Chapter 13:

Stranded in no man's land

…I fucked up….I died again… I can't feel my body….my breath or heart….it's…nostalgic…being in the pitch dark void, here with my thoughts and my thoughts alone, first it was for..being stupid, that truck, so easy to avoid yet…. now it was bad luck…I couldn't stop that event, nor did I have the right to say where I would be sent to

I should have to…no...I can't, not even now…I spent my youth in this world, huh…I guess not even in two worlds I manage to become an adult.

"You have the chance"

I look towards the voice, now it comes from somewhere, I can move my neck, and I notice, my body..this body, is my old body, a bit older yet…as in shape as Sara's, I smile a bit.

I guess I'm not alone huh?

"Nope, and I think now is better to step forward" A silhouette is visible from the void, I can't see correctly his face, as black clouds are covering it, but at least he's dressed, black pants, a shirt, and coat, why do I have to be naked?.

uh…well then, step forward, what?.

"You see…I have…a mission, so to speak"

you are using me as your pawn?

"Don't say it like that, think of it as a deal"

Are you some kind of fey god?

"Fey what? just hear me out alright?"

….

"..well, you see, my 'mission' is making sure that Orsted…manages to win, The event you just suffered sent stuff array already"

huh?... I don't…understand

"The new mass teleportation, well let's say it gave Hitogami the upper hand, for the last…30 or so timelines"

…I..what?...

"At least now, you've been teleported to somewhere I wanted, along with Mike, that's a rel-"

Shut up! I don't get half shit of what you are saying

"...honestly…is for the better now, just….you'll have to trust me on this one, my interest is to care for your well-being"

Come on, explain it to me!

"I won't, you will not even understand it, you already prove it"

…. I lack the context, that's why

"You'll get it, eventually, for now just head north, that'll be the easiest way to earn some money and stay alive for the week".

eh?...

"Good luck Sara, See you later"

w-wait! don't leave me like this!

I felt gravity once again, my body was waking up.

The dark, night sky, is the first thing my eyes see, along with the cold breeze I feel in my body.

i'm…on the ground…Alive…that's a relieve…

I try to get up, but my chest hurts, it hurts a lot, so I just stay there without moving, I notice I have some kind of jacket over me as a blanket, along with a flickering sound at my right, like trying to lit a torch.

So I look to my right, is a boy, brown-haired and with just a shirt trying to set up a campfire, Michael, he's alive, what a relief, I managed to save him too.

"..Michael….hi" I'm still on the ground, I would cast a spell but first.

"Sara!, You're awake!" He seems relieved too, can't blame him, is already night, how long has it been since we fell?.

"Of course I am, it takes more than that to kill me" I try to laugh, I did break a rib, and it hurts.

"Relax, you should rest for now…I'm fine so..I'll keep us safe" He speaks as he sees me groan from the pain.

"...you know I can cure myself right?" I did learn the chanting of intermediate healing magic, so a broken bone should be healed after casting it.

"...oh right…" Before I healed myself I also turned up the campfire with magic, The cold breeze is still there, but the fire is making the temperature more bearable

"So…how long has it been?...since we fell from the sky…"

"Around…4 hours? I don't know, I did my best to drag us somewhere safe.." We are safe, for now, as the place looks like Red Rock Canyon with so many rocks surrounding us, not that many spots for an ambush

"...4 hours…, dammit, and you haven't found anyone?" he denies with the head

huh?...no op companion?... shit, I guess we are on our own now.

"Well…tomorrow, we'll go north, see if we can find a place to stay safe for now…."

Honestly that guy, just saying north is not enough, I have my skills, and being an unarmed fighter while teleported with no equipment is not so painful, I mean a monk just needs two magic items, the rest is natural for him so I have a little advantage.

Michael on the other hand, is a marksman, he seems to be lucky with how he carried me here and all but, he needs a gun.

"Do you have a firearm with you?"

"...no, that scares me….we don't know where we are, and in this time I haven't seen any living being.."

Michael with no gun, and me with just my kicks, I was never into boy scouting but I did learn some tricks there, I hope it translates into not dying in this land.

"Then…let's pray nothing happens between today and tomorrow going somewhere safe, For now, we have to rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"Ok…" We decided to sleep till early morning

It's hot, really really hot, We're currently walking through the desert landscape, using our jackets to cover ourselves from the sun.

"Can you see anything?" I'm not used to walking long distances, I feel as if my head is fuzzy

"n-no…c-crap…i'm tired"

"Same…, There must be some rock that can cover us from the sun..to rest a bit.." I'm looking around for something that can create a shadow for us to lay down on for a few minutes before heading out.

"i-i…Sara….help…." Michael, he's not used to this either, of course, detox magic could help but…I prefer doing it where my mind is not boiling from the sheer heat of the place.

I carry him from the shoulder "Don't worry….we are close… to something.."

"Okay….."

Two minutes later, another set of rocks headed north, luckily This path is through a canyon, so the sun shouldn't be harsh on us now, I let Michael next to a rock, the shadow covering him.

One basic detox spell later and he can rest properly.

"...thanks…."

"Don't worry… we…have to get used to this heat, I don't think we're going to leave the continent in just a few weeks."

"...so…if we made it out of here…then..back to Asura..right?"

"...I..think"

it was a mass teleportation, The capital is no longer there I think…

"... I'm not even sure…. we are stranded in no man's land and until we get to a town of some kind We would just stay running in circles"

If we are still in this 6 faced world, two guesses, Begarit continent, or demon continent, is probably the last, as the landscape reminds me of promotional art.

Still, if it is the demon continent, then it must be some kind of Magic circle teleportation that could send us back to the central continent, The chances of that actually working in our favor are low.

We don't know where we are exactly, or if the teleportation circles are for public use, if they are expensive or not, hell, is there even some kind of influence of Orsted's Co. here? Well, 15 or so years, it must be, right?.

"Heading north…what we could find there?"

"a town, village, anything"

he's looking at me with that "doubt" face

What else? I have that god's advice, he said north, we go north

"...ok… I trust you…Also, do you have mana still?... I want water"

"Sure.." After a few minutes of resting, we stood up and continued on our way

The path is not narrow, but it is claustrophobic with how deep the canyon is, At least the heat is bearable now.

"...Sara, stay still"

"huh?, what hap-"

"Still I said, something's watching us" Hearing him, I do as he says

"where?..."

"In front of us, another in the back…." I slightly look to the front, and a small silhouette is noticeable, is not small, but it is fast.

"fuck! Michael watch out!" Wolves of some kind, one from the front other from the back, both rush toward us.

"Create a knife or something!" I think, magic, right.

Icicle break

With one hand I create a bunch of ice bolts, Holding the spell, is fragile, but the sharp ice should break a wolf's skull.

With the other hand, I create a stone dagger, sharp enough, that Michael grabs it.

The wolf in front of me is running, 50 or so meters, now 20, he's getting close.

I fire the Icicle break and the wolf dodges it.

fuck ! 10 meters now!

I prepare myself to kick him, raising my right leg, As the wolf jumps to attack me, I counter with a side-kick.

My foot enters his open mouth, but it breaks his jaw completely, I grab the wolf's head and throw it to the ground, killing him with a last strike of my elbow.

The other wolf is close to Michael.

"Step back!" I grab Michale from the neck of his shirt and I push him to the side, just in time for the other wolf to get its head kicked into the wall, painting it from its blood.

It's done, Michael has some sharp eyes to see them from before, and it seems there is no more nearby.

"...uh..Sara, you can't…like…create food right?"

"What?...uh, no…"

"...well I guess then this…things will have to be our meals" looking back at the two dead wolves

"...at least I can cook them…." he just goes with the stone knife and starts opening one right there, Gross!

I look away

"t-that smell… uhhh…" Michael's words are scaring me

"Is really that bad?"

"m-maybe?...what I know!?, this is raw meat Sara…."

"you…have a point…."

To make it short, I have been eating high-quality food for my whole 15 years of life, with proper chefs and safe materials, This…meat thing, is awful, it tastes horrible, and I almost puke in the first bite, Consider that and my past diet, and you see that an already horrible taste is worsened by past experiences, still, we eat what we could, enough to get us going.

"...if…we get to a town…..I hope there is a restaurant or something" I really hope they have one

"...but how are we going to pay for it?" money… I look at the wolves

"...the skins then, they must have some value"

Let's just say, Michael is useful, has good eyes, and doesn't puke our food while skinning the corpses, I'm the defender, he does the rest.

This trip through hell lasted another 3 days of roughly the same, wandering, almost dying from heat exhaustion, one-shot monster, eat monster, skin monster, continue.

Creator's note: i'm back!, sorry for the wait but I did lost some direction with how to write the story but I manage to finish this, I'll be rewriting the first 5 chapters (and prologue) in between updates, so next is the rewritten of the chapter 1, after that, chapter 14, if you like it, i'm glad