“On behalf of The Titan Guard, I’d like to officially welcome you to Fort Moortin.” The woman said as they passed through the gate. On the other side was a sight as awe-inspiring as the walls themselves. Hundreds, if not thousands, of buildings stretched as far as the horizon. Tens of thousands of people and creatures wandered the streets. Dex noticed a few vrakir in the crowds as they walked through the street. Aside from that and a few other humanoid creatures of various shapes and features, most of the citizens seemed to be human at first glance, but based on his Earthling race seeming unusual, he doubted they were the same breed of human as him. On the sides of the stone streets were occasional stalls where vendors seemed to be peddling various goods. She led them to a nearby building, the entrance of which was guarded by two men standing on either side of the door. They were wearing the same kind of uniform as the ones at the gate, and the woman leading them.
The inside of the building looked similar to what Dex had imagined. Having seen plenty of fantasy and medieval movies, this looked almost like a war office. There was a large table in the center of the room with a comically large map on top. Around it stood a few more people in guard uniforms. They seemed to be having casual conversation until their guide spoke.
“Warden Janti.” She said, performing a strange salute to a large man. He was wearing the same uniform, except that he had thin metal bracers on both arms. The bracers were intricately detailed, almost a work of art. Notably, they seemed to have a military grade on them. Six small circles, each larger than the last, surrounded each other on the top side of each bracer. His face was scarred and burned on one side, but his expression shone only happiness, and he returned her salute.
“Prime Arbiter,” Janti started, “You’ve brought a recruit, I see. An aspiring Arbiter, perhaps?” He moved to Dex, looking him up and down like he was a trophy.
“Actually, Warden, this young man is a Transient.” She corrected. “He bears a rat familiar. See it on his chest.”
The Warden’s eyes quickly shot to Princess, and he laughed, filling the room with his joy. “Absolutely astounding!” He shouted. “It’s been some years since we’ve found one of you alive. Let me ask you, young man, from what world did you come?”
For a moment Dex didn’t know how to answer that, in his twenty-five years, he’s never had to say “Earth” as his home before. Nonetheless, Dex answered the question succinctly.
“An Earthling, even!” Janti said. “The last one of you that made it to Fort Moortin came knocking at our gate, having lost one of her arms. She lost the rest of her the next day trying to take on a pack of blue-gold voregar.”
“That’s our best guess, anyway. The corpse was pretty mangled and burned.” The guide woman added.
“Yes, yes.” Janti waved away her words. “Prime Arbiter Melli will help set you up with some basic provisions and a place to sleep until you get some points to buy your own space. Oh, but first your name, young man.”
“I’m Dexter, this is Priscilla.” Dex answered, quickly being corrected by his familiar. “Er, she prefers to be called Princess.”
The warden stared at him for several seconds, then burst into laughter, holding his gut. The rest of the room joined him, save for Princess. Dex couldn’t help but laugh as well, at least until Princess filled his mind with a half dozen obscenities.
“Young Dexter, you have marked a day in history today. You might not be the strongest Transient I’ve ever seen, but in so few words you are the funniest.” Warden Janti said. “Please, Melli, go on and set them up with whatever they need. I will send someone to take over your post at the gate for the next hour.” With that, the Warden dismissed them and they left back on the street.
Melli led them a dozen blocks away, passing by nearly countless buildings and people on the way. Many of the buildings were one story tall, looking like simple houses. However, some were much taller, at least five or six stories, looking like medieval skyscrapers. Eventually, they stopped in front of a small cottage-like building. It couldn’t have had more than two rooms in the whole thing.
“The Titan Guard holds a few dozen properties to house Transients and refugees we assist. This one, I’m assigning to you.” She said, pulling a large keyring off her belt and sifting through the keys. It took her several tries before she found the right one, but the door ultimately swung open.
Inside was as simple and barren as Dex expected. There were two rooms, one large living quarter, bedroom, and kitchen combo. The only other door led to a bathroom, which featured a state-of-the-art hole in the ground. Dex stared into the hole, missing Earth more than he ever had before this very moment. Luckily, the main room did have a bed and a small kitchenette, which had a few pots and a sink. Dex was surprised to discover that the sink actually had running water, which felt oddly out-of-place given the low-tech surroundings.
“Check some of the stalls setup around the Fort. There’s plenty of food and equipment for sale.” Melli explained. “Other than that, if you head two blocks east, and four north, you will find the Quest Hub. There, you can take on quests for points, which is the main currency in the region.”
“Thank you for all this. It’s really very kind of you.” Dex said. Princess hopped from his poncho for the first time, running up to Melli and squeaking a thanks to her.
“You’re welcome, Transient. Your kind are dropped into this world with a huge disadvantage, and we like to do our best to mitigate that.” Melli said. “Oh, one last thing.” She swiped her hand through the air, almost as if she was manipulating an invisible touch-screen computer.
[You received 5,000 points]
Dex saw the popup appear and expressed even more gratitude.
“Honestly, it’s not a lot. It will get you food for a month or a week if you’d rather buy some questing supplies or equipment.” She said. “Also, the Warden asked me to give you provisions. Consider these points your provisions and go buy your own. I’m going to spend some time shopping before my hour is up. If you have any questions, feel free to find me at the gate. Eight to eight every day!” Melli waved as she stepped out onto the street, closing the door behind her.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
If Dex was honest, he had no shortage of questions immediately, but he didn’t want to keep her any longer. They had already done so much for him and Princess at this point, there seemed no point in pestering her at this moment.
“Well,” Dex started, “how about some food, Princess?”
“Oh absolutely! I hope they have some apples and rice.” Princess echoed.
The pair wandered the streets for a few, browsing various stalls. They did, indeed, have apples and rice. Although the rice was uncooked, which was expected, so they’d have to actually do some cooking in their new home. A half dozen apples and a one-pound bag of rice cost them one hundred points, which didn’t seem too bad. The street vendors consisted of various races. One was even a vrakir, who surprised the pair by being the kindest one they’d talked to. Dex decided to purchase a roasted turkey leg and steamed carrots from him to have for dinner. He figured he’d rather get something hot in his belly since he hadn’t eaten in almost a day and didn’t really feel like cooking. The dried meat from his starter kit only lasted for the first day he was here. After that, he had just been avoiding thinking about food at all. Dex also found a small bed for Princess to sleep in, since their home only had a place for him to sleep. His bed already had a small pillow and blanket, and he figured that’d be good enough for now. They wound up spending around four hundred points on their first trip.
“We’ve almost gone through ten percent of the points she gave us,” Dex said, looking at the small bits of food and Princess’s new bed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have spent two hundred at that food cart.”
“It’s fine, dude. We will make plenty back, I’m sure.” Princess replied.
“You seem pretty confident that we’re going to succeed here. Didn’t you hear what the Warden said? Every Transient has died for the last several years. I’d be lying if that didn’t make me nervous to throw myself back into danger.”
“Nervousness should never cause paralysis, it should only cause one to think more carefully.” Princess echoed, sounding like a fortune cookie.
“I suppose. But still, let’s chill out for tonight and worry about our next move in the morning.” He replied.
The night passed quickly as Dex passed out the moment he laid down. Dreams of his former home came and went through the night. He felt a longing for his former life when he awoke, remembering the monotony that came with it. Somehow, that was a comforting thought now. Perhaps it was the safety and certainty that came with his monotonous days that made him miss it. Shaking off the feeling as best he could, he hopped out of bed, trying not to wake his familiar. Princess twitched and squeaked in her sleep. It was kind of cute, he thought.
The sun had only just begun to rise, yet the streets bustled with hundreds of people. Peering out the window, he could see the same street vendor down the road that he had bought his dinner from the night before. Another two hundred points won’t hurt, he thought.
Returning a few minutes later, Princess was up and munching on an apple. “You didn’t ask if I wanted anything.” She complained.
“You seem content with your apples. Besides, this is the last I’m spending on takeout.” He replied, gulping down a bite of freshly baked bread dipped in a cup of unknown-meat gravy. “Finish up your meal. We are going to check out the Quest Hub.”
Dex spent a moment to wash off in the sink. Most of the blood, dust, and other nonsense had caked onto his poncho, which didn’t seem to have as easy a fix as his face and arms.
On the walk to the Quest Hub, Dex noticed a few shops that he’d like to stop at. One seemed to sell scrolls, which hopefully meant more abilities. Another sold “trinkets”, and that piqued his interest. Hopefully they were magical, and with cool effects! It was strange to him that everything here was in English. Princess speaking, or rather thinking, English made sense since she was his familiar, but everything else seemed... odd. Maybe there was some sort of magic in this world that automatically translated everything to your best language? Who knows, Dex figured he wouldn’t dwell on it for now, and instead he’d add it to his ever-growing list of questions about this new world of his.
The hub itself was full of people, hundreds gathered around. Many of them had weapons sheathed and were wearing some form of armor. Some didn’t have any visible weapons, and some of those had bandages on their hands, indicating they were likely using their fists as their weapons. Aside from the people, the hub was massive. It was a giant circle, taking up a couple of blocks by itself. There were a few stands that had workers behind them, guiding people and answering questions. In the center was a giant, blue, glowing crystal. It stood at least twenty feet tall and at least half as round. People seemed to be lined up to touch the crystal.
“Maybe that’s where we get our quests?” Dex echoed to Princess, not wanting everyone around him to hear how he had absolutely no idea what was going on.
“You could ask someone, there has to be new people from time-to-time showing up here.” Princess reasoned.
“Good point. I’ll ask one of these guys at the stands, maybe it’s like an information booth or something,” Dex replied.
The man at the closest stand had nobody in line when Dex approached. He seemed to be a human at first glance, before Dex noticed his pitch-black eyes.
“How may I assist you?” The man spoke. He sounded bored, like he regretted taking this job instead of questing like those lined up at the crystal.
“Hello!” Dex said, trying to sound extra enthused and polite. “I’m new in town and wondering where I get started.” Dex forced a large smile.
The man didn’t say anything, merely handed him a rather large page pamphlet.
“Th-thank you.” Dex mumbled. “Can I ask-“
“Next.” The man interrupted, and another adventurer all but pushed him aside. Evidently a line began forming behind Dex in the several seconds he’d been at the stand, and people here were not particularly patient.
Flipping through the pamphlet, it actually had some good information.
“Oh see this,” Dex echoed to Princess, pointing to one spot on the page.
“My reading isn’t particularly strong. Could you just tell me what it says, dude?” Princess replied.
“I didn’t know that, sorry.” Dex blushed. “It says the first step to begin questing in Fort Moortin is to join a house, then it lists a bunch of houses and where their recruitment center is.”
Dex continued explaining parts of the pamphlet to Princess as he read through it. They learned that after he joined a house, he could be able to accept quests at any time by touching the crystal. Then, a popup list would appear of currently available quests that the house has assigned. Points or other rewards could be given upon completion of any quest, and completing numerous quests would advance your rank within the house. Higher rank would grant access to better and more difficult quests.
On the last page, it talked about something a little different.
“The Echelon?” Dex echoed. “It says here the strongest adventurers get placed into the Echelon of Heroes and compete for the highest spot, achieving a sort of ‘celebrity’ status.”
“Let’s do that!” Princess sounded way too excited.
“Yeah, let’s just do that, silly girl.” Dex mocked. “I’m sure these are some of the strongest people in the world, but yeah, let’s just do that.”
“I don’t mean this minute, but think about it. That gives us a goal. It gives us something to shoot for.” Princess echoed.
“I mean, no offense but, my goal was kind of to get back home to my world.” Dex sighed. “I have family and friends there that I miss. It’d be nice to be able to see them again.”
“Look man.” Princess climbed out from his poncho and onto his shoulder, looking him in one eye. “I’m sorry but, nobody’s ever gone back. It sucks, but you’re here now. I’m not saying forget about your family, but I just don’t want to let you live in false hope.”
“There’s always a first.” Dex said out loud, placing the pamphlet in the pocket of his jeans. Echoing to her now, he continued. “But you’re right, in a way. I need to worry about us for now.”