I was in the middle of watching YouTube when it happened this time. And honestly, it was really cool. My fingers started to glow white with a blue glow while gradually it moved up my arm and eventually my torso and then finally, I watched it move up to my head. And then all I saw was black.

I opened my eyes to see a vast camp of wagons all around. Except there was fire everywhere and a large amount of these wagons were on fire. It was easy to identify the culprits as I could see men with weapons running around clad in dark brown leather armor. Just like a stereotypical bandit scene I had seen in many anime, they were running around with no real purpose other than slaughtering the poor victims.

But I was definitely summoned for a reason this time. I took a second to collect myself and quickly spun around due to not seeing any potential summoner in front of me. And I think I saw them? There was a pudgy older guy backed up against a caravan. In front of him was another muscular man clad in chainmail wielding a longsword in a calm protective stance. In front of him, there were three bandits wielding some cooler-looking daggers than the two priests had wielded. These daggers had some jagged edges and a black line down the middle which gave the sides of it a more pronounced silver color.

I guess I should go and protect the master. It was obviously this pudgy old man with a mix of black and gray hair. He wasn't fat like a bowling ball, but he was definitely wielding a large potbelly. I rushed forward at the bandit trio from straight behind them. They noticed me a full second too late. I grabbed two separate ones and bashed their heads together. I wasn't actually trying to kill them but knock them out so we could learn anything extra. However, I am not used to this strength and their heads exploded into pink mist. The third one screamed and tried to run but I grabbed him by the back of his armor and pulled him back gently.

However, it wasn't gentle enough, so he slammed into the ground like that priest had done when Nateen summoned me. I looked over to my right at the two men. Their eyes noticeably flared wide, and the soldier's grip tightened on his longsword. And they just stared at me for a minute. The old guy was the first to speak.

"Oh, thank you! Thank the Heavens!" He ran up to me and grabbed my hand. His shaking legs gave away his real feelings though. "Now go and save my daughter, she should be on the other side of the camp." He said that in a pleading way, but it was definitely a command. But my body didn't move. Then the other man seemed to finally escape the shocked look he had on his face. "Didn't you hear the man? Go to the other side of the camp and save his daughter."

Now my body turned and moved on its own. I see now, the real summoner wasn't the merchant but the soldier. My body turned corners without me telling it to. Left between these wagons, a right through this group of bandits I killed while passing by. One thing I did take note of was the sun. It was right in the middle of the sky and no clouds. But I didn't feel it at all. I was still cool and felt like I was in my room.

At last, I made it to where I instinctively felt the daughter would be. It was a large open area with a massive bonfire in the middle. And bandits were actively engaged in melee with soldiers all around. There were no cohesive tactics, just a melee where your armor determined which side you were on. Remarkably these soldiers didn't have any insignias anywhere. No emblems to signify where they were from, just white clothes donned with chainmail.

I promptly joined the fray, and it was a massacre. It wasn't a massacre because I was so skilled and matrix dodged all of their blades but because I was so fast and strong, I jumped around from one to the other and a hard hook to the side of their head would make their heads evaporate into pink mist. I've gotten stronger since the last time, I guess. Last time it took me multiple punches and that would just leave their heads oozing blood. Now? Now their heads explode as if I shot them with a .50 caliber gun.

As I killed the last bandit, I heard a scream from my direct right. I saw a girl and just knew she was that old man's daughter. Additionally, I saw a man hovering over her with a dagger he was beginning to bring up. Using my left foot, I threw it directly into the ground firmly planting it and launched myself to the right. I landed right between the two while my right foot made a skidding hole in the ground where I landed. I punched him in the chest with a quick double jab and noticeably caved in his chest.

Now that he was taken care of, I guess it was time to rescue the damsel in distress. I turned around and saw an adult woman rather than a young girl like I was expecting. She was kind of pretty, with long blonde hair and a little bit of bust. She also had a really cool dark brown birthmark on the left side of her neck, almost like a Hickey. I guess that old man is older than I thought. I threw out my hand as a gesture to help her up. Immediately her eyes went wide, and she backed away. "Get away from me Demon!"

Of course, I had to be witty and replied. "Don't be so mean sweetie or else my heart will break. After all your dad sent me here to save you." I was expecting it to be a good sarcastic retort, but the crackly voice made the first part sound like a threat. Her eyes widened even further which I didn't think was possible. "My dad summoned you? His familiar is a dog though?"

"No, the brown-haired soldier summoned me," I replied. Her response answered a big question though. Summoners can only summon one familiar. Otherwise, she wouldn't have questioned it considering her dad has a known familiar. She finally took my hand so off we went. By this point, it looks like most of the bandits were taken care of. There actually weren't that many bodies of soldiers I could see. For every four or five bandit bodies there was maybe one soldier's corpse. But most of the wagons were on fire. Walking through the "proper way" rather than all those side routes, I noticed significantly more women and children than soldiers. I guess they are their families or maybe tagalongs.

While we were walking, I was inquiring about this caravan. It was run by her father named Tyvek. He was a big-shot merchant and had hired one of the up-and-coming mercenary groups that only do escort missions. My Master was named Sebastian who was the leader of this group. They called themselves the Silver Shield. And yes, the women and children were families of the caravan workers or were the workers themselves.

Eventually, we found our way back to the master and the old man at a crumbled wagon in front of a small intersection in the caravan. The woman immediately jumped into the old man's arms while the guard looked me up and down. I did likewise: he was probably a little over six feet, had brown hair, and had a cool scar that started above his left eye and went under it. Additionally, he was looking at me with his jaw set like he was angry.

Trying to break the tense atmosphere I went first with my deep crackling, "So uh... you come here often?" He looked at me in disbelief and replied incredulously. "Well, I have two questions. First, you can TALK? And the second, did you just crack a joke?"

"Well yeah. Why wouldn't I be able to? I am just a normal dude." I replied. Upon uttering that sentence everyone's jaws just dropped. The Merchant, the young woman, and my Master. Even some passerby soldiers hauling debris exclaimed in surprise.

Sebastian went first, "Did you just say that you're a 'regular dude'?" "Are you deaf or something," I replied, "What else would I be other than a human?"

The woman piped up, "A demon." She said it as a matter of fact like it was non-negotiable. I've argued with pretentious bitches like her before though, thanks to the modern-day education system there are always preppy girls who think they're smarter than thou even if the person is Einstein.

I threw my hands up with my palms up. "Do you not see this basic human anatomy?" Everyone shook their heads. Tyvek grumbled something and wandered off.

The lady went first, "Do you really see yourself as a human?"

"Yes, I do. Because I am one." I threw my hands on my hips haughtily and threw my chin up. It made Sebastian let out a surprised chuckle.

"You know," Master started, "It really is quite amusing seeing you act like a human and even crack jokes like a normal person would."

I could feel myself getting angry from frustration. "I'm literally a human my guy." I let out a long sigh of sheer frustration and then I kind of understood where they were coming from. The sigh sounded crackly like my voice, but I could hear little popping noises with each crack.

It was at this moment Tyvek came up from behind and tapped my shoulder. "Follow me human." I begrudgingly followed him. He wasn't a bad guy, but he definitely had short-guy syndrome. This was deduced because he was a grumpy old man that came up to my chest maybe.

We didn't go very far, just across the little clearing we were standing in. Our destination was a red tent. We went inside and I could tell it was his daughter's lodging. There were two or three covered-up pieces of furniture that were quite tall, as well as some dressers and a bed. The bed had some stuffed bunnies as well as bright pink bedding. Isn't she supposed to be an adult?

Tyvek walked up to one of the cloth-covered pieces of furniture and yanked the sheet right off. It revealed a tall rectangular mirror with a dark walnut-colored frame with some golden specks running through the center of the frame's wood. It was a pretty mirror honestly, even by my standards. He gestured at the mirror, "Take a look, you self-proclaimed human."

I walked up looking at the ground so I could have a grand reveal to prove them wrong. I got to where I could see the frame at the top of my field of vision and looked up. I choked up in surprise.

I was no human in this world. I don't even know if Demon was a good descriptor either. What I saw was most definitely a human-shaped figure. No doubt about that. But I didn't see my clothes, I didn't see my shoes, I didn't see my hair, I didn't see my flesh. I didn't see anything of myself. Instead, what I saw was a black figure, pitch black, as black as a night with no moon. And it had a crystalline sheen to it. I wiggled my arms and the reflection wiggled. I turned to my side and looked out of the corner of my eye. It had the outline of my face and body correctly. It had my slightly big nose, my curved back from years of working out, my turkey neck from a lack of recent working out, as well as my Dumbo ears. Of course, it was all a solid pitch-black crystal figure. I didn't have a visible mouth, but when I opened my mouth I saw my chin moved downward like it would when one is opening their mouth. Instead pf eyes there were two indents where my eyeholes would be.

I just kind of slumped to the ground and stared at the mirror afterward. The others got the hint and left me alone. I caught the Master in the mirror shaking his head as he walked out.

This was just kind of insane. Some scenes flashed back to my mind. Nateen crawled away while shaking her head. Those two priests shaking with fear until mustering up the courage to attack me. Tyvek's daughter called me a demon. Tyvek and Sebastian staring me down. The passing looks of fear the crossbowmen had. And most noticeably, the respectable calmness that the blonde noble had when issuing the command to kill Nateen.

I sat there just mulling over my new form and prior experiences for hours. I don't know what to make of it. Why would I get summoned from my modern normal life and become a... golem? I don't even know what fantastical creature I would be. I'm like a savant when it comes to knowing my fantasy creatures due to all the video games, anime, mythology, and books I've spent extensive hours in. But even with a lifelong interest in fantasy, I didn't know what I was.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I was finally interrupted by the daughter coming into the room. "Um excuse me, sir. I do believe it is my bedtime and I will not have a man er... a monster in my tent while I sleep." I got up from my sitting position and nodded while leaving. And here I thought I could be the main character and snag a cute girl. There goes that dream due to this body. It was dark outside with the moon being a half-moon.

I left the tent and had no idea where to go. Where is Sebastian? I immediately instinctively knew where to go the second I thought that. I followed where my gut led me. People flinched as I walked by, however, every now and then a mercenary would give me a salute by raising his fist in the air at a ninety-degree angle away from his body.

It took some time, but I eventually found my way to a much smaller tent than the young miss's lavish tent. It was a white lean-to probably big enough for a single bed. Sebastian was sitting down in front of it smoking some sort of cigar.

"Well look at who finally showed up," Sebastian smirked while making a large welcoming gesture with his hands. "As you can see, I don't have a whole lot of room to welcome you but make yourself at home. We pack up and leave tomorrow."

I took a seat next to him on the dirt. "So uh, you can call me James." He cocked his head to the side, "That's a very human name don't you think?"

"Well," I started, "I am a human, just not in this world I guess." I paused for a split second, "It feels surreal, like I don't even know what I am with this body."

Sebastian said very softly, "A god perhaps." I perked up and looked at him and cocked my head just like he had. "Well, I went and asked a lot of the soldiers what had happened when you went to rescue Tyvek's kid. They told me you were so fast their eyes could barely keep up with you. On top of that, they said you literally made the bandits' heads disappear."

"Yeah, I've grown a lot stronger since the last time I've been here. I don't understand why. Maybe it's because I've been summoned more than once, and I'll just get stronger the more I'm summoned. I just really don't know." I let out a sigh at the end of it and it had some of those popping noises in with it.

Sebastian looked surprised. "You mean you've been summoned before?"

"Yeah boss, you are my second Master. The first one was a young girl." I began. He looked interested so I told him about my short escapade with Nateen. He kept interrupting me with questions, so it took about a good two hours but alas I eventually finished.

He rubbed his chin, cigar long since finished, and had a thinking face on. Eventually, he stopped after a moment or three and abruptly proclaimed, "Welp its time for bed I'm going to go to sleep and pretend I didn't hear any of that." He got up and left.

I decided to lie back on the dirt, and it felt surprisingly comfortable. But after about twenty minutes of tossing and turning, I concluded that I would not be able to fall asleep. So I got up and walked through the massive camp.

The overall size had probably been reduced by half due to the fires from earlier and workers had set up camps for temporary lodging. There were two large piles of debris that were ablaze on opposite sides of the camp. I found my way to one and realized that bodies were mixed into the stacks of wood and cloth. Thankfully I didn't smell anything otherwise I feel like I'd manage to somehow puke in this form because there were a lot of bodies in there. I didn't think there were this many when I was walking through the camp but whatever.

I spent the rest of the night patrolling around the camp and feeling accomplished. I had always dreamed of being a soldier in medieval times and this nightly patrol really made it feel like it had come true.

Very coincidentally as the sun was rising I passed by a normal-looking white cloth tent and Tyvek came out stretching as I was passing. I think he was the first one awake in the whole camp. He regarded me with a sideways glare, "Did you just wake up?"

I shook my head, and he raised his eyebrow. "I patrolled last night, I didn't exactly feel sleepy," I said. He snorted and beckoned me to follow him. I didn't have anything else to do so followed him.

I was expecting a long annoying conversation but thankfully he didn't speak and I didn't make any effort to either. We just did chores for a few hours while people slowly began to join us as they got up. Tyvek was a good boss; you could easily tell by his workers getting up and joining him in doing these menial tasks. That is also another big sign, the fact that Tyvek himself was getting up and doing grunt work. I was also helping of course but that was because it was light work right now. We spent the morning cleaning up belongings from unoccupied tents and packing up wagons, we even joined some chefs in a large tent in a huge makeshift cafeteria.

At some point, Sebastian had gotten up and was making sure his soldiers were good to go while I was assisting Tyvek. Around the time the sun had risen to the middle of the sky, we were ready to go and thus we set off.

I took my spot walking behind Sebastian in the middle of the caravan. Trees were to either side of the caravan. Sebastian was on a horse, same as his mercenaries, while the workers and their families rode in wagons. Tyvek was on the front foremost wagon reins in his hand. His daughter, however, rode alongside Sebastian and was talking to him the whole time. It didn't take a genius to see that she had a massive crush on him due to her consistent giggling and the subtle movements that girls typically do while flirting.

Besides those three main characters, I was the talk of the caravan. I kept slowing my pace down to walk beside other wagons and eavesdrop, then to pick up my pace and catch up. I made a little game out of it and would slow down to walk beside a wagon one by one while picking up my pace to catch up between each wagon. The opinions on this black crystalline creature were varied, a lot were thankful, a fair bit was fearful, and some were even worshipping.

While eavesdropping I learned a few things. Sebastian was actually the son of an ostracized aristocrat and aims to make his name known across the land to reestablish his family's name. Apparently, at the end of successful missions, he would make a proclamation usually along the lines of 'This was directed by me, Sebastian Alpin, and carried out by my Silver Shield Company.' And he would then give out awards to his men in the form of extra payment. Tyvek was also apparently from some noble house, but nobody knows the last name of it. Lastly, apparently, the daughter was infertile, so no man would accept her hand in marriage, and due to that she always hits on renowned individuals. It's almost pitiful but an infertile wife sounds like a dream, especially one with the young miss's curves. Besides that, there wasn't anything noteworthy besides just the caravan's gossip.

We kept moving forward uninterrupted. No bandit raids. No fantastical creatures besides me. Nothing noteworthy happening in general. It continued like this for hours. Eventually, we left the forest we trudged through and could see a huge stone wall surrounding a city. Oh my god, I've always wanted to see what it would look like and here it was right in front of me. I quickly ran to the front of the caravan beside Tyvek.

"What is our goal by coming to this town?" I inquisitively asked Tyvek. He looked at me like I was an idiot. "To sell my wares you brainless familiar. I'm a merchant, remember? Additionally, I was going to buy some Wyvern scales to sell in the south when I'm down there next." So, this is a fantastic merchant. He knows where to get his stuff and where they'll be worth much more. On top of that he deals in the coolest goods. Where else can you casually say you're going to buy Wyvern scales?

We walked up to the gates, by this point I had retreated to Sebastian. Eventually, the caravan came to a stop with the front being at the gates and Tyvek seemed to be talking to a soldier. It had an insignia. The insignia of the group of soldiers that attacked Nateen. I felt myself flaring up but quickly cooled it, the actions of a single squad don't determine the actions and opinions of a whole country.

A few minutes went by until Tyvek eventually called for me in the front. Apparently, you must get a pass for monsters or high-level familiars to enter cities. I made my way to the front and rounded the corner of the final wagon. Tyvek was standing there with two soldiers that were wearing the same outfits as the crossbowmen that shot Nateen.

"Here it is!" Tyvek proclaimed. However, unlike his excitement the two guards' eyes widened. I watched in slow motion as one brought up a dark wooden whistle to his lips. I could have stopped it. I know I could have stopped it. However, I didn't want to give them any justification for what they were about to do. He blew the whistle, and my heart sank as I watched Tyvek's face go from a jolly good mood to a fearful expression. The whistle itself was very loud and more of a shriek than a constant whistle sound.

Immediately after, the guards turned and ran to the gates while we could hear horns sounding. Tyvek shouted at them pleading, "What did we do wrong?" It was a simple question, but his old voice sounded like it was about to cry. One of the two men turned as they were running, "You brought that here." He spat on the ground and turned his head forward running at the gates.

Wagons started breaking off and turning around towards the forest. You could hear people wailing in despair. Tyvek looked at me and sunk to his knees. "What did you do?" I simply shrugged. He hung his head in defeat, and as soon as he did that, in some movie-like timing, he immediately had two bolts through his chest. The great merchant known as Tyvek was no longer in this world.

I turned around and ran towards Master. He could not die this time, I will learn more about this world and help him rise to fame in the process. As I was running up to him, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bolt barrelling straight towards him. In a swift movement I punched it midair with a basic jab.

"What in the world is happening? What did you do?" Sebastian shouted at me. "Nothing!" I shouted back as defensively as I could muster through this crackling voice. "Where is Tyvek?" he said as I caught up to him. I shook my head. He looked at me and just turned away.

We set off towards the forest. I kept having to hit arrows out of midair which caused a considerable distance to grow between us. Moments later it was raining bolts and arrows and it took every ounce of concentration I had to make sure Sebastian didn't get hit. I was probably like a blur to people because I was constantly having to lunge left and right, up and down just so Master didn't die.

After a few minutes of this life-or-death gymnastics' routine, I was beginning to grow worried. It took us about an hour to get from the forest to the gates and now we're going backward up an incline while dodging corpses and tipped wagons while having a torrential downpour of deadly bolts. In summary this was going to take more than an hour and one small mistake could cost Master his life.

Within mere seconds of this doubt forming, I sensed it. I looked up at the wall and there a lone bolt was firing towards me. This bolt was different from the other though, since it had a yellow aura flowing from it. It was barreling straight for Master. For some reason, my body knew I couldn't destroy it from the side of the shaft like the others. I took one big lunge toward Master and planted my feet down and threw all of my being into a straight right punch.

It hit my knuckles perfectly as I intended. But what I did not intend for was the amount of pain that swiftly spiked up my arm. I let out a loud scream. My scream sounded different than I was expecting. It was high pitched, smooth with no crackling, and it seemed to echo inside of my head. The pain dropped me to my knees.

Now I got a good look at the glowing bolt. It was actually an arrow that had a slim metal tip and was about the length of three arrows. The golden glow was no more. Looking at my arm it was twisted and instead of seeing my arm as I usually did I saw a pitch-black silhouette of a twisted arm. Looking at my left arm, and all was normal there. But the right was just a twisted feeling of constant pain. I went to stand up but was unfortunately sent back down from nausea I think from the pain. I fell on my back and looked back at Sebastian.

The good news is that the nausea was not from the pain. But unfortunately, it was due to Sebastian not being in this world any longer. He had fallen back from his saddle and was staring at me with lifeless eyes that had the end of a bolt sticking through right above his nose ridge. I closed my eyes just wondering why.

I was back at my desk with YouTube still going. The nausea that had hit me came back in full force and I ran to the bathroom and let my insides come rushing out into the toilet. Yet again my cats came to greet me. I sat back opposite the toilet with my head against the wall and stroked my cats that had come to comfort me.

Pepper was getting a fair bit bigger and had even started to sprout these orange spots all over her within her gray tabby fur. Peaches well still as cute and adorable as ever, with her fluffy fur still feeling like heaven to pet. Peaches took a seat and just observed me while Pepper's kitten nature had her crawling all over my legs and enjoying the pets.

Thinking back, it was just so abrupt. We went from traveling nonchalantly with everything being A Ok, to a gateman seeing me and all hell breaking loose. I saw Tyvek die in front of me, and I saw dozens upon dozens of corpses while we were running. But I never saw what happened to that daughter of his. The faces of all those bodies came back through my head and I had another puking episode in the toilet.

I learned a few things about this world this time. That insignia is for a kingdom, that also happens to kill on sight whenever I am spotted. Well, I guess that the second part is kind of understandable now that I know what I look like and am capable of. The second thing is that Wyverns exist. That's super dope, that also means that other creatures like a dragon or something could exist. Additionally, the thing to take most note of is that people are accustomed to life-or-death situations. During that crazed run back to the forest I don't think I heard any screams of fear just some wailings of despair.

One thing I guess I can conclude is that every time I'm summoned, I'll likely be killing a lot of people. It's a really chilling thing when I think about it, but it is what it is. Alas, this view would change upon my next visit to this other Earth.