“Now that we can talk, I think proper introductions are now in order,” Thallion formally states, as if he were a dignitary. “ am Thallion Emberwind, teacher of knowledge and keeper of info for the village of Caelora, in which you find yourself at this moment.”

“You have already met my sister-”

“Enough of that!” Lena interjects. “Hello again, I’m Lena.”

“And I am Silvra, it is good to finally speak to you clearly, hopefully intent is properly being passed now.”

“And I am Ethan Mitchell, I was an engineer in training, before I fell on a bucket and ended up here crossing who knows how many dimensions. I probably am also the one to have accidentally broke the tower, survived running through the blizzard, nearly knocked out Kidman, and… probably killed a guard.” I say, recapping how busy the last few days have been. As I speak, my pace slows and I can feel the beginning of a panic attack rising again.

The room falls silent, the gravity of my unintended confessions settling like a heavy cloak around us. I can feel a tightness building in my chest, the cold of the room seeping into my bones as the faces around me blurred.

“I… I killed someone, no thoughts, no hesitation, just…pow, wrist… in… torso.”

My eyes lose focus, my breathing increases in pace, and the weight of everything finally comes over me. Here I am, on a completely different planet, caught sometime between 1000 and 1600 equivalent, probably the smartest person here, but with the people skills of a gnat, and the thing I know the most is not even going to be invented for at least 200 years. I’ll most likely never see my family, or my friends, even though there are only a few. Hopefully my cat is ok. I also have only managed to cross the language barrier just recently, but was doing charades before that. I am useless in combat, never taking anything martial. I did swim, but not for a long time, and I was a soccer referee before that. Not only that, but I show up as dead to these elves. My phone shows more life than me!

Retreating further into my head, the idea that my summoning was a complete mistake builds up, and something inside me snaps. I do something I have not done in years.

I cry. And I don’t mean a single tear of mourning, whilst looking at a sunset. I bawl. Here I am, knowing no one, probably hunted, and easy to be considered dead. Here on the whim of an accident that took way too much power, but not the first time they tried it, according to the holding area I ran through. I am worthless, the summoning probably targeted my phone more than it targeted me!

Curling up on the floor, I let the emotions overtake me, I feel the eyes of the others upon me but I don’t care. Here I am, and there is no going back. Even if I was to return and “turn myself in” they would probably just take the phone and dump me or off me. Maybe I should just-

Suddenly, I am held, not angrily, or by the shoulders, but in a full wraparound hug. My thoughts immediately fly to when I was younger and being held by my mom, which only makes me feel worse.

“Shhh. Shhh. It’s ok.” Lena whispers in my ear, “You’ve been through a lot. A kid like you being pulled from your world, and thrust into this position, it is too much. I don’t know much about how summoning works, but why choose a kid, I don’t know. Just, hold me.

I don’t move, but slowly my breathing calms, and I stop sweating as profusely.

“Now, tell me, how old are you?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Twenty five”

“Twenty five?!” All shout in shock and surprise.

“Y-y-yes…”

Lena loosens her grip on me, and starts to get up. I stand up too, but am still shaking, the hug not lasting long enough.

“How long do your people live?” She asks, slightly perturbed.

“About eighty or so, longest is about one hundred”

“That, that is about our length! You are no kid! You…you are an adult! But short! What…how… who are you?!”

“I am Ethan, a human from Earth. I have no clue where that is from here. I am lost. My skills are not useful for this setting, and the main thing I know is not going to be invented for another few centuries at the minimum. I was summoned and ended up in the janitor closet, and all I can think of is that this is nothing but a bad nightmare and hope I wake up with a concussion from falling on a sidewalk!”

“As for my height, yes I am short. I am also very heavy for my size, making everything around me feel as if it were made out of foam, I find wood soft and spongy, and meat some of the most tender I have ever had. I work out every morning I have woken up here just to try and maintain my muscle mass, and have had to adapt to a weird walk skip hop method of moving because even the gravity is too light!”

“Gravity?” Thallion perks up. “That word did not translate, something about general pull?”

“Not the time for that, Thallion,” Silvra interjects.

“So yes, I am a little stressed, a little high strung, and a lot suffering from anxiety, worse than what I was having before I ended up here, and I cannot even get meds for it!” I complain, dejectedly, collapsing into the stuffed chair beside the door to the schoolroom.

“It’s not like I felt like I belonged much there, but I at least knew what to expect. It may have been seen as boring, but it was mine. I went to school for it for eighteen years. Here, here everything is new, and overwhelming. I am trying to make things make sense, but history was never my strong point, and again, what I know is next to worthless!”

They all stare at me, finally, Silvra steps forth and offers a shoulder pat, and a light hug. Lena follows suit, and tries to crush me in what could only be described as an attempt of a bear hug.

We stay like that for some time, Thallion looking awkwardly on the scene of the two tall women hugging a literal manchild.

“So aye managed ta comple’te round bi’ bu’te olerances are a’ me skill- oh. Sorry ta interrup’ I’ll leave ‘his here, annnd”

“Come back in Eldrin, Just in time for some formal introductions,” I say, trying to sound professional, while dealing with a throat full of snot and trying not to break down again.

“Oi? Tha voice? Ethan! Ye can’alk now?!”

“Kind of, I fixed the translator, it now works with sound.”

“Sound, eh, Well, le’ me si’ down here and you can ‘alk ta me all bout it.”

“I don’t know. It is pretty complicated, and involves quite a bit of various fields, some quite literally, but not the grain ones,” I state, half joking, enjoying the distraction from what just happened.

“Sounds allo like me prof before I became a smith.”

My eyes bug out, prof? he went to school?

“Aye, me prof in theory phys said stuff abou’ ac’ion a’ a dis’ance and tha’ our en’ire unders’anding of th’world is cons’rained by ‘ime. Also somethin abou’ sys’em hardening and ‘igh frequency swi’ing.

Those concepts sound more like quantum mechanics crossed with a preliminary understanding of magnetism to me, what an odd combination!

“Tell me, what else do you know about magnetism?”

“Magne’wha’ism”

Right, that’s it, definition time. I sit up, choking back emotions, and begin to explain some basics of electricity. At least I can bury my emotions in that for a while.

Lena looks at me with a side eye.

Maybe not that long.