Alexandra’s POV:

Surrounded by 199 other members of my race, I watched in shock as another miracle occurred. Twelve trees sprouted from the ground and kept growing, seemingly wanting to grab the clouds. Not only did they grew in height but in girth as well, soon, not even ten people holding hands wouldn't be able to encompass each one of these proud titans.

There was an indescribable beauty and an absurdly calming feeling in the vicinity of these trees, while everybody feel to their knees and began praying to the God of Chaos, thanking him for the homes he provided us through a miracle. Only two people were standing as tall as the trees: Miss Mia and Michael.

Even if there are only a few days since we arrived... or rather, brought to this world, these two people played a huge role in our survival and development.

When I think back to the time before arriving on Midgard, there’s only darkness and silence. There are even nights where I woke up frightened by dreams I had about that place… However, in there where time was irrelevant a tear opened in the space around me and light flooded my eyesight. Before I could even try to scream or try to escape, I found myself under a huge tree, surrounded by more people than I could count. The feelings of fright and uncertainty were easily replaced by the beauty of the scenery and the warmness of the sun above our heads.

While I didn’t know the people around me, I could feel the same type of happiness in their hearts as the one I was feeling while my bare feet tousled the grass on the ground. There were giggles from the girls and even gasps from the guys when we all noticed the World Tree.

Yes! Not every tree, but a World Tree!!! I barely had any memories beside my name and other simple things such as knowledge of plants, animals and the way to hunt… but I knew the World Tree!

Such a sacred being, there’s no way I could never forget...

“Alright, alright! Quiet down please! Do you guys know what a God is? Hmm? You there… yes, you! Tell me, what’s a God?”

Suddenly, a guy that was standing opposing to the location where myself and the remaining people were brought to, asked in a calm and composed manner. A God? Divinity… someone that’s even above the World Tree…

However, even if the guy who was so suddenly asked seemed to have panicked a bit, was still able to give a proper answer. After another person answered did the same, the guy that asked the question proceeded in explaining how both answers were correct, however incomplete. Not only that, but he actually told us the name of this world’s God, which was Michael Corbett… he also presented himself as Michael.

I felt a shiver down my spine and thought that we were in the presence of the one that brought us to this place and we weren’t even kneeling in front of such divinity.

[You said your name is Michael as well. What’s your relationship with the God that brought us here?]

I was surprised and scared at how bold my questioned was, once I realized the tone in which I asked it. If he truly was a God, he could wipe me out of existence if angered. Fortunately, it appears that they just share the same name, as improbable as that might sound.

There was this nagging feeling at the back of my head telling me that this whole situation was rather fishy, but I had no way to know if what he said was the truth or not.

[Is the tree behind us the World Tree?]

I instinctively knew that it was, however I wanted to confirm this gut feeling I had. Apparently it was so, however I had to pay back the information by giving back my own name. Not only that, but ‘Michael’ also said that the God of Chaos, the deity of this world, planted the World Tree for us and the future people that will arrive to this world.

One cannot question a God, however I could tell that everyone had their own concerns about this situation. Like for example, were we brought here from a different world? What happened to our home? What about our families, friends and loved ones? Why don’t we have any memories about anything but plants, animals and how to hunt for something to eat? What exactly happened to us?

Lost in my own chaotic thoughts, a girl looking about my age whispered in my ear and begged for me to ask the guy in front of us if we could return back to our world. The answer he provided was an answer for all my… no, for all our questions: we were the only survivors that the Chaos God managed to bring back to this world.

Our friends, families, our homes… all gone! There was despair grasping the heart of every person present under the clear blue sky, but a follow-up soon came. In order to give us a fresh start, our memories were wiped clean in order to prevent us losing ourselves in grief and loss. Now we had a chance to start anew and we were encouraged by the words left for us, instructing: live strongly and happily!

When the story about how our world was decimated by monsters, a type of animals but only stronger, strange terms were mentioned by this prophet. Words like ‘weapons’, ‘agriculture’, ‘rearing’ didn’t ring any bells to me, however I felt a bit insulted when asked if I know what hunting is…

Seeing the knowledge that this prophet possessed, I wondered if this world’s God wanted him to lead us through our darkness, so I inquired about it. Fortunately or unfortunately, my question led to me being selected as this world’s hero, promising to become an existence that will protect our people with my life and trample their enemies under my feet.

Just when I thought that it would be just a title, a pillar of black light broke through the sky and embraced me. I wasn’t scared and instinctively knew that this was the blessing mentioned previously by the prophet. The warmness came with a feeling of strength, strength that overwhelmed my senses and made me drown in the pleasure that power brought me.

With such power that I could actually observe through the Status Page, I was able to compare it with the one of the surrounding people, then the next, then the next and realized that I was way stronger than them. The only ones I was curious about was Miss Mia and the prophet. If I am this strong, just how much stronger were the two of them?

This day, I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life, as well as the message I received from our savior: “Work hard for yours and your people happiness!”

In order not to forget this message, I swore in front of the World Tree a promise to protect and maintain the happiness of my people.

Wanting to remain only an adviser, Michael began organizing us into groups and had me handle their separation. We began hunting since I had more strength than anyone else, a group followed Miss Mia to forage since she held more knowledge than even the prophet, while he himself took a group of people to scout the surroundings and find a source of water.

The surprises kept coming as he created the ‘weapons’ he talked about and instructed me on how to use them, allowing me to instruct the others on how to do the same. I felt bad about it, since I had to pretend that it was my own knowledge, but he convinced me by saying that I need the respect of the people in order to lead them.

By the time I returned to the camp from hunting, I saw the prophet meditating and everyone else was staying away in order not to disturb him. Using the techniques he taught me, I began dismembering the prey we caught and I could see the looks of respect the other elves were giving me.

Miss Mia went and brought the prophet to instruct us on how to better maintain our food and he began constructing a ‘meat smoking room’. After Miss Mia minced some plants and fruits and sprinkled them on the meat, the smell of it being smoked made everyone drool in anticipation.

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The prophet was happy with our success and instructed us to prepare food for everybody. Big fires were lit up using another technique he showed us and there was plenty for everyone to enjoy. People were dancing, singing and were less tense altogether given the happy atmosphere.

Seeing that he stood at a distance from the rest and was watching over us, I brought a piece of grilled meat and handed it over. I found him surprisingly easy to speak to and he reassured that he only wants to help me and the rest of the elves, but he’s not interested in leading us from a position of power. I hesitated a bit, but I decided to ask about the beds and their assignment as well…

The result was the fact that he asked me to lead my people through example and sleep next to him and Miss Mia, therefore showing to the other girls that they should rely on the guys for comfort and stability in this new world, at least on an emotional level. I consider the girls to be stronger than the guys mentally and from their Status Pages, through the attributes as well.

I was concerned since both him and Miss Mia appeared in front of us, that they might be a couple and having me intrude in their relationship will ruin the things between them, but was assured that there won’t be a problem… I had no memory before this place and sleeping next to a guy made me infinitely nervous, but I swore to protect and lead my people so I couldn’t exactly back down here.

And I can’t say that I hated the idea of being around him. He was strangely comforting and even with all the strength I now had, he gave me a feeling of safety that only the World Tree could compare to. I can only hope that Miss Mia won’t see it as him cheating on her with me…

What amazed me was the fact that the prophet, Michael, thought that I disliked him. I was quite flustered and tried my best to explain that I didn’t have a reason to, which made me really embarrassed. Now I was supposed to prepare mentally to sleep next to him, but he told me that he will act as a sentry and keep an eye out for wild beasts attacking the camp throughout the night.

The thought of him being able to see me sleep defenseless didn’t sit right with me and tried to suggest that I will also stay awake and help out. I was shut down pretty fast and with good reasoning as well…

What am I to do if he sees me drooling or something even more unbecoming!?

After all the arrangements in the camp were made and the first day was ending, I approached him once again and reported about everything that happened. He signaled me to sit down next to him and we both admired in silence the first of many sunsets upon which I’ll look on Midgard.

Seeing how approachable and friendly he was, I decided to ask a couple of things, one of which was seeing his Status Page. He wasn’t reluctant and showed it to me.

Michael Lewis. His name was different making me exhale in relief, but I was surprised by the fact that his attributes were normal, just like everyone else’s. If there was a strange thing, it was the Identify skill. I decided not to ask, since he didn’t question me about my own skills and I didn’t want to be rude either. After some meaningless banter, I found myself falling asleep soon, unaware of how tired I actually was after this exciting first day.

I had a dream of a young girl and her father that carried her through a forest, teaching her about different plants, mushrooms and how to check for animal tracks. There was a feeling of warmth and love that permeated the air which brought tears in my eyes.

Before anything else could happen, I was shook awake by the light of the morning sun.

“Looks like someone’s awake. Did you sleep well Alexandra?”

Realizing that my eyes were still slightly moist, I wiped them and stood up fast. After using him as a pillow throughout the entire night, worrying him about a dream would be outright scandalous on my part. He didn’t sleep from what he said, but he didnn’t look tired at all. On the contrary, he looks expectant and eager to start the new day.

What shocked me once more, were the radical ideas he had. He literally suggested that two girls share one guy when the first houses will be built. Not only that, but in the future there might actually an even more disproportionate ratio of guys and girls… However, I’m strangely not bothered by it and I doubt that the other girls would either since the more, the merrier.

The day continued with breakfast prior to which we prayed to this world’s God and thanked him for this new opportunity we were given. After that we were brought to the river were we previously created our weapons and Michael began inventing new objects that will help us in the future. There was a tool that could chop down trees, a tool that could dig the ground and prepare it for future plants to grow on it and even a tool that could break rocks so we can bring them back to our camp (even if I had no idea what we could use stones for...). Everyone was amazed and impressed, but even more so when they were taught how to create them as well.

Soon, we were able to bring resources we could later on use back to our camp and Michael proposed another outrageous thing: to go and take a look at the monsters. Was it that simple to just go in the lair of those things and take a look at them? I wanted to ask but he simply started walking towards East and we had to follow. Why do I know about what East is? Because he taught me previously! It's incredibly handy and it will make it easier for us to not get lost. Yesterday we arrived late because when coming back to camp, I was actually unable to determine which route to take back home...thankfully I saw the World Tree at sunset and knew where to return. That one, I will keep to myself since it's embarrassing.

These creatures which are our sworn enemies were actually located so close to our base that it frightened the nine of us, but Michael quickly let us kow that they are unable to leave their homes until they reached 100 floors. Apparently each floor is like one huge clearing where a type of monsters lives and each year a new one will appeared. I didn’t know what a year was, but I was reassured to know that there are at least 99 more until they will be able to leave their lair.

Following his command, we were stopped and had him explore the space after the entry in the 'dungeon'. I wanted to go in first since I'm stronger, but he didn’t allow me due to the fact that I had to protect the remaining hunters. What about him though? Who will protect him?

After we followed him inside, a strange new world unfolded in front of our eyes, but such a beautiful delusion was shattered fast by the group of monsters we found residing near the water. They looked like fishes with arms and legs and they were rather cute, but I didn’t dare say it out loud, nor did the other girls, since our mission was to assess their levels and fight if possible.

In order to give us an example, Michael went first and attacked a Murloc on his own. The monster died in one strike and he dragged its body close for us to see and get used to it. The smell was repugnant and I felt like I will throw up a couple of times, but I held it in. I need to lead my people and I cannot be weak…

Next we organized in a formation for a fight against them and we surprisingly killed many of them. However, when we attacked using close-quarter combat, I lost myself because of the power I wielded. The feeling of absolute strength and the ease with which each monster I hit died, brought an intoxicating sense of achievement as I kept killing monsters left and right. Soon, only these Murlocs were in my sight and I easily lost my reasoning.

When I came to it, I felt a slight sharp pain in my right shoulder and Michael’s hand touching me. He had a worried but steady look and there was a cut on his face. Seeing my spear in his hand and a droplet of red blood on it, I realized that I attacked him somehow.

What have I done and what if I actually injured or killed him!? I was embarrassed and felt guilty about it, however he dismissed the issue quickly and had us retreat. The monsters brought their strongest member and we began to run after a strategy Michael came up with to buy us some time, however right before both of us were able to exit, the red Murloc threw one of our own javelins and pierced him right through the abdomen.

I was worried and didn’t know why the entire time he was asleep, thinking that he might not wake up ever again... However he did and kept bringing another miracle now in front of me, probably just one of the many that I’ll be able to see by his side in the future.

“Alexa, this is only the beginning…”

Yes... I know that to be the truth and that future is indeed something to look forward to.