I woke up in pain and confusion. Everything was dark and my memories were muddled. I knew my name was Matt Mardens, your average, ordinary 20-something college student. The last thing I could recall was walking along the sidewalk and being blinded by a bright, white light. My brain ached and for some reason I seemed to have the knowledge of a second language shoved into my head. It wasn’t familiar to me, and I didn’t even know the name of it. I had never taken a foreign language course and English should be the only language I knew. Groaning, I tried getting up, but my body wasn’t responding very well. The ground was cold and damp with drops of water splashing nearby. A bright flash followed by a booming noise startled me. I recognized it as thunder and lightning which illuminated things briefly. The surroundings consisted of circular stone walls and a high roof. Part of the roof was missing which let rain in.

As my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, moldy piles of debris could be seen along the walls and the floor had several faintly glowing rune-like symbols carved into a circular pattern beneath me. Grunting, I managed to crawl away from the symbols and leaned against the wall farthest from the hole in the roof. The glowing symbols made me uneasy as I massaged my temple to dull the splitting headache. A puddle of water had formed beneath the hole and the sound of the wind howling outside could be heard along with more thunder.

“Hello, is anyone here?” I tried yelling but my throat was so dry it ended in a coughing fit. My teary eyes widened in surprise as I noticed the plastic shopping bag lying on the ground. I was on my way back to the dorm from the convenience store when the bright light enveloped me and luckily my purchase was still with me. Grabbing the bag, I quickly got a bottle of water and took a long sip. “Hello, is anyone there!” yelling louder this time but there was still no answer.

Sighing, I leaned my head back against the stone wall and looked up toward the ceiling. Curiously the glowing symbols continued in a line up toward the roof. Suddenly the hair on my arms started standing up and a blinding flash came from the hole in the roof along with a deafening boom, causing the hole in the roof to get bigger as chunks rained down. I screamed in panic and shielded my eyes, but I was already half blinded and my ears were ringing.

Through the white spots in my vision, I could see blue arcs following the runes down to the circular symbol which started glowing brighter and brighter until I had to look away. A strange popping sound echoed in the room, and everything went dark again. I slowly turned my head back, but my eyesight hadn’t recovered enough to see anything. I blinked several times and was finally able to make out something new in the room. A dark object was laying in the middle of the circle which hadn’t been there before.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving. It appeared to be furry and was so dark it almost blended into the night. The furry object was curled up and was no bigger than a basketball so I thought I would be able to fend it off if it started attacking me. Still, to be on the safe side I made as little noise as possible and watched it warily. I also scanned the room for anything to use as a weapon but didn’t see much.

The lightning outside flashed rhythmically and the storm seemed to intensify. I worriedly glanced at the roof, thinking it could come down at any time. Soon the hair on my arms rose again and I swore, closing my eyes for what was to come. Sure enough, a flash of brilliance lit up the sky followed by a boom which shook the room. Once again blue arcs traced the runes down to the circle which glowed intensely followed by a popping noise.

The dark, furry object was still there and unmoving but now a second thing was present. This time I could tell right away what it was, a squirrel. The squirrel was sprawled out and as unmoving as the first object. I still had no idea where I was but clearly the same thing that brought the squirrel here had summoned me as well. The implications of what had happened slowly sunk in. This had been no deliberate act and was purely an accident of the storm activating the circle which must be some kind of teleporter or warp gate. This could even be one of those summoning circles my buddy kept going on about from his favorite anime show.

The structure was clearly a ruin going by the state of decay and there was definitely no princess to meet me and give me a grand quest to slay the demon king. Thinking of my friend made me realize I had brought other things with me as well which included my cell phone and Swiss army knife that I always kept in my pocket. I fished out the cell phone but of course there was no signal. The battery was fully charged thankfully, and I hurriedly turned the light on.

I swept it over the room and my fellow summoned creatures. The squirrel was just an average brown colored squirrel and seemed to be breathing. The furry object turned out to be a black cat which was also still breathing. If it woke up before the squirrel, then the squirrel might not be breathing for long but I was too tired to worry about that. A wave of tiredness washed over me, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I managed to shut the cell phone off before passing out for the night. As I was drifting off, I belatedly wished I had brought a jacket, but it had been a beautiful spring day at the college.

I woke up with a gasp and quickly looked around. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been a dream and I was still in the summoning room. The storm was over and sunlight shown through the gaping hole in the roof. I shivered slightly as my body was numb and cold from leaning against the stone wall. Everything except my lap that is. I looked down to see the cat curled up on top of me. It opened one eye and seemed to glare for daring to disturb it’s sleep. Gently shooing it off, I stood up stiffly and walked over to the beam of sunshine to warm up. My outfit consisted of jeans and a t-shirt with tennis shoes so I wasn't exactly drerssed for an adventure.

It didn't take long to warm up and I noticed the humidity was almost stifling. Stretching with a big yawn, I surveyed the room again. The squirrel was nowhere to be found so had evidently scampered off. I didn’t see any blood, so it probably hadn’t been eaten by the cat. There were also no other creatures present so it was a good bet the squirrel was the last to be summoned. My headache was mostly gone but my body still ached. I was also hungry since I hadn’t had any supper last night. I looked through the bag at my meager possessions which consisted of two bottles of water with one partially drank, an energy drink, a loaf of bread, a candy bar, and a bag of chips. I also had my phone, a knife, some change, and my wallet.

I had been planning on making a sandwich when I got back but had been out of bread. Now I wished I had bought more as the convenience store purchases wouldn’t last me for very long. My cell phone battery probably wouldn’t last long either, so I decided to keep it off until I really needed it. If nothing else, the flashlight would come in handy. Scratching my head, I decided on the candy bar and part of the energy drink for breakfast. It wasn’t very filling, but it was better to ration the food for now. The cat came sniffing around and received a bit of bread for its breakfast.

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My parents never let me have a pet growing up, but I always wanted one. The cat had no collar or tags, so it was up to me to name it. Idly petting the cat, I tried to come up with something and finally settled on Shadow. “From now on your name is Shadow.” The cat meowed which I took as her agreement. With that out of the way it was time to venture outside. I had already noticed a hole in the floor off to the side and upon getting closer was rewarded with the sight of stone steps leading down. I had also noticed what was left of a ladder going up to a roof hatch but there wasn’t enough remaining of the ladder to be useable so while I was curious, I had to leave it for now. While carefully descending the tower, there appeared to be crystals set into the wall every so often. Some were cracked but most were still glowing and gave off enough light to see.

With no windows in the tower, things would be pretty dark without them. I studied one of the crystals closer but couldn’t decide if it was glowing because of the mineral’s properties or if magic was at play. I considered myself a man of science and was studying to be an engineer, but the summoning circle had left open the possibility of stranger things afoot.

There were two more floors before reaching the bottom. The first contained a steam punk like laboratory which was in shambles. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the equipment was supposed to do. I did pick up a bent metal rod that could be used for a walking stick or an impromptu weapon. The second was a living area with a broken bed, what was left of a desk, and some moldy shelves. I grabbed the remains of a sheet off the bed and made a crude sack out of it, placing my other items inside. There was nothing useful in the desk or shelves.

I finally reached the bottom and walked over the remains of a heavy wooden door which had fallen off its hinges and was slowly returning to the earth. The sunlight made me squint as I exited the tower. Shading my eyes, I looked out at quite the view. The tower was perched atop a hill or maybe cliff would be more precise. Below the cliff was a vast ocean or sea stretching off into the distance with a few islands scattered about. I didn’t notice the sea air inside the musty tower but outside it hit me like a truck. I had only been to the ocean once on spring break but had enjoyed it. Looking away from the water I gasped in surprise at seeing a large medieval looking port city nestled up against the coast. On the other side of the city was a vast jungle. When I looked up at the sky, my jaw dropped open. Hanging in the sky, almost twice the size of the moon was another planet. It had greens and blues like Earth but the continents were all wrong. I didn't know if it was a habitable moon or another entire planet but one thing was certain, this wasn't Earth.

When the shock wore off, I tore my gaze away from the sky and back to the city. It got me excited at first, thinking I had found civilization and would be able to get a good meal, but my hopes were quickly dashed as I looked again. The first thing I noticed was most of the roofs of the buildings were caved in and the second thing was the eerie silence. It also appeared that the jungle was slowly overtaking the city with vines and foliage covering the city walls on the jungle side. The city looked to be as abandoned as the tower. This begged the question of why it was abandoned. A shiver went down my spine as a howling noise came from the direction of the city, followed by a few more answering howls. Shadow had followed me out of the tower and hissed at the sound with her tail puffed out.

This was not good. I was no fighter or hunter, and my improvised weapon wouldn’t do much against a wolf or pack of dogs or whatever the howls came from. Panicking slightly, I racked my brain to think of something and recalled that most isekai protagonists came to the other world with super powers or abilities. My body ached but I did feel a bit stronger for some reason, but I couldn’t be sure. Maybe the gravity was lighter here or something. If I did have some kind of powers, I didn’t know how to use them. “Status”, “Open Status”, “Menu”, “Crap, what am I doing. I need to get ahold of myself.” The old status trope didn’t seem to be working and I didn’t remember any gods giving me instructions. I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

If I could use magic, I would have to learn how to do it myself. There had to be a library in the city somewhere or maybe a rich noble had a collection. That is if any of the books were still intact. With my implanted knowledge I think I could read and speak the language, not that there seemed to be anybody to talk to. I needed to get the depressing thoughts under control so clapped my cheeks. “Ok Shadow, we need to find someplace safe with an intact door. A better weapon would be nice as well.” With that we started following the cobble stone path to the city. She looked to be still on edge but meowed and ran ahead.

I seemed to be in the rich part of town as the residences were huge and ornate. I hadn’t seen a castle or anything that looked like a king or queen lived here while up on the ridge. The tallest structure appeared to be a bell tower toward the center of the city. Shadow seemed to be having fun exploring but didn’t wander too far away. We passed a few large estates but he houses were crumbling. We entered the nearest mostly intact mansion. Beyond the crumbling wall, the grounds were overgrown, but on the sides there seemed to be fruit trees. The fruit looked similar to apples but they were purple. I left them alone for now and really hoped they were edible as I made why way around the mansion. I briefly glanced in the backyard, which was also in a wild state and there appeared to be a well and overgrown flower beds.

Next, we made our way inside. Shadow jumped through an open window but I used the large double doors. They were sturdy and intact. If I blocked off the window openings, this place could work. It didn’t look like there had been glass in the windows and just wooden shutters which had fallen off and rotted away. I set down the sack and kept my metal staff at the ready in case there was anything already making the place its home. I listened intently but all I could hear was Shadow pitter pattering down the wide hallway in front of me. The hallway opened onto a great room with a staircase leading up to the second floor. There were holes in the roof letting light in which had also let in water which was puddled on the rotten floorboards.

Shadow headed up the staircase but I decided to explore the first floor. There was a large dining room and what might have been a ball room and then a kitchen area. There was also a few closets or maybe they were servant quarters and a guest reception room with a couple sofas. The kitchen was the most interesting. There appeared to be a few magical type appliances that I wasn’t sure about and luckily a regular wood stove. The pantry was empty with evidence of animals having gotten to it but there was bundles of wood for the stove. There was also a cellar door but when I peaked inside it was pitch black and full of cobwebs, so I decided against entering for now. I wasn’t a fan of spiders in general and didn’t want to find out how large they got in this world. To be on the safe side I wedged a chair up against the cellar door. Feeling a little better, I continued my exploration to the second floor.

The stairs were surprisingly intact and I briefly saw Shadow still sniffing around. Most of the doors were open except the ones at the end of the long hallway. I slowly walked down the hallway, looking into each room on the way. One was a bathroom and the rest were bedrooms. I tried one of the closed doors but it wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t sure if it was locked or just stuck. The other closed door opened up to what must have been the master bedroom with a huge bed under a canopy. The room was in much better condition than the previous bedrooms since the door had remained closed. I decided this would be my new home.