Aiden groaned, blinking his eyes open.

Where am I? Wait… is this–

Aiden let out a small gasp as the memories of the past few minutes came flooding back.

“You’re awake! What a relief.”

Sitting up, Aiden stared up at the ogre.

“Uh… where exactly are we?” He mumbled, glancing around the room.

“The Tryalsium Academy– specifically, its infirmary.”

There were beds neatly arranged throughout the infirmary, Aiden himself splayed on one of them. Several cabinets were lined with what, at first glance, could have passed for standard, over-the-counter medicine from back home, but just as many had objects completely out of place in a clinic contained in them– a tentacle in a jar, a bright pink cactus, a crystal ball…

“After our transportation, you fainted, so I brought you here. I apologize- I should have been more careful when exposing you to such magic.”

Biting his lip, Aiden looked down at himself.

“So this is really… Tryalsium.” He tried the last word out, though it felt a bit strange to say.

The ogre laughed. “I assure you, there’s more to it than this!”

Aiden shook his head, chuckling a bit. “Well, yeah, but…”

“I understand- it must be hard for you to process all of this.” The ogre smiled, sympathetically.

Aiden pursed his lips. “...So… now what?”

“Well, firstly, can you stand?”

“Huh? Oh, uh-“ Quickly, Aiden stood up from the bed, but, still disoriented, he nearly face-planted onto the floor. Blinking, he regained his balance and grinned awkwardly at the ogre.

“Alright. Now, follow me. I will take you to the dormitories.”

The ogre led Aiden out of the infirmary into a large courtyard. It was covered in grass that reached his ankles, and a countless amount of stony, sand-colored paths that wound in every direction throughout the enclosure. A series of lilac-colored towers and buildings surrounded the field, the structures looking like they were torn straight out of a medieval fantasy.

“This way,” The ogre beckoned to Aiden, leading him out onto a path.

“Uh… where is everyone?” Aiden asked, awkwardly. The courtyard was eerily empty.

“Oh, it’s past curfew.” The ogre replied. “Students aren’t allowed to leave the dormitories past eleven, unless under special circumstances.”

Aiden nodded blankly, still somewhat stunned at the scene before him– the scene of a school in another world.

The path led the two into the second-year dorms, a large sign above its door marking it as such. The ogre led Aiden through a series of halls composed of ivory walls lined with lavender doors before they finally came to a stop.

“Room 202… this is your dorm, Aiden!”

The ogre held out a small key to Aiden. Hesitantly, Aiden took it and twisted the key into the silver door knob. With a click, the door unlocked.

Carefully, like it would break if he pressed too hard, Aiden pushed it open.

The dorm, objectively, wasn’t anything remarkable. It was a tiny room, with a bed in its corner and an empty set of shelves next to it, and a desk facing a window on the other side of the dorm.

But it was a dorm in another world, far away from his own, that Aiden had yet to explore.

“Do you like it?” The ogre asked.

Aiden felt a grin creep onto his face. “I love it.” He said, a bit breathless.

“Always glad to hear it.” The ogre pulled a set of papers out of his pocket.

"This is a map of the campus,” He unfolded one of the papers, handing it to Aiden. “You can use it to navigate from class to class tomorrow. Speaking of,” He gave Aiden another paper. “This is your schedule.”

Aiden scrutinized the schedule, trailing his finger along the words on the paper.

“So… I have potions, battle tactics, and spell casting? Just… what are these--?”

The ogre shook his head at Aiden. “I’d love to explain what the classes entail in greater detail- I really would, but I have duties to attend to, and I’m afraid I must go soon.” The ogre turned, to walk out of the room. “I apologize. I know you likely still have many questions, and I’d hate to leave them unanswered, but–”

“It’s fine!” Aiden waved his hands in a reassuring gesture. “I… appreciate you doing all this for me. Thank you.”

The ogre smiled and nodded. “You’re welcome, Aiden.”

The ogre started out of the room, but just as he stood in front of the door, he turned back around.

“A bell will ring at 6:00, to wake you up. Classes start at 6:30 and end at 3:00– lunch is at 1:00, and dinner's at 6:00. Feel free to do whatever you want for the rest of the time- and curfew is at 11:00. Good night, Aiden.” The ogre smiled at him as he turned the door open.

“Night, uh…” Aiden paused. “Oh no. I don’t know your name. I-”

The ogre laughed. “Headmaster Red. Or Mr. Red, if you prefer.”

Aiden nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right. Uh… night, Mr. Red.”

Mr. Red nodded in acknowledgment, before shutting the door behind him.

As the door audibly closed, Aiden rubbed his temples, sitting down on the bed.

“I’m in another world,” He muttered. “I’m in. Another. World.”

Suddenly, a wild grin began to tug at his face.

“...Hehe…hahaha!”

Aiden quickly descended into an unrestrained fit of laughter, folding in on himself and clutching his stomach. The absurdity of everything that had happened to him in the past couple of days finally registered in his mind, and it reduced him into a mess of manic cackling.

After what felt like hours lost in hysteria, Aiden collapsed back into the bed, a few soft giggles still escaping him.

“Woo…”

Exhausted, Aiden promptly passed out.

A bell rang in Aiden’s ears.

Groaning, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. After a brief pause, he silently looked around the dormitory to ensure that the events of the past few days weren’t a horrifically realistic dream.

It wasn’t.

Aiden smiled to himself. He lifted the papers he had received from Mr. Red last night off the edge of the bed, flipping through them.

“I have… potions first…” Aiden murmured. “It’s in the… Ourio tower, which is apparently to the left of…” Aiden quietly ran through the directions he’d have to go in in order to get to class.

Smoothing out his clothes, Aiden stood and walked over to the door, schedule and map rolled up and clutched in his hand.

Taking a deep breath, Aiden opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Aiden was not prepared for the crowd of creatures– no, fairfolk, Mr. Red had called them– scattered throughout the hallway. Some were walking through the foyer, some were leaning against the walls and conversing with one another, and some were even slumped on the floor.

Some could have easily passed for humans if not for features like wings, tails, pointed ears, or extra eyes adorning their bodies. Others looked only vaguely humanoid at best, not unlike Mr. Red, and served as a testament to the fact that Aiden was now in another world.

Hesitantly, Aiden walked out into the hall, passing by the various fairfolk.

Just before he turned a corner, however, a voice spoke up.

“Hey, isn’t that the human kid?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Aiden turned around, and suddenly, everyone was staring at him.

“Hey, it is!” A girl with fox ears and a foxtail grinned.

“They really let a human in?” A boy with lime green skin narrowed his eyes, which were pools of black. “I thought that was just a rumor!”

More and more people made themselves heard, and Aiden, who stood at the center of it all, felt paralyzed.

Aiden managed to offer everyone in the hallway a weak, queasy smile, before practically running away.

He was uncomfortably aware of the whispers and murmurs that seemed to follow him everywhere as he navigated the tower.

Outside was no better. Once he had made his way to the courtyard, he found what could have very well been hundreds of fairfolk dispersed throughout the enclosure, and so many of them began to stare at him. As he walked along, a small, but insistent part of his brain told him to crawl into a hole and hide.

“Are you feeling okay?” A voice behind him spoke.

Aiden nearly jumped out of his skin, violently twisting himself around to face a slight, petite girl nearly a head shorter than he was. She wore a faded green sweater that looked several sizes too big for her and big, round glasses that had to be half the size of her head. She had long, brown hair that flowed down to the small of her back, which she adorned with a pink, heart-shaped hair clip pinned just above her ear– which, upon further inspection, was pointed.

Like an elf’s… she must be an elf!

“Staring’s rude, you know.”

Aiden let out a small gasp as the elf spoke again.

“Uh- sorry!” Aiden choked out, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was just- uh…”

The girl let out a small giggle. “Just teasing. But you never answered me.”

“Huh– oh!” Aiden shook his head. “Y–yeah! I’m fine. Thanks.”

“You sure?” The elf replied. “You seem kinda…” The girl made a strange gesture with her hands that Aiden could only infer meant not fine.

“I am. Really!” Aiden looked down at his feet. “It’s just…” Aiden made a vague beckon to the hundreds of fairfolk around them.

The elf nodded. “Hmm… want a cookie?”

“...Wha-?” But before Aiden could fully formulate a response, the elf was holding out a cookie to Aiden– a small, round cream-colored thing. Aiden had absolutely no idea where she pulled it out from.

“Here you go- enjoy!”

“...This is for me?” Aiden asked, dumbly pointing at the cookie.

“Yep!”

Aiden looked between the elf and the cookie.

“Uh…wow! Thank… you?” Bashfully, Aiden took the cookie from the elf, popping it into his mouth…

…and it was the best thing Aiden had ever tasted.

A hundred different flavors and tastes curled and twisted their way through his mouth. The cookie was impossibly sweet, with a soft and fluffy texture.

“Whoa. This is…” Aiden felt tempted to keep chewing the pastry forever. “Really good!”

“It’s an elvish delicacy!” The girl replied chipperly. “I baked it myself- I’m glad you like it!”

“You baked this?” Aiden nearly yelled in disbelief. “That’s incredible! It tasted so-”

Aiden cut off, suddenly self-aware and a bit mortified. “Uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to get so–”

“Don’t be!” The elf pouted, before breaking into a smile. “Only thing that matters is that you’re happy now.”

…Aiden didn’t know how to reply to that.

“Well… um, thanks again! I appreciate it…?”

“Mina Rosevyre!” She held her hand out, and hesitantly, Aiden took it in his, shaking it.

“Aiden. Anderson.” Letting go of Mina’s hand, he scratched at the side of his neck. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Say… what class are you heading to?”

“Oh. Uh… I have potions in the Ourio tower-”

“Ooh, same!” Mina grinned. “Wanna walk there together?”

“Huh? You wanna… Uh… yeah! That’d be great!”

“C’mon, Den!” Mina pivoted on her feet, starting toward the tower, Aiden hesitantly following.

The inner workings of the Ourio Tower consisted of a grand, marble hall with a domed roof.

“And… here!” Mina abruptly stopped in front of a large, oak door. “Potions!”

Aiden briefly squinted at his schedule. “This is… room 25, right?”

“Yup!” Mina pulled the door open.

Aiden hesitantly poked his head into the room, not knowing what to expect.

The room was lined with desks, various fairfolk sitting at their seats. A larger desk was positioned at the front of the class, and a visibly older fairfolk– who wore a pantsuit and had talons where her hands and feet would have been if she was human and feathered wings folded behind her back– sat at it.

“I take it he’s the human, Mina?” The bird-like woman asked with her beaked mouth.

Mina beamed. “Yep! This is Aiden.”

“Right. Sit down, Mina.” Mina shot Aiden a quick smile, before scampering off to sit behind another elf.

“Welcome to Tryalsium.” The woman nodded at Aiden. “I am your potions teacher, Ms. Airesce.”

“R–right.” Aiden bowed his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Ms. Airesce hummed before turning away.

“Everyone, may I have your attention?” The rest of the students hushed, and turned to Ms. Airesce.

“As you all know, we have a new student joining us for the year from the human realm. Please welcome Aiden Anderson.”

The room was deathly quiet for a brief moment. Aiden was acutely aware of a sheen of sweat dripping down his palms.

“Welcome, Aiden Anderson!” Mina chimed in with a toothy grin.

A handful of students chuckled, and as Aiden exchanged a brief smile with Mina, he felt his nerves quickly begin to settle.

“Um… hi.” Aiden shot everyone in the room with a sheepish grin. “I’m Aiden. I look forward to getting to know you guys.”

A few affirming murmurs rumbled from the class.

“Right. Aiden,” Ms. Airesce nodded at Aiden. “You can go sit by Luke.”

Aiden didn’t know why at the time, but the room fell dead silent at that.

Ms. Airesce pointed at a boy in a red shirt and a black jacket who sat alone in the back corner of the classroom, staring out the window. He had a pair of red, dragon-like wings, and two horns on the top of his head– though Aiden noted that one looked broken, being shorter and jagged at its tip.

Aiden nodded at Ms. Airesce before walking over to where Luke sat.

“Luke, right? I’m Aiden!” Aiden offered Luke a smile as he sat down next to him.

Luke glared. “Yeah, no shit. She just said,'' He gestured at Ms. Airesce, who frowned.

Aiden’s smile quickly faded. “Uh…”

Rolling his eyes, Luke stared back out the window.

Did I say something wrong?

Aiden awkwardly looked away from the demon (well, he assumed he was a demon, at least), and instinctively scooted away a bit from him.

“Anyways…” Ms. Airesce turned to the board. “Yesterday, we started learning about Refurma– which is a basic healing potion.” Ms. Airesce clarified, nodding at Aiden. She began passing out cauldrons, along with a small bag of herbs and a vial of clear liquid with each of them.

“Now, this is a fairly simple potion, as you all know. The only ingredients are aged salt, criswa stem, and water. However, this cannot be stressed enough- you need to be extremely careful with how much ingredients you add. A single grain of salt more or less than what the potion calls for will ruin it. The same goes for the criswa plant. You must shave the leaves completely off the plant, or the potion won’t work. Now,” Ms. Airesce nodded at the class, “Get to work.”

Aiden had gone through 20 different criswa plants and 10 different heaps of salt before he finally created a passable potion. Even then, he was forced to ask Ms. Airesce for help a humiliating number of times.

When the bell rang, Aiden numbly stood, leaving the class. When he walked out the door, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t feel too bad if I were you.”

He flinched, quickly turning around to face Mina.

“Mina! You scared me.”

“Because I’m scary.” Mina beamed, and Aiden had to laugh a bit.

“Uh… too bad about what?” Aiden tilted his head.

“The potions. You seemed bummed.” Mina looked up. “Don’t let it get to you.”

“Oh.” Aiden frowned. “That wasn’t… I was just…” He sighed. “I mean… I wasn’t expecting to be super good at it, but… it was so bad. And Ms. Airesce said it was supposed to be easy–”

“Easy for us!” Mina quickly interrupted Aiden. “Most of the kids in there were making potions their whole life. You just started today. Chin up!" Mina gave him a soft smile.

“...I guess you’re right…” Aiden laughed a little. “Thanks.”

Mina smiled softly at him. “Think you can find your way to your next class?”

“Y–yeah.” Aiden pulled out his schedule. “I think I can.”

Mina giggled. “Welp, good luck! See you, Aiden.”

Mina waved to him, before bouncing off, and Aiden stared after her for a few moments, before looking to find his next class.

Aiden’s next class went by far more smoothly. He had History of Tryalsium. The teacher, Mr. Trepsic, a gnome, cut him a bit of slack, considering it was his first day, but he still assigned him a reading to do that night. Aiden, not having the slightest clue what anyone was talking about, was a bit bored, but not to an extent, as hundreds of thoughts and questions about this world raced through his head, fueling his daydreams.

Now, he had battle tactics.

After wandering around the campus a bit, he entered a large room that resembled a gym, with multiple fairfolk scattered throughout it.

His face lit up when he saw Mina, who smiled at him and waved him over.

“Hey, Mina!” Aiden beamed.

Mina opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a booming voice filled the room.

“Welcome, everyone!” A low, but female voice shouted.

Everybody in the gym went quiet. Aiden, along with everyone else, turned to the far side of the room to see a big, bulky lizard-like fairfolk. They were covered head to toe in ruby scales, clad in gray sweatpants and a matching shirt.

“I see we have a new face!” The lizard-like woman– Aiden only realized she was a woman when she spoke– between her bulkiness and her lack of hair and general human features, he honestly couldn’t tell– grinned at Aiden, and he awkwardly bowed his head in response.

“Well, I’m Ms. Daiengash. Tell me, Aiden, have you ever sparred before? With swords? Daggers? Or your fists?” Ms. Daiengash looked at Aiden expectantly.

“I… took karate when I was 4,” Aiden said, dumbly.

Everybody in the gym stared blankly at Aiden. He heard a voice confusedly whisper, “Kuh-ratty?”

“Well, we all have to start somewhere!” The woman laughed heartily. “Everybody, find your swords and spar with them. Aiden and Mina, stay here!”

As everyone else split up, Aiden, Mina, and Ms. Daiengash still stood in the middle of the room.

“Aiden, I’d like you to meet Mina Rosevyre!”

“We’ve met,” Aiden smiled at Mina awkwardly.

“Oh! Well, then you might know that Mina’s one of the best sword fighters at the academy!”

“What- really?” Aiden blinked at Mina, who grinned back at him.

“Yes, Mina’s a prodigy! So, I figured she’d have the honor of showing you the ropes. Would you be willing, Mina?”

Mina nodded. “Okay!” Mina gave Ms. Daiengash a thumbs up.

Ms. Daiengash ran off, leaving Aiden and Mina in the center of the gym.

Awkwardly, Aiden rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, letting the tip of his sword rest against the ground. “So… a prodigy, huh?”

Mina nodded. “And today’s your lucky day– you get to learn from a master!”

Mina led Aiden to the front of the gym, where there was a long rack of swords lining the wall. He stared at them, fascinated by their different shapes, sizes, and colors.

“This is yours!” Mina chirped as she ripped a long, silver blade off the wall, holding it out to Aiden. Hesitantly, Aiden took it. He fumbled a little with it, the sword being heavier than he expected, but he quickly adjusted to its weight.

“Uh… thanks,” Aiden said, hesitantly running a fingertip down the flat of the blade with his free hand. Was he really going to have to fight with this?

“Okay, now I gotta get mine!” The two walked a handful of swords down the wall before Mina stopped, taking a rapier with a long, golden blade off the rack.

“Aiden, I’d like to introduce you to my pride and joy, Nox!”

Aiden stared at the sword. “It… it looks really cool.” He finally replied.

“It is.” Mina grabbed Aiden’s free hand and led him back to where everyone else was sparring. Aiden was half-convinced that he physically shrunk a bit at the sight of all the fairfolk fighting, at the sounds of their swords clanging against each other.

“Alright! Now,” Mina spun so that she and Aiden were facing each other, standing a few feet away from him. “Let’s spar!”