Disclaimer: All events and characters in this story are purely fictional. If there are similarities in names and places, please understand. The author is still a beginner and criticism, and suggestions are expected. Reader discretion is advised.

WARNING!!

Strong language and violence

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

The horse-drawn carriage was running with the morning sun beside it. Old Man Wilson, who was galloping his horse, lit his cigarette again. Inside the carriage, there is Aiden who is pensive, thinking about last night's events. What he couldn't stop thinking about were the twin brothers. They threw fireballs and moved at speeds that were completely unheard of for normal humans. No matter how long Aiden trained his body, he could never be that fast.

"The twins just now, you said they were a Mage. You mean like sorcerer?" asked Aiden breaking the silence.

"Well, I'm not sure if they are a Sorcerer. But you could say it like that. Those who has the ability to wield magic are either Mages, Wizards, or Sorcerers. There are also those who wield nature-based magic like Druid and Shamans, or magic that were harnessed by contacting a deity like Warlocks. Divine magic is a thing too. With Clerics and some members of the Church's Paladins."

"Those are too much for me to take in. Forget about it, you mentioned that I am an Otherworlder? What does it mean?"

"Like the meaning of that word. Otherworlder, a person from another world."

Aiden, who heard the last word, was shocked and almost choked when he was drinking his mead. "Another world!? Is this in another world? Nonsense! You're joking, right!"

"What? You don't believe it? You think I'm lying? You can choose to not believe me if that suits you. In fact, I don't care if you choose to not believe me anyway. What's the gain for me in lying?"

Wilson's right. There was no gain for him to any of those things just to see himself in shock and panic. After all, he saved his life. If he really was dreaming right now, what he had previously experienced would not be as real and terrifying. The pain he felt was real.

"I can see you've never seen real magic. Of course, because you are an Otherworlder," said Wilson.

"I only know magic to make people disappear or turn paper into birds."

"It's just a circus trick. You haven't seen the truth." Wilson opened his hand and formed the same fireball that the Twins had used earlier. He threw the fireball at a rock on the side of the road. The stone was crushed with burnt stains covering it.

"How did you do it?" asked Aiden surprised.

"With practice of course. Everyone can learn magic. But not everyone can become a Mage." Wilson stubbed out his cigarette and took a sip of his drink. He spurred his horse while holding the drink in his right hand. "Just seeing from your reaction, I could tell right away that in your world, no one can use magic like me earlier."

"Of course." Aiden said loudly. "In my world there are no monsters with split heads, or people who throw fireballs and move at the speed of a cheetah. And today, I nearly died twice."

"Well, you're quite a tough one. You told me you were a soldier, right?"

"I don't think I was trained to fight those kinds of things."

"Of course not. What I mean is that your toughness as a soldier affects the current state of your body."

Hearing that, Aiden felt confused. "Which means?"

"Your body adapted to the changes you experienced when you entered this world. I knew a certain Otherworlder and he told me the same thing. Your body will began to change to the new rules implanted to you by this world.

"How can you be sure? I still feel like my normal self. Nothing has changed."

Wilson stopped his horse and turned around looking at Aiden with serious eyes. "You manage to go toe to toe with those twins was something that should not be underestimated. Bandits are easy to handle. But bandits that flings magic, you ought to be careful."

"I'm not sure go toe to toe is the correct word. More like I was harassed quite pathetically. And you! You snapped that bastard ugly twin head like it was nothing at all."

Wilson laughed at this and galloped again. "I used to be a soldier like you. But now I'm just the owner of a dormitory."

"Yeah… alright…" There was a bit of hesitation behind Aiden's reaction.

"Besides, you can defend yourself pretty well against those Twins. And you don't know magic either. Not only that, but your detection distance is also quite far. You already know they're going to get closer even though they're still far away. But the most important thing is the poison from that monster."

"What about that monster poison?"

"The poison from that monster, can kill a normal human in seconds. And you managed to last a few hours. It seems your body itself is quite immune to poison."

Hearing that, Aiden couldn't believe it. But this person had saved his life. At least trust is one thing he can give.

"Thank you," said Aiden.

"Don't worry. It's my job."

All of this felt like the wildest dream he could possibly imagine. But all of this is real. First the monsters poisoned him with a poison that can kills human in seconds, to bandits who threw fireballs. Then what will be waiting for him later? A purple human with the ability to wipe out half the universe? There was only anxiety and fear filling Aiden's head now. But he still had one more question.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"You told me that I was one of the Otherworlders. What's that?" he asked.

"Didn't I told you already?" Wilson answered briefly.

"That doesn't answer my question. I need a bigger context."

"You're trying to interrogate me, huh?" Wilson sighed at Aiden's question. Before finally he explained everything to Aiden. "Otherworlder is an anomaly. That's what the scholars of Bridgewynne said. They are just like us, human or otherwise. But they came from another world to this world. The reason? Do not ask me. I don't even know when they started coming."

That sounds like a big deal for Aiden. Anomaly, huh? He thought. And this all sounds like a market fantasy story line that sounds like a cheap novels story written by some random teens.

"Sounds like something serious. Even the scholars said so. What is Bridgewynne anyway?"

"Bridgewynne is a school in the Bridgewynne nation. In short, a place of education as well as a school for the mages."

"Mages? Like those bandits just now?"

"Right. And that school is one of the most prestigious one. I also knew that they are not only institute of magical education in this world, but they also meddle with other countries problem. Mainly about knowledge gathering and that kind of stuff."

"Sounds like a political issue." And He thought to himself, morbidly similar to CIA.

"Hahaha, one could also say that." Wilson looked back at Aiden who was wearing a confused and worried expression. "I don't think I need to burden you with history lessons for now. I already explained what an Otherworlder is after all."

"Have you met them?" asked Aiden.

"Who? Otherworlder?"

"Yes."

Wilson seemed to need time to answer that question. But he smiled and replied, "Yes. I've met someone. He is quite interesting."

"Who's he?"

"Someone from the Shin Empire in the east. His name is Miyamoto Musashi."

Aiden didn't even think, in his wildest dream, He would never imagine to hear the name of the most famous Japanese historical figure.

"Where can I meet him?" asked Aiden.

"Too bad, you won't be able to meet him?" Reply Wilson.

"Why?"

"He is already dead."

Aiden could only put on a straight face. "Oh yes. Too bad."

"Actually, I don't know if he's dead or not. He was just reported missing. But after a while, he might already be considered dead."

MIA, huh? He thought. "Can you tell me more about this?"

Aiden can see Wilson tense a bit. It seems that this topic has quite sour his mood. "It's not like I don't want to tell you. Its like retelling my nightmare. Or perhaps, our nightmare. We have lost such a great figure."

"How come?"

"I think that if you ask any person you've come in your journey about Elysium, they've will know it immediately."

"A war, perhaps?"

"Worse."

Wilson tells Aiden about the kingdom of Elysium. Starting from its history to its collapse. How before the incident that befell the Kingdom. And when countries all over the world unites to stave off whatever came out from that forsaken nation. And result in utter failure. "We suffered so much from the war itself. And the monsters came, we thought that if we held a truce for a bit, we could figure out the root cause of the problem. But they never yield. And so, 50 years we try to withstand both the war and the scourge of beasts, even after that peace treaty mission that ended up in failure too. And that great disaster that ended up destroying the entire Elysium. They sent off some of their best to retrieve any thing and any person that can be saved. But it was futile. We lost more than we were trying to retrieve."

Aiden seemed to have felt a bit burdened when he heard the story, leading Wilson to apologize to him. But he just felt like he had lost his only hope of meeting someone with the same fate as him. "Why the Elysium waging war towards the north and western countries? Some old grudges?"

"I'm not sure. But I heard that in the past, someone from the Royal Family of the Eisenberg stole some important artifacts of their nation. Eisenberg also was one with Elysium before they've gone separated after a great civil war."

Even in this world, war is still part of the humanity, huh? He thought.

"If I were you, kid, I would throw that hopes out of window if you're still trying to seek another kind like you. Its better like that."

"Why? What is your reason for coming to such a conclusion?"

Wilson appears to be hesitated at first, like he was trying to predict Aiden's reaction over his answer. Aiden only waits. But he decides to tell him.

"The Otherworlders were hunted down. Some of them are from dark cults, but none can surpass the hatred towards the Otherworlders like the Strigois."

Aiden leaned back while patting his head. He started getting dizzy and wanted to vomit. The fact that he now had no clue as to the situation, now coupled with the fact that he was being hunted, by someone or something he didn't even know who made him want to puke. "And what is these dark cults and Strigois?"

"Dark Cults is what we like to call those who worships Ancient and Older Gods. They are known to be very unpredictive and harbors some of the simplest yet absurd concept of man. Strigois are, a clan of bloodsucking people. Vampires for short."

That only makes everything worse for Aiden.

"If I were you," Wilson continued. "I will go hiding. But you don't seem to want that."

"Why?"

"Because you are a fighter."

"How?"

"Just my instinct."

Aiden was silent at Wilson's comment. Wilson didn't think he would run away, but he wasn't sure if his senses would.

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Along the way, Aiden was silent. Every now and then he asked what Wilson's job was, which he answered very briefly. When they were almost there, Aiden noticed that the cold air was getting stronger, and he saw trees whose orange leaves were falling. Autumn, huh? He thought. Small houses and plantations have appeared more and more frequently. And finally, they reached Viernna, the city mentioned by Wilson. They were approached by the gatekeepers who, when they saw Wilson, smiled and let him through. When Wilson was questioned by them about Aiden, he simply replied "Was escorting an injured adventurer."

Viernna… looks familiar to Aiden, and quite lively. Like the town of the cowboys according to him. Old fashioned and a little claustrophobic. But he looked far to the south, there was a pier bustling with many people and ships at anchor. A port city, hmm? He thought. They stopped at a T-junction which was a bit free from the crowd.

"Open the cloth behind you. I found your stuff lying close to that monster earlier," said Wilson.

Aiden opened the cloth and saw that his things were still intact. "Thank you," he said.

He got down and was about to lift his leg but was stopped by Wilson. He reached into his leather bag and handed over a small pouch full of something. Aiden opened the bag, and found it contained several bronze coins, silver coins and gold coins.

"I-I can't accept this. You've helped me too much," Aiden said reluctantly.

"Hey, I'm not a heartless person. You'll be starving without it anyway. I gave you the money to help you a little. The rest is up to you."

Aiden looked at the contents of the bag with reluctance and worry. Even though he didn't know how the currency here worked, he knew that the money in this pocket was very much a lot. Wilson then continued, "If you want a place to live, you can stay in my dorm. Look for a building with a wooden door decorated with a bell shaped like a firefly. You can find it if you head west from here. If you are asked, who are you, just say I sent you here and ask them to give you a room."

"Thank you. I don't know how I can repay you."

Wilson smiled and waved. "Treat me a drink sometime. Good luck, boy." He left in his horse carriage but suddenly stopped on his way.

"Kid, I almost forgot. No matter what you do, don't go outside the city around nighttime. And never ever, ever, cross the city border unless you have something you wanted to do and already tell the guards. Monsters are frequent at night and as long as no one stepping outside the city border, everything should be fine. And you should consider register yourself as a Hunter's Guild member for the time being if you don't have anything to do."

"Alright, Wilson. Take care." Wilson left him in the middle of the street. Aiden begin his walk to look for Wilson's dorm.

It didn't take long for Aiden to find the building he was looking for. He did exactly what Wilson said and easily got a room. The room he got was enough to meet his needs. A bed with wooden frames, a wooden table with a small, and yet interestingly constructed lamp, and a window overlooking the city. He put his belongings beside his bed and lay down. He returned to remembering the things he had just experienced. And he was also hit with the fact that he was being hunted. He thought too much until he finally fell asleep. Tomorrow is the beginning of his new journey.

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-To be Continued-