I lifted my headset mic and yelled downstairs, pausing my game. "Mom! Can I get some hot pockets for lunch?" I brushed the crumbs of Doritos off my chest and took another pull of my Mountain Dew.

No response. "Mom!" I yelled louder, standing up from my leather gaming chair with a creak. I pursed my lips, confused. To my left, my cat Dingo stared up at me. "What do you want, you fat cat?" I asked, shooing him away.

I walked down the hall and into the living room to find the TV on with Judge Judy telling a teenage girl that she owed a man custody of her child. I shook my head, chuckling. To my right, my mom was fast asleep on the couch. I walked over to the bin full of blankets and pulled one out, slipping it over my mother. She was probably just exhausted from her night shift at the hospital, and I didn’t want to wake her.

I opened the freezer, popped two hot pockets into the microwave, and grabbed another drink. After the three or so minutes were up, I took them out and returned quietly to my room.

My cat had relocated to my window, meowing at the pigeons outside my Brooklyn apartment. The window was open, and a soft spring breeze filtered through the room. Our apartment didn't have reliable air conditioning, so summer was brutal in the city. For now, the air was pleasant, although it smelled like curry sauce from the open window across the alley.

The neighbor’s pit bull saw the cat at the open window and began jumping at the window, going nuts. I hated that damn dog. Sometimes I would shoot at him with my slingshot when I didn't have much to do. I never tried to hit him, but the sound of the slingshot ammo hitting the brick usually shut him up for a few minutes. But I had run out of pellets long ago and needed to restock them.

It was a boring Sunday. My friends were out on spring break over the last week on their fancy family vacations. My mom didn't have much money, so my spring break was lots of time in the house while she worked her two jobs. I didn't have much to do, since my homework was already completed and projects were done. Video games were the only thing challenging enough to keep my interest most days while I waited for school to start again.

My various engineering projects were scattered around my bedroom: a catapult, two castles, and a bridge made of popsicle sticks. I was only sixteen but took advanced classes at the local community college.

I sat back down in my chair. Suddenly, there was a voice in my headset. It sounded like a computer-generated voice, like Alexa or Siri.

[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE ASTRAL MAGE ON THE WORLD DESIGNATED AS PRIXA. PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE]

I looked down at the cat. "Did you hear that?" I asked him. He cocked his head at me, then jumped into my lap. I stroked him as I swiveled in my chair to get another look at the computer screen. Oddly enough, my game was still paused. Huh.

Then the voice spiked again.

[DEPARTING IN 3...2...1...]

****

I blinked awake on my back, the warm sun shining on my face. The grass was wet, and there was a horrible smell surrounding me. It was so bad that my eyes started watering. I groaned, rotated my head to the left, and saw the source of the smell: an exploded creature was all over me. Black blood and guts enveloped me in a semicircle like I was part of a satanic ritual without my knowledge. I was lying in a puddle, a few innards on my t-shirt, and my pants and shoes were soaked.

I cried out in a shrill voice and stood up quickly. My right foot slipped in the blood, hitting my head back on the ground with a loud smack. I let out an oof, the air leaving my lungs momentarily. Please tell me that isn't Dingo around me. My heart raced, and I felt the urge to vomit. I rolled to the side to puke but realized more gore was on this side. I gagged.

I closed my eyes tightly, unsure if this was real. Was I injured too? Nothing hurt that I could tell, but maybe I was in shock. I’d heard stories about people with metal rods in their backs after a car crash that didn't feel them because of shock from an accident. My hands ran over my disgusting clothes, moving pieces of animal out of the way as I searched for injuries.

Suddenly, the same voice was in my head. The female one from my headset.

[WELCOME TO PRIXA. WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR TRAVEL THROUGH THE OUTER PLANES. WE HAVE COMPLETED OUR INITIAL SCAN AND WILL BEGIN THE CLASS ASSIGNMENT PROCESS. PLEASE WAIT]

I pushed myself up again, careful not to slip on the muddy ground this time. "Umm, hello?" I said out loud, shaking my hands and getting more goo off. I had never seen a dead animal before, especially one this…nasty.

My eyes darted around my new environment as I dropped to a defensive crouch. Giant trees were densely populated with chattering birds amid a landscape dotted by colorful bushes and fragrant flowers. The atmosphere reeked of dampness as if it had just rained, and man, was it hot.

To my left, a giant vulture looked up at me with its beady eyes, standing in the dead animal gore with a piece of animal leg sticking out of its huge beak. I put my hands up and took a few steps back. I stumbled into a plant with bright purple blossoms as it started creeping up my leg. I quickly swatted the vines away, and the plant hissed while receding. The vulture also hissed, then returned to its meal with the crunch of bones.

Insects chirped, and camouflaged creatures rustled the leaves in the canopy. The soil beneath me was black with streaks of red. Spiders slid on silky strands from trees to elaborate webs they wove in the undergrowth, sometimes spanning seven feet across. They had brightly colored rear sections and looked super poisonous. Everything seemed to be observing me. I sniffed the murky air rising from the ground. It was vile smelling.

I stood as still as possible, trying not to gain any attention from the jungle creatures that were likely in the area. I couldn’t remember how I got here or what the voice said. What was an outer plane? The last thing I remembered was being in my room, then blinking awake; there were no memories in between. Sweat was poured down my back, the folds of my overweight stomach drenched. Dark stains appeared beneath my arms.

The voice spoke again, freaking me out. Was this some telepathic creature communicating with me?

[IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT YOU POSSESS THE ABILITY TO USE MAGIC IN OUR WORLD. A NEW CLASS WAS ASSIGNED. YOUR HIGHEST ATTRIBUTE IS *INTELLIGENCE*, AND YOU WERE AWARDED THE *BLACKSMITH APPRENTICE* CLASS. YOU HAVE STARTED AT LEVEL 1. ALL ATTRIBUTES HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY.]

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Class? Magic? What in the world is going on? Why do I feel like I’m in a video game? Is this a dream? It all felt so real. I couldn’t remember signing up for any VR experiments. I didn't even own any hardware that could do VR.

The high intelligence sounded right if this was a game or a dream. But a support class? Really? I certainly wasn't going to get a strength-based class, but a non-combat class didn't seem very threatening. I had always been the most intelligent guy in the room, almost to a fault. Other students in my class hated how little I needed to study to pass a test or how creative my projects came out. I could make anything to solve any problem. My future was to work for some corporate giant and patent my way to glory.

A burning startled me. I jerked my arm back, then looked down at it. Tattoos dotted my skin with various symbols and numbers. A red 15 and a blue 10 were visible.

[PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR NAME AND OUTFIT]

I looked down at the options. Three clothing items appeared from thin air and landed on the ground before me. Prixa must have studied the history of humans, I thought, as I explored my options: a toga, a loin cloth, or overalls. "I will choose the overalls. My name is Noah." My voice was shaky, the stress of the situation showing itself. At least I would be able to get out of these blood-soaked clothes.

My arm changed, reading 'Noah' at the top of the tattoo. The readout looked like a simpler version of a character sheet. So red was health, and blue was mana? Was this world again tapping into my experiences? I examined my tattoos more closely. There wasn’t much information.

[NOAH]

[LV 1- BLACKSMITH APPRENTICE]

[15]

[10]

I stripped down to my boxers and donned the overalls - simple brown pants, suspenders, and no shirt. A shirt would have been nice. I wonder why I didn't get one. I kept one eye on the vulture creature as I changed. The overalls looked ridiculous on my enormous frame, almost like I was a coal miner or something. I looked around for socks but didn’t see any. That was a bummer since my feet were drenched in blood like the rest of my clothes were. I sighed and slipped the new boots from the mysterious entity onto my feet, which fit perfectly.

I took a deep breath. What do I do now? I needed a plan. I was a blacksmith. Blacksmiths can make weapons and armor. I looked around; the jungle was dense and suffocating around me. Maybe this was some kind of puzzle game.

I picked up a moss-covered rock but dropped it, unsure what to do with it. To my left was a half-dead log. I swung it around a few times, but it weighed a ton and wouldn't work as a weapon. I didn't get any prompts, and nothing magical seemed to happen. A huge insect ran out of the end of the log near my hand, and I threw it, recoiling and shrieking embarrassingly. A few birds flew out of the canopy at the sound.

I heard a screeching hiss sound and looked up. Three more giant vulture-looking birds had gathered on the tree branches, similar to the one on the forest floor ten feet away. They had the same enormous beaks and dark feathers, their heads tilting at me in unison.

A calm seemed to develop in the jungle, like before a golfer took his shot. They looked at each other and with a louder hissss, one dove at me.

I threw my arms above my head and tried to protect myself from the crazed bird. Talons flashed and gouged my forearm, the gash burning horribly. Blood exploded onto my cheek in a quick spurt, but the bird didn’t let go. I was shocked at the deep cut as its claw sliced through the muscle. My left hand went limp. “Ah! Bastard!” I yelled, punching the bird with my other hand.

I turned from the gore and sprinted away, the bird still attached to my arm. Its talons were stuck in the sinew of my forearm. It continued shrieking, wings pounding me in the face. Suddenly, I tripped on a fallen log, landing on top of the crazed bird. I felt a crunch as its head gave way under my weight, and it went still.

I rolled over, looking at the creature. It was even more terrifying up close, even flattened. I took my right hand, which was shaking violently, and carefully removed the talons, then set the giant bird on the jungle floor.

Damn it! What do I do? I glanced frantically around me, seeing if there was anything I could use to defend myself. Seconds later, the blood and guts had disappeared from the bird’s remains. All that was left was red-stained grass and a three-inch-long talon. There was no trace of anything else, almost like the forest floor had eaten the remains. I grabbed the talon and stood back up, another bird flapping its wings and soaring toward me through the trees. I dove to the side just in time for the vulture creature to miss me by an inch.

Suddenly, it was as if the talon in my hand wanted to turn into a dagger in my mind. I focused on letting it choose its shape, a feeling in the back of my mind leading the process. A few seconds later, I held a six-inch long white dagger. How did I do that? There was a sucking feeling coming from my arm, like someone was taking blood.

The giant vulture had retreated to the tree, and the last one swooped down at me. The jungle sounds were back again as if the creatures of this place were watching in anticipation. I swung at the bird and missed, only for the creature to leave another long, bloody gouge down my other arm, my right hand going numb now. I tucked the dagger in my pocket, turned, and finally took off running, batting plants out of the way with my non-working fingers. Another hiss and a bird swooped at my back, leaving another long, brutal cut. The gashes burned terribly, and I arched backward, screaming in pain. Blood exploded down my shirtless back, joining the sweat to moisten my skin further. I screamed again and ran faster, trying to leave the birds behind me.

Just ahead was a dense thicket of intertwining branches. I continued sprinting, my huge frame lumbering down the path and new boots pounding in the black dirt. I kept my eye on the winding path leading into the enormous trees and ignored the sound of fluttering wings. I stumbled on a fallen log, frantically maintaining my balance. I kept going, branches and leaves whipping my face. My left eye started watering after a stick made contact, blurring my vision considerably.

When I arrived at the jungle opening on the other side of the dense vegetation, I stopped, panting and wheezing with my hands on my head, desperately trying to regain my breath and ignore the pain. I quickly turned around to see if anything was still following me, but for now, nothing did. Blood was pouring out of my bird wounds in gushing pulses. There was a black tinge to it, which didn’t seem good. I let out a meek cry, pain wracking my body.

I wiped the tears from my injured eye, but the dirt from my hands made things worse. What the hell were those things? I was a 6-foot tall, 235 pound teenager with a long, scraggly beard and short curly hair…not some action hero.

The pain was excruciating. Those two monster birds proved I was no hero. I was bloody and possibly dying because I couldn't handle two birds. If I was honest with myself, I looked like I belonged at a tabletop game convention, not running away from giant vulture creatures and using magical powers.

I had to do something about my wounds, but only if they weren’t hunting me still, I thought desperately. One final look showed the birds retreating to their branches. Before they chased me down again, I hid behind a log, trembling and bleeding.

After a few seconds, I peeked above the log as my body screamed in agony, eyes darting around the trees. Three-inch-long ants crawled all over the log, a few walking on my hand as my blood dripped around them. I shook the ants off, afraid of getting bit. Nothing else moved except for my trembling body. The calm jungle sounds returned; the entertainment for the creatures was over for now. I just needed to make sure I didn’t die.