《A Step-by-Step Guide to Conquering a Fantasy World》


 Chapter 1: Lost and Found

    ¡°Yes, I know, Mum.¡± Damian sighed into the phone.


    ¡°I know you know,¡± A female voice rang out from the speakers. ¡°Why do you think I¡¯ve been drilling it into your head all these years? I just want to make sure you¡¯re focusing on it this time. God knows you weren¡¯t in your last semester, I didn¡¯t raise you to be a B child, you know?¡±


    He gritted his teeth. Why was he still sending his marks over to them anyway? He was well into university now, and it¡¯s not like he was living in the same house; they couldn¡¯t pester him about it 24/7 anymore.


    ¡°Yes, I got it. I have it under control now, you don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°You had better! What would the other ladies think if I kept showing them such abysmal progress?¡±


    Damian rubbed the bridge of his nose, nursing a new headache. Of course she would be showing off his grades, the damn social climber.


    Before he could comment, she continued. ¡°Not to mention you¡¯ll be busy with Sammy there. Are you sure you¡¯re fine taking care of her for the month? You won¡¯t forget to pick her up this afternoon, right?¡±


    Damian smiled lightly. ¡°No, mum, I won¡¯t. And you know Sammy and I get along.¡±


    That was true. His baby sister was probably the only member of his family he could stand, even if she could be a little weird sometimes. Early on he had tried to shield her from their parents¡¯ ridiculous expectations, taking on the brunt of their attention to try to give her a bit more freedom. He hadn¡¯t seen her since he left for uni, and hoped she wasn¡¯t suffering too much under them.


    ¡°Listen, I have to go to class now.¡± Damian continued before she could respond. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you later.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. You always run off so fast! Don¡¯t you want to talk to your poor old mother sometimes?¡±


    Hardly.


    ¡°Bye mum.¡±


    ¡°Damian-!¡±


    He hung up, cutting off whatever she was trying to say.


    A huge sigh tore out of his mouth. It was always a pain to deal with them, but, well, they were his parents. He felt a little guilty about hanging up like that, but he really did have to go to class.


    Shrugging his bookbag over his shoulder, he began the short journey from the dorms to his calculus lecture hall. When he arrived, the place was still empty save for a few other enthusiasts, the lecture scheduled to start 20 minutes later. Damian always made a point to arrive early and go over the materials before the start of lecture; he had learned early on that the professors would leave you behind if you were unprepared. Of course, at this point he could probably teach the class himself, but that wasn¡¯t the point.


    For a blissful 15 minutes, he had an interrupted study period as the hall slowly filled up with students. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the door slammed open, startling him out of his focus.


    ¡°Come oooooon! I thought you were a total smarty-pants, you can skip one lecture for me can¡¯t you?¡±


    The girl¡¯s voice echoed throughout the hall, attracting annoyed looks her way. Damian sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He already knew who had arrived.


    He gave a cursory glance up to find Simon making a beeline to him with a tall black haired girl clinging to him. Simon gave her an apologetic look.


    ¡°Sorry! I really can¡¯t. Administration told me that if I miss any more lectures they¡¯ll really kick me out this time.¡±


    She pouted at Simon, giving Damian a slightly interested look before extracting herself from his side and putting her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Fine. You better come to Sarah¡¯s party tonight though or I¡¯ll hunt you down!¡±


    Simon gave her a winning smile ¡°Wouldn¡¯t miss it for the world.¡±


    That seemed to cheer her up, and she gave him a flirty look before sashaying out, attracting glances.


    The blond haired man gave Damian a cheeky smile before plopping down next to him.


    Simon Lewinsky. General party-goer, chick magnet, hailed as the greatest math genius of their generation, and Damian¡¯s self proclaimed best friend.


    Entirely against his own will, of course. Damian generally tried to avoid such gifted people, since they only reminded him of his own shortcomings. Despite all his attempts at ignoring and avoiding the talented bastard, though, he always managed to find him, so Damian eventually stopped trying.


    Both charismatic and academically gifted, Simon was everything Damian¡¯s parents had tried to drive him to become, and more. Idly, he wondered what would happen if they switched places. Would his mother finally stop complaining?


    ¡°Girls. You know how they are.¡± Simon spoke to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.


    Damian grunted back uncooperatively. He really didn¡¯t know how they were; romance had always been too much of a distraction.


    Simon smiled wryly at his response. ¡°Unfriendly as ever, I see. Maybe if you come to Sarah¡¯s place tonight you¡¯ll finally break out of your shell.¡±


    Damian rolled his eyes. ¡°And watch you and your harem go at it? I¡¯d rather contract the flu, ebola, and malaria all at the same time.¡±


    Simon chuckled shamelessly, not denying it. ¡°Come on! I promise I¡¯ll leave one for you.¡±


    ¡°Unlike a certain scholarship student, I actually have to study.¡±


    ¡°Bruh, your tuition is fully paid by scholarships too. Plus, you¡¯re always studying! Take a break once in a while.¡±


    Damian shot him a withering glare and Simon held his hands up in surrender.


    Yes, his tuition was covered by scholarships, but his situation was a hell of a lot different from Simon¡¯s. His parents had refused to pay for his post secondary education, stating it would teach him resourcefulness if he had to find a way to pay for it himself. Of course, he couldn¡¯t just not go, that would go against everything they had worked for.


    So Damian had slaved away for months, applying and interviewing for dozens of small grants from local businesses, painstakingly collecting money until he had enough for the first semester. Then he had to do it again for the second. And the third.


    Eventually, he would have to cave and get a loan once the workload got too much. Meanwhile, Simon had been scouted by the university itself and got a full ride scholarship with no effort. Annoyingly, he seemed to be entirely ignorant of how lucky he was, opting to party and socialize rather than make use of his admittedly incredible talent.


    Mercifully, his nemesis fell silent, and the professor arrived, beginning his lecure soon after. For a few minutes, Damian thought he might be able to take notes in peace, but his hopes were quickly dashed.


    Simon, seemingly bored with spinning his pen and playing on his phone, turned to him.


    ¡°Say, did you know your fan club got bigger after that incident? I guess they think they-¡±


    A spear of embarrassment and genuine anger tore through him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke about that.¡± He growled out, cutting him off.


    Simon looked at him confused. ¡°What joke? To me it looked like that Julie girl really-¡±


    Damian¡¯s pencil snapped in half in his grip and he got up abruptly, his chair screeched against the floor, drawing the room¡¯s attention. Quickly, he gathered up his books and materials and marched down the line, picking a seat further away from Simon.


    ¡°Oy!¡± the boy called after him, sounding confused and a little concerned.


    Damian dropped into his new spot and apologized to the professor, who continued the lecture a moment later. Inside, Damian was fuming.


    What fan club?! Persistent bastards. He could never understand how people could consider such psychological torture to be fun. In the multitude of sports he had tried, in every academic subject, he was practically average. He barely had any friends. There was nothing to be a fan of.


    Maybe Simon could finally sense the mood, because he didn¡¯t try to bother him for the rest of the lecture.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------


    Damian sat in the grass in the campus courtyard, gazing up at the clouds. After the lecture ended, Damian had packed up his books in record time and managed to successfully dodge Simon on his way out. For the time being, he had an open block, so he decided to take a short break out in the fresh air to try to work out his frustration. Unfortunately, the idleness cleared his thoughts and only made the frustration bubble up harder.


    Just what was he working so hard for?


    For his future? For his parents? For bragging rights? He didn¡¯t know.


    A swarm of A¡¯s and ¡°Exceptional¡±¡¯s seemed to swim in his vision. Certainly, his achievements would be seen as excellent to anyone else, but to Damian¡¯s parents, to him¡­ It wasn¡¯t good enough. It would never be good enough.


    He needed something bigger.


    Something that would cement his name in history. That would make his life worth it.


    Damian sighed heavily. At this rate he would break some kind of record.


    The thought made him smile, and broke his mood out of the funk he had been in. Slowly, the clouds drifted across the sky. He just had to be like them. Keep moving forward, keep working, and he would get there.


    With his existential crisis finished, he had been about to move to his next class, but something caught his attention.


    The clouds had stopped moving.


    Damian blinked in confusion and looked around.


    The clouds had stopped moving. Everything had stopped moving.


    Birds hung in the air, people were frozen mid step. Across the street, a hotdog lay suspended in mid-air, a small dog salivating in anticipation below it, but unmoving.


    ¡®What.¡¯ Damian thought stupidly. Had time¡­ Stopped?


    Suddenly, there was the sound of breaking glass, and his vision blurred.


    Something was wrong. Something was very wrong! He tried to scream for help, but found he couldn¡¯t even twitch his body. Then, without warning, his body was wrenched. It was a direction that he couldn¡¯t make sense of with his three dimensional existence. It was like he moved inwards.


    For a moment, there was an inexplicable feeling of pressure in that wrong direction, until he broke through something and was flying free. Immediately the world melted before his eyes, becoming distorted as his brain tried to process images it was never meant to see. Colours blended together, shapes warped and distended, and points of light appeared everywhere.


    The movement didn¡¯t stop. Instead it felt as if he was flying faster and faster, shooting along at an unimaginable speed. A searing headache built up, and Damian began to hallucinate.


    A stoic younger Damian stood in his family¡¯s dining hall, his father watching with a disappointed look while his mother shouted with his report card in hand. A line of A¡¯s was shown, the point of their anger being the 90% shown for his social studies class. In the corner, eight year old Sammy watched with teary eyes.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The class filed out of the room, chatting excitedly about their afternoon plans. Damian watched enviously, and for a moment, allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to hang out and relax with his classmates for once. Then, he turned back to his books, pushing the thought out of his head.


    A hard shoulder drove into his chest, knocking him onto his back and driving the air out of his lungs. Before he had fully recovered, Damian was back on his feet, sprinting after the enemy that had stolen the ball from him. He caught up fast, and, with viscous glee, executed a barely legal move that dropped the kid on his butt and gave his team the ball back.


    Random memories swirled around his brain, bringing up forgotten traumas and buried emotions. Damian clutched his head, vaguely realizing his movements had been freed. He couldn¡¯t do anything about it, however, as he could barely think, the chaos in his mind building up slowly.


    At some point, it reached a crescendo and just as he felt he would pass out from the stress, he broke through something. All at once, his stress and pain was washed away, and a soothing blue light seeped into his vision. His eyes opened slowly, revealing a sight that burned itself into his memory. A blue ocean. It was the closest he could come to describing it, but it more closely resembled visible air currents. It was¡­ Energy, wasn¡¯t it? Moving and flowing freely as it wished.


    Damian held up a hand, and coils of blue force coiled and swirled around him, touching his skin lovingly and leaving behind a cool burning sensation. At that touch, all his worries seemed to melt away, and he became in awe at the beauty and underlying power of the energy before him.


    He didn¡¯t know how much time passed while he was in that state, but slowly he began to form an understanding of the power at an instinctual level. It seemed to have some kind of hold over him, as all his attention was focused on those pale blue wisps. Eventually, however, the mysterious pulling force returned, and he was yanked out of the space.


    As soon as he left, a series of heavy impacts smashed into him as if he was crashing through walls, driving the breath out of him. There was a moment of peace, letting him recover for a moment, before he was squeezed down past his physical limits, like he was moving through a hole too small for his body, and then all at once he was through. Bright light flashed in his vision, and he felt one final impact against his back.


    Gradually, his eyes adjusted to the light, and he began to make out new colours and identifiable shapes. Against his numb skin, he could vaguely make out the feeling of wind and grass.


    Was it¡­ Finally done?


    With a herculean effort, Damian sat up, groaning at his sore muscles and creaking bones.


    ¡°What¡­ The fu-eeeeEURGH¡± His complaint was cut off as his vision swam and he threw up all over the grass next to him. For a long moment, he sat hunched over as he recovered, breathing hard, and trying not to think too hard. Once he had recovered slightly, he opened his eyes fully, taking in his new surroundings.


    It was an area totally unlike the university he had been in what felt like just moments ago. Surrounding him were trees. Past that, more trees. It was a dense jungle completely unlike any he had seen before.


    Damian, as someone who had spent most of his life in the middle of America, was used to cities, plains, and light forests. He had never been in a rainforest in his life, in fact the closest one to his home was hundreds of miles away. Despite that, he was somewhat familiar with the looks of normal Earth jungles. This was completely unlike anything he had even heard of.


    Everything about the plants, from the shapes of the leaves and structure of the branches, to the light red hue that pervaded the area was alarmingly alien.


    The trees were towering behemoths, with thick, low hanging branches that tangled in among the underbrush. Their leaves reminded him of a cross between pine and oak, with long, flat, needle-like blades. The odd shaped leaves had a reddish green colour to them, while the rough trunk was a more normal brown.


    At the roots was a tangle of dozens of different types of bushes and vines, smushed together with barely enough room for a human like him to squeeze by. The variety of colours melded together with the soft sunlight filtering down from the canopy, giving the forest an almost ethereal atmosphere.


    Additionally, despite classifying it as a rainforest in his head, the air was noticeably dry, as if the plant life has sucked all of the water out of the atmosphere. It went against everything he knew about jungles. Such a thick, varied ecosystem shouldn¡¯t be able to survive in such a dry environment.


    As he took this in, Damian felt a sense of panic slowly well up within him.


    What the hell happened? Where was he? How would he get back?


    It ran out of control for a moment before he forcibly reigned it in, utilizing techniques he had learned to calm himself down. For the time being, he decided to take stock of what he knew.


    He was in an unknown area presumably a very large distance away from the university he was at before. He had no food or water, and only had the clothes on his back. He had recently been through a traumatic, possibly drug fuelled experience that had left him feeling weak and lost.


    The phantom voice of his father rang through his head. Something¡¯s knocked him down. Was he going to lay there and take it, or was he going to stand back up and keep going?


    Damian gave a heavy sigh, before getting his shaky legs underneath him and pulling himself up using one of the trees as a support. He looked around again and checked the sky. It looked like he still had a good bit of daylight left.


    He was in an unfamiliar forest with no map, no supplies, and nobody to help him. He doubted anyone back home even knew where he was. He was on his own.


    To begin with, he needed to secure the obvious. Food, water, shelter. It was like a mantra repeated in every survival show or book he had seen.


    Food¡­ Was difficult. He had no idea if any of the plant life around him was edible. For all he knew, it was deadly poisonous. Regardless, humans could survive for several days without food. Water was his more pressing concern.


    He had just thrown up, meaning he was already on the brink of dehydration. He would have to find some source of water by the night or he would be in a lot of trouble the next day. Fortunately for that, he had an idea. He fundamentally refused the concept of a rainforest without rain. There had to be water somewhere.


    He took a closer look at the bushes around him, and noticed something interesting. The leaves were abnormally thick. Of course, everything around him was slightly abnormal, but he decided to experiment anyway. He quickly snapped off a particularly large leaf and tore it in half. Immediately, the tear began leaking large amounts of liquid.


    Damian grinned. How exciting! The plants were storing water in their leaves. Water storing plants were actually quite common on Earth, some prime examples being cactuses and the baobab tree. However, he had never heard of a mechanism quite like what he was seeing.


    The question then, was if it was safe to drink. He thought it was pretty likely for the plants to have some kind of defence mechanism to stop animals from stealing their water, but if he couldn¡¯t get his water from the plants, then where could he get it from? The air was dry and the sky empty of clouds. He couldn¡¯t hear the telltale sounds of a river or creek nearby either, the only thing he could hear was the chirping of unfamiliar birds and a strange crashing sound.


    Wait.


    Damian turned in time to see a huge creature break through the brush into his clearing. As soon as it saw him, it froze, and they stared at each other. The creature looked to be some kind of giant lizard that came up to about his waist. It had a rounded head with a wide, split mouth and a gait like a dog. Huge claws dug into the ground, and slitted, front facing yellow eyes stared at him in suspicion.


    ¡®Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!¡¯ Damian thought in a panic.


    All of his earlier composure had been completely blown away. He hadn¡¯t even thought of the possibility of dangerous animals.


    Slowly the animal¡¯s reptilian lips split to reveal two rows of sharp, uneven teeth. A deep growl rang out in the clearing.


    Damian¡¯s heart began to race, and his vision seemed to darken around the edges as he stared at that mouth full of unmistakably carnivorous teeth.


    The creature lifted one leg, claws pulling out clumps of dirt, and hunched towards him.


    Panic and fear lanced through Damian¡¯s mind as he realized it was about to attack him, and he spun and sprinted into the forest.


    Branches scraped against his skin and pulled his clothes as he ran blindly through the bush. Any notion of intelligent thought was gone from his mind, all he knew was that he had to escape. His heart, feeling as if it were about to burst, pumped adrenaline through his veins with all it had. Just behind him, he could hear the heavy thumps and crashing of the lizard beast as it chased him.


    He sprinted through clearings, leaped over dips, and charged through shrubs, running faster than he ever had before, but he couldn¡¯t seem to leave the lizard behind. Slowly, exhaustion seeped into his limbs as the adrenaline started to wear out, and he knew he needed to find an escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a particularly low hanging branch.


    Damian snapped his foot out, chearning earth and changing his momentum as he made a beeline for the tree. With a huge leap, he caught hold of the branch and pulled himself up, and as soon as he got his feet up, leaped for a higher one. A loud clack sounded just under his feet as the creature leapt and snapped at him. Luckily, he managed to grab hold of the higher branch, and pulled himself up again before looking down.


    The lizard looked severely disappointed it wasn¡¯t able to catch him, growling in between breaths and scratching its front claws against the tree in frustration. For Damian, the exhaustion finally caught up to him and he sagged against the tree trunk, but managed to find the energy to flip the creature the middle finger as he sucked in oxygen.


    When he caught his breath, he pulled himself up one level higher, and sat on the thick branch with his back against the tree, waiting for the shitty lizard to leave.


    Now that he was somewhat safe, though, the exhaustion from the chase seemed to seep into his mind, wearing him down suddenly. His thoughts turned down a dark path. There was no way that lizard was an animal from Earth. Was he even on the same planet anymore?


    There was no way he would be able to get back.


    He would never see his family again. Sammy would be alone.


    He would die here, in this shitty forest, eaten by shitty lizards.


    Damian coughed out a sob, and a tear rolled down his cheek. Despair seemed to grab him in an ice cold grip as the severity of his situation set in.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he spent on that tree branch, wallowing in depression. The lizard stayed for a long time, prowling around under the tree, but eventually left. Damian didn¡¯t care. What was the point of working towards survival anyway? Everything he had worked for was gone, left behind in another world.


    By the time he had snapped part way out of his funk, the sun had just about set, casting orange rays into the forest. His dry tongue licked his dry lips. With a shaky hand, he snapped off a leaf from the tree and squeezed the liquid into his mouth. It might¡¯ve been poisonous, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to care.


    The juice was bitter, but it quenched his thirst. He made to grab another, but stopped himself at the last moment. No matter how depressed he was, there was something deep down inside that made him want to survive. If the juice was poisonous, he should only have one in case it made him sick.


    With his thirst only slightly quenched, and his stomach growling, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree and watched the clouds drift by through the gaps in the canopy. Before he realized, he had fallen asleep.


    ------------------------------------


    Damian snapped awake. Something had startled him, but he didn¡¯t know what. He took stock and found he was still safe and sound on his branch, though his mouth felt like sandpaper. Mentally, he was feeling much better after sleeping on his problems. He started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, but stopped when he noticed a now familiar sound.


    Snapping branches. Crunching leaves. The steady thumping of footsteps.


    It wasn¡¯t just one entity either. It sounded like a group of big animals moving towards him in the forest. Damian sat up quietly and peered down at the forest floor, curious. Soon, they came into view. He sucked in a surprised breath.


    They were¡­ Wolf men. Tall, bipedal creatures covered head to toe in dark fur, with a physique like a human but a head like a wolf. Their form wasn¡¯t what surprised him, however. They were carrying weapons. Bows, stone spears, one even had a huge club. Clearly, they weren¡¯t animals, but some kind of primitive society.


    They passed just underneath him, and Damian couldn¡¯t help muttering to himself.


    ¡°The fuck¡­¡±


    At his words, one of the bow wielder¡¯s ears perked up, and her (he thought it was female, her body shape was slimmer and more feminine) head shot up to stare at him. Damian stared back at her for a moment, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Before he could say anything, she had snapped her bow up and fired an arrow at him.


    ¡°Shit!¡± he exclaimed.


    The arrow whizzed by his head as he pulled back, taking a few strands of hair with it. Damian¡¯s foot slipped against the uneven bark, and he tumbled off the side.


    ¡°Oof!¡± the air drove out of his lungs as he hit a branch on the way down, tumbling end over end until he landed on his back on the forest floor.


    Cough, cough!


    Damian wheezed and coughed as he tried to get his breath back. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken, but he wasn¡¯t able to get up immediately. Before he could do anything, he was surrounded, spears pointed at his head. Slowly, he held his hands up in surrender and swallowed a nervous lump in his throat.


    Now that they had a good look at him, the wolfmen seemed surprised and muttered among each other in growling voices. Damian thought he could catch recognizable words, but his ears were still ringing.


    ¡°Move!¡± A deep voice growled from outside the circle, and several of the wolfmen were pushed aside, revealing a huge male with a scar on his cheek. He looked at Damian, seeming confused.


    ¡°A human? Why is it here?¡± He asked aloud in a clear voice.


    Damian blinked. That¡­ Wasn¡¯t english. How was he able to understand a language he had never heard before?


    The big wolfman whacked him with the butt end of his spear. Damian winced, his muscles were still sore from his ordeal the day before.


    ¡°Oy, human. Can you speak, or are you stupid?¡± It asked him.


    ¡°... I can speak.¡± Damian answered him. His lips made familiar movements, so he wasn¡¯t suddenly speaking a random language.


    The wolfman grunted. ¡°So you¡¯re not stupid. But you must be a bit stupid to be in the forest on your own. Why are you here, stupid?¡±


    Damian¡¯s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid. I don¡¯t know how I got here, I think I was teleported or something.¡±


    If the wolf could understand his english, then he wasn¡¯t an isolated case. Was it some kind of weird property of this world?


    At his answer the wolfman snarled threateningly. ¡°Liar!¡±


    He flipped his spear around so the business end was pointed at Damian¡¯s neck before continuing.


    ¡°You can¡¯t have come from Beyond, you¡¯re human! I won¡¯t be tricked; you¡¯re here to steal from us like the others! I should kill you here and now where your kind can¡¯t swarm us!¡±


    ¡°Stop, Rurn! That¡¯s not your decision to make!¡± A female voice rang out. Damian turned his head and recognized her as the same wolf that shot at him earlier.


    Rurn growled at her. ¡°You may be the chief¡¯s daughter, Yijeni, but I¡¯m the hunt leader. This is my hunt, so I decide!¡±


    Yijeni snarled back at him, surreptitiously knocking an arrow to her bow. ¡°You want to bring the wrath of humans down on us, Rurn?! If you kill this one, Chief Korm will kill you himself!¡±


    They stared at each other intensely for several moments.


    ¡°Tch!¡± Rurn made an irritated sound before spitting on the ground in derision and pulling his spear back.


    ¡°Grab him. We¡¯re going back.¡± He ordered the group.


    Several rough, furry hands grabbed onto Damian and pulled him to his feet. In no time at all, he found himself surrounded by feral muscle. With no other choice, he was pulled along with the hunting group.


    It seemed he stumbled his way fairly deep into their territory, because it only took around twenty minutes of walking for them to reach their village. When they broke through the treeline, Damian was surprised.


    Based on the primitive weaponry and clothing the wolfmen had, he was expecting their living conditions to be rough, but it wasn¡¯t that way at all. Dozens of small houses built out of wood and hides were scattered through a large clearing. Winding around was a packed dirt pathway. Here and there groups of men and women worked away, processing hides, timber and meat, and making the things needed to survive in the forest.


    Their way of life was tribal, but everything was relatively clean and well repaired, and the coats of the people were well groomed. If there was anything he could complain about, it was the fact that there was strangely few men in the village. Also, as soon as he was spotted, a somewhat hostile atmosphere arose as people stopped working and stared at him. Damian thought back to the previous conversation. Was it because he was human? Had his people done something terrible to them?


    One of the men of the hunting group broke off and ran over to one of the houses in the middle of the village, ducking into a doorway covered by hide.


    As they moved through the village, Damian realized that was their destination. They stopped in front of the doorway, and Rurn stepped forward.


    ¡°Requesting entrance with the human.¡± He called out.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A deep voice came from within.


    A rough hand slammed into Damian¡¯s back, sending him stumbling through the doorway. He blinked a few times to get used to the low light, and found himself in a room with the largest wolfman he had seen yet.


    The giant was at least a head taller than Rurn, and had multiple scars criss crossing his body. His fur was turning gray in spots, so Damian guessed he was quite old. With a start, he realized that was another thing that had bothered him. All of the wolfmen he had seen so far had appeared young.


    ¡°Sit.¡± The old wolf commanded, indicating a pile of furs on the ground.


    Damian aquissed, taking a seat cross legged in the surprisingly comfortable seat. Behind him, Rurn and Yijeni both came in, Rurn taking a position behind him and Yijeni moving over to presumably her father¡¯s side.


    ¡°My name is Korm, the people of this village call me Chief.¡± Korm spoke, looking at him expectantly.


    Damian cleared his dry throat and spoke with a scratchy voice, ¡°Before that, is there some water I could have?¡±


    Rurn growled behind him. ¡°Know your place, human!¡±


    Korm held up his hand, and Rurn obediently fell silent. After a moment of thought, Korm tossed him a leather bag. Finding it was a water skin, Damian unstoppered it and took several deep drinks of it, the warm water soothing his throat.


    He cleared his throat again. ¡°Thank you. My name is Damian. This might sound crazy, but I don¡¯t know how I got here. One moment I was in my homeland, the next I was¡­ Flying through somewhere, and ended up here.¡±


    There was the sound of creaking wood behind him, and Damian glanced back to find Rurn holding his spear in a death grip. Korm, however, only looked at him thoughtfully.


    ¡°You swear this to be true?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Chief, you can¡¯t-!¡± Rurn cut in, but was stopped by a raised hand again.


    ¡°Look at his clothes.¡±


    Damian looked down at himself. He was still wearing the black slacks and white button up he had been wearing before he was teleported. Certainly, it would look strange to these people who were used to hide and furs.


    Rurn snorted. ¡°Why should I pay attention to what humans wear?¡±


    ¡°Do I need to send you back to cub training? You must see the trees or you¡¯ll miss the forest. His clothing is clearly different from those of the Empire.¡±


    Damian¡¯s ears perked up. So there was a human empire that clearly had bad relations with these forest dwellers. He was somewhat relieved. If a human society was big enough to be an empire, they had to be at least Roman level technologically, right?


    ¡°I promise you I¡¯m telling the truth. I don¡¯t even know this Empire¡¯s name.¡± Damian spoke up.


    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Korm rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another wolfman rushing in unannounced.


    ¡°They¡¯re here early!¡± He spoke, giving Damian a meaningful glance.


    ¡°What?! They shouldn¡¯t be here for another cycle at least!¡± Yijeni exclaimed in surprise.


    ¡°Che, why do you think they¡¯re here?¡± Rurn asked sarcastically, kicking out at Damian. ¡°This one obviously called them.¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Korm ordered. He stared at Damian for a few moments, clearly thinking something over.


    He grunted and stood up, making a decision. ¡°You will stay here. Don¡¯t come out no matter what.¡± He told Damian.


    Damian nodded.


    The sound of a horn rang out in the air, and Damian heard the stomping of many feet approaching them. Silently, the wolves in the room filed out, Rurn giving him a derisive glance as he left. Curious, Damian shuffled over and peeked through a gap in the hide door.


    Korm stood in front of the doorway regally, flanked on either side by Yijeni and Rurn. As he watched, more and more villagers arrived to watch the commotion. Damian shifted over and caught sight of the source of all the noise.


    Marching in a tight formation was a group of human soldiers. Each of them was dressed in white lamellar armour, with a red crest painted in the center of their chests. A feathered helmet waved in the wind, and they slammed the butt of their spears on the ground as they walked, creating an intimidating thumping sound.


    When they reached an adequate distance away, the soldiers stopped suddenly, and slammed their spears on the ground thrice before parting down the middle.


    As if he owned the place, a large man strolled out from the middle of the formation, his gut straining out from a flowing white robe tied with a cloth belt. He stopped a few meters from Korm¡¯s group and smirked arrogantly.


    ¡°So.¡± He started.


    ¡°What are you dogs hiding?¡±

 Chapter 2: The Nature of Magic

    Damian awoke to the smell of frying meat, and followed his nose after throwing his warm cloak around his shoulders. The morning was chilly, and his dressy shirt and slacks didn¡¯t quite cut it. Soon he found the guardsmen gathered around another fire, grease snapping and popping from a large skillet over the fire.


    Davis noticed his approach and walked over to him. Another bowl was shoved into his hands filled with hot meat and vegetables, which he accepted gratefully.


    ¡°They need help moving grain. Some coins for your help.¡±


    An unexpected job offer came from him. Damian immediately decided to accept, he needed money desperately after all. Still, it was never good to accept the first offer right away.


    ¡°How many coins?¡± Damian asked.


    Davis scowled at him, trying to be intimidating, but Damian just smiled politely back at him. Had he been trying to cheat him? Actually, knowing Davis, he probably just didn¡¯t want to talk any more than necessary.


    ¡°Three small.¡± Davis finally grunted out.


    Damian paused. He really had no frame of reference for whether it was a good offer or not. Eventually he decided to just take it. The man already seemed to be in a bad mood, and Damian didn¡¯t want to offend him by asking for more.


    ¡°Alright. Where should I go?¡±


    Davis wordlessly pointed to a large hut where some men were already hauling bags over to the carts, and Damian felt a little silly for not noticing it earlier. He quickly shoveled his breakfast into his mouth and ran over to help.


    He found that the large hut was a granary of sorts, filled with sacks of a yellowish rice-like cereal. He quickly got to work, and between him and the other men they finished in no time. Damian, who had worked up a bit of a sweat, met again with Davis who wordlessly handed him three small bronze coins. They were stamped on both sides with letters Damian couldn¡¯t recognize, and were tarnished and misshapen.


    It was only a small amount, but it was the first money he had earned in this world! Damian was a bit happy at that, and he felt like his situation was starting to improve.


    Damian looked up and found Davis looking at him appraisingly.


    ¡°Can you fight?¡± he asked him suddenly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never learned the sword or spear, but I know some martial arts.¡± Damian answered truthfully. For a few years he had taken lessons on the martial art muay thai, a form of kickboxing from Thailand. He had enjoyed it, and continued practicing throughout the years as a form of exercise.


    ¡°Show me.¡± Davis told him simply, and got into a loose stance.


    Damian looked around. Were they going to spar here? The villagers seemed to be minding their own business, but he saw Ken and another man shake hands while watching them. He guessed it was a test to see if he could hold his own if they got in a fight on the way back, so decided to give it his all.


    Resolute, Damian faced his opponent in a stance.


    Suddenly, he shot forward, and threw some rapid jabs towards Davis, who dodged back skillfully. Taking advantage of an opening in between punches, Davis charged forward in a tackle.


    Somehow, Damian managed to stay on his feet and stop the taller man¡¯s momentum. Quickly taking advantage of the pause, he wrapped an arm around Davis¡¯ neck and launched a knee into his abdomen.


    The man grunted in pain, and Damian felt his body tense under his arms. Before he could send another knee strike, he felt the man¡¯s arms wrap around him in a crushing grip.


    And suddenly, he was flying. The world was upside down, and for a moment, he clearly saw Davis in a pose as if he had thrown him.


    ¡®What¡­?¡¯


    Damian barely had time to think before he crashed into the ground on his back, driving the air out of his lungs.


    He sat there for a few seconds, trying to get his breath back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a smirking Ken receiving a handful of coins from the scowling guardsman next to him.


    Damian was terribly confused. Davis didn¡¯t seem like a weak guy, but he was wiry. He shouldn¡¯t have had enough strength to toss him like that.


    A shadow came over him, which soon resolved itself into Davis¡¯ face wearing a savage grin.


    ¡°Good instinct. You got some potential for qi.¡± He said happily.


    Davis offered a hand, which Damian grasped, and was yanked onto his feet.


    ¡°Qi?¡± Damian asked tentatively. ¡°Is that how you sent me flying?¡±


    Davis nodded his affirmative, and Damian was shocked. He had heard of qi, chi or ki before on Earth. He remembered it was supposed to be some kind of inner energy in Chinese superstition, but he figured he would have noticed if martial artists could launch people eight feet in the air with it!


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Damian asked eagerly. Magic was magic, but this was cool too!


    Davis scratched his beard thoughtfully.


    ¡°Hmm. Look inside. Put energy in muscles, and it makes you strong.¡±


    Damian looked at him flatly. That was it?! Even his half blind elderly high school history teacher had given better lessons than that. He could only think that this guy wasn¡¯t suited to be a teacher at all.


    In an attempt to get some actually useful information out of him, Damian asked, ¡°Look inside? Are you talking about meditation?¡±


    Davis said nothing, but gave him a solid thumbs up. Then, he promptly turned and started walking away, calling over his shoulder, ¡°Leaving soon. Take Ken¡¯s spear.¡±


    Damian stared at him forlornly as he walked away. A hand on his shoulder knocked him out of it, and he looked over to see Ken, who seemed to be struggling not to laugh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. Half the guys in the company have tried to get him to teach qi, but nobody¡¯s figured it out yet. Honestly that was probably one of the better explanations I¡¯ve heard him give.¡±


    Damian sighed heavily.


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll try to figure it out on my own later. I think he mentioned something about your spear?¡±


    ¡°¡®Take Ken¡¯s spear¡¯, was it? In normal person speak, that probably means something like, ¡®Ken will let you borrow his beloved spear for the way back, so make sure not to break it or bad things will happen¡¯, or something like that.¡±


    Ken handed him the spear he had been carrying, though his smile looked sort of threatening as he did.


    It was shorter than he had thought at first, with its height being just under his own. A red-brown coloured shaft ended in a wickedly sharp steel leaf shaped tip. It was unadorned, but had a simple elegance that Damian found appealing.


    ¡°Right, thanks. I¡¯ll be careful with it.¡±


    ¡°You ever used one before? Well, doesn¡¯t matter. Just remember that the sharp end goes towards the enemy, and you¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±


    Damian looked at him dubiously, but gave a cautious nod.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a horse,¡± Ken continued, ¡°So you can take your pick of the tax carts to ride in. If we get in a fight, just stay back and defend Sir Remond and the merchants.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll see any action?¡±


    Ken shrugged. ¡°You never know what you¡¯ll find out here in the sticks. Bandits are a possibility, but the real danger is magic beasts.¡±


    ¡°What are those?¡±


    Ken stared at him. ¡°What the hell kinda place did you come from to not have magic beasts? Ehhh, well, just think of them as beefed up animals that really want to kill you. ¡®Round here we¡¯ve got mostly bears, wolves, gobs, and mites. If we see a mite, though, we¡¯re just gonna leave the taxes and run. Let us know right away if you see something that looks like a big ass beetle; those things are no joke. They say if you see one mite, there¡¯s twenty more behind it that you don¡¯t.¡±


    Magic and monsters. Damian wondered just how fantasy-like this place could get. Would he meet an elf next?


    ¡°Oh right, and there¡¯s these too.¡± Ken reached into a leather bag he had on his waist and pulled out a waterskin and a small bundle of dried meat wrapped in a large leaf.


    ¡°For the road. Looks like the merchants are just about finished packing up, so we had better get ready to leave.¡±


    With that, he gave him one more reassuring clap on the shoulder and walked away. Damian noticed the merchants were rolling up their mats to leave, and rushed to grab his bedroll and find a cart to stay on.


    He ended up choosing one near the front, and as he got closer he realized they were a bit peculiar. For one, the horse that was pulling the cart wasn¡¯t so much of a horse after all. It was certainly similar, but it had a much flatter face, and its back legs were extremely muscled, to the point of being almost as wide as its torso. There was also nobody to drive the carts. Instead, each ¡®horse¡¯ was connected to the cart in front of it by a lead. At the very front, Sir Remond¡¯s carriage led the way, driven by a short man with a forgettable face, alongside half of the company of guards, with the other half guarding the back.


    Damian made himself comfortable among the sacks of grain, laying Ken¡¯s spear next to him, and settled in for the trip. Not long after, a whistle was blown, and the convoy started moving. Soon the view changed from village to fields to forest, as they traced their steps back away from Pond.


    Damian thought he would miss the village a little; it was a relaxing place with friendly, happy people. Still, Damian was an ambitious man. He wouldn¡¯t be satisfied staying in such a tiny village.


    As time went by, Damian found himself facing his first enemy: boredom. He was already missing the easy access to entertainment that modern society provided. Here, he could only nibble on jerky and watch the trees go by.


    Thinking back to his interaction with Davis earlier, Damian decided to try and see if he could figure out the mysterious qi power. Davis had mentioned he was to meditate, then focus some kind of energy into his muscles that would increase their strength. Fortunately, meditation had been part of his lessons on muay thai, and he had stuck with it, finding it gave him some mental clarity that helped with his studies.


    Damian started to focus on his breathing, evening it out and making long and slow movements. Once he was in a more relaxed mindset, he tried to find the energy Davis had mentioned by focusing on the inside of his body.


    Surprisingly, he found it quickly.


    It was as if he had forgotten to take off his sunglasses indoors, then suddenly became aware of it once somebody pointed it out. It was obvious once he started to look for it. The feeling was like a sort of pressure suffused throughout his body, and as he looked closer, he found it seemed to move following his blood. As his heart beat, the energy cycled through him.


    Damian was at a bit of a loss as to how to control the energy. Davis hadn¡¯t said anything other than ¡°put energy in muscles¡±. Was it just a matter of willpower?


    He started with the idea of the energy following his blood. He focused on the image of the energy flowing along with his blood cells through his veins and delivering oxygen and nutrients, and concentrated his willpower on the energy in his hands. For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. He kept at it, however, and slowly the energy responded. Accompanied by a tingling feeling in his hands, he watched as the energy seemed to disappear and be absorbed by his muscles. As an experiment, he kept the mental image going and cautiously gripped the side of the cart.


    Shockingly, the wood splintered easily! Damian was even a bit scared at how easily he had done it. Such a feat was something that most bodybuilders of Earth couldn¡¯t do easily, yet he felt like he had barely put any strength in.


    Still, it couldn¡¯t stop the resounding feeling of satisfaction and success. He had really done it! Although it might not be the magic he was hoping for, it was still a supernatural power that didn¡¯t exist back on Earth.


    There was just one problem.


    Why was it so easy?


    Ken had told him that at least half of the company had tried to learn qi with no progress. While that could be chalked up to Davis¡¯ abysmal teaching ability, Damian couldn¡¯t help but wonder if there was something more to it. Was it easy to notice because he came from Earth, where there was no such energy?


    Damian wasn¡¯t so sure. He had noticed a few things that bothered him during his short time here, the first being the feeling of disorientation he had during his arrival. He clearly remembered feeling as if something had changed in him, as if his body had to be rebuilt to fit in this other universe. It was a deeply disturbing thought, the idea that something had been messing around in his head, but what if it had brought some benefits? The ability to use qi seemed to be quite a rare skill, what if there were changes to Damian¡¯s brain chemistry that allowed him to learn it easily?


    If the only factor was that feeling of disorientation, then Damian might have just dismissed those ideas as superstition. However, there were two other things he had noticed that didn¡¯t seem to make sense. For one, his memory had clearly improved drastically. The lessons from his parents that he had made use of regarding kidnapping and etiquette had happened during his early childhood. Normally there was no way he should have been able to remember them so clearly.


    As a test, Damian tried to recall the names of the teachers he had had throughout the years, and found he was able to remember them easily. Did he suddenly have an eidetic memory now?


    He had a somewhat bittersweet feeling regarding that idea. If he¡¯d had that ability earlier, the countless hours he had spent studying and memorizing wouldn¡¯t have been so painful. On the other hand, those difficult times had given him a wealth of knowledge that he now had full access to, which would certainly help him in the future.


    The final thing he had noticed was something he had been avoiding thinking about for some time now, as it freaked him out somewhat. Every person he had met so far had understood him perfectly, and he them. The thing was¡­


    None of them were speaking english.


    He had first noticed it while talking to Sir Remond. The movement of his lips didn¡¯t match what Damian was hearing from him. He had some slight skill in reading lips, and was able to notice quickly. At one point, he had tried to figure out what he was actually saying, and found that rather than, ¡°you¡¯re from a noble house, aren¡¯t you?¡±, the words actually spoken were something like, ¡°yeosu mon, siki yu ni?¡±.


    The thing was, Damian couldn¡¯t figure out how the hell something like that was possible. Sure, modern technology could translate between languages almost instantaneously, but information on both languages had to be given to the translator. For Damian, who had no knowledge of the kingdom¡¯s language whatsoever, how could he possibly understand it? It didn¡¯t seem to coincide with the changes to his body, either. He had no clue what the word ¡®yeosu¡¯ could mean, so that ruled out the idea that the knowledge had somehow been planted into his brain.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Damian rubbed his eyes tiredly. Thinking about things that made no sense was giving him a headache. He gave a mental shrug and decided to just leave it to later. It didn¡¯t seem to affect him negatively, so he figured he would wait to make any theories until he had more information.


    Instead, he would much rather study qi!


    In a land without readily available entertainment, he had to make his own fun. Besides, while Damian was surprised at how easily he was able to take the first step in controlling his qi, he was well aware that it took way too much concentration for him to use it in combat. To fix that, he needed to practice and experiment. There was no better time than a long ride in a horse cart to do that.


    Damian quickly got to work practicing manipulating his qi. Without guidance, he was forced to experiment. He attempted things like concentrating energy in different parts of his body, and in different organs, as well as moving it in patterns, and simply training his ability to direct it. When he was too mentally exhausted from controlling the energy directly, he sat and meditated and watched it flow naturally.


    For over six hours, he practiced diligently, taking breaks only to nibble on some jerky or drink some water. For someone of his current world, it was practically unimaginable to be able to focus so hard for so long. Even on Earth, the vast majority of people would struggle to study hard for six hours straight.


    But that was how Damian had always been. He may have been a talentless person, but he had developed an extremely hard working and competitive personality to counteract that. Damian was someone who always strived to be the best, not just to meet the expectations of his family and peers, but also for his own personal satisfaction. To simply quit and decide that he couldn¡¯t do something was unacceptable for him, so he forced himself to work and focus twice as hard as everyone else. Eventually, it became a habit, and he was able to devote himself to tasks naturally.


    At the end of his training session, Damian had learned several things about the mysterious force of qi, as well as improved his ability to manipulate it considerably. He still wasn¡¯t quite at the level where he could easily use it while fighting, but he considered it to only be a matter of time.


    Using his basic knowledge of human anatomy, Damian had directed his qi to various parts of his body that he thought it might affect. The first thing he tried was a portion of his skin, and found that it made his skin considerably harder, but also stiff like leather. Damian decided to only affect his skin in emergencies, as the skin was a considerably important organ, and he didn¡¯t know if there were any long term effects to having it changed so much.


    Next he attempted to focus energy on his lungs. He didn¡¯t seem to feel too different, but he was definitely able to inhale and exhale more powerfully, and even gave himself a nosebleed from breathing too hard. Damian assumed the infusion of qi might help his ability to absorb oxygen from the air, but figured it would be hard to test unless he ran a marathon or something.


    For the most part afterwards, he mostly focused on enhancing his muscles and moving qi around his body. He didn¡¯t want to attempt any experiments on his other organs before consulting Davis, in case he blew up an eyeball or something by mistake. As he used up the qi inside him, he found it would slowly replenish naturally over the course of a few hours.


    Throughout his training, he couldn¡¯t stop a giddy feeling from welling up in his chest. The idea that he could now use supernatural powers brought him immense joy, and each small bit of improvement he made to his skill only increased his motivation to do better, and learn more.


    All good things must come to an end, however, and the sun dipped slowly into the horizon, prompting the caravan to stop for the night on the side of the road. Damian stepped off the cart feeling refreshed, as if he had just finished a workout. Though, his butt was sore from the bumpy road.


    With a light heart, he met with the other guards to prepare supper. Roy lit a new fire - to which Damian watched with no less awe than the first time - and several men got to work. Damian was conscripted to peel a potato-like vegetable while others chopped and peeled with him. He was disappointed to find there would be no meat tonight. They had used the last of their stock in the previous stew, so it would be vegetables and bread only.


    A large pot was brought out, and Roy demonstrated a new magic.


    ¡°Gather water¡±


    Slowly, a blob of water grew in mid-air above the cooking pot, in front of Roy¡¯s outstretched hand. As it became bigger, Damian felt that the surrounding air was a bit strange. It was becoming¡­ Dryer?


    It only took him a moment to realize that Roy wasn¡¯t conjuring water out of nothing like he had first thought, but was actually pulling the moisture in the surrounding air into a single point.


    That, Damian decided, was significant. It meant that the magic of this world didn¡¯t create things out of nothing, or work based off of esoteric rules, but was actually based on some of the scientific principles he had learned on Earth.


    In that case, wouldn¡¯t his modern knowledge be extraordinarily valuable? The more Damian thought about it, the more concerned he became. In a political sense, wasn¡¯t he something like a nuke? Actually, couldn¡¯t he create a literal nuke with magic?


    A bead of cold sweat ran down his neck. Damian desperately wanted to learn magic. Something about it called to him like nothing else he had done before. However, if he wasn¡¯t careful in showing his knowledge, he could become the enemy of every nation out of fear of him spreading dangerous knowledge.


    That was something Damian wanted to avoid at all costs. After all, there was one idea that had been ingrained in him from modern society. No matter what, one man can do nothing in the face of thousands. While this world seemed to allow individuals to hold incredible power, but even if he was able to defeat a thousand enemies at once, it was no use if that individual was hated by everyone. Humans are social creatures, it would be impossible for someone to remain sane if they are completely ostracised.


    As the vegetable stew boiled away, Damian considered these ideas. In the end, he decided he had three options. First, he could live a quiet life, either avoiding magic completely, or being extremely careful with how much he used and showed people. He nearly dismissed this one entirely. Living at the bottom like that was something he could fundamentally not accept.


    Second, he could work together with a nation. It would involve gaining the trust of the highest levels of government, and doing favours for them in return for their protection. Damian didn¡¯t like to admit it, but he had a bit of a problem with authority and following the orders of others, and for that reason this option didn¡¯t appeal to him.


    The third option¡­ Would be to build his own nation. Certainly, it would be the most difficult choice by far, and would pitt him against numerous people that wouldn¡¯t want to see that happen. Damian wasn¡¯t one to shy away from a challenge, though, and if he treated the people in his country fairly, there shouldn¡¯t be any reason for him to be despised, right?


    The fourth hidden option would be to just do whatever the hell he wanted, until enough damage racked up that countries would just leave him alone, but he knew that that was a fast track to being despised and feared by the world.


    Public image was important.


    Damian was a normal person, after all. He wanted to be liked by the people around him, and was anxious at the thought that he might be hated.


    Still, all of this was far in the future. Damian had yet to learn magic, although he had some suspicions about the nature of ki.


    While Damian had been having deep thoughts about the future of the world, the men of the caravan chatted amicably with each other. Even Sir Remond let his formal language drop somewhat and had a pleasant conversation with those around him.


    It was an atmosphere completely at odds with how Damian had been thinking, and it managed to snap him out of his worries. At that moment, he was safe, and among friendly people, with magic to look forward too. Having a long term goal was good, but Damian decided it would be best to take things one step at a time for now.


    A bowl of stew and bread was handed to him, and Damian munched on it happily. It wasn¡¯t as bad as he had expected. The merchants had provided some salt for the dish, so it wasn¡¯t too bland.


    After his meal, Ken showed him how to maintain the spear he had lent him, applying oil on the surface of the metal, and giving him a rag to wrap around it while he slept or otherwise wasn¡¯t using it.


    Afterwards, everyone began to clean up and get ready to sleep. Since he was now part of the company, Damian was assigned to take the first watch along with Roy. His eyes gleamed hearing that. A chance to get Roy to teach him!


    First, though, he wanted to figure out the next step for his ki. He approached Davis, who was getting ready to sleep, and asked him about it.


    ¡°Davis, I managed to figure out how to use qi on my muscles. I was wondering if there was any other way to use it.¡±


    Davis stared at him for a few seconds.


    ¡°... Lying is bad.¡± he said finally.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying!¡± Damian shot back, a bit offended.


    Davis looked at him suspiciously.


    ¡°Show me.¡± He demanded.


    Damian looked around for a target and found a short spindly tree nearby. With a few seconds to concentrate his qi into his hand, he gripped the trunk of the tree strongly, and with a crunching sound, it was crushed under his grip. Slowly, the tree tipped over, and hit the ground softly.


    Damian turned to Davis expectantly, and found him looking at him with shining eyes. A hand clapped onto Damian¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Prodigy.¡± Davis said proudly.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Well, thanks.¡± Damian responded awkwardly.


    Davis put on a thoughtful expression, and turned to look at the other men in the camp.


    ¡°Hmm. Can you teach?¡± he asked Damian.


    ¡°The other guys? Well, maybe. I can¡¯t promise anything. You can¡¯t do it yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no good.¡±


    So he was aware of it himself!


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it for free, though. How about a certain amount for every person that manages to learn the basics, and only for the duration of the trip back?¡±


    Davis nodded. ¡°Basics is fine. Two big per head.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, how many small coins is that?¡±


    ¡°Ten small for a big.¡±


    So twenty small coins for each person he managed to teach in the next few days. Even if he only succeeded once, he would earn almost seven times as much as he did when he helped move the grain!


    ¡°Sounds good to me, but when should I teach them?¡±


    During the day, the guardsmen would be split up between the front and back of the caravan, and it would be impossible for them to concentrate on meditating while being aware of their surroundings.


    ¡°Some time in the morning and some time at night.¡±


    So he was planning on having the caravan leave a little later and stop a little earlier then. Damian wondered if Sir Remond would be alright with that, but decided to let Davis handle it.


    ¡°Okay. Ah, I wanted to ask if there¡¯s any other ways to use qi, like making your vision or hearing better.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Davis thought for a moment. ¡°Masters can. In the city.¡±


    So it was an advanced technique, and he¡¯d be able to find somebody capable of it in a larger city. That was good news, it meant Damian might be able to figure it out himself given enough time. The only concern he had was whether or not he could hurt himself experimenting with qi.


    When he asked Davis, he responded that he had heard of people injuring themselves by moving too fast, or jumping too high and falling, but nothing like pieces falling off or anything.


    In that case, it was probably just a matter of balancing the energy between your muscles, and avoiding making movements that your body couldn¡¯t handle.


    With his questions answered, Damian left to meet with Roy. Davis sent him off with a thumbs up and a ¡°good luck.¡±


    Once everyone was settled in, Roy put out the last of the fire. Supposedly, the light from the fire would interfere with their night vision. Roy directed him to sit beside him and face the opposite direction he was, so they could cover all angles. Damian wrapped himself up tightly in his cloak, and settled into a comfortable position.


    After waiting for a few minutes for everyone to go to sleep, he made his move.


    ¡°So Roy, I heard you¡¯re a pretty great combat mage.¡±


    Roy snorted at him.


    ¡°Save your flattery for the village girls. What do you want?¡±


    There were some people that didn¡¯t respond well to compliments after all. Maybe it would be better to take a direct approach?


    ¡°Do you think you could teach me some magic?¡±


    ¡°Hmph. I don¡¯t mind giving you an introduction, but what are you going to give me for my time? I heard you were broke.¡±


    Damian paused. He had the few coins from earlier, but doubted they would be enough. He would be getting some more for his work later, but he wanted to learn magic tonight, damnit!


    He sighed. There was one thing he could give him.


    Damian dug into the pocket of his slacks and handed Roy an item. The mage looked at the thing in his hands. To him, it was a strange black rectangle made of some odd material.


    ¡°What is this?¡± He asked.


    It was Damian¡¯s cellphone. To him, a completely useless item, since there was no connection to the internet, but to others it was a mysterious thing.


    ¡°A magic device. Here- ¡° Damian reached over and pressed the power button, causing the screen to light up.


    Roy jerked back in surprise, but managed to avoid dropping it.


    ¡°I was lucky to have it on me when I came here.¡± Damian continued, ¡°Nobody is sure what it does other than light up, but it should fetch a good price from a rich collector or something, right?¡±


    Damian was hoping they wouldn¡¯t figure out how to work it before the battery ran out. He had some pretty embarrassing pictures on there, after all.


    Roy stared at the device in his hand for a few seconds, before shoving it into a pouch on his belt.


    ¡°Alright. Learning magic, was it?¡±


    Damian sighed in relief. He didn¡¯t have any way to prove the phone¡¯s value so he was glad it caught the man¡¯s interest.


    Roy scratched his stubbled chin idly.


    ¡°I think¡­ As long as it¡¯s just an introduction it should be fine.¡±


    Damian looked at him in confusion.


    ¡°Why not more than that?¡±


    ¡°If I gave you anything more than the basics of manipulation, the mage guilds would be on my ass in no time.¡±


    ¡°Is it illegal to teach magic or something?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. The Highfire guild based here in the Greywall Kingdom has an agreement with the king that they can only teach magic at the Academy. Basically, the Academy teaches noble youngsters the basics, and some general knowledge, and the guild snatches any of the good talent. If the guild found me teaching people how to make fire or something without their permission it wouldn¡¯t be good for me.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like that, are you alright instructing me?¡±


    Roy waved him off. ¡°Eh it¡¯s fine for just the start. You¡¯ll have to figure out the details on your own though. Besides, you already paid me.¡±


    Damian stared at him, unable to tell whether he was a kind person, or just incautious.


    ¡°Right.¡± Roy began, ¡°Have you ever heard of meditation? It¡¯s like this-¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve already got that down.¡± Damian interrupted him.


    ¡°Oh. Ah, well, then the first step to sensing mana is to go deep into meditation, then try to extend your senses outside your body. If you get it right, you should be able to feel the world¡¯s energy around your body. Then, by applying your willpower to it, you can make it gather. It¡¯s said that if you can gather enough mana that it becomes visible, then you¡¯ve taken your first step to becoming a mage. Listen well! If you practice diligently every night for-¡±


    Damian tuned him out. Unexpectedly, the guy liked to talk.


    Using breathing exercises, Damian fell into a meditative state. Previously when he was trying to sense qi, he had looked inside himself, but to sense mana it was the opposite. He directed his focus onto expanding his senses beyond his skin, and seemed to hit a wall. Instead of getting discouraged, however, he only became more determined.


    Since he had hit a wall, he only needed to push through! It would be a different story if there was no resistance, as if trying to push air, but since there was a definite feeling of blockage, he just needed to get through it.


    Over the next few minutes, he maintained a high level of focus, pushing against that wall with all his mental willpower. Eventually, he was able to detect a weakening, as if it was flexing back. Encouraged, he gave it a concentrated push, and was through!


    Suddenly, he became aware of a swirling energy all around him. Damian felt as though it was only a few inches in any direction, but figured the distance would grow with training. Taking a closer look, he noticed that the feeling of the energy was remarkably similar to the inner energy called qi he had been working with earlier. If there was any difference, Damian thought his qi seemed to be somehow livelier, rushing through his body with purpose, while the mana in the air drifted about calmly. Focusing below him, he noticed that there seemed to be mana in the ground, as well, but it moved sluggishly.


    Damian decided that these different flavours of energy were actually all the same thing, just with different aspects depending on what material it was inhabiting. He wondered why he hadn¡¯t heard of such a thing earlier. Were qi practitioners and mages so separate as to not notice, or was the information being restricted somehow?


    Moving along, Damian attempted to direct the energy into a point above his palm, using the same method as when he was moving his qi. Slowly, the mana in the air responded to his will, condensing above his palm.


    Opening his eyes, he found a softly glowing orb hovering over his hand.


    Damian felt overwhelmed with childlike joy. He had just done magic, real magic! He couldn¡¯t help a wild grin from stretching across his face.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Roy¡¯s voice came from beside him.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Damian had gotten too absorbed in his attempt; he had forgotten the man next to him. He regretted being so hasty, judging from the shock on the man¡¯s face, he had done something he shouldn¡¯t have.


    ¡°You must have experience with this, right? There¡¯s no way you could have done that so quickly as a beginner.¡±


    ¡°Well, something like that?¡± Damian smiled at him innocently.


    Roy stared at him for a long moment.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not in the business of digging up other people¡¯s secrets. If that really was your first time handling mana then you¡¯ve got some frightening talent.¡±


    Talent.


    It was a word Damian had never expected to be directed at him. Certainly, he had managed to keep pace with talented peers through hard work alone, but he had never breezed through problems like they seemed to. Everything had been difficult for Damian. If he wasn¡¯t such a dedicated person, he would have surely fallen to the middle of the pack. By the current point, Damian had gotten so used to struggling that he didn¡¯t even consider that he might be different in this subject.


    That word uttered so casually made him realize something.


    Magic¡­ Was easy for him.


    A tear welled up in his eye. Finally, he had found the talent he had been looking so hard for! It had only taken a trip to another universe.


    ¡°O-oi kid.¡± Roy began, flustered at seeing him emotional. ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t look into it didn¡¯t I? Don¡¯t go soft on me now.¡±


    ¡°Roy¡­ You¡¯re a really good guy.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Roy seemed confused at the sudden compliment, but shrugged it off.


    ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve gotten that far, there¡¯s nothing else I can teach you without losing my head.¡±


    ¡°Wait, all I need is a hint! How do I use the mana that I collect?¡±


    Roy seemed to agonize over how to answer the question, before leaning in.


    ¡°I guess it should be fine to say¡­ Apply your knowledge to it? You didn¡¯t hear that from me though, okay?¡±


    ¡°Right, thank you so much for your help!¡±


    Roy scratched the back of his head awkwardly.


    ¡°You figured it out so fast I almost feel like I ripped you off.¡±


    ¡°Not at all! Though, if you want to pay me back, could you tell me about the Academy? I heard you went there for a while.¡±


    Roy made an ugly face at the mention of the Academy.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to go there. It¡¯s full of nothing but cutthroat, backstabbing bastards.¡± he growled out.


    Clearly the man had some bitter memories of the place. Still, Damian was determined to at least check the place out. He knew he was severely lacking in common sense and knowledge of the world, and he thought there would be no better place to learn of such things than a school.


    ¡°Even so, I¡¯m interested. I understand if you don¡¯t want to talk about it, but could you at least tell me how I could get in, and where it is?¡±


    Roy was silent for a long time. Eventually, he began talking in a low voice.


    ¡°My full name¡­ Is Royan Kirral. I was the fourth son of Baron Kirral to the south of Viscount Irene¡¯s territory. When it was discovered that I had some talent for magic, I was sent to the Academy, in the Royal Capitol.


    That place¡­ It¡¯s not for learning magic, or history or anything else. It¡¯s just a playground for the children of nobles. The few commoners there are treated like garbage, and the lower nobles have to suck up to the higher ones if they don¡¯t want to get stepped on.


    When I went there, I was too naive. I thought I¡¯d be able to make friends and have a good time learning things.¡±


    Roy seemed to hunch in on himself.


    ¡°I made the mistake of introducing myself to an Earl¡¯s son. Of course, I didn¡¯t know who he was. In high society, the one with the higher rank should be the first to say their name. To them I was telling them I was better than them by introducing myself first. That Earl¡¯s son told me to get down and lick his shoe to apologize, but I was too prideful.


    From that moment on¡­ My time there was hell! They constantly did terrible things like dumping water on my head, or pulling all of my notes out of my bag! Eventually, it got so bad I had to stay in my room to avoid them. In the end, I was kicked out of the Academy for missing too many classes. I went back home, and tried to explain to my family, but I was kicked out of there too! My own father said to never show my face to him again!¡±


    Damian listened silently as Roy told his story. It was certainly a traumatic tale, but Damian couldn¡¯t help but think that the guy was dramatic as hell. Basically, he couldn¡¯t take the bullying so he hid in his room and got kicked out. Then his family sent him away for wasting their money and giving them a bad reputation.


    Damian did pity him somewhat. He himself had been the victim of bullying a few times, but he had never missed school over it. He had developed his own way of dealing with the bastards that messed with him, and they never bothered him again afterwards.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you have no business there. If the son of a Baron like me is treated so terribly, then a nameless guy like you will have no chance to learn anything.¡±


    Damian felt a little annoyed. He didn¡¯t mind attending the guy¡¯s pity party, but he wished he would just give him the info he wanted.


    ¡°Sorry, but I still intend to check it out.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you. You¡¯re going to have a hard time there no matter what. Well, with your talent, you should get in easily enough though. There¡¯s entrance examinations twice a year, just show them your mana condensation and they¡¯ll let you right in. I think the next one should be in a month or so, so if you rush you might be able to make it in time.¡±


    ¡°I see. Thanks.¡±


    Roy seemed to be a little annoyed with him as well, as he just stared out into the forest in silence afterwards.


    The rest of their watch period passed quietly. Damian would have been a little ashamed to say he spent most of it playing with mana rather than keeping an eye out. Eventually, Roy nudged him, and they woke up the next two men for their watch.


    With the excuse that he needed to take a leak, Damian stepped a little ways into the dark forest. There was something he wanted to try before he went to bed.


    When he was hidden behind a layer of vegetation, he began by gathering mana above his palm.


    ¡®Apply my knowledge to it, huh?¡¯ Damian thought.


    Previously he had used his knowledge of anatomy to move his qi into his muscles along with his blood. Would it be the same principle here?


    To begin with, Damian thought of fire. It was something that was well understood in his previous world, so he thought it would be a good start. Someone like Roy could produce it, after all.


    Fire was defined as an exothermic oxidation reaction, as oxygen molecules interact with a fuel. When enough energy was given to the system, combustion would start, producing water, CO2, heat, light, and some smaller products. Damian assumed mana to be a type of energy that was affected by will. Could he get it to act as a fuel too?


    He began by concentrating all of his thoughts on the nature of fire, all of his experiences with it, and the facts he had learnt on Earth that were backed up by an untold number of experiments and knowledge. Keeping all of these ideas in the forefront of his mind, he focused it on the concentrated mana over his palm, and pushed.


    Deep in the north side of the Greywall Kingdom, right on the border to the Highfern forest, somewhere most would consider to be the ass end of nowhere, a pale yellow flame burned brightly.

 Chapter 3: You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

    Damian rubbed the sleep from his eyes tiredly. After his success with magic the night before, he had been unable to sleep from all the excited thoughts running through his head. Slowly, he trudged over to where the other men of the caravan. There was no fire lit, so he guessed it would probably be a cold breakfast that morning, and pulled out a piece of jerky to nibble on.


    He sighed forlornly. They didn¡¯t seem to have coffee in this place, and he was seriously craving some caffeine.


    As he got closer, he noticed Davis talking with Sir Remond with serious looks on their faces.


    ¡®Right, there was that too.¡¯ Damian had nearly forgotten his deal with Davis from the night before.


    Deciding to take the initiative, he approached the two men.


    ¡°Damian.¡± Sir Remond greeted him first. ¡°I heard you managed to learn the basics of qi quite fast.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir. I apologize for taking up your time with my deal with your guards.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. I confess I¡¯m curious as to how you¡¯ll do. Besides, it would be wonderful to have the men in my employ become more capable. However, I must ask that you keep your lessons as short as possible.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Sir Remond nodded, satisfied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start now.¡± Davis put in.


    Damian agreed, and a change seemed to come over Davis, his face becoming stern. He turned to the men of his company, and took a deep breath.


    ¡°Gather up, you bastards! Except for Roy, I want everyone here right now!¡± he shouted loudly. Damian barely held back from clapping his hands over his ears. This was a far cry from the quiet man he had gotten used to!


    Hearing his yell, the guardsmen quickly snapped to attention, and rushed over to stand in a loose group before them.


    ¡°Listen up! Damian here has managed to master the basics of qi faster than any of you lot will ever be able to! Fortunately for you, he¡¯s willing to teach his skills. You¡¯re all grateful, right?¡±


    A chorus of ¡°Yes!¡±¡¯s and such came from the small crowd.


    Before Davis could continue, a voice rang out from the men.


    ¡°Captain! Did that kid really manage to learn it?¡±


    It was one of the men Damian hadn¡¯t interacted much with. He supposed it would be too easy for them to trust him immediately. Noticing Davis looking at him expectantly, he figured he would need to make a demonstration.


    Damian picked up a small pebble. Focusing his qi on his hand, he shattered it between his thumb and index finger.


    A murmur of appreciation started up from the crowd, and they seemed to look at him with a newfound respect. Seeing this, Davis started up again.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is! Anyone else got questions? No? Good! Listen to his instructions. Every man who manages to learn properly will get one big coin added to their pay!¡±


    The men seemed especially fired up at the mention of the pay increase.


    Noticing everyone looking at him expectantly, Damian cleared his throat awkwardly.


    ¡°Right, for now, everyone should sit down cross legged like this.¡± He sat down, and everyone followed him. To his surprise, even Davis and Sir Remond followed him.


    ¡°To start with,¡± he continued, ¡°you¡¯ll be learning how to meditate properly. This may be boring for you, but it¡¯s an important part of being able to sense your qi.¡±


    For about thirty minutes or so, Damian guided them through basic meditation. Davis eventually placed a hand on his shoulder and let him know that they should get going, so he ended the practice. The men seemed a little disappointed they hadn¡¯t actually been able to do anything with qi, but Damian was happy to see they remained diligent in learning the skill.


    Damian planned to continue the meditation practice that evening before beginning to touch on qi the next morning. He knew he had had a major advantage having already known how to meditate properly beforehand, and figured it would be best to give the men a solid base before having them do anything more complicated.


    After the lesson, the camp was quickly packed up and they were on their way again. This time, Damian picked a cart near the back. He almost picked the rearmost one, but realized the trader driving the cart behind him would be able to see him the whole time, which he didn¡¯t want.


    After all, he was going to be practicing magic! Damian figured the less people that knew about his capabilities, the better.


    He settled in, this time bundling his cloak underneath him as a cushion, and waited for the caravan to start. Once it did, he got to work.


    To begin with, there was something he wanted to try. When Roy was casting his magic, he used words that seemed to echo with power, but Damian hadn¡¯t needed to do so when he conjured the flame the night before.


    ¡°Flame.¡±


    A dancing ball of yellow fire appeared floating over his palm, and Damian grinned. However, the magic wasn¡¯t any different, and his voice didn¡¯t have the same effect as Roy¡¯s. Was there some kind of trick to it, or was there something he was missing?


    He didn¡¯t have enough information. It seemed to have become a common theme, and it frustrated him. He needed to quickly reach the academy to be able to answer his questions.


    Next, he wanted to try to move around the magic as Roy had done. As he looked closer at the spell, he found that the ball of mana he had condensed was still there, and was slowly decreasing to fuel the fire. With a mental effort, he commanded the mana to move away from his palm while keeping the fire burning.


    Leisurely, it drifted away. However, when it reached the edge of his influence, the flame sputtered out. Damian frowned. Could he only cast magic within the space he could sense mana?


    He thought it might be just a matter of his mental image, but before he attempted anything new, he realized he probably shouldn¡¯t be playing with fire in the middle of a flammable forest.


    Instead, he attempted the water magic he had seen Roy cast.


    Damian pulled together a new ball of mana, and focused on it the image of water vapour from the air condensing. He watched it for a few seconds, but nothing seemed to happen.


    No, when he looked closer there was actually the tiniest bead of water visible in the middle of his mana ball.


    If it was only that much, was it only affecting the air within the sphere of mana?


    Damian thought for a minute, trying to solve the problem. Eventually, he found he might¡¯ve been thinking about it the wrong way. Perhaps the area around him where he could sense mana wasn¡¯t actually under his direct control, and only the mana that he could move was under his influence. In that case, it would make sense if only the vapour within the sphere of his mana was able to be affected.


    Actually, he figured the shape of the mana probably didn¡¯t matter at all, and confirmed this idea by making a long thin line of fire appear. In that case, how could he gather water from a larger area?


    By dispersing his mana.


    Damian changed his mental image with this in mind. He directed the mana first into a standard ball, then sent his mental instructions to it. First, it was to disperse into particles, and move into the surrounding air, then it was to collect water vapour in said air, and return back to his palm with the influenced water.


    Casting the spell, he watched as the mana seemed to explode outwards out of the area he could see, and after a few moments, droplets of water began to form in his palm, expanding until he had a handful of fresh water in his hand.


    Damian realized that by doing this, he had inadvertently proved that he could cast magic outside the area he could see it, he just couldn¡¯t influence it once it left. It seemed he just had to imprint instructions in such a way that it would continue to work outside. This relieved him. If he couldn¡¯t do so, how was he supposed to cast fireballs?!


    However, the strain of using such a complicated mental image was considerable, and he assumed the effort would only increase as he tried to cast more powerful spells.


    Damian passed some time by moving the water he had collected around in different shapes. He found the mana in the water decreased as time went on, just like with the fire, but it lowered much more slowly. He figured that because, in the case of the fire, he was also using the mana as fuel, it consumed more mana to keep it lit.


    Next, he created an image of the ball of water shooting forward, and released it onto the mana. Gleefully, the water ball shot forward and splashed against the ground.


    After doing so, he figured out something important. If the mana was actually pulling water from the atmosphere, couldn¡¯t he also influence other materials? He tested this with a few grains of the strange cereal, and found he was able to make them levitate!


    Damian grinned happily. It seemed this magic was really capable of anything! The only downside was the fact that he had to use the mana from his sphere of influence, so if he used it all up then he would have to wait for more to move in from the area around him, or move to a new area where the mana wasn¡¯t depleted. Also, the strain from keeping up the mental images meant he would have to find a way to make it easier to handle, or give up on casting large scale, complicated spells.


    Hopefully, the Academy would be able to alleviate one or both of those problems. For the rest of the ride, he decided he would practice forming, and applying mental images, as well as manipulating his inner energy.


    Four hours later, a whistle blew from up front, and the caravan stopped suddenly. The four grains of tax that had been whizzing around his head fell around him. A few seconds later, the guards from the back of the convoy shot past him, galloping towards the whistle.


    Was it an attack?


    Damian remembered he had been told to stay with either Sir Remond or the merchants in the event of one, but Sir Remond was up front where the fighting presumably was. Damian had counted five guards as they sprinted past him, all of the ones who were in the back.


    Didn¡¯t that mean the merchants were unguarded? Damian understood the feeling of wanting to prioritize the man with the money, but wasn¡¯t that a bit reckless?


    If he were a bandit lord, he¡¯d have the main force attack from the front, while a smaller force flanked from behind.


    Of course, it could also be one of the magic beasts he had heard about. He was curious to see what they were all about, but he was on a job. He had to at least check on the merchants. If he missed the action, well, that was okay as well. He didn¡¯t have a habit of getting himself in dangerous situations just for fun.


    Damian scooped up his borrowed spear and hopped off the cart lightly, and ran towards the back of the caravan.


    Almost immediately, his concerns were verified. A rough looking man in furs stood on the edge of the front merchant¡¯s cart, waving a rusty, jagged knife in the terrified man¡¯s face.


    ¡®Oh, shit!¡¯


    Without taking much time to think, Damian scooped up a hefty rock from the road and imbued it with the concept of velocity. The rock shot out of his hand at high speeds and made a beeline for the bandit¡¯s head. Damian could almost hear the thunk of the rock impacting the man¡¯s temple, and watched as he stumbled back, falling onto the dirt road heavily.


    Sending qi into the muscles in his legs, Damian blasted forwards! He nearly stumbled on the second step after the acceleration, but somehow managed to recover, and reached his destination in seconds.


    He noticed the bandit he had knocked down was struggling to get up, so he grabbed the man by the back of the neck and slammed his head - once, twice - into the side of the cart, before dropping him.


    ¡°Take care of him!¡±, he shot over his shoulder to the merchant.


    He didn¡¯t wait for a reply, and tore forward again, passing the second merchant. The man jerked on the ground, blood spurting from a gash in his neck. Damian couldn¡¯t help him.


    He turned the corner around the last cart sharply, sliding on the loose dirt. Inside the back merchant¡¯s cart, three bandits shoved items into large burlap sacks greedily. They turned, and looked at him in surprise.


    He needed to do something.


    Gather mana. Picture combustion. The mana is fuel. Less like wood, more like acetylene. Pull the surrounding oxygen in, feed the flames. Send it forward.


    White hot flames roared out of his palms, searing into the back of the cart.


    Damian had to look away, the light burned his eyes and the heat roasted his skin. Screams poured out of the back of the cart, ringing out over the roar of the fire. Damian looked back, and watched as a flaming figure of charred flesh tumbled out of the back. It writhed on the ground for a few moments before falling still.


    Damian threw up. He looked back, the smell of burnt meat reached his nose - and threw up again. He stumbled away for a few steps, before falling heavily onto his butt.


    This was magic?


    It had always been something, well, magical to him. Something childlike, and joyful. But now¡­


    Damian had killed people. Burnt them alive. He¡¯d been learning magic for less than a day, and he could already do this? No wonder the mage guilds controlled knowledge so severely.


    He stood up on shaky legs. Shouts, and the clashing of steel rang out from the front of the convoy. He wiped his lips on his sleeve, and stumbled towards the front of the burning cart. He stopped when he reached it.


    The merchant was dead. Blood spread out from his slit throat, pooling around his head. The bandits had killed one of them. It was self-defence.


    The horse bucked wildly in its reins, panicking over the fire at its back. Damian cut it loose with his spear, and watched as it ran ahead on the road.


    Damian walked on. The first bandit he had fought lay on the ground. A line of blood flowed out of one nostril, his eyes vacant, and chest still. The other merchant gulped, and watched him with wide eyes.


    He stumbled over to the cart he had been riding in, and sat down heavily against the side, the forgotten spear clattering down next to him. Damian knew he was in shock. His heart hammered in his chest, his breath was hitched, and he still felt like throwing up. For now, he needed to calm down.


    He took deep, slow breaths, and tried to slow his racing heart. He had managed to calm down somewhat by the time two of the guardsmen returned on their horses.


    ¡°Damian! What¡¯s going on?¡± Ken sported a new cut on the side of his head, and blood was splattered over his chest.


    Damian swallowed strongly.


    ¡°Four of them attacked from behind. I¡­ Took care of them.¡±


    Ken clicked his tongue. ¡°Damn! We shouldn¡¯t have all gone off at once.¡±


    He signalled with his head, and the other man rode off towards the back. Ken dismounted and approached Damian, getting on a knee in front of him.


    ¡°Good job. I know it¡¯s not  easy the first time. I¡¯m sorry you had to deal with that alone.¡± he said genuinely.


    Damian nodded.


    Ken looked over towards the burning cart, thick black smoke twisting into the sky.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the fire?¡±


    Damian shrugged.


    ¡°I guess that merchant had a lot of oil.¡± he gave a lame excuse.


    Ken looked at him searchingly, before standing with a grunt.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°You can just stay here for now. We¡¯ll get this mess cleaned up.¡±


    The other guard returned then, looking at Damian with a newfound respect, and they both rode back to the front, leaving Damian behind.


    Later, Damian learned that almost twenty bandits had attacked the front of the caravan, charging with broken weapons and iron tools. The guards had held them off with their superior equipment and Roy¡¯s magic, but one of the guards had gotten ganged up on by three bandits, and was dead.


    That made two casualties from their side, with one being a civilian.


    The other merchant had screamed at Davis for that, saying it was his job to protect them, and that he had failed. Davis could only listen with a stony face. It was true after all. However, Damian thought that if Ken and the rear group hadn¡¯t rushed to help with the attack, the casualties on the guards¡¯ side may have been much higher.


    For their dead, a small cremation funeral was held. The fallen bandits were simply dumped a short ways into the forest, supposedly the animals would take care of the disposal. After pushing the burnt out husk of the cart off to the side of the road, they set off again.


    For the first time since they had begun their journey, Damian sat without thinking about or practicing magic.


    On Earth, Damian had been a normal person. He had never seen anyone die, or even be seriously injured in his life. He had seen violence in movies and video games, but it was a far cry from the real thing. From doing it yourself.


    He had a tough mind, though, and was able to mostly recover after a few hours of brooding. It was just that kind of world, after all. If Damian didn¡¯t pick himself up, he¡¯d be left behind. It was the same as Earth in that respect. Damian was just lucky he hadn¡¯t been born in a region where such violence was all too common.


    For the rest of the day, Damian practiced diligently. He knew that someday, he might have somebody he needed to protect. Even though it was a power that caused such suffering, he knew he had to train it.


    When night fell, he had his students practice their meditation once more before heading to bed. Sleep came easy, though he was in a sombre mood, and the morning came quickly.


    For the morning¡¯s training, he had the men try to focus within themselves to sense their qi. To his surprise, four of them including Ken managed to sense it within the time they had. They thanked him with shining eyes, praising his teaching ability. Damian thought it wasn¡¯t a bad feeling to be looked up to like that, and wondered if he¡¯d ever have the opportunity to spread his knowledge again.


    The day passed much the same as the previous ones, a long, boring session of traveling through endless trees. The day that followed was the same, and on their fifth day with the caravan, they could spot the walls of Portertown. There were no other attacks during that time, which Damian was thankful for.


    During his training, he had managed to extend his field of magic influence out to a full foot around him, and decrease the time it took to concentrate his qi to less than a second. It was progress he was proud of, but he admitted to himself it was a little boring. In the future, he would see if he could focus more on experimenting with the mysterious powers he now had.


    In the end, five of the 9 remaining guards managed to use their qi to some effect, with two more on the sensing stage. Damian reassured the other two, telling them to keep up with their meditation practice and they should be able to do it someday.


    The walls of the town were nothing special. Instead of guarding against hostile armies, they were more for defence against magic beasts coming from the Highfern forest to the north. Since they didn¡¯t need to worry about siege attacks, the walls were short, made of a reddish brown rock stacked with mortar.


    As they approached, they passed through vast flat fields of grains and vegetables, as well as ranches with domesticated animals, used to feed the many people living in the town. Soon, Damian realized he had greatly underestimated the size of the town.


    He had assumed that, since the technology was at a medieval level, something at the level of a ¡®town¡¯ would have a few thousand people at most. Instead, the town before him stretched far into the distance, clearly able to support tens of thousands. Of course, it was nothing compared to modern settlements, but here, Damian thought it was impressive to be able to support so many people in one spot. Without modern logistics and agriculture, it was likely a difficult task.


    Damian realized the Greywall Kingdom had to be bigger than he thought, as well. Portertown was only one of four such towns in the territory of Viscount Irene. For such a large territory to belong to a Viscount, the rank with the second-most authority, he assumed the lands belonging to the Kingdom to be quite vast indeed.


    The buildings he had seen dotted around between fields slowly got closer and closer together, until they were passing through a shanty town just beyond the walls. Here, the people seemed to be much more miserable than those in Pond. Their clothes and bodies were filthy, and they looked to be in need of a few meals.


    Many people simply sat by the side of the road despondent. Did they not have any work? He wondered how they were able to afford to live, even in such terrible conditions, if they didn¡¯t have any income during the day.


    They reached the gates to the city, and stopped to let the guards check them. With one glance at Sir Remond¡¯s face, they waved them through.


    Damian noticed the men guarding the gate had much better equipment than the men of the caravan. They had several pieces of metal plate armour that gleamed in the sunlight, which were obviously well maintained.


    As they entered the town proper, there was a clear change in conditions. The streets were clean cobblestone, and people with bright expressions walked along the sides, letting carriages and carts ride down the middle.


    He saw that the people of the town were much better dressed than those of the village, with muted colours in patterns present. They had clean faces, and went about their business with purpose. The buildings on either side of the main street were much better quality than what he had seen as well. Many were two stories tall, built with cut stones and solid looking wood logs.


    Surprisingly, there were also many people with weapons and light armour walking around, mostly in small groups. Generally, they weren¡¯t too well equipped, but they all at least had a weapon.


    After travelling for some time on the winding main road, they finally stopped in front of what appeared to be a large warehouse. Damian hopped off his ride, and headed off to the front. On the way, he met up with Ken, and gave him his spear back. The man made a show of checking for damage on every inch of the weapon, and Damian laughed at him. Together, they made their way up the line.


    Ken grinned back. ¡°It¡¯s been great to travel with you, my friend. For your lessons, me ¡®n¡¯ the guys owe you more than you know.¡±


    Damian smiled at him. ¡°I didn¡¯t do that much. All I did was teach the basics. It¡¯s up to you guys where you go from there.¡±


    Ken shook his head. ¡°Even just that is more than we could ask for. There¡¯s a reason our captain used to be the only one with qi, you know!¡±


    ¡°Are qi users that rare?¡±


    ¡°Rather than that, it¡¯s a matter of getting them to teach anybody. Any practitioner around here was taught at one of the cities, and they have some kind of policy about not spreading the knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Should I be worried?¡±


    Ken laughed softly. ¡°Like I said, we owe you more than you know. Nobody¡¯s gonna be hearing about you from us! Unless you want them to, that is.¡±


    Damian smiled gently. ¡°Thanks, Ken. I hope I see you around after this.¡±


    ¡°We like to hang out at the Hairless Bear off of main street. You¡¯re welcome to have a glass with us anytime!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    By then, they had reached the front of the caravan. Davis was speaking with Sir Remond, and Damian watched as a large sack was handed over. Sir Remond then headed off into the warehouse after giving Damian a nod.


    ¡°Damian,¡± Davis addressed him. ¡°Here.¡±


    Davis counted out fifteen coins from the bag Remond had given them, and gave them to Damian.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this too many? Only five of your men managed to learn to use qi, after all.¡±


    Davis shook his head. ¡°Good enough just to sense it. You did better than expected. Also, for the bandits.¡±


    Damian rubbed the back of his head bashfully. ¡°Oh, alright then.¡±


    Davis looked at him for a while, seeming to consider something.


    ¡°Do you¡­ Want to join us?¡±


    Damian looked at him curiously. ¡°The guardsmen? Eh, sorry. Sir Remond is great, but I don¡¯t want to be tied down to him.¡±


    Davis shook his head. ¡°Davis¡¯ Swords. Mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see! Still, there¡¯s a lot of the world I want to see yet, I¡¯ll have to let you down. Did¡­ Did you come up with that name?¡±


    Davis nodded sadly, then proudly at his question.


    ¡°Good, right!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! For sure.¡± Damian tried mostly unsuccessfully to hide his snickers. Who names their group after themselves?


    Damian accepted the coins gratefully and stuffed them in his pocket. From there, they parted ways. Damian wanted to explore the town, and see if he could learn a bit more about the culture of the place. Also, he was absolutely filthy, and needed a bath, and maybe some new clothes.


    Walking through the town streets was a novel experience for Damian. He felt a bit like he was in the middle of a renaissance fair, but the people here were real, living real lives.


    As he turned onto a side street, he was met with a shock.


    Carrying a huge bundle of wood down the street was a two meter tall wolf standing on two legs. At first, he thought it was a magic beast that had somehow got into town, but as he saw it stop, and interact with an elderly woman sitting outside her home, he realized it was actually a sapient person.


    The wolf man towered over everyone, and was covered in a coarse black fur. It wore no clothes except for a leather harness that wrapped around its waist and shoulders. Its face was that of a canine, but somehow Damian could tell it had a friendly expression on.


    He wondered why he hadn¡¯t seen any before when he was on the main street, and decided they were just rare. He was proven wrong, however as he found more and more of them as he drifted away from the main street, most of them doing jobs involving heavy physical labour. Did they have a lower social status?


    He thought about it as he wandered around. Were there races other than humans and these wolf men in this world?


    ¡®Would I be able to meet a beautiful elf somewhere here?¡¯, he wondered excitedly.


    After some time of walking, he eventually found a small open air market. He bought a skewer of meat for a small coin, and asked around about prices. Doing some mental math, he found one small coin was equal to about three or four dollars. This meant he had earned the equivalent of over $500 already!


    The small coin was more valuable than he had originally thought. Since it was the smallest denomination of currency in the nation, citizens had to cut the coins into halves or quarters if they needed small change.


    After that, he was no longer able to stand his dirtiness anymore. His hair felt like a block of grease, and he was sure his smell was causing people to walk far around him! After asking a passerby, he learned the town had a few communal bath houses where he could wash. Following the directions led him to a large building.


    He broke down one of his large coins and paid four small coins to wash both his body and clothes. For a long time, he soaked in the hot water. He was a little weirded out sharing the room with a bunch of naked men, but powered through for the sake of cleanliness.


    Afterwards, he washed his modern clothing as best as he could by hand, making sure to be careful with the buttons and delicate parts. Using magic, he pulled all the moisture away from the cloth, leaving them dry, though still a bit dirty.


    Feeling refreshed, he headed out in search of a proper meal. Just down the street, however, he stopped.


    In front of him was the most unique store he had found in his wanderings yet. Lined up along the street, as well as stacked deep in the open storefront, were numerous iron cages. Contained in the cages was a variety of interesting animals.


    However, it wasn¡¯t the animals that caught his eye.


    It was a girl.


    Tucked away to the side, huddled into herself within a small cage, was a girl. She wore a tattered sack as a dress, and had short light green hair that looked like a bunch of leaves growing from her head. Most importantly, as Damian thought, were her ears.


    ¡°A long eared elf!¡± he muttered to himself in surprise.


    They stretched back about half a foot, and ended in rounded, but sharp-looking points. At the moment, they were pointed to the ground, giving her a sad look.


    What was she doing in a cage? Damian didn¡¯t like the thought of slavery, but he wasn¡¯t so disgusted by it to attempt to free every slave, or anything like that. Besides, she was the only humanoid in the shop. It was as if someone had mistaken her for a beast.


    It piqued his curiosity, and he went up to the shopkeeper, a rotund man with a feathered hat. The man saw him coming, and after giving him a once over, sent him a wide smile and welcomed him.


    ¡°Hello there, young man! I can see I¡¯ve attracted your interest. Let me tell you, these fantastic creatures are unlike any you¡¯ll find anywhere else. They come from our very own Highfern forest, and I can guarantee you each one of them will make an excellent companion or guard! I even have several magic beasts, if you have the coin for them.¡±


    Damian was a bit taken aback at the sudden sales pitch, but greeted the man warmly.


    ¡°Good evening. I might be interested in purchasing one for myself. Do you mind if I take a closer look?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, not at all! Please, inspect them to your heart¡¯s content. When you do find one you like, I¡¯d be happy to answer any questions you have.¡±


    The man seemed happy to have a potential customer, and Damian walked in among the cages. He made a show of inspecting several animals, before moving to the girl he saw. Most of the beasts ignored him, but several gave low growls as he came close.


    For those he inspected, it was actually genuine interest. There were many animals in the shop that he had never seen before, and several had interesting characteristics. There were giant lizards with feathers, panther-like animals, ones with tentacles and odd appendages, and many other interesting features.


    As he was walking among the cages, he saw the merchant engage with another customer, and quickly made a beeline to the one he was interested in.


    The girl seemed to ignore him even as he took a knee next to her. Now that he could see her face, he realized she was more alien than he had thought. She was still cute, with a heart shaped face and soft features, but what struck him was her nose. It was as if someone had taken the nose of a cat and pasted it onto her face. It reminded him very much of the characters in the movie Avatar.


    ¡°Hello there, miss?¡± he tried.


    At his words, her head shot up to look at him sharply. Damian found himself getting surprised again by her eyes. They were bigger than a human¡¯s with an angled, asian shape. They were also solid black, with no whites, and had numerous sparkling lights within, as if he was looking into a night sky.


    Slowly, her face scrunched up, and tears began to roll down her face.


    Damian was panicked. He hadn¡¯t meant to make her cry!


    ¡°Ah, er, sorry?!¡±


    The girl shook her head vigorously, and spoke for the first time.


    ¡°You speak¡­ Amarish?¡± she asked him. It was a soft voice, and Damian had to strain to hear her.


    ¡°Well, something like that. Can you tell me how you ended up in this cage?¡±


    ¡°Um, I was walking home the other day, when something grabbed me. It was like someone dropped ice down my back, but around my whole body. Then, I was moving really fast, and suddenly I was in a forest.¡±


    Damian gasped softly. It was just like him!


    ¡°I was really scared! I got chased around by this big animal that I¡¯d never seen before, but managed to get away. Then I got captured by some strange men with weapons. I think they were trying to ask me questions, but I didn¡¯t understand what they were saying. They t-took my clothes and brought me here.¡±


    Damian was confused. She didn¡¯t seem to have the same language ability that he had. He wondered what made him different.


    The girl seemed to hesitate.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going to happen to me now?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well, the owner of this place seems to think you¡¯re an animal of some sort, though I don¡¯t know how he managed to convince himself of that.¡±


    ¡°Then, can¡¯t you just tell him that-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Damian cut her off. ¡°I don¡¯t know if slavery is legal here. If he finds out you¡¯re sapient, he might sell you off into a worse fate.¡±


    Her face became even more downcast than before, and her ears drooped.


    ¡°What should I do¡­¡±


    Damian sighed. Normally he wasn¡¯t the type of person to play hero and help strangers like this, but he felt a kinship with her. Their situations were so similar, after all. He shuddered when he thought it could have just as easily been him behind those bars. Plus, she was cute. More importantly, she was cute!


    ¡°Listen. I can probably purchase you to get you out of here, but it¡¯s going to cost you. You¡¯ll owe me whatever it costs to buy you. Are you alright with that?¡±


    She gave a delicate nod, sending her ears flapping.


    ¡°Please¡­¡±


    Damian gave her a reassuring smile, and stood up to speak to the merchant. The large man smiled at him as he walked over.


    ¡°Have you found something you like?¡± he asked Damian.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. How much does that humanoid one cost?¡± he pointed out the elf girl.


    ¡°Ah, you have a good eye, sir. Usually the man-like ones go fast! That one came in just this morning, some hunters brought it in out of Highfern. Now, normally such a pretty one would fetch a high price, but for you, sir, I¡¯m willing to part with it for 15 big coins!¡±


    ¡®Geh!¡¯ Damian winced inwardly. That was about $600, more than he had on him!


    ¡°For that little thing?! Look how scrawny it is, there¡¯s no way I could use it for anything useful. I can give you 12 at most.¡±


    The merchant¡¯s smile seemed to be a little strained at that. Damian knew it was a lowball, but he honestly couldn¡¯t afford much more than 13 coins.


    ¡°Now sir, that¡¯s not fair to my product. It¡¯s easy on the eyes, no? It¡¯s more intelligent than it looks, too. I can¡¯t go any lower than 14 coins.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely correct, my friend, and you¡¯ll have a deal right now for 13 coins.¡±


    The merchant had a conflicted expression on his face for a moment, before it turned to a defeated one.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°Thirteen big, four small.¡±


    The merchant stared back at the elf girl, and was silent for a long time.


    ¡°Damn, alright.¡± he finally said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it. You¡¯ve got quite the silver tongue there.¡±


    With robot-like movements, Damian held out his hands with the money enclosed in his fists. The merchant held his hands out expectantly.


    And waited.


    ¡°Hey¡­ Are you going to buy it or not?¡± He asked Damian, looking at his stony face.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    With a sound like he was in physical pain, Damian dropped the money into the man¡¯s hands.


    A single tear welled up in his eye, threatening to roll down his face.


    ¡®My hard earned cash, all gone in less than a day!¡¯ he lamented to himself.


    Damian took the key to the elf girl¡¯s cage and walked over, ignoring the man¡¯s offers for things like collars, and leashes and such.


    As he went over and unlocked the cage, the girl inside just watched him with a strange expression on her face, like she was surprised he had come back. Damian offered a hand to her. Instead of grabbing it, however, she started tearing up again.


    ¡°Hey now, is this going to happen often?¡± Damian asked with an awkward expression.


    She sniffled, and grasped his hand, letting him pull her up.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ Really.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me too much, I¡¯m planning on working you hard to pay back your debt, you know.¡± Damian told her with a wry grin.


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll pay it back quickly!¡±


    She had a resolute look on her face, with her ears perked up, and Damian smiled. It was much better than the depressed look she had before.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Damian, by the way. Damian Hartman.¡±


    She gave a small bow to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m called She Who Dreams of Mountains.¡±


    Oof, a tough obstacle right away. Was there some kind of translation error such that a strange name came out, or was it a cultural thing?


    ¡°Do you mind if I call you Dream?¡±


    She looked at him a bit confused. ¡°Yes, that should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Right, first thing¡¯s first, I should give you this.¡±


    Damian untied the cloak from around his shoulders, and draped it around hers.


    ¡°Until we can get you some proper clothes, this will have to do.¡±


    Dream smiled brightly and thanked him.


    ¡®Yep, definitely better¡­ Almost worth my thirteen coins.¡¯ he thought happily.


    Together, they walked out onto the street, and headed off in search of a meal and a place to rest the night. Somewhere they could afford with fourteen small coins¡­


    As the beast merchant watched them stroll away together, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that he had somehow been cheated...


    Damian and Dream managed to quickly find a cheap inn in a seedier area of town, renting a single room for the night with an evening meal for as low as thirteen small coins. The meal was just a bland soup, but Dream seemed to enjoy it with how quickly she ate it.


    Supposedly, she hadn¡¯t eaten in two days. The beast merchant had given her some kind of unidentifiable slop, which she hadn¡¯t been able to touch.


    Since their room only had one bed, Damian rolled out his bedroll onto the floor, and let Dream have the bed. She gave some small protests, but after he insisted, she promptly passed out in it. She¡¯d had an exhausting last couple of days, after all.


    Damian stayed up only a little while longer, working on an idea for cleaning magic he had thought of, before drifting off himself.


    The next morning saw Damian glaring at a single coin laying on the floor in front of him.


    They were broke.


    They were unbelievably poor.


    They could probably afford a single skewer of mystery meat before declaring bankruptcy.


    Damian knew they had to solve this problem by the end of the day, or they¡¯d end up starving. Fortunately, he had some ideas. For starters, he wanted to investigate the suspiciously large number of armed people on the street. They couldn¡¯t all be mercenaries. There was no way there were enough bandits in the area to warrant a small army.


    He was snapped out of his thoughts by a small yawn. He looked up to see Dream sitting up on the straw bed, rubbing her eyes and clutching his cloak around her. Her ears twitched cutely.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± he called out to her.


    She turned her head towards him slowly, staring blankly with her black eyes. A second later, she seemed to remember where she was.


    ¡°Ah!¡±, she started. She gave a slight bow of her head towards him. ¡°Good morning!¡±


    Damian snickered a little at the sight. ¡°We need to earn money for our living expenses today. I think it¡¯s pretty likely we¡¯re going to end up going into the forest you were teleported to. Do you think you¡¯ll be alright going back in there? What about fighting, and the sight of blood, do you think you can handle it?¡±


    Dream didn¡¯t hesitate, despite it clearly being a bad memory for her.


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll be useful!¡±


    ¡°Ah, well, that¡¯s good then.¡±


    Of course, Damian didn¡¯t intend to have her fight. He remembered well the power of his magic when he used it on the bandits, and didn¡¯t think anyone else would be necessary. Rather, he thought he would have her carry the loot back.


    Damian shared one of the last pieces of dried meat he had left from the caravan, and they headed out.


    After asking a passerby, they found that the small armed groups wandering around were actually something called Hunters. Apparently here, it was a much more involved job than most places. Since the wildlife of Highfern forest was so much more dangerous than normal, the hunters of Portertown had to have much higher combat ability. They were more akin to professional mercenaries than anything.


    Most importantly, they had a guild hall, where people could post bounties on certain magic beasts, or request someone to gather rare materials from within the forest.


    They were able to quickly find the building after following some directions. As they stepped inside, they were hit with an atmosphere that was more like a bar than a business. Chairs and tables filled the floor, with hunters gathered in small cliques, drinking alcohol or otherwise relaxing.


    Along one wall, posters were hung up describing the various bounties available. In one corner of the room sat a bar manned by a gruff looking man, and in the other corner was an empty desk with a doorway leading back further into the building.


    To begin with, Damian went to the bounties and looked through them all. With his new memory trick, he was able to easily memorize all the current ones. Most of them were for certain herbs or plants. Of those that were calling hunters to defeat magic beasts or animals, only a few were for a certain beast that had been causing trouble. The vast majority were materials requests. Things like the hide of a certain animal, or the ivory of another one, were common.


    Heading over to the bar, he used his last small coin to buy a lonely man a cheap drink. After loosening his lips, he learned that the hunter¡¯s guild was actually very relaxed. One didn¡¯t have to be a member of the guild or anything to use their basic services. Anyone could try to complete a bounty on their own, and the guild would payout to anyone successful. The only benefits to actually joining the guild was that there were some hidden bounties for the more capable people, and a considerable collection of information on the dangers of Highfern forest.


    Damian would have liked to see some of that information, but the guild membership required money. Of which Damian now had exactly zero.


    Damian leaned back in his seat and looked over at the job board. He figured that for now, they could take it slow and safe, and just go for a few of the herbs. He didn¡¯t want to go too deep into the forest, lest he put Dream in danger. He was aware that his magic ability, while powerful, wasn¡¯t omnipotent, and there was always the chance that something could happen.


    Of course, there was also the option of earning money with his magic in the city, but¡­


    Damian was in a bona fide fantasy world! There was no way he could pass up the chance for a little adventure.


    He turned and grinned at his companion.


    ¡°Well Dream, what do you say we go earn some money?¡±


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    The massive doors to the throne room swung open with a low groan. A clanking could be heard accompanied by the sound of something dragging along the floor.


    Passing through the doorway was a knight clad in gleaming silver and gold plate armour, dragging a dirty man towards the throne. The man had unkempt black hair that hung down past his eyes, and was clothed in a strange garb. One eye was blackened from a previous blow, and his lip bled lightly from a cut. His arms and legs were bound in metal chains, which were causing the clanking sound.


    They reached the middle of the spacious room, and the knight dropped the man, letting him fall to his knees. A clang rang out as the knight¡¯s fist hit his chest over his heart.


    ¡°Long live the Lord Emperor! The prisoner has been brought, as requested!¡±


    The black haired man lifted his head at that, looking up at the figure before him.


    Sitting on a large wooden throne was a regal looking man with a bored expression. His long golden hair coiled around his shoulders, and his ears ended in points. He raised his hand to acknowledge the knight, before addressing the man.


    ¡°Tell me, thief, assassin, or whatever you are. Just how were you able to get so deep in the palace without anyone noticing? You don¡¯t seem to have the skills to sneak in, so I cannot for the life of me figure out how you did it. Truthfully, that is the only reason you have yet to be executed, so I recommend you to be forthright with the information.¡±


    His voice was soft, but it seemed to echo around the room, reaching every corner.


    The black haired man mumbled something, and received a solid kick from the knight.


    ¡°Speak up! You are before the Emperor!¡± the knight commanded.


    ¡°Your¡­ Your Graciousness.¡± the man croaked out. ¡°I truthfully don¡¯t know how I came to be in your glorious palace. One moment I was home, then, after an ice cold feeling, I was here.¡±


    The emperor perked up at that, his look of boredom gone.


    ¡°Oh ho? A Traveller then? Perhaps I should send you to the interrogation room, they will be sure to rip every scrap of information from you.¡±


    The black haired man made a strangled sound.


    ¡°Please, your Majesty¡­ There¡¯s no need for that, I will tell you whatever you want to know!¡±


    The emperor leaned forward, looking intently at the man. ¡°I suggest you begin talking then, human.¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± the man cleared his throat. ¡°I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?¡±


    ¡°I come from a world called Earth.¡±

 Chapter 4: New Friends

    Damian knew they were unprepared.


    It was the height of stupidity. They were trying to go fairly deep into an unknown forest, with little to no information about what threats might be inside, and no real weapons except for his, admittedly powerful, magic abilities. He managed to coerce a decent amount of information out of the drinkers at the guild, but it was way more lacking than he would¡¯ve liked. If it were just about the money, he wouldn¡¯t have made the trip.


    The thing was, there was something off about the Highfern forest. It bothered him.


    From what he had gathered, the dimensional kidnappings that had happened to him and Dream were, while known, not exactly common. But, if that were the case, how had he and Dream both popped in nearly at the same time, at the same place? Was there something about the forest that drew these interdimensional travellers in?


    He wanted to get to the bottom of it, and there were some things you just had to figure out on your own.


    Plus, it wasn¡¯t like they were going to be delving way into the depths of the place, he intended to just check out a few areas, pick some plants, and be out. If a more intensive expedition happened at all, it would be when he was much more prepared.


    He was glad Dream had stuck with him. To be sure, he had tied her with her promise of honoring her debt to him, and the fact that he was the only one that could speak with her, but she could have easily taken off on her own.


    It was fortunate, since he would need her help. They had discovered that her race¡¯s senses were much better than human¡¯s. In particular, her hearing was excellent. She could hear someone whispering from across a busy room! This would be indispensable in the potentially dangerous situation they might be in.


    ¡°What about food? My favourite back home was Kurrsha, that¡¯s a meat dish with thick spicy sauce served with fluffy grains.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, if you¡¯re talking about American food, then it¡¯s gotta be burgers. You take a bunch of minced meat, make it into a patty, fry it up, and put in between two pieces of bread with a bunch of sauce and veggies. Absolutely heavenly!¡±


    Like that, they had spent the time walking the path from Portertown to Highfern forest telling each other stories of home, and exploring the differences. He found that Dream came from a society not totally unlike his, except her civilization didn¡¯t rely on science, but magic.


    It was a form of magic very different from their current world. This one seemed to be all about intent, and using willpower to direct it. Her world¡¯s magic was based entirely off of a sort of magic programming language. Only if the instructions were written down in a logical manner would magic flow and cause effects properly.


    As a result of this small difference, Dream¡¯s level of education was significantly lower compared to Damian¡¯s, even though her society had a similar level of standard of living and convenience. Damian assumed this was because of the way her civilization had developed due to magic.


    On Earth, people had to thoroughly study various mechanics in order to use them, while Dream¡¯s people only needed a rudimentary understanding. They found they could converse evenly about what combustion was, but Dream only gave a look of confusion when he asked her about atoms.


    ¡°Damian?¡± Dream asked after a minute of silence. ¡°Um, what do you plan to do after this?¡±


    Damian gave a sly grin. ¡°Hmm, take over the world, I guess?¡±


    She hit him on the shoulder lightly, with an annoyed expression.


    Damian laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing a lot about this Academy for magic, I¡¯d like to check it out a bit. There¡¯s still so many things about this world and its magic that I want to learn about.¡±


    Dream looked down at the ground. ¡°There¡¯s probably gonna be a lot of Humans there, right?¡±


    Damian looked at her concerned. She probably still had some trauma from her capture. It was completely understandable. So far, her only experiences with humans had been them roughing her up and throwing her in a cage to be sold. It was actually strange she didn¡¯t have a problem with the town. Damian was even surprised she seemed okay with him.


    He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He was glad when she didn¡¯t flinch. Hopefully, that was a sign that the trauma wasn¡¯t too bad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± he smiled at her. ¡°I won¡¯t let the big, bad Humans get you. But if you really don¡¯t want to, we can go look for a place without as many of us hairless apes. I¡¯ve been wanting to do that anyway.¡±


    She snorted, and quickly covered her mouth and turned away. When she turned back, she had a soft smile on her face.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. An academy sounds like fun. I¡¯d like to learn a bit about this weird magic, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Magic is love, magic is life!¡± Damian shouted into the air.


    Their laughter peeled through the morning air, and many travelers gave them a weird look as they walked by. They were in high spirits when they reached the edge of the forest an hour later.


    From where they stood, with farmland at their backs, the forest looked foreboding. It was strange how quickly the forest started. Only a few meters past the trees, and it was too dense to make much out. It was as if some giant had drawn a line in the ground, and declared one side open ground, and the other thick jungle.


    Animal calls and birdsong could be heard from within the depths, a myriad of creatures living within. This area consisted mostly of a kind of tall pine tree, with dark, almost black wood, and blueish pines. These trees were giants, towering what Damian guessed was about ten or so stories high. Further within, Damian could make out the plant that had probably given the forest its name; a species of fern with thin leaves stretching up into the canopy.


    Damian looked over to find Dream studying him.


    ¡°We can still turn back, you know.¡± she said to him.


    ¡°No, we came all the way out here. We should at least take a look.¡±


    Damian led the way with strides that looked more confident than he felt. Dream followed closely behind him. Pushing through the brush at the border of the forest, they soon found themselves in an alien landscape.


    The air was hot and humid, as if the plants around them had trapped all of the heat and moisture. Animal and insect calls rang out loudly from every direction, and they walked through such a variety of flora that Damian thought it could rival the Amazon.


    It seemed like someone had taken a plant from every corner of the world, and thrown them together into one spot. He saw pines mixed with wide leafed palm trees, and mountain flowers mixed with thorny flower vines. He wondered how they all managed to survive in such an environment, since many of the plants were clearly the type that should be in different climates. It only added to his suspicion of the place.


    Despite the chaotic mess, he managed to find the first plant he was looking for fairly quickly. As they stepped into a small clearing, he spotted the small rust coloured weed on the opposite edge. As he was carefully pulling it out by the roots, he felt Dream tug on his shirt firmly. He looked up and saw her staring across the clearing with wide eyes.


    He didn¡¯t see anything beyond the vegetation, but he got his magic ready just in case. A ball of mana hung in front of him, primed to fire.


    ¡°What is it?¡± he whispered to her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I heard it moving in there, but it stopped when we looked over.¡±


    Somewhere in the area, then. Damian rigged the mana he had ready with a certain image, and when he was ready, he released it.


    Water quickly condensed from the moist atmosphere, and a second later, it blasted out into the area in front of them, water droplets separating and flying like bullets. The droplets tore through the vegetation, causing a lot of disturbance, but not penetrating anything stronger than a leaf. It did the trick, though, and a surprised noise was heard from behind the cover of the plant life.


    Bursting it¡¯s cover, a dark shape shot towards them, and Damian quickly pulled together more mana, and sent an unrefined wave of kinetic force out towards it, bowling the creature over. When it stood back up and shook itself off, they saw it properly.


    It was some kind of feathered lizard, with a stance and size more like a cat than anything else. It had a dark bluish green colouration, which probably helped it blend in with the forest, and had a line of colourful feathers running from its head down its back.


    The thing hesitated for a moment, now wary of the thing that had sent it flying away, which gave Damian time to take a step back and form a new spell.


    A tiny piece of metal flew out of his hand with a crack, piercing the thing¡¯s eye and imbedding itself in its brain.


    The lizard creature stumbled back, paused, and toppled over.


    Damian was woefully unprepared for an expedition, but he had managed to pick up a couple of tricks before they left. One of which was a handful of scrap metal pieces he had begged off a local blacksmith. He had expected them to make good projectiles, but he hadn¡¯t realized they would be so effective.


    He breathed out a breath he hadn¡¯t realized he had been holding. That was closer than he would¡¯ve liked. The lizard was fast, it had nearly reached him before he cast the force wave. Casting from nothing was just too slow. If he could somehow hold a spell at the ready, he¡¯d feel much safer wandering around in this wilderness.


    He also realized the limitations of his mana. The combination of the droplet attack and the force wave had depleted all of the mana he had in his field of influence. After stunning the creature, he was forced to take a step back to reach new mana. If he wanted to cast spells in quick succession, he¡¯d need to stay on the move.


    He and Dream walked up carefully to the downed creature. Despite its back leg twitching, it seemed to be thoroughly dead. Damian noted its wickedly sharp teeth, and was glad he hadn¡¯t let it get close.


    Dream poked it timidly with a stick, and made a displeased face when she saw the blood leaking out of its face.


    ¡°Can we eat this¡­?¡± Damian wondered aloud. It was around lunch time, and they had skipped breakfast. Both of them were starving.


    Dream shrugged, but he could see she was practically salivating over the idea of roasted meat.


    ¡®Nothing tried, nothing gained!¡¯ he thought, and crouched down next to the beast, bringing it into his sphere of influence. He didn¡¯t have a knife to gut and skin it, but magic was supposed to be capable of anything, right?


    He concentrated some mana into the corpse, finding it entered easily. He wondered if he could do the same with a living being, since that would open up some very interesting possibilities.


    Focusing back on his task, he thought of his goal of taking the skin of the creature away from its body. He imagined that separation, and concentrated on the differences between skin cells and any other cell. When the mental image was strong enough, he released the spell.


    The lizard exploded, sending globs of skin and scale flying through the air, splattering both Dream and him. Dream screamed, and he stumbled back, falling onto the ground sputtering.


    ¡°Pth! Ptew!¡± some had gotten into his mouth!


    The now skinless, pristine corpse lay on the ground, steaming innocently.


    ¡°Damiaaan!¡± Dream yelled at him. She stood with her hands in the air, splattered head to toe with patches of scaly skin, glaring at him with teary eyes.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry! I didn¡¯t think it would blow up like that. Here, let me try something.¡±


    Damian pulled water from the area around him, and built an image of the mana acting as a soap, trapping dirt and matter and washing it away with the water. He sent the spell towards Dream.


    ¡°Soft wash!¡± he said for dramatic effect.


    She let the ball of water hit her with a surprised noise, and the water enveloped her, washing away the dirt and organics. When it was done, it collapsed onto the ground, leaving her clean, but shivering.


    ¡°Dry!¡± Damian said next, sending a warm wind blowing around her strongly.


    ¡°Nice, it worked.¡± he said afterwards.


    ¡°It worked?! Don¡¯t use me as a test subject for your weird magic!¡± she told him.


    Damian made an offended face. ¡°It¡¯s not weird!¡±


    Dream just crossed her arms and turned away, and Damian washed himself. By then, the mana in the clearing had decreased considerably, and new mana was moving into the area much slower than Damian had expected.


    He couldn¡¯t cast too many spells without moving around, and if he cast too many for the area to handle, the mana would completely run out. These were serious problems for larger scale magic. It seemed he wouldn¡¯t be able to cast meteor strike, or call down a heavenly tribulation any time soon.


    With the carcass of the lizard spectacularly de-skinned, Damian went about cutting the guts away from the meat, and lighting a fire with his magic. Soon they had two chunks sizzling on some skewers.


    It was an extremely bland meal. With no seasonings or even vegetables to have on the side, they could only slowly munch on the chewy meat. Despite that, it was satisfying like nothing else he¡¯d had.


    Damian had caught it himself, after all.


    Dumped into an alien land with almost nothing but the clothes on his back, Damian had somehow managed to succeed. He¡¯d learned magic, made friends, and rescued a girl.


    He was remarkably content.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    She Who Dreams of Mountains, or Dream for short, felt horrible.


    Ever since she had been stolen from her home, she hadn¡¯t been able to do anything!


    When that mysterious force had picked her up on her way home and dumped her in the forest, she had thought her life was coming to an end. Desperately trying to survive, she had fled from the weird monster with too many limbs, and ran right into the group of rough men.


    At first, she thought they were her people, until she got a closer look at their faces. Their noses were weird, their ears too small, and their eyes strange and piercing.


    Were they aliens? Monsters? The Jaalansi her mother had told her bedtime stories about?


    Wracked with indecision and shock, she had been paralyzed, and they captured her easily.


    If she had ran, if she had fought, would things have gone differently?


    She didn¡¯t know. She didn¡¯t want to know. Even when they had taken her clothing, she had been able to do nothing but cower. At first, she thought she was about to be violated, but their expressions were instead that of disgust. Was that worse? She didn¡¯t know.


    When they spoke to her, asked her questions, she just stood silently. What was the point? She was in a weird place with nothing of value. Her family and friends were somewhere very far away. Her life was gone.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She figured that was probably why they took her to the man who sold beasts. Someone who can¡¯t even speak must not be a person.


    Her body covered by nothing more than a piece of primitive fabric, she sat curled up in that cage for ages. Surrounded by nothing but animals, with men and women peering at her like an exhibit, given nothing but water and foul smelling slop. In this way, she waited.


    She didn¡¯t know what she was waiting for, but it didn¡¯t seem to matter to her. It was the only thing she could do. Exist.


    She deserved it. She couldn¡¯t do anything for herself anyway. She might as well just waste away. Thoughts like these swirled around her head in a dark circle, seeping into the deepest parts of her mind.


    What was the point of living? She wasn¡¯t a person anyway.


    ¡°Hello there, miss?¡±


    Maybe it was the familiar language, or the concerned tone in his voice, or the soft smile on his lips. Whatever it was, it gave her hope for the first time in days.


    When he offered to help her with the promise of paying back her cost, she finally saw a way forward. The thought of being in debt to the man actually made her more motivated. He saw some value in her, there was something she could do that made him offer her a deal. Something that could give her meaning.


    Of course, she wouldn¡¯t follow him blindly. If he chased after danger he couldn¡¯t handle, or if he tried to do¡­ things to her, she would leave. Find some other way to pay him back. She almost did, when he decided to visit that cursed forest, but she pushed through her apprehension. It was, perhaps, a chance to change herself.


    If she could conquer the place that had hurt her, couldn¡¯t she do anything?


    So she followed him, and learned much more about him and the world on their way there. Particularly, she learned a lot about the magic of the world. Although, even if she knew the facts, it still didn¡¯t make any sense to her whatsoever. Magic had to be structured. Gathered and used through hard logic and physical forces, that was what had been drilled into her in class, not¡­ Whatever wishy-washy stuff they did here.


    She actually didn¡¯t fully believe it, until she saw it. When Damian started blasting the foliage with water, and throwing a large animal around with a thought, she was shocked. Such things would have been impossible in her old world. To have such power at your fingertips¡­ The thought was intoxicating.


    If she learned this magic, could she become someone capable?


    Could she change?


    She didn¡¯t know, but she¡¯d try.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Damian was surprised when Dream suddenly asked him to teach her magic. She had such a serious face that he just couldn¡¯t refuse. Not that he would have anyways.


    He wondered what had brought this on. Did she want to clear her debt faster and be rid of him? Or maybe she was just captivated by the romance of magic!


    Regardless of her reasoning, her resolution was clear. She¡¯d been meditating for over two hours straight. The thing was, Damian figured magic was probably impossible for her.


    Whether a lack of talent, or just a physiological incapability, she wasn¡¯t able to breach the barrier into sensing mana. It wasn¡¯t like it was with him, either, where he had to push through a wall in order to get to the next step. For her, there was nothing at all. She actually had doubted him, asking if he was teaching her properly, or if it was just a prank.


    With a sigh, he got ready to ask her to stop. They needed to get going and make some progress on their task.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I think I¡¯ve got something?¡± she said suddenly. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ Power rushing around my body.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right, that¡¯s probably qi. I forgot about that.¡±


    Dream opened her eyes and gave him a blank stare.


    Damian scratched his head awkwardly. It wasn¡¯t his fault he forgot! Qi just wasn¡¯t as cool as magic.


    After a quick explanation of the nature and functions of qi, he let her get back to meditation practice. They could afford to wait a little longer.


    While she was doing that, he went back to perfecting his patented Damian-style magic missile. Up until now, he was lacking a solid magic spell that he could use in combat. Normally, he could just use his fire, but, well, they were in a forest. Trees were generally flammable. He decided it was prudent to branch out a little.


    Without letting the spell fire, he practiced forming a bolt of kinetic energy, and moving it around. Because it had no mass, and indeed only used energy when moving things that did have mass, he could play with it for little to no mana consumption. It did, however, give him a headache. Even at a low level, holding such concentration for so long would tax his mind.


    He was knocked from his focus when Dream stood up about a half hour later with a fire in her eyes. Wordlessly, she walked up to one of the thick pine trees surrounding the area. She seemed to contemplate something for a moment, before putting one foot back.


    Tension suffused her body, and her back foot sank an inch into the soft ground, as she threw a sharp punch right into the center of the tree. With a loud crunch, her fist sank into the tree trunk like it was made of Jello!


    Damian could only stare in awe at the sight. Was this girl some kind of xianxia protagonist?! It had taken him ages to bring qi into just his hand, but she had managed to move it throughout her body such that she could throw a massive punch! Such a feat had taken her practically no time at all.


    She pulled her fist out of the poor tree, arm dripping with sap, and looked at him with bright eyes.


    ¡°I did it!¡± she shouted happily. ¡°I really can do it!¡±


    ¡°Haha! Congratulations, that was incredible.¡± Damian smiled.  He couldn¡¯t help but be swept up by her joy.


    While he would have liked to see what she could accomplish with more time, the daylight was fading. So far, they had only found one valuable plant worth around five coins. That wasn¡¯t even enough to stay in an inn.


    So, they headed off again into the forest proper, leaving behind their little clearing. As they walked, and searched for anything valuable, Damian tried to keep them heading along the forest¡¯s edge, avoiding the deeper parts of the place. Despite his best efforts, however, he felt they were gradually drifting towards the center of the forest.


    At least the plants they were trying to find were becoming more common. They had already managed to find and harvest five wild plants among the ones they were searching for. Damian shoved the latest find, a blue flower, into his pocket, and decided they should probably head out. The light was fading, and if they wanted to get back into town before nightfall, they¡¯d need to go back soon.


    As he turned to tell Dream about his decision, he noticed something glinting in a ray of sunlight that escaped through the canopy. Interest piqued, he shuffled closer to get a better look. It only took him a moment to realize what it was.


    ¡°Silk¡­?¡± he wondered aloud.


    A shining strand stretched from one tree to the next, hanging taut at about the height of his shin.


    Damian was fairly sure that only worms and spiders could produce long silk strands like that, but why would either of them make such tripwire-like constructions? He poked it with a stick curiously, and found it was quite strong, vibrating with a low tone when plucked, but not breaking.


    He turned to tell Dream to be careful when walking around, took a step, and-


    Tripped, falling flat on his face.


    ¡°Damian?!¡± Dream said with concern. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Damian sat up, and looked back at what he had tripped over.


    Barely visible against the foliage hung a strand of silk, just like the one he had spotted.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Damian shouted at Dream, trying to warn her, but it was too late. Her foot came out from under her when she took a step forward, and she tumbled down as well.


    He swore, and hauled himself to his feet. Taking careful steps, dodging a few strands, he made his way over to her. Dream tried to push herself up to her knees, but as he watched, her arms gave out and she collapsed back down again.


    A spear of alarm shot through his mind. Something was seriously wrong here.


    He finished making his way over and rolled her over onto her back. Her body was trembling strongly, and she spoke to him in a halting voice, eyes wide.


    ¡°Caa-an¡¯t¡­ Mmm. Mo-ve.¡±


    ¡®Oh shit. Oh shit!¡¯ he thought in a panic. He didn¡¯t know what was wrong with her. Was it brain damage? Had she fallen onto a rock and cracked her head or broken her spine?! He had no idea how to help her!


    While he was wracked with indecision, something collided with his head, and he was knocked over onto her.


    Feeling against the back of his head, his hand came away sticky.


    Trying to push himself up, his arms soon lost strength and he fell back down. His whole body quickly began turning numb.


    ¡®Poison?!¡¯


    Damian desperately tried to fight against it, but as the poison spread, it became increasingly hard for him to think, and impossible to control magic.


    They had been caught completely in a trap.


    Barely conscious, Damian became aware of a rapid tapping sound coming closer. Was this their end? After all of the training and effort he had put in, despite all his hopes and dreams, this was where they would die?


    He hated his powerlessness. Because of his stupid mistake, his unpreparedness, some unknown monster would be making an easy meal out of them. There was nothing he could do about it.


    Just before the darkness took him, he felt something wrap tightly around his legs.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Damian snapped awake.


    He was alive. That was surprising.


    Taking stock of his situation, he found he was laying on a dirt floor, in some kind of hole in the ground. The walls were covered in webs, and there seemed to be an opening on one side that was blocked entirely with webbing. The only source of light in the room was a softly glowing moss that grew haphazardly, giving an eerie feel to the place. Dream wasn¡¯t around. He hoped she was alright.


    There still seemed to be some poison remaining in his body, since he wasn¡¯t able to put much strength in his muscles, and he was having difficulty concentrating.


    Despite the precarious situation, he felt it wasn¡¯t so bad. For one, he was being held in a cell of some sort, rather than being prepared for dinner. It showed that his captors had some kind of intelligence, and might be reasoned with.


    First of all, he decided he needed to flush the poison out of his body. The problem was, he only had a vague idea of how to accomplish that. Somehow, he had to reinforce his immune system to combat it faster.


    He tried to imbue his qi with the image of empowering his immune system, but it didn¡¯t seem to do anything. Undeterred, he kept up the effort, trying different things with all the willpower he could muster.


    A sound soon brought him out of his concentration, a sort of rapid thumping that quickly grew closer. It stopped in front of the wall of webbing, and with a ripping sound, the web was torn away.


    Standing in its place was a massive spider at least as tall as he was.


    Although ¡®spider¡¯ was the first thought that came to him, the creature was slightly different. While it was an eight legged insect with a chitinous exoskeleton, it had jaws instead of fangs, and had two extra grasping appendages on either side of its head. Its dark muddy brown colour gave it a menacing feel.


    ¡°Two-legged one. Why must you trespass?¡± the spider spoke out in a threatening tone.


    A talking spider. This place was sure raising the bar. He wondered what else it would throw at him. Trying not to think too hard about what his mouth was doing, Damian responded.


    ¡°My deepest apologies.¡± the spider flinched back, as if surprised he responded. ¡°We never meant to intrude. If-¡±


    ¡°Lies!¡± it screeched, leaning forward angrily. ¡°You come here only to burn! This one knows not how you speak the Words, but it will not be deceived!¡±


    Damian frowned. ¡°Burn? I¡¯m sorry but-¡±


    ¡°Silence! This one refuses to be corrupted, beast! This one will inform the matriarch of your ways so she may hasten her decision.¡±


    With that, the spider quickly backed out of the room, replacing the webbing on its way out.


    ¡°Wait!-¡± Damian tried, but he heard it walking away quickly.


    He sighed. Negotiations had already broken down. He needed to figure out a way to deal with the damn poison in case he needed to fight his way out.


    With nothing else to do in the dark room, Damian resumed his efforts with his qi. As he experimented, he slowly discovered new and better ways to manipulate it, and began to see results. Before he could fully solve his condition, however, he began to hear the sounds of approaching spiders.


    The web was ripped away again, revealing several of the glossy brown creatures that quickly pushed their way into the room, which rapidly became very cramped. Damian backed up all the way to the far wall, letting them crowd in.


    The final one to enter was a noticeably older spider, with a graying carapace, and a clipped walk. It seemed to study him for a moment, before addressing him.


    ¡°I am told you can speak.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Damian responded cautiously.


    The elderly one stared at him evenly, while its entourage shifted nervously. Damian eyed them for any sudden movements. While he wasn¡¯t feeling completely better, his mana was responding to him somewhat, so he could put up a fight if it came to it.


    ¡°Why have you come?¡± it asked simply.


    ¡°My companion and I were searching for useful plants in the forest when we entered your territory by accident. We meant no harm.¡±


    The spider gave a thoughtful noise, and one of those next to it cut in. Damian thought he recognized her voice (he figured it was a she, judging by the pitch) as the one he had met earlier.


    ¡°Matriarch! You mustn¡¯t be swayed by its lies, it surely is here only to spread death. Most likely its friends are-!¡±


    ¡°Quiet!¡± the Matriarch cut in.


    Damian cleared his throat nervously, and spoke out. ¡°Great Matriarch, I don¡¯t know what crimes my kind have commited in the past, but I assure you our intentions are innocent.¡±


    ¡°Hrm. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Long ago, your people tore into this forest with your metal and fire, burning my daughters alive and driving us from our nests. Since then, each time we interact with you, we are met with violence. What is it that makes you different?¡±


    Damian considered this. The natural reaction of humanity to the unknown was with fear. It was easy to imagine the people of Portertown taking such measures against these giant spiders. However, Damian couldn¡¯t accept it. The arachnids clearly would have been incredible allies. Just the thought of the economic power of their silk production sent his head spinning! How could those people be so short sighted?


    If he were ever the leader of a country, he would stop at nothing to get those spiders to join him. Well, he had to get out of his current situation first, though.


    ¡°Allow me to answer a question with a question.¡± Damian began. ¡°Do you have any stories of your ancestors appearing in this land after being whisked away from their homes by some force? Perhaps accompanied by an icy feeling and wondrous sights?¡±


    It was a shot in the dark, but it aligned with what he suspected about the forest, and he had a hunch.


    ¡°... There is.¡±


    ¡°Truthfully, that is how I came to be in this land. I am not a part of those who have wronged you. It is pure coincidence that my appearance is the same as them.¡±


    The Matriarch was silent for a long time.


    ¡°You claim no relation to them?¡±


    Damian shrugged. ¡°I use their roads and cities, but our people are different. I hold no malice towards you, even though you¡¯ve confined me like this.¡±


    She looked shocked. ¡°This¡­ Must be considered. I will consult my peers about this matter. Until we make a decision, you will stay here. Sirrim will give you food and water when you need it.¡± she gestured to the spider that had spoken out before.


    The spiders bowed their heads to the Matriarche, and they all slowly shuffled out except for Sirrim.


    Damian grit his teeth. It looked like the quick resolution he was hoping for wouldn¡¯t be coming.


    Sirrim hissed at him. ¡°Don¡¯t get comfortable, two-legs. The Matriarch will see through your lies soon enough.¡±


    He looked evenly at her. She was suddenly much less threatening now that he could feel his mana responding. More like a rebellious teenager.


    ¡°Sure. Before that, though, could I get some water, and whatever passes for food around here? I think I missed dinner.¡±


    Sirrim scoffed at him, and shuffled out the doorway, sealing it behind her. Damian sat comfortably meditating while he waited for her to return. When she did, she carried a wood bowl filled with fruits, and a skin full of water. She set them down in front of him, then stood there watching him.


    Damian nonchalantly picked up a purple fruit and bit into it happily, finding the flavour to be something like a peach.


    ¡°Thanks! Say, can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°... No.¡±


    ¡°Cool. I was wondering about the toxin on your silk. Are you able to make silk that doesn¡¯t have any, or is it kind of built-in?¡±


    The arachnid shifted uncomfortably for a minute, before finally answering.


    ¡°The best spinstresses can¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome! Y¡¯know, I bet people would really love you guys back home. Silk that¡¯s as lovely as what you make is really valuable, after all.¡±


    Sirrim seemed to sneer at him. ¡°Yet they set flame to it so joyfully. If you wish to make a convincing lie, you will have to do better.¡±


    Damian waved her away. ¡°Like I said! Not my people. I just happen to look the same; what the idiots here do has nothing to do with me. Personally, I find your silk beautiful and luxurious.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Yes, it is, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°By the way, the girl I was with is here somewhere too, right? I¡¯ve been really worried about her, do you know if she¡¯s alright?¡±


    Sirrim hesitated. ¡°The other one¡­ She has yet to awaken, I believe.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a bit of a relief, I suppose. I was starting to wonder if you had taken a nibble!¡±


    She visibly recoiled at that.


    ¡°Wha- no Arin would eat a living creature!¡±


    ¡°Oh, vegetarians, are you? At least I don¡¯t have to worry about becoming dinner!¡±


    Sirrim snorted, and backed out of the room.


    ¡°I won¡¯t listen to this any more!¡±


    Damian smiled wryly. Despite their looks, the spiders seemed to be pretty friendly. He wondered how things would have turned out if the humans'' first reaction to them hadn¡¯t been fire.


    Settling back against the dirt wall, he wondered how long it would take for the matriarch to come back. Hopefully, it would end with the situation resolved in his favour, but he¡¯d be ready to blast out if he had to. In the meantime, he¡¯d keep practicing with his qi and mana, slowly working away at the poison in his body.


    Four hours later, he began to hear the sound of many insectoid feet coming towards him. Standing up, he got prepared for a battle. Fortunately, he¡¯d manage to reinforce his immune system enough that the last of the toxins were removed from his body, and he was as ready as ever for a scuffle.


    The web door was torn aside, revealing the matriarch and her entourage.


    ¡°You will come with us.¡± she commanded him.


    Damian smiled at her. ¡°A date, is it? I could probably use a bath if we¡¯re going anywhere fancy.¡±


    ¡°Save your jokes. The other elders are waiting. If your words are verified, we may let you go.¡± she responded coldly.


    Several of the spiders shuffled forward threateningly, and Damian threw up his arms in surrender.


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m coming.¡±


    He walked forward calmly, watching the spiders closely. They surrounded him, not letting him get close to the matriarch as they all shuffled out of the cell. Beyond the web door, he found himself in a short, dark dirt tunnel. In one direction lay another closed cell, and in the other the tunnel turned sharply.


    As he stepped out, there was a deep thud that rattled the tunnel, bringing loose dirt raining down on them from above. Damian looked up warily. Could he hold the tunnel with his magic if it were to collapse?


    Everyone paused, the matriarch¡¯s guards closing in on her protectively.


    Suddenly, the tunnel exploded from the adjacent cell, filling the place with dust, and bringing more dirt raining down on them. As it cleared, he was able to make out the form of Dream, breathing heavily in front of a new hole in her cell wall.


    ¡°Damian?!¡± she shouted desperately.


    Thinking quickly, Damian reinforced his legs and jumped onto one of the guard¡¯s back, using it as a spring to launch himself towards her.


    ¡°No-!¡± the matriarch called out, reaching out an arm as if to grab him.


    He landed lightly in front of her, patting her shoulder reassuringly.


    ¡°Nice timing!¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡± she responded, confused.


    Damian turned to the spiders, conjuring a roaring white flame over his palm, causing them to visibly recoil.


    ¡°Demon!¡± Sirrim shouted, sounding horrified.


    ¡°You¡­ ¡° the matriarch began. ¡°So you are here to kill after all.¡±


    She sounded resigned.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Damian reassured her. ¡°I¡¯d just like to leave in one piece. I¡¯m sure all of you would like to stay uncooked as well, so if I were you, I¡¯d back up slowly, and maybe point me in the right direction.¡±


    He manipulated the flame to swirl around him menacingly, casting odd shadows on the wall of the tunnel. The matriarch¡¯s guards formed up in front of her protectively.


    The matriarch thought for a moment.


    ¡°You believe you can burn your way out? We would bury you under our numbers.¡±


    Damian''s eyes sharpened. ¡°Want to find out? I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯d like to get out of here without leaving corpses.¡±


    The matriarch leaned over and whispered something to Sirrim, who ran out of the tunnel. Damian watched her go, not attempting to stop her.


    Without another word, the whole group of arachnids began to step backwards slowly. Damian let them get ahead for a few paces before following along.


    As he and Dream shuffled along the tunnel, the shadows from his fire danced along the walls, the light highlighting the harsh shapes of the arachnids¡¯ bodies. A bead of sweat rolled down his face from the heat. At this rate, he¡¯d collapse of heatstroke before he dropped the ball of flame from lack of mana.


    They passed several tunnel offshoots as they walked, following their tour guide. At some point, Damian started to hear soft thumping from behind them, and a bead of sweat that wasn¡¯t from the heat rolled down his brow. If they got attacked from both directions, they¡¯d be in for a hell of a fight.


    Fortunately, it didn¡¯t come to that. They soon reached a section of tunnel that had a soft light rolling in from an opening to the surface. The matriarch and her group shuffled out backwards, and took positions on either side of the tunnel.


    Dream and Damian walked out cautiously into the early morning air, turning to face the spiders as they went until they were walking backwards out into the jungle. The spiders flowed back to block the entrance to the tunnel, watching them closely.


    ¡°Wait.¡± the matriarch¡¯s voice rang out.


    Damian paused. Dream tugged his shirt incessantly, trying to get him to leave, but he waited to hear what she would say.


    ¡°You kept your word, it is commendable. Tell me your name, demon.¡±


    Damian told her.


    She nodded towards him. ¡°Damian Hartman. We will remember.¡±


    Damian started to walk backwards again, and the crowd of spiders watched him disappear into the jungle. Once he was behind cover, he turned to Dream.


    ¡°Let¡¯s run.¡±


    They shot off into the forest blindly, dodging areas where they could see webbing hanging from trees. Soon they were in a clearer area, and they slowed down to catch their breath.


    Damian flopped over onto his back.


    ¡°Daaaaaaamn! That was sketchy.¡± He shouted out into the trees.


    ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± Dream asked with teary eyes.


    ¡°Well¡­ Spiders with pyrophobia, I guess?


    ¡°Agh, I hate spiders. This place sucks!¡± She complained.


    ¡°Yeah. I think we¡¯ll be stuck here for a little bit longer, though. We¡¯re lost.¡±


    He sighed and sat up, looking at her pouting face.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He said. ¡°This was my fault. We shouldn¡¯t have come in the first place.¡±


    Dream turned away and wiped her eyes. ¡°If you understand that, then get us out of here.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take them long to get their bearings. They managed to find a very tall tree which Damian climbed, and he was able to spot the town from the very top.


    With a direction, it took them no time at all to find their way out of the place. They were only stopped once by a lizard creature similar to the one they had fought earlier. Damian promptly roasted it.


    Soon they broke through the treeline onto open ground. Damian practically burst into tears on his first step onto flat ground. They were both sore and exhausted from their overnight stay in the bush, and were extremely relieved to be out. While Damian¡¯s cleaning magic was able to keep them clean, they were covered in small cuts and bruises from pushing through the foliage, and their involuntary trip to the spider nest.


    He looked back into the dark forest. With this encounter, he was even more certain there was something about the forest that attracted the teleportation events. The forest no doubt held a great many secrets and treasures hiding in its depths.


    Eventually, he would come back, and he would explore it in full. There was also the spiders to think about. Despite their appearance, Damian thought they were a friendly, peaceful species, driven to solitude from human hostility. He was a little sad at the thought that they were stuck there, unable to see the world or interact with other people.


    He sighed.


    One day, he might do something about that.


    For now, he had to grow in power. The poison had caught him off guard far too easily, and his earlier fight had shown him just how inexperienced he was.


    He wasn¡¯t completely sure, but he could probably just barely beat Roy in a fight as he was now. Roy was the bottom of the barrel in terms of magic power, so he was sure he had far to go.


    For the sake of both Dream, and his own future, he had to move forward.


    He took a step towards town.