Like Glenn said, we weren’t too far from Firstlanding. A day of travel and a night of rest, then before midday we should get there. To be honest, I’m just glad I’ll have some time where I’m not stressed about starving in the woods. Or getting eaten in the woods. Or freezing in the woods.

  Not that I’m out of the woods yet. That won’t be until tomorrow morning when we’ll reach the forest’s edge.

  After Sofia’s healing, I felt mostly as good as new. Enough so that I figured I’d help them pack up camp, despite their insistence not to. I don’t know them really, but they were my lifeline and staying in their good graces was a necessity.

  I let my mind wander to how I could restart my life in earnest here. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t seen some isekai anime and thought ‘what would I do in that situation?’ I had game plans preloaded in my mind. The key was genre! In my humble opinion, the chances of this being a light hearted comedy were out of the question. Anyone who says otherwise should speak with my scarred arm.

  This world seemed to be pretty standard fantasy; however, I’d like to reach a city to confirm that. I was curious about the nuances as well. Was the world high magic, low magic? What fantasy races are there? What’s the culture like, and so much more.

  It was almost a nerd’s dream come true. Aside from the existential horror thinking about my friends and family I left behind never to see again. All of whom likely go on to assume I’m dead, but will never really know what happened to me… Let’s just go back to distracting myself with the positives…

  The one thing I was keenly aware of was that I’m not in a great position to survive here on my own. I looked back over my group of rescuers. Even if I am an outsider to their group, they’re all I have in this world. If they had connections in the church or with a noble’s estate that could be a good path for me to start a life here. The end goal would be for me to learn magic. For no other reason than it seems cool.

  After the camp was packed, Archie navigated us back to the main roads. It ended up taking a good few hours. It really was a miracle anyone found me considering how far into the woods I was. If anything it was a bit of a miracle they’d find me to begin with.

  “So, returning to the topic of people randomly being out in the woods. What were you all doing so far from the main roads?” I asked.

  “Ah, the main roads aren’t much of an adventure. They’re well enough traveled and patrolled that it’s rather rare to find monsters and other beasts on them. It’s good training out here.”

  “If you ask me, you all seem seasoned enough. Though I suppose it never hurts to stay sharp.”

  “The training’s not entirely for us. Sofia’s still in training as a member of the church and she hasn’t been able to join us often. It’s good for when she finally finishes that training and we make our own adventure!” Glenn said, as Sofia subtly looked away. She wore a slightly guilty expression that I read as reluctance to go. This future adventure of theirs is likely more distant than Glenn would hope, but a potentially perfect inroad for me.

  “Heh, ya can say that,” Archie laughed, “but I don’t hear ya complaining when we pocket the coin the church gives us to pay for the road tolls.”

  “So, what’s got you so interested in becoming an adventurer? Do you have any plans or things you’re hoping to do or is it more thrill seeking?”

  “When we were children, my family was acquainted with Sophia's,” Glenn said, with some nostalgia. “I saw her often at our manor. We used to play pretend when we were younger. Going on adventures and the like. There’s a lot more out there to see as well.”

  “So a mix of a dream and wanderlust? It’s a rather dangerous line of work, right?” I crossed my arms. “Seems like a rather extreme dream to chase.”

  “Ain’t like it’s too bad when yer smart about it,” Archie shrugged. Turning to look back at us from the front of the wagon. “Don’t go taking jobs ya can’t handle and ya’ll be fine. Sure there’s the chance some shite goes awry, but eh–that’s Ivili’s job to sniff out. The danger’s what gives ya the best pay anyways.”

  “Consider me impressed, Archie,” Glenn mused. “I never thought you’d actually offer helpful advice.”

  “Don’t listen to the oaf,” Archie grumbled, tightening his hands around the reins. “Taught him everything he knows.”

  “That’s how I know you're full of shit most of the time.” Glenn smirked at Archie before turning to me. “He’s right about being smart about it. It’s mostly dangerous when you’re still green. ‘Cocky bastards get themselves an early grave.’ Isn't that right Archie?”

  “I see,” I said. I was unsure how ubiquitous adventurers were in this world. I prepared a lie based on my ttrpg world to use to feign ignorance, just in case I was questioned on it. “I can’t say I know much about adventurers or the like. It’s not something that’s too common where I’m from.”

  “Hmm, guess we have that in common,” Glenn said as he gazed across the landscape. “It’s a bit of a dying breed here as well. Not that it ever was particularly widespread here. The kingdom prefers giving monster hunting duties to the knights and nobles.”

  “Keeps them in good shape for wars,” Ivili added.

  “That’s more or less the same logic from where I’m from,” I said. It was odd how much his answer matched my pre-concocted lie.

  The idea of a rogue band of extremely powerful people gathered together as a guild always seemed farfetched to me. All it would take is one charismatic, well liked, and ambitious guildmaster to topple a kingdom. I mean, sure, in the whole of history, there were a select few mercenary companies whose power could rival a kingdom. But warriors with superhuman strength? Mages that could single handedly use magic to destroy a village with a huge explosion? I doubt any government would really want people like that unified as an independent entity.

  There were stray caravans here and there on the road. There’d be some armored knights on horseback riding a little ways ahead of the caravan to handle any monsters. The caravans themselves were usually several wagons guarded by uniformed warriors. Or at least uniformed in the sense they all wore the same blue decorated tabard. All the members I could see on these passing caravans were human.

  With night coming we went a little ways off the road to set up camp, before the evening’s purple glow took over. The ‘Haze’ I heard Archie call it. I continued to do my best to help out in whatever way I could. The only real way to get people to like you is to be useful to them, after all. Archie and I set up the tarps since the sky had gone cloudy earlier, Glenn didn’t really do anything, Sofia prayed, and Ivili cooked up some of the wolves for dinner. It was a bit funny in a grim way, eating the beast that almost ate me not too long ago.

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  Throughout the day, I asked more innocent prodding questions to get to know them better, of course, and find out a bit more about the world. For the most part it turned into Glenn and Archie bantering back and forth about different things they hunted or killed. Ivili piped up every now and again, but was mostly focused on fletching arrows or her dead wolves. Sofia stayed mostly quiet. The biggest reveal was around how Glenn’s superhuman strength and athleticism worked.

  Basically people in this world have something called an Anima Aura, a shield that protects one from attacks or damage. The protective aura weakens on taking a hit, but lessens the blow. It takes like a week to fully regenerate if it’s all expended. It’s not a perfect shield; a strong enough attack in a specific area can pierce or break through it to cause damage to the body. However, it’s essentially what stops a mage or monster from shooting a giant fireball and flat out killing everyone in its radius. The protective barrier was its passive form and usually just referred to as Aura. From Glenn’s explanations it mostly just naturally grows with you.

  There’s also Infusion Aura; by imbuing an object with energy, one can use their aura to make weapons sharper, armor stronger, or enhance muscles. Making armor and weapons that’re in contact with the person stronger. Basically a counter to the Anima Aura though not as strong. If anything that explains why my stick spear didn’t break under the weight of a direwolf. I unwittingly infused it and strengthened it. My Anima Aura probably wasn’t strong enough to resist the direwolf’s attacks or maybe I Infused too much. Regardless, it’s good to know that I have access to these seemingly life saving, passive abilities.

  The next morning, we packed up and were on our way. Firstlanding shouldn’t be too far away.

  It undeniably felt like a lame missed opportunity, but a passive life in the city seemed like the best bet for my new life here. At least for a few years. As interesting as it would be to explore the literal fantasy world I found myself in, it would be idiotic to deny the fact that I’m nowhere near strong enough to survive exploring it.

  Once I learn more survival skills or magic, I might be willing to take the leap into exploring the world. However, from what I’ve seen, the risk just seemed too high where I was at. Looking over to my traveling companions, I realized I haven’t even tried to secure any sort of employment. If I did want to travel later on they certainly haven’t been a bad group so far. With the city walls in sight, my window of opportunity was running out.

  “Hey Glenn, can I make you an offer?”

  “I can’t say I’ll accept, but I’ll hear you out,” Glenn said, half-serious.

  “Well, from what I’ve gathered it sounds like you all need some time for Sofia to finish her training before you begin your grand adventure. I’ve been wanting to learn magic and I can only imagine having a mage would be helpful. If you’re interested, give me that time to learn magic. When you’re ready I’ll be as well.” This seems to fit in well with what he wants and with Sofia’s apprehension might mean I have plenty of time to prepare.

  “Ha! I like that confidence!” Glenn said, giving me a pat on the back.

  “Eh, don’t get taken advantage of, you armored oaf. You wanna take a risk on a stranger that’ll be on your own coin.”

  “Didn’t you say the other day that I’m mostly funding us, anyways? Surely, it’ll be cheaper to take a chance to train a mage than hire a first-rate one.” Glenn said with a grin, knowing he had Archie beat with that argument.

  “Pfft, ya gonna have yer daddy close off his coin purse at this rate. She’s old for a human learning spellcraft. I don’t know much, but ya got to start young to learn all ya need to.”

  “For what it’s worth I highly doubt the education I received would be completely inapplicable,” I counter. “You say kids need to start young, but how much of that is spent on simple reading, writing, arithmetic, or other general skills?"

  “Beats me. Ain’t like I did any of that shite when I was a wee lad. Glenn’s the one with the coin so it’s his choice, but it ain’t nothing against ya lass. I need to get it through the oaf’s thick skull that everything ain’t always going to turn out for the best.”

  “I-I think we should let her train,” Sofia said. The rest, aside from Ivili, turned their gaze to her. Hmm, I wasn’t really expecting her vouch, but I’ll take it

  “See, even Sofia’s on my side.” Glenn flashed yet another cocky smile at Archie.

  “I understand the oaf being a dunce, but what are ya thinkin’ Sofia?”

  “I have a good feeling about her,” Sofia said, nervously looking down at the wagon’s floor.

  “Heh, whatever. If we set out and she ends up as monster feed or she runs off with ya investment, don’t come crying to me. If ya two want to take that risk, ain’t like I’m losing anything.”

  “Ivili?” Glenn asked.

  “Do as you wish, though for your all’s sake let's at least get going sometime this decade,” she said with a shrug before going back to her wood carving.

  “I-I’ll do my best. I’m sorry I’m holding you all back, thank you for waiting for me… I don’t think my father will ever bless it. Though I’d like him to. It’ll be easier if he did. I’ll be ready soon, I hope. I’m sorry for this,” Sofia said, while I grit my teeth slightly. If she could be ready in a few years as opposed to soon, that would be better for my survival chances.

  “We’re here for you. There’s nothing to apologize for. Once we set off, just think, it’ll be as we dreamed it would be when we were kids,” Glenn said, with almost a glow in his eyes.

  From what I gathered I really hadn’t expected Sofia to actually voice support or want to go on the trip. With her constant curious glances my way, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly her angle was.

  Not long after, we arrived at the city. Or at least its outer perimeter. There was a series of outlying stone walls that protected the fields. Not particularly high, maybe ten feet tall and clearly not built to defend against an invading army. What was strange though was that the stone the wall was made out of were giant slabs nearly as long as the wall was high. The slabs themselves were almost perfectly and uniformly cut aside from some scratch marks and chipping.

  Past the wall was large open farmland. There were some hamlets and settlements littered between vast farm land. Little land, if any, went unused and it was as though it were its own world outside the main city. There were some livestock, mostly chickens and goats, but it was scarce. What was both strange and fascinating were the isolated rainclouds hovering unnaturally low to water certain fields.

  Eventually, we reached the main city walls standing four stories tall. Glenn got us through the gates, and we were officially in Firstlanding. The real city was large and dense. Archie was at the reins and deftly navigated the maze of buildings and obstacles of pedestrians going about their business.

  Our destination wasn’t obscure by any means; rather it was one of three rather grand structures in the city: the cathedral. It was a large and dominant building, far taller than most of the residences and shops which at best were two stories. Its rivals were a fair distance away, being the city’s inner keep and the duke’s manor. The former rivaled the cathedral in height and dominance in the city’s silhouette while the latter, though more easily obstructed from sight by buildings, attempted to rival the cathedral in opulence.

  Sometime later, I would realize simply calling it a cathedral neglected the scale of the operation: it was almost a city within itself. The property was lined with a small outer stone wall, meant less to keep people out and more to outline the church’s holdings. Within this wall were many buildings, each quite large in comparison with the others in the city. In these buildings were the church’s treasury, trade house, an orphanage, archives/library, and housing for the clergy among others.

  Though at that moment, I was stunned by the size and splendor of the cathedral itself. “Sofia, would you mind showing me the Cathedral?” I asked, my sense of curiosity growing. I know what people in my world could produce. I can only imagine what the people in this world, with access to magic, could produce.

  “Oh, o-of course, Archie, would you mind letting us off near the entrance before you visit the trade house?”

  “Aye. That can be done. Be careful not to lose the lass, been adding the tolls and gate fee to the debt she owes us.”

  As Sofia and I entered, it was jaw dropping and not only because of its beauty. The cathedral was composed of seven apses, six smaller ones lined the long side of the main hall, three on each side, while opposite of the entrance held the largest devoted to the god the building was dedicated to. In each, there was a statue of the god to whom that region of the cathedral was dedicated to. Stained glass circling behind them depicted their triumphs and stories. Light and magic enveloped and floated around the statues making them seem almost alive and beyond reach.

  Yet for me, the awe and mystique of the place quickly turned into a foreboding pit in my stomach. This layout, the statues, the stories, I recognized them. Each of them. Because I made them. Sure, hearing a city named Firstlanding made me question if I was in my tabletop role-play game world, but let's be honest it’s not the most unique of names. This, this solidified it. These were the gods of the Severance Pantheon: Stolph, Helinia, Emyzer, Corlyn, Stultvultan, Orn, and Aurenmis.

  I knew where I was after all. I was in my own fantasy world. I am a god, and all the other gods want me dead.