After a couple of hours of being carried by the humans, Aira couldn't be happier that she didn't have to walk that distance on her own. Remembering the previous day, it would take her at least thrice the same amount of time. Still, it felt like the trek through the forest would never end. Maybe the fact that she was immobilized made her suffer this journey so much.

But no struggle is endless. The forest became less dense, gradually giving way to a more open area. Morning light shone brighter and brighter between the trees until, finally, Aira saw the edge of a field. Soon, they followed the forest fringe to a dirt road that promptly brought them to the outer edge of a fortified settlement.

Wooden gates loomed large. Sentries patrolled the walls and checked everyone who wanted to enter or exit the town. It wasn't hard to guess that her captors were familiar with these men. They exchanged warm greetings and jokes with the group that probably spent days in the wild. Even though she did not understand the language, that exchange was self-explanatory because of the smiles she saw and the laughs she heard.

The leader of her captors spoke briefly with his colleagues and gestured for his group to proceed. However, Aira couldn't help but notice guards eyeing her warily. That made all her instincts scream. There was some trait that marked her as a foreign element. It didn't seem to be the color of her hair or skin—she already saw even more peculiar shades among the people surrounding her. Could it just be the fact that she wasn't someone they knew? Or did they see something else in her? Something in her looks that distinguished her so much?

She'd have to wait before she got any answers to her questions. The brief inspection she made when she found herself in this new world didn't reveal any significant changes to her.

By the time they passed through the gates, the sun had reached its zenith. The settlement was a complete change of scenery for Aira. After a day in the wild forest and a night in a ruined hovel, this town couldn't be more different. It was bustling with activity, with people moving in all directions. Vendors offered their wares to passers-by, and children ran around, laughing and shouting. Everything one would expect in such a place. The streets were neatly paved, and each building seemed to have its designated purpose. It felt like a place where she would be happy to stay for a while. At least, if she wasn't a captive. But now she would stay here, no matter her wishes.

As someone who had traveled extensively, Aira had seen all types of settlements—from makeshift refugee camps in times of war to bustling metropolises, enjoying their golden age. But of course, the most typical was something like what she saw before her right there.

This town wasn't too large, probably housing only a couple thousand people. Yet, it exuded a sense of history and longevity. It wasn't just some makeshift assemblage of random structures. There was a sense of intelligent design behind it. Many of the buildings had withstood decades, perhaps even centuries, with marks of the passing time visible on the walls and roofs. Still, they were well-kept and looked after. However, the town probably wasn't as old as the ruined place where Aira spent the previous night. Not that she had a lot of experience with places reclaimed by nature.

Besides seeing so many humans pursuing their everyday chores around her, it was an excellent opportunity for Aira to evaluate the technology of this world, the tools people used, and their daily activities. Before, the reference group was limited by her captors. And they didn't offer anything out of the ordinary. Anything she wouldn't expect to see in a warrior's hands. Mostly, these were blades, with the addition of some peculiar ranged weapons. But here, behind the settlement walls, there were many more things to explore. Still, to Aira's despair, nothing hinted at any use of magic.

Promptly navigating the streets, the captors carried Aira to a building in the central part of the town without any delays. It loomed larger than anything around it, and unlike most smaller houses, it was built with stone.

After walking up the grand stairs and passing through multiple corridors and halls, the group entered a well-lit room where several figures were waiting. Was it a military or a civil council? Whatever the status, by their bearing and the respect the armed people showed them, it was a group of local decision-makers. At least Aira could confirm that these things didn't change much from one world to another. However, if they were similar in different societies in her homeworld, why would they change here? Almost always, there were the ordinary people and the leadership.

Aira was finally let off the stretcher, but quite prudently, her hands and feet remained bound. The report of the leader of the reconnaissance party didn't take long. He pointed at Aira and the green-haired woman several times during his speech. The woman wasn't requested to give a report, though. But Aira could swear she even heard some familiar words. At least one of them was repeated multiple times during her capture, the march, and now, in front of these distinguished men. And while it didn't help her to understand the whole meaning of the discussion, it made her a bit more optimistic. She was already learning something.

Skepticism, interest, outrage, indifference—Aira could create illustrations for an article about emotions by drawing the faces of the people she saw in front of her. But one of them was more prominent than the others. An older man with a stern jawline and piercing eyes stepped forward and cleared his throat before delivering a short speech. Most of the others nodded in agreement as he spoke, their expressions softening with understanding.

There seemed to be a consensus. But when Aira thought the decision was made, another person—a younger man with a fiery gaze—stormed forward, showing obvious disdain for her presence.

He paced and stomped, pointing his finger in Aira's direction. He even passionately addressed her armed captors. However, while some of the men surrounding Aira grunted as if agreeing with some points and showed concern, the speech didn't seem to affect the council members.

Ultimately, even that agitated speaker had to bow to the majority's decision. Despite his visible displeasure. All Aira could do was feel lucky he wasn't the only person deciding her fate.

***

The appearance of the mysterious person in the town kindled a flurry of intrigues and debates all over the settlement. On all levels. From people gossiping at the market, to the highest levels of top decision-makers. But Aira wasn't aware of any of this. Besides that heated interaction during the Council, she only experienced short interactions with the guards who passed her meals, water, and herbal tea in the upcoming hours and days. She was quartered in a different part of the same building where she met the Council. Compared to her previous lodging in the forest, it was almost like a palace. And anyway, she didn't need much at the moment.

There was something, though, that disturbed her during the first days with humans. They served her with food as she would expect the hosts to serve their guests. She couldn't complain. And initially, her brain told her that she had to be quite hungry after a whole day and night of fasting. However, now that she recalled her previous hours, she realized that she never really wanted to eat or drink, not for the shortest moment. It was more like a consequence of a habit she had for decades. Now, in her quarters at the town hall, she accepted everything they gave her. But she didn't feel much need for sustenance. It seemed that her body's demand for that source of energy had decreased drastically.

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During their hike, her captors chewed on snacks and drank water from their flasks. Their habits were just what she expected them to be from her experience of past marches and hikes. The green-haired woman even offered to share some food with her, to the consternation of her ranger buddies. And Aira, not wanting to antagonize her captors, accepted it. However, it felt like she was stuffing herself, not really needing anything.

She had to add this observation to the constantly expanding list of things she had to explore about herself. So many things have changed for Aira in the blink of an eye. It was overwhelming, even without having to deal with eating issues. But here she was, adding one more problem to the long roster of things she didn't know how to resolve.

Magic, food, sleep, language, humans, other beings of this world, and her differences from any of them... What else? She expected to expand it even more in the upcoming days.

And, yes, one more thing. Aira finally got an answer to what had been bothering her since the moment she passed the town gates. Among the other amenities she had in her room, there was a mirror. She could find many changes in the constitution of her body. But that wasn't new to her—she had checked herself in the first minutes after appearing in this world.

What unnerved her quite a bit when she first saw her reflection were her eyes. Previously, they had a green color. They retained that shadow even now. However, that wasn't their most striking property anymore. Aira's eyes now had an ethereal glow to them. They shimmered and constantly changed their color from green to blue and back. The light they emitted wasn't too bright. But still, it wasn't something one would typically expect from a human.

***

Despite all the changes in her, Aira had more important goals for the near future. A long and arduous process of mutual study began. A cautious dance of curiosity and mistrust. For all townspeople, the arrival of an undead was an excellent opportunity to debate and spread gossip. The ordinary people saw her brought on the stretcher towards the town hall. And there was no denying the person was a captured enemy, an undead beast. Definitely not an injured ranger. Aira's eyes glistened with unnatural light, a clear sign of her inhumanity.

But what was the purpose of keeping her alive and bringing her here was anyone's guess.

Some people were more knowledgeable in the local politics and the decisions made by the Elders. Thus, among the rangers, there was a different debate. They talked about the balance of tradition and the rule of law. For centuries, the first and the only thing one should have done after encountering an undead was to kill it. And definitely not bring it home, the place that should be protected at all costs.

But when Elder Jorin became the Council's leader, these rules changed. For reasons only he and his fellow councilmen knew, he demanded and made most of the other Elders agree that an attempt at communication should be made. To what ends? That was above the pay grade of any of the rangers, except maybe for Garrick, who was promoted to the level of Elder.

Among the members of the Council, a different discussion took place. Garrick was reprimanded for his outburst in front of the rangers and the undead captive. It was unbecoming of an Elder to air their dirty linen in public. These things had to be discussed privately, and only the joint decisions were to be announced to everyone. Especially in such a peculiar situation. They all had to stand united in the eyes of the people. And while Jorin's project was very experimental and still may prove to be a dangerous mistake, it may also bring many benefits to the people of Mountain View.

And they had high hopes after Lila's report. She stated that it was undeniable that the undead captive tried to communicate with the rangers. If it wasn't wild enough, there was the fact that the undead was resting near a fire. And most of the Elders were persuaded that it was the right decision to wait and watch. To try to communicate with the creature.

The main problem in dealing with the undead was that not much research has been done in the previous decades and centuries. One of the reasons for that was widespread superstition. But also, there were the dangers posed by the powers some of these creatures demonstrated. In the end, the wars of the previous centuries were devastating not only for the enemies of humanity. These abilities were mysterious, and it was hard to distinguish legends from truth. But that was another goal Jorin pursued through his experiment.

Still, the humans couldn't be sure of anything, including the level of consciousness of a newly transitioned undead they had in their possession now. And they had no doubt it had transitioned not too long ago. But they could watch. And try to communicate. All of them, including Garrick. At least while it seemed to be safe.

That approach proved beneficial right from the first day. Some of their old assumptions seemed to be wrong. For example, this undead accepted food and ate everything they gave it despite the widespread belief that these beings didn't need any sustenance at all.

Jorin was silently congratulating himself for insisting on treating the captive the same way they would treat a human. It was a risky move that antagonized some of the other Elders. And almost lost him the crucial vote. But in the end, his motion was adopted, and there they were, getting answers to some questions that led to even more mysteries.

Was it some sort of deception on the undead's behalf? Or a sign of change in the undead community? Did they even have a community? Or was the initial information the Council possessed wrong? But if that was true, it probably wasn't their only misconception about their foes.

How the undead were even able to survive without any food was another question humans were never able to answer. Finally, the Council had a chance to get some invaluable answers.

None of this drama has reached Aira, however. She mainly was left alone and allowed to get accustomed to her captivity, lowered stats, and absent magic.

Even if somebody wanted to fill her in, she wouldn't understand a word.

***

The following morning, Aira started a new daily routine. She needed to ramp up her physical training. Her body had to be improved if she wanted to have at least some chance to survive. But not only that. Despite all the signs, she hasn't given up hope of breaking through the wall that separated her from magic. If it was at all possible. So, she created a new regimen that weaved meditation and physical training together. The hardest part was not to despair every time she sensed that void at the end. But at least she was getting more acquainted with her new base stats.

That wasn't the only thing she was doing, though. In the days that followed, her captors tried various methods of communication. The rangers and even some Elders tried talking to her and exchanging notes. They brought books and scrolls, hoping Aira could read them. It was as if they expected her to understand them. And humans were quite disappointed when they realized it wasn't the case.

But there was not enough information there to even begin learning the language. Even with her skills and battlemage's habit of constant learning, there just wasn't enough data.

Everything changed when she discovered the miracle of illustrated children's books. For Aira, this wasn't even an option she considered. Illuminated manuscripts were some of her world's most expensive and elaborate books. With just a few illustrations that often didn't correspond to the texts. Not something made for kids. But that's what she got now: pages with single words paired with images as if intentionally created for her circumstance. To help a person to learn the language.

Finally, Aira was able to read simple texts. And while she was still struggling with movement, it seemed that her intelligence stat wasn't debuffed as drastically during her transition as her agility. So, she spent every available moment learning new words and concepts.

Unfortunately, what was not up to the task was her manual dexterity. That other consequence of her lowered agility proved critical when she tried writing simple texts. Even short notes with replies to her hosts were a chore that demanded a lot of time and effort. Her hands just wouldn't work with any small instruments as well as before.