…She felt her gut organs leaking out and her hands immediately covered her stomach.

“Use your mana! Block the pain receptors. Stop the bleeding. Then mend the cut,” Master Edwards directed.

Jamie nodded while holding onto her leaking gut. She had already blocked her pain receptors upon feeling the initial stab, however, the incident happened too quickly; she was unprepared to heal and fainted. In the background, a woman said with dismay, “I cannot believe this.”

One day later...

Where am I?

Jamie woke up to the pounding raindrops in a strange room. She found herself surrounded by bamboo on all four sides, with a glass ceiling through which the cloudy sky looked down at her.

Oh, that’s right, the kid slashed my stomach open.

On her right, she heard the crisp crinkling sound of dry scrolls rubbing against each other. A handsome man was tending to some documents with a quill in hand. When he noticed her, he turned and offered a warm smile.

“You’re awake, thank goodness." He gently grabbed her hands.

Jamie’s eyes were never bigger. His hands are callus! He looks so princely that I just assumed they would be soft like a girl's hand. He's so warm and comforting. Stop it! Am I feeling this way because he's just so attractive, or is there more? she wondered. I get butterflies with Master Edwards too. They're so good-looking that I can't tell if it's a genuine connection or just biological urges.

General Ames laughed jovially at her surprised reaction, his eyes twinkling, while hers furrowed, lost in contemplation, searching for the meaning behind her intense emotions.

“You were in bed for a whole day, Edwards took it a bit too far this time.”

With her mind’s eye, she sensed he was injecting mana through her hands. The sensation differed from Lisaria’s healing magic. It was subtle, the flow of mana almost seamlessly integrating, as if it naturally belonged. A gentle boost in energy accompanied the experience. He withdrew his hands.

She touched her stomach, there was no sign at all that it was cut open. She looked back at him. He was observing her. “You could tell I infused some of my mana into you?” he asked.

Jamie couldn't help her eyes from looking surprised. Was I that obvious? she thought.

“Yes,” she said cautiously, unsure of where this would lead.

She observed as General Ames pressed a small green button in a line of colored-coded buttons on the side of his desk.

“That must be your mind’s eye. It would've taken a mage of genius stature to sense that." He grabbed his divinely shaped chin and then leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. She couldn't help but look at him; she was inexplicably drawn to him. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, both unaware that it stopped raining.

He let out a smirk and adjusted his chair to face her directly. “Things are about to get interesting. I cannot wait to see how you will perform during the contest. Have you adjusted well? Is Lisaria meeting your needs? How do you find Master Edwards’ training?”

Knock. Knock.

“Come in, Ms. Alice,” General Ames said and turned his attention back to Jamie. Ms. Alice, dressed in a modest linen ankle-length gown and a lavender-colored apron entered with a food tray table in hand. All the servants of the household had the same uniform.

The smell of smoked gouda, and roasted red pepper bisque accompanied by freshly baked pita bread quickly filled the room. Ms. Alice placed the wooden bed tray table on her bed, “Thank you,” Jamie said. Ms. Alice nodded. She looked over at General Ames. “I’m not hungry yet, thank you though,” he said.

She nodded and swiftly left without a sound.

“Umm. Things are good, I feel like I might die from the training before the contest though. But, I understand he’s doing this for my best interest. I’ve seen the footage.”

"Hahahah!" General Ames' eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement.

“Master Adams is a part of the Veinham family, which means he knows a thing or two about the human body. Especially ones from Pure Earth. That’s what we call where you’re from. You are in good hands, the best.”

He rotated his left hand to show her his left palm, “Pure Earth, the time before humans merged with the elves. Everyone in Mander is a descendant from Pure Earth, but you’re the only one actually from there. The only purebred human in Mander.”

He flipped his right hand, “and here in Mander, there are many districts, as you will find. We discover more and more every day, some with life forms and some without. It is an endless adventure, one that you can be a part of. So, I do hope you reconsider your mission to return home. I suspect even if you managed to return, it may not be what you imagined, but that is purely speculation.”

He folds his arms. “Mander is an amazing world to be a part of, especially if you’re a Veinham.”

She nodded to mask the fact that her mind was racing to make sense of what was just said. Before she could think any further, she found General Ames trying to feed her a spoonful of soup. She blushed. It felt too sexual to lean in and lick the spoon to get at the soup.

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

She tried to take the spoon from him. He noticed her shyness and smiled mischievously.

“Just one spoon, I want to see if you'll like it. It’s been my favorite since I was a child,” he said.

She gave in and leaned in to sip the soup from the spoon. Her lips were electrified as they unexpectedly met another pair of soft lips. Like tsunami waves, goosebumps shot through her body. She jolted back to an upright position, her fingertips instinctively touching her lips. Her face burned as if the sun were mere inches away.

She looked at him in shock but immediately withdrew her gaze, looking down at her hands. What do I do? This was too embarrassing.

General Ames found he enjoyed teasing her. He cheekily smiled, “Oh no, I might have a new favorite now.”

Her heart pounded like Zeus' thunderous bolts slamming down to Earth from the heavens. She tried to control her breathing. Can he hear my heartbeats? she wondered.

The door swung open, and Benny and Henry strolled into the room.

“That's the boy!” Jamie exclaimed, pointing with shaky fingers, as though accusing a murderer.

While sitting on the edge of the bed, Master Edwards explained, “His name is Benny, he is my little brother. It wasn’t Benny that cut your stomach open, well it was him physically.”

“You can’t tell it was Master Edwards? I told you NOT to move!” Benny climbed onto the bed. “From the start, he wanted to see how you were progressing and told me to attack without holding back. But I did hold back; I didn’t want to hurt you,” Benny said as he tried the soup. Henry squinted his eyes at the lie as he ate Jamie’s pita bread.

General Ames laughed at the lie. Benny wasn’t holding back at all, he knew because he and Master Edwards were watching from his bedroom window. If it weren’t for Edwards dispelling the mana ball, Benny would be injured as well.

The bisque was to Benny’s liking and he began to eat it nonchalantly. “Boys, is there no food in the dining hall? Where is your nanny?”

“She’s not here.”

“That simple will not do. We’ll discuss this later,” he said to the boys.

General Ames turned to Jamie. “They have expressed to me that they like you and asked me to ask you if you would read to them at night since our parents are away.”

Jamie made the mistake of looking at him while he spoke, his eyes, a piercing shade of flaming orange, were never more intense, and it caused Jamie to avert his gaze. I cannot let myself be distracted by romantic affairs or get my hopes up right now. Just look at him. He's like a Greek god.

She was too shocked the first time they met to appreciate how good-looking this man was.

"Yes, of course," she responded, looking away. I cannot allow distractions, she reminded herself. The Love Contest, I must focus on surviving and placing well in it for my future's sake, Jamie thought.

***

Today is the big day. I can't believe it's been three months already, Jamie thought as she walked up to Master Edwards, who was sitting on a wooden bench by the Veinham's Estate Courtyard's garden,

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Jamie said and bowed her head to greet Master Edwards. She looked around. Where is Benny and Henry?

Master Edwards looked up from his notes to see his cute disciple dressed in white, symbolic of purity in a battle that could scar her for the rest of her life. She is probably the most innocent and pure-hearted he has seen in a few decades. Then again, she did come from a peaceful world, the world before the merge.

Should I have had her practice killing someone? But it isn’t that simple. What if they practiced and she lost her sanity? There goes her opportunity to return home and that is what Jamie wants.

“Master?”

“We have a few minutes before the portal opens. Let’s warm up,” Master Edwards said. He remained seated.

“Use a rose plant, that beautiful tangerine-colored one there will work,” he said and pointed, “yes that one, the one with the yellow-orange outer petals. That’s Lady Emma Hamilton, an antique rose from before the merge.”

“You’re so knowledgeable about my world,” Emma said as she held her hand up and used her mana to instantaneously pluck around 100 rose petals. The rose petals twirled in the air, and its strong fruity scent of citrus, pears, and grapes enveloped the garden. She focused and using mana rolled them into a ball, a slightly misshapen one.

“Tighter on the bottom,” Master Edwards said, he watched the ball of rose petals closely. The ball gradually became perfectly circular. “You crushed….one, two, three…four, five petals.”

Jamie nodded and continued to focus.

“Now pass it to me,” Master Edwards said. The two started to pass the mana ball of roses back and forth.

“In Mander, we don't typically don't have sexual assault incidents,” Master Edwards said and glanced down at his notes written on a scroll while the mana ball continued to be effortlessly caught and tossed back on his end. “Tell me, why do you think I'm bringing this up to you?

"It is because I fear the monster, while none of the other contestants do," she said as her focus wavered slightly, a dozen rose petals fell to the ground. “

“Very good and what can fear do to oneself?”

“Irrational thinking. Loss of control. Immobility.”

“Remember Jamie,” Master Edwards said as he stood up. “Fear can drive you or it can cripple you. Crippling fear kills you before the enemy does."

Master Edwards started to twirl the mana rose ball with incredible speed. Jamie felt the wind pressure and held down her daisy flower crown to prevent it from flying off.

“Almost there,” Master Edwards said and then, a tangerine-colored rose petal bracelet delicately flowed to his hand.

He turned to Jamie. “But remember this, when you face them, you are no longer simply Jamie. You are Jamie of Pure Earth, the 6th disciple of the Great Master Edwards. I will not have you tarnish my good name. Do you understand?” Master Edwards said as he put the tangerine-colored bracelet on her wrist.

He looked at Jamie with the utmost seriousness, his green eyes beaming into hers as if to weed out her insecurities and fears.

“Yes.” Her heart started to race, her adrenaline was starting to kick in.

“Regardless of what happened, I will always be your Master of Magic and Combat Jamie.”

Jamie looked at the striking Master Edwards. "The three months had been nothing short of hell, but she felt his genuine sincerity in helping her increase her odds of survival. She is forever in his debt," she thought.

The two sat down on a wooden bench and watched as bees buzzed and butterflies fluttered around the rose bushes.

“How important is it that you exterminate the monster, should you be assaulted?”

"Crucial. They're almost like golems. These monsters do not have females to procreate with-"

He interrupted her, “Jamie, that sleeping bee there.”

"Yes, Master Edwards," Jamie said as she raised her palm, forming a mana sphere around the sleeping bee and lifting it into the air.

“You’ve made much progress, very good. Come here, I almost forgot about this.”

Jamie walked closer to him. His heart started to beat faster. "What is this feeling? Stop, focus. She needs Master Edwards, the Great Destroyer, not a man trying to sort out his emotions regarding his female disciple," he thought.

Master Edwards raised his hand and with his palm to her, healed her of her bruises. “Your body can now absorb more mana, so no more bruises. Now we can see your pretty face," he said sweetly. Jamie looked down at the floor to blush.

“General Ames will be there, it is in your interest to seduce him,” Master Edwards advised. What am I saying? Stop it, this needs to be done. You are her Master.

Jamie nodded at his advice, although she thought, "Not sure how I'll seduce that promiscuous man".

“Look, you are more attractive than you think,” Master Edwards said.

She looked at him surprised. “Looks aren’t everything,” Master Edwards continued, “Wait, that isn’t what I meant, you are beautiful in your own way.”

Jamie had already walked away and was heading toward the small podium they had set up for her. My face won't make people look away, but does he need to say it like that? I get it though, in this world, everyone looks like Gods and Goddesses, she thought.

“Tell Benny and Henry, I’m sorry I missed them, but I’ll be back,” Jamie said with her back still turned. Come on, don’t cry.

Then Jamie stood at the podium awkwardly for a minute or so, while she avoided looking at Master Edwards and looked straight ahead. She had assumed it was a transport portal and would’ve whisked her away already. “Umm, how do we know when it starts?” she asked.

“They’ll send a message using telepathy,” Master Edwards said, as he tried to hold in his laughter.

At this moment, Jamie heard a feminine voice say, “Contestant #79, please place both hands on the podium stand. If both hands are not firmly touching the stand, you might lose a hand in transit."

Jamie waved goodbye to Master Edwards, who responded by blowing dramatic kisses. She couldn't help but laugh. WHoooSH!

“Stop her!” a woman’s voice cried out as the portal closed.

Master Edwards turned to see Henry and Benny's nanny in despair. She fell to her knees and sobbed hysterically.

“What is the matter?”

“I can’t find the boys,” she said.

Master Edwards' face turned blue as he looked at where Jamie stood a few milliseconds ago. No, it can’t be, he thought.