodded at the Roman soldier and pointed to himself, then gestured broadly with his hands as if to say "keep talking." He needed more samples for the system to work with.
The blue-headed leader seemed to understand the gesture. He turned to his companions and spoke rapidly in their strange tongue:
"Milvos questra dento, sig nalthara min costos. Delva nox spiritus venator, quod nos expectabamus."
The others nodded solemnly, their translucent heads catching the strange multicoloured light from the ocean floor beneath them. One of them—the one in modern Earth clothing—stepped forward and added:
"Nalthara sig, pero questo spiritus... diferente es. Non como las profecias describieron."
『Language analysis - 34%』
Zane noticed the progress increasing and felt encouraged. He gestured again, this time pointing at the dead creature between them and then at himself with a questioning expression.
The Roman soldier's blue face brightened with understanding. He pointed at the beast and spoke slowly:
"Monstruma umbru. Nos... caccniatori. Voi... spiroitus viamjero, sig?"
He then pointed at Zane with reverence, as if confirming something important.
『Language analysis - 47%』
The system was working faster now. Zane could almost sense patterns forming in his mind, like puzzle pieces slowly clicking into place. He decided to keep them talking by using gestures and pointing at different things around them.
He pointed up at the dome, then made a motion with his hands like something breaking apart.
This caused an immediate reaction. All five beings began speaking at once in excited, overlapping voices:
"La fractura! El velo se rompe!"
"Sig, causó las fracturas en realidad!"
"Debemos llevarlo al consilio inmediatamente!"
"Las barreras entre mundos se debilitan..."
『Language analysis - 63%』
Suddenly, Zane felt a strange tingling in his mind. Words began to separate from the foreign sounds, meanings started to crystallise. The system was beginning to bridge the language gap.
The Roman soldier stepped closer, his expression grave. When he spoke again, Zane caught fragments of meaning:
"ancestor... what... brings you... here."
It wasn't perfect translation yet, but it was enough. These beings knew what he was. More importantly, they seemed to know what this dome was.
『Language analysis - 78%』
"Council... must... see you," the soldier continued, the words becoming clearer in Zane's mind. "How... did you... leave the... dream bubble...ancestor."
Why are they calling me ancestor? Also what is a dream bubble?
Zane thought as he pointed to himself and tried to communicate: "I... understand... little. Where... is this place?"
The beings exchanged glances, their crystalline heads shimmering with excitement.
"He learns our tongue!" exclaimed the one in modern clothing. "The ancestor... adapts!"
『Language analysis - 89%』
The Roman soldier looked relieved as understanding dawned between them. "We are hunters," he said, and now Zane understood him almost perfectly. "We track dream eaters in this parts."
Zane now wondered what a dream eater was, he looked at the creature that lay besides them, he presumed that creature was a dream eater.
The Roman soldier gestured to the dead creature, then pointed around at the green dome surrounding them. "But this barrier... we cannot pass through. We have been trapped here for days."
His blue face turned towards Zane with hope and curiosity. "You appeared from the dream bubble... dome appeared... help us get out."
『Language analysis - 95%』
Zane looked around at the translucent green dome. It shimmered faintly, extending in a perfect circle about three metres in all directions.
"You want me to help you get out?" he asked, the words now flowing naturally between them despite the alien language.
The Roman hunter nodded eagerly. "Yes! We saw you materialise from the dream bubble. Ancestor must have power beyond comprehension."
He gestured to his companions, who were watching hopefully. "We failed to escape the dream bubble in time; the bubble bust and then became this prison dome."
『Language analysis - Complete』
The other four hunters lowered their weapons, their colourful bodies relaxing. Their earlier reverence made sense now—they saw him as their potential salvation, not because of some grand prophecy, but simply because he was different enough to possibly help them.
Zane approached the edge of the dome cautiously. When he reached out to touch it, his hand passed right through the green barrier as if it didn't exist.
"Incredible," breathed the hunter in modern clothing. "The barrier doesn't affect him at all."
The Roman leader's eyes lit up with hope. "Ancestor, would you be willing to help us escape this trap? We have been hunting this dream eater for weeks, but It jumped inside the bubble you emerged from. We followed it inside and after fighting it for a few days we managed to kill it. Now that it's dead, we wish only to return to our city."
Zane considered this. These beings seemed desperate rather than threatening. And if he could help them whilst learning more about this strange place...
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.