"Carl eh? That’s a good strong name.” Zeke pulled Carl up behind him on the horse. “Those are some strange clothes Carl, where are you from?”
Carl decided Zeke seemed trustworthy and decided to be honest. “I am not from this world Zeke.”
Zeke looked over his shoulder back at Carl “What do you mean not of this world?”
Carl shrugged, “I was at my Grandparents house playing a game, when there was a bright flash of light and I found myself lying in the forest. I’m from a world called Earth.”
Zeke didn’t seem that perturbed by the fact he was talking to an alien “well, that would explain the strange clothes and boots. I’ve never seen their like before.”
Carl laughed and said “yeah I’m guessing Kohl’s hasn’t made it’s way to Hearth yet.”
“Who is this Master Kohl? His work is incredible, I would love some clothing from him.”
This sentence had the effect of making Carl chuckle before replying, “As far as I know there is no master Kohl, it’s just a store on earth where you can buy clothes.”
“hmm” grunted Zeke, “Well, there are plenty of shops in town, we should see if we can find you something. You don’t want to stand out too much.”
As the horse walked, its gentle swaying put Carl in a light doze. Sights seemed to flash and fade as the horse made its way through the forest guided by Zeke’s hand. *flash* Jet walking sedately next to the horse. *flash* a pond in a field of green surrounded by trees. *flash* deep dark forest with the wide path leading through.
“wake up Carl, get your first view of the city of Ludum.”
Carl opened his eyes and wiped the crust from them, his jaw dropped as he caught his first sight of Ludum. The city was wrapped by a giant white wall, pennants of every color draped from the walls. The wall must have been forty feet tall and ran for miles. From the hill the horse stood on, Carl could see over the walls and into the city itself.
Streets of what Carl assumed were cobble stone ran through the city in an orderly fashion. Upon either side of the streets ran shops or houses. In the center of the city sat a large white building with other matching white buildings sprawling out from the main building.
“Carl, the white buildings in the center is the Magicae, the school of elements. As you can see it is surrounded by the wealthy in their mansions the farther from the center of the city the poorer it gets, with the poorest living next to the walls. A convenient shield for the elite of the city.”
“huh, that kinda strange” proclaimed Carl, “ I mean do they learn about minerals and stuff?”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Zeke let out a small chuckle “no, Carl they don’t learn about minerals. They learn to harness the power of the elements. A fire soul may ignite fires, a water soul may produce water, an air soul may use wind, an earth soul can use the earth and a spirit soul may influence people and animals.”
Carl looked over at Jet who was sitting near them and the edge of the forest.
“Yep, I figure with how you tamed Jet you must be a spirit soul Carl, did you check your stats screen?”
Carl looked at Zeke confused, “what are you talking about?”
“think stats screen Carl.”
Carl did as he was told and a see-through blue screen popped up about a foot in front of him.
****STAT SCREEN****
Name: Carl
Age: 14
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 15
Agility: 18
Hardiness: 1
**** ELEMENTS****
WIND
WATER
EARTH
FIRE
SPIRIT
UNKNOWN
***PERKS***
NONE
**** TITLES****
NONE
“Well my stats officially suck, no titles, no perks and it looks like I have the spirit elemental unlocked.”
“Aww don’t be too upset Carl, think of it this way, you are basically a baby in this world, you just arrived. For a newborn, those stats are pretty good! Well we definitely want to up that hardiness stat, especially now-a-days.”
Carl looked startled as he said “What the heck does that mean!”
“The Dark king to the south. An evil man who rules the southern lands, but as long as you stay north of the border, you’ll be fine. Let’s not talk of him.”
Zeke, can we go check the city out? I’m exhausted and need to find a place to stay.”
“Do you have any money?”
“ugh no, I just got here remember?”
“Well, I live a bit outside of town with my wife, she too is an adventurer and would have been with me today, but she had things to do in town. Why don’t you come stay with us until you can get settled and on your feet?”
“Awesome, thank you so much Zeke!”
“Don’t thank me yet, Carl my wife will put you to work earning your stay.”
Carl was unsure about the evil grin on Zeke’s face.
As Zeke and Carl got closer to Ludum, the large swaths of farmland gave way to hamlets. The path they were following grew from a dirt road to a wide cobblestone road and as the road changed it became noticeably more crowded on the road.
About a mile from the gates of Ludum Zeke suddenly turned his horse right, down a narrow path between small rustic houses. The pathway was almost like a tunnel the houses were so close. Carl could see a bright light at the end up the “tunnel” between houses but could not see past the end of the “tunnel” as it was too much a difference in lighting.
Finally, as they reached the opening between houses Carl could see what lay ahead and it stunned him. “It looks like a dang Kinkade painting” he thought to himself. Out in front of him spread a beautiful prairie filled with wildflowers. A crystal clear flowed down the prairie and small wooden bridge spanned it. A short about a quarter mile from the bridge sat a small but cozy house ringed by a copse of flowering trees.