We begin to make our way outside, and just as I’m about to begin walking down the street, my wrist is grabbed, firmly stopping me in place.

  Looking back, I see Bretta holding my wrist and looking at me as if I were some sort of idiot.

  “Where do you think your going?” She asks.

  “Uh, the Saving Face Corporation?” I say, confused.

  “First off, not looking like that you aren’t. If I’m going to recommend you, I at least want you dressed better than some rags.”

  I look down and take in the poor state of my clothes, with rips and tears all over the place.

  “Also,” She says grinning, “who the hell said anything about walking?”

  She then pulls out a flat metal disc and sets it on the floor. Once she does, it quickly expands to a size that could easily fit four or five people.

  “Woah… are we going to get to fly?” I ask eagerly.

  “You bet kiddo!”

  “Ah sweet!” I say before hopping onto the strange disc.

  Once on it, I turn around to see Gael smiling lightly and Garut, as per usual, stoically watching me.

  I quickly ask the two as a realization sets in, “So, what are you guys going to be doing from now on?”

  “Well, I’m about ready to retire. This place doesn’t seem to bad all things considered. Maybe I have enough juice in me to get one more tier if need be, but for now I’ll just be taking a break.”

  I turn to Garut, and to my surprise, rather than grunting or nodding as usual, he speaks up, “I’ll find work here. I need to get stronger. Much stronger….” He says while gripping his axe tightly.

  “I see…” I say somewhat sadly.

  “Don’t worry young man, we’ll be around. I’m sure I’ll be seeing and hearing all about you. Besides, I’m sure Bretta and I wouldn’t mind having you over for dinner sometime. That goes for you too, Garut. Also, I’ll be arranging a funeral for Moren sometime soon. I’ll be sure to let you both know about it when the time comes.” Gael says lightly smiling.

  I nod seriously before walking up to the two men I spent the last month of my life with, and stick out my hand.

  Gael smiles and shakes my hand firmly. I do the same for Garut and as expected, he grunts approvingly and shakes my hand as well, maybe a bit harder than I would like.

  We nod and I make my way back towards the metal disc, and stand precariously on the metal object.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “So how does this work, are there like hand holds or something?”

  “Nope, you’ll be fine though.” She says as we begin to float into the air.

  “Are you sure. Because I don’t exactly feel very safe right now…”

  “Oh quit complaining, I said you’ll be fine now lets go.”

  I then fall backwards and towards the edge of the flying disc, and to my surprise, instead of flying off, the back of my head hits some sort of barrier

  She laughs and says, “See I told you that you’d be fine.”

  I rub my head abashedly as the disc begin slowly picking up speed and height. I watch as the numerous impressive looking buildings pass by faster and faster, until we’re high enough so that I can see the real scale of the city before me.

  Endless waves of buildings reaching out past the horizon. As far as the eye can see there is a never ending bustle of movement and activity. The sheer size of the city once again sets in, causing my eyes to pop and my jaw to drop.

  “Pretty impressive right? This city is so big it reaches to about a fourth the size of the entire planet.”

  “How big is the planet?” I ask.

  “About as big as Earth I’d say, maybe a bit bigger.”

  “Seriously?!”

  “Yup, you’ve got to understand, this city has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, possibly longer.” She says as we both continue to watch the city beneath us pass by.

  We pass by neighborhoods and districts, each one with a unique aesthetic and purpose. Eventually we reach some sort of large shopping district, with food venders, multiversial department stores, and all other manner of stores that one could possibly think of.

  “So where are we heading anyway?” I ask.

  “A small local clothing store that my friend runs. I’ll cover the cost this time, but don’t go around destroying clothes willy nilly thinking I’ll buy you new ones. You’re lucky Gael likes you so much.” She says chastising me.

  I nod in understanding.

  Eventually we seems to reach our destination, as the flying disc begins to slow down and descend. In front of us is, to my surprise, an actually small looking clothes store. I say to my surprise because I had assumed small meant Temple of Archania small, that being, not very small at all.

  The exterior of the store is that of like a mom and pop shop you’d often see on earth. With a dull tiled exterior, one-story, and a small wooden sign in the front.

  Walking in, find the inside to be the opposite of what I would expect it to looks like. With shelves and shelves of clothes that seemingly reach an impossibly high ceiling, and rows and rows of displays and racks of various shirts, pants, and other fashion accessories for seemingly every race you could ever conceive.

  The size of the inside contrasts great to the humble exterior I saw walking.

  “How the hell is this even possible?!” I say in amazement, my jaw dropping for the thousandth time since coming to this city.

  “Spatial expansion. Quite tricky to pull off I must say, and also exorbitantly expensive.” A serious, but delicate voice says.

  Looking around at who may have said that, I see a small, hand sized figure dressed in business attire flying towards us from above. The palm sized woman, sporting a neat bun and thin square glasses, looks at the both of us apathetically and unemotive.

  “Ah, good to see you Bretta. It’s been sometime.” The small woman says.

  “Oh please, can you pixie quite being so damn serious all the time? I swear, the only time I see a single emotion cross any of your faces is when your talking about business.”

  “That’s because money makes the multiverse go around, as they say. Now what can I help you and your ‘friend’ here with.” She says with a hint of disgust as she takes in my outfit.

  “Well he needs some clothes, he’ll be joining Saving Face pretty soon on my recommendation, so I want him looking at least somewhat presentable.” Bretta says relaxedly.

  The pixie woman looks at me skeptically.

  “Him? I thought Saving Face had a strict ‘no nepotism’ rule.”

  “Of course! But this kid here is the real deal! My husband tells me he’s a lower rank 2 talent at minimum!”

  “Hmm, is that so…” The pixie woman says staring at me is if I’m some sort of test subject. “Well, either way, a paying customer is a paying customer. Lets get you sorted.”