As we walked, I questioned Lydia about the world. She had already seen me fall from the sky, so we were well past pretending that I was a local.
“What were those things I killed? They didn’t look human.”
She appraised me curiously, “What did your god tell you of this world before he sent you here?”
“Magic, swords, leveling system. That was about it.”
“I see, your god must have answered my prayer so urgently that he lacked the time to properly instruct you.”
“Unambiguously incorrect.”
“Of course, My Lo- Noah,” she replied with a mischievous smile.
I could tell I wasn’t getting through to her but decided that I shouldn’t launch into a rant about what an incredible asshole God was.
“Listen, Lydia, why are you so certain that I was sent here to save you, especially since I am explicitly telling you that I was not?”
“Within seconds of my prayer for help and offer of devotion, you fell from the sky on wings of fire. You then smited the outpost where I would have met my demise before killing my captors and rescuing me.”
‘That’s actually kind of compelling… Am I sure I wasn’t the answer to her prayers? No. Stop that. Don’t let her get in your head.”
“Fine, I can see I’m not going to convince you. Let's get back to the main point. They didn’t have those creatures back in my world. What are they?”
Her face grew stern. “I wouldn’t refer to the godly realm in such a manner while you're here. It may undermine your mission.”
“Since when do I have a mission?” I asked, exhausted.
“Ah, yes. I see. You have no mission” She said, winking.
“I don’t have a mission.”
“Yes, I understand my Lord. You have NO mission.”
‘I think an actual emissary would have choke slammed her by now.’
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why would it undermine my hypothetical mission?” I asked
“It might make people think you're a dimensional migrator, rather than a godly emissary.
I chose my words carefully. “And it would be a problem if people thought I was a dimensional migrator?”
“A huge problem. Dimensional migrators have a history of causing widespread destruction. The soldiers you killed are an example. In the name of getting home, a migrator tore a hole in the dimensional fabric that allowed the Abyssal Conclave’s entry. He left, and we were invaded. It took the life of the hero Leopold, may Lyssia guide his soul, to seal the rift. Now, kingdoms try to kill migrators as fast as possible, so they don’t have time to gain levels and cause mayhem.”
“Is that what you think?” I probed.
She paused to think for a moment. “I believe it is partially correct. There are many migrators who wreaked havoc, but the church has records of many who became heroes and helped the weak.”
“Then why kill them on sight?”
“I think the governments’ stance has more to do with how many regimes Migrators have toppled than the danger they represent.”
“Are the kingdoms here that deceitful?”
“Some, but you don’t need to be evil to justify horrific acts. It's easy to convince yourself that protecting your power is for the greater good.”
‘People are the same everywhere, I guess.’
I knew that as annoying as Lydia could be, I needed to keep her around. There were too many ways I could expose myself without someone who understood the territory.
I let her comment linger for a moment before changing the topic. “You said the rift to the Abyssal’s world was sealed. Why are the soldiers still here?”
“Before it was closed, an entire army had already passed through, tens of thousands of them in the Frozen North. Their advance was stopped, and they were trapped without a way home. However, they could survive in sub zero temperatures and our armies aren’t equipped to fight in those conditions. Rather than continuing, a peace was declared. At this point, so long as they don’t get overly adventurous, their presence is tolerated
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Slaughtering a convent doesn’t qualify as overly adventurous?” I immediately regretted my words.
"Not when the convent is located in the disputed territory between the Conclave and Delia.” She spat out bitterly.
I knew I shouldn’t press, but curiosity got the better of me. “If it's disputed territory, why was your convent there in the first place?”
“Well…” Lydia’s eyes looked to the distance, searching for a memory. She found it, and her face contorted. “My Abbottess said she had received a divine revelation from our Goddess… from Thalia, telling us to bring her light to the Abyssals.”
I grimaced. “How long were you there before the assault?”
“One month.”
“I see. Did you… take any precautions?”
“No. The Abbottess assured us that Thalia would protect us.”
Her eyes flashed with rage, so I decided to not push the issue any further.
***********************
Eventually, the sun began to set. We were passing through a small wooded area, which seemed as good a place as any to find cover for the night. Lydia started a fire for warmth, but we had no food to eat or tents to pitch. She curled up on the ground while I took the first watch.
’Finally, a moment to breathe.’ I hadn’t actually had a second alone since this whole ordeal started.
‘I died. I was revived. I was sent to a new world. Three completely normal sentences. Though, I suppose all three together is better than only the first.’ I thought about my last moments. ‘There are worse ways to go. I just wish I could have also saved Jessie. She was a good kid. Damn.’ I said a silent prayer that, wherever she was, she was doing okay.
The last day felt like it had been ten years long. Certainly, more had happened to me today than had in the ten years prior. Yet, as crazy as it was, I felt... good. Better than I had in as long as I could remember. It was as though I had been awakened from a stupor that I didn’t know I was in. I studied my body. It was dense with defined muscle. My movements were precise. I was strong. Yet, some doubt lingered.
‘I killed people today. Shouldn’t that be weighing on me? Should I be concerned that it's not? They were trying to kill me and were coming back from annihilating a convent... Maybe I don’t feel bad because killing them was objectively correct. What else could I have done? Leave them alive to get reinforcements?
I gave up wondering if I’d have felt the same on earth and turned my thoughts forward. There was no point in trying to make myself feel bad. ‘You can do this. Okay. What is the plan? I need to figure out where I am, how to survive, and then, I suppose, what do I actually want to do with myself.’
That dick God wasn’t wrong when he said my “life wasn’t what I had hoped it would be.” I had wandered through life leaving no real mark on the world. My parents passed on several years ago. I had some friends but none too close, and my recent dating history could be described the same as the Abyssal homeland: the frozen north. In short. My death left no hole in the world, but, then, the world's absence left none in mine.
‘That’s enough introspection for the moment, I have a tutorial to activate. Maybe knowing what's happening will make me feel less crazy.’
I willed the tutorial to my hand. Nothing. ‘Odd’ I opened my inventory and selected it manually.
A voice rang out from nowhere. “Hello Migrant! I’m Jen, and I’ll be explaining a few things to get you started in your exciting new life. While there is an order I follow, I’m sure you’ll have many questions. Feel free to interrupt me at any time.”
I turned my body wildly, trying to see from what direction it was coming. I couldn’t find anyone. ‘Oh, it's coming from inside my head. Perfect, I’m officially hearing voices.’
“Okay, Jen. What are you?”
“I am a magical construct that underlies your user experience. I’ll be popping up from time to time to explain things.”
“So you’re an AI?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“And what manner is that?”
“In the manner that I'm a magical video game tutorial made by a god. Think of me as Navi with less requesting you to ‘LISTEN.’ She let you know how the game worked, but didn’t start discussing the existential dread of being a video game character.”
I sighed inwardly. ‘Why would one thing be easy today?’
“Now, to begin your orientation, you can call up your status screen by thinking ‘status’ with the intention to see it. Let me know when you see it.”
‘Status.’
****************
Name: Noah Jackson
Species: Human
Subtype: Eldritch
Physique: Peak Human
Magic Affinity: Cosmic
Subtype: Eldritch
Level: 283
Experience to next level (3,453,353,664/17,000,000,000)
Strength: 2830 (Locked at 200)
Agility: 2830 (Locked at 200)
Intelligence: 2830 (Locked at 200)
Magic: 2830 (Locked at 200)
Vitality: 2830 (Locked at 200)
Physical resistance: 1000 (Locked at 200)
Magical Resistance: 1000 (Locked at 200)
Skills:
Eldritch infusion: 1/100
Spear Mastery 10/10
Poison resistance: 10/10
Delian Common Language: 5/10
Abyssal Common Language: 2/10
****************
“WHY THE FUCK IS MY SUBTYPE ELDRITCH?”