What the heck? I was walking into the kitchen back home one moment and in the next, I'm walking down the right-hand side of a cobblestone street. That's a sudden and unexpected transition and I need to stop walking for a moment to take things in.
The buildings around where I am are all constructed of brick with glass windows showcasing goods to be sold. Right beside me is a bakery with pastries of various kinds sitting on the shelves and a few customers inside.
Most signs have both letters in a language I've never seen before and icons representing what they are. Interestingly, I can actually read the language on the signs. I can even understand what people are saying despite having never learned it. This ability to understand their language doesn't appear to be through some sort of translation magic, though – it's as if it was just another language I learned growing up even though the only one I knew was English.
Whatever being brought me here must have granted me knowledge of the local language. I've read enough stories to know that something summoned me here, and since I just appeared on a street instead of in some sort of summoning ritual, it was probably a deity of some form.
The people walking this street barely give me two glances, almost as if no one noticed my sudden appearance. My outfit shifting to match the more local style probably helps me to not stand out some as well, even if my platinum-blond hair and azure eyes are a contrast to the brown hair and eyes more common around here.
Rather than the pair of black shorts and green sleeveless I was wearing back on Earth, I'm dressed in a pair of black pants, a dark green tunic, dark brown leather boots, and a matching belt that has three pouches and six slots for what are probably vials on it (judging by the belts of a few other people I see).
The local streetlamps are tall metal posts with yellowish crystals floating in their glass shells. No light shines from them right now, though I'm sure the crystal will either begin to glow on their own or get turned on once the sun begins to set.
Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, it's afternoon here rather than evening, so I have a few extra hours in my day now. That's going to be fun, considering today was already a long one and I'm exhausted. I'm going to have to figure out sleeping arrangements and food in this unknown world.
Why couldn't the deity that summoned me here have at least waited until after I'd eaten dinner? They didn't give me an instruction manual, either. Or any directions or advice, for that matter.
I continue walking as I assess the situation, soon reaching the end of this street and the start of a circular plaza. Plenty of people are going about their business in here, coming from or going to shops, passing through, talking with others, or just relaxing. Some garden boxes are set to either side of each of the thirteen benches in the plaza, though no plants are growing in them at the moment.
It's a little chilly out, so I'm going to assume it's only the end of winter and spring growth hasn't begun yet. That's the sort of feel the air has, anyway.
A fountain rests in the center of it, a basin that's twenty-seven feet in diameter and two feet in height, the water inside reaching up to about two inches below the top, even as water continues to pour in from the statue.
The statue is pure white stone, a figure standing 5'9" in height with a slim, well-defined build to it. He's standing with his right hand on his hip, his left hand casually hanging down by his side, and head cocked a little to right with a mischievous smile upon his face. He's ithyphallic – his dick is erect rather than limp – and the uncut carving is rather large. Other than the hair carved onto his head, there's none on his body or crotch region.
If that were an actual person, he would probably be bangable.
Floating around the statue are five orbs of water, with a stream of water flowing out of the top, curving away from the statue, and then cascading down into the basin of the fountain. Each one is about three feet away from the statue, which is at the exact center of the fountain's basin. The statue stands on a three-foot-tall, four-foot-wide pedestal made of the same white stone as both the statue and the basin's wall. Some of the water flows out of holes toward the top of the basin, splashing down onto the plaza ground below and creating a water zone where a trio of boys are currently playing.
My guess is that the statue is a deity of some sort. Perhaps the one who summoned me here?
The floating orbs confirm that there's magic around here, though the man entertaining a group of six children by creating figures of light in one section of the plaza was already proof enough. He's seated on one of the benches, the children gathered on the ground in front of me.
In the stories I've read, there's typically some sort of cheat the main character gets after being summoned to another world. While I'm not sure if I'm a main character or not, I was definitely summoned to another world. Do I have any cheats?
"Hm…" I think about the situation.
Some stories had a System in place. While that's mostly just fantasy, it doesn't hurt to check if I have something like a Status.
The moment I want to view my Status, one startles me by actually appearing in my vision.
Name: Jamie Age: 19 years Species: Human Sex: Male Rank: 0 Total Level: 0 Mana: 10/10 Mana Regen: 0.010/second Strength: 8 Constitution: 9 Agility: 8 Dexterity: 9 Magic: 10 Mind: 10 Vitality: 10 Soul: 10
It appears that fantasy can sometimes be reality. Checking that was purely on a whim, too, as I didn't actually think such a thing would be real. My guess is that my stats are about average, so I don't have any advantage there.
After skimming through the Attributes, I figure out that I can access information on them through the System. They mostly do what I expected, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Strength is one's average muscular strength, while Constitution is one's average physical toughness. Agility is one's speed of reflexes, allow a person to react faster; it also affects the mind a little so they can keep up with any speed they obtain from the mixture of Strength and Agility. Dexterity is one's skill with their hands, probably more useful for craftsmen than combatants.
Magic is the magical power one has, and so it determines the strongest spells one can cast for most spells. Mind is one's resistance to mental magics and affects the strength of mind magics a person can cast. Vitality affects a person's aging at a rate of one year aged for a passed period of time equal to one year for every 10 Vitality. If I'm understanding that correctly, someone with 20 Vitality would only age one year for every two that passed. Soul appears to be the strength of one's soul and affects several things, but the description only specifies the strength of one's soul magics and resistance to them.
Since there's a Class System, I'm curious how that works. The stories I read gave different variations of them. One possibility is that my 'cheat' is just having the System itself, while another would be the potential for a great Class or some sort of absurd Skill.
I can't just ask people about this, though, as I don't know how common summoned people are or if the System is just me or something everyone has. That's something I'll need to find out, and subtly.
Instead of talking to others, I walk over to the fountain and take a seat. There are a few other people sitting on the fountain wall, so I'm sure it's not an issue for me to do so.
My next step is exploring the System's various menus that I can locate. There's one for Classes, one for Titles, one for Quests, one for spells, and one for Skills.
That last one has two categories in it: [Languages] and [Ultimate]. The former has two Skills, English at Level 6 and Tielmarn at Level 10. My guess is the latter is the local language and the reason I can understand the people and signs here. That also confirms that I was given stuff by whatever deity summoned me to this world.
There's a single Skill in [Ultimate], and it's definitely an interesting one, and that's not just because it has no Level to it despite my other Skills having some.
Unlimited Potential The potential to become or obtain anything you desire is within your grasp, so long as you try for it or are in need of it, regardless of how impossible it is or difficult it would ordinarily be.
The implication there is that normal limitations don't apply to me and that I can learn things even faster than normal if I actually want to learn them. Just how quickly, I'm not sure, but I sort of want to test it out.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Looks like he finally decided to approach me now that most people are gone from the plaza.
I watch as someone who stands out even more than my platinum-blond hair walks toward me. I noticed him following me while I was still walking down the street but wasn't too certain that he was actually following me until he tried to subtly watch me in the plaza while looking like he was sharpening his sword.
The guy who's walking toward me is about my age, and has jet-black hair, orange eyes, and a slim build with well-defined muscles. He's wearing a pair of black pants and black leather boots with dark red laces, along with a black leather belt with a few pouches and vials fixed onto it. On his right hip is a knife and on his left hip is the sword he was taking care of for the last little while.
Both weapons have black hilts, a reddish-orange crystal set into the pommel and either side of the crosspiece of the sword. Their scabbards are black leather with dark grey metal caps.
Him being bare-chested is part of what makes him stand out, but not because everyone else is wearing a tunic and pants or a dress. It's because he has some scales. A one-inch strip of scales runs from either side of his face starting on his jaw, going down his neck, then onto his shoulders before stopping on his upper arms. A two-inch strip of scales starts just a little below his pits and travels down his sides, disappearing under his pants.
In addition to the scales, he also has a scaled tail that tapers down to a rounded point. I'd estimate the tail to be around five feet in length, and I think it's three inches at the base, which is just-above his crack and has its own hole in his pants, a buttoned flap above that keeping the pants together. That kind of implies there's a slit in the pants to let the tail down to the hole, rather than him having to carefully push his tail through it.
I saw the back of his pants when he was sitting down, it's not exactly visible right now since he's approaching me.
Overall, this guy is actually rather hot. Just as bangable as whatever god that statue was modeled after. The scales are a little off-putting, but the rest of him is nice.
"Hello, newbie," he greets me when he reaches me.
"Newbie?" I ask.
"Someone from another world," he clarifies. "Some god finds it amusing to pull people from other worlds and just plop them here without any explanation. He does it about once every month or so and has for nearly three thousand years now. I saw you arrive, and while it could have just been teleportation, your Mana is far too low to be able to ignore their wards or travel very far that way and your confusion made it evident you were uncertain about things. So. Newbie."
"I see," I say. "Would it be rude to ask you what you are, since you're clearly not human?"
"Not at all," he answers. "I'm a demihuman dragon. That is, I have draconic ancestry. You won't find my people around here, we don't leave our area much. A lot of other species of people find ours… unnerving."
It's probably the dragon in them making his people seem that way, though he comes off as rather friendly.
"You seem nice enough," I tell him. "The name's Jamie."
"Adam," he dips his head to me.
"Pleasure to meet you, Adam," I say. "Do you know if there's a way I can get some food? I was kind of getting ready to eat at home when I found myself here. Anything that can quickly cover the food expense would be nice, too, if you know one. Sorry to plop that on you right after meeting you, but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask."
"It doesn't," he smiles. "There are plenty of places to get food around here, be they stalls for buying groceries or restaurants to pay someone else to make it for you. Come, I'll pay for your dinner."
"You don't need to do that," I tell him.
"You're right," he says. "But I'd like to. It's not every day I get to meet an other-worlder. This way."
Something tells me he's planning on asking me questions about my world.
"Alright," I stand. "Where to?"
Adam leads me to a restaurant that just a little around the corner from the plaza with the fountain. The building is dimly-lit, filled with people of varying ages and warm from all of the people packed into it. Unlike the streets, the restaurant is illuminated with fire-based lanterns rather than crystal-based ones, and that probably adds to the heat in here as well.
"I heard that this is one of the best places to eat when you're on a budget," Adam tells me as someone approaches us.
The person approaching is tall, slender, and has pointy ears, her eyes green rather than brown. I'm not surprised there are elves here, though she's the first one I've seen. Everyone else so far has been a human by appearance. Well, except Adam.
"Just us two," Adam tells her.
"Okay," she says. "This way."
The elf leads us to what seems to be the only empty table in the restaurant and walks away. One she does, a human woman approaches us to take our order, the choices being either a stew or pulled pork. Adam and I both order the first one, with Adam ordering a strong ale for himself and a light ale for me.
"Ever had alcohol before?" Adam asks.
"No," I answer.
"Okay," he nods. "So something to know – you can't get drunk off of meal ale, and it's what most drink when eating. Water isn't safe in many places, especially in places inhabited by people. So you'll have to get used to the taste."
"Alright," I say. "So how much of you is dragon and how much of you is human?"
"Asking physically or personality-wise?" Adam asks.
"Both."
"Well, my starting Attributes are about the same as anyone else," he says. "But I do have the scales and tail, as you can see. I can also see heat, and when I'm older, I'll develop the ability to straight-up see magic rather than needing to sense it. My senses are superior to those of any other species of person.
"When it comes to personality," he says. "We're a bit of a mix of the two as well. I like raw meat – but not person meat, that smells awful to me – but can handle cooked, and while I like cow, deer, or sheep, my main taste is for predators like snakes, birds of prey, and wolves. I like shiny things and that tends to make me less willing to part with money, and I have a rather nasty temper if provoked. But I'm generally pretty chill unless someone is being an ass or intending to provoke me or some such thing."
"I see," I say.
"My turn," he says. "What kind of world are you from? You seemed rather surprised to see magic even though most worlds that are pulled from have it. Of those that don't, the majority have tainted water and need to drink something safe, like alcohol. Summoned aren't too uncommon even if they're not extremely common, so a lot's known about the other worlds."
"Hm…" I say. "Well, clean water is supposedly a thing in most civilized countries, though part of that kind of depends on the local government and such, and you have to pay to actually get it. Our streets – at least where I live – have fewer people and more vehicles. Ours don't need beasts to pull them."
"Magic carriages?"
"Not really magic," I tell him. "But I don't know the full process, myself. It's not something I was ever taught and requires specialists to make."
"Specialists can be everything," he nods.
"Do you know how I can go back?"
"Do you want to go back?" Adam asks.
Thinking about it, I realize that… I really don't want to go back. I know how things are going back on Earth and what things are like there. Unless something strong happens to change the course of my life, I'd have the same terrible life there as I've always had. Here in this world of magic, with a Skill like [Unlimited Potential], endless new possibilities are before me.
"No," I admit.
"Good," he says. "Because there aren't any records of the god who summoned people here sending anyone back. None have ever left – but none have ever really wanted to go back."
Adam and I continue to talk about our worlds, and it sounds like Earth is one he hasn't heard any stories of before. Some of the other people eating here also add in a bit of advice and tips about this world for me as well.
Eventually, we finish eating and leave the restaurant, Adam having offered to rent a room for me tonight since it's a bit late for me to get started on earning money. It's a small little inn not far from the restaurant, and he pays for both rooms with four copper coins, each one stamped with a ten in Tielmarn.
"Here," Adam hands me one of the keys we were given as we walk toward the stairs leading up to the actual lodgings. "Before we go to bed, I want to offer you something."
"Oh?"
"You're pretty new here," he says. "So you'll no doubt be approached by someone on your own regardless. Summoned people are famous for having some sort of absurd Skill or set of Skills immediately upon arrival. They're also famous for not giving two shits about others' political goals, which is why you weren't approached by someone from the local government already."
"Approach me to offer me some help with getting adjusted to this world?" I ask.
"Yeah," he nods. "If it's like what I heard is typical when a Summoned appears, it's usually a small bit of money and training in exchange for them helping out with monsters in the area. Trying to take advantage of a Summoned never goes well, so any politician with a brain avoids trying to make them a tool of some sort."
"Got any examples of how badly it goes?"
"On my journey here," he grins. "I heard that an idiot noble tries to turn a new Summoned into a tool and weapon to bolster his own power about six months ago. Turns out, he wasn't aware that Summoned have an innate immunity to any form of enslavement magic. Now, imagine how someone with some absurd abilities gifted to them by the gods would react after someone tried to turn them into a slave."
While the god who summons us isn't kind enough to ask us if we want to come here or to give us any directions or advice, he is at least nice enough to give us knowledge of the local language and an immunity to being magically-bound into the service of another.
"I feel no pity for the idiot noble," I say.
"Few did," he say.
"So what's the offer you have?" I ask.
"Let me give you some training in the morning," he tells me. "The basics for combat. I'm rather good with a sword, a knife, and martial arts. There's a Dungeon a little outside of town that you can farm for some Experience and loot. No obligation or repayment needed."
"What do you get out of it, then?" I ask as we reach the rooms we're renting tonight. "I mean, I know that there are people who genuinely want to help, but you don't seem that kind of guy."
"I'm not," he admits. "But my grandpa always said that the gods bless those with good luck who truly help the Summoned. Luck is something I could use, and you're a Summoned."
"You're hoping a little bit of luck comes your way for helping me," I say.
"Yeah," he shrugs. "I don't know if I'll get any, but I'd like to help if I can."
"I'm not sure about learning to fight with a weapon," I tell him. "But I'll give it a try. Meet you downstairs in the morning?"
"Yeah," he nods. "Let me know what you think then."
"Will do," I tell him. "Good night, Adam."
"Good night, Jamie."