Suta POV

"..."

"H-hey, d-did you see that?"

"Shh—stop nudging me. Of course I did."

"Something fell from the sky!"

"Shou-should we get the chief?"

"Heavens! No way! We'll get blamed for this somehow... Hmm, l-let's keep this a s-secret."

*Collective Gasps*

"You want us to lie?"

"Oh, forgive this fool, O great mother of the stars."

"Hey, I'm not s-s-saying that! But... let's just keep this to ourselves."

"What is he, anyway?"

"Beats me. Kinda looks like... hmm—Ah, do you remember that statue?"

"You mean that pretty-looking prince on the top of the hill? Hmm now that you mention it- w-wait, what is..."

"Oh-heavens! Look, I think he's waking up!"

"Crap! Let's hide, quickly!"

As the foggy haze gently lifted away from Suta's gaze, he found himself slowly awakening beneath a distant twilight expanse. His heavy eyelids flickered with wonder until he could finally see clearly again. The world had changed again; now, he beheld a moonlight sky, with a somber midnight velveteen sea of blue, where countless glittering stars danced in unison. The last time Suta could recall seeing this many stars was back in his old world.

'Beautiful...' he thought to himself. For a few moments, everything felt delightfully beautiful at this moment. The fog of confusion still lingered in his mind, but Suta was very slowly regaining a small sense of peaceful clarity again, one which spurred a single thought, managing to surface.

"Am I... back home?" he frailly mouthed aloud.

Memories suddenly filtered back into his groggy thoughts. He heard the faint trace of a snarling echo again, haunting him.

In a fit of panic he swiftly jolted upright into a seated position, only to discover an incredible amount of pain shooting through his entire body.

"Graaaaah!" A bitter cry broke free from his mouth,

Suta found his body involuntarily keeling over to his good side, his fingers clawed at the earth in pain, having never felt anything so painful to the extent tears welled in his eyes. Such an excruciating feeling had left him to wonder, what kind of deity had he ever offended to deserve something like this.

'What kind of pain is this!'

With his fist tightly clenched, he beat his hand roughly against the crunchy ground until he felt the pain slowly elevating.

20 minutes later.

"Phew!" He finally felt relaxed enough to slowly return to his seated position. He couldn't stop wincing from the biting pain though, but it was a lot better than what he had felt a few moments ago.

'Okay, here goes nothing...'

Fear grappled his nerves as he finally dared to observe the area of his great distress. Suta traced down his tattered clothes, visibly shocked to see misshapen, gaping claw marks forcefully torn into the fabric, which was also noticeably lined with fetters that showed evidence of burns.

"Why does it smell quite bad as well..." His mind raced as it tried to reframe what had happened before he woke up here. From his desperate lunge which sent him tumbling down the hill, to seeing that shimmering tear within the air.

'That creature chased me, and then I... I did something.' That thought sent a shiver through his body.

Suta held out his palm and summoned his badge again. The usual scene appeared, but he intently focused on his skills section. A sudden gasp broke free from his lips as he tried to make sense of the contents written against his badge.

{ Skillset: Glitch; Ring One (Cooldown timer: 64:56:16 )}

'N-no way... did I... did I tele—'

Before his mind could arrive at the startling discovery, Suta heard a rustling noise from the nearby bushes. He suddenly snapped back into reality and tossed his frantic gaze around his surroundings.

"Mmh, where am I now? This place looks like a jungle... but... it's suddenly nighttime?"

With a host of growing concerns, Suta observed the crowded jungle, the leafy trees and dense foliage growing almost wildly around him. The startling discovery was certainly the weird color of this jungle, the leaves and all the foliage were colored a nightingale shroud of blue with golden veins drawn across the surface of the leaves. Despite the splendorous beauty, he refused to bask in it too deeply at this moment. Suta sensed he wasn't alone.

He sat as still as a log, waiting, his eyes peering with intent towards one space in particular. He could hear them, despite not clearly seeing them. The bushes wouldn't stop moving, and every few moments, he was assured he saw what looked like a very tiny wing poking out from behind a leaf.

His brows narrowed, and then he slowly parted his mouth.

"I know you're there... come out."

The rustling stirred a little more, followed by very delicate whispers and a sudden loud yelp shooting into the air.

Bizarrely he saw a small sprite tumble out into the open, rolling a little towards him before landing firmly against its backside. Suta was taken aback, forcing to retreat a few steps away as he observed the incredibly pocket-sized figure sitting on the ground with its two legs sprawled apart.

It was a boy from what he could tell, with large, clear azure eyes, a tuft of green hair, and pointed, sharpened ears. Suta heard the flutter before he caught sight of the bizarre pair of clear wings attached to the sprite's back. The little sprite seemed disoriented, rubbing its large eyes a little and looking around absentmindedly before finally tracing its stare towards Suta's own. He slightly turned his head to one side as the sprite lightly gasped upon seeing him.

'What in the world is that?' he thought now intrigued seeing it move,

For a few silent moments, both he and the very whimsical-looking little person merely stared at one another. The tiny thing blinked aimlessly at him, its round cheeks doused in pink and its little legs still parted away from one another.

Suddenly, a memory resurfaced concerning a particular mythical race of creatures with tiny wings.

"Wait!... Is that a f-fairy?" His voice sounded louder than he intended.

"Gasp !" sounded from the little thing, and in a blink of an eye it hastily scooped itself up and flew back into the bushes with the quickness of a firefly. After the rustling disturbance within the bushes faded, Suta could hear incessant whispers growing louder from within the underbrush. Curiously, he decided to cautiously approach the tussle and noise, crawling towards the bushes one palm at a time.

With each fragile movement, he felt a biting pain against his side.

'Grr—damn it! Why does it hurt so much... was I... poisoned?'

The thought crossed his mind on more than one occasion, but he simply didn't want to face the implications of that, considering he had no idea where he was right now. He drew closer towards the bushes and those whispers were slowly turning into audible voices.

"Wh-why did you push me for?"

"I d-didn't do anything! It was him!"

"Liar! Swear it on the mother of moons!"

"Pfft, you see? Only guilty people make others swear, but you're alright, aren't ya? Wh-what-what is it like? Is he a monster?"

"I... I-d-don't think so? I think he's... hurt himself?"

"Not surprising, going around throwing all that gigantic weight around. We're lucky he didn't fall on us."

"Hey, keep quiet, you two! What if he can hear us?"

"He can't hear us—he's too big."

"Wha? Shouldn't he b-be able to hear us even more?"

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Uh-uh, Sister Ruoa said the bigger you are, the smaller your ears."

Suta had managed to get close without the strange, whispering bunch noticing his presence. He gently parted aside a small fold of cover between the bushes to gain a better look, his eyes flashing with genuine surprise at what he found.

'Well, what do we have here?' He smiled with intrigue watching the little figures gathered together. Peering his eyes a little closer, he discovered three tiny little sprites seated in a circle against a small clearing between the shrubbery. One was the green-haired sprite he had seen earlier, joined by other intriguing, whimsically-looking fellows.

One donned dark purple hair, seated with his arms cradling his knees, while the other carried a reddish-brown hair braided into one long braid. Between the trio, that fellow, in particular, looked to be the haughty one, holding his tiny arms crossed and looking rather adorable with his cheeks puffed and large, round eyes glittering a radiant amber glow.

"Hmph! I'm not scared of any monster! I'm going to be Chief one day, so-so let me take care of that strange giant!"

'Is that the leader, then?'

Suta couldn't help musing playfully as he observed the interactions between these strange little things, he was almost certain were fairies of some kind. Watching them attempt to whisper between themselves was entertaining.

'Fairies, huh? Can't say I'm surprised with how things have turned out so far, but it's still somewhat surprising,'

Suta thought of all manner of oddities he'd likely encounter here, by this point he was so enthralled he unconsciously propped his chin against his palm.

"I think we should t-tell Sister Ruoa..." said the shy-looking one with green hair. "It might be for the best."

"Pfft, don't be such scaredy-cats! Besides... huh—why's it suddenly so dark—wh-what the..."

The little figure raised its tiny head, its spirited look swiftly changing into one of deep horror as it beheld the looming Suta above.

Suta himself had obliviously forgotten that his presence conjured a looming shadow over the tiny gathering, and he seemed to have only caught on the moment the three widely curious, but animatedly frightened eyes locked onto him.

'Oh crap!' Suta thought, wincing at the pain biting at his side.

"Er... h-hello there?" he greeted a little nervously.

A penetrating silence ensued for a short while, but soon afterward, the expected theatrics suddenly erupted.

"BY THE GODDESS! R-RUN!"

"EEEEEEKK! SOMEONE SAVE US!"

Suta winced again, comforting one of his ears from the unexpected high-pitched squealing they were making.

In the midst of his slight discomfort, two of the tiny fairies quickly banded behind the one with the reddish ponytail.

"Wh-what-the... what do you guys think you're doing?"

"Th-that's the monster!"

"You said you'll take c-care of it... go on then."

The standing fairy swallowed harshly, taking a second look at Suta with deep concern glazed across its rattling gaze. Suta could guess the little fella was torn between running away and feebly standing to its earlier word.

'Fufu, I don't want to give them much trouble... tsk! Ouch, plus I really need some help with this wound... aren't fairies supposed to be magical and whatnot? Hmm... perhaps I can...'

An intriguing thought swelled within his mind, spurred on by the numbing pain coursing against his side. He had already held some form of experience with the strange inhabitants of this world, so he decided on a different approach compared to the one he showed the talking lion and that crow.

'Speaking of which, I hope Demoria's alright on her own around those idiots.' Being lost together was one thing, but being separated across an unknown plane was an entirely different matter. And Suta understood his number one goal was to now find his way back to Demoria.

He slowly peeled his head away from the little clearing and held up one of his hands in a gentle manner.

"Pl-pleasure to be of acquaintance! My n-name is... ahem! You can call me Suta! I am a human o-of course, aha, bu-but what are you guys? Are you fairies? Or is that rude of me? Apologies if so... err... I'm not sure what to say next." Suta scratched the side of his head awkwardly as he muttered that final sentence, his gaze softening all the while hoping the trio would understand what these actions displayed.

They didn't say anything right away, but he eventually noticed the two little heads gently poking out from the side, their eyes clearly filled with caution as they stole subtle looks at him.

"J-jett, what is it s-saying?"

"Is it... going to eat us?"

"I... I don't... think... so-li-listen... I'm going to try something."

The fairy with the red braid said, taking a deep breath before placing a single step towards Suta.

Suta held back his laughter, watching the tiny fairy starting to cautiously advance one little step at a time.

"Are you crazy? Look at the size of those fangs!"

'Fangs? What fangs? Are they talking about my teeth? Good heavens! D-did I change into another body again?' Suta thought frantically in alarm, prodding his canines to make sure he hadn't transmigrated again into something more sinister.

Meanwhile, he could hear the soft flutter of tiny wings flapping incessantly, stirring a delicately unique twinkling sound into his ears.

Suta remained as still as he possibly could be, watching what he was certain was an actual fairy, slowly hovering towards him. Now that he held a better look at the tiny mythical being, he could see the style of clothes they wore. The simple clothes reminded him of what people who lived in deserts wore, apart from the head coverings. These tiny fellows fitted the description down to the minute detail: loose pale trousers with silk blazers and sackcloth footwear tied with loose string.

Once the red-haired fairy was within touching distance, it stopped, ensuing another awkward silence. Suta cleared his throat, unsure of the best way to communicate with these little fellows.

'Perhaps they have different customs... hmm, but this is getting a little awkward for my liking... ouch! And this pain is growing worse,' he winced again, showing noticeable discomfort as the pain continued to assault him.

Drawing away a little from the bashful-looking fairy, Suta placed a hand delicately over the burning wound in a bid to inspect the issue. Just the slightest of touches sent a surge of pain crashing throughout his entire body again.

"DAMN IT!!!"

He could barely remain on all fours and keeled over rather expectantly, trying to refrain from cursing aloud, with low grunts and growls escaping through his gritted teeth instead.

'O-okay, this is a problem, urgh... what the heck is happening? Something is wrong, this... this must be poison.' The worst thought had finally surfaced within his mind. Suta tried to pry himself up but found himself unable to unfold from his prone position.

'Just my luck... hm, wait, what's that?'

From the corner of his lowered gaze, Suta noticed a sparkle of gold glittering around his wounded side. The fairy was cautiously buzzing around.

'Wh-what's it doing?'

He wondered, seeing the little fairy almost inquisitively inspecting his problem. After spending a somewhat lengthy period around there, it moved out of his sight. Suta gently lifted his body away from the ground to follow it, the pain within his body protesting every step of the way.

But he managed to raise his head up at least. The other two fairies had now ascended and joined the first one. Currently, they all remained eye-level with him, all carrying a very cautious and somewhat glazed look of terror.

Luckily, Suta could understand these strange little creatures meant him no harm.

'It could've been worse... I guess.'

He exhaled a relaxed breath and tried to angle himself into a more comfortable seated position, making sure the side of his wound was facing them. As expected, he noticed the trio moving closer to the side he presented to them.

They all zoned in towards him in seconds, being so close it felt slightly weird feeling their little breaths muttering so close to his charred skin.

"See, look, that's Lion-skin's rot! I almost didn't believe it when I first saw it." He heard one of them say

"Ergh—it smells horrible. Vest, is this one of the incurable curses they taught us about?" asked the childish-looking green-haired fairy.

"Yes-yes, I believe so," replied the purple-haired one, who was slightly chubbier and, amusingly, was placing on very round, delicately-sized bamboo-framed glasses.

Suta was sure there weren't any lenses inside of them.

"Hmm, how strange. Lion-skin rot shouldn't exist around these parts."

"Why's that?"

"Well, to put it simply," said the chubbier fairy, taking off its frames in a casual manner, "they should've all been dead by now..."

The moment he spoke those words, the three whimsically-eyed fairies sharply turned to face Suta.

He could only crease a wry smile in response.

'Don't look at me, I have no idea what any of this means,' he pondered to himself, reminiscing the mysterious turn of events which seemed forever tethered to his heels at this point.

'Not to mention that skill of mine... gl-glitch?' He gulped harshly, reminded that the notion of teleportation seemed so absurd he was torn between excitement and sheer horror if this was true.

'If I think about it, somehow it kind of makes sense. But then... without knowing how this power works, does that mean I'm essentially... j-jumping all over the place without any direction?'

The sheer danger of that alone was disheartened, he played with the pros and cons of perhaps possessing something that felt way too powerful for someone as oblivious as he was to wield, the three fairies ascended closer towards his face. The little trio seemed to have gotten slightly braver.

Suta creased a painfully helpless smile. He noticed the one placed in the middle with the long braid scrutinizing him with its large, bright amber eyes.

"S-s-so... Ha! L-looks like you d-desire our help, eh? G-g-good—that's good. Ahem... S-so then... Yo... you have to obey us—Alright! We-we-we're in charge here," it stammered in a rather stern and yet troubled manner at the same time, creasing a slightly ugly smile in the process. Suta could see its little legs shaking.

In response he tried his best to hold in even the slightest of smiles. He wanted them to believe he posed no harm at all. His reasoning was simple: based on his past experiences with people or fellows who might come across as weaker than he, it made his life easier when he was underestimated or downright treated like an idiot.

He decided to raise the arm on his good side upright, feigning ignorance as he presented the fairies with a helpless look of sadness.

"Oh, of course! I am a completely helpless fellow, lost in a strange world who only wants to find his way back home again. Oh, noble and valiant ones, may I ask for your humble graces to help me?"

What they didn't see was his hands placed behind his back, secretly crossing his fingers.