Cad was walking fairly quickly to catch up to the spritely spriggan, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for someone who grew up in a metropolis. He finally had someone who could answer the questions he’d been plagued with since he first appeared in this forest, and he was determined to make the most of the opportunity.

Just as he was about to catch up to Elowen and begin to ask a question, the spriggan started walking faster. He was now moving fast enough that Cad had to speed walk to keep up. Determined not to be outdone in the walking department, he picked up his pace and was ready to final-

Elowen sped up again. The spriggan still looked like he was taking a casual stroll, but somehow he was moving at the speed of someone jogging, and he always found the perfect place to put his foot on the rough forest floor. “Why are you moving faster every time I get close?” Cad asked, annoyed, as he started lightly jogging. He went to the gym enough back home on Earth that he could maintain this pace fairly easily, but he’d rather learn about this world than get in his cardio exercise.

After a few moments of silence, Cad was sure that Elowen was not going to respond and was seriously beginning to regret following him. Right as Cad was about to follow up his previous comment, the spriggan turned on his heel to face him and forced the young man to skid to a stop to prevent himself from crashing into the suddenly stationary fantasy creature.

“You are flabby,” Elowen said as he poked Cad in the side of the stomach, resulting in a yelp, “unfit for life here in the forest, and in this world. Unless falling out of more trees is what you wish your future to hold, you must be prepared.” He emphasized the last few words with more pokes into Cad’s stomach and sides despite the man’s desperate attempts at defense.

“Hey, I went to the gym a lot back home! I’m more fit than most people,” Cad responded, annoyed at the incessant poking and the insults to his fitness.

“Then I fear for those who reside in your old world. Though perhaps their weakness proves their lives fare better than those of ours, and I should not judge. But, now you are in our world and must meet that standard, yes?”

Without waiting for an answer, Elowen immediately took off in his original direction, this time casually strolling at a light running speed for Cad. The young man took off after the spriggan, hoping that he wouldn’t have to keep this pace up for too long.

Nearly an hour later, Elowen finally stopped moving and Cad fell to the ground gasping for air. The entire trip went by in a painful blur, the spriggan seemingly knowing exactly what speed was required to maximize the man’s exhaustion. Whenever Cad neared the point of collapse, Elowen would slow just enough to let him catch his breath, then rapidly force him to start sprinting.

“Here, for one half-tick, you will rest,” Elowen said. “After that has elapsed, we will return to our journey.” With that, the spriggan became a blur to Cad’s eyes and disappeared. The young man was still lying on the ground, still gasping for air, and was now once again alone with his fox.

Scout came up to him and nuzzled his face, reminding Cad of a kitten from Earth. The little fox seemed worried about him, as she was letting out little mewling yips. To think this creature was trying to kill me by draining my mana just yesterday, and now here she is worrying about a bit of overexertion. Also, what the hell is a ‘half-tick’?

Cad finally caught his breath enough to sit up and get his first true glimpse of his surroundings. He was in a small meadow, not too dissimilar from the one he landed in when he first arrived on this new planet, although a bit smaller. It wasn’t an awful spot to rest, and it would make a fairly good camping location, were Elowen to lay off his military-style pace.

Cad groaned as he glanced up at the sky. The first Sun wasn’t that far above the horizon, and the lower one was only halfway risen. The day had only begun to break when Elowen sent the giant on its way, and there was a very long day ahead of them if Cad was already this exhausted by what would be the early morning on Earth.

Nothing to do about it if I want to avoid being alone in this wilderness, Cad thought to himself. At least I’m going to be getting in pretty ridiculously good shape if I’m dealing with this level of cardio exercise. He decided to take a look around his surroundings, so he gave Scout a scratch, to her visible satisfaction, and stood up.

The effects of the sap that had taken care of his hunger and thirst seemed to be fading by the minute, and while his stomach wasn’t yet rumbling, he knew he would have to find another source of nutrients soon.

Cad groaned, he should have taken some of the sap with him. It seemed like an absolute life-saver, not that he had anywhere to put it without filling his pockets with tree goo. For now, he had thirty minutes to rest, explore, and maybe see if there were any more ancient sap-giving trees in his immediate vicinity.

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He most definitely did not want to get lost in this forest once again, so he grabbed a sharp rock and scraped the side of a tree in the direction he planned on exploring. He wasn’t planning on going far, but he didn’t want to risk anything.

Only about 30 paces towards the still-rising Suns, he noticed a strange bush wall of sorts. It was a circular copse of trees, but in between each tree were thick vines and brambles, so much so that he couldn’t see through at all. He started to circle the area to see if there was an open side, but the pattern continued, fully enclosing the area in a natural barrier. Scout also seemed curious about the forest oddity, and she scampered up Cad’s clothes to sit on his shoulders and get a better viewpoint, not that there was much of a benefit in this case.

Cad went to reach for the bushes to open up a small hole and see what might be within. His hand was shaking, his experiences with surprises in this new world had been decidedly unpleasant. At the same time, he was extremely curious about what was behind the wall, and a part of him hoped that Elowen wouldn’t leave him alone in a situation where he was in danger and entirely out of his depth. Whether he truly believed that hope or not is hard to say.

Nonetheless, he continued reaching out his hand and created a small hole in the bramble. It wasn’t prickly enough to breach his skin, but it certainly didn’t feel nice to the touch. As a bit of light began to filter through the gap, he immediately shot his hand back and closed it. Scout had reacted immediately and nearly jumped off of his shoulders into the hole he had created, only stopping her dash once he had let it close.

Not only that, but he could feel it too. That same warmth that Cad felt when he was using his “spells” seemed to be exuding from whatever was inside of the copse. Maybe some form of natural mana? It felt very… potent. He wasn’t sure how else to describe it, or how he even knew that in the first place. But even the brief moment in which he created a gap in the bushes, it felt like it was rushing out in a strong wave.

He was just about to turn around and walk in the complete opposite direction, curiosity killed the cat, after all, when he saw Scout pawing the bramble and making what he could only interpret as longing noises. Oh no, I’m starting to speak fox.

He kneeled down next to the little fox and scratched her behind the ear. “I dunno if that’s safe, Scout. I feel like we should go back to where Elowen left us,” he said to her. Dear lord, now I’m speaking to the fox again.

She looked at him and made a small yip before turning back to the bushes and scratching even more vigorously at them. “Okay, okay fine. We can take another look, but at the smallest sign of danger, we are running away. Deal?” He asked, giving the small fox cub a glare. Scout ignored him and kept scratching.

Cad began to reach out again, mumbling under his breath about talking to foxes and going crazy. As he started to open a small pathway for himself, he took a deep breath to prepare for the powerful mana influx. He still wasn’t ready when it came, though, and he had to pause to recollect himself.

He didn’t close the hole he had made this time, and as he opened it wider, he began to peek inside the copse. He wasn’t sure what to expect. He feared there would be some dangerous magical creature, but instead all he saw was a grass clearing with a strange dirt circle in the middle. As he looked closer, he saw a small light-gray rock sitting right in the center.

The mana was still gushing out of the clearing, but Cad was beginning to get used to the feeling. It wasn’t painful at all, just overwhelming at first. Cad took a glance at Scout who was clearly ready to enter the circle whether he agreed or not. He sighed and shook his head, hoping her instincts wouldn’t lead them astray.

He stepped through the hole he made into the clearing, his arms getting slightly scratched up in the process. With each step he took, the mana in the air grew stronger. It didn’t feel exactly the same as the warmth that came over him when he used his spells, rather it felt lighter and cooler. Where the mana he used in his camouflage spell felt like slow-moving heat spreading through his veins, this mana felt like a powerful breeze brushing against his skin. Still warm, in a way, but also quick and maneuvering.

He shook his head, returning to the situation at hand. Scout had followed him past the bushes and was sniffing the rock in the center. She looked more curious than ravenous, a massive change from the way she acted when the pair had first met.

Cad noticed that his heart had started beating strangely again. If I got transported to a new world only to have a heart attack due to my issues in the old world, I’m going to be very angry. But with each step nearer to the strange rock his heart seemed to skip more and more beats. Once again, he was just about to turn around when the rock suddenly shot up into the air and slammed into his chest.

He yelled in surprise and stepped backward, but the rock was melting into his shirt as if it were part liquid. The moment it touched his skin, he screamed again. The melted rock felt like liquid nitrogen directly on his chest. After a few moments of the pain, the rock disappeared and Cadmus’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell onto his back.

Where the hell am I now? Cad asked as he looked around some sort of empty space. It felt like a sensory deprivation chamber. He was floating in nothingness, eyes greeted by darkness in every direction. As the moments ticked by, he began to get more and more worried. Was he trapped here? Did the rock somehow do this to him?

In his panicked state, he almost didn’t notice the air around him start to spin and speed by in gusts of wind. It started slow at first but picked up the pace with every moment until he was standing in hurricane-blast level winds.

He started shivering. It was cold here in the void. The winds were swelling each second, and he couldn’t come up with anything to do. He tried to get that feeling he had when he used spells, maybe that warmth would keep him safe from the freezing cold, but the moment he tried that, a strong gust of wind blasted him, ending any concentration he might have had.

What am I going to do?