When I woke up, I was lying on soft grass looking up at the clear blue sky. Birds were tweeting, and I could hear a river running in the distance. I had the stone clenched in my hand.

-Wait, grass?-

I saw a large creature flying in the sky.

-... That's not a bird...-

I heard a faint roar, and I could barely make out a long tail and bat-like wings.

-Wait... Is that a freaking dragon?!-

My eyes widened in amazement, and I jumped up. I looked at my surroundings. I was in the clearing of a forest. The trees were somehow different from what I had seen before, and the birds had subtle difference in their voices. 

-Where am I? Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure.-

I heard a rustling behind me, and I whirled around to see what it was. A beautiful woman in her late teens or early twenties, with blonde hair and brilliant green eyes emerged from the treeline. She was wearing a green dress that reached her knees and was holding a small hunting bow with arrows in a quiver on her back. She had a satchel at her side. Her most striking feature, however, were her long pointed ears. Our eyes met, and she seemed a bit startled. She blushed slightly, and when her eyes lowered she turned completely red. It was then that I realized I was completely naked.

-Well, shit. This is awkward.-

I quickly tried to cover myself with both my hands, but it was futile. I glared at the woman, who suddenly covered her eyes.

-She left a gap! Close your eyes completely, please!-

"Do you mind? It's kind of embarrassing having a really hot girl staring at me."

When I spoke, she snapped out of it, startled by my voice.

"H-ho-how d-do you s-speak Sylvan, h-human?" The woman stammered out in a surprisingly melodic voice.

-Human, huh. Can I still be called that, after all I went through at the School, and everything the Hospital did to me?-

Her face still bright red as her gaze flitted from my face to my... Package.

"Hah? I'm speaking English lady. Also, can you please stop staring? I'm getting a bit uncomfortable, and just a little aroused."

"Oh, s-so-sorry." She tried to stop staring, and pointedly looked at my face, but that just caused her to blush more as she met my eyes.

-Sylvan, huh? Maybe that's what they call English here. Or maybe... The voice said gifts, and I'm clearly not on Earth anymore, not with freaking dragons flying around!-

"Hey lady, repeat to me what I'm about to say."

"Huh? Wh-what? re-repeat what?"

"Repite esto. El día está muy bonito."

"Th-the day is v-very beautiful."

-So, this must be the gift the voice was talking about. Anyone can understand what I say, and I understand what they are saying. That's convenient.-

The woman was still trying to avoid looking at my junk, and I was beginning to feel a little breezy, so I asked, "Lady, do you happen to have something I can cover myself up with? I'm getting a bit cold here."

The lady snapped out of her trance, and began to rummage around in her satchel.

-How is she reaching so far into that purse! She's got her whole arm in it! A woman’s purse really is bottomless…-

She pulled out a dark grey blanket and reached it out to me, covering her eyes.

I took the blanket and wrapped it like a long skirt around my waist.

-A bit loose, but it'll do.-

"You can open your eyes now."

The woman lowered her hand from her eyes, then blushed again after taking a look at my uncovered chest and stomach.

-Jeez lady, what are you?! Some repressed closet pervert?-

Now that I was covered up, I decided to introduce myself. I walked up to her and held out my hand, saying, "My name is Dante, top Syndicate experiment."

The woman looked at my hand, then apprehensively took it.

"M-my name is Yerna of the Greattree."

"Well, Yerna, can you tell me where I am right now? I'm a bit lost."

"Ah! Um w-well, we're in the Thoen Forest."

"And where is this forest? I mean, what country am I in. What planet is this, even?"

Yerna tilted her head at my question, as if I were insane.

"You're in the continent of Sylva. I don't know what you mean by planet."

"I mean like, what is this whole world called. Does it have a name?" I was getting a bit impatient with her, but I can't blame her. Who wouldn't be confused if a naked guy suddenly appeared in front of you and started a conversation with you?

"This world is called Gaia. There are five continents, and right now you are in the middle of Sylva. However, how you, a human, ever got here is a mystery."

-Sylva? Gaia? Where the hell am I! I was just on the roof of the School building, when a beetle crawled into my chest... The beetle!-

I reached to my chest and looked down. I felt it. A smooth carapace about as big as a large bottle cap was in the middle of my chest. It wasn't protruding at all; in fact, it felt as if it had fused with my skin and bone. I couldn't see it very well, but it looked like an onyx stone was stuck in my chest. A few dark tendrils, like long insect legs, ran under my skin about two inches before disappearing. It was kind of creepy. Yerna tilted her head at me quizzically.

"What is that?"

She leaned in to take a closer look, and widened her eyes in amazement.

"That- it can't be..."

"Can't be what?"

She stared at me with wide eyes, and grabbed my hand.

"Come with me! My village is a few minutes from here. I have to get you to Great Mother as soon as possible!"

Not letting me say anything, she takes off with my hand in hers at high speed. I'm pulled along and stumble a bit before matching her pace. I have to keep my free hand on my makeshift kilt in order to keep it from flying off. We're running so quickly the trees begin to blur around us. After about ten minutes of non-stop sprinting, we finally reach a large, dense hedge made of vicious-looking plants with large thorns pointing outward. The plants have vibrant purple blossoms, and, taking a closer look at the thorns, I see a clear liquid glistening on the points.

-Poisonous thorns, huh. They look dangerous. Probably should avoid touching those.-

Yerna, however, just holds out her hand and doesn't stop.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!"

I try to stop, but momentum keeps me going, and Yerna's grip is surprisingly strong. I trip, flying forward and crashing into Yerna. We tumble toward the hedge and I close my eyes, waiting for the painful sting of those dangerous-looking thorns. But the pain never comes. Instead, we hit the ground, Yerna landing on top of my chest. I open my eyes, and I'm blinded by the sun. I look at Yerna on my chest, and she looks up at me. She suddenly realizes she's on top of me and goes beet-red, her eyes tearing up slightly.

-Oh wow, that's cute.-

She quickly rolls off of me and stands, avoiding my gaze.

-So now you're shy, huh. Where was that modesty when you were staring at me!-

I get off my back and stand up, looking around me. I'm in a large dirt clearing, with about fifty wooden huts and one very large wooden building at the end of the rows of huts, and a massive tree directly behind it. A standard village. Except for the fact that what seems like everyone in the village is outside, staring at me. And they're all women. With ages ranging from about twelve to thirty, all the people in the village look almost exactly like Yerna, some with darker hair, different eye color, larger breasts, some taller or shorter, but all with an obvious resemblance to Yerna. A few looked more warrior-like than others, with toned muscles under their varied armors and several different weapons at their sides, while some were dressed in long gowns and pointy hats, and thin staffs with gems and stones on the ends. An older woman about forty years old steps up to us, causing Yerna to bow deeply, stuttering, "G-good day, Great Mother."

"My my, it really is a human male. And not bad to look at either." The woman chuckled, looking me over. Her eyes paused at my chest, and a look of amazement flitted across her face when she saw the beetle in my chest. 

"So it's true," She muttered, "A new Champion of Death is in the world again."

She looked me in the eyes and said, "Child, what is your name? I am Mithra of the Greattree, the current Great Mother of this village."

"My name is Dante." I said, smiling and extending my hand. However, in doing so I let my hand go from my grip on my makeshift kilt. I felt it come undone as if in slow motion, the blanket fluttering in the wind. I reached down to catch it, but it was too late. My blanket unfurled, and my third leg was revealed in all its glory. The blanket fluttered to the ground, and everyone's eyes turned to me. The whole freaking village was staring! My face was frozen in a strained smile.

-Fuck. What is with my luck today?- 

I could feel everyone's eyes on my special place. There were several gasps from the women gathered, and a few of the older women covered the eyes of the younger ones.

-I am so fucked. Aaarrggg I'm so embarrassed I could die! This is easily the worst day of my life!-

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The Great Mother seemed unfazed, and she just looked on.

"Oh my. It really does seem you've brought us a real man here, Yerna."

The Great Mother licked her lips, making me shiver.

-Why do I suddenly feel violated? Goddamn, this day is just getting worse and worse.-

I hurriedly picked up my treasured blanket and wrapped it around my waist, but the damage was done. I could feel all the blood rush out of my face from the embarrassment and shame, and I could hear some of the women talking.

"Did you see that?" "It's so big!" "Are all males like this?" "No I think this one is just special."

The Great Mother looked me in the eyes with a smile on her face.

"Ah yes, I remember my days out in the world. Fun times, fun times..." She chuckled, and said, "Well then Dante, I think we should get some proper clothes on you before anything else, then we can talk. Or would you rather stay in that blanket?"

"I would like some clothes, please," I said weakly.

"Okay then. Uyala!" The Great Mother called out, and a slim, slightly older version of Yerna stepped out of the crowd, dressed in a tight blue dress that outlined her curves. "Get this young man some of the clothes we have in the storehouse." She turned to me again. "Dante, meet me behind that house over there," she said, pointing to a large wooden three story house with a truly massive tree sprouting out from behind the house.  "We will talk about what you are doing on this world over there. I am sure you have many questions to ask, and I have many things I must find out. Come as soon as you're dressed." Then the woman named Ulaya came up and clung to my arm. "Come with me darling. We have to get you out of that blanket." She smiled, but her breathing was heavy and she stared at me hungrily.

-Why are you looking at me like that...- I shivered a bit.

"And Yerna, go with them," Great Mother chuckled again. "We don't want Ulaya to scare our new guest away, do we?"

"Y-yes Great Mother." Yerna bowed clumsily and followed us into a structure directly in front of the main building. Ulaya pouted a bit but didn't say anything, and pulled me into the building. The building was in reality just a single large room. The moment I entered it became clear to me that this was the village's storage house. There were racks of weapons of all types, piles of armor and clothes and plenty of other things. Ulaya went to a large pile of clothes and picked out brown pants and a dark grey shirt, with leather boots.

"This is all we have that might fit you. We don't usually get males of any humanoid race around here, so I'm not sure these might fit you. These clothes belonged to a dead demi-human we found just outside the village a few years back that died from a poisonous plant that sprayed its venom on him.”

Seeing the dubious expression on my face, Ulaya smiled. 

"Don't worry, we washed the clothes when we got them. I don't think the poison that killed him is still dangerous."

I nodded in satisfaction and eagerly took the clothes from her arms.

-No underwear? Well, this is going to be uncomfortable.- I sighed. -If underwear doesn't exist, then I don't think I should hope for toilet paper, should I?-

I turned to Ulaya and Yerna. "I'm gonna change now." 

Yerna immediately blushed and turned around. I glared at Ulaya.

"Fine, fine." Ulaya reluctantly turned around, grumbling. I turned my back to them and dropped my blanket. The pants were, unsurprisingly, extremely itchy.

-I am not going to wear this without underwear.- I looked back to the blanket.

-Wait. The blanket was relatively soft...-

I wrapped the blanket around my waist once again and made sure to tie it securely around my waist. I hoisted all the fabric above my knees and gathered all the extra material in front of me, so the blanket was snug against my backside. Next I pulled the fabric underneath and between my legs backwards. I gathered half of the material in each hand and brought it around in front, tying the excess into a knot. And that is how you gird up your loins!

-Nice! Kind of like a diaper... Never thought I would ever do this from that one time I learned how men girded their loins before battle using their tunics in history class. Thanks Mr. Joshua!-

I put on the pants and the shirt, using the thin rope enlaced in the pant's waist to tie it securely and slipped the black stone into the pants pocket. I had held onto it, somehow. I felt that it would be important later on.

-No more embarrassing moments ever again! God I forgot how good it feels to wear clothes, even if the shirt is a bit scratchy.-

I turned back to the girls, saying, "Ok I'm ready. Let's go."

Ulaya turned around with a mischievous smile on her face. Yerna was still red in the face, but seemed a bit calmer now. Ulaya, suddenly remembering something, faced me and said, "Oh yeah, Great Mother also said to pick out weapons from here. And, don’t worry about what you choose, go ahead and pick whatever you want!”

-When did Great Mother say that? Oh well, whatever.-

Elated, I immediately turned back and went over to the racks of weapons. They had everything! How do they even get all these things! I already knew what I wanted. I picked out a small, thin sword with a very sharp point, similar to a smallsword or dwarf version of a rapier from my old world. Actually, it looked more like a spadroon than anything.

https%3a%2f%2fwww.google.com%2furl%3fsa%3di%26rct%3dj%26q%3d...5513272303 [https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwixof6dg9zJAhWDNz4KHV86BK4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweaponology.co.uk%2Flisting%2Famerican-1812-war-of-independence-officers-spadroon%2F&psig=AFQjCNH31GT8wEUsAVS_Hz60Df5btZuGUw&ust=1450205513272303]

It had an ivory grip and an oval guard barely large enough to cover my hand. The blade was stiff and light, yet flexible enough to not shatter easily. As I examined it, I realized the metal was not iron or steel, as it seemed to shine with a strange light, and the color was a bit… Off.

-Hmm... Oh well, the blade seems good enough.-

Something strange, though, was that there were small indentations on the grip, as if it had gems in its grip once and they had been taken out. There were three of these indentations, one on top of the other. I picked a curved machete-like short sword/long dagger with a wooden grip and a steel blade, and finally a slightly curved long sword, similar to a katana. It really did look similar to a katana, with a two-hand grip covered in a soft cloth and a light iron guard to protect the hands. The blade, however, seemed to be made from the same metal the spadroon was, and also had three indentations on the grip under the silky cloth, exactly like the spadroon. I also found a really interesting small crossbow. It had a small cartridge at the bottom, and a complicated firing mechanism. When I looked into the cartridge, I saw a bunch of small bolts.

-OH MY GOD I FOUND GUTS' REPEATING CROSSBOW.- Needless to say, I was very excited.

 The spadroon and the katana already had sheathes, the katana's sheathe was a dark hard wood while the spadroon was leather with wooden core. I picked out a long sash to wrap around my waist and slid my new katana on my left hip and the spadroon to my right. For the machete I just stuck it under my makeshift belt behind me within its rough, worn leather sheathe. I slung the crossbow on my back along with a couple of cartridges of bolts.

-Ah, it feels good to have familiar weapons with me in an unfamiliar land!-

Feeling refreshed, I followed Ulaya and Yerna out and around to the back of the large building, to a small garden in front of the massive tree. The tree was much bigger up close, and it blocked out most of the afternoon sun. It was easily as tall as a hundred story building, and wide enough that a hundred people would have to link arms just to get halfway around the trunk. It was clearly very old. A small table and a few chairs where situated in front of the tree, and Great Mother was already seated with several drinks and food, waiting for us. She grinned when she saw us approach, and greeted us. "Oh my, Dante, you wear those weapons like a true warrior." She nodded appreciatively, and motioned for us to sit.

"Well then, now that you are fully clothed, we must get you acquainted with this world."

I nodded eagerly, taking a sip of the drink in front of me. It was sweet, with a hint of citrus. It was very good. 

"As I'm sure you've noticed by now, you are no longer in your world. This world is called Gaia, and the world is saturated with the energy of Gaia, called mana. There are five main continents on this world: To the west is Furia, a complete wasteland of deserts and volcanoes, but incredibly rich in minerals and ores. It is populated by the dwarves that live under the earth and mountains, and salamander-men that live within the volcanoes, along the fire spirits and cyclops. Connected by a narrow stretch of mountains, to the north of Furia is the mountainous continent of Otta. Otta is mostly unmapped and very harsh, with only a single dwarven city built into the largest mountain at the entrance of the continent that serves as a waypoint for adventurers seeking to test their luck in the wilds of Otta. It also is the breeding grounds for dragons and stone Giants, as well as many other legendary and dangerous creatures. To the very south of the world is the snow continent Kione, populated by snow spirits and ruled by the kingdom of the Ice king and his race of ice creatures. Not much is known about the ice creatures, though it is believed that they are sentient beings of pure ice, brought to life from the experiments of the snow spirits and the high concentration of mana. Kione is connected to the eastern continent of Purga by a natural ice and land bridge. Purga is a lush and diverse continent, the largest after Otta. It has forests and deserts and mountains, and is mostly populated by demons, Demi-humans and humans. This continent is the most developed, and is split between the demon empire and the Demi-human kingdoms, though they are mostly on friendly terms. In the middle of the ocean separating Furia and Purga is this continent, Sylva. It is densely forested and home to wood spirits, elves, pixies, dryads, and many other sentient beings. There are also a few Demi-human races here as well."

I nodded slightly, absorbing the information as best I could. This was a lot to take in. So I was in a new land, with dangerous creatures and mana saturating the world, and various fantasy races that only existed in books and movies. I grinned in excitement.

-I like it. Doesn't seem boring here!-

Noticing my smile, Great Mother continued, "Do not be naive. Everything in this world can kill you, and many things will go out of their way to do so because of what you are."