Chapter 3: Welcome to Krayer!

  We were all sitting in the back of a van, the surroundings zooming past us. We were heading towards the sight of the incident, and breaking probably all the traffic laws on the way. There are currently four people in the van: Alice, Jack, our driver, and me.

  “Okay Jae, you are just watching, under no circumstance are you leaving this car. Alright?” Alice demanded. She had allowed me to come, under the condition that I don’t interfere.

  “I know, I promise.” Alice was in the passenger seat, behind her was me, and next to me was the man who insulted me in the hallway, whose name I now know as Jack. Alice and Jack are partners, and they deal with these kind of situations, together.

  The tension in the air was thick, not only did Jack not want me here, I didn’t appreciate his presence either. Alice looked back and saw my uncomfortableness.

  “What’s wrong, scared now? Or what.” “No, there’s just an annoying smell in this car, it smells like an ass.” I responded.

  “Ayayay, Jack isn’t that bad of a guy, he just looks scary.” Jack said nothing, and continued to stare out the window.

  “He tries to act like the cool, dark, brooding type of characters, but he’s really nice. Who do you think carried you to the magic forces while you were knocked out.” I looked at Jack next to me.

  “Gross.” I whispered.

“Not as gross as the piss in your pants.” Jack coughed.

  Boom! We were 15Km away, when we heard it. Boom! As we drove closer to the trouble, noises matching even the volume of explosions rang throughout the skies. It is the screeching, screaming, and panic. This is exactly like before, I'm getting some Post Traumatic Stress Disorder shit. It was hard to drive in the debris, it was dusty and there were things blocking the road  everywhere. Our progress went from slow to a stop, as Alice and Jack unbuckled their seat belts. Swiftly, the pair got out of the car and began to leave. Before Alice left, she screamed.

  “Hey Bob keep care of Jae, don’t let him out of the car.”

  “Yessir!” Just like that Jack and Alice were gone in an instant.

  “Shouldn’t we follow them?” I asked.

  “No. We are on standby. We don’t move unless absolutely necessary.” Bob, our driver, opened all the windows, and started scouting all directions through the debris.

  “What are you doing?”

  “In the magic forces we all have roles, people like Jack and Alice, they’re frontliners, being the most efficient with magic and having combat oriented magic, their job is to dive into the chaos looking for the trouble makers, and putting them to arrest. Sure, I can fight too, but because we don't know what we are dealing with, I can’t just go in. Jack and Alice are strong, in situations like these the strongest have to go in first, as they can handle most of threats. I'm just here as backup. My job is to find stranglers and fight them, we have this entire city surrounded, and the evil mages running away have to go through us.”

  “Wow that’s pretty amazing.”

  “Hehehe not really the ones running away are usually the people already injured or the weaklings.”

  “Dude have you ever heard of lying to make yourself sound cool, you should try it.”

  Hmm Alice, and I guess Jack, must be pretty amazing to be trusted enough to frontline. That guy I fought back then must have been really strong.

  “Hey do you know anything about the last incident that happened?”

  “What? Oh yeah the level 1 emergency protocol”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Level 1 means that a baby could of handled that situation.” A baby, a freaking baby. Fuck this shit.

  “Why did you let him come along Alice” Jack exclaimed while running through the debris.

  “Hahaha die!” A random enemy appeared from the left. Jack grabbed him by the collar and threw him far, further into the streets.

  “I want him to understand why he has to go to Krayer.” Alice used her plant creation magic to make a giant rosebud bloom, projecting thorns hardened like steel, onto several enemies flanking.

  “Why don't you just force him to go.” Jack’s shadow rose from the ground, and struck down the rest of the visible enemies.

  “I don't want him to begrudgingly agree to go. Plus… well nevermind.” More thugs rallied from the corner. The petals that layered the giant rose welted off, than hardened creating 15 petal like blades. The petal knives teared through the remaining bad guys.

  “I think the truth is, you're the one that doesn't want Jae to go. You see a mini, more feminine version of Diana in Jae. Don't you?”  

  “He has to go… Why do you care so much about what Jae does? You are the type of person that would shrug off his pet dying.” Alice retorted defensively. Jack stopped and subsequently made Alice stop too.

  “Don't say that.” Jack was serious.

  “I'll do anything for the ones I care about.”

  “What does Jae have anything to do with you?”

  “I don't care about that asshole, I care about what he means to you.” Alice was stunned.

  “Back when I first became your partner, you were angry about Diana leaving, but I could tell you still cared for her. If you had the same amount of respect towards his mom, as I do for you now, then even though when I look at Jae and see a little bitch, I believe in him too. I know you believe that Diana and Jae are the same, if that's the case, then he will be a great wizard. I don't see it, but if you're saying it, then it must be true.” Alice was touched, so much so she couldn't resist to hug Jack right there and now.

  “Ahhh, I love you too, marry me Jack!”

  “Get off of me!” Jack demanded while blushing.

  “Mind if I join?!” A guy wearing blue jeans and a red tank top, stood before the two. Jack and Alice sent a flurry of attacks, but the tank top man dodged effortlessly.

  “bwahaha. My name is Billy, I'll defeat you right here and now” Jack moved first. He leaped towards Billy, his right fist reeled back. As Jack got close enough to punch, he feinted and back round kicked instead. Billy blocked the kick and countered.

  “Hmm, I guess you're supposed to be stronger than these guys.” Jack said, pointing at the people that Alice and himself, had already taken care of.

  “Alice this might take a tad bit more effort.” “Let's go!”

  Back at the car Jae and Bob were waiting with vigilance… well they are supposed too. “I know we’re supposed to stay on guard and all, but I came because of Alice.”

  “What of it?” Bob asked.

  “You promised Alice that you would stay in the car, and I promised my boss, to stay on guard. So neither you or this car is moving from this spot.” I understood that, but it didn't mean I couldn't complain. Nothing was happening, there were less explosions, all the civilians were gone, even the debris was clearing. They work fast I see.

  “How often do these bad guys cross our path.” I asked boredly.

  “These kind of thugs are always running away, with the border we created they won't escape.”  

  “So you must fight a lot.”

  “Hehehe, not really. For some reason, the goons don't run down my path very often.”

  “Wrong again man, this is where you're supposed to make up some awesome story to impress the newbie, and expunge my boredom.” Who am I kidding a name like Bob, of course he's boring. Damn, I really would like to see Alice in action, I bet she is amazing out there. At first when we got here, Bob was scouting frantically looking for trouble, but now he is laying back, eating a donut. I wonder if he had another one. My favorite, custard filled. Mid donut bite, Bob looked up from eating. He put down the donut, my eyes seemed to follow it.

  “Someone's coming.” Bob said.

  “Get out of the car!” He reach back, and grabbed my wrist, opened his door, and flung me out from the back seat along with jumping out himself. He did this in a manner of 2 seconds, and I think he re broke my arm. A fireball 3 meters in diameter obliterated the car we were in and everything in it.

  “Nooo, the donut!!” I cried. What the hell just happened.

  “Damn, you wizard runts are all in my way. You surrounded the city, and the only way through seems to be by force.” It was female voice from the direction of the fireball. A woman was walking towards us. Bob stood up and went into a fighting stance.

  “Stand back Jae, this is my fight.”

  The woman recited some incantations. A magic circle opened up, this time three smaller fireballs shot out at Bob. Bob jumps, tucks, and rolls out of the projectiles, landing on his feet. He, then retaliates by leaping out at her. He reveals a sword that seemingly came from nowhere, and wallops onto the woman with intent to kill. She sidesteps to the right, and kicked Bob hard on his chest. Wasting no time the woman shoots a rally of fireballs at Bob's location, several dozens at a time. I have to help I thought. I looked for something to hit the woman with. An old grandfather clock shop was to my left. I turned and ran into the shop trying to find something useful. Bob parried most of the fireballs with his sword, but one hit his left shoulder, catalysing more fire to hit him. I came back holding a box knife, to Bob being pelted with fireballs. I ran full speed at the flaming woman, but the ground started shaking under me. Because I was running, I lost my balance and fell over. The flame girl, stopped her assault and was wobbling all over the place.

  “An earthquake? Now?” The woman cried. The ground stopped, and it was Bob to move first. While the woman was distracted, Bob ran over to her and swung. She ducked, but Bob called forth the earth, and everything started shaking again. Because fire lady had ducked, the shaking ground made her footing slip. Bob took advantage, and sent a boot to her gut, but that wasn't all. He went in with a flurry of melee attacks, punching and kicking her. The woman took a good amount of hits, before she could finally break his combo and jump out high into the air. Bob wasn't done, as the woman was about to reach the ground, to close the gap he buried his sword in the asphalt, and it started shaking again. This time, the street’s split into two. 1 of the sheets shot upwards 1 meter high, enough to hit the lady. This, not only smacked her, but stopped her motion, and she fell straight onto the floor. The aftermath left a giant crevice, with different leveling grounds

  “What the hell was that?” I asked bewildered.

  “Vibration magic” Bob answered. “In this case, I created vibrations mimicking an earthquake, and I changed the pattern and intensity to smack that bitch. Thanks for your help, by the way. But you shouldn't intervene, you could get hurt.” Help? Yeah right. All I did was create a liability for Bob. I felt embarrassed now. What the hell was I going to do with a box knife.

  Bob slung his sword over his shoulder, signaling that he was content with his work. However, the fire lady was getting back up, on her feet.

  “Hey, hey. She's getting back up. Casually, Bob summoned a cylindrical device, and tossed it towards her. As it bounced off her head, the device exploded in noise. The sound was deafening, but Bob snapped his fingers, and a magic circle formed under her. The sound stopped, but not for the woman. She had her hands cupping her ears, and she was screaming, although she made no noise. After about 20 seconds she passed out.

  “I threw a sound grenade, and made it so the vibrations only bounced back onto the area around her. This multiplies the effect of the grenade.” Bob explained.

  The woman was out cold, but I still asked.

  “Shouldn't we restrain her or something.”

  “Nah she won't wake up for a while now, the rest will handle her.” Bob wasn't even sweating, dealing with that woman was nothing for him.

  “Hey there's a Mc. Donalds down a few blocks over there. Wanna go snag some burgers?” This guy. We are in a crisis, and he wants burgers. I love this guy.

  “Hell yeah.” I answered.

  We continued down the street.

  “So do we gotta, like, walk back now?” Bob opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. Alice and Jack were walking towards us.

  “Oh, shit. I'm in trouble, I let you out of the car.” Bob whispered.

  “It isn't like we could have done anything, the car blew up.”

  “No, Alice is the scariest person in the world when it comes to disobeying her, I was gonna have us wait by the broken car, and apologized profusely, but now that I'm taking you to Mc. Donalds, she's gonna kill me.”

  “Oh come on she's not mean...” Before I could even finished my sentence, a fist hammered its way over Bob's head. I turned my head slowly, it was Alice, who was just standing 200 meters away from us a second ago.

  “What did I say about leaving the car?” Alice asked maliciously.

  “We were just gonna get Mc. Donalds.” I answered. Bob, who is on the floor now, looked at me desperately.

  “Bob...” Alice hummed. “Why, in this very dangerous situation, are you going out to get fast food?”

  “You don't understand…” Alice may have asked a question, but she didn't want an answer. She was now pummeling Bob on the ground. Jack finally caught up. “Come on Alice, I think that’s enough.” He said. Jack looked at me and continued.

  “I think we should punish Jae too. I'll start.”

  “Don't hurt poor Jae, he was a victim of Bob’s peer pressure.” Alice responded, pausing Bobs beating. What the hell is wrong with these people. I thought.

  “Th-th-the car, it's gone...” Bob fainted.

  "No excuses!” Alice raised her hands again.

  “No no it's true, we were in the car, but some lady came over and fought us. If anything Bob saved me.”

  “Is this true?” No answer from the seemingly dead Bob.

  “So what exactly happened?” asked Jack.

  “Some lady attacked us, and Bob kicked her ass.” Alice propped Bob on her back and said.

  “Well, let's go, we need to find backup or something, we got a man down.”

  “Wait, you're the one who beat Bob...”

  “So unfortunate to have one of our allies fall in battle. I won’t let them get away with this.” Wow, I have literally nothing to say to that.

  “Why are you guys back already?” I asked.

  “We’ve finished everything we needed to do.” Alice answered. It had only been 25 minutes since we've been here. Its unbelievable that there already done.

  We started walking around aimlessly, hoping to run into some of the other magic forces. Alice told me about what happened with the mission. Apparently, they were all weak and the two of them kicked all there asses.

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  “Hey Alice” Jack started to say.

  “I know I sense it too, just wait.” Alice whispered into Jack's ear. What's going on with those two, I wondered.

  Oh, I'm on my ass. Wait, why am I on my ass? What just happened? Alice had pushed me over, and now she was crouching on the road, Bob still on her back. Jack was standing still, just a few meters by her. I looked to my left and saw a man standing with an impractically large mallet.

  “Jae stand back.” Alice said. Jack stepped forward ready to fight, but Alice blocked Jack with her arm.

  “Take care of Bob, i’ll handle this.” Jack was confused, for Alice wasn’t the type to go into things head first. He looked at Jae and felt like he understood.

  Alice, with lightning speed, rushed towards the goon. He raised his hammer above his head, and swung down onto the hasty woman. She easily sidesteps, but the hammer hitting the ground created a shockwave. To a normal person, the shockwave would have swept them off their feet, but Alice was unmoved. She closes the gap between the criminal, and shoryukened him, right in the jaw. The man was launched several feet away, and landed on his back,  his hammer following. Steadily the man tried to get back up, but Alice landed the final blow, knocking him out.

  I was sitting back, impressed by Alice's strength, but not surprised, I knew she was strong. “Jae, can't you see now. You need magic to become stronger.” Damnit.

  “I know already. I told you. Didn't I? I said i'll go.” I said discontentedly. Alice just stared disappointed. She walked towards Jack, to reclaim Bob.

  “Oh, I see. That kid right there can't fight for himself.” The man said. He was back on his feet. How did he recover so quickly? All it took was a blink, and the next thing I know, his giant hammer was making its way towards me, at monumental speeds. Before I could even scream Alice was in front of me. No. I thought. In moments of intense, physical situations, it always moves too fast for me to react. Whenever the case, when my reaction time seems to be in question, time always seems to be moving faster. If I was more like Alice, I could have dodged myself. But no. She took the full force of the hammer on the side of her head.

  “Alice!” I cried. The impact of the hammer had Alice on her knees. She was tipping over, but I slid over, to catch her. We were face to face.

  “Hey Alice. Ar...ar...are you okay?” I stammered. She gently caressed my face.

  “You have her eyes.” Alice addressing my right eye, her own closing. Everything hit me like a tidal wave. I understand now, I've been being selfish. This whole time I didn't want to go to Krayer because I wanted to stay with Alice. I thought she wanted me to go because so far that's what everyone in my life has wanted. But now, I think she might have wanted me to stay here even more than I had. In situations like these, when everything feels like it’s your own fault, time seems to move slower. Agonizing guilt clouded my heart, all the while I was bringing my head up towards the man. I met his gaze, and all that guilt transformed into anger. The hammer disappeared from next to us, to being in his hands.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh” I screamed. I got up, and sprinted straight at him. He swiped his hammer at me, but I ducked the swing by falling onto my knees and sliding towards him. When I reached his legs, I maneuvered behind him, and clasped my arms around his abdomen. I pulled upwards, and suplexed him onto the ground, head first. A move like this would never be this successful, if it weren't for my opponent completely underestimating me.

  Our ending position was my back bending in a bridge position and hammer man over me, his head on the ground. Something about outsmarting bad guys, always seems to piss them off.

  “Damn, you little bastard.” He cocked his leg forward, and kicked backwards hitting my shin with his heel. I lost my hold against him and fell flat. My back hit the concrete with a thud, and the man fell on me right after. He rolled off of me, got up, and stomped on my chest.

  “Damn, stupid little kid. I’ll kill you.”

  “Is that a threat? You should know, the last thing in this world i’m afraid about is dying. I already tried it like 12 times.”  I gritted through my teeth. The man looked at me in utter confusion. I took my chance and punched him in the nuts.

  Jack was in the background, and saw all of what happened. He observed quiety by Alice, and had Bob on his back. His face was sour after witnessing Jae’s dirty tricks.

  “Why are you doing this?” Jack asked. The fight was continuing, the wrongdoer had already recouped his family jewels, and was wailing on Jae, however Jae was biting down on his calves.

  “Was my acting really that bad?” Alice got up from the floor and sat down beside Jack.

  “If you really would have gone down by just that, I would have questioned everything about you. You aren’t so weak and pathetic, to be brought down by a little hammer.”

  “Awww, you think so highly of me.” Alice smiled. She continued “Don’t you think Jae can look pretty cool.” Jack turned his head to her in disbelief. Just then, they could hear Jae shouting. Jae was screaming curses while trying to stand up. The thug punched Jae onto the ground, and teased him.

  “Someone as weak as you, will never be able to defeat me, you pathetic lump of trash.” He kicked Jae so hard, that he rolled 3 meters away.

  Jae punched the ground, he tried to get up but couldn’t find the strength too and fell down. “ No not yet!” I can’t stop now. Jae thought to himself.

  “Hahaha, that determination will get you nowhere, it means nothing to the actual world. The world rules in favor of the strong, not for people like you.”

  “Just fuck off!!” Jae yelled at the top of his lungs. Everyone was taken aback by what Jae screamed.

  “Why you little…”

  “I know I won’t ever be able to defeat you.” Now, everyone was silent, waiting for what Jae had to say next.

  “I know i’m inferior to you. I know i’m weak. Everything that's wrong in my life is because I wasn’t strong enough to overcome them. I know! And… and I know that I have to become stronger. But right now, I know that more than anything, i’m going to fight you! I’m going to fight you until I die, because i’ll do anything to protect the ones I care about!”

  Alice turned her head back at Jack, a big smile was looming over her face.

  “Well I personally still believe that you did this because you like watching little boys get their shit kicked in.” Jack said annoyed. “Keke, you’re such a tsundere Jack.”

  Jae’s beating continued. “Well it would be best to not have Jae die on us now.” Alice got up, as she did, rose petals started wafting throughout the air, coming out of seemingly nowhere.

  On the ground I laid, getting pummeled by the criminal. All the rehabilitating gone to waste, as my body was getting tossed around. Everytime I tried to get back up, systematically I was knocked back down. I thought of Alice. I get it. I don't want to be lonely, and I don't want to be abandoned. I want to have friends, but above that, I don't want to use them. I don't want to rely on others anymore, I want to be somebody that people can rely on. I want to be a hero… a hero who fights for their friends. My mind was fading, I can't think anymore, I'm gonna die.

  “Your little speech means nothing.” The man summoned his hammer, and raised it over his head. Ah shit, I guess I'm really gonna die now. I raised my head to face my end.

  “Come at me bitch.” We were eye to eye, and now we’re eye to sky? Alice came flying, and smacked hammer man across his face.

  “ALICE!”

  “Yoyoyo, Jae. You O.K?” Alice asked.

  “Are you?” She smiled.

  “How cute of you.”

  “huh?”

  “Worrying about me instead of yourself. But don't worry your pretty little head. I’ll handle this.”

  “Damn you, bitch. I’ll kill you!”

  “Kill, kill, kill. Is that all you talk about? Try saying love, and peace, and maybe even have a good day.” The thug looked outraged.

  “I kicked your ass before, i'll do it again.” Jack came to grab me and leaped away.

  “Hey, we have to help her!” I screamed.

  “No we don't, she'll be fine. You haven't even seen her magic yet.” Jack complied.

  “I thought she just had super strength or something. Oh wait, before she created a flower from nowhere. All these rose petals. Is it from her? How can flowers do anything?”

  “Just watch.”

  Rose petals were dancing in the wind. There must be thousands. Alice raised her arms, hands open, palms up. Magic circles formed perpendicular to her hands. She held a sadistic smile reaching ear to ear. An evil aura emanated from her. The goon raised his hammer offensively and charged at Alice, putting all his strength into his next hit. Swish. Hammer man, who was running, ran right past Alice and just fell to the ground.

  “Wait what happened?” I asked confused.

  “Her magic. She can create any kind of plants, but she can also change the physical properties of them. Everyone one of those rose petals are deadly razors in Alice’s command.” Holy shit, her magic is nothing like her personality at all.

  “She’s some sort of sadistic monster.” Jack was silent, but said in fear.

  “I know.” Alice turned towards us. Both Jack and me flinched.

  “So it’s decided then, you’re going to Krayer.” Alice said, still smiling.

  “Yawwwn!!!” I wiped the fatigue from my eyes. It’s 4o'clock in the morning, and i’m up so that I can go to Krayer. I was instructed to be out of the building at 5, it’s time to get up I guess. A quick shower, and some new clothes I was ready to go. Damn my heart is thumping faster than the hooves of herding buffalo. I’m scared, really scared. I've never stepped outside of  Washington in my life, and now i’m going to another world. I wanted to learn more about the magic forces, Alice, my parents, but right now... right now I won’t get anywhere unless I get stronger. This world isn’t going to slow down for me, I need to catch up to it. In a world where you never know what’s gonna happen, all you can do is remain consistent on what you’ll do in its inconsistencies. I guess it's time to find myself.

  I spent 3 additional months trying to recover my body, and learning the language of Jayu, which is the continent i'm going to. I’m gonna miss this place, I may have only been here for 4 months now, but I easily get attached to things. Hell I’ll even miss Jack… and there he is, waiting outside.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I come here every morning to take an outside shit. Why do think i’m here?” He answered.

  “I mean, where’s Alice?”

  “She’s asleep.”

  “I thought she was gonna take me.”

  “Sorry kid, Alice doesn’t wake up before 9:00.” What the hell, i’m leaving and she’s not gonna see me off. “Don’t worry about it.” Jack said uncharacteristically nice. “She probably doesn’t want you to see her cry.” Jack had a shy smile. Woah that’s the first, who would think that the only time I see Jack smile is when he thinks about people crying, or when he see’s me leaving.

  We started by going right. The magic forces had three buildings. The middle one where I was staying, is more or less the housing area/ hospital. We were heading to the right building. The building was a lot smaller than the other 2, as big as 3-4 sheds. It’s where the transport system is, so it doesn’t have to be big.

  Jack and me had synchronized yawns.

  “Why do we have to go so early, is there some sort of time zone thing.” I asked rubbing the tear from my eye.

  “No, the time there should be the same as the time you leave here. The reason why Alice made us go this early is because she hates us both.” Why am I not surprised.

  “Hey maybe she would have an easier time finding a mate, if she didn't act so childishly.” It was a joke, but it seemed to lighten a lot of tension me and Jack had. Making fun of people was about the only think we both had in common.

  “Ha, i'm telling her you said that” we both laughed, but no seriously I can never go back now.

  We’re here. Jack opened the door, and I saw a single room. In it was a giant portal taking about half the space of the big shed. A couple people were lazily walking around, touching buttons, sleeping on the floor. So they all came because of Alice too. The portal looked like some sort of mayan calender, so primal looking.

  “Admittedly, it’s an old version. Newer ones are like the size of a cell phone.” Jack said. If memories recalled, void magic, magic that lets you transport between the worlds, was outlawed because of it’s effects on Earth. Only very few people actually know how to use it, but criminals found ways to use void magic. There are multiple reasons how, but the biggest contributor is, corrupted void users creating void forming artifacts. So these kind of portals were created for the government to use them. The people here aren’t gonna use void magic, rather they’re gonna use their own magic energy to power the machine.

  In order to turn on the portal, the mages in the room drew up some sort of magical circle and started chanting some words.

  “Jesus Christ, no wonder we thought you guys were some evil witches. This is some summoning satan kind of shit.”

  “Yeah, again. Primitive technology.” Within the portal, a giant, gaseous, purple aura formed, spiraling slowly. If that wasn't comforting enough the void spiral was as big as the entire portal machine. The intense void made the entire building shake.

  I started walking away. O.K. who needs magic anyways. Jack turned me around.

  “Jae, before you go in there, do you remember what I told you.” “Oh don't worry, I'm not going anywhere near that gate.”

  “Jae listen, after you go through the portal, you'll be in Jeonsa, one of the countries in Krayer. I have one of my friends waiting at the access point, where all the criminals are dropped off. His name is Ezio, when you land, he’ll find you. Just stay put.”

  “Aghh! Fine I guess i'll go.”

  The pressure while standing next to the portal was nothing like I ever experienced. Just one step, and I'm in another world. Just one small step for man, one giant leap for half breed Earthling-Krayorian. Before I go, I have to do one more thing.

  “Hey Jack.”

  “I know, i'll tell Alice you'll miss her.”

  “Not just that, I want to thank you too. You helped me out a lot.” Jack smiled. He lifted his leg and kicked me through the portal. Before I dissipated, I heard him whisper

  “You're welcome kid.”

  I landed on the ground with a giant thud. It is just as dark now, as it was before. The sun was barely visible from the horizon, so it was still morning. I got to my feet and stood. No one was here, I was out in the middle of nowhere. A grassy Plains, no trees, no people or houses. This is where they drop of the people who conduct magical incidents. It's a bit nice. I was tapped on the shoulder, I turned around and saw a man behind me. The man had purple hair and a fairly handsome face. However, his most prominent feature was his golden eyes, so sharp I could feel them stabbing into me. I scouted the entire area, yet he still sneaked up on me.

  “My name is Ezio, and for now on, i'll be taking care of you. Let's go.”

  Ezio is one of Jack's friends in Krayer. It’s not that I doubt it, but Ezio is a lot younger than Jack, almost my age even. At first glance they seem a lot alike, calm, collected, and a bit cold. However Jack was intimidating, mean, joked around a lot, and a bit insincere at times. Ezio had a very serious vibe to him.

  “How do you know Jack?” I asked trying to break the silence.

  “He is very much like an older brother of mine.”

  “Oh really, how did you guys meet?”

  “When I was a kid, Jack’s mother and father took me in, as their child.” I didn’t really understand the context of his situation, and I felt like it was too early for me to ask. However, how he said he was adopted by Jack’s family, just compels me to think his situation, isn’t too far off mine.

  I thought the second I’d arrive, my life would be instantly more exciting, but it's a bit boring. We walked for what seemed like 2 hours in silence, and we started reaching civilization.

  “Holy shit finally, we reached people.” I wasn't exhausted of walking, I was exhausted because of the heavy atmosphere. Both metaphorically, and maybe literally. Why does it feel like the gravity is slightly more intense here?

  “Did you really walk all the way there, just to pick me up?” I asked in genuine gratitude. This was a long walk for someone you didn't know.

  “No.”

  “Hmm?” Ezio took off his shirt, revealing his ripped body. Oh come on man, don't show off, but that wasn't it. Behind him, next to his shoulder blades was a pair of purple wings. I don't get to say this very often, but his literal wingspan was about 3 meters.

  “Holy shit man. You're an angel?”

  “No. I am a beastman. Of the aviary type.” He said that like I knew what the hell he was talking about.

  “So, you're like half bird, half human?”

  “Wrong. I am 47% Eagle, and 54% Human.” The math didn't add together in my brain…

  “That’s…”

  “I know what I said.” Ezio said, arms crossed, staring condescendingly, standing with more pride than I've ever had in my life. Girls that were walking opposite of us, had swooned, and called out to Ezio’s shirtless body.

  “...” Fuck this shit.

  “Oh sorry, I didn't realize anybody was watching us.” Ezio said while putting his shirt back on. His wings folded in on itself, so his shirt would fit. Sigh… those girls didn’t even realize I was standing next to the hot guy. Where’s my popularity of association.

  “Just a few more blocks, and we’ll reach my apartment.” I was a bit tired for walking 3 hours, plus no food or water.

  “Hey man, couldn’t you have just flied us here faster.”

  “Yeah sure.” Ezio answered.

  “Wait, then why the hell did we just walk all the way here, and if you say some bullshit about jedi training, ima go back to that bazaar and buy some eggs for breakfast.”

  “You just never asked.”

  "…"

  “I wonder what i’m gonna put in my omelette” I said turning back.

  “You’re earth money won’t work for most of these food stalls.”

  “Jokes on you, I have no money in general.” I turned back with my head facing down. I hate life.

  We reached Ezio’s apartment, I came in, and collapsed with hunger.

  “Need… food…” I growed.

  “O.K. i’ll be back.” Ezio said, walking away. I could hear cooking sounds coming from his kitchen. I guess Ezio isn’t that bad of a dude. His apartment blew my expectations of Krayer. Actually, being in Krayer blew my expectations of Krayer. Krayer is very, how you say homely? This whole city was like a combination of 13th century villages, and Victorian England. There are classic brick layered apartments, lined cottages, and even some stone buildings. The buildings weren't made of steel/ wooden frames with concrete, like most houses in America.

  The roads were wide, and made of dirt. Protruding from the ground, were small crystal balls, that layered the side of the roads. Ezio and I, came into the city from the east. We started from grassy plains to farm fields, as we reached the outskirts of the city. I will go exploring tomorrow to see what the rest of the city is like.

  Ezio’s apartment had a small table with a few things on it, a couch, and a fireplace. A very, very boring room. On the ceiling, there was a moderately sized crystal ball stuck onto the roof. I looked around his apartment. A wall separated his living room, and the kitchen. Further up, there is 2 doors. I checked both. Door number one had a small bed, and literally nothing else, but a nightstand and a candle. Along with another crystal ball on the ceiling. Door number two was the bathroom. The bathroom was huge, a lot bigger than any of the other rooms. Aside from the toilet and tub, there was a lot of walking space. The room is like a bath house inside his apartment. Again, these balls were everywhere, what the hell are these things.

  “What are with all these balls?” I asked Ezio, while he was still in the kitchen.

  “Those are jjijdas. This whole world is run by magic, and not everybody knows how to light up a room, create water, or make a fire. Jjijda crystals can take any elemental property. Input some of your own mana, and you can start a bath.” Ezio answered, still cooking. Oh I understand now. The crystal balls on the ceiling are like chandeliers. The ones on the side of the road, are street lamps, and the balls in his bathroom are faucets. I just realized that this world has no running water and electricity. I sat down on the couch. This means no internet or television. What the hell does Ezio do all day?

  A bit later he came out with a plate of scrambled eggs.

  “AHHHHH” I screamed.

  “What’s wrong?” Ezio backed off and got into a combat stance.

  “You cooked your children!"

  “... What the hell are you talking about.” Ezio stood back up normally.

  “Th-th-the eggs.”

  “You said you wanted eggs, didn’t you.”

  “I-I-I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t worry, these aren’t my children. They are only 47% my children.”

  “...” My first night at Ezio’s place, I didn’t eat a thing.