A male in full army clothing ran through the storeroom and quickly jumped into cover as showers of bullets rained down on his hiding spot.
*Gasp* *gasp*
The 25 year old male gasped as he leaned back on the bound barrels with a [M39 Enhanced marksman rifle]. His head bloody from his wound just above his eyebrows. “Damn it…” He cursed as he wiped away some of the blood that tried to enter his eye. His dark blue hair disheveled and his uniform in a mess.
He took a few unsteady breaths and checked to see if he had any more ammunition in the box magazine and found only five causing him to curse yet again.
“[Blacksmith]… what’s happening…? I can’t get a hold of [Tyrant] and [Time].”
A female voice echoed within his mind. He took another breath before answering quietly.
“Yeah… we’ve been separated. Time must be using his ability at the moment so I doubt you can call him now…” The man called [Blacksmith] searched his flak jacket and found a pill and took it as he felt slightly energized.
“I see… what’s the matter? Your pulse is unnaturally high… did you overdose on that damn soldier pill?!”
“Shut up… I don’t have a choice…” the male risked standing up from his spot and ducked back down when bullets showered on the barrels. “Too close…” He breathed out and focused on the rifle in his arm as it slowly changed into a [Heckler and Koch HK417].
“Five people: one on 12 and 9 and three at 4.”
“Thanks…” [Blacksmith] touched his flak jacket and concentrated. ‘[Anti-pierce]…’ the jacket slowly reformed and renewed itself. Blowing out some air, [Blacksmith] steeled his gaze and resolve and rolled out to his left and shot at nine o’clock.
A splattering noise resounded as the enemy’s head exploded in blood and brain matter.
[Blacksmith] quickly touched the floor in front of him and in a split second made a wall to cover him from the bullets.
“What the hell… An [Esper]…!” One of the enemies shouted before having his head blown off by the [Blacksmith]’s weapon. It was not a mass produced [Heckler and Koch HK417] but an [Arch type Heckler and Koch HK417] that shot explosive rounds that were made for anti-material rifles.
“Damn you!” the ones at his four o’clock lost their common sense and kept firing at the wall of cement, never realizing the grenade thrown at them.
A few seconds later, an explosion and the three men were blown into bits and pieces.
“Damn humans…” He breathed out and leaned on the wall he created but as soon as he tried to close his eyes, a familiar male with black hair raised his hand at him and, with glowing eyes, began to form a bubble around the [blacksmith]. “You-” he could not even finish his sentence as he suddenly disappeared along with the bubble.
The male smiled and went out of the storeroom.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Empty grasslands filled with flowers, a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds and animals of shapes and sizes frolicking and grazing the grass. All in all: it was a picturesque scene.
Suddenly a loud roar rang through the air, freezing the animals in fear. The sky began to darken and the once gentle breeze became a whirlwind. Trees were being uprooted, creatures that looked like cattle were pulled towards the sky and the grass burnt by red flames. Another roar rang and red lightning struck the ground, obliterating the ground and creating a spherical crater.
Everything went quiet. All the animals ran away, all the flowers were ripped and burnt, the trees uprooted but the sky began to lighten up. The dark clouds began to turn white and dispersed; the sky lost its grey color and began to take a blue hue.
Nothing moved, nothing made a sound and nothing remained of the picturesque scenery of the previous grassland.
Then something stirred, began to glow inside the crater and soon: a pillar of white light pierced the sky. It lasted but a moment and then disappeared.
Inside the crater lay a male with navy blue hair that shrouded his face and a slightly muscled body. He wore a sleeveless black t-shirt and camouflaged combat trousers along with black combat boots. Around his neck was a metal dog tag (metal necklaces worn by the military) and on his hands were black finger-less gloves.
The male stayed still for a few seconds before stirring from the land of the unconscious and propping his body up with his elbows. He took a breath, breathed out, another breath in and then another out. He looked around the crater he was inside in.
He brought the dog tag up to his eyesight and breathed out a sigh of relief. He started to stand up and climbed out the crater. He stood straight and examined his surroundings: charred earth, dismembered creatures, blue sky and some dragons.
. . . . .
“Am I seeing this correctly…?” he asked himself in disbelief as he stared at the distant dragons of varying colors.
Without even needing to think, he knew he was in another world. ‘After all… the world I came from had no dragons nor any grassland left…’ Hyakuren thought bitterly as he recalled the factory filled countries that continued to puff out black smog.
Hyakuren scanned the area around him more closely, finding several buffalo like creatures with three horns and several white rabbits that held axes in their tiny paws.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Might as well go and harvest them while I can…” Hyakuren reassured himself as a combat knife materialized in his right hand. It was his ability; [Transmutation: creation]; an ability that enabled him to create anything from different ores and elements.
"Let’s see… horns, claws…? Fangs, meat, leather and bones… probably should just bury the bones… Maybe I can get some of this world’s currency in a nearby village or town.” Hyakuren skillfully began to separate each of the listed parts so as to distract himself from thinking about being transported into another world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
—half an hour later—
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hyakuren looked at the newly made bags he had created from the leather he had harvested by reconstructing some rocks into needles and threads by altering their characteristics using his second ability: [Transmutation: reconstruction].
Unlike most [Esper] abilities, Hyakuren’s ability relies on his creativity and imagination. He could make glass, a highly fragile material, bend and twist like a piece of string and if he was really concentrating, he could even recreate complex things such as human body parts but due to his conscious, he does not use it to create or re-create human and animal structures.
“Now then... meat goes into small bag #1 and synthetic materials go into bag #2. Put the two bags into larger pack and seal.” Hyakuren ran through a simple manual verbally as if to teach some non-existent audience and put it on his back. He looked at the sky which barely changed.
After scanning the area around him again, Hyakuren chose a random direction and walked without hesitation with a little spring in his step. He was now away from wars that took away his family and friends, and to add even more excitement: he was in another world where the vegetation was not limited to rich bastards that treated others as objects.
--------------------------
—some time later—
Hyakuren had found a dirt road an hour from where he woke up. Following the dirt road, he came across some merchant caravans and oddly enough, he could understand what they were talking about and now; he was riding at the back of the carriage speaking to a person who introduced himself as Zelkova, a young man in his late twenties with orange-blonde spiky hair and a lean figure.
“So you were attacked by some [Al-Miraj] and ended up lost?” Zelkova’s energetic voice could be heard in the back of the carriage as he listened to Hyakuren’s half-truth.
“Yeah, I am new to this part of the land and so I could not recognize the area I was in.” Hyakuren recounted his tales one hour ago.
It hadn’t even been five minutes since he began his journey to find a road but he was already assaulted by large rabbits that wielded stone axes. Instead of being startled, he actually found the large, axe-wielding bunnies to be humorous and slaughtered them in thirty seconds; adding more material into his back pack.
“—to think I would be attacked by rabbits…” Hyakuren finished, earning a good-humored laugh from the 9 year elder.
“I guess it must have been shocking, huh?” Zelkova inquired with a smile. “So, which country are you from Hyakuren? You mentioned something about your homeland void human sized bunnies.”
“Ah, I do not know what my real birth place is since I travelled with my father until just a few years ago. He died when a rogue assassin attacked our temporary home.” Hyakuren told a truth. Back in Japan, Hyakuren had been picked up by a travelling [Esper] that Hyakuren saw as a father figure.
“S-sorry… I didn’t mean to bring up such a memory.” Zelkova awkwardly tried to dispel the gloomy aura that was about to descend upon the whole caravan.
“It is alright… he said he died with honor knowing he protected me and killed our assaulter. If it weren’t for him, I might not have lived now.” Hyakuren explained with a nostalgic smile on his face. “What about you Zelkova-san? Why are you travelling?” Hyakuren turned towards the blonde male.
“Well, when I was young, I had an idol. He was our village protector. He used to travel the world with different people and being the easily impressed child I was, I became an adventurer at the age of 16 and went out into the world.” Zelkova smiled proudly.
“Hey Zelkova, we’re at the fork of the road.” The driver of their carriage called out to the orange-blonde male.
“I guess we’re going our separate ways from here. If you ever come to Eclana, ask around for the [Moonlight] guild, or better yet; ask about the great Zelkova!” Zelkova crossed his arms and advertised his guild after getting of the carriage.
“I guess it’s faster if I followed you there then.” Hyakuren rose from his seat and jumped down from the carriage. “Thanks for bringing me this far, old man!” Hyakuren waved goodbye to the merchant caravan, more specifically the driver of his carriage.
“Just for your information, Hyakuren: I do not swing that way.”
“Don’t worry; I prefer women rather than men hands down.”
And with a laugh, the two began their trek to the town of [Eclana].
—End of chapter—