“I’m not sure I follow,” I said, pulling the blanket around my torso.

“I heard you clear as day,” Nana said with a strong shake of her head. “You kept apologizing for someone’s demise. And, I am pretty sure you mentioned your mother.”

“I do not want to talk about this.”

Nana glanced at my sullen expression and then at my hands which had curled into fists around the blanket. The bones of my knuckles threatened to pop, a consequence of how tightly they’d closed.

“Very well,” Nana conceded. “But, I can’t ignore the fact that you have a family of your own. I’m due a proper explanation at this point. Let’s hear it, then. A description of your home.”

“You won't understand if I told you . . .”

“And, I’d slap you upside the head if you keep using that excuse. I’ve seen things you can’t believe, child. Try me.”

I took a deep breath to steady myself and relaxed my fingers which had begun digging into my palms. “Whatever I was before doesn’t matter anymore. I’m a regular Dark Elf now, just like the rest of you.”

“Regular?” Nana snorted. “No regular I know of can jump that many levels in the timeframe you did.”

“I had help . . .”

“Bollocks. Mavari might have lent you a hand, but the bulk of the outcome came off the sweat on your back.” She stared at me with those haunting red eyes of hers; eyes that threatened to bore into my soul. “I’ve seen entire parties of regulars venture out to grind levels, sometimes with a higher-ranked chaperone. Only a scant few manage to reach the threshold within a week. You did it in six hours."

She clucked her tongue. “This feat you pulled off, Damien? It’s unheard of outside of true prodigies. No one can attempt it without being blessed with incredible talent or luck.”

“I’ll probably go with luck . . .”

“And, I would be inclined to agree if everything about you didn’t scream purpose.” Nana extricated her pipe which she had disappeared into her inventory sometime during our conversation. The ornate wooden item appeared in her palm alongside its still burning content. “I get the feeling you are in over your head, Damien. But, I think you know more about your situation than you let on.”

A heavy silence followed her words. Nana smoked her pipe in the interim, waiting for my answer—but, what answer could I possibly give?

The [System] had summoned me for a Heroic Adventure, that much I knew of. However, spilling the beans meant committing to the quest, and that was an action I was still hesitant to take.

Sure, there was something noble about saving a world on the brink of extinction, but I’d never consented to it. And, if an apocalypse waited somewhere in my future, I intended to leg it in the opposite direction.

Nana wouldn’t understand. She would want me to accept responsibility, what with the potential survival of her village on the line. Worst case scenario, she might consult with some higher authority. And, I could already imagine how that would go.

Nana’s expression crumpled the instant I made up my mind. “Don’t speak, Damien,” she said, knocking her pipe against her chair. “If you are just going to lie to me, then I do not want to hear it.”

“Better to keep quiet than lie,” mom would say and rap me on the head. “I raised a better child than that.”

Ugh. Why were they so similar?

I needed to keep my secrets to protect myself. But, the elves had also saved me twice from death.

Half measures, then. “I’m actually not Cyran Irithiel . . .”

“Obviously,” Nana said in a dry tone.

“No. What I mean is that this body isn’t even mine. I was someone else in my world. Someone different. I woke up in Dreadwood looking like this.”

Nana sat up with narrowed eyes. “You were a spirit, then? Maybe from another plane?”

“I was definitely corporeal. Real flesh and blood.”

“How did you get here? Planar transposition or possession?”

“Reincarnation.”

Nana frowned. “That’s considered impossible by every known standard. Some snobs attuned to Consideration like to think otherwise. But, true reincarnation is considered as mythical as dragon tears.”

I frowned at her words. “I don’t know about all of that, but I was certainly reincarnated. This isn’t my real body or my first time living. For that matter, my world vastly differs from this one.”

“How so?”

“Well, the basics are still the same. We have forests, mountains, seas, and skies. The sun rises at daybreak and sets at twilight, causing the same pattern of night and day. However, my world has only one moon.” I paused. “Oh, and when I say ‘my world’, I mean my planet because Earth is just one tiny planet among quadrillions in the universe.”

“Earth? That’s the name of your plane? Why name it after the ground?”

I faltered. “That . . . actually, I am not sure. I still don’t understand how language works here, but Earth isn’t a plane. Aren’t the inhabitants of this world conversant with astronomy?”

“We are. But, the term Vizhima covers everything from the world to the moons and stars. Why differentiate them? It’s all one plane.”

That isn’t how it works.

“Anyway,” I continued, “like I said, most of the basics are the same across our worlds. The places we differ are in things like magic, monsters, and the [System]. We have none of those. Heck, the races of this world are nothing like ours . . .” I petered off.

“Yes?” Nana urged.

“On second thought, scratch all of that. Most of the things I mentioned can be found on Earth, just in different forms. Our scientific advancements can be mistaken for magic, I guess. And, the biggest wild animals can come across as monstrous.

“Not real monsters, no—that term is reserved for the worst criminals and politicians. But, we have entire cultures based around fantasies and myths that feature the kind of creatures native to Vizhima.”

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“You’re losing me, child.”

“Sorry, just organizing my thoughts.” I raked long fingers through my hair. Those were two features of my new body I struggled to adapt to: the deftness of my fingers, and the texture of my hair. “What I am saying is that stuff like goblins, magic, and elves are known in my world. But, they aren’t real. They are figments of imagination. My people only encounter them in stories or video games. Not in person.”

“What’s a video game?”

A small headache blossomed behind my eyes. “It’s, uh, a type of electronic entertainment that emphasizes interaction with an input device, to gain visual feedback from a display device.”

“And, ‘electronic’ is supposed to mean?”

“A field of engineering. It focuses on devices that manipulate charged particles.” I stroked my chin. “Computers, and electronics by extension, produce the closest thing we have to a [System], yet still far apart. You see, there’s this invention called software, and it can . . .”

The headache blossomed into a full-blown migraine, so intense that I blacked out for a few seconds. Blue screens flickered across my sight.

“Are you alright?” Nana asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“Yeah, one sec,” I answered, rubbing my temples. “I don’t think the [System] approves of my effort to explain this.”

Nana waited for my groaning to stop, then posed a question. “You’re telling me that in the place you come from, elves like me are considered unreal?” She waved her hands in disbelief at the last part.

“Yes.”

“What then does everyone look like?”

Human, I wanted to say, but I held my tongue. I knew nothing of the relationship between elf and human Vizhimans. If enmity existed between the two, Nana would probably feel better not knowing my real identity.

I offered a noncommittal response. “Different. Everyone looked different.”

Nana took a long pull on her pipe. She exhaled another cloud of sweet-smelling smoke—and, my gosh, I was almost tempted to join her.

“A world without real magic, monsters, or elves,” she said, staring at the ceiling. “Sounds pretty . . . barbaric? If people don’t have access to the [System], how then can they improve?”

“By, uh, studying and hitting the gym? Training, I guess.”

Nana jerked in her chair. “Training?”

“You sound alarmed.”

“As I should! Training helps by way of repetition. It sharpens the blade, while the [System] forges it. And yet, no amount of training can help a level twenty hold her own against a level fifty. The [System] doesn't work that way.”

“That seems more barbaric . . .”

Nana chuckled. “You'd think that, wouldn't you? All a ranker needs to do to get stronger is kill monsters. The more XP she gains, the faster she levels up; and, the higher her rank, the more potent her techniques.”

“Sounds convenient.”

“It is.”

I could see the merit in power by blood. I couldn’t imagine swinging a sword one hundred times to level up one-handed by one. However, the method Nana described also brought its problems.

If murder was the secret to further advancement, wouldn’t society simply be divided into killers and non-killers?

Nana observed me in curious silence. “You know,” she said after a while, “I was half-expecting you to declare you were an angel sent by the gods or something of the sort. You don’t recall how you got here?”

I wasn’t about to share any details regarding the Pyramid of Rebirth. Too risky. “I went to sleep and woke up in this mess. No warning. No nothing.”

“Who do you think is responsible?”

I paused to brainstorm. “A really powerful entity? Or, maybe, a god? I mean, you said you saw visions.”

Nana adjusted her posture. “We’re not sure actual gods exist. I mean, I think they do, but none of the known gods qualify.” She clutched her viewing stone. “What business would a powerful entity have with you anyway? Were you some important person back where you came from?”

Before my death, I had worked part-time in construction and earned a minimum wage, which when converted came out to about forty dollars a month. Calling me important was kinda cutting it. “I don’t think so, no. Maybe, the [System] planned this out . . .”

Nana chuckled. “The sun might dry up a river, and the rain might fill it back up. But, both aren’t cognizant of their actions. The [System] is just what it is, child: the [System]. It’s a force of nature as old as time.”

“So, powerful entity it is,” I muttered.

The [System] hadn't seemed like a mere force of nature when it had chosen between me and the other homunculus. But, I could also see how it could have been used as a tool.

“What now, Nana?" I asked. "Are you saying that you’ve never seen another case like mine?”

“Seen, no. Heard, yes. I told you earlier that displaced sojourners are common in the myths and fables of Vizhima. The only problem”—she softened her tone—“Almost, every single one of those stories ends in death or utter ruination. They are typically told to espouse the terror of the Heralds, who often play the part of primary antagonists. And, no one beats the Heralds, Damien, not even mysterious heroes.”

A dense cloud passed beneath the sun, dimming the intensity of daylight by a few notches.

“What are the Heralds?” I asked.

Nana narrowed her eyes. “Who, more like. Remember when I mentioned debates about the nature of gods? Well, there’s a school of thought that regards Heraldry as the ultimate pinnacle of divinity.”

“And, you don’t believe this.”

“I should. Vizhima has stood long enough that someone should have uncovered proof of gods, assuming they exist. No one has, so they don’t. And yet . . .”

You want to believe. A popular conundrum among the religious.

“Are there gods back in your home world?” Nana asked.

“I do not know,” I said. I thought there was one, but my reincarnation had thrown my religious beliefs out of sync.

Nana’s face settled into an indiscernible mask. “Well, it doesn’t matter. The entire purpose of a ranker’s existence is to ascend to godhood. The [System] helps facilitate that process. Sadly, only a handful manage it over the ages.”

“You’re saying anyone can become a god just by leveling up?”

“Anyone can become a Herald. Dreadwood itself was created by one such enigma. We call him the wild god, and the elves collectively flee from his presence."

The wild god . . .?

"The point I'm making is that godhood by heraldry is open to all. And, now that you have reached the threshold, you have taken the first step on your journey to Ascension. You just have to do it . . .” She counted on her fingers. “. . . ten more times.”

“You reach godhood at level 100?”

“Beyond level 100. However, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Grinding gets more difficult the higher up you go. About half of all rankers plateau at Silver. A smaller percentage make it to Gold. The kind of enemies that occupy Platinum rank, however, would kill most Golds in a single hit.”

“And how many of these ranks exist?”

Nana shrugged. “Seven of the truth. Right now, you’re regular, which is considered both classless and rankless. Beyond that lies Iron, Silver, and Gold. Platinum, Iridium, and Adamantium make up the upper ranks, while Herald occupies the peak.”

My heartbeat quickened. On one hand, there was something addictive about gaining more power, especially when depicted in quantifiable terms.

On the other: the most adventure I’d seen in my old life involved commuting to work. This world was nowhere as forgiving, and I’d only tasted the tip of the iceberg.

A sharp knock resounded on the door.

“That’s my cue,” Nana said, rising to her feet. She gathered her items into her inventory and smoothened her robes. “I mobilized scouting parties to hunt down the goblins. If those green-skinned shit-piles have started proliferating again in Dreadwood, I need to uncover whatever I can and warn the clans.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Hah! The regular wants to help. Since you’re out of danger at the moment, focus on recuperating.” She strode to the door. “Once I’ve handled the problem in my backyard, we may speak further about the future.”

“One moment, Nana,” I said, stopping the elf-matron in her tracks. “The [System] mentioned something about visiting a World Shrine. Do you know where this is located?”

Nana paused with one hand on the doorknob. “That’s a delicate question, Damien. No one here shares such information for cheap. We can discuss further at a later date.”

“May I ask something else, then?” I waited for her approval before forging ahead. “What rank are you, if you don't mind revealing.”

“Why try to hide it? It’s obvious enough to anyone with a proper pair of eyes. I’m Gold-ranked, which puts me about halfway on the road to godhood.”

She exited the hut after that, leaving me alone in the quiet of my thoughts.