Hunter was walking along the river; it was peaceful; he could hear a light breeze in the trees complimented by a burbling river. "This is the most relaxed I've been since coming here." He thought.

Without the constant stress from all the fights, Hunter's mind wandered to things he had suppressed. Worry built up in him as questions gnawed in his gut: "Will I be able to find answers? Will I be able to find a way home?"

The thought made his neck burn, but he was jolted from his contemplation by a line of bricks; they spanned roughly ten feet wide and extended into the distance.

"A road!" he said, feeling excited. "That means there are people!" he muttered, looking to his left and right. To the right, the road went into a large forest, and the left continued near the meadow he had been walking in.

Hunter stepped onto the bricks; even while the sun was overhead, the bricks were cold; he walked towards the left for a few minutes until his feet started hurting. Hunter looked down at his red feet and sighed. "I wish I had two boots."

Instead of continuing how he was, Hunter stepped off the road onto the lush grass and walked beside the road.

Before long, Hunter started to hear rumbling, and it was getting louder. He turned to the sound coming from behind him. In the distance, what looked like a covered wagon was quickly moving on the road he was following.

The carriage seemed to be pulled by a horse. Hunter's heart beat like a drum as it approached, but his excitement slowly changed to dread as he realized that a horse didn't pull the wagon but something else.

The creature had six long legs, three on each side, white scaly skin, and a stubby neck. Its face was rounded, with eyes on either side. The creature had one short, spindly horn, almost like a unicorn, and a short, scaly tail with a puff of fur at the end.

Hunter walked further away from the road, wanting to get ample distance from the creature.

The carriage slowed as it got closer, and Hunter analyzed the cart; it was 4 feet wide and 10 feet long with large wooden wheels. In almost all appearances, it looked like a wagon pulled on Earth. "But that creature pulling it." Shuddering at the thought.

The carriage stopped, and Hunter felt a new fear wash over him. "What if they aren't human?"

Feeling it was too late to run, Hunter felt a pounding in his head as the anxiety washed over him. Hunter held his breath as he waited for something to happen.

Something shiny slowly appeared from the opening in the fabric. As more appeared, the light reflected off the surface, and then it spoke quizzically. "Hey Louie, why did you stop?" The whole man's head was now visible, shiny, and majestic.

Hunter felt his heart jump in his throat. "There are people!"

The creature didn't say anything back, which made Hunter relax a little, and then the man turned his head in his direction.

The man's face played a disco of emotions. He creased his eyebrows and opened and closed his mouth a few times before uttering a word. When he did, he said, "Hi, my name is Derick. You look to have a bad time, bandits?"

Hunter stood there for a few moments, happy to see another human, and then he remembered that the man had asked a question. He cleared his throat, and it felt dry all of a sudden. "Not bandits," Hunter responded. "I've just had some rough travels."

The man nodded understandingly before asking. "So, where are you headed? Do you need a lift?"

Hunter's eyes returned to the Louie and asked. "I don't really know. Is it safe?"

The man chortled, jumping out of the wagon. Derick was four feet tall and only came to Hunter's chest. He had black eyebrows and a wispy black beard. He smiled, and Hunter was surprised to see perfect white teeth.

Derick reached up, patting Louie on the side, and said, "Louie, here is a Lorid. He wouldn't hurt a soul." Derick started rubbing Louie's side, and the large, scaly beast opened its mouth, panting. One of its legs started stomping like a dog, which would have been cute except for the rows of teeth in its now-visible maw.

Hunter felt his heart slow as he tried to file away as much as possible of what was happening. "So the creature is a Lorid, not a Louie. People are shorter here, but he didn't seem to be too confused by my height, so maybe there are taller people, too."

Hunter then realized he had been standing in silence again, so he reached out his hand to greet the man and said. "Nice to meet you; my name is Hunter."

The short, bald man stopped petting Louie and looked at Hunter's hand with confusion written all over his face. "It's nice to meet you as well; what are you doing with your hand?"

Hunter immediately felt embarrassed and retracted his hand. "It's just a way of saying hello from where I come from."

Derick looked interested in that. "I travel everywhere, but I haven't seen that greeting yet; how do you do it?"

Hunter felt odd trying to explain a handshake. He had never had to do that before, and thinking about a handshake objectively was weird. "You reach out your hand," he said, lifting his arm again. Then you grab their hand in yours and shake it."

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Derick also reached out but shook his hands left and right, so it was more of a circle with Hunter shaking up and down.

The bald man smiled. "It's always interesting to see how people in other places greet one another." He chortled and jumped back into the cart. "Get in, and you can tell me all about it if you want."

Hunter was left speechless yet again, not only because Derick thought that was how you great someone but also because the short man had jumped over four feet in the air and landed in the carriage.

Excitement buzzed through him. If Derick could leap four feet like it was nothing, did that mean others could, too? Could he?

Hunter didn't think he could jump 4 feet, so he used a ladder on the side to climb in. He pushed past the fabric and was yet again frozen as his head tried to understand what he was seeing.

He reminded himself of the rough size of the carriage but still couldn't understand what he was seeing.

In front of him was a large room 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide. The walls were light red, and framed artwork was on them.

Looking around, Hunter saw a large table with six chairs around it, two couches facing each other, and a bed. At the far end, large crates were stacked, looking out of place in the beautiful interior.

Hunter looked down where a smiling bald man was smiling up at him. "Like it?" the bald man asked.

He tried to find words but just said. "It's bigger than the outside."

Derick's smile increased even more; he yelled for Louie to start walking again, walked Hunter over to the couches, and, sitting down, asked. "Have you not seen folded reality before?"

Seeing the confusion on Hunter's face, he continued. "They only came out a few years ago, but the researchers guild created a way of injecting materials with Mana from the environment, resulting in this folded reality. “Not sure how it works myself. You’d have to ask the researchers.”

Hunter's mind was rushing, trying to organize all the information. He now knew that Mana was a thing, guilds were a thing; he grinned as he asked the question his kid self was dying to know. "Is there Magic?"

Derick's eyebrows furrowed. "Magic. Magic," he said, trying to sound the word out. Then he turned to Hunter. "I have never heard of it, and being a merchant, I have heard most from each side of the continent."

Hunter's grin dropped. Then he remembered the skill and the power he gained and asked. "How do skills work?"

Derick again looked confused. "Skills?" he asked. "You can get them from defeating enemies, or if you have a good trainer, they can also teach you the skill after a lot of effort."

Hunter was ready to belt out another question, but Derick held up a hand and said, with a kind smile. "I'm also curious about you. How about we take turns asking questions?"

Hunter felt uneasy. "How much should I tell him?" he wondered.

"So where did you come from?" Derick asked.

Hunter's jaw clenched; it felt like he was telling a secret, as if his mind was warning him to stay quiet, pushing through it, he said. "Dallas, I lived in Dallas."

Again, the bald man's eyebrows jumped upward toward his head as if trying to become hair. He pulled out a large map, which showed a large continent. On the right side of the continent were primarily mountains, and on the left were mainly jungles and forests.

Derick asked. "Would you mind pointing to it for me? I have never been."

Hunter stood up and examined the map; the shape looked like Australia as if it had been enlarged ten times. He felt his heart drop as he saw the new map. It made him feel even more distant from his old life.

Hunter mumbled. "It's not there. I'm pretty sure I came from another world."

A gush of wind hit Hunter, making him fall back into his chair.

Derick was gone.

Hunter felt a sharp pressure on his neck as cold metal pushed against his Adam's apple.

Standing behind the chair, Derick held the sword in a steady hand; his voice was slow, clear, and concise, having lost any kindness as he asked. "What… Are you?"

Hunter froze, not daring to breathe; he blinked rapidly, trying to process the situation.

The blade dug deeper.

Hunter could feel a small dribble of blood start to flow down his neck. "I-I-I'm human." He sputtered.

"Right! And I'm a bird." Came a cold response. Derick held the sword flat against his neck, making a shiver run down Hunter's spine.

Hunter knew he needed to say something, but his mind was blank. "I just appeared here and have been fighting monsters over and over; what do you want me to say? I'm a monster? A demon? I just want to survive, and the first person I meet wants to kill me, too."

Derick faltered, lowering his sword by half an inch.

Hunter saw a sparkling bracelet drop into Derick's hand, and he pushed it onto Hunter's wrist.

All at once, Hunter felt his strength drain, his mind slowed, and he felt his bones loosen.

Derick breathed out in apparent relief. His sword disappeared, and he dragged Hunter from the chair across the large room.

Hunter saw their destination, a place he was too familiar with. Derick guided him into a room made of metal, with bars running the length—a cell.

Derick closed the door, and a green bottle appeared in his hand. It looked filled with glitter, and the liquid seemed to move on its own, swirling outwards. He held the bottle at the edge of the bars. "Drink that if you want to prove your innocence."

Hunter reached up to his neck. The blood had already stopped flowing. "What other choice do I have." He thought as he reached for the bottle. As he grabbed the bottle, Hunter saw a hatred he had never seen in anyone before; the bald man's presence felt like malice, and even breathing felt difficult, as if his neck was still on the blade's edge.

Hunter grabbed the bottle and examined the top; it had a glass top he could remove.

After pulling off the top of the bottle, the smell of pine and cucumber mixed with sulfur filled his lungs. The smell burned his whole face, and he choked back from the concoction, holding it far from his face.

His eyes met Derick's firm and unwavering gaze. He looked back at the bottle and plugged his nose. He poured the liquid down his throat all at once, swallowing before the taste could hit his tongue. Inevitably, it still did, and the taste hit like a truck—it tasted of rancid eggs.

Hunter coughed, his body wanting to expel the liquid. As his cough worsened, he fell to his knees, desperately trying to will his body to hold it down.

His stomach radiated cold and burning waves, and his body broke out in sweat.

Then it disappeared. It disappeared so quickly that he looked around in confusion. He was on the ground, a small pool of sweat around him. Hunter pushed up with his arms, sitting up and looking at Derick.

Derick had pulled up a chair and was leaning forward with his sword in his hand. He asked. "Was everything you said true to this point?"

Hunter felt his throat move on its own, his lungs expelling air on their own; the word "Yes" passed his lips, and he choked as if the word was a piece of dislodged food.

Derick's expression didn't change, he asked. "Why have you come to this world?"

Again, Hunter's body responded on its own. "I don't know."

"Were you sent here?" Derick asked.

Hunter's body said. "I don't think so."

Derick seemed to calm slightly. "Are you here to hurt me or others?"

Hunter heard "No" from his mouth.

Hunter felt like he had lost control of everything. "Maybe it was a mistake to trust anyone." he thought.

Derick readjusted himself one more time and asked his next question, pausing each word as if it took physical effort to ask. "What… Are… You?"

He felt his body force out another word. "Malivorii"