She pelted towards the stranger, drawing up and taking him in.

He was tall and lanky, draped in a mottled khaki cloak that didn’t seem to fit him quite correctly, hanging to his boots and dragging in the snow. Where the cloak parted, she could see what looked like thick leather armour over a layer of insulated cloth, all shades of green.

The man - was he a man, or just a boy? - regarded her coolly for a moment, then pulled his hood back. Mikayla barely even noticed his pinched cheekbones, spiky blond hair and dull hazel eyes. She was too focused on the pair of fluffy triangular ears that had sprung upwards from his hairline when they were no longer being held down by the hood, and the bushy mass of orange fur that was hanging out of his cloak. That was a tail. This was some kind of beastman. A fox? No, she couldn’t assume that. Even if he certainly looked fox-like.

She was looking at a person that wasn’t human. And for all she knew, everyone in this world had fluffy ears and she was the alien. Had Nocturnus ever seen her reflection? Had she ever said ‘human’ to him? She couldn’t make any assumptions.

“Who are you?” It took her a moment to process the words, they sounded dry and scratchy, like the boy had gone days or weeks without talking to another person. Focusing on his face and forcing herself not to steal glances at the ears, her suspicion was confirmed. If this weirdo was more than a year older than her, she would eat the putrid remains of the monster gecko.

“I’m Mikayla. And can I just say it is so good to see someone who doesn’t want to eat me,” A nervous smile crept across her face, realising as she spoke that even this was an assumption. It would be seriously messed up if this person she’d just risked her neck for turned out to be some deranged cannibal or something.

“Uh-huh,” He quirked an unimpressed eyebrow, then paused, grasping a canteen that hung at his hip and taking a swig of what was hopefully water. When he continued talking, his voice sounded less hoarse than before. “Why are you in this region?”

“I’m very, very lost,” she summarised.

“Really?” He sounded skeptical. “I’ll stop you there. My name is Keldryn Thorntail, I’m a ranger from the Cliffwatch Branch of the Goliath Guard,” He gestured to a small metal badge attached to his lapel, which had a yellow shield embossed with a white staff, a red sword and a line of green daggers on it. “You helped me when I was in a tight spot, but that doesn’t mean I’ll accept being lied to,”

“I’m not lying though,” Mikayla protested. “I’ve barely even said anything,”

“So it’s completely random that you’re lost here, in the ruins of Balmwind, rather than all the rest of the empty wilderness?” The disbelief was dripping from his tone.

“I saw the giant tower from ages away and headed towards it. I hoped I’d be able to find civilisation from there. Didn’t work out, but it’s been a good campsite. I found some useful stuff there,” she nodded with a shrug.

“I’m sure,” Keldryn groaned. “Look, treasure hunting isn’t illegal, as long as you surrender anything prohibited to the Guard. So I’m obligated to ask you to show me what you’ve found, but -“

“Hang on, what? I’m not a treasure hunter,” Mikayla protested. She paused. “Although, actually, some of that stuff did look valuable . .”

Keldryn was distracted, noticing her attire for the first time. “Are you wearing antique clothes?”

“Huh? Yeah, my casual wear kinda got wrecked, I had to go scavenging. Wait, this stuff is antique?” Distracted by the insinuation, Mikayla looked her clothes over again with a thoughtful hum.

“I suppose that makes sense. No point in making profit if you don’t live to sell it,” Keldryn nodded.

“I’m not a treasure hunter! Seriously!” She took a deep breath. “Look, there was a hole, and I fell through it, and ended up here where everything is giant and wants to kill me. I’d have died if I hadn’t looted these magic rocks off a corpse,”

Keldryn narrowed his eyes, tail flicking idly. “What Level are you?”

“Huh? Ten,”

Keldryn started, his ears flicking skywards. “Ten? At your age? Out here?! You . .” He stopped and thought, then groaned. “You’re Stranded, aren’t you?”

“What does that mean?”

“From another world. Kidnapped by the Kaiju Coast’s spatial magic as a Level 1 adult,” He groaned. “Sorry. Ignore what I said about your age. It’s impressive that you’ve survived and killed enough to get ten levels. Though, you’re lucky to have found that armour and sword. Most Stranded don’t have anything like that,”

“Ah. So people from other worlds showing up around here is a common occurrence?” Mikayla inferred.

“People? Eh. Stuff? All the time,” Keldryn paused, and his tail twitched. “As a ranger, looking for Stranded objects is one of my three main responsibilities. I’ve never met a Stranded person before, though,”

“So you believe me now?” Mikayla hoped.

“I suppose I do. If you were from this world, you’d know better than to tell a stranger you’re so weak,” Keldryn assessed. “Keep that in mind. I’m level twenty-one. With that much of a gap between us, I could do anything I want to you and you aren’t strong enough to stop me,” There was a cool, calculating expression on his face, his ears lowering into an intense glare.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Mikayla paled, taking a step back. “. . ah . .”

For a second, he just stared at her, menacingly.

Then his ear twitched. “This is . . um . . creepy, isn’t it?”

“A bit yeah,”

He looked away, lips twisting into a grimace. “Sorry. I’ve been told that I can be. Um. Intense. Kinda. I’m working on it,” the ranger mumbled.

Completely thrown by the abrupt transition from menace to bashfulness, Mikayla had to swallow an undignified giggle.

“Right. I still have to check everything you’ve found, report anything illegal. Come on,” Keldryn declared, making for Astralia’s Spear in the distance.

“Whoa, hang on! You know the way back to civilisation, right?” Mikayla checked, rushing to keep up with him.

“Uh-huh?”

“Let me come with you! Please?” She hesitated, groaning. “I am not going to survive out here on my own once I run out of the preserved food I found. I’m not a wilderness survivor. I’ll probably poison myself, if I don’t get eaten alive. You said you’re a ranger? Is that like a policeman?”

Keldryn held up a hand, and Mikayla was momentarily distracted by his having what looked like paw pads on his fingers and palm. “Hold on. I can bring you along, but I’ve still got to complete my route. It’ll be another week and a half before I get back to town. I can’t abandon that responsibility,”

“That is . . I can work with that. Deal,” Mikayla agreed.

Keldryn nodded, going mute and continuing to walk. His tail lazily swayed with his stride, drawing Mikayla’s eye. That was so weird. Were animal people just normal around here? He didn’t look like the anime characters she’d sometimes seen in her little brother’s shows and games. His tail was shaggy and matted, with loose strands of fur hanging off and ending in a white tuft - but it was still long and large, enough that he was keeping it raised so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. More like a giant brush than the silky pillows that anime girls had stuck to their asses.

An inane thought struck her; did that mean that gijinka anime characters were just as unrealistically beautiful as supermodels?

She tore her eyes away, telling herself that staring at a strange boy’s rear end was uncool and inappropriate. There had to be something that could take her mind off that.

A thought struck her. “By the way, I’ve gotta ask. That fire punch thing I saw you do. Where’d that come from? Was it some kind of flamethrower Core?”

“Huh?” Keldryn quirked an eyebrow, glancing at her. “No, it’s just a fire-starting Technique. It’s not very strong. I can only do a Basic version of it. In combat it mostly just surprises your enemy,”

“You can shoot fire from your hands and it’s ’not very strong’?”

“Well, yeah. Anyone can do that much,” Keldryn was giving her a look that mixed impatience with befuddlement, and Mikayla realised he wasn’t exaggerating. This was a basic skill in this world, akin to snapping one’s fingers. “Do you want me to teach you?”

“Yes, absolutely!”

A small, wry smile tugged at his lips. “Alright, give me your hand,” He wrapped his rough and calloused hands around her wrist, and Mikayla did her best to match his stride. Keldryn tilted his head. “Mana intrusion can be kind of uncomfortable the first few times. I’m not trying to hurt you, but tell me if you can’t take it,”

“I’ll be fine!” Mikayla insisted.

“Alright,” Small, probing lines of orange energy emerged from Keldryn’s fingertips and burrowed into her skin. Mikayla flinched, but wondered at how the intrusion didn’t draw blood. Keldryn’s mana was like plasma, or smoke. “Oh wow. You can just project your mana like that?”

He cast her that same look of ‘this really surprises you?’ “Yeah? You’ll get the hang of it. Pay attention. I’m gonna guide your mana. This technique has three parts; fireproofing, fuel and ignition, but they’re all pretty simple on their own. Let’s start with the ignition,”

Mikayla blinked. “Shouldn’t we start with the fireproofing?”

“No, because you won’t be able to tell if you’ve done anything. Ignition only produces sparks without the fuel. You won’t set yourself on fire,” Keldryn absently assured her, sinking his tendrils of orange mana into her flesh.

“Um, okay, right,” She focused, feeling and tracking the intrusive mana and trying not to flinch. It felt like there were very careful and directed probes of ice-cold water soaking into her skin.

Keldryn guided her mana into her first two fingers, highlighting them, and then had her tense them a little bit. “Alright, good, like this. Now brace your mana and press your fingers together,”

She obeyed the instructions, trying to sculpt her vital energy into hooks like he wanted, and connected them.

Nothing happened.

Keldryn squinted at her hand, his grip tightening a bit. “I don’t think you’re doing it right,” he said, sounding unsure.

“The evidence supports your hypothesis,” Mikayla dryly nodded.

“My high what?”

“Nothing,” She adjusted her mana and tried again. Still no result. Several minutes of repeated attempts bore no fruit.

“Gah, why isn’t this working?” Mikayla finally burst out. She couldn’t help but whine and stamp her foot a bit. It was undignified but she was just so frustrated.

“Sorry. I’ve never tried to teach someone like this before. I don’t really know how to,” Keldryn admitted.

“Maybe we should ask Nocty. He might have some insight, even if he can only talk you through it,” Mikayla decided. “Mana Assistance, Black Knight,”

Keldryn blinked. “Wait, who’s Nocty?”

Waves of red and black mana drew her armour around her body, the visor obscuring her face from view. “Ah-ha! We face foes once again? All shall tremble before the might of . . is this scruffy child our enemy? Well, I suppose beggars can’t be choosers. Have at thee!”

“No! No killing!” Mikayla shouted down the haunted armour, then turned back towards Keldryn. “Ignore him, he’s really nice once you get used to the bloodlust,” She tried to peacemake between the haunted suit of armour and the distressed-looking foxboy.

“Is that Armour Core talking?“ he exclaimed.

“Oh, right. Most of them don’t do that, yeah?”

“No! Is that a sapient mind imprint? I’ve never seen one before,” A sort of cautious wonder crept into his voice.

“Indeed! And I am no mere man! You speak with what remains of Nocturnus Virralis, the Black Knight!”

Keldryn’s reaction was immediate and dramatic. His ears shot upwards and his tail bristled, his nostrils flared and his fingers tensed. “You’re who?!”