Chương 14: Omnimancer 14: Culture Shock

Jax awoke feeling like he'd slept for a thousand years, and a glance at his trusty Seiko Alpinist told him why. He blinked groggily at the dial, doing a double take. But nope, it really was 6 AM and he really had slept for over fourteen hours. Not like the watch lied. No batteries to die on him, after all. Powered purely by the motion of his wrist and built for mountaineers, it had been damn near everywhere around the world with him.

It served as a comforting reminder of the familiar in this world where even the inns were strange. The funny thing was, back on Earth, the watch had been more of a novelty—something stylish from a bygone era and a statement against disposable consumerism. But here, in a world that seemed to have no clocks, it was actually turning out to be pretty damn useful. While they probably had magical ways of keeping time, he doubted they were as convenient as a wristwatch.

He ran through a few stretches, though the tight confines of his stone igloo prevented any full-bodied exercise, before summoning the leather pants and linen shirt he'd stolen directly onto his body. Then he brought up his Status Screen and took stock of the bounty he'd accrued over the past few days.

Name: Jackson William Collins [Human] Gift: Omnimancer (Unique) [Transcendent] Level: 1, 299 Vitality: 163/163 (+25%) Lux: 963, 000 / 1, 000, 000 (37, 000 Passive Drain) Aurum Balance: 16, 866, 590 Currency Balance: Gold: 0, Silver: 0, Copper: 33, 115, 000 Peaks Summited: — Luxspire Peak (Altitude: 101, 301 ft) Tier I Magic: School of Fire (+25% Offensive Magic Damage): Command the forces of flame. Banish your enemies to ash.

— Fireball (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Hurl a bundle of flame at your foes and watch them burn. School of Land (+25% Physical Damage Reduction): The land is mighty and vast. Summon its power to sunder your foes and protect yourself in its sturdy embrace. — Earthenwork Wall (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Raise up a wall of dirt to protect yourself or create obstacles for your foes. — Rolling Tremor (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Liquify the land in a wave, throwing foes off their feet, sending them into the air.

— Quake (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Create an earthquake, bringing low all that stands upon the land. — Stone Spike (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Raise stone from the land to impale your unsuspecting foes. School of Water (+25% Lux Regeneration Speed): Few elements are as versatile as water. Channel its bottomless power to drown your foes and nourish one's self. — Deluge (Lesser): Submerge your foes with a downburst of water… or use it to water crops, clean carriages, or prepare the ground for subsequent spells.

The choice is yours. School of Wind (+25% Mobility Magic Potency): Cut through flesh and stone with the power of air. Lift objects, flatten them, and move like the wind. — Gale (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Summon a windstorm that buffets foes and send them tumbling. Useful for both indirect damage and as a distraction. — Wind Scythe (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Sunder your enemies with an invisible blade of lethal wind.

Tier II Magic: School of Life (+25% Vitality): The only School of Magic capable of healing wounds, reversing negative Status Effects, and one of the few to cast positive ones. Spread the blessing of life to the world. — Heal (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Heal wounds, mend bones, and even bring back those at death's very door. School of Lightning (+15% Magic Cast Speed): Conduct nature's primal lightning as if it were your own. Electrocute your enemies and deal blows with a speed few mortals can hope to avoid.

— Arc (Lesser): Lash out with a quick, short arc of Lightning. — Lightning Bolt (Lesser): Draw upon the power of Lightning to send a lethal spear of Lightning at your foes. Tier II Hybrid Spells: — Ember Rain (Pyrohydro): Summon a downpour where each droplet contains not water, but an ember of flame, setting ablaze all that it touches. Tier III Magic: School of Time (Negative status duration: -50%. Positive status duration: +100%): Control time itself to accelerate your body and slow the world around you.

— No Spells Purchased School of Space (+100% Spell Range): The very fabric of reality lies at your fingertips to command. Manipulate weight, change your own, and learn what it means to control the vast power of Space. — Flight (Lesser, Greater, Apex): Defy gravity itself. Take to the air at speeds most can only ever dream of. Warning! This spell's Lux consumption is classified as [Extreme], and consumes Lux continuously while active.

Tier III Hybrid Spells: — Aqualung (Vitahydro): Breathe underwater as the Sea Peoples do. Magically converts water into breathable air. Unlimited duration. — Plasma Surge (Electrohydro): Send forth a surge of water electrified with the energy of Lightning to send your foes spasming to the ground. — Squall (Electrohydro): An enhanced variant of [Deluge], Squall submerges an area of your choosing with electrified water. Send all that it touches into shock and prepare the ground for subsequent spells.

Tier VI Hybrid Spells: — Farcaster (Spatiotemporal): Create a spatiotemporal rift in reality, bringing any two places together to within steps away. Requires a [Farcaster Anchor] be placed prior, or else the destination will be random. — Voidstep (Spatiotemporal): Bend space and time to teleport yourself short distances. Cannot pass through solid objects. Passive Spells: — Aim: Assists in the aiming of all ranged spells. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Compass: Projects a Compass on your HUD.

Prerequisites: HUD Overlay. Consumes 1, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Eye Color (Black): Colors your eyes black. Useful for deception or as a fashion statement. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) (Inactive) — HUD Overlay: Projects a HUD upon which various auxiliary spells may be added. Consumes 1, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Minimap: Projects a Minimap upon your HUD, marking your position. Prerequisites: HUD Overlay, Compass. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Pupil Color (Black): Colors your pupils black.

Leaves the rest of the eye untouched. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Siren: Sounds a mental alarm when danger approaches. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) —Threat Radar: Highlights all nearby living organisms in shades from white to red, indicating relative threat level. Prerequisites: HUD Overlay. Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) — Weakpoint Targeting: Highlights weak spots on nearby foes. Prerequisites: HUD Overlay.

Consumes 5, 000 Lux (Continuous) Boons: — Luxor's Boon (Level 100): Not many attain this vaunted achievement. For your persistence, the Goddess Luxor grants you [Luxor's Boon]. All magic is 25% more potent. Lux cost is unaffected. — Luxor's Wrath (Level 250): For accomplishing this rare and impressive achievement, the Goddess Luxor grants you [Luxor's Wrath].

Consecutive spell casts reduce the cost of the next spell by 5% (up to a maximum of 50%) — Lux Compressor (Level 500): Only a handful of humans have ever reached this high station, or even come anywhere close. For this monumental lifetime achievement, the Goddess Luxor grants you [Lux Compressor]. Consume more Lux to boost the magic power of any spell. Boost is directly proportional to the amount of Lux consumed.

— Luxor's Divinity (Lvl 1000): Your decades of effort and absolute, single-minded dedication to the depths of magic at the cost of all else have made you the first human in history to attain this dazzling summit. As a testament to this historic accomplishment, the Goddess Luxor shared with you a portion of her Divine Soulfire. Imbues Soulfire with an Aspect of Divinity. — Dual Elemental: +25% potency to all Elemental magic. — Triple Elemental: +50% potency to all Elemental magic.

— Quadra Elemental: +100% potency to all Elemental magic. Languages: — English: The most prevalent language on the mortal plane of Earth. — Royal Water Panther: Official Language of the Court of Seven. — Takoran (Lesser): Spoken by the Lesser Races of Takora and its neighboring regions. — Nakaya: Spoken by the Lesser Races in the eastern region of Luxoria. Yeesh, violent much? Jax mused. The spell descriptions sounded like they'd been written by some crazed battlejunkie. That, and holy wall-of-text batman.

If the list was this big now, how crazy would it be in the future when he added more schools and more spells? Even now, it still surprised him to see just how much he'd racked up in so short a time. Between his passives, the leveling boons, and the entry bonuses for each school of magic, he'd accrued quite a set of benefits too. He took less damage, cast spells faster, and the spells that he did cast went farther and were more powerful pound for pound than someone with just one School.

To say nothing of the defensive perks. Perks he sorely needed, given his relatively squishy frame. Between all his Vitality boosts, he was a bit over twice as strong as a regular human, which was something he absolutely felt between how much he could carry to how durable he felt. Were he to get into a streetfight, he'd hold his own over much larger foe. That much he was certain of. But against magic? He sincerely doubted he'd be able to shrug off even a Tier I spell, let alone anything higher.

And while he'd bought all but one School available to him—the School of Force—the 'Add Spell Shard' and 'Add School Shard' options made it pretty clear there were more to be found. Like the two Tier III Space and Time shards he'd absorbed in that cavern up on Luxspire. Those were his most powerful Schools by far, and he had to wonder how high of a Tier they went up to. His hybrid spells seemed to be the sum of their constituent schools, but there had to be a limit the tiers went… right?

The perks stacked, too, with his attack magic boosted an insane 225% when firing elemental spells while his Vitality was effectively boosted 50% above what it would normally be. That list of peaks was certainly interesting too. Seeing Luxspire's ridiculous height still threw him from the loop, and the fact that it was included in his Status Screen made it pretty clear that mountains weren't just important to the people of Wakanya but to the System as well.

The big question was whether other peaks had similar floating balls of power at their summits... and what would happen if Jax reached one? Crawling out of his cozy and surprisingly warm hidey hole, Jax could only think about how his throat felt like a desert and his stomach an empty abyss. It was the pangs of hunger that had woken him from his deep sleep. He headed straight for the fountain, grabbed one of the metal mugs arranged neatly beside it, and filled it to the brim.

The water looked impossibly clear, though he still took a small sip, just in case. His caution was unwarranted. The sweet, pure water might just have been some of the best he'd ever tasted. After gulping down several mugs, he placed his mug on the stack of mugs marked 'dirty' before heading to the table with the food. Various oddly colored fruit were available, as well as some breads and maize. The only thing that was cooked was a hearty stew simmering in a pot.

Jax ladled himself a bowl and grabbed some fruits before sitting cross-legged nearby, watching the shaman chant in front of the fire. It was a different guy from yesterday. The rhythmic sounds were as soothing as ever, though even though he now understood the language, he could barely pick up a word or two with the way the Shaman spoke. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He wondered if they kept it up all night, though he guessed they did.

Probably why his dreams all had chants in them. Was it meant to help people sleep? Or was this their way of proselytizing? If so, they might be onto something there with the subliminal messaging. Once he'd eaten his fill and felt human again, he dropped a hefty pile of coins into the small wooden tithe box. Wouldn't want the bouncer coming after him for not having done his part, after all. The deed done, he climbed the ladder and stepped out into the early morning chill.

His breath fogged and the cold hit him like a familiar friend. Cold was synonymous with high altitude, and while it was never comfortable, Jax had grown used to it long ago. Far better than a hot desert, that was for certain. Wandering down a stone paved street, he found himself in a wide circular plaza. One of many that he'd seen from the air. The decoration at the center of this plaza was some form of stone sculpture on a raised pedestal, which he walked up to better see.

The two-story tall art piece was in terrible condition. He thought it might've just been old, but upon closer inspection, it was definitely defiled. It was decapitated, for one, and chunks were missing from all over its body, like people had carved bits out. There was no plaque or anything, other than a crude carving at its boots that read ' Long Live the Defier!'

"And that makes all of absolutely no sense," Jax said, shaking his head. He stared up at the poor statue, wondering why the city left it as it was instead of replacing or repairing it. Unsure why, he spent more time looking up at it than he'd planned. There was something familiar about the statue, but he couldn't quite place what, and it was too far gone to make out any details.

He turned his back on the sculpture in favor of the city, which stretched out around him in every direction, as immense as it was breathtaking. In no small part because it had been built inside a gigantic volcano whose top had blown ages ago. That struck him as pretty cool, and he wondered why more people hadn't done the same. Well, he knew why. Takora was a bitch to access, though that wasn't an issue for him.

Still, as impressive as the city had been from the air, from down where he was, it was downright spectacular. Fountains with water defied gravity to flow upward and vortexes of snow collected in a beautiful column several dozen feet above the plaza before flying off to who knew where—all so that citygoers wouldn't have snow falling on their heads… Those were just a few of the strange marvels that he tried not to gawk at and failed.

People bounded around at speeds that should've been impossible, no doubt using some form of magic, while others had clothing that changed colors as they walked. Even the city's crater was exotic. Looking to be about a mile across, the entire city sat within it, ringed by thick mud-brick walls that sat atop the crater rim. Jax encountered those firsthand when he'd entered. From a defensive standpoint, the city was nearly impossible to assault. Or it would be, if they braced their sewers just a wee bit better.

From a practical standpoint, though, it had to be a nightmare for its citizens to reach. He wondered how often people here got out. Jax glanced down at his HUD's altimeter, which he'd picked up from the Auxiliary spell shop. It read a cool 14, 000 ft. Higher than every major city on Earth. And this was one of the smaller peaks! The altitude alone would cause serious issues for most, and if he hadn't just summited Everest, it would've winded him, too.

He wondered how the locals weren't all gasping for breath, though decided it was likely genetic adaptation like the Sherpas of Nepal. Climbing a narrow stairway, he found that it led to the roof of a nearby three-story building, which was actually taller than most buildings in this low-slung city. That gave him a pretty stellar view of the area.

From up there, the city spread out like a radial maze of clay and stonework, with a single, central Ziggurat-style pyramid dominating the center of the city, towering high above the rest of the buildings. Smoke wafted from thousands of squat buildings all over the city, though many more poked straight out of the ground. It was then that he began to realize the true extent of this city. The buildings he saw must have been just the tip of the iceberg, with the bulk of the city built underground. Smart, he thought.

He'd always wondered why people in cold countries never built underground. Rocks were free insulation, keeping homes warm in winter and cool in the summer. Not to mention the shelter they provided from the biting winds. Winds that cut through even Jax's merino wool layers, making him shiver in that way only wind could inflict. He'd need to buy some heavier clothing soon. Something ideally windproof. Despite the cold, he stood there for several minutes, marveling at the city.

The crater floor was densely packed with dwellings, shops, and plazas, but it was the crater walls that interested him most. Hundreds upon hundreds of rooms had been carved directly into the near-vertical rock, climbing all the way up toward the rim, their amber lights just barely visible against the sunrise. A few had even built wooden structures that seemed to hang off the side. Jax could only guess how many hidden tunnels and chambers wound deep inside the mountain. How far did they extend?

And how far down the mountain had they dug? But through it all, there was another sensation that threatened to ruin the excitement. One that pricked him nearly as bad as the cold wind. He knew no one here. He had no friends, no one to ask his millions of questions to. Not for the first time, a pang of loneliness made his chest tighten.

Before it could ruin the moment, he turned away and jogged back to ground level, melting into the crowd and losing himself in the wonders of this unique city, though the sheer number of yellow and orange threats [Threat Radar] picked up surprised him. Jax genuinely hadn't expected that many, and he'd seen several groups of three and four decked out in heavy weapons and armor, just roaming the city. A sight like that would've raised so much attention back on Earth, but here, nobody even batted an eye.

He eventually made his way toward the landmark that had caught his eye the moment he'd climbed those steps—the pyramidal ziggurat. It looked huge even from that distance thanks to its size difference with the rest of the buildings in the city, but as he approached, he realized just how truly gigantic the thing was. The stepped monolith was painted in hues of red and gray stone, which gleamed under the morning sun. He figured a structure that prominent could really only be one of two things. A government hall…

or a religious institution. Between the many intricate totems ornately carved with figures of creatures, the banners covered in chant script, and the distant sound of drums echoing through the streets, he was inclined to believe it was the latter. He followed the grand walkway leading toward it. It was a massive stone road nearly a quarter mile long, and clearly designed to highlight the importance of the massive building.

Jax's legs began to grow heavy about halfway up the small mountain of steps, and it wasn't from a lack of fitness. He stared up at the incredible structure, wondering if he really wanted to do what he was about to. The answer luckily came to him… in the form of what could only be a shaman with his elaborate, multicolor robes. He had seen others in the same uniform at the top. He looked at the tall, skinnyish man coming down the stairs. It didn't have to be this shaman, but what use was there in dawdling?

"Excuse me?" he said, raising a hand. The man looked up, his eyes traveling up and down Jax's clothing, but instead of the priestly smile like he'd had expected, he got a frown.

"What is it? If it's advice you want, it's two silvers."

"Er, no, it's not that. Just… I was wondering how many healers you have onhand." To his surprise, the shaman held out a hand.

"No coin, no advice." Jax frowned, taken entirely aback.

"Er, how many coppers would that be?" The man looked at him as though he were joking, but when Jax's expression clearly indicated he wasn't, the shaman coughed.

"A foreigner, are you? Very well. Though somewhat inconvenient, I can manage coppers. That will be two hundred." Jax hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to oblige the man, 'retrieving' coins from a pocket as though they were always there. For all he knew, people didn't talk to shamans here, and this guy was doing him a service. Two hundred coins ended up being a lot to handle, and it took several minutes for the man to count them all. No wonder the guy had wanted silvers.

"Very well, then," he said.

"You needn't worry about our healing capacity. We've plenty more healers than we could ever need. This must be your first time in the city, yes? The Healer hall is just to the right of the great hall. Ten silvers for minor injuries… as I suspect yours might be?" Jax blinked, hardly believing the 180 the guy had taken now that he'd been paid.

Setting aside the fee just to ask questions, it wasn't even the thought of shamans charging for their services—professionals deserved to be paid for their work—it was the other thing that gave Jax pause.

"You're saying you have healers on standby? Just waiting around?"

"Yes?" the holy man said, clearly not expecting his answer.

"What of it?"

"Well, nothing, it's just… what about the needy? Just this morning, I passed a half blind girl on the street. Do your healers go out and help when they can?" Jax desperately hoped he was wrong, but his instincts rarely ever were.

"Street trash?" the shaman said, as though he had personally offended him.

"Surely you jest?"

"No?" Jax said, starting to grow hot.

"It's not like it costs your Mancers anything other than Lux to heal people. It's not even a big time commitment. Look, I'm just asking if the needy have any recourse to get aid?" He was trying not to judge, but the shaman's dismissive behavior was doing an impressive job of riling him up, making him more confrontative than he wanted to be. It was like he was committing a crime just for asking about this stuff.

"Tell me, good friend, if the Goddess herself ignores lowlifes, what business do shamans who chant her name have with them, hmm? If you've time to worry for the rabble of the city, I suggest you find something better to do with your time. Now begone. The temple is sullied by your very presence." The holy man then turned and stalked off, hurrying down the stairs before he could get another word in, leaving him a little stunned.

"I wasn't even done asking questions…" He considered firing off an underpowered [Arc] at the asshole. Nothing lethal, of course. Just enough to get back at the arrogant prick… but he stayed his hand. The last thing he needed was to make enemies of Luxor's shamans. Jax took a seat on a step as he replayed the interaction, gazing wistfully out at the city that sprawled before him. This new vantage was incomparable to the building from earlier… which made him feel all the smaller for it. Small... and strangely lonely.

Funny how I never once felt this way in the mountains, he thought wryly. His thoughts immediately went to that poor girl. To think the shamans had healers in their employ, yet refused to heal people like her. Worse—that the mandate seemed to come from Luxor herself? That scared him more than anything. What sort of goddess was she, really? And how was a Shamanic Conclave that shunned the downtrodden supposed to reconcile with the sharing culture he'd seen earlier?

It felt so entirely incongruous, it broke his understanding of this society. More importantly, what can I even do about this? Sure, he'd helped some people, Maybe even saved some lives, but what should have filled him with pride instead left him empty and hollow. Because it forced him to confront a much less palatable feeling. The same feeling he'd had all the time back on Earth. The feeling of being one among billions. Powerless to enact any real change. So Jax, what now?

His answer came in the form of a high-pitched voice.

"Heya stranger!" Jax spun, heart instantly jumping into his throat as he recalled the chant for [Arc]. Looking around, though, he found nothing but stairs.

"Over here!" called another voice—this one warmer and… oddly familiar? He caught a glimpse of a bundle of white, causing him to crane his neck and refocus his eyes. He'd been looking too far. The voices weren't behind him… they were on his damned shoulders." You two," he groaned. Two fluffy teddy bears—a smug-looking brown one and a happy-faced white one—sat perched on either shoulder, waving their stubby paws at him.

"Oi!" the brown bear, Tiramisu, cried.

"What kinda attitude's that! I'm the God of Everything Awesome to you, mister!"

"And I'm! Er… I'm not 'Is This Where That Title Thingy Goes…' That was a mistake, okay?" the white bear, Cupcake said, looking like she was about to cry. Her attack was incredibly effective, because Jax was reaching up to pet her head before he knew it—something she seemed to enjoy quite a bit, leaning into his palm.

"We need to talk," he said with a sigh, wondering just how crazy he looked, petting teddies on his shoulder. Judging by the reaction templegoers gave him as they walked by, quite crazy indeed.

"Sure thing, Jack!" chirped the brown bear.

"It's Jax," he corrected robotically.

"Right, right. Jackie, we're bored," Misu said with a smug grin.

"Let's go play outside!" Jax sighed again, shaking his head. He'd almost forgotten how annoying these two brats could be. Annoying, yet somehow endearing too. Then again, he'd had never been good at saying no to kids, and so he descended the stairs before sitting down on a quiet bench at a small park, setting the teddies on his lap. They looked up at him with big, wide eyes.

"Alright, then, let's chat," he said.

"I gotta say, your timing is rather impeccable."

"Well, duh," Misu, the brown bear, said.

"We're gods, after all!"

"So you keep saying. Why'd you show up now?"

"To hide your Gift!" Cups said enthusiastically, raising a paw.

"Obviously," Misu added, crossing his stubby paws and shaking his head as if to say that Jax really should've known better.

"Could you imagine going into Aunty's evil lair just like that? Death wish much?"

"Uh, come again?" Jax was pretty sure the little bear had just spilled something incredibly important there.

"Your Gift is, um, a little special," Cups said, averting her eyes and looking very much like she was hiding something.

"Yep, Aunty might get angy," Misu said.

"She's no fun when she's angy. Can't have that, so we've hidden your Gift. You'll just show up as some no-name Third Order humie or something." I guess he means Tier III? So Tier III really is average among humans, then, Jax thought, noting the important tidbit. It was a little endearing how bad these bears were at keeping stuff to themselves.

"Explain, 'or something'," he said, bringing up his Status Screen.

"Actually, nevermind. I see it now." His Gift had definitely been obfuscated. True Gift: Omnimancer (Unique) [Transcendent] (Hidden) Visible Gift: Archjack (Rare) Jax's eyebrow twitched at the name. That had to be because Misu couldn't pronounce his name, right?

"Yeah, anyway, you can go to Aunty's devil pit now," Misu said, waving his hands.

"Though, I dunno why you'd ever wanna do that."

"Pew, yuck," Cups sagely added.

"Alright, well, thanks, I guess," Jax said.

"Say, can you tell me anything about my friend? The one I sent down on Everest? Guessing a pair of all-powerful beings like yourselves would know if he made it back alright, yeah?" He'd been fully expecting them to have forgotten about Marc entirely, but their sudden reaction threw him for a loop. Misu froze up, his eyes bulging, while Cups started trembling.

"Oopsie…"

"Mega oopsie…"

"Uh, what?" Jax asked, suddenly feeling less sure about Marc's safety.

"What did you do to my friend? Because I swear to god, if you hurt him in any way—""Relaaax," Misu said, patting his face.

"He's alive! He's, uh, fine? I guess."

"Better than fine!" Cups chimed in.

"He got to have a niiiice—""Cups!? You can't tell him that!"

"O-oh, right! Sorry, Jax. It's a secret."

"Yep, secret," Misu said, nodding.

"Can't tell ya or we'd have ta killa sorta thing. Capish?" Jax let out a sigh.

"I don't. Not at all. But so long as he's safe… I guess that's something." He was alive and 'fine', whatever that meant. That would have to be enough for now.

"Say, no shot you could take me back to Earth, could you?"

"Huh? Why?" the bears asked in unison.

"Not that I want to go back," Jax corrected.

"Just, to tell people I'm alright. And maybe to return eventually, if I felt like it." The bears looked at each other, furrowing their brows.

"I dunno, Jax," Cups said. At least one of them got his name right.

"We don't really know how to do that. But maybe Daddy might?"

"Oh? Can you tell me about your Daddy?" Jax asked, switching tack and trying to talk to them like he would a child.

"What's he like?"

"He's… umm," Cups stammered, suddenly looking very unsure of herself.

"Above yer paygrade, pal," Misu continued.

"Hey, why don't we go somewhere fun? This place is boring." Well, if the bears didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't about to pry. They might act like kids, but he got the distinct impression their power was on a level he could scarcely even comprehend. The last thing he wanted was for the bears to get angry, lest they throw a tantrum and blow up half the city.

"Sure," he said, fully intending to give a little so he could ask more questions.

"I need to buy some clothes anyway. How do you two feel about a little clothes shopping?"

"Ooooh!" they cooed, their eyes lighting up with anticipation. Jax only barely suppressed a smirk. Turned out all he needed to woo a couple of Interdimensional Entities was the promise of some fun. Misu's head suddenly snapped almost 180 degrees around, which prompted him to look where the bear was looking.

"Something wrong?" Misu shook his head and grinned in that way only mischievous brats could.

"Nope! Just some rats. This'll be fun!"

"So fun!"

"Well, then point the way," Jax said, rolling his eyes and smiling despite himself. Following paw navigation, he set out. Not alone, as he thought he'd have to, but with a pair of all-powerful teddies riding on his shoulders.