Despite Klarion being somewhat out of shape, he enjoyed the journey through the forest. For most of his life he had been a city dweller, hemmed in by concrete and steel. It was nice to be out amongst nature for once. Even if the surrounding trees he was passing through were off in some ways. Though the same deep greens and earthy browns surrounded them as Rolfun and Alesin escorted him in the direction of their camping site, the leaves themselves were not any that he recognized. Some were long and thin, while others had a square-like appearance.

Then again he was in a completely different world. It would be more than strange if he was seeing oak and elm trees.

The other thing that stood out to him was the sounds of the forest itself. Bird calls were the most common thing he heard, but no matter how hard he looked around, he couldn’t see a single one. Perhaps they were higher up in the trees or hidden amongst the foliage. While he regretted not being able to see any, the peaceful monotony of the journey was enjoyable all on its own.

His feet slipped on a wet stone, but before he could fall, Alesin’s hands were there to steady him. The sun elf’s firm grip brought his attention back to where it should have been since the start of the hike through the woods. The fact that he was heading to the Imperial Academy to enroll in classes, as the scion of an important noble house no less, and he could not feel any more unprepared for it.

He stumbled, Alesin again catching him.

“Thank you,” Klarion said, his face reddened at how clumsy he was being.

“No thanks are necessary. I imagine this is a difficult hike for someone so newly integrated into the System. Don’t hesitate to ask for breaks if you need them. While there is a deadline, we have some time yet before we would need to hurry.”

“Thank you, but no,” Klarion said firmly. “The more I push myself, the more training I can get in with the both of you. I’m sure I’ll appreciate every second of it when I get to the Imperial Academy.”

“Very well,” Alesin said, stepping back. She motioned him to continue after Rolfun, who had slowed for them to catch up. “Just make sure you don’t forget that attitude days from now after training with Rolfun and I.”

Though he was already sure he would regret it, given how tired and sore he was already, Klarion still smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Alesin did not say anything in response, only gave a smile full of teeth and gestured again for him to follow Rolfun. While Klarion did not know either of his escorts very well yet, that look reminded him of one an old physical therapist of his had given him after first being released from the hospital. Klarion had asked that he be pushed as hard as he could handle so that he might recover faster. The man had given him a smile very similar to the one Alesin had on her face right now. Klarion winced at the memories of those long, painful hours.

Shaking his head once to banish them, he picked up his pace slightly. Though his legs flared in protest, Klarion pushed through. He hadn’t lied to Alesin when he said that he was looking forward to training. Whenever Klarion made up his mind to pursue something, he would put as much time and effort into it as he could until he was successful. He had done that while struggling to hold on until a cure could be found for his disease and in the physical therapy that came after. He had also done that while he had been working towards becoming a doctor. Of course, he would do the same to achieve his new goal of getting strong enough to protect his family back on Earth.

His focus shifted to Rolfun. Despite his size, the half-ogre seemed at home in the forest. Dodging between trees as needed, his long stride seemed to be incredibly stable despite the uneven ground. Watching Rolfun move, Klarion began to pick out a pattern in how he was stepping. Mimicking it as best he could, Klarion quickly found that he began covering a bit more ground with less effort.

Rolfun veered to the right as they came across a tree that had collapsed to the ground, the base of the trunk shattered. The half-ogre ducked through a gap where it had come to rest against a boulder.

Klarion moved to follow, but a glint near the base of the tree caught his eye. Before he knew what he was doing, he took three quick strides in that direction.

The sound of nearby birds went silent.

“Rolfun!”

As if spurred on by Alesin’s shout, a massive creature burst from the underbrush to Klarion’s left. Light reflected off of shining claws, and lean muscle rippled under a spotted coat as a massive leopard lept at him. Klarion froze, getting the briefest glimpse of jaws opening wide to reveal massive teeth when the massive form of the half-ogre blurred past him to slam a fist into the gaping maw. Slammed shut in a crash, the leopard went hurling backward, a strangled yowl emerging from its clearly broken jaw as it went. Rolfun threw himself at the reeling beast before it could recover.

Klarion scrambled backward, tripping over an exposed root as he did. Crashing to the ground, he slid onto his side. Coming to a stop, he looked up into the descending fangs of an even larger beast.

Before he could even begin to attempt to raise his arms to shield his face, Alesin was there. A corona of fire flared into being around her. Thrusting out her arm, a spear of flame blasted into the chest of the second leaping leopard, knocking back and away. So violent was her use of magic, the chest of the hunting cat simply ceased to exist, and it was dead before it hit the ground, all without uttering a sound.

The crunching sounds of fists meeting flesh echoed off the trees behind Klarion, until one last sickening crack. Turning his head from where he was lying on the ground, he saw Rolfun standing up beside a broken corpse, grey arms and armored chest covered in blood from having beaten the first of the leopards to death with his bare hands. So much blood.

Klarion’s breath hitched, chest tightening as it sank in that he had almost died yet again. The thought hit him like a hammer, and suddenly, the world pressed in around him. The air grew too thick to breathe and his heart beat frantically in his chest. His vision narrowed past Rolfun to land on the broken corpse of the dead forest predator.

The one that would have killed him before he could have reacted, had Rolfun not been there to save him. Klarion bent over, struggling to get a hold of himself.

“Lord Klarion?” Alesin asked, the concern clear in her voice as she reverted back to calling him by his apparent title.

“Sorry,” Klarion said softly, still bent over staring at the ground. “I’m still not used to all… this.” He gestured in the general direction of the monstrous cat that Rolfun had killed.

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“The Forest Leopard or the fighting for your life?”

“Both.” His heart was finally starting to slow down again. “Where I am from, we don’t have to worry about either. Well, generally. There is still violence occasionally, usually related to criminal activity. I can’t even remember the last time an animal of any sort attacked a person in my city.” Klarion’s speech quickened near the end of his response. Focusing on what he was saying helped him fully push the panic away.

Alesin crouched down next to him. She placed her hand gently on his shoulder, “That sounds like a nice place to live.”

“It wasn’t really,” Klarion chuckled, fully in control of himself again. He forced himself to stare at the first Forest Leopard, then the other that Alesin had blasted with her fire magic. They seemed smaller, less imposing now that they were dead. “The forest was so peaceful. Kind of like the woods I walked through with my family when we went hiking not that long ago. I wasn’t expecting to be attacked.”

“I guess there is more to teach you about than we thought,” Alesin said as her husband stepped closer. He had pulled a rag from somewhere and was trying to wipe as much blood off of his armor as he could. She looked into Klarion’s face from inches away, thinking. “Would you mind sharing more about your past with us, lord? It might help us better design an approach to your training over the rest of this journey.”

“Such as why I would not have expected to be attacked by predators in a forest?” Klarion asked, to which Alesin and Rolfun both nodded. “Alright. Do you want me to start now, or wait until we arrive wherever it is you and Rolfun are leading me?”

“Already seeking to get out of training?” Alesin asked with a teasing smile. “We can’t have that. The hours we have this evening are already spoken for, given your request earlier. No, better you start telling us all about yourself now.”

“But don’t get too distracted while you’re sharing,” Rolfun added, reaching down and pulling Klarion to his feet. “Just because the forest is peaceful, doesn’t mean there isn’t danger. As the lowest level here, you are a tempting target for all that hunt in these woods. Make sure you stay close.”

“I will,” Klarion promised. “And thank you both for saving me.”

“Would you listen to that, Alesin,” Rolfun said with a smile that showed off his large, sharp teeth. “Never thought I would hear a Scion offer thanks to me for just doing my duty.”

“Neither did I, but it is nice to be appreciated,” Alesin responded. “Alright, let’s get moving. Klarion, tell us about yourself whenever you are ready.”

Over the next several hours of their journey through the forest, Klarion tried to share an overview of his life on Earth with his escorts. He told them about his childhood and how it had been a happy one. He told them of how he became deathly sick, and but for a miracle of some sort, he had expected to die years ago. Both Alesin and Rolfun were excellent listeners. Occasionally, they would ask clarifying questions, but for the most part, they listened in silence, simply giving Klarion room to share. With growing confidence he had spilled his secrets. His shame at being the cause of his family’s debt. His desire to become a doctor, to help others as he was helped, and to pay his parents back. The infrequent times with his friends, and fun that was playing tabletop roleplaying games. That, in particular, Rolfun had got a kick out of. In another place and time, Klarion had the feeling Rolfun would have made a great addition to their group.

Finally he came to the last turbulent days. Losing his friend and mentor. Almost dying himself, only to be saved Franz after being horribly scarred. The shock at learning there was so much more to the Multiverse. On and on the words spilled from him until there were none left to share about his life.

Initially, the words had come fast to the young man from Earth, but as the distance passed under their feet, Klarion’s breathing began to turn to gasping. The details about his life that had slowed were gradually replaced with what life was like without the System. When both of his escorts took it upon themselves, in turn, to ask what Classes people had, or how humans on his planet dealt with marauding monsters, what was done regarding the random appearance of dungeons, or any other of a dozen things that he had never heard of before, Klarion began to notice their grimaces at his responses. They got worse as he became unable to share anymore due to his gasping for air. Their grimaces turned fully into frowns when Rolfun said they had arrived where they would be camping for the night.

As they stepped close to a tree that looked like any other, Alesin pulled out a metal talisman from somewhere on her person. Holding it before her, the tree and its immediate neighbors faded away to reveal a small clearing, two tents already constructed, and a stone-lined pit with a small pile of wood nearby.

While Klarion was once again excited to see another example of magic, he was still too winded to ask how it all worked. Hopefully, he will be able to ask later. He turned his attention to Rolfun and Alesin, who he realized had lingered behind him while he had wandered deeper into the clearing

“Is everything alright?” Klarion quickly asked between breaths.

“No, Klarion,” Alesin said with a sad shake of her head. “No, things are not alright. For what we are about to deliver you to at the Imperial Academy, you could not have had a worse life until this point.”

Klarion clenched his fists, and he glared back at the sun elf. “I had a good life! My family took care of me! I had a career I could work towards, and friends that I could rely on! I was always—”

“Safe.” Rolfun said, his deep voice rumbling in a mournful tone.

So sad did the massive half-ogre sound that Klarion cut off that he had been about to say that word as well.

“You were safe. Safe in a way we can barely imagine,” Rolfun continued in the same tone. “Safe to such a degree that even the richest of the high imperial nobility who have no desire for war or fighting would have paid you any price to switch lives with you. Even if it meant but a few, peaceful years until Integration occurred and they had to return to the Imperial fold.“

“Klarion, you have to understand,” Alesin interjected into the silence. “The world you come from is completely different from any world we have ever heard of. How it lacks so much of the violence and struggle that all within the Empire and beyond it are born into. Even the freshest of Integrated worlds have more violence and suffering than your world, Earth, apparently had.”

“But isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, Klarion. It is not.” Rolfun again shook his head. “It means so many of the instincts and so many of the experiences that we could build on in our training to increase your odds of surviving those first few days in the Imperial Academy simply don’t exist in you. We will have to start completely fresh. With everything.”

In the second, longer silence, it struck Klarion all at once what they meant. Barring his last few days on Earth, Klarion had always tried to avoid conflict and threats as much as he could. Given what little he had learned about the nobility of the Empire so far, that was the exact opposite of what would be expected of him. Yes, he understood what they both meant now. Among other things, Klarion had shown to his escorts that he apparently lacked the capacity to kill. Shit. With how he had reacted to the ambush by the Forest Leopards, how he hadn’t even attempted to defend himself, Klarion could well understand their grim looks.

No.

“Tabula Rasa.”

“What?” both of his escorts asked together, their voices overlapping in confusion.

“Tabula Rasa,” Klarion repeated louder, “it is Latin, a dead language from Earth. It means that the human mind, especially from birth, has no preconceived ideas or predetermined goals. With how I basically know nothing of what it is like to live in the Empire, nor be part of the System, I am truly a blank slate to everything you might teach me.”

“Exactly, Klarion. You have no real experience and—” Alesin tried to respond before Klarion cut her off.

“So teach me. Use my unique background to teach me everything you can,” he steeled himself as he said words he knew he hoped he wouldn’t regret, “as fast as you can. I think that lacking all the bad habits of other young nobles might allow me to learn quicker than you fear I will.”

Both Alesin and Rolfun froze as they realized the point Klarion had just made. Just as quickly large smiles appeared on their faces. Despite the excitement, Klarion couldn’t help swallowing in some fright. Both of them now had the same expression as that physical therapist from his time in recovery back on Earth.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Rolfun said, his smile all sharp teeth and excitement, “What are we waiting for?”