Passing the threshold of his new home’s doorway, Archibald was greeted by both a blast of frigid air and the sight of thin - barely two-meter-wide - cobblestone streets lined with tightly packed houses. The houses were cozy-looking vine-covered buildings that seemed to be made up of the same deep lustrous amber-looking wood as his house. All that varied between the material of the houses were the hues of the wood, ranging from light brown to nearly black.

Looming barely above the tallest two-story houses, a light gray fog hung and poured a perpetual mist upon the mossy streets, houses, and plants. The light mist glazed the surroundings with a transparent sheen as they reflected the soft yellows, oranges, and white lights created by the surrounding foliage and weak daylight.

It was a peaceful scene. The only noises were the droplets of rainwater rolling down plants and homes alike, the lazy meander of stream water, and the occasional insect or amphibian cry. It seemed like Archibald had gotten out early enough that not many of his neighbors were out and about yet. Or perhaps the streets were empty because it was the week’s end and the tired citizens of Craggvale could finally enjoy a day’s rest and chose to sleep in.

Regardless, feeling the cool mist hit his face and gazing at these single and second-story houses that were so packed together that they looked like one continuous jagged line that pierced an endless ocean of fog. Archibald realized, for the first time since his reincarnation, that this world truly was astoundingly different from his.

The first thing to grab his attention was the plants. Luscious plant life of all hues abounded in a variety of shapes and sizes around him.

Just ahead of him. A mere few meters away, for instance, was a vine-like plant that adorned a tall wooden pole and curled around and grasped the pole with its stalk. Atop the pole, and at the end of the vine’s stem, there lay one large yellow bulb the size of a bowling ball on the top.

Turning his gaze both ways down the moss-lined cobblestone street, Archibald saw similar poles with similar-looking vines atop each one that sparsely lined both sides of the street. That wasn’t the strangest thing, however. Between the cobblestone pathways were dense patches of long purple-green grass that banked a crystal clear, pebble-bedded stream that bisected the pathway. Within the grass, the occasional chirp and leaping insect could be observed. At the tips of some of the purplish grass, teardrop-shaped light blue flower buds covered in a film of morning dew could be seen sporadically reaching out of the forest of grass.

Flitting lazily above the cobblestone pathways and meandering near the stream's edge were what looked like huge ladybugs - at least the size of a grown man’s clenched fist - whose red and black dotted shells had instead been replaced with a translucent orange shell that glowed in bright spurts of light at seemingly random intervals.

Amazed by the sights around him, Archibald could only dig through Riege’s memories once more as he closed his eyes in search of answers.

After a brief moment, Archibald’s eyes widened in fascination. With new knowledge Archibald allowed his eyes to wander over his surroundings as he muttered in his heart, “Wow, those must be Glow Bugs and not the larvae I saw yesterday outside my window. No, these are the full-grown ones…their light is so soft and beautiful.” Archibald shifted his gaze to the cozy homes surrounding him once again, “And these houses they’re made of bane wood. I think Riege heard from his Mentor that bane wood was a half-step First Ring material…Whatever that means. It sounds pretty impressive at least.” This time Archibald shifted his sight to the sporadically placed poles, “And those vines, they’re actually Lamp Vines that act as some sort of lantern at night with their yellow glow.”

Still, Archibald saw even more new and wondrous things around him. Craning his neck to a break in the line of houses to his left, Archibald could just faintly make out what looked like a glade surrounded by tall and dense emerald-green bushes. Within which he heard a dull cacophony of insect chirps and frog warbles and croaks. He could also just faintly make out due to Riege’s memories, the Giant Lily Pads which acted as natural benches and awnings within the glade. Like the stream ahead of him, the glade had a small pond in the center of it that was encircled by purple-green grass.

Turning back around to his house, Archibald saw that like the other buildings on his street he had a bronze-colored nameplate above his doorway detailing his name and address. Furthermore, like other houses on the street, his house had brown and green vines that adorned the front of the house in a series of living twists and turns. Everything on this street seemed to be in harmony with nature, even the air smelled of freshly wetted earth and foliage.

Focusing his wandering gaze once more on his bronze nameplate, Archibald read aloud and made sure to remember his address, “Archibald Riege - 1226 WeepingWeed Way. Huh, that seems easy enough to remember. It’s actually kind of fun to say: WeepingWeed Way!” Lightly chuckling from within the hood of his robe at his antics, Archibald couldn’t help but feel giddy. Everything just looked, smelled, and sounded so amazing and new. Even the cold air and mist hitting his face felt welcoming.

With one last satisfied sigh as he once again gazed at the myriad of flora around him, Archibald watched contently as a cloud of condensation exited his mouth. Finally, Archibald built up the willpower to move on from this stunning scene so that he could make his way to the orphanage. Besides, if this was just what one random street looked like, then surely there was bound to be even more beautiful scenery along the way. Sure he could verify his claim with Riege’s memories, but he wanted to experience everything with truly fresh eyes.

Like this, Archibald once again closed his eyes and recalled the bare minimum of the path that Riege usually took to get to the orphanage. Only recalling the general direction and names of the streets and districts he would need to walk through.

Opening his gray eyes once more, Archibald gave an optimistic smile as he muttered aloud, “Alright, first I have to pass through the Lower Round business district before once again walking through another residential area until I reach the Lower dining district. Seems simple enough, let’s see then…”

With his directions mentally sorted out, Archibald did himself a once over. Patting his pockets through his robes he made sure that he was able to feel his citizenship card and his house key.

“Alright, belongings safely secured in my pockets. Check,” about to step away from his door, Archibald halted in his footsteps, “Ha, almost forgot.” He fished out his house key from within his pants pockets under his robe, “I nearly forgot to lock the door. All this new information is getting to me!” With a carefree grin that reflected his mood, Archibald placed the key in the door’s lock and twisted it clockwise until he heard a mechanical click. “There, now I’m finally all ready to go.” With one last glance at his house, Archibald turned around and headed down the stone path to his right.

Walking down the path, Archibald’s head was a tireless swivel as he gazed in curiosity at the beautiful, and distinctly foreign surroundings. A few minutes into his walk he could have sworn that he even saw a Loquit Balm Snake according to Riege’s memories. Loquits were harmless little things, and Archibald watched as it slipped through the purplish grass into the everpresent stream. It seemed to be a particularly fearful specimen as it immediately rushed away at Archibald's presence.

It was a shame though, Archibald would have loved to have gotten a better look at the snake. It had some of the most beautiful scales he had ever seen. What with its bright cyan and green scales that were adorned with what looked like scarce flecks of orange light and all.

After around five minutes of walking at a relatively quick pace, Archibald found himself at a juncture that bisected two perpendicular streets. To the right of the pathway was a large black metal pole that lay just off the edge of the pathway. The pole had four separate wooden arrow-shaped signs. Each separate sign indicated the name of a street.

With the crisp clacking of his shoes against stone breaking the stillness of his surroundings, Archibald walked up to the sign. Craning his neck, he had to look up to read the names of the streets. If he remembered correctly he had to continue down a street called Barrels Way for around five more minutes until he reached the eastern entrance of the Lower Round’s business district.

Eyes squinting, Archibald gazed at each of the signs as he mumbled absentmindedly to himself, “Nope…that’s Crowler’s Avenue. Nope…not Gallows Street either…Aha! Barrels Way!” Quickly, locating the sign with the correct street name, Archibald found that it pointed down the stone path to the right of him.

Quickly Archibald conjured a mental map of Craggvale. “Hmm, if Riege’s memories are to be believed Craggvale as a whole has a spherical shape. I’m pretty sure that means that this turn takes me toward the center of the city…” Muttering quietly to himself, Archibald quickly concluded some more important information.

Wasting no more time, Archibald turned to the right and followed the path. Unlike the previous pathway’s street, it meandered between houses for a bit until around twenty minutes into his walk down the street it started to widen and straighten out. Initially, the street was only around two meters wide, but by now its size had nearly quadrupled.

Long gone was the stream, instead, it was replaced with even more dark gray moss-infested cobblestone and even more Lamp-vine lampposts and emerald green bushes. By now the bushes had crept up past his head in height. Regardless, however, everything around him still had this fantasy-like and natural feel despite the absence of the stream.

Nearing the gates of the business district, however, it felt like he was nearing a more developed location as the fog visibly thickened. Replacing the towering bushes and patches of purplish grass were instead high stone walls with spire-like metal fencing atop them. Etched on the dark grey weather-worn walls were what looked like stories of great battles against beasts and of growing towns. Presumably, it was of the founding of Craggvale

Now, Archibald saw people walking both ways along the wide street. Even though he could count the number of people he saw on his hands, Archibald was still initially thrown off. After all, these were completely alien people. Like him, all the people he saw wore a robe that covered their faces. Mostly he saw brown and green robes, however, he did see one person with a gray robe that slipped off into a small alley between two large houses. Unlike him though, some carried lanterns that illuminated some of the increasingly dense fog.

Not giving much thought to the person that slinked away into the alley. Archibald tried to look within the hoods of the passerby’s robes, hoping to catch a glimpse of their facial features. He was bound to be disappointed however, whatever dim-white light pierced the ever-thickening veil of fog proved ineffective for illuminating the faces of those within their hoods.

Mentally grumbling in annoyance, Archibald thought to himself, “Bah, I can just look through Riege’s memories to get a good feel of what Craggvale’s residents look like. It’s not like I don’t know some stuff already. I haven’t really put much thought into it, but other human-like races live here right?”

Archibald paused in his steps and briefly closed his eyes as Riege’s memories rose up with his careful prodding. “Yeah, If I’m not mistaken Riege even worked under a Dwemmer once. Rolan was his name I’m pretty sure, he was a short fellow around four and a half feet tall but he was surprisingly muscular and his skin was almost as gray as stone.”

His serious features unconsciously rising into a light grin, Archibald for the millionth time today felt like he was dreaming. First, it was entirely new plants and animals, but now it was entirely new sentient races. What a mindfuck… in the best of ways of course. Truly, he had not been wrong by choosing to embrace this new life. This was an entirely new world that was just waiting for him to explore it!

All these new sights, however, also conjured up images of more familiar lands. Namely his home on Earth. Largely though, he had been able to ignore the pangs of homesickness that he occasionally got. “After all, not much that I really miss back home…” Archibald muttered morosely under his breath at his lack of attachments as he pushed his emotions down. No, instead of harping on his past, he could instead fully move on and enjoy his new life.

In fact, everything he saw today only acted as even more tinder that fueled his desire to discover more about what happened to him and the world around him. Most of all, however, it made him want to discover more about what Physiquers were. What he was now.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Standing in the street, Archibald's gaze turned blurry as he looked down at his body. “Yeah… I’m a Physiquer? I’m a Physiquer…” Archibald's thoughts started boiling in a mix of realization and excitement, “I’m a fucking Physiquer! If Riege’s memories mean anything at all, then that’s a pretty fucking great start.”

Calming his emotions, Archibald composed himself and ordered his thoughts, “Ah, look at me getting ahead of myself. While it’s true that I am a Physiquer, I still don’t even know what that entails. Suppose that’s the whole purpose of this trip in the first place though, “ Archibald’s gaze once again focused as a determined gleam settled in the back of his eyes. “Only now is it really sinking in though…This is probably one of those critical moments in life. I just have to grasp this opportunity firmly.”

With renewed vigor at the realization of the stakes, Archibald once again lifted his feet and set off down the fog-covered street. He knew that just a couple more minutes of walking would bring him to the eastern entrance of the business district.

From the business district, he would then have to pass through the northern entrance and then pass through another short stretch of more wealthy houses before he reached the dining district. Only then after passing through the dining district would he reach a more quaint community that consisted of government buildings and houses. After all, the orphanage was funded by the City Lord’s estate so it made sense that it would be located where the other government-owned buildings were.

Like this, Archibald walked down the solitary stone streets lost in his thoughts. Thoughts of Physiquers, Earth, his new situation, and more stampeded through his mind and distracted him so much that he almost didn’t notice when he passed through the gateway to the business district.

The gateway itself was constructed with large carefully sculpted solid blocks of stone so gray that they looked nearly black. On both pillars that bordered the gateway, the coat of arms of the City Lord was carefully and finely engraved in silver. The stone only made the komodo-dragon-like creature and the scythe that lie in the background even more imposing.

Those weren’t the only engravings though. Above and below the City Lord’s coat of arms were lavish gold engravings of what looked like depictions of wealth and business.

Giving both pillars a quick once over, Archibald didn’t even slow his pace as he passed the gateway and walked into the business district.

Magically, it was like Archibald walked through a bubble. The sudden rush of clamorous chit-chat and hawking washed over him in waves. Frowning in confusion from the sudden noise Archibald almost stopped walking in the middle of the street. “I definitely would have been able to hear all these people talking from beyond the gateway. What exactly is going on here?” Even running through Riege’s memory proved ineffective, to Riege it had always just been like that and there was no point in questioning why.

Like this, Archibald slowed his pace and took in his environment, trying to decipher what might have caused the noise isolation. Like what he saw from Riege’s memory it was a boisterous place with a variety of people walking to and from stately stone and wood buildings and from smaller stalls. Unlike the houses that he passed by earlier though, the buildings here were kept tidy and free from any vines, moss, or the like.

His head craned toward a group of buildings labeled Merchant’s Compound, Archibald didn’t notice until it was too late and he bumped into someone.

“Watch where you are going! What’s your name?!” A melodic, yet clearly angry female voice rang out from within a brown hood.

“Sorry about that ma’am.” Keeping his head down and his voice neutral, Archibald gave a quick apology before walking past the still disgruntled and mumbling woman. He was in a rush, and he didn’t feel that getting into any sort of confrontation was worth the risk given how little he knew about this new world and culture.

Broken from his reverie by the small incident, Archibald picked up his pace once again and in a scant few minutes found himself passing the northern gateway of the business district and into a higher-end residential area.

It was largely like the residential area that he lived in, but instead of small and compact houses with barely any space between them. Here houses were tall and wide with plenty of yard space to spare. Many times, Archibald was tempted to stop and inspect the various wondrous and fantastical gardens that some of the houses kept. One even had what looked like a small arbor of iridescent rainbow trees in their front yard.

Archibald knew that time was of the essence however, by now it was clear that the city was waking up. Now instead of just a few people roaming the streets, there were nearly a few dozen walking about.

Like this, Archibald walked down the wide stone pathway until he reached the gateway to the dining district. Much like the last gateway, it had the coat of arms of the City Lord engraved in silver on each lateral pillar. However, instead of engravings of wealth and business, there were lustrous copper engravings of what looked like lavish feasts and an abundance of crops.

Barely slowing his pace to look at the artistic engravings, Archibald passed through the gateway and through what seemed like another noise barrier as the clamoring of human and non-human activity washed over him. The noise was no longer the most jarring thing however, instead it was the sudden wave of new and delicious scents that punched him in the face.

Mouth slightly watering, Archibald looked around at the various bakeries, restaurants, food stalls, and pubs as he regretfully realized that he had not eaten anything this morning and had not even bothered to take Riege’s coin purse out from his personal belongings chest.

“Ah well, I guess I do have more pressing matters right now…,” Arcibald gloomily mumbled, “but just wait, I’ll be back, and when I do…” Archibald licked his lips in anticipation, “Let’s just say that I want to eat so much that I can’t walk. After all, what’s the harm in a little celebration after surviving my own death?” With a chuckle at his thoughts, Archibald ripped his attention away from food and shifted it back to the navigation of the confusing and crisscrossing paths of the dining district.

In another few minutes of walking and navigating through the veritable maze of winding streets and dead-end alleyways. Archibald finally reached the northern gateway of the dining district.

Walking through the gateway, Archibald felt himself get slightly nervous. He was finally about to reach the orphanage where he would talk to the Headmaster and the mysterious Envoy. For all he knew he could be walking into some trap. Maybe they had some way to sense that he had taken Riege’s body or something. Maybe they had some devious plans towards newly Awakened Physiquers. Regardless, however, Archibald dispelled those worries. Nothing from Riege’s limited memories had given him an indication that they had anything even close to those methods and he had little avenues to explore if he wanted to learn more about Physiquers.

Pushing past his doubts, Archibald quelled his nerves and steeled his mind during the final few minutes of the walk.

Slowing his pace, Archibald had time to look at the other various lavish government buildings that neighbored the orphanage. Most buildings reeked of wealth, with intricate stone facades, regal gardens, and imposing statues that represented the type of business that occurred within the building.

Eventually, Archibald reached a break in the street where a large crescent-shaped indent peeled off from the main street.

Following the indent, Archibald walked off of the main street and onto a wide brick paved path that curved to the right. Soon Archibald made his way past the front hedges and to the large wooden doors of the orphanage. From the front, the orphanage looked solemn. It was more manor-like than an orphanage in Archibald's mind. Its intricately carved gray stone-block walls and large ornamental stained glass windows made the building stand out from the usual wooden buildings in Craggvale.

Briefly, Archibald wondered why the City Lord would invest so much into a building for orphans. It’s not like most of them became anyone of note or importance. “A mystery for later I suppose. Not like another one on the list means much at this point.” With that thought, Archibald shoved his questions to the back of his mind. It was inconsequential in comparison to revealing his Awakening.

Taking a deep breath, Archibald shifted his gaze from the facade of the building and took one last look at the grand double doors in front of him. Strangely, Archibald noted that just above the doors was a strange sigil. It looked like a golden-metal engraving that depicted a sun-like symbol adorned by a golden corona. The sigil seemed to suck in his gaze, and briefly, he could have sworn that he even felt a vague touch on his consciousness. The feeling was so brief and light that he didn’t even know if actually felt anything at all.

Shaking himself out of his daze, Archibald looked suspiciously at the golden sun sigil. The more he looked, the more he could feel himself becoming entrenched by it. Quickly turning his gaze down, Archibald felt his mind return to normalcy.

“That was weird. Riege didn’t feel anything when he looked at the symbol before, so why is it that I feel something now? Perhaps it has something to do with my Awakening…” At that thought, Archibald sighed contemplatively as he pushed the door to the orphanage open, “I can ask the Headmaster about it. Surely he knows what’s up with the sigil.”

At that thought, Archibald concluded his musings and looked straight ahead as he walked into the orphanage.

Taking a few steps in, Archibald was presented with a large stone interior. Looking around the room, Archibald saw that unlike the outside of the building, the inside was actually a bit decrepit looking. The air within the lobby was still and musty. The lobby had an atmosphere that seemed lonely and worn as if both people and time had forgotten the existence of the room.

What little light there was in the room filtered in through narrow streams from high-up windows and wall-mounted lanterns. In the corners of the room, cobwebs hung, and occasionally, in the glint of the lantern light, a spider's shiny carapace could be seen reflecting back.

What little furniture there was also in disrepair. The benches that lined parts of the walls looked beaten and worn. The fireplace and the fur rug before it looked old and uncleaned, marred by years of ash. The windows were dirty. Truly, Archibald felt, standing in the room that it was quite a dreary and cold place.

It surprised Archibald at how much cleaner and polished the exterior looked when in comparison to the decrepit lobby. However, this conclusion was of little relevance to Archibald, he knew from Riege’s memories that it had been like this since the first day he stepped foot within the building.

Looking towards the far end of the room, Archibald saw large and similarly worn-down wooden double doors straight ahead of him and two branching pathways to the far left and far right of the room. From Riege’s memories, Archibald knew that walking through the doors would lead him to the central courtyard, while the left and right pathways would lead to the Junior wing and the Senior wing respectively.

The orphanage was like a stone rectangle that surrounded the central courtyard. With the Junior wing and the Senior wing taking up the lateral sides of the complex. The southern courtyard that he passed by earlier, the decrepit lobby, kitchen, and library took up the front side of the orphanage. In the far back of the orphanage, past the central courtyard was the back of the orphanage which held the lavatories and storage. All of these buildings were built such that the Central Tower in the center of the courtyard was the focal point of the whole layout. Coincidentally, the Headmaster happened to have their office located within the Central Tower.

With the help of Riege’s memories, Archibald soon had a mental layout of the place mapped out. With his destination in mind, Archibald walked forward towards the door leading to the central courtyard, each footfall making a crisp cracking sound against the cold stone floor.

Reaching the door, Archibald had to strain himself to push open the old doors. Apparently, their hinges had rusted since the last year Riege had visited the orphanage. Heaving as he pushed open the door, Archibald muttered relievedly under his breath, “Thankfully I don’t have to live here, otherwise if Riege wasn’t able to claim the land deed, he would’ve probably still been staying here which means that I would have been staying here.” He shuddered at both the thought and the cold misty air that poured through the cracks of the door, “I’m just glad that that’s not the case.”

Inheritance in Craggvale was quite the strange thing Archibald thought. If for some reason, a child's parents passed away, then their inheritance and all of their stuff were instead kept by the government until the child proved that they had a stable income. This in itself was inherently unfair. After all, how could someone expect orphans, a vast amount of whom were young, uneducated, and emotionally damaged to hold more than transitory jobs like seasonal farming and grunt work?

Really, Archibald couldn’t grasp the City Lord’s reasoning. In the end, though, It wasn't like Craggvale was a democracy. The City Lord held near absolute power in most matters and could just take what he wanted. Furthermore, in addition to his political power, it was also common knowledge that the City Lord was a Physiquer, and an accomplished one at that supposedly.

Thankfully though, Riege did eventually manage to land a stable job at the Lower Round’s Beastyard where he worked with the rearing of Runt-blooded beasts.

“That reminds me though, I’ll have to go to my shift at the Beastyard tomorrow…Hah, I go from managing a firm under my parents' umbrella companies to this, “Archibald muttered aloud to himself as an ironic grin pulled at the corners of his lips, “There is some beauty in this situation though, beauty in the madness…” Gazing at the half-opened door in front of him, Archibald couldn’t help but break out into a full grin.

Sure he was stuck in a new world, in a new body, with an unknown future ahead of him…But that same unknown, that barely perceptible tingle of possible danger…That’s what made him feel so alive.

And now that Archibald experienced this feeling. He was entranced. He was intoxicated…

That’s why he knew there was no going back.