I awoke to a horrible smell, something truly sickening.
Groggily looking around, I saw that my body was submerged in a pile of rotting filth. Dragging myself out from underneath, I stumbled onto solid ground, trying to get a sense of my surroundings.
It looked like I was in a thin alleyway, the sides of which were filled with whatever garbage I had just stepped out of. On one end of the alley, I could see a bright light, spilling into the darkened path I was in.
Teleportation magic? It was a futile attempt at stalling me. I’d expected something flashier, something more entertaining.
Maybe I’d do a little more than just maroon them in a tundra, considering they’d just dumped me of all people into a heap of trash. Raising my arms, I prepared to warp myself back to my previous position.
“O High Powers, grant me your strength. Grace my body with your light, and deliver me to my destination. Spatial Reposition!”
A warm white light basked my body for a second, before promptly disappearing.
What? My eye twitched.
It appeared as though those crafty mages had performed an Area Lock. As in, their magic bound me to this specific location for a limited amount of time, effectively cancelling my teleportation spell. At this revelation, I released a hard breath. There has to be a limit on how much these humans can piss me off.
Turning towards the exit, I cooled down. There wasn’t any sense in getting mad now. I’d just wait out my time in wherever they sent me and wreak mayhem on them all later.
Though, first of all, where even am I? I had already tried casting observation magic to find out more about my surroundings, but apparently the Area Lock had disabled that too. I’d have to resort to just asking the humans, then.
Stepping over to the mouth of the alley, I looked around at what kind of place I was in. A large bridge made of some grey material towered high above me on the left, while in front was a plaza that seemed to be constructed of the same material. In the distance, groups of humans walked about, minding their lives.
I narrowed my eyes. Although everything looked normal, something just seemed off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. Just then, a woman happened to step right in front of where I was standing. Ah, perfect.
Walking out in front of her, I held out my arm. “Could I have a moment, please?”
The young woman froze, startled, then turned to face me. She looked surprised, a little scared even. And, yet… she isn’t kneeling.
I raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t it common sense that if you were a normal human you should kneel, or at least bow, to show respect towards a high-leveled magic caster? And even if she couldn’t immediately understand my status, she should have at least recognized me as a person with blue hair, a sign of high magic potential. So, it was definitely strange that this mature-looking woman didn’t even attempt to present herself appropriately. Interesting.
The woman opened her mouth and attempted to say something, but all I could hear was a garbled mess. Ah, right.
I closed my eyes for a second. “Decipher.”
Suddenly, the words of the woman became clear. “… what you’re saying.”
“I apologize for that,” I said, furrowing my brows. Hadn’t I already learned every dialect in the five kingdoms? Those mages must have cast me somewhere really far away.
The woman’s look turned to one of confusion. “Wait, no. I can understand you.” She paused. “But a second ago, I swear I heard…”
I continued. “Would you mind pointing me towards the nearest message guild?”
She hesitated for a second, before responding in a nervous voice. “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” I responded irritably, and the woman flinched back.
