POV: Cal

When my detection system went off again, I woke up. Despite my injuries and fatigue, it’s impossible for me to sleep once that detection system is triggered because it automatically activates the reticular formation. When I open my eyes, I see quite an interesting group.

A ninja who is probably a descendant or student of that other world guy. Truth be told, I am surprised that he even had children or started a whatchamacallit… dojo. My intelligence networks told me that he did not like being near people and would always stay secluded which was why I did not really bother or go after him. A dark skinned desert nomad that is currently holding onto his sheathed sword, but I know that he could probably unsheathe his sword and decapitate me before I can say shit in my current state. A fair skinned mage (quite hostile too) with his staff pointed at me. And the real clincher. An elf with a crossbow strapped to her back. I was quite surprised when I saw the elf. Not because she was with the humans. After all the hero party included an elf, but because she had a crossbow. And elves are very stringent with tradition so it was surprising to see her with a crossbow instead of a longbow. Whatever. Things can change I’ll ask about it later. But first things first.

“Hi. Can I have some food?” (Cal)

They all just looked at me blankly. Crap. This ain’t Earth. Let’s see if the language from Terr has changed.

“Hi. Can I have some food?” (Cal)

Again. They looked at me blankly except the mage. The mage gave a real funny expression, and his expression turned inquisitive and started to look at me real suspiciously. I sighed once more. Alright last gamble. I looked over at the elf. I am pretty sure that the elven language would not have changed too much. But… to be frank my elvish is quite shit. I studied the language, but I could never get the damn grammar right. Like I can understand it, but I just can’t speak it. So here goes.

“Hi. Food?” (Cal)

The elvish girl immediately gave a start and started to talk to me in elvish.

“You can speak elven? Who are you? Where did you come fr” (Elvish girl)

“Food” (Cal)

“Oh Okay.” (Elvish girl)

She took out her bag and pulled out some of her rations and gave them to me. Then, she turned around and started to speak to her companions. From what I am hearing, it seems that the language they are speaking seems to be the extremely simplified version of the old Terrian language. For a better (but still slightly inaccurate) picture, it would be like comparing Latin to English. Great. Gotta relearn the damn language. At least, magic exists here so I can strengthen my Wernicke and Broca’s area, but it will still be a pain in the ass.  

As I was eating the dried biscuits and jerky, I began to scan my inner body with my mana. Ooof. My insides are a mess. At least my digestive tract is okay, but I have some internal bleeding. I began to use my mana to seal the bleeds. Truth be told, I should be dead. But I am quite hard to kill. Especially because this body of mine really isn’t… Let’s not go there right now. It kinda scares me to think about it too much because I don’t know how long it would hold up now that I am back on Terr.

“My name is Blythe. The one in all black is Les. The one with the sword is Trevor. And finally the guys with the staff is Adal. We are a mercenary group. What’s your name?” (Blythe)

Just when I was going to say Cal, I closed my mouth again. Because it wasn’t my real name. Not in this world. If I had said Cal as my name, my mana would go insane due to the nature of my mana structure. Unlike other lifeforms, my mana structure is closely tied with my name so if I say a name that does not correspond to who I am then it can go a bit wacko as it tries to reconfigure itself. But at the same time, I really did not want to say who I really was. I don’t know how much time passed, but I am pretty sure that if they heard my real name, they might freak out especially with the deeds I have done in this world. Also, my previous name no longer represented who I was. It is no longer who I am. So I decided to make a play on words. A name that my energy could accept.

“Descal Binus. But Descal better” (Descal)

She turned to her companions and repeated to them my name. I quickly finished my food and stood up.

“Thank you” (Descal)

“It’s fine. But my companions and I are curious. Who are you? Where did you come from? What happened? How do you know elvish” (Blythe)

“Common Human. From that way. Very far away. Red plants. Eat Me. Escape.” (Descal)

“Red plant? Eat you? No. Don’t tell me you came from the blood plains! How did you escape from that place and arrive here! Why did you even go there in the first place! So what country on the other side of the blood plains? Is that where you come from? Did you meet elves on the other side? Is that why you can speak elven?” (Blythe)

“Please. Slow. No. No knowledge. Sleep. Wake. Broken Castle. Now here. Spell? Elven. Books.” (Descal)

“Wait. Okay. Let’s chop this up. First where are you from?”

“No”

“Uhhh…. Okay… So… You have no idea how you got to the blood plains” (Blythe)

“yes”

“And you just woke up at a broken castle…. A castle…. No. the old capital of the fallen Primus Empire? Is that where you woke up?”

“Primus Empire! Yes!”

“So you woke up at that ruin. But how did you get there and how did you get here from there?”

“Spell?”

“Hmmm. Well I know that the old empire would have some lost knowledge and items. Could it be a rogue teleport magic? But for it to get you and zap you around without burying you in some weird ass place. Damn. I can’t tell if you have great or crappy luck. Am I right so far?”

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“No knowledge. Possible.”

“Yeah. Just a guess… So you learned elven from books? Did someone teach you?”

“…….. Yes. No. Both”  

“Uhh. What do you mean?”

“More self.”

“Ahh. That explains why your elvish is so shitty. Well it is good that you are still alive and in the upper levels of the cavern at least. Can you stand? Good.”

“Why you here”

“Oh. We have accepted a request to collect extremely pure mana infused water, but to get the purity that is requested we have to go extremely deep into the cavern to collect that water.”

“You strong?”

“Pfff. Are you kidding me? We are probably one of the strongest mercenary groups in the whole town of Medio. It’ll be difficult, but we’ll manage with our trusty little ninja, tanky warrior, and skilled mage. And my amazing crossbow skills!”

“Why? *point to crossbow* Why not *makes gesture of pulling a longbow*”

“Ahhh. Yeah. Elves are famous for using the longbows. But... You see I am an elf, but I was raised by humans. My parents were elves, but… my father got killed in the war 150 years ago. Our village got raided and....yeah. met some humans who took me in….”

“War?”

“Have you been living under a rock or something? You know the 3rd calamity war!”

“No know Calamity Wars? Rock. Yes. Very far away. Live. Little news.”

“Jeez. What type of back hole farming area did you come from that managed to escape AND not even hear of the calamity wars? You are sure one mysterious fellow. Alright. The calamity wars are the wars that threatened the entire world. The most recent one was …err… is the Warped Ones invasion.”

“Warped Ones?”

“Oh my Physis. You don’t even know what a Warped One is? You know goblins, orcs, trolls, giants…. those guys? Those stupid monsters that kinda act like sentient being and like to eat sentient beings? Normally, they are dispersed and easy to take care of, but recently someone has been able to take control and united them and conquered the eastern mountains. Then, they invaded other countries, running them over until the current major powers, Astria and Wang, were able to finally halt their invasion and push them back until the Tenebris forest. We lost a lot of land and a lot of countries collapsed, but right now there is an uneasy ceasefire as the invasion suddenly stopped once they were pushed back to the forest. But because of the invasion, we are cut off from the southern countries so we are in a kind of precarious and tense situation.”

“Other two?”

“Sigh. I really question what type of hick boy you are. Okay. The second calamity war was the necro wars about 500 years ago. A really powerful necromancer appeared and went on a rampage. It was a disaster. The elves even lost their homeland and was forced to retreat to other forests. By the time, the countries finally managed to subdue the undead army and the necromancer, all of the few surviving countries were so weakened that they all fell due to reckless infighting over the precious remains. Now, we have essentially lost almost all of the technology and knowledge of the past that existed before the second calamity. But the countries that rose from the ashes of that war are doing pretty well in relearning the lost arts and tech. Any artifacts or ruins are highly sought out these days. Can make a fortune if you can loot some…..”

“The first?”

“Ah yeah. Since the second calamity also wiped out most of the historical records we know little about the first. All we know is from legends and the tidbits we recover from the ruins. Historians still argue about how long ago it was. But the elves believe it was about a thousand years ago. What we know is that the first was even more devastating than the second. Essentially, an army of monsters including the undead, warped ones, demons, and all sorts of monsters rose out of nowhere and went on a killing spree. It brought the extinction of thousands of species including the unicorns, fairies, mushroom people…. It brought the end of all the countries. In fact, even the dragons were almost wiped out. The most terrifying part about that calamity was the leader of that army. We elves called him the Shadow. The beastmen called him the Dark One. The humans called him the Emperor of Despair. But he is now commonly known as the Dark Reaper. We don’t know what happened to that guy. All we know is the aftereffects of the battle with the hero which essentially turned the entire plains into the Blood Plains, causing the loss of the only known mana pool in the world. It was a disaster since the loss of the mana pool also meant that powerful magic tools were even harder to make and all sorts of backlash. In fact, humans now thinks that the hero is some sort of demi god for being able to beat that hellish monster. Although the elves argue that he was just a regular human from an outer world. But no one really knows what happened. In fact, there is still a fear that the Dark Reaper will return because many believe that the hero merely sealed the Reaper into the mana pool causing the plains to change. But it is merely speculation regarding that. And yeah, that is about it.”

I sweat dropped when I heard the part about the sealed part since it was kinda true. I think it would be a good idea if I stayed quiet that I was present at that fateful battle. Yeah... that would be a big bombshell. So now what to do… I can’t completely rely on much of my knowledge from the past. I can’t even speak the common language, and I don’t know just how much changed over the past thousand years.

Also, the mana pool that existed at the Blood Plains. A mana pool is essentially a small area that is connected to the mana stream that exists beneath the earth. For a better comparison, you know how Earth has tectonic plates, and there is moving molten rock that circulates beneath in a pattern called a convection cell. Well, the energy of this world functions in a similar way where there are mana convection under the Earth that purifies it as it gradually leaks back out into the surface. A mana pool can be considered a volcano of that convection. Anyway, the binding spell must have affected the mana pool, causing it to rupture, and transform the plains by saturating it with mana. That would explain why I felt that the atmosphere of the ruins of the capital was different. It was missing that mana rich atmosphere that powered much of the city’s defenses and structures. Well, at least the mana pool can’t be used as a weapon anymore. Hmm… I think the best course for me now would be to tag along with this mercenary group. They seem nice enough. After all, they saved me, and the elf is probably the only one I can communicate with, and I need a guide to this world.

”Thanks. Information. Come along *point to elf*. Lost. No home.”

“Uhhh… Well we are a mercenary group, and we are going to get into really dangerous situations. In fact, the deeper areas of this cave is filled with all sorts of monsters. We are going to be fighting a lot. I don’t think it would be a good idea to tag al…”

“Can fight.”

I pull out my sword from dimensional pocket to prove my point, stood up, and bowed to the elf. I then pulverized the rock behind me by stabbing downward at it with the scabbard. I sat down again after my little demonstration.

“….. Are you sure you are a farm boy… and how did you pull out that sword and a nice one at that? You can even use magic??? …. Whatever. You are a real mystery. But I need to discuss with my team first about if you can join or not.”

She stood up and walked over to her team. I then began to organize that shit load of information that got dumped on me.

POV: Blythe

After the quite interesting conversation with Descal, I turned to my friends and relayed the conversation I had with him.

“So… to sum it up. This is one mysterious guy. Right?” (Adal)

“Yes. He won’t answer which country he is from, he asked some pretty weird questions, and he claims that some teleportation spell wrenched him from where he came from and sent him on some goose chase in the most dangerous place in the continent. I don’t think he is lying, right Les?” (Blythe)

“… Hard to say. I don’t feel like he is lying either; he doesn’t exhibit the signs of one too. But I can’t help but feel that he isn’t telling the whole truth.” (Les)

“You’re right. Do you think he might be a noble? I mean that sword isn’t something that a common farmer can get. Also, the elvish language isn’t something a commoner would take his time to learn as well.” (Blythe)

“I do too. He spoke in the ancient language of the Primus Empire. I recognized a couple of those words from what my friend has taught me when we were excavating one of the ruins 2 years ago. I think that he is one of the remnants of the old nobility. But too think that he doesn’t speak the modern common tongue… uggh… this guy is a mystery alright.” (Adal)

“Either way, he doesn’t want to answer questions about his past and where he is from right?” (Trevor)

“Yeah. When I asked him where he was from, he answered with a pretty aggressive no.” (Blythe)

“Do you think he is dangerous?” (Trevor)

“From my conversation with him, I don’t think he is dangerous.” (Blythe)

“I don’t think he is dangerous either. I don’t get that feeling from him.” (Les)

“Well, if even Les, one of the most cautious person I have ever met, says so as well, then I guess we don’t need to interrogate him more. Even so, I want to make sure so be sure to stay vigilant around him, and never be with him alone without nearby back up. Okay?” (Trevor)

“Yeah. Oh yeah. He says that he doesn’t have anywhere to go so he asked if he could tag along with us. He says that he can fight. Is that alright?” (Blythe)

“Well… what do you guys think? From what you girls have said, he isn’t dangerous. Neither do I, my instincts aren’t going off. Also, we could use another front liner instead of only me. As long as he puts in his fair share while he is with us, I think it should be alright.” (Trevor)

“No complaints.” (Blythe)

“None” (Les)

“Sigh. If you guys say so, but his weirdness factor is still sky high. But yeah. It would be a good idea to have another front liner to take some pressure off of you Trevor. I guess it would be okay.” (Adal)

I came back with the news, and Descal seemed pretty happy. He immediately stood up and walked over. I told him that he would be fighting in the front lines with Trevor, and he enthusiastically nodded. Once I finished telling him all the necessary information of who does what and the types of enemies to expect, we began our downward trek deeper into the caverns. Les took off first to scout out our route, and we followed up. After a while, we began to hear clicking noises, and Les came running back.

“Hold on. Acid Centipedes are passing by in the intersection ahead of us. And there are a ton of them.” (Les)

“Let’s wait them out to pass by. Just to be sure, everybody prepare yourself.” (Trevor)

“I’ll go on ahead and double check that they aren’t changing directions.” (Les)

I notched the crossbow bolt and pull back the drawstring. The first crossbow bolt would be a shock bolt. It would send a shockwave upon impact and stun nearby insects. Trevor drew his sword and readied his shield while I saw Adal taking this time to prepare enchantments to himself just in case that he has to enter close combat. When I took a peek at our new temporary teammate Descal, I got worried. He was looking really pale, and he suddenly crouched down and started to mumble something while clutching his head. Just as I was going to check up on him, I heard a scream down the cavern. Shit.