"I can't eat another bite...that was so good," Groaned Persia, looking kinda nauseous.

"Yeah, what she said, I'm stuffed," Nodded Az in agreement.

"I could eat some more, but I'm pretty satisfied," Shrugged Belia in response.

"So, now what? We've seen most of what's worth seeing in this world...shall we check out the distant future next?" I suggested after mulling it over.

We'd been in this world for four days now, and we'd visited several countries. Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, we'd checked out multiple countries in each region, mainly trying out the various different types of cuisine, and also visiting some historical landmarks.

We just finished having a lavish meal in Japan, and it was absolutely amazing...we haven't had so much as a single bad meal since coming here, it's been a great vacation.

That said, things seemed to be getting kinda messy in this world though...all signs are pointed towards a third world war. With that in mind, if we do check out the future, we should jump several years ahead.

"Good idea, this era is fun and all, but I bet it'll be even more amazing later on. Let's jump ahead ten years at a time!" Grinned Belia eagerly.

"Let's first go somewhere deserted," I replied, as I gestured to the bill, which the waiter had just placed down before us.

"Got it," She nodded in response, as she cast an illusion spell to make it seem like we'd put the money down.

We then left the restaurant and walked around till we found an old, abandoned building, sneaking into it after making sure that the coast was clear.

"How far forward are we going?" Asked Persia, as Belia opened a portal using her Multiverse Ring.

"Ten years, so...to the year 2034 in this world," She replied as she walked into the portal...and a second later, jumped back out with an alarmed look on her face, severe burns all over her skin.

Those don't look like burns from fire...

"Hey, what just happened?" I inquired with a frown.

"I...I don't know. It felt like the formerly toxic wasteland in our world, but like, a thousand times more intense! Also, this place looked like it had been turned into a wasteland," She frowned, as she healed herself.

Huh? No way, don't tell me...

"Worldwide nuclear warfare? Don't tell me this world bombed itself into extinction?" I frowned in response.

"Heh, if so, it's probably a good thing that you died when you did," Laughed Belia in response.

"So, now what? Do we leave?" Inquired Persia warily.

"Nah, no way...let's keep going forward bit by bit and see if anything changes," Remarked Belia firmly.

"Fine, but you keep checking to see if it's safe," Responded Az apprehensively.

"Hmph, fine, whatever, it's nothing I can't heal anyway," She huffed in reply, before opening up another portal.It took a while before she found a future time period where the radiation had died down enough to be safe for us...specifically, in the year 2117, almost a full century ahead.

She informed us that she saw some strange monster-like creatures though. As well as some intelligent creatures that looked kinda like monsters, but she guessed they were probably surviving humans who had mutated due to the radiation.

"You sure it's safe?" I asked her skeptically.

"Mhm, the radiation has mostly disappeared. Though, this last time I checked it out, those mutated people or whatever were gone, and there was a huge crater in the place they were living in, and a bunch of their corpses in it," She informed us.

"Hm...okay, go back a little while back and interrogate one of them. I don't know, use an illusion spell to make yourself look like them and pretend like you hit your head and lost your memories or something," I suggested with a shrug.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun! Yeah, I'll give it a try!" She nodded eagerly, before opening up another portal and going through it.

"She sure is having the time of her life, isn't she?" Mused Az wryly.

"I mean, when does she ever take things seriously?" Sighed Persia in response.

"Yeah, she's way too impulsive," I remarked with a laugh.

After a short while, she returned, a triumphant look on her face.

"Well, what did you find out?" Persia asked her.

"Oh, a lot! So, it turns out that, before the currently upcoming war went into full swing, many people realized that they were facing the threat of extinction, and a large structure was built in that Russia country. A few million people were evacuated there, and there was another structure built here in Japan as well, underground," She informed us.

"Huh, interesting," I muttered to myself, as she continued...

"The people who retreated to the structure in Russia, which is called the Sanctuary, still look the same, but they developed powers. And as for the ones who took refuge in the structure in Japan, which was was significantly less effective in warding off the radiation, many of them died, but the survivors mutated and look way different, and they also developed powers.

Most of these powers are in the form of manifested energy which is commonly referred to as X-Factor Energy, or XFE for short, but a small handful of those with powers are more unique, with powers more closely resembling some forms of our magic. Anyway, the ones in Russia and the ones in Japan have been trying to kill each other...and from what I saw in 2117, it would seem that the Russian ones won," Surmised Belia, concluding her explanation.

"They killed them just because they mutated to look different? Sounds like the people in the Sanctuary or whatever are the bad guys, so to speak," I remarked after mulling it over.

"Not necessarily. From what I could tell, a lot of the mutated humans seemed to have been brainwashed into despising the humans in the Sanctuary, even though a lot of them haven't even seen one of those people. So they probably started this conflict," Countered Belia objectively.

"Do you think we should interfere in their war?" Suggested Persia in response.

"No, I don't think we should. Let's avoid making any significant changes to this world's history," Said Az with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, I have to agree. We can't leave any significant impression of our presence in this world. Otherwise, we might as well prevent WWIII in the first place," I nodded in agreement.

"So...should we leave now or what?" Asked Persia uncertainly.

"Huh? No, we can't leave now!" Protested Belia immediately."Hm...you know, what? Let's check out this Sanctuary place and see what it's like. But, you know, let's keep a low profile," I decided, after thinking it over.

"Sweet, then let's go!" Declared Belia enthusiastically.

"Alright, then...2117, Russia," I closed my eyes and focused, as I opened a portal.

Belia bounded in without hesitation, looking like she could barely contain herself, before the rest of us followed her in...and found ourselves in a barren wasteland.

The air was kinda prickly...guess it's the leftover radiation from WWIII, huh. Even after nearly a hundred years, it hasn't yet fully faded. The hell were the world leaders thinking back then?

"Uh...there's nothing here?" Remarked Persia in bemusement, looking around.

"Well, yeah...Russia is bigger than our entire world, how am I supposed to know exactly where this Sanctuary is?" I shrugged in response.

"No worries, we can just portal around until we find it," Grinned Belia, as she opened a portal.

Using her portals, we covered several different areas, to find nothing, until eventually, we ran into something.

"Wow, what is that thing?" Inquired Az in bemusement.

"Guess the animals must have gotten mutated too...but, uh, not sure what this particular creature used to be before it mutated. It looks like a snake and crocodile fused into one...well, except for the wings. That, and it's size," I remarked in fascination, as the creature spotted us and narrowed its eyes with a growl.

It's got to be at least sixty to seventy meters tall, I'm pretty sure there weren't any land animals even close to that size before. Interesting...

"Hey, mind if I take a crack at it? I mean, it's clearly about to attack us, so we should fight back, right?" Requested Belia, looking excited.

"Actually...I kinda want to fight it too. You've had enough fun today, I'll take this thing on," I smirked, as I stepped forward.

"Hey, no fair, I wanna fight too," Protested Persia indignantly.

"I have to admit, I'm curious to see what this world's monsters-...or mutated animals, whatever...-are capable of," Chimed in Az, throwing his hat into the ring.

"Alright, fine...rock-paper-scissors it is, whoever wins gets to fight it," I relented, as I held out my fist.

As we began playing to see who gets to fight it, the creature rapidly slithered towards us with a menacing snarl, before getting sent flying back as I hit it with a wave of Repulsion. Persia, Az and I ended up throwing out rock, while Belia threw out scissors.

"Wha-...nooo, I'm out!?" She groaned in dismay.

"Heh, sucks to be you. Alright, let's keep going...rock, paper, scissors!"

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP