My first impression of Nexus? Painful.

To be fair, that was probably thanks to the stone floor I landed face-first on. A lush red carpet sat not two inches from my current spot, its intricate gold vine-like markings mocking me. Of course, I couldn't have landed on the comfortable surface. That was too much to ask for.

Sitting up slowly, I rubbed my face and took stock, setting aside my grumbles for now. The stab wound was healed and the blood-stained scrubs I'd been in before were gone, replaced with a tunic and trousers. They were both plain and made of rough but durable material. A cloak sat over both of them, and when I tugged at the hood, it scraped against my head. More accurately, it scraped against the two new ears nestled on top of my head.

Beastfolk, right.

Sliding a hand up into the hood, I combed through my hair and paused at my new round, fluffy ears. I'd need a mirror to tell what animal they belonged to, but the shape felt familiar, though not entirely recognizable.

Whatever, I'd figure it out later.

Sitting on my haunches, I finished my self-inspection and moved on to my surroundings. The carpet I'd landed next to stretched to cover nearly the entire floor, leaving thin stripes of stone bare. Of course, I landed on one such spot, between two of the suits of armor lined up periodically down the hall. Their shiny metal surfaces gleamed in the light from the nearby windows, and when I looked closer, I could have sworn one moved.

Narrowing my eyes, I held still and waited, watching for another twitch.

One didn't come, but a menu popped up instead, and I almost jumped out of my skin before I remembered Karma's words. Right, this place was like a video game. That was going to take some getting used to. Shaking that aside, I glanced over the menu.

Jeremy

Level 10

Hit Points: 190/190

Mana: 225/225

Status: Healthy

I guess those were actually guards, not just empty suits of armor…

None of them were looking at me despite my less-than-graceful meeting with the floor. They stared ahead, helmets not even twitching in my direction. Something about their stillness seemed…off. It was like they weren't even breathing. A chill slid up my spine before I shoved it aside.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Impossible. Don't get yourself worked up over nothing, Nikolas. You're here with a job to do.

That snapped me back to the present, and all thoughts of the knights disappeared. Right, I had to find the catalyst for the upcoming apocalypse and stop it before it could take off.

Piece of cake.

Karma said the future was full of ruin, death and famine. Maybe some kind of disease had spread?

…But If that were the case, there would have been signs. None of the staff I could see appeared sick at all. Easing back against the wall, I stood slowly, eyeing the nearby staff as I did. None of them even glanced my way, and that feeling of wrongness raked over my skin.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the place or time to puzzle this out. First and foremost, no one seemed to be able to see me. Until that wore off, I'd use it to my advantage for some information gathering.

Keeping to the shadows, I skirted into the next room, and the next, and the next.

They all looked the same. If it weren't for the different paintings on the wall, I'd even think I was in some kind of twisted loop. Who designed this maze of a castle anyway?

Biting back my growing irritation, I turned another corner, only to quickly flatten myself against the wall when voices came from ahead.

I'd barely hidden in time before a man in a regal fur cloak rounded the corner at a fast clip, the people on either side of him fighting to keep up as he marched onward.

“Search the entire castle, leave no room unchecked. The otherworlder couldn't have gone far from the summoning area. We don't have long before the army is at our doorstep!”

The people at his side, a rabbit and a…bat beastfolk, by the leathery wings behind him, rushed away to do as he said, leaving us alone as the man scrubbed both palms over his face. Everything from the grandeur of his clothes to the sharpness of his features screamed royalty, the image complete with the crown perched on his head.

Graying hair was neatly combed back, and his jaw had a dusting of stubble lining it. When piercing blue eyes swept the room, landing on my hiding place, he relaxed, and a smile stretched across his lips.

“Ah, there's our dimension-crossing savior now.”

He could see me?

As if to back that up, he started walking in my direction, his hand outstretched. Every hair on my neck stood to attention, and when he was within grabbing distance, I stepped sideways and plastered on a fake smile.

I hadn't had long to survey things without being noticed, but there was no use crying about it. He knew I was here, so it was time for a change in method.

Keeping a few feet of distance between us, I asked, “What do you mean by dimension-crossing savior?”

The only one who should know I was here was Karma and maybe Time. How did he find out?

The man stopped, his smile staying in place despite the healthy distance I kept between us. “I'm getting ahead of myself, my apologies. My name is Silas Waterglade, the ruling king of Nexus. I summoned you here from your dimension to help fight a great evil.”

I barely bit back a scoff. He didn't bring me here, Karma did.

…Which he would have no way of knowing.

He was under the impression he'd summoned me, and given that I was here looking for the catalyst to an oncoming apocalypse, maybe this was important. Did he accidentally summon some kind of world-ending demon? Or perhaps the ‘great evil’ he was talking about was the start to the end.

There were too many options right now. I needed more information. With that in mind, I forced my suspicions into a small, dark box and focused on Silas.

It was time to get some answers.