Gregory instantly realized his mistake, saying something was a huge mistake that was caused by his curiosity. Still though, as long as he didn’t show combat uses for magic, he should be able to get back to his timeline. He looked at the man, trying to figure out what he would do. Gregory had no way of knowing how events would change the present yet, and that made it difficult for him to be in the past alone. The main reason Aetius had said anything, was because the past does cause people to make mistakes.

People are beings of curiosity, ones that want to learn all they can. When things make them wonder, they must know more and that leads to making choices that further where they are now. Gregory was no different even if he was far more intelligent than most, and he was a teenager at that, the time when people are most curious. Aetius had a feeling that Gregory would do something like this, and almost wanted him to find out for himself that time is in a constant state of flux. There are always reactions to every action, which is why temporal sages usually did nothing in the past except spectate from a distance. There was one thing that was strange about time, getting back to a timeline before things are changed in it will keep a person in the original and unaltered timeline.

Aetius knew that there were countless alternate universes, caused by temporal mages or sages sending people back in time as punishment. There were also very small alterations that could create a pocket universe. An alteration that changes one thing in the past, but nothing in the present would be one such thing. As he tried to go back in time then for Gregory, but couldn’t reach him. It seemed that his immediate actions were such that if anybody else came they would cause a new timeline. If they hadn’t already that is. He knew that Gregory was learning the same way all temporal mages learn about changing the past, not to do it by fixing a mistake to turn it into a pocket universe instead of an alternate universe.

Gregory right now had realized something new about his skill most mysterious skill, the gamer’s gift skill that seemingly had no limits. A game is always stronger than real life, and this ability brought that fact startlingly forward as the Native American spoke and Gregory understood the speech. ’It seems that gamer’s gift translate speech from other races and myself to be universally understandable, or at least in regards to myself. This will be helpful in the future, I will never wonder what people are saying and can always be understood.’

Gregory, that is a weird name. What tribe are you from? Why are you here, and what is your goal?

It was then that Gregory noticed the shaman’s ears and eyes. ’This is what Aetius meant by the Native American’s having many mixed blood members among them. He must be incredibly fast; I will need to be careful of him. Thankfully, he also seems to be rather old; that should at least give me somewhat of an advantage in getting away if need be.’ Just then, the man moved toward Gregory at a speed faster than that of most cars on the interstate. Gregory could hardly keep up, barely managing to get his arms up before a leg came crashing into them and knocking him into a tree.

Coughing, Gregory stood up against the tree. ’I can’t use any combat magic, or I will be putting my timeline in danger. At the same time, I don’t know what I can do to escape. If I was more experienced, I would be able to activate the ability to pause time more easily. Since I can’t do that, my only choice is to get him to stop somehow.’

”Wait, I am not here to harm you. I come from no tribe here, I have been stranded here by magic gone wrong. My goal is to get home, and I started conversation with you because you seemed like a very strong person.”

Gregory’s responses, while not a lie, were also not the whole truth. The reason he started conversation was that the man had more than one element, he in fact seemed to have the three basic elements Gregory had and more. As for the rest of it, he didn’t want to lie to this man. If there was any way to tell Gregory was lying, he didn’t want to be punished for such actions. ’I need to keep things simple. If I cannot let them know about combat magic at all, but I would really love to learn how they can use all the basic elements.’

”I had heard that many of you were of a mixed blood. Would those be wolf ears on your head?”

The Native American man had stopped attacking, it seemed that he had calmed down some and wouldn’t start attacking again without provocation. Instead, he looked puzzled at Gregory. He had become so used to seeing everybody have mixed blood it didn’t even register that this person looked like they all did before their nature rituals. To see a man without those signs showed a major difference, a difference that showed he truly wasn’t from around there.

”Yes, these are wolves ears. It was my nature animal, and that is what determines how our appearance changes. For you not to have gone through that ritual, you must be from a different place. Could you tell me where it is?”

Gregory felt stuck, he couldn’t very well say that there were people across the sea, as the people here didn’t know about that yet. At the same time, he couldn’t say the future as that would spark more questions than he could answer. Gregory had to come up with something that wouldn’t put him or his future at risk, and would also allow him to get into the tribe and learn how this man could use so many elements. ’High goals are not a bad thing, but the height of these goals seem difficult to combine. If I ask to learn the elements, they will wonder why I would care. According to Aetius, they didn’t use the elements for combat. They used them for everyday life, but not for combat or other combative purposes.’

”I am from a place outside of understanding.”

Pausing for a moment, he chose his next words carefully. He wanted to say something that wouldn’t cause further prying.

”In my reality, there is no war or substantial fighting. Any attempt at it will cause punishment to the involved parties.”

These words were not a total lie, but they weren’t the entire truth either. He recently found out that there seemed to be substantial fighting in the underground magical world, and that it was a very dangerous place. However, looking at major governments, fighting and known attacks were banned and punished.

”Sound like an interesting place, one I would like to see. By the way, my name is Nijuga, I know you asked earlier but I was startled at the time. Follow me and I will take you to the village, but you must promise to not start anything there.”

Gregory knew that he had to respond, and he had no qualms with not starting anything, just so long as he didn’t cause his timeline to change he would be happy.

”Yes, I promise I will do nothing to harm anybody, and will follow all the rules of my place here as well.”

Nijuga began to lead Gregory through the forest toward a clearing. Seeing nothing, Gregory wondered what was going on until the man opened a small portal through which he stepped. Gregory quickly followed behind, guessing that this was a form of spatial magic. ’Seems the Native Americans were very skilled at magic, no wonder he told me to be careful of letting them know about it for combat purposes, anybody would have been severely outclassed by this kind of magic with that kind of strength. It wouldn’t have been a victory for us, it would have been a massacre by them if they knew about combat magic.’

Gregory didn’t want to stay anymore, but he could still not seem to be able to return to his timeline yet, as if it was foggy in his memory. It was no longer set in stone, he needed to fix that before he could travel back there. Looking about though, he saw that nearly everybody looked inhuman in some way or another. The many that weren’t shaman and wearing long robes revealed even tails and some fur on them, showing that they were definitely not regular humans. From what the shaman had said, everybody was this way, except for the very young. ’What did the Europeans do when they came over? Did they kill all the adults and leave only the children? It would explain why there are no longer any mixed breed Native Americans about in my time. Still though, that kind of massacre is unimaginable. I can’t believe anybody would do such a thing.’

”It seems like a great place, and very secure. Is that the only way in?”

”Not the only way, the chieftain can get in from anywhere, but the only way that everybody else can use.”

Gregory looked amazed, such an incredible culture and they were this far advanced with magical knowledge. ’We could really learn a thing or two from such people, but it would be dangerous to stay any longer. Still though, they seem to really excel in the arts of spatial magic. I need to see what I can do to learn that. For now though, I should ask about a place to stay until such time as I can leave.’