Lewis looked down the gun range eyeing the target: a metal pan with a diameter of half a meter. Flicking the necessary guide sights to make the 200-meter shot, he held his breath as he raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. The hammer smashed down, and after a small hangfire, the rifle fired with the faint ding indicating that he hit his target.

His friend David next to him whistled in appreciation. Lewis took out his ear protection to hear his friend. "Damn. You actually hit the damn thing from that range with a musket. I thought muskets are supposed to be inaccurate as fuck!"

The only response was a raised eyebrow. "This is a Springfield Model 1861. It's a rifled musket not a smoothbore you neanderthal. One of the biggest reasons for the massive casualties in the Civil War was because..."

"Yeah. Yeah. Save your history lessons for later. I just want to hear mine go ping!" David took his spot and raised his M1 Garand after putting on his ear protection. He quickly sent 8 bullets down range until the iconic ping from his gun rang out.

Meanwhile, Lewis was busy reloading his musket. He brought the hammer to half-cock, then immediately slid the riffle down onto its butt. He took out his paper cartridge from his ammunition pouch and ripped open the top with his teeth and poured the pre-measured black powder into the barrel. Afterward, he pushed in the bullet, paper and all, into the barrel and began ramming with his ramrod.

"Ah yeah. I always feel like creaming my pants every time I hear that ping. You finished reloading yet old-timer?" Lewis scowled back at his friend as he finished ramming down the Minie bullet with his rod.

"Just finished." He then brought up his rifle

"Huh. You've been practicing or something?"

"Ever since you started giving me grief about reloading this beauty." The two boys went silent until Lewis once more fired to be answered back by another gong of a successful hit. "Now I can reload every 20ish seconds."

"You know. I don't understand why you still use that antique. Yeah, it has that old retro flavor, but it has to be annoying constantly reloading like that after every shot. Not only that the black powder fouls so after a couple of shots, you got to clean the nipple or you risk misfire. Even more, after 40 or so shots, you have to clean out all that fouling in the barrel since it gets difficult to load the bullet! So much maintenance!" Shaking his head, David reached for his water bottle.

Lewis's response was to simply shrug as he began walking towards his box that held all the necessary items for maintaining and firing his Springfield. "This is a hand me down from my grandfather so it was free, and I never deny free stuff. Second, I can make my own powder and minie bullet" -He held up the mold and crucible to emphasize his point- " so the only things I have to buy are the lead, black powder ingredients, and primer caps."

Looking into his box, David coughed on his water bottle and began heaving for air. After clearing his throat, he hissed. "What the hell! Why do you have so many caps?! With those arguments you were making, I thought you were a cheapskate when it came to guns!"

Lewis looked down at his five boxes of caps and then shrugged. "The place I usually buy these at was going out of business so I took advantage of the sale."

"But 5000?!"

"Only the 1000 boxes were left. The prices were really great. Now I admit, I may have gotten overbored."

"Ya think?"

"But now I don't have to worry about caps for some time."

"Nor bullets too. How many did you stockpile anyway?" Lewis did a quick scan of the paper cartridges. "About 20ish in the paper cartridges, but I have enough materials to make 100 more. I tried not to make too much since-Hey!"

David quickly reached into his box and yanked out the bayonet. "Holy cow! You even have this. Was your grandfather a reenactor or something?"

Lewis took back the bayonet. "No. He just liked collecting stuff. He was a real history geek."

"Like you?" David said as he once more moved back to the firing line and began aiming at the target.

"No. I am far from a history geek. I'm more into the... *Bang Bang Bang Ping* sciences."

"But you spout off so many stupid history facts!" David grumbled as he put in a fresh clip into his Garand. On his left, Lewis took up his own position as he aimed for the 250-meter target.

"First. Pot calls the kettle black? You are the World War 2 freak here. Second, it's because I read books you dingus and the books that have recently caught my attention are the Napoleonic Wars and a little bit about the Civil War. You should try that sometime. Read some books."

David snorted as he once more shouldered his rifle. "No thank you, honor student. I'm not stupid to take 6 AP classes in a semester."

"5. Not 6." He watched his friend take out six targets in rapid succession.

"Gee. That is so much better. Which one did you drop?"

This time Lewis went for the 100-meter target. "Music theory."

"Ah... The class Emily was taking. I heard she got a new boyfriend."

"And that is exactly why I dropped the class. No need to torture myself to be with a girl who is already taken. I'm just thankful that I found out before the deadline."

David put down his rifle and wrapped an arm around Lewis's neck. "Ahh... Put away the frowny face. There are plenty of fish in the sea! I'm pretty sure you'll find one that suits you."

"Big words coming from a guy who has gone through 7 girlfriends."

David shrugged at the stab. "It's high school. What did you expect? Besides, I'm planning on holding off on any serious long term relationships until college. By the way, which ones are you applying for again?"

"A mix of ivy leagues, state colleges, and some safety schools. Whichever gives me the most scholarship is the one I'll pick. Do you need help with those college essays? I finished mine over summer break so I have lots of time."

David shook his head in exasperation. "Fucking honor student. On top of your freaking internship, you do your essays. Do you even screw around or play?"

"What is this 'screw around' you speak of?" Lewis answered with the most cringiest British accent he could mutter.

"Oh shove off. But thanks for the offer. I'll take you up on it."

"Sure. Just send me a text. But if I do help you, do you mind looking mine over as well?"

"Oh, that's why you offered," David said while shaking his head in mock disappointment. "I thought you offered since you were trying to be a good friend. Oh, woe is me."

Lewis put his hands on his heart and stepped back. "I am shocked by the lack of faith you have on me. What type of person do you take me for?"

"A psychopathic mad scientist who is only following society's laws because you fear the societal consequences."

Lewis frowned as he contemplated his friend's words. "Mad scientist I understand but psychopathic?"

"Dude. I still remember that time at Tom's farm. You were slaughtering pigs, cows, chickens, and you didn't even bat an eye. I still remember your words when you first slaughtered that cow. Oooh! Is that the four stomachs? I thought they would be bigger!"

"I do not sound like that-"

"Uh yeah, you did."

"Besides, it was necessary to kill those animals or we would have to go vegetarian for our entire time there."

"There is necessary to kill and there is enjoying the kill. And you, my friend, was definitely in enjoying the kill side."

"... Okay, but that still is not psychopathic. If we go by the clinical definition, I am not psychopathic. I still feel empathy and all that."

"Fine. I'll give you that. I still remember that time you balled your eyes out when we watched Your Lie in April." Lewis covered his eyes in embarrassment. "I'll revise my words and say that you have psychopathic tendencies. I still say we should totally go to a therapist and get it checked." David said jokingly.

"Therapists cost money, and I will not spend money on something I don't need as much as you believe I need it," Lewis answered back with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"I don't understand why you are so stingy with your money. It's not like you're poor or anything."

"I am not stingy. I just like to save money when I can."

"Says the guy who splurged the most on our trip to Germany."

"Hey, I was legal drinking age there. Of course, I'm going to take advantage of it. It's stupid how high the drinking age is here. I'm going to be 18 in three more months. Let me drink by then."

David's eyes glinted. "You sure you can handle the alcohol. Help Help! The floor is spinning. The world is ending! Bleurgh. Right onto that waitress that you thought was pretty hot."

Lewis pushed his friend. "Shut up. I didn't think the cocktails were going to be that strong."

"Excuse me? Did the name Adios Motherf*cker not clue you in?"

"Wait. Wait. That was its name? I downed like four of those!"

David stared blankly at his friend disbelieving. "Yeah. It said it right in the fine print! Quite clearly in fact!"

"Oh. I just ordered based on the picture." David only stared at his friend disbelieving before facepalming. As much of a smart person his friend may be, there were times when he questioned his friend's intelligence.

"Gah whatever. You are just as much of a dumbass as you are a smartass." David once more picked up his rifle and began to fire.

"Nice wordplay there. Preparing for the auditions?" Lewis said as he finished reloading his Springfield.

"You overestimate the master procrastinator. Of course, I haven't even started practicing yet. Wait. I'm on my last bullet. Let's make a bet. Whoever can hit that 450-meter target, buys lunch tomorrow."

Lewis sneered at his best friend. "You know as well as I do that you hold the advantage here."

"Oh c'mon. Isn't the Springfield a rifled musket? What do you have to fear?"

"It's not that. I haven't practiced at that range yet. Also, the Garand is far more comfortable at those ranges than the Springfield."

"Oh so all that boasting of you being the better shot than me was a lie." Lewis narrowed his eyes.

"Fine. But only if I can attach something to this rifle." David shrugged. He didn't see how attaching the bayonet would help.

Lewis went back to his box and began rummaging around when he came back David's eyes opened in disbelief. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Oh, this scope. I had a special comportment for this thing to avoid damage. Now you ready, or are you backing out?" Lewis snapped on the scope while staring smugly at his blond friend.

This time it was David's time to sneer. "I should have known this was what you meant."

Lewis shrugged. "Should have been more specific." He aimed and fired at the target scoring a hit.

David shook his head and also fired scoring a hit. "Darn foiled again. Well, it's a draw then. C'mon. Let's go back to our cars. I have a date with my girlfriend, and..."

"Go on without me. I'm going to clean out my rifle first before going home. Avoid cleaning up a mess that way. Just tell your uncle thanks for allowing us to use his range."

"Sure. I'll be sure to pass it on. See you tomorrow."

"See you." Lewis began dismantling his rifle and gave everything a thorough clean with some hot water that he boiled with his portable water boiler that was connected to an outlet in the nearby cabin. He wiped down everything with some cotton rags and then finished up with lube. He made sure to scrub until a shine came from the rifle. Just like when he first got it. He would be damned if he had to replace parts because he got careless with cleaning the rifle. It was going to be stupid expensive to get replacement parts due to how niche his gun was.

With his gun cleaned, he slung the rifle and the box over his back and began to walk back to his car. However, on the way, Lewis noticed a faint blue glow coming from the depths of the pine forest. Intrigued, he crept closer to the blue glow, but only after unslinging his rifle and fitting it with a bayonet. He just cleaned his rife so he didn't load it. Yet.

When he reached the mysterious glow, Lewis noticed that it came from a fairy ring of blue glowing mushrooms. Excited at the prospect of discovering a new species of mushrooms, Lewis quickly slung the rifle behind his back, took out his phone and snapped a couple pictures. He then stepped closer to the ring in order to take a sample using his bayonet. When he touched a mushroom, the entire fairy ring began glowing with a harsh blue light.

"What the f-" Lewis couldn't keep his eyes open any longer due to the harsh glow. He felt his stomach drop, and a strong wind toppled him over. When he reopened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of deciduous trees instead of pine trees.

"Wait. Wait." Panicking at the sudden change, Lewis stood up to see himself at the boundary between a forest and a wheat field. A lazy dirt path was in front of him.

Immediately, Lewis took out his phone and was greeted with a no signal. After slapping himself to make sure it was not a dream, Lewis immediately began salvaging what he could of his situation. First, he went to the settings of his phone and started closing apps, turning down the brightness, changing everything to maximize his battery life. Second, he refitted his bayonet and began loading his Springfield. Once everything was loaded, Lewis sat down heavily on his box, put his hands on his forehead and groaned.

First, his survival situation. Food was most likely not an issue due to his gun. He could hunt, and he had some experience with gutting and skinning due to his time at the farm. Water was going to be the biggest issue since he had no way of disinfecting it. It was going to be very dangerous to get cholera in an unknown place.

Which brings him to a second question. Where was he? Lewis was well aware of the rumors and legends that surrounded fairy rings, but they couldn't be true, could they? He grunted in annoyance, perhaps they weren't so groundless after all. Perhaps, the Fairy ring whisked him somewhere else. It would explain the lack of signal from his cellphone. Not even a roaming data warning came.

Now that Lewis had a guess of what happened to him, the question remained of what now? He would love to go back home, but how? Would finding another fairy ring work or would it simply send him somewhere else? How would he find one since the fairy ring that brought him here simply disappeared? Perhaps the first thing he needed to do was get information and that meant finding civilization. Judging from the dirt path, there were people and horses here.

However, before he moved on, he should do a quick inventory. As he brushed away his unkempt black hair from his eyes, he opened his box and began counting. First, he took out his water bottle and groaned when he realized that it was empty. Then, there were his earplugs for noise protection. He had 5000 primer caps neatly organized into five boxes. Next to the boxes, he placed his half-empty bottle of lube and the necessary equipment for the maintenance of his rifle. He still had his mold and crucible, but no lead to make more minie bullets. There were enough black powder, paper, and premade bullets for about 100 more shots. He only had 20 paper cartridges in his ammunition pouch that hung from his shoulder. There was his scope that was neatly tucked away in its compartment. Most importantly, he had his Springfield 1861 model with a bayonet attached. To top it off in his pocket, he had his currently useless iphone 10 that had 60 percent battery left. In his other pocket, he had his wallet holding his ID, debit card, coupons, and some cash. No food, no water, no fire starter. This only increased the urgency of his situation. He needed to get to civilization fast.

As Lewis was conflicted about which way he should go, he noticed a group of three approaching. As the three came closer, he noticed more and more interesting details. First, there was a man in blue plate armor on a horse. Lewis eyed the lance on the man's back warily. He looked dangerous. There was another blue-haired? man who had a unique fashion statement with a shirt that had a sleeve missing. A highly decorated sword hung on his side. Finally, there was a blonde girl in a victorian style dress holding some sort of staff.

After some deliberation, Lewis decided that the three were not a threat so he laid down his rifle as a show of peaceful intentions. That said he made sure that he could quickly pick up the rifle should he be wrong. Once the group was a couple of paces away, Lewis raised his hand and gave a wave. "Hello."

It was the blue-haired man who answered back. "Hello to you as well stranger."

Now that he was closer, he noticed a strange tattoo on the man's shoulder. Before he could say anything, the girl bounded closer and began inspecting Lewis to his discomfort. "Wow. I've never seen clothes like yours before. Where did you get it?"

The armored man spoke before Lewis could. "My Lady. I ask that you step away from that man. He could be a bandit or an assassin."

Lewis quickly spoke up and put his hands up as a show of peace. "I am the farthest thing from a bandit or an assassin. I have no intention of harming any of you as long as you don't harm me."

The armored man grunted. "I shall be the judge of that."

This time the blue-haired man held up his arm. "Peace Frederick. No need to be so wary. He doesn't look like a bandit nor an assassin. You have my apologies for my companion's wariness,..."

"Lewis Davout. May I have your names as well?" Lewis stretched out his hand for a handshake.

"My name is Chrom, the delicate one over there is Lissa -Hey!-, and the wary one over there is Frederick." At those words, Lewis's smile froze, and his eyes widened.

Noticing the sudden change, Chrom leaned in for a better look. "Are you alright Lewis? You seem awfully pale."

"By any chance, you aren't cosplayers, are you? Please tell me the truth."

"I do not know what 'cosplayers' are. Could you clarify?"

"One moment." Lewis took a couple of steps back and glared at the forest which had many hiding places. "Alright! That's enough. You guys got me good. I don't know how you guys did it, but the joke has gone far enough. Now bring me home you assholes. I have to finish that essay due tomorrow. If I get anything less than A because of you guys wasting my time, I won't let you borrow my study guide for the Calculus exam next week. I MEAN IT."

Lewis stood panting as he waited for a response. The longer there was no response, the paler Lewis got. There was no way his friends would risk this, especially David who was close to getting a D in the class. He felt a hand go around his shoulder. "Are you sure you are alright Lewis?"

As the reality of his situation set in, Lewis plastered a fake smile on his face and tried to salvage the situation as much as he could. "By any chance, do you know about outrealm gates and how I could get there?"

Lissa opened her mouth in surprise. "You are an outrealmer?! But I thought that was just a myth!"

"It's a load of pegasus dung. That's what this is." Frederick lowered his lance and pointed it at Lewis's chest. "I'm sure you were trying to call your friends for an ambush. Speak!"

Realizing the situation, Lewis stepped back and began speaking as fast as possible. "No no! You got it all wrong! I just thought that my friends pranked me by knocking me out and dumping me here. I swear I'm telling the truth. I shouldn't even be here, but I touched that fairy circle, and now I am in this weird place, I really just wanna go..."

He felt a hand on his arm. Lissa began to pat his back in an attempt to calm him down. "Breathe. It's alright."

Lewis took some time to steady his breath and sighed. "Thanks. I have proof that I am an outrealmer. First, I have identification that labels me as a citizen of the United States of America which doesn't exist here presumably, and I have a piece of technology that doesn't exist in this world."

He took out his driver's license and his iphone and passed it around.

"Whoa. If I touch this, the picture changes." Lissa was having fun fiddling around with his iphone.

"That's not all. May I?" Lewis took back his phone and turned on Dvorak's New World Symphony- 4th movement. Lissa's eyes glowed in amazement.

"That's. So. Cool. Chrom, This thing has music coming out of it!" After a couple more seconds, Lewis turned off the music and phone to conserve battery.

He then turned to Frederick who was looking over his wallet and scrutinizing its contents. "Is it sufficient?"

"I cannot read it, but the writing is not one I recognize. However, that device in your hand is quite the mystery and gives credit to your story. I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, but explain why you called into the forest."

"My friends and I have a pranking streak. For example, one time we went camping and as a joke, we dumped one of my friends in the middle of a clearing while he was sleeping and had a good time laughing watching him flail around thinking we abandoned him. I thought my friends did something similar, but it seems not. It seems I really ended up in an entirely new world due to messing with a fairy ring."

"Fairy ring, you say?" Frederick's frown deepened.

Lewis once more took out his phone and showed him the picture he took of the blue glowing mushrooms. Frederick took a deep breath. "So it seems that the tales do have some basis."

"Do you know something?" Lewis asked with growing interest.

"That you are lucky to be alive. If my hometown's tales are to be believed, disturbing such a fairy ring angers the fairies resulting in the intruder being mutilated or being turned into a tree."

"What about being sent to another world entirely?"

"I am not sure, but I would refrain from messing around with any fairy rings in the future. Fairies are mischievous and vengeful little creatures."

"Even if they may be my only way back home?"

Frederick stared back. "Be grateful that the fairies even spared your life. I highly doubt they will show such mercy again or even let you find a fairy ring at all."

Lewis stepped back from the intensity of Frederick's voice. "Okay... If searching for fairy rings are out, do you know of any outrealm gates nearby?"

Frederick shook his heads. "I have not heard of those before."

Lissa piped up. "I read about them in this really old text in the ancient part of the library. It was only an obscure fairy tale though. I don't know about where they are though. Sorry."

"Is it possible to see those texts?"

Lissa opened her mouth to answer, but she suddenly turned her head away and pointed at a plume of black smoke in the sky. "Chrom! That's coming from Southtown!"

"Damn it. The town is ablaze! It must be those blasted brigands. Frederick, Lissa, Quick!" Chrom quickly shouted.

"What about him?"

"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait." Without another word, the three dashed away at the direction of the smoke. Soon the trees obscured their view. Lewis stood there shocked as he contemplated what just happened. However, his biggest concern was 'where was Robin?"

He quickly did a look around to see if he missed any purple cloaked person lying down in the grass. Lewis's concern only deepened. He couldn't possibly be the replacement, could he? If he was, then this entire world was screwed because he had absolutely no experience with tactics or strategy. Yes, he had experience with games, but games were games and not real life.

In addition, it also meant that Frederick, Lissa, and Chrom just rushed into town without a tactician. Paling at the consequences, Lewis quickly picked up his box with his rifle and began running towards the smoke. He was not going to let his best chance at going home alive die.