The Kill Team was racing through the tomb and Captain Arthur Ives knew it was only a question of time before the beasts started resisting them. His team of five was tasked with clearing a section that resembled a corridor of high importance judging by the gilded glyphs sporadically dotting the walls. The damp and stink of animal waste in the catacombs weren't exactly what he expected to find during this extermination mission. Still, he was willing and gladly took them over any cave he might be expected to clear. An even and solid stone floor was infinitely better than natural cave flooring. Very quickly, they found their first target. A moderately large Voidling was sitting in the corner of a fairly big room. It was obvious that, before the animal was corrupted by Ruinous Powers, it was some kind of bear. It had its massive paws pressed to its face and rubbed it vigorously. Arthur wondered whether it was some kind of involuntary action since the Voidling lacked most of the skin and muscles on its head.

  "Malleus..." Arthur didn't waste his time pondering needless things. He raised his sword and pointed it at the Enemy, conjuring an etheric hammer made of lightning and holy magic above his own head. "Maleficarum!"

  As he made a cutting motion, his spell smote the Voidling, obliterating a servant of Void. He assumed a defensive stance behind his assault shield and took a trained glance around the room. Strange glyphs glowed slightly on the wall, providing just enough light to be seen but not be useful in the slightest for a normal Human. However, he, arguably, wasn't a normal Human any more. Arthur smiled as he didn't notice more enemies.

  "Clear." He said calmly to confirm the obvious for his team as they followed behind him.

  "Sir, there is another room." Frank pointed toward the easy-to-miss doors set behind a column.

  "Cate, purify that abomination, Tom, cover her," Arthur ordered then turned toward the doors. "Kelly, check for traps. I'll enter the room on your mark. Frank, cover me."

  "Yes, Sir!" Each Inquisitor confirmed his order.

  They approached the doors and the lithe Elf put her hand on the wooden frame. Her face was focused and, just a heartbeat later, she stepped back and nodded. "The doors are clear!"

  He nodded and broke the doors with a shield bash. Without even waiting for the dust to settle, Arthur continued into the room but, suddenly, he was blinded by a bright flash. He cursed his sloppiness. He must have triggered some kind of stun trap because he heard nothing. Instinctively, he ducked down behind his shield and pulled back his sword closer to his body so he could respond to anything that tried to attack him. However, Arthur was sure that Frank and Kelly had already dealt with any Voidlings and were waiting for him.

  "Fuck... Sorry Guys, stupid mistake." He said when he was almost able to distinguish shapes.

  There was no response. Arthur rubbed his eyes but what he saw made no sense. He blinked furiously for a bit more but the vision before his eyes was stubbornly persistent. Calming his thoughts, he summoned his communication slate and activated the runes with his hand still strapped to the aegis shield.

  "It’s Inquisitor Captain Arthur Ives, Grand Inquisitor Dahlia, do you copy?" He called, still looking blankly at the view in front of him.

  However, there was no response besides a howling wind.

  He cleared his throat. "Paul? HMS Paladin! Do you hear me?"

  Nothing. In front of him was an arid patch of land devoid of the evergreen forest of the northern wilderness. He was sure as hell he shouldn't be here wherever ‘here’ was. Since his brother, the captain of the Inquisitorial vessel, wasn't responding to his calls, he swallowed hard as he raised his communicator closer to his mouth. "This is Captain-Inquisitor Arthur Ives of the Arcadian Inquisitorium! Can anyone hear me!?"

  Once again, no sharp protocol correction, no response. Not even static. Arthur took a deep breath and took a moment to reconstruct the flow of events. He stared blankly at his communication device, which clearly blinked a 'no connection' rune.

  "Figures..." He sighed, switched his device to send a distress signal, and hid it in his spatial storage. He was glad that Emperor Theon considered situations like this and ordered their communication devices to be built so that they could work from spatial storage. He slowly registered more details around himself. "I'm definitely not in Aderon."

  He looked toward distant sands and it took him a moment to realise he was, most probably, looking at the edge of a desert. He was standing on a man-made platform of black stone, which he appraised to be basalt. He wasn't sure if it was a ruin of some sort, or still a used structure, but he found similar glyphs like the ones in the catacomb he had been investigating. Since his communication device indicated he had no connection, it meant that the rest of his team weren't teleported with him.

  "This is so fucking fantastic..." He deactivated his aegis and sheathed his sword. "Stranded Gods know where, alone, with one week of standard issue supplies along with some extra stuff I keep... That would probably last for two weeks."

  He turned away from the desert and looked towards a scorched savanna. Back in the Academy, they wondered why the fuck they had to learn about climates and survival techniques in places not occurring in Aderon. Now, he was glad to have that training. He took a calming breath and put his hands on his hips. The sun was burning, but his armour had cooling runes, so he could, mostly, shrug off the hostile environment. Thankfully, water was one of his two strongest affinities so he could easily replenish water supplies. He stored his armoured gloves and helmet and ran his fingers through his blonde hair.

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  As an Inquisitor, he was, of course, sufficiently proficient with most elements thanks to the gruelling Academy training but he wasn't a mage. His class was Paladin and he had taken the Oath of the Watchers to better protect the material plane from Ruinous Powers’ invasions. Since Goddess Verka was one of the most zealous Goddesses in the extermination of that threat, he had, also, obtained many skills that should be exclusive to the Oath of Vengeance Paladins. However, he wasn't complaining. Arthur had three maxed subclasses and one he just recently added. Hexblade Guardsman, Inquisitor, and Blacksmith were maxed, so he was fairly self-sufficient. He had, most recently, picked up Alchemist, which, after maxing it, combined it with his Blacksmith class. Once the combination was finally maxed, it should automatically offer him an advancement to Arcanist. Thankfully, in his determination, he had already bought the skill scrolls needed for completion. He was always fascinated by the process of carving runes and creating complex magitech. While he wasn't as gifted as the masters who forged his weapons and armour, he wanted to take care of his equipment.

  Arthur scratched the back of his head as the platform he was standing on was the only trace of the intelligent activity in the area. The scarce and yellowish grass was the only plant life in the vicinity, the horizon obvious without even a single tree. He sighed once more and looked at his wrist. He blinked, sighed again, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  "Of, fucking, course I forgot my watch today." He grumbled to himself, still staring angrily at his wrist. With a sigh, he decided on a long shot. He put his hands in a prayer. "Wise Empress Goddess of Arcadia, Everlasting Flame, and Merciful Lady Hestia! I call your name in the moment of my predicament. I'm lost and don't know where I am. Help me return to the beautiful Arcadia; to the land you rule with your mighty husband!"

  Nothing. He tried with every single allied God but now, at least, he was sure of one thing. He wasn't in Aderon anymore. The Gods were powerful, but they weren't powerful enough to hear from other continents, for now. With a slightly disappointed sigh, he looked intently at the patch of darkness under him. "Shade?"

  "Yes, Arthur... What the fuck?" His Shadow Fenrir emerged from his shadow and looked flatly at the scenery. "Where are we?!"

  "I have no clue but this isn't Aderon..." The Inquisitor shrugged. "Can you scout the area? I need to decide which way to go and I would prefer to head towards some kind of settlement."

  "Is that a good idea?" Shade looked down at him from above but the moment was broken as he started panting heavily from the heat.

  "It's something to start with, I guess. Unless we learn where we are, we can't return home." Arthur shrugged.

  The Fenrir looked at him flatly but said nothing. Instead, his familiar inhaled the hot air and closed his eyes, fully focused on the scents. "I sense a group of people... They passed here a few hours ago; they are heading west."

  "Lucky us..." Arthur sighed and focused on conjuring an icicle and giving it to Shade. "Bite it, buddy. I don't think I'll be able to track them without your help."

  "I guess..." The Fenrir grabbed the ice and kept it in his mouth.

  "Lead the way..."

  For a moment, he considered riding Shade but if he had to hide, it would be extremely hard to do. They walked for a few hours and Arthur was extremely glad that he could use magic to create water. Without it, the sun would be cooking them but, as it was, it wasn't that bad. The climate was harsh, inhospitable, and the road they travelled offered nothing in terms of a view. Thankfully, they entered an area with a few scarce trees growing among short bushes. They took a moment to rest under one of the larger trees that offered a bit of respite from the burning sun. After hiking for some time, he was hungry and thirsty, but there wasn't much time to waste now. He brought out a travel ration pack, thanking himself for stashing a few more of his favorite snacks in his holding space beside the mission-issued rations. Arthur also took out a large bowl and filled it with cold water for his Fenrir.

  "Here you go." He patted the head of his familiar who greedily drank it. "It appears that whoever we are following, is keeping to the road so that even I can't miss now. Hop to my shadow and take a rest but I might need your help later. I must assume that we are in enemy territory until proven wrong."

  "This sun is killing me." Shade scowled with his tongue hanging out. "Once we get home you must get me that air-cooling collar I didn't want previously..."

  "Are we having some regrets?" Arthur laughed, recalling the hurt dignity of his companion when he previously offered him one. "But your collar with a barrier spell might be, arguably, better for our current predicament..."

  "Yeah? Maybe... We should be glad that you, as an Inquisitor, have the right to use Arcadian magitech outside the Empire." Shade put his snout into the bowl and started making bubbles through his nose. After a moment, he sat on his rear and sighed. "Damn... But it's not keeping me cool at all..."

  "Well... Maybe I will be able to build you something once I level up my Alchemist class? I should be able to brew a low-level heat resistance potion that should do the trick..."

  "You think so?" Shade wagged his tail with much more optimism in his voice.

  "Yeah..." Arthur smiled as he finished his ration bar. "I'm quite concerned about the lack of animal traces in the area. Are you hungry, Shade?"

  "Not yet..." The large Fenrir admitted reluctantly. "But you are right. I can smell tiny lizards, mice, and snakes but nothing you or I can eat."

  "Hopefully, we find something ahead. I'm not a big fan of dying of starvation..." Arthur took a long sip of cold water out of his canteen. "Time to go."

  "Summon me immediately if anything goes wrong." Shade started sinking into his own shadow.

  "I will, buddy." Arthur patted the massive head of the large wolf as it passed conveniently near his hand.

  Once the shadow portal closed behind his familiar, Arthur quickly stored the bowl and the waxed paper wrap from his travel food bar. The sun was still high overhead, and he was wondering how long he had before sunset. Once he covered his lunch-stop with a half-assed Wind Blade, he reassumed his march. He always thought that the flatlands of Arcadia were boring but he, simply, had never had a comparison. The lush green meadows, coiling rivers, and picturesque forests that dotted the landscape of his homeland were infinitely more interesting than the nearly barren savanna he was crossing. The absolute absence of even the traces of big animals was concerning as well. He expected to find traces of monsters, but even that wasn't the case. This place was depressingly empty.

  And it seemed that Arthur Ives had been tossed into the middle of nothing and had become its very first inhabitant.

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!