Plunged into an abyss of darkness, Brian strained his eyes to make sense of his surroundings. There was nothing. No floor, no walls, just an all-consuming void.

As the world slowly came into view, he found it eerily familiar. It bore a strong resemblance to the Valteria he had been exploring, yet it was suffused with an unsettling gloom. The ambience was imbued with a peculiar teal hue, rendering the place indescribable.

When he looked up, the sky was still a spectacle, but its mesmerizing galactic-burgundy was replaced by a medium to dark greenish-blue that mirrored the strange tint of his surroundings.

Standing opposite him was a shadowy figure, a faceless entity, yet pulsating with a strange energy. "Welcome to Valteria," its voice were ripples of sound that cascaded through the emptiness.

Brian squinted at the shadow. "Is this some messed-up dream or something?" he blurted.

"The realm of your mind, indeed," the entity answered, its tone was as nebulous as its form.

"Why am I here?" Brian questioned.

"That's not important," the entity replied.

Brian's gaze flickered, something clicking in his mind. "Ok, so am I in another universe?" he asked, a hint of amusement weaving into his tone.

"Yes," the entity affirmed, its answer echoed through the space. "You've been transported from your world."

"Why me, though?" Brian asked, folding his arms, genuinely curious.

"That's irrelevant," was the entity's dismissive reply.

Annoyance flashed in Brian's eyes. "You know, if I got sucked into another world, there should be some magical powers, classes and crap like that involved, right?"

"Your valtite remains low," the entity said. "Combat specializations, at this stage of your journey, are trivial."

Before Brian could counter, the room began to disintegrate, the darkness cracked and splintered like glass under pressure. The last echo of the entity's voice lingered as the world crumbled around them.

Brian returned to reality to a persistent tap on his shoulder and Mandrix's booming voice. "Wake up, Brian! It’s time."

Mandrix was uncomfortably close to his face. Brian felt the sand beneath him and sighed in disappointment. "Why are we getting up so soon? How long was I even asleep?"

Mandrix sparkled with enthusiasm. "I'm not sure, but I think it was about five sols."

"Okay, okay," Brian grumbled, stretching his limbs. "Just give me a second." He paused, then asked, "Wait, what does 'sol' mean? That’s Spanish for 'sun'."

Mandrix, perplexed. "What? No, it means 54 Minutiae."

Brian stared at Mandrix, trying to process the unfamiliar units of time. “Well, I guess I'm ready for some 'sol' searching.” Still groggy, Brian pushed his body off the ground and stretched his arms.

After sitting up, he noticed two individuals behind Mandrix. One was a dark-skinned, blonde woman sporting a short, green cloak and a bow on her back, much akin to Serdna’s lyre in its futuristic, white appearance.

The second was a young man garbed in a long blue robe adorned with subtle gold patterns and a wide collar. The fabric of his attire seemed to integrate advanced technology, featuring a flat, metallic circular container filled with an unknown liquid at its center and over his chest.

Mandrix noticed Brian staring at the two individuals. “Oh yeah, this is my very good friend Lana. And that guy is – Who the fuck is that guy again? It doesn’t matter, they literally just arrived.”

[Aestari (Flicker) - lvl ???]

Brian offered a tentative smile and stood up.

Lana extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Lana! And this is Ilex,” she said, cheerfully.

“Hi,” Ilex said.

[Aestari (Flicker) - lvl ???]

Brian felt his valtite tick down slightly. Having identified Lana and Ilex, Brian noted that just like Mandrix, both of them were aestari and classified as 'flicker', though he wasn't sure what that meant.

“We just met at Fort Luminar and decided to travel to Reptiscale Caverns together.” Lana continued, “I haven’t seen you before?"

"Hi, I'm Brian," he said, extending a hand. "It's nice to meet you. Yeah, I’m just… on vacation." He wasn’t sure if it was ok to tell everyone that he was from another world and all that.

Lana burst out laughing, her orbs twinkled with amusement. "Vacation, huh? Well, you've certainly picked an interesting spot for a getaway!”

Brian Shrugged.

Mandrix stepped in. “So the directorate assigned you to this mission too?”

“Yeah, I was posted at Fort Luminar when I received the message.”

“AGAIN?!?!?” Mandrix suddenly snapped. "Lana, what are you doing working at Fort Luminar again? I saw you there last tetrad."

Lana laughed. "Actually, I volunteered for the shift."

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Mandrix's cheeks contorted. "Why on Valteria would you volunteer for a shift at Fort Luminar? That is like the worst possible gig you could ask."

"Well, I enjoy helping people. Besides," she added with a playful smirk, "if I volunteer for these shifts, grouchy decimators like you won’t get the ‘worst possible gig.’"

Mandrix's expressions softened, and he managed a sheepish grin. "Thanks, Lana. You are really the best thing in this shithole."

Lana winked at him before turning her attention to Brian. "You see this big guy, he might be a hardhead, but deep down, he's a real softy."

Brian chuckled, and Mandrix, unable to help himself, joined in the laughter.

“By the way, what is a tetrad?”

Without even looking at Brian, Mandrix frowned, “huh… You know a tetrad is a tetrad like ah, seven lumens…”

Brian furrowed his brow, still clueless, but decided to let the matter rest for now.

"So what’s the situation here? Did you find any resources; cores or fragments?” Suddenly, Lana’s expression shifted as if she had just realized something. “Weren’t you with Serdna? I also saw Xezia heading towards Reptiscale Caverns."

The two men recounted their experiences and what they had learned. As they spoke, Lana's tone grew serious. "I'll join you in this fight," she declared. "Oh, and the bull's group should also be coming soon. Thinking about it, the directorate sure has mobilized a lot of decimators to Reptiscale Caverns."

Mandrix frowned at the mention of the bull's group. "Figures," he grumbled. “Yeah, the grivaxians are up to something alright.”

“So Ilex, was it?” Mandrix engaged with the young man. “Did you just graduate the academy?"

"Yes."

“And they just assigned you to the war? Those assholes,” Mandrix said.

War! Brian’s mind screamed at him. I was transported into the middle of a war? This universe’s god or whoever that shadow in my dream was is fucking sadistic prick. I am only level 5, he said not to worry about anything yet.

“Yeah,” Ilex replied.

Mandrix quirked his lips, the frustration simmering under the surface was obvious. "Just 'yes'? You don't talk much, do you?"

“Mm-humm”

Brian, sensing Mandrix's annoyance, interjected with a warm smile. "Let me try. Hey Ilex, it looks like we're going back in there, would you like to join our party? The crocodiles, I mean grivaxians seem to want to take over everything. So what do you say?"

The young aestari's eyebrows shot up. "Count me in."

"Well, that was easy," Mandrix sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Anyway, Brian here isn't Aestari. A core got destroyed, and he got transported to Valteria."

Ilex, ever stoic. "Oh."

Lana's stare widened. "Wow, really? That's incredible! Wait, who breaks a Valtite core?"

Mandrix smirked at Lana's reaction. "Exactly, right? Anyway, can I trust you guys to keep it a secret? The government would probably extract and study Brian’s organs before killing him if they found out."

"Ok," Ilex said nonchalantly.

Lana smiled warmly. "Of course you can trust us."

Mandrix glanced at Ilex, mumbling to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't have trusted this guy with this."

“How is your world, is it colorful? What about the vegetation and are there different creatures?” Lana’s excitement was overflowing.

"I guess, for you it would be magical, just how this place is for me. It’s very different, there is definitely more excitement here. But I’ve come to accept my new reality. I just want to understand this world, maybe even learn some... magic?" he ventured, almost shyly.

Mandrix scoffed, shaking his head. "It's not magic." He scanned Brian with his spectrasight. "Your Valtite energy has increased, though. That's something."

“Thanks,” Lana giggled at their exchange.

Mandrix might laugh, but deep down, Brian had already decided he would start casting magic spells soon. However, he first needed to acquire more experience points, or actually, more valtite reserves.

***

Mandrix summarized their mission: "Gather as much information as possible, and be ready to escape at a moment's notice. Remember, the grivaxians have evolved to turn invisible, so constantly scan your surroundings, our v-scanners can detect them, but it is very easy to miss. However, Brian here also broke and absorbed the Oculus Core, so we will rely on him to detect any camouflaged grivaxians, so protect him at all cost.” Mandrix raised, “If it all goes well, we can take down the alpha, stop this grivaxian expansion and return to Arcasium by the end of the lum."

"So we're relying entirely on my ability to spot invisible enemies?" His stomach churned.

Mandrix tilted his head back and grinned. “Precisely.”

And with that, Brian, Mandrix, Lana, and Ilex set off for the Reptiscale Caverns. It took them a good hour to get there. Brian's initial calculation about Mandrix's speed - at least five times faster than a normal human - didn't seem far off.

Brian found himself grateful once again for the cloak Mandrix had given him. It regulated his body temperature perfectly, providing the same comfort one might find in a temperature-controlled movie theater. Brian had always despised excessive heat more than cold, and so far, Valteria leaned towards the chillier side. However, despite the cold environment, he didn't feel as uncomfortable as he should have been. The only explanation he could think of was that his enhanced stats also helped regulate his body temperature more effectively.

On his way back – not having to run for his life, or more accurately, not being carried by Mandrix while he ran faster than a motorcycle – Brian found he could fully immerse himself in the surreal beauty of the night sky above.

The vast lilac desert ended abruptly at the foot of Reptiscale Caverns, a rugged, rocky landscape peppered with tunnels. The passageways varied in size and direction, some burrowing deep underground while others climbed into the mountain's heart.

They paused, breathless at the transformation. It’s only been a few hours, or sols as they call them. Reptiscale Caverns had grown, what was once an outcropping now a looming mountain. The cavernous openings had multiplied, the mountain now seeming to bare teeth hungry for the unwary who ventured near.

Brian stared at the monstrous colony with a mix of amazement and fear painted on his face. "Wow, is this the same place we were just in?"

Mandrix grimaced, "Seems the grivaxians are taking their expansion seriously. We might need a few more Decimators for this job."

Ilex nodded, "I messaged my friend; he'll meet us here soon."

"Perfect," Mandrix replied, "I also messaged Serdna, but he's still pretty upset. Doubt he'll come back."

Lana chimed in, "I messaged the Bull."

Mandrix choked on his breath, coughing as he shot Lana a disbelieving look. "Fuck, why would you do that? They're pricks!"

Lana waved a dismissive hand. "See, that's why I didn't tell you. They're our friends, and besides, three Decimators and a civilian won't be able to take out an entire Grivaxian army."

Brian, trying to calm Mandrix, reasoned, "By the look of things, we could use all the help we can get. Don’t we? If all of these Deci… Decimators, we will have the perfect army to do whatever the government told you to do."

"Fine, I can’t argue with that logic. Let's just see what we can learn before reinforcements arrive."