Lightning raced through his muscles and brought him to his knees. Isaac stared up at the statue, and a dark sticky feeling bubbled up inside his skull. The grinding of his molars echoed in his ears, his face twisting into a pained grimace.

“Alright then, I’ll leave it to you. If you need anything I’ll be at the guild.” The words just barely registered to Isaac but he didn’t, couldn’t bring himself to even care. A small weight pressed down on Isaac’s shoulder as the priest tried to comfort him. His eyes were dull from grief as they turned up to look at the priest.

“Let’s have a chat shall we?” He helped Isaac to his feet and led him out of the main room. They moved into one of the side rooms, the Priest’s office, where Isaac was offered a seat. Isaac looked down at the floor in a daze, not noticing as the priest sat in his own chair. A short cough broke through Isaac’s haze and his head rose mechanically. “So then, introductions are in order. My name is Dell. I am the head priest in this small church.”

Isaac nodded slowly. “Ah… Hello… I’m Isaac.” A wavering and near lifeless voice was just barely audible. A small chuckle was suddenly let from the old man and Isaac lifted his head. “What’s funny?” Isaac watched the old man give a dismissive shrug before giving Isaac a sarcastic smile. “Are you just going to give up then?” The sudden condescension at his plight quickly ignited Isaac’s irritation. “And? What do you suggest? I was pulled from my world, had my soul torn to shreds, and now I don’t remember most of my life! Then your goddess tells me I can’t even return?! Why shouldn’t I give up?”

Dell blinked a couple times and tilted his head. “Cause you’re a man?” The tone of the statement sounded more like a question and startled Isaac a bit.

“Wha...?” Dell gave a chuckle and leaned back in his chair.

“Well… You can’t go back, you don’t have most of your memories of your old world. However it means you don’t REALLY have any ties, responsibilities, obligations or bonds that would necessitate your return.”

He shifted and moved over to Isaac, kneeling down a bit so they were eye level. “So why not live for yourself?” The confusion in Isaac’s eyes became murkier as he tried to refute. “What about my family? And my friends?” Dell gave a sympathetic smile and nodded. “I think they would prefer you to make yourself happy. You are alone, in a foreign world, with nothing to rely on and no way back. Nothing is familiar and you are completely alone. You have been given a rare chance however. To start over from nothing and build your life however you want it to be.”

He gave a sad sigh and patted his shoulder once more. “You were brought to this village and the Goddess herself has told me to assist you. If you don’t have a home here, then just carve one out. If you don’t like this plane then move to the next one. Nothing is holding you back.” He stood and turned around, looking out the window. Life slowly filled his voice and gained a small shred of confidence.

“I don’t know how to do that, I haven’t even graduated high school yet.” Isaac stood and started pacing, a heavy hot feeling building in the back of his throat. “Even when I was in school I was only average. I don’t have any talent. I’m skilled at some stuff but that is only because I did it a lot. How am I going to support myself in this new world that I know nothing about?” His voice cracked from fear and his own anxiety as Dell turned to him once more.

“What did you want to do with your life? In your old world?” Isaac looked up and frowned. “I… I hadn’t decided yet. None of the normal jobs seemed good enough.”

Dell chuckled and nodded, for some reason Isaac found his body began to relax and he could take a deep breath and just calm down a bit.

“Well how about this. For the next few months you stick around here. You can take up side jobs cleaning or sweeping and stuff. We’ll have Marcus, he was the man who was here just a while ago, take you under his wing to teach you about how to defend yourself and about your weapon. I’ll let you keep the room you are in now, it is for disciples but you need it more right now.”

The depression was slowly being replaced by a small light in Isaac’s eyes, his bearing taking on a less frightened and more hopeful quality. The axe continued to sit quietly at his hip, he never even noticed that his hand hadn’t stopped touching it since the Goddess had sent her message.

Isaac lifted his head to the old man and nodded slowly. “Alright. All I can do is try… What country are we in? I think I remember a castle as I was falling.” Isaac retreated from the exasperated scowl that adorned Dell’s face.

“This plane is too large to have countries. There are Kingdoms and the owner of the castle wants to turn this valley into one. This village is just known as Regent village, after the man who founded it.” Dell stood and led Isaac to his feet. “I would love to chat with you longer Isaac and I’d hate for you to think I’m chasing you out of my office, but I have some work to do. I suggest you spend the rest of the day getting used to the village.”

It did feel like Isaac was getting thrown out but he hid his discontent as best he could. There were several people in the church now and Isaac suddenly realized what Dell’s work was. With a sigh Isaac nodded and shook his head. “I see, what should I do for food? I haven’t eaten since I fell and I’m pretty hungry.” Dell just grinned and led him outside and pointed at the guild building.

“That building is the guild. It has the only restaurant and it is relatively cheap. Just find Marcus, tell any of the employees and they’ll send him a message. He’ll feed you.” Isaac gave a nervous nod and Dell nodded once more. “Alright young man, go ahead and get something to eat, calm yourself and stop worrying so much.”

“Alright, I’ll come by later than if that is ok?” Isaac looked to Dell with a hint of worry in his voice. Dell just laughed and patted Isaac’s back with a nod. “Of course, anytime you want Isaac. Now I have to get the sermon ready, you go ahead.” Dell watched to make sure Isaac was ok before stepping back into the church. Isaac started to look around, slowing a bit to examine his surroundings.

The buildings were all large and tall with a plethora of signs marking the different goods they sold. Hundreds of people, if not more, were chatting or shopping or just bustling around the main road. Weapons, food, trinkets, artifacts, clothes and an impossible variety of other stores lined the street beckoning to the crowds with bright colors or pretty hawkers. Large cobblestones paved the street and a fine layer of dust rose with each of his steps. Several people stopped to look at him as he passed but just as quickly dismissed his presence. Other than being a little small he cut a pretty average figure.

It was a large village, to the point where Isaac wasn’t sure if it couldn’t be classified as a town. The buildings were simple, if large, wooden storefronts. They didn’t have windows but instead had large shutters that opened up like lids. It was interesting and Isaac stopped at a few to see the strange items. There were bone, metal, wood, and even stone items. The village was small enough that a barter system was the normal currency, but the rare coins made their way into people’s pockets. He never saw anything larger than coppers though.

The guild was composed of three buildings. The buildings were circular and the roofs slanted to one side. The walls were made with large wooden slats, arranged like a barrel with wide metal bands holding them together. He was unsure if there was anything else holding it together but it looked cool nonetheless.

Isaac made his way toward the building with the pen and quill symbol above it. He knew the restaurant was the one with the fork and knife, he could smell the scent of meat cooking as the breezes spread it around. The building with the crossed sword intimidated him and he quickly distanced himself towards the building he thought of as the safest best..

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Isaac made his way to the information branch, quietly searching for the shortest line. There were several receptionists and lines so he quickly picked one near the wall, a weird oily feel was lightly pressing against him. He shivered a little as the feeling of being watched grew stronger but he couldn’t find anyone who was looking at him. His body tensed a bit more as he tried to fight down the paranoia.

“Greetings, how may we be of assistance to you today?” It had taken several minutes for Isaac to reach the front of the line and the receptionist in front of him gave him a small polite smile. His wrecked nerves seemed to relax a little with the professional smile from the woman and he gave a jerky nod.

“I was told to come meet with Marc… I mean the Guildmaster? Dell told me to come.” Her face remained with a pleasant smile as she looked over the scant amount of paperwork on her desk. “Ah! You must be Isaac then. My note here says to come get him and he will meet you in the restaurant. You can wait for him there.” She looked back up at him and quickly waved over one of the messengers.

Thanking the young woman timidly he made his way towards the smell of food, curious about what sort of things they had to eat. He hadn’t thought about it before but it was entirely possible that none of the food would be things he liked. Did they have hamburgers? Spaghetti?

With a slight apprehension, Isaac went and found a seat. The sounds of chatter reached him as he finally started to examine his surroundings. The first thing that came to his mind was ‘cafeteria’ It had a lot of long tables and the front counter had several people taking orders.

“Hey, you! You’re in our spot!” An aggressive voice suddenly split through the pleasant chatter. Not wanting to get involved Isaac turned only to find a group of three glaring at him. Isaac quickly froze for several seconds at the sudden situation. “Are you deaf?! Move you stupid brat!” His body moved automatically to avoid the confrontation and he apologized immediately.

“Sorry, I’ll move.” An arm shot out to grab his as he tried to pass them, a rather sinister smirk on their faces. “Hey~ You look like a beginner. Have you joined the guild yet?” Isaac’s hand inadvertently went to his axe and one of the others sneered.

“What? Are you going to attack us?” Issac’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. “N-no I wasn’t even thinking about it.” He watched their eyes light up as he flinched and quickly denied their claim, his heart sinking further. “Then why were you reaching for your weapon? In fact, maybe you better hand it over to us so you don’t get hurt.”

His hand held tightly onto his axe and he tried to leave. He didn’t get more than a few steps before he was surrounded. Isaac quickly searched for a way out but he had been surrounded by the three. “Hey now! We didn’t say you could leave! Drop your weapon obediently or we’ll take it from you!”

The restaurant was slowly becoming quiet as they watched the three explorers bullying the rather plain looking Isaac. Panic was starting to set in as he looked for an ally among the crowd, only to have them refuse to meet his eyes. “Ha! What are you looking for? Fine since you are resisting we’ll just take it from you!”

Hands on his back kept Isaac from backing up as the guy in front reached for the silver axe. There was a flash of movement. Isaac could feel his arm moving out instinctively, lashing out while he held the axe. A look of shock plastered itself across his face as the slightly bloodied axe sat in his hand.

The bully had a large gash along his arm and Isaac was standing there looking confused. He gulped and started to stutter, trying to apologize and the harsh sound of weapons leaving their sheaths met his ears.

“Hey! How dare you attack the young master!?” Isaac’s eyes were wide with fear as he tried to run. Breath was forced from his lungs as he was tackled to the ground and surrounded once again. Isaac coughed as the weight that pinned him moved and he closed his eyes tight.

“Damned brat! We’ll just kill you and TAKE your axe then!” Ill intent began to radiate from them and Isaac quickly curled up, holding up the axe. “T-take it! Take it!” The men snorted and the young man quickly kicked directly into Isaac’s stomach.

An bitter smell quickly followed the sound of heaving, causing the men to laugh and sneer in derision. “Hmph! This puny commoner can’t even take one kick from me and he wants to protect his treasures? How laughable, let this be a lesson you little shit!”

Once more the axe came to life, dragging Isaac’s arm to slash up the ‘young master’s shin before he could grab the weapon. The young man let out a cry and collapsed, holding his bleeding leg and screaming in rage. Isaac froze again, tensing up once more.

“Murder this little fucker! You stupid little bitch! Just bow your head and grovel when your betters appear!” The other two quickly started to beat him, not even using their weapons. Isaac could feel each blow a dull ache that quickly grew more painful. Several broken ribs and a broken arm later and suddenly a voice shook the restaurant.

“Knock if off you Goddess damned hooligans! I told you if you tried this shit again I would revoke your guild membership! If you killed him I swear to every divine I know of I will have you hanged!” The two men froze and quickly backed off as a wave of bloodlust suddenly covered the four of them.

Pain wracked his body and he coughed, spitting up a little blood. Ice cold fear suddenly washed over him and he curled up tighter, grabbing his axe in a panic. He closed his eyes tighter as he heartbeat drowned out most of the other noises. There was a muffled yelling but the words were unintelligible.

“Hey Isaac! You ok?” The call of his name snapped him out of his stupor and he peeked behind him to find the guildmaster standing over him with a look of pity. “Jeez, those stupid brats… I’ve told them not to come here but they just don’t listen.”

The fear had been replaced once more by pain and curiosity. His breath was wheezy and smelled of blood. His face was mostly untouched but his chest and stomach had taken some damage. He felt the touch of cold glass at his cheek and looked over to find Marcus with a red bottle.

“Here, drink this, it isn’t the highest quality but it’ll have you patched up in no time.” He smirked at Isaac, the previous resignation and irritation seeming to evaporate into nothing before Isaac even had a chance to notice. He looked at the small vial dubiously and looked up at Marcus once more.

Marcus gave a nod and smirked and Isaac sighed a little, downing it in one gulp. “How surprising, I thought for sure you would sip at it.” Isaac could feel the guildmaster’s arm hook under his shoulder and he was easily lifted to his feet.

It was bar none the strangest sensation he had ever felt. He could ‘feel’ the bones and organs healing themselves as his body filled with a new sensation. He couldn’t put words to it but it felt somehow familiar. His face suddenly twisted a bit as an extremely bitter aftertaste suddenly assaulted his tongue, almost making him toss up once more.

“Feeling better? Good let’s go get you cleaned up while we have that chat.” Marcus grinned at him and patted his back as Isaac fought back the nausea and obediently followed him to one of the tables for lunch.