Once again embarking on a journey, Tyche had a clear destination. Thanks to a brief transcendental experience, Tyche noticed a world that greatly intrigued her.
Unlike other independent worlds, this one intersected with many others. Through an karmic connection with Mystra, the goddess of magic, Tyche sensed a familiar aura from it.
This world was unique, with a fixed pattern of progression. Periodically, it would brush past other worlds, taking with it beings that did not originally belong. This phenomenon was unprecedented, and Tyche speculated that the world of Faerûn must be among those it intersected with.
Compared to searching for the world of Faerûn in the vast sea of chaos, this seemed like a shortcut.
Before the fruits of the World Tree were depleted, Tyche finally arrived at this world.
What made Tyche feel both challenged and excited was that this world allowed deities to enter but forbade them from descending in their true forms. This rule seemed to have been acquired during its intersections with Faerûn. While it brought trouble, it also confirmed Tyche's suspicions.
Out of caution, Tyche did not enter this world. The World Tree hovered outside the protective layer, approaching slowly and carefully. However, the world's laws did not seem to resist outsiders and remained indifferent to Tyche's probing.
A portion of the world's essence, combined with a flower from the World Tree, formed an avatar, carrying a wisp of Tyche's consciousness into this world.
When Tyche opened her eyes again, she found herself in a swamp.
Low shrubs were divided into irregular patches by a stream. Looking around, Tyche saw a wooden tower standing not far away.
The world's rules did not allow deities to cast too much power. The avatar Tyche used for testing the waters was created at the limit.
Walking towards the tower, the only place that showed signs of human activity, Tyche hadn't gone far when she heard a man's angry curse. A figure crashed through the rickety wooden planks and fell from a height.
The man agilely rolled to dissipate the force, sheathed the silver sword in his hand, and turned to run. Seeing Tyche approaching, he paused for a moment, then shouted, "Get out of here!"
A dark, heavy mist emanated from the wooden tower, and Tyche sensed a pair of eyes watching her.
A ghostly figure poked its head out of the black mist. It held a lantern emitting a faint blue light. Its entire body was slender, unlike that of a normal person. Its face was hidden behind a blood-stained red cloth, making its expression unreadable.
Seeing Tyche frozen in place, the man who had jumped from the tower cursed and turned back towards her.
The man grabbed Tyche and they ran, crossing the swamp and low shrubs, entering a sparse forest.
The man, running with his head down, did not notice that after making eye contact with Tyche, the ghost in the tower had immediately retreated and was not pursuing them as he had expected.
They crossed the forest and reached a river, where the man finally stopped. He grumbled as he cleaned the mud from his boots by the water. His leather armor had lost its original color, its uneven brown and black tones causing a frown. Tyche suspected this armor had not been cleaned in a very long time.
He was not particularly burly, but possessed a leopard-like strength. If not for the two dangerous scars on the right side of his face and the strange smell emanating from him, he would undoubtedly be considered handsome.
The dirty man cursed a few times and kicked the river water forcefully before turning to look at the innocent-looking Tyche.
"Miss, you lost noble lady, how did you end up in that damned swamp?"
Tyche was surprised to find that the man's eyes were bright yellow. His tone carried obvious sarcasm, and his impatience was palpable.
"As you said, I got lost?"
Tyche was not angered by the man's sharp words. He had issued a warning the moment he saw her and had risked being caught to save her.
Although she didn't know what the shadowy figure in the tower was, it seemed that this world did not reject supernatural abilities. At least there were far more monsters and spirits than in Lin Xiang's world.
Suddenly, Tyche looked thoughtfully at the calm river surface and said to the man, "Perhaps you should draw your sword."
Bubbles rose from the calm water, and several fins broke the surface, creating ripples. But Tyche didn't believe these scaled humanoid monsters were fish.
Blue-green scales were covered in slime and mud. A nauseatingly sour smell made Tyche cover her nose and step back a few paces.
As these scaled, finned monsters leaped out, the man sensed something. He drew the silver sword from his back, used the momentum of his turn, and cleaved a charging monster in two.
The foul-smelling blood doused the man, and Tyche now understood the source of the strange odor on him.
Ripples continued to appear on the water's surface, suggesting more monsters were lurking.
The man shook his wrist, flicking the blood from his sword, which was once again clean.
At this moment, the man advanced instead of retreating. He kicked the severed body of a monster into the water, which undoubtedly enraged the monsters beneath. Six foul-smelling creatures lunged ashore, attacking the man.
The man plunged his silver sword into the sand and drew something in the air. Tyche keenly sensed a scorching fire element gathering in the man's hand, erupting into flames with his movement and igniting the charging monsters.
These aquatic monsters seemed particularly afraid of fire. Before long, they wailed and turned into charred corpses.
The man cursed and chopped off the monsters' heads with his sword. His movements were rough but skilled as he collected the monsters' brains into a leather bag.
Seeing that Tyche remained unfazed, the man seemed somewhat surprised and a wary expression appeared on his face.
"Listen, miss, no matter where you come from or what you seek, I cannot give you answers!"
Looking at the awkward man before her, Tyche almost wanted to laugh at his feigned indifference. She lifted her undeniably expensive skirt, shook it, and asked with a look of confusion, "Then why didn't you just leave me here and go?"