Chapter 1

Day 1 – Hour 13:42 – Location: Somewhere in North America

I crept silently forward, getting ever so closer to the herd of deer that I had been stalking all day. They are currently grazing at the base of a hill with their backs to me. I pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to my right leg and readied it in the bow. Taking aim at the closest deer, I breathed in then silently breathed out and released the bow string.

The shot missed the deer's skull and instead it buried itself in the deer's hind leg. The area exploded with the sound of panicked deer and the herd sprinted up the hill, with the injured one close behind them. Not wanting to lose my kill I jumped through the bush and sprinted after them.

I was clad in a plain forest green sweatshirt with blue jeans, a steel-framed backpack, a full quiver strapped to each thigh, and a green beanie to hide my bronze colored hair.

I reached the top of the hill to see the deer already halfway down the other side of the hill. Luckily the forest area on the other side of the wasn't as dense as the area I had just come from and I could kinda of see the injured deer hobbling away.

I drew another arrow from my same quiver, readied it, took aim at the deer and fired. This time the arrow hit its target, the deer's skull, killing it instantly. Satisfied I jogged down the hill.

I hopped over a tree branch and everything froze. Well froze isn't the right word, I was more like someone had hit the universal slow-mo button a few hundred times. I could still look around but when I tried to turn my neck to the left, it took what felt like an entirety to just turn a few degrees.

My feet finally hit the ground and like a rubber and time went from stretched out, to back to normal. As this happened my vision tunneled and then returned to normal, but the ground wasn't under my feet anymore.

You know how in cartoons they don't fall unless they look down. Well it was kind of like that, I looked down at see the ground 14 or so feet below me. I didn't have a chance to scream before my vision tunneled again but this time actually faded to back.

Day 1 – Hour 09:03 – Location: Unknown

I awoke to a headache that felt like someone had slammed some pots and pans on my skull for a few hours, and on top of that there was this fog in my head that made it hard to think clearly. I stayed on the ground in hopes to wait out my headache, which only took a few minutes to pass and after that the fog cleared to. Only to be replaced with a sharp throbbing in my side and the realization that I didn't know where the hell I was.

I gently pushed myself into a sitting position on forest floor and padded myself down for any injures. The only injuries I had sustained from the drop was just a bruise, no bigger than my hand, on my left side.

Once I realized I wasn't in any life threatening danger from injuries I stood up and took in my surroundings.

The trees had changed from red maple to something resembling oak. The hill I was running down earlier was gone and in its place just a continuation of the weird oak forest. Not knowing what to do next I figured I could just head back to my campsite. So I looked at the sun, found north and started walking.

Hour 11:42 – Location: Unknown

The campsite was gone, well that isn't exactly what happened but it might as well have been gone. Everything was phased into the ground. The only way I can really describe it is think of the terrain glitch in Ark, but I digress.

Most of my things were either entirely phased or partially phased into the ground. Anything that was partially phased into the ground was flush with the ground making it unusable. So after an hour or so of scavenging I found my spare steel-framed backpack, some MREs and deer jerky, my sleeping bag, extra arrows, and some basic survival equipment.

I folded the my spare steel-framed pack and stuffed it in to my pack along with the other stuff that managed to survive whatever it is that happened to me. After this I doubled checked the straps on my pack, quiver and knife sheaths then I pulled out my smartphone to be greeted by no signal. Now that in its self wasn't surprising but what was really concerning was the no GPS signal and that the compass didn't work.

With nowhere to go I pulled out my map, guesstimated my position and traced a course to my best friend Wyatt Grant's house. From my guesstimate I was somewhere around 275 miles from his house. So if I can cover around 27-28 miles each day I could get there in a little more than a week.

I put the map away shouldered my pack and bow. Doubled checked the straps on the straps on my quivers and knifes. Once satisfied I checked the direction of the sun, found north and headed north-northeast.

Day 10 – Hour 13:12 – Location: 20-30 miles from Wyatt's house

A branch snapped behind me that sounded like a lightning strike. Both on edge and anxious, I pulled an arrow from my quiver, notched said arrow, aimed and fired at the sound all in one fluid motion. A shadow darted out of the way of the arrow and passed into a beam of sunlight were I caught a brief glimpse of the creature.

The creature's body resembled that of a dogs but it was size of a small horse. It had a dark orange fur on its underbelly and jaw and black fur on its back, head and around its blood red eyes. Its ears stood straight up on the side of its head and had a single large canine jutting out from the top of its jaw on either side of its face. A single horn, with a length of around 6 inches, jutted from the tip of its nose.

When the creature realized that it had been seen it stopped and looked me in the eyes. Even at a distance of 80 feet I could tell that the look on its face was one that predators give their prey when they know it can't escape.

Seeing the unknown creature filled me with an almost immeasurable amount of terror that made my heart go from resting to sub-sonic in less than second. I grabbed another arrow and readied in just in case.

The creature pointed its head to the sky and let out a low but very loud howl that didn't last longer than a second or two. Followed by a sharp bark that was just as loud as the howl and 4 of the same creatures, although slightly smaller, moved silently into the open.

The leader crouched as if getting ready to chase, so deciding to make the first move I pulled the bowstring back, took aim at the leader's skull and released the bowstring. The arrow hit home, going straight through its skull with a sickening crunch. Not waiting for a reaction from the others it turned 180 degrees and sprinted away.

It took about a second for the realization that their leader died and they let out a howl and I could hear the sound of their footfalls. Breaking the #1 rule of being chased by, I looked over my shoulder.

Which I immediately regretted as they were now 40 feet away and closing fast. I jumped over a tree root grabbed an arrow from my quiver and notched it. I hit the ground jumped again and turned 180 degrees midair, aimed and fired another arrow at the closest one.

The creature dodged to the left but not entirely as the arrow lodged itself into the creature's hind quarters. The beast let out a yelp of pain and surprise as it tripped over its own feet, and twisted mid-air and slammed into the creature next to it. It would have been laughable if they weren't so hell bent on killing me.

With only one still up and another getting back up I realized I couldn't afford the few seconds it would take for me to draw another arrow as they were now within 20 feet of me. I turned back around and started to sprint away. I hopped over another root, slung my compound bow over my shoulder and pulled my knife free from the sheath on my back.

Right as I pulled the knife completely free from its sheath the creature was on me as I could feel its breath on my back. The creature jumped and sank its claws into my back then jumped off. I screamed in pain as the creature lunged at me. Without thinking I jumped twisted midair and kicked the creature jaw, which promptly shattered with the sickening sound of bones snapping.

Even with a broken jaw the creature wasn't giving up as it tackled me to the ground. With its claws digging into my shoulder I flipped the direction of the knife from facing outwards to facing inwards. With a roar I burrowed the knife, handle deep, into its neck. I wrenched the knife free and a black, viscous, blood like liquid erupted from the wound in its neck, coating my hair, face, and torso in it.

I heaved the dead body off me and stood up, ignoring the pain from the scratches on my shoulders and chest, but I had the vaguest impression that I had forgotten something.

Something darted out from the trees in the blink of an eye. I raised the knife to attack but was to slow. The creature bent its head and collided with my right leg sending me sprawling on my back. It clamped its jaws on the lower part of my leg. With the strength of a wolf, the creature bit down. I felt my Tibia and Fibula bend then with an explosion of pain they shattered. My vision sparked as another one of the creatures clapped its jaws around my shoulder and I felt my left shoulder blade crack.

I roared in pain as the ground cracked and lime green flames flared from the cracks. The creatures stopped and looked at the flames then me, then back at the flames. Then with the sound of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier the flames exploded outwards, enveloping me, the creatures and everything behind them.

The fire remained there for a minute then vanished leaving only the smell of 'fire and brimstone' and the entire area void as all life for all I could see. Overcome with exhaustion and an immeasurable amount of pain I closed my eyes but was unable to pass out.

I didn't know how long I laid there but I could hear the sound of someone running towards me. The person, or at least I hope it's a person, running towards me took a deep breath and started coughing. A feminine voice sounded from a few feet away,

"Damn this air is not good for the lungs."

She knelt down to me and I could hear the sound of her rummaging through a sack or something like that. She pressed a smooth, flat, stone no bigger than a baseball to the wound on my shoulder and the pain faded and my exhaustion ebbed enough allowing me to open my eyes.

The girl had lightly tanned skin, with brown honey colored hair that reached down a few inches past her shoulders that partially covered her emerald eyes. She was wearing plain canvas clothes; a sheathed short sword was strapped to her back and a small brown sack was in her hands. Right above where her ears would be she had two cat-ears.

She looked at me and saw that I was awake. She apparently thought I wasn't as the expression on her face went from concern to surprise. I looked down at the stone to see that it was glowing the same color as the explosion from earlier.

I tried to sit up only to have my leg explode with pain. I groaned in pain.

"Don't move, it's a miracle you even survived releasing that much mana at once without breaking your body. To add to that, you still have massive amounts of mana. I am surprised you even are still conscious let alone alive."

She shook her head and reached into the bag on her hip on pulled out a small, cylindrical stone around 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. She gave me an apologetic look and pulled up the hem of my right pant leg.

"Sorry in advanced, this is really going to hurt."

She grabbed the upper and lower end of my calf and set the bone. Spots danced on the edge of my vision then faded to black.

Day 16 – Hour 06:54 – Location: Unknown

I jolted awake at the sound of something roaring outside. I shot up into a sitting position causing the other person in the room to yet out a yelp of surprise.

The room looked to be the size of an average apartment room with the walls, floor, and ceiling all made of oak. The bed I was laying in sat in the right corner of the room, relative to the door, with an oak dresser at the end of the bed. A window was in the center of the wall that the head of the bed was pressed against. The bed was made out of something resembling walnut. Red sheets were pulled over the soft mattress and a blue comforter was pulled over it.

I turned to look at the source of the yelp to see the girl who rescued me sitting on an oak chair next to the bed with a book in her hand. Next to the chair was a small nightstand with a tray with a bowl, towel and some other things I couldn't see. I opened my mouth to say something when all that came out was something that sounded like frog croaking.

She grinned at the sound I made and she handed me a cup of cool water. I took a sip of water and tried to speak.

"Thank you… Umm what's your name?"

She gave me a questioning look, "You asked me that when I carried you here, but anyway my name is Sayre," She avoided my eyes and her cheeks turned scarlet, "I… Umm need you to take off your shirt to check the injuries on your shoulder."

I nodded and tried to quell the rising heat in my cheeks. "Yea,"

I tried to raise my arm above my head and I was surprised that I didn't feel any pain. Until my hand was above my head and a web of white hot pain started from my spine and spiked across my left shoulder and ended at my elbow.

I hissed in pain as tears surfaced in my eyes and doubled over. Sayre rushed over to me with the flat stone in her hand. She pressed the stone to my shoulder and the pain subsided.

"Sorry Carter, I probably should have warned you about that."

Sayre's right hand glowed with a ghostly blue hue and she pressed the palm of her right hand against my chest and the shirt expanded big enough to just slip out of. She stood up and sat down behind me.

"So Sayre how did you find me?"

She pressed her glowing palms against my back and gave me a look of disbelief.

"Carter you do realize that the column of fire you created was seen from over 8 miles away, I am actually surprised I was the one that found you. But anyway I was waiting for a merchant that had stopped a few miles away of Primera when the ground shook, and a column of lime green flames shot up in the sky. A few seconds later a heat wave washed over the area making anything wet steam.

So against my better judgement, I asked the Merchant for one of his Ground Dragon, he let me use it and 10 minutes later I reached the part of the forest that your fire vaporized. The area looked to be around 2 miles across and a perfect circle. I pry wouldn't have found you if the Ground Dragon hadn't sprinted off towards the center of area. I found you laying crater about 20 feet across and in dangerously large puddle of your own blood and covered in dried, black blood.

I jumped off the Ground Dragon to find that your right leg looked like it had gone through a meat grinder. Your shoulder wasn't much better but your shoulder blade wasn't shattered like your leg was. When I got closer I saw that you were still awake."

I shuttered at the memory and Sayre pulled her hands away from my shoulder.

"You know a few minutes after I set and healed your Tibia you kept drifting in and out of consciousness muttering random things."

I could almost feel the smirk on her face, "So what did my pain addled mind say that I will never live down."

"The first time you woke up you seem to be quite lucid. Until I tried to get your attention and you started to argue with yourself about why you appeared in this world, then you slumped over and I had a minor panic attack as I thought you had died." She started to laugh unable to continue what she was saying.

"The next time you woke up you tried to touch my ears and then asked if I was a goddess," My faced heated up with mortal embarrassment and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die there. Sayre started laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

"I told you know and you said that's what a god in disguise would say, and you passed out." I paled in horror and mentally cursed my past self, but I had the vaguest feeling that she was telling the truth.

"I seriously said that, didn't I?"

"Yep I am never going to let you live it down,"

Sayre poked my side and I groaned in embarrassment,

"Oh man, I am going to die of embarrassment."

Sayre tried to stifle her laughter but failed miserably. As she laughed, even if it was at me, I was filled with happiness, but it was accompanied by an even stronger feeling of dread that eventually the moment will come to an end. It as a weird combination of two polar opposite emotions that made my heart throb painfully.

She must have seen the pained expression cross my face as her laughter died it her throat and she asked, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head to clear my mind and said, "Nothing, just thinking about something."

She nods her head, "Well your shoulder is almost completely healed but you should be careful not to move it much as the nerves I regrew are extremely sensitive and pry will be for the next week."

Sayre climbed off the bed, "What about my leg?"

"I healed your leg when I first found you as it was the most life-threatening of your injuries. Although you might want some crutches just in case your nerves aren't fully healed."

I turned towards Sayre and let my feet hang off the bed. I mentally debated asking her about teaching me how to control my magic when she turned towards me, cheeks lightly tinted red and said,

"Also before I forget my dad wanted to talk to you about living here when you woke up. Since you appeared to have all your belonging on you when I found you I figured you probably don't have a place to stay and my father wants to know if you need a place to stay. But he said you either have to help him in his shop with forging weapons or get a job."

"What kinds of weapons does he make?"

"Umm I don't really know their names but he makes short swords, long swords, knives, axes, Chakrams, and swords like the one in your pack. There are a few more but I don't remember, but I know he also makes enchanted and custom items."

I nodded and without thinking I stood up. Which I immanently regretted as my shoulder and leg lit up with pain and the muscles there spasmed. My leg gave out and I let out a cry of surprise.

I grabbed the side of the bed before I slammed my face into the oak floor, and Sayre let out stifled laugh and said, "Carter I don't know whether to laugh at your stupidity or criticize you about it."

I turned my head to look at her and sarcastically said, "Har, har, har Sayre. Laugh at the crippled it's not like we can stand up for ourselves."

She sputtered and started to laugh even harder, to the point that her eyes were tearing up from laughing so hard. After a minute of laughing she managed to choke out, "Oh my god, Carter that is so mean."

I smirked and said, "Yea but it's funny as hell but umm could you help me up."

She seemed to have totally forgot that I was laying on the ground as she apologized profusely. With her hands glowing their magical ghost blue hue she grabbed my right arm and pulled it over her shoulder. Before she stood up my body briefly glowed the same color as her hands and I felt about 80 pounds lighter. I felt a little jealous as my magic only consisted of fire, which is pretty cool but it doesn't have the wide variety of uses Sayre's magic has.

"That's a really neat trick. What else can you do with your magic?"

We started heading down stairs.

"Well my magic falls under the Empowerer class. People with that class can manipulate the characteristics of objects. But the Empowerer class has two sub-classes, Internal, and External. Although technically there is 3 but I digress. People in the Internal sub-class can alter the characteristics of their own body, like making their skin as hard as stone or their bones as ridged as a leaf, but not anything else. Were as the External sub-class can alter the characteristics of everything but their own body. External users can make objects denser, lighter, bigger, smaller, and transparent, the list goes on.

Although all objects can be changed it depends of what the object is and what you are trying to change about it. For example if I wanted to make iron act like a mattress it would take more mana than it would take to turn the iron shiny, which would require very little mana. It also depends on the object, larger and denser objects require more mana."

I nodded and made a mental note of what she just said. We stopped at the foot of the stairs and I asked,

"What about my powers?"

"Yours would fall under the Elemental category. Most Elemental users, even weak ones, can at least control two of the 6 'elements.' So it would be extremely unlikely that you only control Fire. But out of elements, Air, Water/Ice, Earth, Fire, Light, and Shadow, I would pry say you will pry find that you can control Ice or Shadow next. But most Elemental mages who start out with being able to control Fire can only control its opposite, Water or Ice. But with your almost limitless mana you could pry do some pretty cool stuff with your Fire magic."

"Are there any other types of magic? Like say being able to summon creatures, familiars, or demons."

"Well being able to summon things falls under the Summoner category. But like the Empowerer class it has two sub-classes called Innate and Acquired. Innate Summoners are able to summon things without any knowledge of summoning and those who fall under the Innate sub-class tend to be able to summon very powerful creatures. Were as those in the Acquired sub-class have to learn from Innate users. Most Acquired users have to summon things into existence via a Summoning Gate or an incantation, and those methods aren't really able to summon anything more powerful that a lesser demon. But people with massive amounts of mana, like you, can summon things without the use of circles and incantations and are able to summon things like one of the Sins."

She shivered at the mention of a Sin, which I can only assume is possibly one of the Seven Deadly Sins from the Christian Mythos.

"I actually have a few books from my friend, Asha, who is an Innate Summoner. Last year she tried to teach me how to summon things but the best I could summon was just an Elemental Spirit, which is extremely pitiful. If you want when your injuries are fully healed we can go talk to her and you can try your luck at summoning a familiars."

I thought about it for a second and said, "I think that would actually be really cool. I wonder what I can summon."

"Well in my opinion Summoners have the coolest power because they can summon not just creatures but objects to. Like imagine being able to summon anything from the pantry or your imagination to you by just thinking about it. Like," Sayre snapped her fingers, "And poof you now have a plate of food, or whatever you want in your lap. Man I wouldn't have to do anything at all and I could just read all day. No need to run errands, nothing it would be great."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. She sounded just like every teenager from my world, I shook my head and what she said. She stopped halfway down the stairs and gave me a weird look. "What's so funny Carter? Wouldn't you do the same thing if you could?"

"Well you're not wrong, but you totally don't give off the lazy person vibe. Your vibe is that of a, well hmm, I don't really know how to describe your vibe. Well I guess it kinda reminds me someone I knew who had a really traumatizing experience. He always hid his pain under a guise of cheerfulness and nonchalance. Now I am not implying you had something traumatic happen to you, but both of your vibes are very similar to each other."

Her entire body froze for a fraction of a second as her eyes widened then her original expression came back. It was only there for a second and I pry wouldn't have noticed it if my arm was around her neck.

She eye roll and in a joking tone, that sounded forced, she said, "Well damn that's kinda depressing Carter."

"Hey you're the one giving off the vibe, and I was just drawing a comparison from you to him. Sorry if I offended you or hurt your feelings."

She shrugged and started walking down the stairs again.

"It's no big deal, you're actually not far from the truth, but I would prefer that you don't press about it. I don't really want to talk about."

I nodded and said, "I understand, sorry for making you think about it again."

"You know Carter for someone who honestly doesn't give off the vibe of someone with intelligence, you are actually quite intelligent."

I sarcastically clutched my heart in mock pain, and said, "My Savior, your words… They wound me." At that, her smirk returned right as we reached the last step of the stairs