Zalan ducked, hoping to evade the Flamestriker’s swinging, flaming claws, but it became evident he hadn’t moved far enough. Zalan winced as the last thump of the creature's legs struck the earth. With incredible speed and snarl, the Flamestriker lunged at him with full force.

Zalan flinched at the sound of another thump. The beast’s guttural growl faded into a gurgle. Zalan cracked open an eye and screamed—the mouth of the Flamestriker hung less than an inch away from his face. As he scrambled away on all fours, he noticed the creature didn’t pursue him, and its fading red eyes no longer stared into his soul with malevolent intent.

“Do not take on creatures you are not Leveled for,” a voice reprimanded from above.

It took a full five seconds for Zalan to realize there was a spear lodged into the Flamestriker’s body. He blinked, dumbfounded, and traced the spear’s angle back to its origin at the top of the town wall a few dozen feet behind him. There stood a guard, identifiable by the light armor on his chest. The guard held another spear, prepared to throw it should the Flamestriker show any sign of surviving the initial blow.

“Did you do that?” Zalan asked dumbly, raising his mangled, bloodied hand to point at the Flamestriker who slumped further into the ground.

“Indeed.” The guard nodded, then continued his short lecture. “Do not attack Flamestrikers if you do not have an Element to take them on or a good weapon to…” the guard’s face went sour in bafflement. “Are you unarmed!?”

Zalan looked down at himself numbly, only then realizing he had somehow been wearing a long, brown tunic, with yellow accents at the sleeves of his wrists. He looked down at his pants and saw they, too, were nothing he recognized—faded, brown pantaloons. He patted at them absently, looking for his phone and noticing his pockets were empty.

“Uhhh,” Zalan replied, his brain not having caught up with the guard.

“Do you have a death wish? How foolish can you be?!” the guard shouted.

“You are okay!” Rep appeared limping with a beaming smile from behind the dead Flamestriker, with the broken hilt of his sword in one hand. He looked at the spear in the creature, then up to the wall with a thankful smile. “I am grateful for your vigilant nature over the walls, Sir Kilile. He may have perished otherwise.”

The guard’s derision softened at the flattery and he simply nodded once to Rep.

“Is he with you, Rep? Why is he unarmed?” the guard asked.

“Uhhh,” Rep looked down at Zalan who shrugged in reply. “That is… Something I wish to ask him once we are inside Oriton,” Rep said, his slow speech betraying the fact he was making up an excuse. Sir Kilile regarded the two of them with narrow eyes and pursed lips.

“Very well. But do not go back outside if you are unprepared!” he snapped.

“Thank you!” Rep rushed to Zalan to help him stand.

Zalan accepted Rep’s hand and was pulled shakily to his feet. Then, he placed his weight on Rep’s shoulder to take pressure off his bad ankle. A small door opened at the base of the wall and Rep led the two inside as he nodded and offered grateful platitudes in the direction of anyone that looked tangentially involved in guarding the walls. They waved the two off and Zalan finally felt his heart come down to a speed where he could breathe normally.

“Where am I?” Zalan asked.

“Oriton,” Rep answered, readjusting himself under Zalan’s weight.

“Where is that?” Zalan asked, confused. He studied the buildings, all of them wooden and very few with words written in English, instead opting to have symbols to represent what type of business was housed in the building.

“Well, Oriton is a port town, so it borders the sea on—”

“No, where are we? Is Oriton far from Merced?” Zalan asked.

“Merced?” Rep repeated hesitantly.

“California,” Zalan said.

“California…” Rep trailed, quickly feeling out of his element.

“Where am I?” Zalan snapped.

“Oriton!” Rep insisted. “We are in Oriton! Near the sea!”

“But where is that? What state?” Zalan asked.

“I do not… state? You must mean Greev. Well, we call it the land, but I think you understand it as…”

“What? That’s not a state! Where am I? Where’s Ash? Who are you?” Zalan suddenly withdrew his weight from Rep and began to limp on his own as though it was a form of punishing him.

“I am Rep. I am here to assist you. I was… hmmm… inspired to come to your aid when you arrived in this world. You might be confused, but do not be afraid. It is normal to…”

“This world?” Zalan cut in.

“Please allow me to—”

“What do you mean ‘this world?’”

Rep cleared his throat self-consciously.

“You are not in the world you were born in,” Rep explained.

“Yeah right, this isn’t a ‘new world!’” Zalan spat with confidence. “Just tell me where I am and…”

Rep’s eyes widened in annoyance and he displayed his hand in front of him with such force that Zalan stopped mid-sentence. They stared at each other for an awkward moment, then out of the palm of Rep’s hand sprouted a small flame, the size of a baseball. Zalan stared in astonishment as the flame danced in Rep’s hand with no sign that Rep was in pain. Rep let the flame sit for a few seconds more as Zalan slowly twisted his neck in confusion before Rep closed his hand, snuffing out the flame.

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Zalan swallowed in embarrassment, trying to think of something to say as he watched the small wisp of smoke dissipate above Rep’s hand. He was too stubborn to admit he was seeing anything otherworldly.

“You are in a new world,” Rep offered. “I am here to assist you.”

“You’re a magician,” Zalan said with a snide smile, pointing with his good hand as soon as he came to the conclusion.

“Dear Lord,” Rep whispered, closing his eyes to keep his composure. “The Flamestriker was not enough of a shock in this new world?”

“Not if you’re a magician,” Zalan replied confidently, though in his heart he knew that even that sounded outlandish.

Rep grunted in exasperation, crossing his arms and looking to the ground in consternation. He snapped up when a new idea came to mind.

“Very well, try and recall what you were doing before you were here. What was your previous day like?”

“Well, I was hanging out at my place. Just… you know, hanging out. And my cousin Asher came by and I was going to go visit my mom…” Zalan trailed at the mention of his mother, his thoughts immediately clouding. A hollow sensation ate his stomach and the memory twisted a knife in his mind. Rep waited for him to continue for a few moments, then continued when Zalan offered nothing more.

“I do not know what to tell you. Your mother is not around, Zalan,” Rep said.

“Don’t say that!” Zalan snapped angrily.

Rep put up his hands in a gesture of peace.

“I apologize. I only want to be clear that you are in a new world. Do me a favor and continue to walk so we may reach the guild faster,” Rep said, taking a step forward, but Zalan remained immobile.

“I don’t know why I should listen to you. You won’t even tell me where I am,” Zalan said, his eyes revealing more confusion than defiance. Rep’s face turned from urgent annoyance to soft and comforting.

“I see you are scared of your new surroundings. This may help you understand. Tap your fingers like this,” Rep said, tapping his index finger against his thumb three times.

“What is this, the next part in your magician act where you… what the…”

A black spot appeared on the lower end of his arm. He flipped his arm up and stared in shock at his wrist, which was now populating itself with text written in ink, as though an invisible calligrapher was writing onto the canvas of his upper arm.

LEVEL: 01

STRENGTH: 01

WISDOM: 01

EXPERIENCE: 09

ELEMENT: NONE

Zalan stared in disbelief at the text for a second, then spent the next moment trying to wipe it away with his free hand. After a few seconds, he was relieved to see it disappear on its own. He continued to look at his now-clear wrist, then looked back up to Rep.

“What just happened?” Zalan asked.

“You checked your abilities,” Rep answered matter-of-factly.

Zalan tapped his fingers together again and saw the information appear once more. He shook his head.

“What did you do to me?” Zalan asked, curious.

“I…” Rep paused, seeming to pivot his words mid-thought. “I am only trying to get you to understand where you are. Oriton,” Rep explained calmly.

“That’s it. I’m not getting anywhere with you,” Zalan threw his hands up and looked around, Rep waiting with an increasing feeling of annoyance. “I’ll ask someone smarter than you.”

“Very well,” Rep shrugged.

Zalan scoffed and looked for someone, but was quickly distracted by the town that surrounded him.

The town itself was of modest size, surrounded by walls on all sides except for the portion on the far end that neighbored the sea. Every building he could see looked to be made of wood, either set together or molded in strange shapes, as if a few beams grew spontaneously into buildings. The streets were made of stone laid together and everything seemed to be covered in dirt. He looked up and down different roads, teeming with the life of the city.

Dozens of people traveled between shops, bargaining, and in general, brought life to the area. Zalan realized that they all wore odd clothes like they were in a medieval fair and had weapons to match. Most walked around with swords at their hips, no one taking note of Zalan analyzing each one of them as they passed. Some stray animals scrounged for scraps, scampering between stalls that would shoo them away. Zalan discovered that street signs were hand carved, most having images of things like meat and weapons, with the rare addition of something in English to supplement the symbol. He looked past Rep, who began folding his arms, and pointed to a passing old man with a bag of fruits slung over his back.

“Hey! You!” Zalan demanded. “What city is this?”

The man looked up, nonplussed.

“You do not know where you are?” the man asked.

“Just answer the question,” Zalan said.

“You are in Oriton,” the man replied.

“And where is that?”

“At the edge of the sea, a few hour’s journey from the Cliffs of Shadow and—”

“No, what state is this? What country?”

“Greev…” the man said, stunned at Zalan’s words. He turned to Rep. “Is he related to Captain McKittrick? Perhaps he has had a few too many visits with the Mind of Madness? Or is he with you?”

“He is with me.” Rep nodded apologetically.

Zalan opened his mouth to say something more, but couldn’t come up with anything. The confused man walked away, chuckling to himself.

“Zalan, please,” Rep pleaded.

“How do you know my name?” Zalan asked.

“I understand you are confused right now. But please listen. You are in a new world. Currently, in the town of Oriton. This realm is nothing like your previous world. The reason I know your name is that I am to be your guide. Just try and humor the idea for a moment. You are in a new world,” Rep repeated.

Zalan opened his mouth to counter but rolled his eyes and decided to at least try. The sun looked the same, as did the people, albeit in strange clothes. But only now did he realize that he felt very different. His eyes weren’t dry. His stomach wasn’t perpetually upset. The physical exertion of his run and the creature he witnessed certainly wouldn’t have existed in his own world. Most importantly, the pain that was in his heart before he went to sleep was somewhere buried deep, not taking over his every thought and movement. Perhaps this new world was a dream of some sort?

He pinched himself, but the attempt to wake himself felt so tiny compared to the pain flaring from his twisted ankle and bloody hand. The dream world was potent and he couldn’t just will himself awake.

“Alright, say that I believe that I’m in a new world. Hypothetically. How did I get here?” Zalan asked.

“I cannot say,” Rep admitted, his voice low.

“Great, as soon as I start believing you, you run out of answers,” Zalan said, annoyed. “Do you know how I can get back home?” he asked.

“Perhaps there is an Artifact that may send you back, but which Artifact, I would not know.” Then, Rep smiled. “But I do know someone much more knowledgeable than myself who may be able to assist us.”

He immediately led the way as Zalan followed. Zalan looked down at the wound on his knuckles, the open flesh stinging when in contact with the wind. It hurt in a way that felt like he wasn’t in a dream world. But that was absurd. This would go away as soon as he woke up and was back home. He took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his arm and leg, and decided to focus on moving forward instead. He would do whatever it took to wake up and get out.

But, to try and distract himself from the injuries, he tapped his index finger to his thumb and brought up the abilities on his forearm once more.