With a deep breath, Galileo stepped over the doorway, taking in the sight of the surroundings. The smell of nature entered his nostrils as the wind blew along some leaves from the surrounding trees. Apparently it was late fall, as the deciduous trees around were all hollow. Many of the trees apparently died and were replaced over the years, however, there were a few that prevailed over time and still stood strong even after 2 millennia. A slight smile appeared on Galileo's face as he noticed some familiar marks among a couple of the great ancient oaks. He took another deep breath as his foot stepped forward

“Stůj a nehýbej se!” that tranquillity was however soon interrupted. A voice in unfamiliar language sounded from the front and Galileo quickly diverged his attention towards it. There stood a group of at least dozen men, each wearing identical monotone uniforms. Those clothes cleanly covered their forms in seamless black, including their faces hidden behind masks. Whatever they were wearing appeared to not be light as Galileo noticed just how deep their footprints in the dry dirt were. Moreover, they were each carrying some sort of black but complex device, pointing it at Galileo.

“Interesting,” Galileo was immediately smitten by curiosity as he saw the unfamiliar thing. It was not every day that he could find something unknown just after he had left his retreat. The language barrier was annoying, though hardly surprising. He stepped forward towards the group, clearly feeling their basically non-existent mana.

“Stůj!” the same voice demanded, apparently it was owned by the man standing the furthest in the back. Although Galileo could not understand his words the tone was clear.

“You do not have the right to demand anything of me,” he scoffed. The nerve of the man was not something he could tolerate for the sake of his reputation. Although Galileo was not one for etiquette, he couldn’t just let any mortal command him as they pleased. That would invite far too much nuisance in the long run.

“Palte!” the man’s voice sounded once again, this time he beckoned, and flashes of light entered Galileos eyes. With his sharp eyesight he could easily see metal projectiles leave the ends of those weapons. They pierced through the air faster than sound as they made their way towards the fascinated Galileo. However, it was not the speed of the projectiles that caught his eye. It was the fact that he could not feel even a trace of magic coming off whatever the weapon was.

Suddenly the bullets stopped under Galileo’s sight. They were not stopped by impact, they just lost all their velocity in a single instant and crumbled down to the ground. Depriving energy of things not protected by magic was not particularly difficult for the immortal.

“Now I am truly intrigued,” Galileo’s eyes shone and a smile surfaced on his face. He had to know. He had to understand. At that moment he craved that knowledge more than anything else in the world. With a snap the still startled group stopped in space, unable to move even if they strained their muscles to bursting.

“Show me!” Galileo demanded as he appeared right next to the frontmost man, a hand already placed to the man’s face. Green flame left Galileo’s palm and entered the man’s skull. The victim could still not even shake nor scream as his head was incinerated inside out until turned to nothing but ash. Only then did Galileo allow the corpse to crumble to the ground.

“Disappointing!” Galileo frowned as he sorted what he had seen. The green flame was his own unique ability. Something that no one, not even the gods, could reproduce. In this instance it allowed him to find what he sought within the man’s mind: Anything related to those strange weapons as well as their language. Apparently, they were called guns, and to Galileo’s disappointment and also joy, they were not invented or even made by anyone in the group. What the man he had inspected knew was merely the most basic understanding of how they propelled forth the lead projectile by exploding gunpowder. Although it was not much, it could abate Galileo's persistent curiosity for a short while.

“You should be the leader, right,” Galileo looked at the man which tried to command him earlier and spoke in the language he had just learned. His accent was probably horrible, but it was far better than being utterly unable to speak. With schadenfreude, Galileo thought of Angelica whose abilities were far less versatile than his own, realising she would definitely need at least a few months to properly learn a new language. The image of her pronouncing sermons in a broken accent was hilarious.

“What the hell are you?!” the man was terrified and screamed as soon Galileo allowed his head and lungs to properly work.

“The grand seeker of truth, Galileo in flesh, mortal,” Galileo scoffed, realising his vocal cords were not suitable for this language at all. He would need to make some adjustments later. Looking at the mortal’s eyes which were still full of fear and confusion Galileo also clicked his tongue: There was not even a trace of surprise. Apparently the man had no idea of his glorified name. 2000 years was a long time, but he had left behind so many teachings in the great library that he should have at the very least remained a myth to the most common men.

“What were you doing here?” Galileo decided to move on.

“I am not answering a monster!” although still quivering, the man seemed defiant.

“I don’t have time to fool around with you,” Galileo frowned and waved his hand. One of the other men was split in half at the waist, “I have to hide my tracks before the Crusade arrives,” he said. Although they were not actually dangerous, they were like bloodhounds which would not let their prey go once they smelled its blood, no matter how far one fled. Last time he had a scuffle with the God of Creation, Galileo was then perpetually annoyed for half a century before he figured out how to remove the tracking mark. An experience he would rather not repeat.

“Speak or I will kill another one,” Galileo looked at the man. He need just some hints to use as a starting point. Once he knew what to look for his flame could take care of the rest.

“We are members of the Foundation, an organisation which exists to deal with freaks like you,” the man eventually spoke, “This place is known as O-756, Sealed Cabin. We used to think that it was merely impossible to enter, and was otherwise unoccupied, though we were obviously wrong about that,” the man spoke on, and with a certain degree of amusement, Galileo noticed the man was trying to reach for something with his still unmovable hand.

“Is this ‘Foundation’ a nation, or an organisation belonging to one,” Galileo asked next.

“We answer to no government,” the man said as Galileo allowed his hand to move very slightly. Galileo also had to quickly search for the meaning of the word government, “We are a multinational organisation that protects humanity from terrible horrors like you.”

“Then, is everyone as weak as you, or are you an exception?” Galileo could not help but ask. The man basically just claimed that mortals dared challenge beings not less powerful than gods, yet he did not possess even a smither of power within his entire body. No trace of mana nor divinity.

“We are not like you freaks,” the man loudly scoffed, and Galileo saw fit to allow him to reach into his pocket, “We are not weak enough to rely on unnatural power!” another gunshot sounded as a bullet tore through the man’s cloth, his pockets being probably the only unfortified place on his entire uniform.

“I see,” Galileo came to a sudden understanding as he caught the bullet and brought it to his nose. The smell of gunpowder was still present and the projectile itself was hot, “I don’t know why they tolerate your rudeness, but you are apparently beneath the notice of anything even remotely powerful. Otherwise, you would have been long wiped out by any random demigod or ascendant that you made mad.”

“How can you stop a desert eagle from point-blank!?” the man cried out, flabbergasted.

“You dared call my power unnatural, right?” Galileo looked at him, “My power is the purest might which encompasses all of nature. It is built upon the fundamental understanding of concepts your mortal self will never even witness from a distance,” as he said those words however he realised that somethings was quite off. The impact from the weapon earlier was pitiful. He could not imagine even a second rate mage falling prey to it unless caught completely off guard, yet this man seemed genuinely surprised that it was blocked.

“There is no time,” Galileo shook his head. He could contemplate later once he was gone, changed his appearance, suppressed the mana leaking out of his body and crafted a bulletproof fake identity. Although it pained him, it would be for the best if he suppressed his desires for a bit longer. He waved his hand and green flames once again surfaced, devouring all of the men around him. They turned to ash in an instant, and their knowledge was absorbed by Galileo. He would sort it out later and then perhaps pursue the mystery of these so-called guns. For now, he had to clear everything and leave, counting the time, Angelica should have arrived in the Holy land already. In other words, a crusade was already preparing a passage here.

“I wonder how much the world has changed,” he allowed himself one last moment of contemplation about the weakling who dared claim that he was a defender of humanity before Galileo got down to work. Perhaps this new world will have many more interesting things to offer.