Kim
Regardless of his motivations, Christopher still decided to explore the capital.
He knew what he had to do, but he wouldn't neglect his mental health because of it. So while being basically invisible to most people due to his mask, he continued to explore.
As the capital of the Empire which previously had dozens of Kingdoms, there were naturally a large number of interesting things.
For instance, on the north side at all of its entrances, there were these large and beautiful arches that were almost as tall as the main outer wall. And according to history, they were built to honor the soldiers who fought to unite all the Kingdoms.
As Christopher walked under them, he got a strange sense of nostalgia because he was reminded of a certain popular arch back on earth.
Elsewhere in an open square, there was a large magical fountain that had been created by a famous artist in the past which passively defied the laws of physics by quite literally flowing in reverse.
It didn't use anything like lights as it literally flowed backwards like someone had hit a big rewind button. It was very surreal to see and Christopher wished he had a camera to take a picture.
Other than these significant historical structures, there were also different places for entertainment. As it would turn out, music was actually quite widespread in this world and it was very easy to find street performers who all had unique voices and talents.
After walking around for a while, trying different foods and all in all enjoying himself, Christopher felt very refreshed and calmer.
"Well, that did wonders for my mood." He said and walked through an alleyway to take a shortcut. However, halfway, he paused.
He turned his head to see a figure on the floor.
It was a cat with black fur. It was emaciated, covered in death and looked on the brink of death. That was sad, but it wasn't what caught Christopher's attention.
It was its eyes. They had two qualities that caught him off guard.
The first, was the uncanny level of intelligence in them. As he walked by, it stared at him, and he felt like he was being looked at by a person, something strange considering he had his mask on. That was the first quality.
The second one, one that really made him pause, was the will, or lack of will inside them. They were intelligent, sure, but there was no life, no desire, no hope inside them. They were alive, but they weren't living. It was a gaze Christopher knew all too well.
'Just like me huh? How can a cat have such a gaze?' He thought and subconsciously inspected it using the system.
<Name: Kim
Race: Beast Woman (Cat Tribe)
Rank: White
Affinity: Space, Lightning
Physique: Peak advanced
Bloodline: Celeritas Panther
Abilities→>
'No wonder there's intelligence in her gaze. She's a beast person.' He thought and crouched.
Beast people were common, even more common than humans and were so widespread that you could find them even among elves who usually kept to themselves. So it wasn't odd that he found one, what was odd though was her state.
"You can understand me I assume." Christopher said.
"..." The beast girl, Kim, blinked, but didn't respond. She just kept staring at him but also didn't really seem to look at him. Almost as if she had that thousand yard stare condition that soldiers who had seen horrible things had.
"How unfortunate, for something so small to have such a look." Christopher said, genuinely feeling bad for her.
So he gently picked her up and she didn't resist at all, almost as if she didn't care, and it was likely she really didn't.
Christopher sighed and entered his dimension.
Immediately he entered, he watched her to see her reaction. And there was a spark of motivation in her eyes.
And that was all. A spark.
Christopher sighed and walked over to one of the massive trees that resided in the Dimension. It gave off vibrants waves of life force that immediately began to rush into Kim's body.
The injuries faded in moments and her body looked revitalized, no longer appearing emaciated.
At that juncture, she suddenly hopped out of his arms and to the floor. Then…
POOF!
There was a blast of what looked like fairy dust. (That's the best way I could've described it) And when it dissipated, a girl who appeared to be no more than 15 could be seen wearing tattered clothes.
She looked at Christopher with her cat-like eyes and blinked before nodding.
"... Thank you." She said,her voice devoid of any emotion.
"..." Christopher didn't respond immediately as he stared at her before suddenly saying.
"You've lived a hard life huh?" Kim blinked at this and her eyes flashed.
"..." It was her turn to stare at him.
"You probably have a lot of questions. Why did I help you? Isn't it inconvenient? Things like that." He said and she nodded.
"Well. It's simple to be honest." He said and took off his mask revealing a faint sad smile.
When Kim saw this smile, her eyes widened. It wasn't disdainful or filled with pity as she was used to. It was filled with sympathy. Those were the eyes of someone who knew exactly what the other person felt.
"We may not have arrived at such a point in similar ways. But… I've been there. So to answer your question. I guess it's because you reminded me of myself. And despite where I am now. I won't forget where I was before.
And when I saw you, I realized that I can help someone out of that pit of despair as I once had been in." He said and Kim's eyes got even wider.
"Basically. I'd be a prick if I didn't help you out. So let's start here. My name's Christopher. How about you?" Christopher said and stretched out his hand.
Kim looked at his hand and then back at him. Her eyes glistening, and before she even knew what was happening, tears started to fall.
"Wh- What…?" She felt the tears and unconsciously tried to kill them. But they just wouldn't stop.
She thought she had long been incapable of tears. She'd been through so much that she'd turned numb.
So why? Why did the few words of this stranger make her feel like this?
"I…*hic*." She cried.
She simply couldn't help herself and began to sob as she felt her legs grow weak.
Christopher didn't know why he suddenly moved. But he moved forward before she could fall and held her.
"It's alright. It'll be alright." He whispered soothing words and stroked her hair gently. Kim cried in his chest.
'Damn. I hate how I'm able to sympathize so well with her. The world sucks.' He thought.
'Then again. I have a world of my own. Maybe.' An incredible thought sprouted. One he wasn't able to keep down.
'If I assimilate the whole world into my dimension. Can't I just make the world how I want?' An incredible possibility. One many people wouldn't even think of achieving due to how impossible it was. And yet for Christopher. It wasn't all that impossible.
On a cliff nearby, Chiara, Umbra, And Silver were looking at this scene.
"Seems like master has brought in another one." silver said with a faint smile.
"Why is master being so nice to that person? They're so weak." Umbra asked with confusion and Silver shrugged.
"Master does what he wants. Besides, I doubt she's going to stay weak for long." Silver said with a faint smile. He'd experienced the enhancement of the Dimension twice, so he knew just how effective it was.
After a while, Kim stopped crying.
"Better?" Christopher let her go and she nodded.
"Good. Seems like you had a lot bottled up. But you've let it all out." He said and she cleaned the tears that remained.
"Thank you." She said, this time, the gratitude was clear in her voice.
"Not an issue. Now. What do you want to do now?" He suddenly asked and her eyes glazed over.
"... Is… Is it possible for me to get stronger?" She asked back. Afire that hadn't been in her eyes suddenly appearing.
Christopher stared at her in surprise for a moment before suddenly smiling.
"It is. Just that it'll hurt for a little bit when I do it." He said and she nodded.
"Pain has been my friend for far too long. I wouldn't mind if it accompanied me a little longer." She said and Christopher hated that statement to his core but he still nodded.
He had a feeling she wouldn't care. Moreover, he liked her determination and didn't mind granting her her wish.
"Alright. You will get the strength you seek. However, you become my vassal in return. Is that acceptable?" He asked and she nodded her head.
"If you can make me stronger, then I'll devote my life to you." She said eagerly. Christopher chuckled before becoming serious a moment later.
"Fine. I will do it now. Brace yourself." He said and she nodded. Then he activated the enhancement effect.