Author's Note: There is now a small showcase on Imgur to give you readers some visual context to the story! I'll keep making small presentations on the account and posting the hidden links in the respective chapters. Also, there are some sneak peeks on things to come. You should be able to write down the URL letter for letter and get there.

I'm posting this chapter now as I've looked over it a few times and tried to edit what I could. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long, but I will go over it again and if I do see any mistakes I'll take it down and fix them by the end of Tuesday, March 12, 2019.

Link to pictures: put /a/t9KWW6G after Imgur(D0T)com

The strength I had to pick myself up was minimal, placing the stock of my rifle against the wooden floor and pushing myself upright only lasted for a second before I had to catch myself on the wall. To my benefit, the shock of having my side sliced open started to flee and I regained a bit of feeling after the adrenaline was done making its way through my body, although the pain was nothing short of intense. I placed my back against the wall to see the girl's eyes still fixated onto me, fear still stuck in her eyes. I could feel that I was leaking against the wall as a small pool of my blood began to form on the floor. I sluggishly reached around to my back and pulled the sling bag over my shoulder. The wound making it feel like I was being cut all over again, my teeth clenched against themselves under the sensation of the pain. I unzipped the main compartment and pulled out a spare T-shirt I forgot to take out after I got lithium grease and cosmoline on the front. I inverted the shirt and rolled it up to keep any residue from getting in the cut, closing the bag and throwing it back over my shoulder. My body still not being kind to me. I wrapped the shirt around my waist and started to tie a knot on the wound with the iota of cloth I had left to make it. I took a couple of rapid breaths and pulled hard on the ends of the knot. The pain of the wound being pressed onto tightly was one of the worst things I had ever felt.

"Holy Fuck!" My fist slammed against the wall as the sharp pain subsided, the silver lining being that my side was no longer as much of a faucet. "I'm good…. I'm good… Christ that was bad." I panted, regaining the little strength I had.

The girl moved out of the way as I pushed the door open that was opposite of the main entrance. Inside was a humid bathhouse, steam rising from the four equal and separated elegantly carved white pools of hot water, while a statue of some hero stood in the middle. It would've been nice contrast to the other room in the building had I currently not been dying.

I stumbled into the room a little further, seeing a few figures that came into view more clearly as I moved inward. Two undressed men stood with their backs against the right side wall near the furthest pool on said side, and on their knees in the shallow portion of the pool sat two nude girls. One had long brown hair to her shoulders and Emerald Green eyes while the other girl with blonde hair in a ponytail had dark blue eyes. Everyone stared at me as I limped forward. From the sheer looks of this it seemed that this place was some sort of brothel or prostitution ring, and from the feeling in my side I was quickly reminded how interrupting them turned out.

"Fuck do you want?" I inquired to the four frozen in place, probably not looking that dangerous as I dragged my sorry ass to the other side of the room.

The girls' eyes widened a bit as they saw the one behind me, their heads turning to one another as they started to rise from the water and approach the both of us. The men began to protest vocally, which I assumed was directed at me. I turned to face them and pointed my dry rifle at them, to which the reaction was to quiet down with haste. I guess there is no language more universal than the threat of violence. I noticed that the other two decided to tag along, and did them the decency of keeping my eyes averted, though sneaking a peak wasn't on the top of my mind at the moment. As I reached the end of the room I was met with stairs on my right and a door to my left, and I had little intention of discovering the new olympic sport of wounded stair climbing. The door on my left led to an empty dressing room where similar temple robes were draped over multiple wooden bars. Finally, the last door at the end of the small dressing room led to an alleyway. I was already out of energy and starting to become delirious, my back resting against the rear of another building as I slowly sunk to a sitting position. All I could do was breathe, each inhale and exhale becoming more difficult than the last.

The girl with the robes and headgear came out after me, her eyes speaking of the same sort of concern as before. Kneeling herself down on my injured side, she begins to peel my coat and shirt back, staring down at the large cut in my side. I was too lethargic to push her hand away or even refuse.

"The blade was poisoned. Damn that old creep!" She exclaimed something, her hands visibly shaky.

Her expression had changed as well, not angry, but more determined than anything else. I felt the sting as my half-assed attempt at triage was untied and removed, and as I thought I was going to be left to bleed out in the alleyway she closed her eyes and placed her hands one on top of the other, over my wound. A light green aura glowed from the location for a good twenty seconds, before she pulled her hands back. The entirety of the pain wasn't gone, but most of it along with the blood loss was, although the cut left a nasty scar. My first encounter with what I could only guess to be legitimate magic didn't frighten me or leave an impression of awe in me which made sense considering the circumstances, but I was incredibly grateful for her efforts.

The two of us were soon joined by the others in their own set of red and white robes. I started to pick myself up notice that I had energy returned to me. The one who healed me raised her hand a little as she panted in place. I offered my hand and helped her on her feet once more, catching her as she back fell into me. The healing and replenishment must've taken the energy out of her. The other girls took her from me and one pointed to a door at the back of a building. Assuming they knew more about the layout of the city, I approached it without much question, albeit with a bit of caution.

I removed the empty magazine and replaced it with a loaded one in my pocket, letting the empty one take the place of the last. I used my right hand to work the action, which I knew was a potentially compromising move if I was in a fight. I placed my hand on the knob of the door and walked inside.

2019

March 23, 10:14:04 AM

Wooded area outside of St. Petersburg, Russia

I raised my weapon and entered a somewhat clean concrete building. Large square sheets of paper with circular bullseye targets marked with "10", "25", and "50" respectively from right to left. On the ground was a straight line of red duct tape that was placed before the figures, it had seen wear and tear, almost missing in some areas of the line. I moved my weapon where I turned checking every corner until I heard a voice come from behind.

"Don't worry about that, we breach and room clear later. Now, stand on red line."

I knew that voice too well, so when I turned to look at the source I kept my rifle pointed down range at all times. It was Pyotr! I was back home, back in reality. Although, I just had to make sure what just happened, really did. I felt like a bit of a dunce considering how I probably just looked.

"Hey Pyotr?" If I had been cast into some random world then he most likely would have seen something, or at least noticed that I was gone.

"Da?"

"Did I go somewhere just now?"

"What do you mean?" His face looked like that was the last question he expected.

"Like when I walked into the building, did I go anywhere?"

"Yes, you went into building." Was what I took as a no.

Maybe, I was just going crazy. I was considering a trip to my doctor to get my head checked out when a familiar feeling in my side returned. I cautiously lifted the coat, and shirt which still had a cut, the insides of both still stained with blood. The top of my jeans weren't very lucky either, but the bottom of the coat managed to cover the blotch of red that got on them. There was the scar from earlier, on my side looking as it had when my wound was healed. I was lucky that Pyotr seemed to be preoccupied with something else as I lowered everything back down and tried to not draw attention to the cut in my new coat. The lights from uptop came on and I planted my feet on or near the red line in a shooting stance across from the target marked "50". I checked the chamber and put my hand back on the grip upon seeing a round seated. I adjusted the rear leaf for one hundred meters and aimed down the iron sights.

"Alright, shoot when ready."

The only thoughts that ran through my head were ones of the other world, the girl, the old man, the first people I've ever killed. With these things on my mind I centred the sights on the target and dragged my finger back on the trigger until the rifle went off, repeating the process methodically four more times.

"Stop."

I kept the gun held up and looked at the peppered target, rounds having gone all over.

"Stance is good, grip could use little work, but target should not look like that. You have no focus." Footsteps approached me from behind. "Here." Pyotr handed me a black permanent marker. I sighed, a little pissed with my performance.

I set the rifle against the wall with the safety lever up and walked over to the target, putting small circles around the holes I had shot through the paper. I retreated to my original position once finished, picking up the rifle and flipping the safety back off, the marker seated in my back pocket. I looked down the range as I got back into a shooting stance and pressed the buttpad to my shoulder, raising the rifle once more.

"Focus now. When you shoot it should be only thing on your mind."

I nodded in unargumentative agreement and brought the sights over the centre of the target. I couldn't help but still have the other world on my mind, and in a sort of Streisand Effect the more I tried to push the thought away, the more it wanted to pound itself into the forefront of my focus. I started to wonder, even if the separate world was real, would I see it again? There's plenty of stories, games, and shows about that sort of phenomena where some introvert is chosen as a hero for another world that's in a sword and shield, pre-electronic age. The difference being that they never went back to their homeworld.

"Okay, you are good to shoot." Pyotr said, his arms crossed over one another as he observed down the range.

Ironically, the world that stole my focus was, if even just for the moment, the motivation I needed to clear my mind. If I found myself back there again I would likely still have the unwanted attention of whomever was in that brothel and whatever problems came along with it. I still didn't know how I felt about taking a life, whether it was justified or not it wasn't a lovely feeling regardless, but if my enemies forced the dichotomy of me or them onto me I knew I wanted to live more, and my actions, tactics, and skill had to reflect that.

The last five rounds of the magazine went down range without much time between the shots. The groupings on the rounds were better than my previous attempt, the holes made by the rounds in the paper considerably more close to one another than the last.

"Better, now you will do again, this time I want all ten rounds within that little distance of one another like you just did." Pyotr left the building and I used the time to reload my gun, getting into the habit of charging AK platform weapons underhanded. The empty magazine went into the available front pocket.

Pyotr came back carrying a few large square sheets of paper, and as the corners bent to the side under their own weight it wasn't hard to tell he had brought in more target sheets. He walked over to the fifty meter target and tore it down, placing a new target in place with some grey duct tape. He made his way behind me once more, this time wanting the drill to begin a little quicker.

"Start with weapon in low-ready." I did as he told me, my hands on the grips and the barrel pointing away and towards the concrete floor "Go!"

I shouldered the weapon, remembering to bring the sights in front of my eyes instead of relying on moving my head and neck to find them. I pulled off shots at a consistent pace, the bangs echoing rapidly on the inside of the building while the wonderfully familiar smell of burnt smokeless powder filled the air. The weapon eventually clicked. I kept the barrel down range as I put the stock into my abdomen and used my firing hand to pull the action back.

"Chamber's clear, gun's empty." I told Pyotr to let him know I was out.

"Good, we come back to this exercise with different weapon later and work until you can pull off consistent good accuracy again. Let's go back outside and we can work on how to attack from different angles of cover." Pyotr made his way back outside and I followed along, reaching out for the door and tapping it in the same manner as someone frightened of static electricity.

I slowly stepped through the door and looked outside, everything was the same as the outside I remembered, which was comforting enough. Pyotr was at the table where he had placed the weapons calling me over.

"Remove magazine and put Vepr on table." Pyotr instructed while pulling some things from the gun bag.

I did as I was instructed, leaving the empty magazine on the table.

"Now remove both handguards."

I pulled at the small lever on the right side of the rear sight, discovering it didn't want to budge. I motioned my hand towards a screwdriver on the table.

"Do you mind if I use this?" I asked.

"Go ahead"

I pried the lever out of place and used the screwdriver again to lift the top portion of the handguard out, then removed the bottom.

"Looking good, now remove the gas tube."

That part was easy enough, the metal tube popping off and rolling back and forth on the table until it stopped.

"Now put this on." Poytr handed me a new gas tube with a picatinny rail on the top.

"UltiMAK?"

"Da, good eye. Now put it on." Pyotr instructed

I mounted the gas tube on to the rifle and used a level to make sure it was even. I had to remove it to put the lower B-10 on again, using the lower handguard to keep the under brackets in place. Once the B-10 was locked back into place Pyotr handed me a small tube of red Loctite and I placed a bit on each screw before tightening the rail in place. The last gift I was handed was an electronic sight. Mounting it on the rail was simple with a few turns of an allen key, and the sight was secure enough that it didn't wobble at all.

"You will start training on red dots. This is Aimpoint Micro T-1. Battery life is fifty thousand hours on current setting, so no need to turn it off, even when storing weapon."

"This stuff is really is really great. Thank you for all of this." I really was thankful for the weapons' training, but one thing kept persisting on my mind. "What is this all for, by the way?" I inquired as to the nature of our training.

"You will find out later." Pyotr responded with a displeasurable change of tone

"...Anyway, top off magazine and meet me over there." He pointed towards what I initially thought was a paintball field. "Oh, I left extra ammo in shooting range."

I nodded and went over to the building again to reload everything. Once again tapping at the door, stepping in and out, and pushing my arm into the building just to make sure I would stay in my world. I noticed the pain had started to die down, letting me focus without what could be an annoying vice. Once inside I went for the small paper boxes by the extra targets, opening them up and pulling the fresh cartridges out. I filled the magazines that sat in my pockets first, then the one in my weapon, keeping the magazine in but the chamber clear, for now. One last box of thirty FMJ .366 TKM was on the floor and I decided to place it in my sling pack so I didn't need to leave them at the table.

Once loaded I jogged to the door to go meet Pyotr outside again.

Unknown Year

March 24, 5:43:27 AM

Thorn Kingdom, Eostia

Through the door was the inside of another building. One of a kitchen with a cauldron hanging from a wooden swivel mounted to the wall, the metal container completely empty. Wooden counters were lined against the other walls where shelves holding barrels with taps weren't. Various produce was tied up and hung from iron chandeliers, while chests were positioned in the free space under the counters.

I took a look behind me while standing with the door pressed against my right side and saw the alleyway I was in before I found myself home again. I realized that whenever I jumped worlds, whatever the hell caused that, I would return where I had left off with seemingly no passage of time.

The inside of the kitchen was clear, and through a rectangular hole in the wall above one of the counters I saw a similar set up to the bar, figuring I was in a restaurant of some sort. I poked my head back out into the alleyway and waved the girls over. The two I picked up along my way out of the brothel had the first girl's arms around their necks, helping to support her weight as all three moved their feet through the alley and into the building. The three girls started to make their way past me and into the dining area from a door to the right. Knowing that I couldn't communicate with them vocally I had to think of something as they now worked from the right of the room to the left, where a small portion of wall extended outwards. I made my way out of the kitchen and weaved through the tables a little carelessly, my body pushing the furniture aside as I worked my way to their destination. I met my goal and got in front of a set of wooden stairs leading upwards that was hidden behind the extended bit of wall. The two eyed me up as if to ask what I was doing by getting in their way, but I turned my back to them, lifting my open left hand and closing it into a fist before bringing it under the weapon to the charging handle and back to the RK-0 once a round was in battery. Being honest with myself, this was the moment I took to try and look somewhat cool, flipping the the white light on and shouldering my rifle as I climbed the stairs with caution. Once at the top of the narrow staircase I brought the weapon in as far as I could and leaned around the corner millimeters at a time until I was certain it was clear, after which I made my way down the hall, doors on either side of me. I could hear the girls methodically make their way up the stairs. They came to the far end of the hall with me and went into a room that was second last on the left. As I followed them in, I found them setting the first girl on the bed, tending to her.

The girl with the long brown hair started to unravel a long white piece of cloth and removed it from her uniform. She looked around the room a bit and approached me.

"Do you have something to write with?" I assumed she asked me a question, her emerald eyes getting distracted by the otherworldly gear I had on.

"Huh?" I asked, not understanding her.

"Do you have anything I can use to write with?" This time she held up the cloth in her left hand and mimicked scribbling motions with the other.

"Oh! Yes." I nodded quickly and fished out the permanent marker I placed in my back pocket earlier on, handing it to her.

She looked over the marker, eventually removing the cap and looking at the black felt tip. She brought it close to her face, recoiling a bit as the scent found its way into her nose.

"What an odd scent." The girl spoke towards the marker.

Going to a small table by the bed the girl set the cloth down flat and began to drag the marker across the surface of the cloth, writing in a downwards fashion like a scroll. She had covered about three quarters of the fabric with three vertical lines of text once she was finished writing. The cloth was rolled up and the girl stuffed it inside of her robes, walking over to me right after. She put a finger against my chest and pointed to the ground, repeating her actions once more.

"Uhh, sure." I nodded knowing she wanted me to stay in the room. After that she left the room, the situation becoming a waiting game.

The other two girls were sitting upright on the bed, talking amongst themselves, periodically looking towards the armed elephant in the room, which was myself.

"We'll have to sit tight here while we wait for Aya to return. I just wish she would've let me go with her." The look in the girl's blue eyes spoke of her worry and desire of her friend's safe return to the temporary hideout.

"She'll be fine, Hitomi. It's better that she does this alone, she'll draw less attention from others that way." Kaguya reassured her fellow priestess. "Ugh…. restoring him sapped a lot of my energy, and now that the aphrodisiacs are wearing off my head feels like it's going to burst on the inside." The head priestess rubbed her temples, groaning at the discomfort.

"Hey, Kaguya…" Hitomi said quietly, her eyes faced downwards while her right hand made its way up and down her left arm.

"Yes?" Kaguya responded the maiden.

"If it still means anything… I'm sorry I denounced you when we were first captured, I didn't fully understand what they had done to you... what they were going to do to us." Hitomi's eyes peered up to Kaguya, a look of shame on her expression.

Kaguya smiled amidst her own pain. "I suppose if you can forgive me, I can do the same."

After nearly half an hour of silent waiting Hitomi walked towards the windows and peered outside. She saw a small flatbed cart being pulled by a single horse pull up to the front of the abandoned Inn, the driver wearing a rice farmer's hat and a dark green cape. Out the back of the cart, from under a white blanket, poked out Aya's head and arm, waving to her friend. Hitomi turned to Kaguya and the boy in the room and pointed out the window.

"Aya found us a way out, come on!"

She pointed towards the door in the room while looking at the boy, moving herself to the bed to help a slightly more able bodied Kaguya. With her head shrine maiden's arm over her neck she started towards the door, the boy taking his unique device of metal and light and pressing it against his shoulder as he exited the room before them. Through the empty hallway, and down the narrow stairs the three exited the building, double and triple checking over their shoulders. One by one they loaded themselves onto the cart; Kaguya, Hitomi, and lastly the boy.

The cart started moving, slowly but surely the voices of people began to fade out and were soon replaced by the sounds of nature. An uneventful two hours of travel was interrupted when the cart came to a stop, voices of men emanating from outside.

"Good morning traveler, we could use some help." A male voice from outside called.

"Is that so? How may I aid you?" The driver responded.

"A nutty old client of ours spoke of a murderer in the nearest town. He spouted nonsense, saying the killer wielded a weapon that "sang like lightning, threw metal, and spit fire" with no magic involved. Apparently the assailant was wearing something over his ears. Have you seen anything of the sort?" Some of the other men in the group made joking quips about the man's old age, saying he was just going nuts.

The driver looked at the man quizzically. "I've neither heard nor seen any such thing."

"I didn't think so. That old bastard really is losing his damn mind. Before you go, can I ask what it is you are hauling?" He reached for the blanket.

"Don't touch that!" The driver exclaimed

The man's hand stopped as he looked up to the driver.

"What's the matter?" The man became a little suspicious, eying the blanket up and down.

"That's Moon Wheat in there." The driver's quick thinking saved him for a little more time.

"Moon Wheat? The hell is that?" The man started to sound a little more annoyed.

"Wheat harvested under a full moon, it is not to touch direct sunlight until it is made into food."

"How come I've never heard of this Moon Wheat then?"

"Because it is my discovery, you don't expect me to go around telling everyone my secrets to making money, do you?" The driver's tone of voice seemed a little offended as he responded.

"I suppose not. Anyway, tell us if you see anything." The man said as he placed his hands in his pockets and stated to walk away. The rest of the group followed behind him.

"How can I find you?" The driver looked back.

"Just tell your local guards you're looking for Hicks, they'll know who I am." He waved, moving in the direction of the previous town with his group.

After the voices stopped and the many footsteps faded the cart started to move again, and by the terrified looks the girls had I could tell we were probably almost made.

Unknown Year

March 24, 8:25:34 PM

Town near Thorn Kingdom Capital, Eostia

The next twelve hours seemed like a small eternity while holding our positions in the cramped cart. I started to hear the conversations of people growing in volume as I assumed we were making our way into the next town, giving off an audible sigh of relief. The cart moved for a couple minutes longer and eventually stopped. The driver lifted the blanket and spoke to the brown haired girl.

"We're here." He dropped the blanket and remounted his horse.

We got out of the cart one by one and I followed the girls into a building we were parked outside of. Inside it was dimly lit with red lighting, but I couldn't identify it's source. A girl at the front desk was adorned in the same robes as the other girls, and as I looked around there were many more in the same outfit. I didn't have much time to ask myself questions on the nature of this building before the other two girls went off and the girl I saved from the brothel offered her hand to me.

"Yeah… okay." I took it not knowing who else to trust and I was led by the hand into a room on the same floor. The setup of the room was a little more clean than the one we were in earlier that day, the unknown red light keeping it's low intensity throughout the building evenly.

I was led to a bed and sat down on the edge of it, the girl's eyes looking into mine. She moved her soft hands around my cheeks and grabbed my hearing protection, slowly slipping them off and placing them on a nightstand to the side. Reaching forward again, she placed a hand on my left temple and this time I could see a faint blue aura glow from her hand. She looked a little embarrassed and apprehensive, looking down and away from me. The eventually girl took a breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly, her eyes meeting mine once more.

"Hello." She greeted me directly, like she knew I was going to understand her.

"Wait… what? You spoke English this whole time?" I asked, feeling confused.

"N-no. Nothing of the sort. I performed a blessing on you so that you may understand me in your native tongue, and that I may understand you in mine. It's something the shrine maidens are endowed with for missionary work. We're working on getting you an amulet that lets you understand others besides me as well, and vice versa."

This was great, I finally had a chance to explain myself to someone and tell them I needed to find a way home.

"I think I should first tell you now that I'm not of this world; I don't belong he-" A finger was brought to my lips, and I shut up.

"I've heard that the magic in this world isn't strictly bound by it, that might give you an idea on where to start. Let's not focus on that right now" She ran her thumb along the side handguard rail on my rifle. "A weapon that sings like lightning, spits fire, and throws metal. You'll have to tell me more about this later traveler."

"S-sure, if you'd like to know I can tell you all about it."

I flipped the safety on my rifle to the on position and let it meet the same fate, barrel sticking up as it leaned against the wall.

"My name is Kaguya, I'm the head shrine maiden of my religion. How about yourself? Do you have a name?" Kaguya removed her headwear and also placed it on the nightstand.

"Y-yeah. My name is Vasily. I'm not really too special in my own world." I responded with some thought on my own life, though I wasn't upset with how I ended up, getting to be a traveling gunsmith and getting weapons training from Pyotr. Things weren't so bad, besides the constant change of reality.

"Vasily, was it?" Kaguya's arms made their way around the back of my neck "Please, let me thank you for saving me today." Her head started to close the already small gap between us. I didn't get much time to anticipate the obvious as Kaguya slowly pressed her lips against mine, taking my first kiss.

AN: I've decided I'm going to include like one or two Center Axis Relock fights within the story, but the protagonist will have to have temporary enhancements, either by magic or stimulants. Also, when I include Russian in the story I will offer translations in the bottom Author's note, because Google can't translate colloquialisms for shit.