Ravela just watched the landscapes rush past her through the evening and night. She got off at a small-town station.

She saw most of the town from the train. It sat in a valley surrounded by wood-covered mountains and a big lake. A small town with no crime and no superhumans. Ravela thought it the ideal place.

No dimensional being tormenting her by whisking her from one nightmare to the next.

Ravela left the train station now. Once again, the old Asian man. Enthusiastically and with a spring in her step, she began her search for a hotel. Every breath she took in this small town felt like a new liberation.

Ravela took her time just absorbing the early morning in town. Crossing the town plaza, she looked around. One building looked like a town hall, and another had rows of books that could be spotted deeper inside the building, a library perhaps.

Walking through streets still well and truly asleep Ravela saw clothes shops, restaurants, a shoemaker, several bakeries, and butchers. Walking past a building that looked like a school to Ravela, she entered a beautifully kept park next to it.

Filled with all colors one could hope for during early spring. For a while, Ravela just enjoyed this nighttime stroll. Peace and the energetic songs of the earliest of birds massaged Ravela’s senses.

Eventually, she made her way to the lake and sat down on a spotless white bench. The view across the vast lake was quite soothing. Her eyes had no trouble seeing everything despite the darkness.

This sight of hers had served Ravela well during the many, many desperate hours she spent in demon-infested lairs, holes, castles, or outright abysses.

Ravela took her time absorbing the view. Letting her mind wander where it willed. Her eyes went up and down the lakeside soaking in the scenery. Her thoughts became troubled as she pondered how she would go about getting a room in a hotel.

She hadn’t seen a hotel in the small town. Leaning back on the bench she looked down the lakeside. Spotting a sign on one of the houses. The wooden sign with a bed was painted on it. It just called her name. Ravela got up and took and made her way to the sign.

Marveling at the well-kept lakeside while he slowly approached the considerably large house. Sadly she couldn’t read the letters but there was a sign with numbers.

1 ?????

????

1

10

7

65

30

250

2 | 3

2 ?????

????

1

12

7

70

30

280

2 | 2

Ravela looked at the sign. Her head came up with a straightforward answer. There had to be three one-person rooms of which one was taken. One day would cost Ravela 10 units of her money.

A month here would cost her roughly 250 bucks. She pulled out all the currency in one of her pockets. Counting through the notes she arrived at 3000 bucks.

She took 1000 of it and put it inside the inner pocket of her suit jacket. That would give her four months to at least find her bearings. This town would be the home base for now.

Ravela considered the different scenarios in her mind. Whilst walking back to her bench she got her plan into order.

Step 1: Pick a ring she would use to rent a room.

Step 2: Put that ring on and get some fitting clothes, shoes, etc. in

town.

Step 3: Get a room for 4 months.

Step 4: Go to the library and learn the language.

Step 5: Somehow convince locals I am a horrible case of amnesia.

Step 6: Build up goodwill with the locals somehow.

Step 7: Maybe earn citizenship, if that is an option.

Visualizing her To-Do list granted her some insight.

First of all, that game plan was impossible in just four months. If she could do it in one year she could be proud of herself. Which meant that she put the other 2000 bucks from one pocket into the inner suit pocket.

Only twelve short months, she promised herself. She would have to work like a crazy person to get at least to step six of her list.

She got her backpack out of the suitcase. Who did she want to be?

She didn’t want to be someone old man or someone who looked on the verge of being an older man. That took out six rings. Neither did she want to play some alien creature that disqualified two more.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ravela considered the female rings and decided not to use them while establishing herself in this world. She didn’t know the state of the world and its society. Nine more rings were disqualified.

That left four rings. One was an Asian man, which wouldn’t require him to buy new clothes. Tempting choice. Most certainly on the shortlist. The next one was a hair taller.

A European man may not require new clothes immediately but would need new shoes. What he had seen so far led him to believe that European people were a minority in this society and that usually meant more suspicion from society as a whole.

That ring was out, though she quite liked the face the ring would grant it was not ideal, for now.

This left the two African men. One ring would give her the appearance of a tall, towering even, man with broad shoulders and a masculine face. The other, while way taller than the Asian man or the white man, was in comparison to the former man, smaller, and had a muscular but more athletic build.

Ravela considered her mission. Finding clothes for the giant might be harder. Passing off slight misfits in clothing or shoes while walking through the town may be doable. Hiding this kind of difference in size, however, would be laughable. Meaning the war machine was out.

That left her with three rings. Who would she rather be? Asian serious businessman giving off a soldier vibe? Ravela thought about it in the context of her ‘mission’ and found: Looking like a trained agent or spy would be unhelpful. Likewise the mischievous glint in the white man's eye, Ravela recalled from memory, would not help her mission.

Her ring of choice sat inside a small wooden box in the form of a seashell. The gold ring band was in symmetrical distance spiked with purple gems all the way around. Ravela quickly switched the rings once she looked around to make sure that nobody was around to witness the change.

Dawn finally arrived, and with it, life would come to the small town. Ravela let the sun caress her skin. Yeah, this would be a good start to her new life.

Ravela got up in her new form. The ring on the middle finger of her left hand felt smooth and gave her confidence as to the outward appearance.

She levitated her suitcase and her cardboard tube into one of the big trees near the white bench. They should be safe up there till Ravela decides to get them back once she is done shopping. Not burdened by luggage Ravela began her walk through the park and back into the city.

She needed a name for herself at the very least. ‘Adam Astley, Nah.

Barry Bourne? Wow, you suck at this. Cordamo Crain?...’

All terrible choices, she will have to come up with a good one. Ravela was in the mood for some shopping! Her mood took a hit, remembering all the wonderful things left behind when she got whisked while she slept. Her hoverboard! Regrettable loss! She shook it off.

Over the next six hours, she went through the grueling process of wandering from shoe shop to clothing store picking out a few sets of formal clothes and shoes as well as leisure clothes, some sports shoes, and training clothes.

It took her some time to convince the old lady at the private holiday house without knowing the words. It was frustrating to the old woman, Ravela could tell. But the older lady needed money or otherwise, she might have thrown out Ravela for being unable to communicate at all.

Ravela in the end just took money out of her pocket and began to count in front of the old lady, 3000 bucks equally separated into three neat stacks of 1000 bucks each. The old lady nearly had her eyeballs pop out.

Her hostess nodded strongly and smiled a wide smile. It felt good to be understood. Ravela smiled back. The old lady showed her to her room, to which Ravela took a small bow. It was a very pleasant room, and it had a separate bath.

Ravela began to unload her shopping bags into the wardrobe once she was alone. Once she was done Ravela pondered how to ease the understanding between her and her lovely landlady.

Ravela heard a knock on the door and got up slowly making her way to the door. Her hostess waited outside with a small chalkboard which she put up in the hallway right beside her room. She took the piece of chalk and drew 1 / 365 rather big on the board. She then put beneath it:

8:00 and drew a plate with a knife and fork beside it next to the time.

She repeated the same process at 19:00 which made the message clear. Breakfast at 8, dinner at 19 o'clock. She then gave Ravela one key. The key to her current room, presumably.

The old lady then pulled out another key. Pointing to it she once again began writing on the board. 22:00 and a bed beside it were easy to understand. The old African lady however suddenly had a very stern look on her face.

Ravela looked from her nice hostess to the time written on the chalkboard. The chalk stick taps the chalk against the displayed time. She got the message and tried to convey her understanding through gestures.

Pointing at the time. Pointing at the nice old lady. Then…pretending to rest her head on a pillow, eyes closed. Ravela opened her eyes again looking at the old lady who nodded her agreement. It was an awkward situation.

On the wall beside the chalkboard hangs a clunky clock ticking away without a care. Time till dinner? Still five hours till dinner. Her hostess beckoned Ravela to follow her downstairs. She was not done.

Once on the ground floor, Ravela was led to a side door. The old lady held up the second key. She unlocked the door that led outside then stepped outside and signaled Ravela to follow. The old lady closed the door behind herself and locked it.

Ravela got a stern look then her hostess once again put in the key unlocked the door stepped inside and beckoned him to follow. After locking the door again the old lady looked at her and nodded. Ravela smiled and nodded her understanding of the process. Thus the second key was handed over to Ravela as well.

Ravela walked back to her room. Beside her bed sat waiting for her suitcase and her sword tube.

Closing the door and locking it behind herself, Ravela sighed. She needed to adapt fast if she wanted to have an untroubled life.

It was time to take stock of her money reserves, Ravela thought. Starting with the tube, Ravela put all the money straps on the bed and began counting. One strap contained one hundred notes.

After pulling out every strap in her luggage and the bills from her clothes Ravela possessed a total of eighty straps. Her loose pocket change counted for about 6,500 bucks. In a world where one big meal cost Ravela nothing more than ten bucks, Ravela had plundered a poor man out of a fortune.

If she managed to set up her life right, Ravela wouldn’t have to worry about money in her new life. Ravela got all the money back into the suitcase and tube. Both went under her bed. Ravela was in the mood to enjoy her newfound freedom.

Putting on her training clothes and running shoes Ravela could smell their still industrial-cleansed chemical hue from them. She had hours left before it would be dinner time, and the lake outside the house was truly gigantic. Ideal to test herself on this new planet.

Ravela had both her keys to lock the room and the side door after leaving. Her running began at a rather slow pace but as soon as she was out of sight of the lakefront houses Ravela picked up the speed.

Testing her body to the extent the paved path allowed. She felt the drag of the wind on her clothes. Forming a thin layer of telepathic shielding around her body, building up drag of air vanished. The speed was impressive and only possible through the paved empty path.

Ravela heard a dog bark further down the path and had to slow down. Being seen at these velocities was not a good idea. She would have been royally screwed if she stormed into whoever was ahead at her speed. Well, they would have been screwed and her new start in this city with them.

Slowing down rapidly was not so easy since it would have, without a doubt, burned her new shoe’s soles. Ravela managed however to slow down to a pace she judged to be fast but perfectly doable for someone in her, outward-appearing, shape.

Nodding while breezing past the man Ravela formulated a plan for this run at least.

Slow down well before the turns and try to glean ahead over the sea wherever possible. Once the man and his dog were out of sight again Ravela picked up the pace according to her formula.

It felt almost effortless to run at this high speed. She felt her muscles labor. Contracting, and releasing with no difficulty, smoothly drawing and pulling. Ravela felt like a well-oiled machine bred for war but yearned for another fate.

The feeling of freedom running through her body, after fighting her way through hellscapes just a week prior, was indescribable. Ravela had to stop herself from catapulting her body off the ground. No spontaneous powerful jumping, not yet. Not while she still knew so little of her new home.

It took approximately two hours to reach the opposite side of the lake. It was truly an enormous lake. The small town on the other side was barely visible. Sitting in what could almost be called a bay.

Tucked away in a valley the train tracks lead off to a city out of sight and away from these wonderful woods and the lake. She could still make out the road that led away from the town. Snaking its way between the mountain and the lake.

Ravela saw two other towns directly at the lake further down her route. She sat down on a big bolder and just soaked in the view. She hummed a tune to herself. Its sound felt slightly wrong through her human voice.

After half an hour she got back up. The lake was truly gigantic, and if she wished to make it for dinner Ravela would have to pick up the pace.

And so she ran like nothing could stop her. Her method of slowing down before the curves helped to avoid accidents. Not that anyone wandered so far out.

Most people would need more than a day to round this lake on foot. But it never hurt to be careful after all some people take the time to do just that, and of course, there were bicycles too.

When Ravela passed through the other two towns she slowed down to a normal pace again. She couldn’t tell a difference between the three towns although she hadn’t seen these two new towns in any significant detail, their skyline appeared roughly comparable.

Ravela made it to the last stretch before returning to her current residence. She slowed down and observed the rocky slope that led up to the road. Ravela stopped and looked up.

It was a long and steep slope and certainly the only area not covered by trees. Maybe some rainfall led to a landslide which had cleared it entirely of trees, Ravela speculated. Turning toward the lake Ravela tried to spot any sign of an uneven lake floor.

To her surprise, she was able to spot a stark difference in the composition of the sea ground.

Many bigger rocks cover her current stretch of lake. Ravela could vaguely spot splintered tree trunks sticking out here and there. It was an odd spot in this otherwise well-preserved stretch of nature.

Judging that she had stalled for long enough she continued toward her the small where she set up shop. Ravela arrived back at the hostel about an hour before dinner would be ready if her feeling on the passing of time was correct.

When entering the house, Ravela could smell the food. She went back to her room, while passing the clock Ravela took notice that she had roughly under one hour left. Her sense of time was not perfect but who would have a perfect inner clock after all her troubles? She was rather surprised that she didn’t miss the mark completely.

She went into the bathroom and quickly took a shower without the ring. Towels and care products had been provided. After she dried herself she slipped her ring back on and put on a different set of clothes.

It was just about time for dinner, and Ravela was quite hungry for her new life to begin.