I laid in my bed that night, unable to sleep. The image of that flaming figure was burned into my mind and would not let me rest. I had asked Suma about it, and she asked some of the other officials from the temple, but no one had any answers. I thought back to our conversation after we left the temple. We were both shaken and concerned.
“How’d you know what it meant when it asked for a name?” I asked Suma. Fluttering beside me, she landed on the shoulder that now bore a strange tattoo.
“I... I just had a feeling. I do not know how to explain it, all I know is that the pairing worked. I can now summon you whenever I need, and we can talk to each other between worlds.” Suma said.
“How do you know? Is it the tattoo thing?” I asked pointing my free hand at the markings.
“Yes,” she nodded her head.
“Can I ask you something? Why did you choose the name Sentinel, or better yet… where did you even hear that word?”
“Sentinel… it means great one. I thought it fit.”
“My world has that word too you know. It basically means guardian or watcher.”
“Then I was right, it does fit.”
It had been hours since Suma sent me back to my world, plopping me right back in the middle of my kitchen. I checked my watch as soon as I arrived, then checked the alarm clock in my room, there was a massive difference between the two. I had been gone for two or so hours, but according to the clock in my room, no time had passed. Thoughts kept racing through my mind: how am I supposed to beat something like a Borog if I’m not armed? What if I’m summoned to fight in a war and I get someone killed because I’m not strong enough? I stayed awake all night trying to answer these questions and more, but the only conclusion I came to was this… I can’t ever be caught with my pants down.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I began researching how to fight various kinds of animals, and the best ways to treat wounds in as many circumstances as I could think of. I made a list of supplies for everything from first aid to close quarters combat that was legal to own in my country. Shy of moving to America where I could probably buy an AK-47 at Walmart, I needed a sure-fire way to deal with as many situations as possible. My eventual conclusion was that I needed something that I could quickly convert into a weapon after I was summoned, or learn how to manufacture the weapon in the other world so that I could keep it there. The conversion seemed easier, so I pulled a 3D modeling program to help me design it.
The sunlight poured into my room from outside just as I put the finishing touches on my design. In the course of four hours, I had gone through seven ideas and attempted to build mock versions of them out of what I had laying around. I decided on what was essentially a kind of folding knife that could attach to a collapsible rod. I looked at my clock and decided that I could finish my project later since it was my day off work.
Just as I laid down to sleep, I heard Suma’s voice in my head, “I summon you, Sentinel.” A magic circle formed on my bed around my body, and I slowly began to disappear. I reached out and grabbed a pajama shirt, and trousers, just before my hand disappeared.