The crisp clean air of the forest was rather refreshing to Ramsey. He took in a deep breath as he walked between trees, looking up in awe at the towering trunks disappearing into the canopy above. Closing his eyes for a moment, he sighed.
'I'm really here.
Well, not that I know where here, is.'
Ramsey hopped over a fallen tree in his path, then stopped to look back at it, surprised by how easy that was.
He started walking a little faster, ducking beneath low branches and swinging around smaller trees. A slight smile slowly became an emphatic grin as his speed increased and he glided through the openings the forest presented.
He continued his pace to the top of a steep hill and stopped to look back again. The area he ran through was long, reaching back farther than he could see.
'I don't think I felt this good at 22.
Is it my dexterity? It's not that I feel faster, it just… takes less effort.'
Ramsey decided to focus on the task at hand. He had stopped here for a reason. Hoping for a better view of his surroundings, Ramsey was not disappointed.
Elorr, what he could see of it, was beautiful. Rolling hills carried the forest of yellow and red down to a valley of tall green grass that shimmered as the wind raced over it. There were no people or buildings in sight, but it was nice to see an exit to the forest.
Ramsey decided to stay at the top of the hill for now. It seemed like a safe place to make a plan. He found a comfortable spot on the ground and sat with his back against a tree.
"All I have are my clothes. I have no idea where I am, and I don't know anything about magic. Not off to a great start."
Ramsey summoned the menu.
The first screen was the same avatar information he saw earlier. However, once again, the menu displayed an additional line of text he did not see before. The Countdown.
[Countdown: 1999 days, 22 hours, 42 minutes]
'2000 days, that's.. about 5 years. It's a lot shorter than Earth's countdown. Still a long time though.. assuming time works the same here.
Ramsey paused for a moment, the thought of leaving Earth was not one he was ready to face.
After a slow exhale, Ramsey changed the menu selection to [Setting].
[Elorr]
[178th Dawn, Year 1164]
[Birth of Mana]
[Tyrian Woods]
'178th Dawn… must be the date.
And I guess I know where I am, Tyrian Woods, although that's not very helpful.'
Ramsey paused, noticing that "Tyrian" could just be spelled phonetically so that he could understand it, but "Woods" was also part of the name.
'Is it translated?'
"System, what language is spoken here?"
[Avatar Essentials adjusts language competency for the chosen setting]
"Competency? What do you mean?"
Silence.
'Does that mean I can understand what they say? Can I read their writing? How can I speak in something I've never heard?
"Adjusts for the chosen setting… Am I speaking it now?"
'No way. It's gotta be something else.'
With a huff, he decided to move on and changed the selection to [Attributes].
The text displayed was the same as he saw before. He could see his available points and the current number for each attribute. It was at least comforting to know he could spend the points quickly if needed.
Ramsey nodded and changed the selection to [Path]. The text changed, but Ramsey was disappointed with how little there was.
[Foundation: Elorr]
[Path: Gravity]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
'...blank spaces'
Ramsey closed the menu and laid his head back against the tree. Somehow, he had hoped the menu would help him learn about magic.
"Nature is one's understanding of the elements", Ramsey whispered as he closed his eyes.
He lowered his hands to the ground and spread his fingers in the grass and dirt. Trying to mimic what little he knew about meditation, Ramsey slowed his breathing and tried to open his mind.
He tried extending all his senses, searching for something, anything, a trace of a connection to his foundation; to Elorr.
Minutes passed. Ramsey thought he felt something for a moment, it was a dull jittery feeling, but he knew it was likely just anxiety.
'I'm supposed to have Mana and Nature now, well, '1' worth of each. And that's probably what you're born with, which means I'm as magically talented as a newborn.'
Ramsey thought intensely about using his 3 available attribute points. The thought of having a Mana of 4 was very alluring. He envisioned himself casting amazing spells with glowing magic circles.
"Don't be stupid. Who knows when, or if, I'll get more points.
I need more information." Ramsey sprung up to his feet, dusted himself off and started toward the exit of the forest.
He walked through the fields of shimmering grass. The rolling hills in the distance shimmered as well, creating the illusion of green waves on land. It was picturesque. So much so that Ramsey instinctively reached for his phone to take a picture.
'Right, no phones.
Unless this is some strange crossover world that has both tunics and smartphones.'
Ramsey sighed and continued on. He decided following water seemed like a good way to find people. He walked downhill where possible, following the crevices until they merged, turning into creeks.
The water was very tempting. He had been walking for a couple hours and was very thirsty, and like everything else in Elorr, it looked amazing. But looks can be deceiving. 'There's always one thing they tell you when traveling. Don't drink the water.'
Ramsey was about to stop to rest, when a sound caught his attention. Then he heard it again, and again. A very distant rhythmic sound of metal on metal.
– ting –
– ting –
– ting –
***
Reverberations from each strike of the hammer flowed through Treya's hand and arm. The glowing red steel connected with her in each moment, sharing vibrations and sounds as it reshaped to her will. Their perfect cadence dancing through radiant bursts of sparks.
The stone forge behind her glowed the same red color, producing such a heat that it warped the air around it. Thankfully, it was an open-air shop. A high peak ceiling was supported by a long stone wall on one side, and two massive posts on the other. A slight breeze followed a nearby creek, taking the excess heat from the shop downstream.
Today, though, the creek brought more than a breeze.
Ramsey was approaching the structure now in view. On his way here, he had contemplated what to say. He thought up a few potential backstories, but none were very believable. He knew keeping up with lies was particularly troubling. In the end, he decided to tell the truth, well, an extremely limited version of the truth.
'After all, who would believe I'm from another world and I have a voice in my head that helped me travel here?'
Looking down at his attire, Ramsey shook his head, 'I have a feeling the restraints of this world would be far less comfortable than Dr. Patel's.'
At the moment, Ramsey's biggest concern was if they could understand him, and he them.
He finally got close enough to see the source of the sound. A hammer rose and fell fluidly. The arm that swung it was both graceful and fierce. Wearing a sleeveless shirt and leather apron, covered in sweat and soot, was a girl about his age - his avatar's age. Her brown chin length hair peaked out from under a bandana as her gaze was completely locked in on her work.
Ramsey stopped a few feet from the side of the shop. 'This is it. First contact on Elorr.' Ramsey closed his eyes for a moment. 'And of course, she has a weapon.'
"Um, Hello" Ramsey tried to interrupt.
– ting –
– ting –
'A little louder, I guess…'
"Hel-" he tried again, but timed it poorly with the hammer strike.
– ting –
"EXCUSE ME" he yelled.
The fluid motion stopped. The blacksmith turned her head, scowling at the interruption. After a moment, she turned toward the forge.
"Tell your boss, it'll be done when it's done. It takes time for non-magic folk." She placed the steel back in the forge.
Ramsey raised his hands. "You must have confused me with someone. I'm not from around here, I'm just trying to find the nearest town. Could you point me in the right direction?"
"You're… not from around here?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you from?"
"Uh, far beyond Tyrian Woods," he said pointing back upstream. 'Further than you'd believe,' he thought. "You mentioned magic folk, I'm actually hoping to find someone to teach me magic."
Treya dropped her tongs and hammer where she stood. As they were still clanging on the stone floor, she had rushed within a few inches of Ramsey. Her soot covered face now lit up with a bright smile as she grabbed his shoulders.
"You're learning magic? How old are you? Did you just bloom?" Not waiting for an answer, she let go and started pacing a small circle "Ohhh, this is so exciting! I've always wanted to learn magic."
"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Ramsey tried to get her focus.
"Me?" She stopped, "Oh, I'm Treya."
"I'm Ramsey. Nice to meet you." He said with a nod. "And I'm 22."
Back to standing in front of him, she asked "And did you just bloom? What's your muse?"
'Dammit.'