Samuel scratched the inside of his nose, trying to fight off a particularly tough booger, so far he was losing. It was chilly here, but seeing the stars as intended – without air pollution – really was something to die for, there were so many of them. He didn’t know anything about constellations, but even someone like him could tell something was off; especially the moon, what the hell was that thing? And they were supposed to be on a mishmash of Earth!

The young man was currently battling boredom. As he arrived around a month prior he was still settling in, some of the customs they had left him a bit lost, and thus, he felt unsure on how to proceed. There weren’t many approachable people besides a select few. Life, so far, was fairly monotonous, well, for a fantasy world, at least. He felt a tinge of guilt knowing his parents were probably still learning stuff in the tutorial and couldn’t see all of the wonders he had been exposed to, but he would probably see them soon enough.

To be honest, he wanted a bit of his life back; mindlessly scrolling through social media had both fried his brain and given him something to do in times like these. He wanted to play some video games so bad. Hell, even a book was fine. He glanced at his lap, and despite the darkness of the night, he could see the shine of his cutlass peeking out of his scabbard. That was his, and Samuel almost couldn’t believe it. An actual fantasy weapon, curved and sharpened to a point... Too bad he wasn’t even allowed to unsheathe it without proper permission. He briefly considered doing it anyway but he squished that part of his brain before the idea could fully form. He didn’t want to be taken for a fool in front of everyone. Not again.

But he was so bored.

He thought about Ryan, the one that came before him in the… ladder. His brow scrunched a bit as he thought about it. He felt very good after the tutorial, but he was slightly annoyed that he couldn’t complete it before anyone else. Oh, well, the podium was fine. Third place out of 8 billion people sounded real sweet. It took him less than two months.

He slowly placed the weapon on the ground – his instructor immediately glanced back at him before he noticed he wasn’t doing anything reckless, and he resumed dozing off with his eyes closed. Samurl was getting a bit too talkative in his own thoughts, lately. Time to fix that.

“Uh, do you have an idea as to how long this will take?” He addressed a nearby soldier which promptly uncomfortably shifted and refused to look at him. Again. This was getting old really quick.

Sam shamelessly repeated the question to Vincent, his instructor, which, without a doubt, would’ve heard his voice even if they were parted by a loud crowd – the man was inhuman. Uhh, he wasn’t a human. in… Gaian.

Vincent was tearing through a soft piece of bread with a slight smile on his lips. At the mention of his name, he slowly turned his neck to face the young man. He hid his annoyance well, but Samuel hadn’t missed it. “Just wait for a bit. Whether they like it or not they’re coming with us. Just like how you and everyone before you did. Aye, almost everyone. You know the drill.” He resumed eating the cake from his cross legged position on the grass. The man was almost as strong as he was stony.

Eh, fine. Cool. Whatevs, it's not like I care.

Bugs clattered near the water stream they had settled. He was spared of their bites thanks to his mentor’s Echo. Their alleged captain was currently talking to open air, swinging her arm animatedly as if the guy could see her from down under where he had borrowed himself down there. When they first stopped minutes ago, Samuel thought they had been bamboozled; he laughed at his own joke – but it became more apparent, thanks to the blabbering of some guards, that he had burrowed himself under the ground. The fourth one was already a bigshot in their conversation. Samuel grimaced. He hated calling people by numbers. Best he not get in the habit.

Sam’s idea wasn’t to come here, especially at this hour. He yearned to stay in his little room, just like any sane person would, and sleep it off – training was taking a toll on him, and fatigue creeped up a bit more as the days went on. Unfortunately, or maybe not – since he wouldn’t be the youngest anymore – another person had completed the tutorial, and he wanted to talk to them so badly. They had practically forced him to come, insisting they needed his presence if anything went bad. Like it will. You’re all superman in disguise. He didn’t even have the time to get properly dressed! And riding a horse with no proper protection hurt big time. He massaged his butt as if to forget the embarrassing moment. He scratched his belly button, pulled out some grime, and sniffed it.

The young man barely remembered when he was transported here, all that nausea had prevented him from moving too much, and before he knew it, he was approached by a sea of soldiers just like them. Just like how he now was here for the appearance of the fou – the new arrival – he had Ryan to calm him down when he first appeared here. Samuel pondered on it a little, maybe his presence was needed after all. That feeling made him feel better. He wasn’t totally useless.

Considering the new guy would still be a Pioneer, they could communicate no matter the language they spoke, others couldn’t do that, which made pulling harmless pranks all the more fun. He’d be an instant hit online if… the internet was here. His mood soured. He grasped his hands to reassure himself, failing to pull the strong fabric. These days, when Ryan was taking on missions with some of the Elites, more often than not, he felt alone, even when he was surrounded by a sea of people. Each day was the same. Train, eat, study, sleep, and repeat. He wanted to go home.

He belatedly noticed Carmen – one of the Elites herself, the same as his instructor, and commander of some of the troops – walk back toward the center of the encirclement of soldiers at the ready, shaking her head with sourness clearly stamped on her face. Sam immediately activated Lip Reading to parse what she must have been talking about, but then she scratched her ear and slightly changed posture so that she was giving him her back. Talk about bad luck. At least her ass was a welcome sight. If his proficiency was higher maybe he would’ve been able to read her from the slight twitches in her jaw even from behind. That briefly opened some daunting possibilities on what some sufficiently advanced users could achieve with Skills. It was a frightening thing, one he didn’t want to think about, not right now.

She continued to yap about with her little entourage. An entourage plus a princess. Samuel had never seen a princess in his life. He corrected himself, he hadn’t ever seen a princess with his own eyes. There wasn’t anything princessy about her, and aside from her red eyes, a sign of the royal bloodline or a skill; She looked almost like any human girl. Emphasis on almost, as most Gaians displayed gray skin and an anatomy which wasn’t quite that of a man or woman. He couldn’t pinpoint the differences though, they just had a different flavored text to it. It was a clear reminder that most of the time he was with someone, they weren’t people of his kin. Was he being racist? It gave him goosebumps that he had settled so well with alien people. It was odd how someone could look so human and so foreign at the same time.

Carmen nodded to the princess, her black ponytail swinging under her helmet, and she approached the entrance of the burrow again with heavy armored steps and gasped for air.

A moment later, the air trembled.

Samuel flinched. “Ow!” His whole attention was fixated on her now, which was probably her entire motive for screaming. A new level of silence descended upon the prairie.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She resumed talking as if nothing had happened, he noticed her pitch had changed compared to the prior conversation. This wasn’t how they thought it was going to be, huh. She was practically reciting a monologue now.

A breeze swept past, tickling the space in between his delicate fingers, even if it was chilly it was still pleasant to be reminded he was in another realm. One of the good things he loved about it was the climate. Both down in the citadel and up here the weather was temperate and windy, the perfect combination. At this hour of the night he would be a solid block of ice back at home.

“Teacher, sho–”

A scream cut the air in a thousand pieces. His hand unconsciously grasped the cutlass’ handle as icy tendrils of terror sneaked down his spine. Some of the soldiers had his same idea, only they did it better than him. He looked to his right, his instructor had vanished. The soldiers got in formation with the quickness and alacrity of a panther. He had also found himself on his feet.

The whistle-like howl reverberated and persisted before it finally died down, leaving everyone hanging. It came from underground. It sounded as if a person was skinned alive right in front of him.

The presence of the captain stood still like a rock hit by a small trickle of water. He could see her expression. She was smiling. That monster. She turned toward the opening and said something, then acted in a way Samuel rather preferred she hadn’t. She started pacing toward the camp again, the only one moving Gaian walking leisurely in a sea of statues.

He double checked again, and then confirmed it. She was approaching his position. He didn’t know what to say or what to do, and before he knew it, she was right in front of him. Her presence loomed tall over him, overbearing. His heart beat in his chest, sending him waves of panic. Lip Reading was still on.

She pointed over her shoulder with a thumb, “He, and I’m pretty sure he’s a he, just said he wanted to talk with you. So hop on and sod off. Go. You too, Vinny.” Samuel felt lightning crackle through his veins and time slowed down. He desperately wanted to jump away from everything, but his instructor – which had again appeared out of nowhere – placed a soothing hand on his back and lightly pushed him forward, Carmen swiftly sidestepping before he could trip on her. “Come on, I’m following along with you. Captain, has he accepted the Quest yet?”

Her eyes scanned the air in front of her before they returned to their sharp quality. “That... is something ususual. It was already deemed as accepted the moment the system issued it to him.” She scratched her chin. “The guy specifically told me to keep out of it. Stay a few paces away from your disciple, and be ready to snatch him back.” He nodded as they resumed walking forward. Samuel felt like he was walking on a swamp as his feet trailed him unwillingly forward.

He looked at the maw of grass and earth in front of him, and could only see darkness beyond it. How could anyone think to hunker down there? Desperation, he immediately thought. He looked under his feet and he could see the footprints of the captain imprinted in the soft ground. Without really thinking about it the young man superimposed his boots in them. It reassured him.

Uh. The more he looked ahead, the more he really, really wished he could just be in his room, daydreaming about being a hero. He could feel the impatience of his instructor like a tangible thing without even turning around. Therefore, he spoke. They really didn’t have much time. He’d rather it’d be quick.

“Uh? Hi? Hello? I’m Samuel Martini and I’m from Northern Italy, nice to meet you!” He cringed amidst the buzzing of insects. His voice came out more high-pitched than he thought.

He wasn’t expecting a standing ovation, but no answer came at all. The water stream continued to pass on in the cold night. Truthfully, he hoped he received no answer so he could just go back and behave like the country bumpkin he was supposed to be, so they could go down there and unearth him out, it wouldn’t be one of the best first impressions, but he’d come to accept it due time. Just like he had done.

He was about to turn around and plead for his instructor to take his place when he heard it. “Italy…” It was a voice so hoarse as to resemble living bark. The analytical part of his brain made a mental image of the man. It was a man, that much was clear from the speech. They were probably in their late 50s or early 60s. That the guy was from Earth didn’t make him feel much better.

“Italy…” the voice sounded again “Now, I remember it.” Now, what the hell was going on? This guy’s language didn’t sound like anything he had ever heard of before. Samuel had watched his share of fake polyglot videos on youtube, but this thing was the icing on the cake. It barely resembled a human language at all.

“Do… you… know… about the internet?”

For a moment he really pondered what the translation limits of the system were – he had tried once or twice to talk gibberish to them, but they just looked at him like an idiot. Ryan had told him there needed to be intent behind his words, which indicates this was a proper language. It weirded him out how it echoed with clicks and whistles, like a bird or… a spider. He shuddered.

Was he talking with an indigenous person right now? Was this how he had strayed so far from his spawn point? But… how would they know about the internet then? Samuel deliberately took a long time to answer, to see if there was some kind of follow up, but no. There was only quiet silence. He glanced back and his instructor was as stoic as ever. He felt trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Was he testing him to see if he was really talking with someone from Earth? If that was so, he would gladly entertain him.

“Uhm, excuse me, but I live in a civil – in the 21st century. Of course I know about the inte–”

“What… about China? Tell me… something about it.” Does this guy not know basic human interaction?

“That’s… a country in Asia. They speak Chinese?. Uhh, what can I say, it’s a really big place, if I’m not wr–”

“What is a car?”

Gah!

They went back and forth like this for a few solid minutes until the underground dweller spoke a single, last time.

“Samuel Martini…” he declared as Sam felt small surges of adrenaline in him as he said his name, and he gripped his hilt until his hand hurt “Do tell… your tribal chief that I, Brian Spencer… agree with the terms of your tribe as long as you, Samuel Martini…” He took a breath. “Grant me access… to the entirety of your system interface. Your status screen.”

This request was… was…

So reasonable!

Sam smiled as relief flooded him. That was such a simple request, he was expecting something much worse. “Sure, here you go, bro.” Even without knowing the face of the target, it was still possible to share info with people through walls or even entire distances away, as long as you were aware of the other, he had found. It was the simplest form of identification for Pioneers. He didn’t even need his instructor’s permission for this!

Samuel sent his entire status down in the burrow, and he felt someone accept the request and read it.

He was woken from his drunken elation as he heard a rustling, and then a thud.

A hand jutted out from the ground.

It embedded right in front of his feet. He recoiled backward and fell into the embrace of his instructor.

A long, obsidian-like body crawled out of the little hole. The figure twisted its head 90 degrees to the right with a mechanical, surgical motion, before stopping still. Its right foot stood unmoving mid-air between the burrow and the prairie. The atmosphere got heavy in a second.

The creature swirled his head to the left, and the only thing Samuel’s eyes could clearly see about him were his two red, red, wheel-like earrings.

Yup. An indigenous person.

Samuel wanted to close his eyes, but couldn’t, it was looking at him straight. The person’s eyes were black like ashl. He couldn’t even discern the pupils from the sclera.

If it wasn’t for the earrings he would have missed him completely as his skin blended with the dark surroundings in real time. It opened its mouth and all he could see was a gaping void, ready to swallow them all.

It took a tentative step forward before it stopped again. The moonlight only allowed Samuel to see the barest of the man before he was gratefully seized by unconsciousness.