The subway doors slid open with a weary sigh, and Adrian Woods stumbled out, barely catching himself on a cold metal railing before his briefcase flew from his hand. He hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours, and every bone in his body screamed for rest. But the neon lights of Tokyo didn't care. The city buzzed and thrummed with life, indifferent to his exhaustion, pulling him forward with the relentless current of commuters. He felt like he was drowning.
His apartment was only two blocks from the station, a tiny room he rented for too much money, where he was destined to collapse for exactly four hours before heading back to the office. As he turned into the alley that cut between two looming skyscrapers, he barely noticed how quiet it was, how the sounds of the city seemed to muffle around him.
Then, a faint light bloomed to his left. It was soft at first, like the flicker of an old candle, but it grew brighter with each step, casting strange shadows across the walls. Adrian hesitated, stopping just in time to see a circle of pale blue light glowing on the pavement. Symbols he couldn't understand danced in spirals within the circle, swirling and changing as if alive. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and took a step back. Was he hallucinating?
But the light grew, spiraling upward in tendrils, pulling at the air with an odd, static-like hum. Adrian wanted to turn, to run, but his body wouldn't respond. It was as if the circle itself was drawing him in. In a heartbeat, the ground shifted beneath him, and the world tilted sideways.
There was no warning. The lights flared, engulfing him, and then—silence.
Adrian gasped, his body arching off the ground, air flooding into his lungs as if he had been underwater. He opened his eyes to find a sky painted in hues he'd never seen, swirling with colors that defied description. It was beautiful and terrifying. He scrambled to his feet, his shoes sinking into grass so soft it felt like a bed of silk.
The first thing he noticed was the castle. It stood massive and majestic on a hill nearby, its towers piercing the clouds, almost shimmering with an ethereal glow. Surrounding him was a forest, dense with twisted trees and thick, purple vines hanging low like ribbons. The air smelled of wildflowers, but also something metallic, sharp.
"What… where am I?"
He looked down, expecting to see his familiar clothes. Instead, he was dressed in simple, rough-spun robes, like something out of a fantasy novel. His briefcase was gone, replaced by a leather pouch slung across his shoulder.
"Ah, the hero awakens," a deep voice intoned.
Adrian spun around, his heart hammering. A figure stood behind him, cloaked in a long, dark robe trimmed with silver runes. His face was mostly obscured by a hood, but two eyes gleamed like distant stars beneath it.
"Hero?" Adrian stammered, struggling to find his balance. "I—I think you've got the wrong guy. I'm an accountant."
The robed figure chuckled, a sound like gravel being ground underfoot. "You are more than that now, Adrian Woods. You have been summoned by the Sealed Order of Azarn, called forth by ancient magic as our prophesied champion. Our world has awaited your arrival."
Adrian shook his head, still half-convinced he was dreaming. "You're saying… I'm in another world?"
The robed figure inclined his head solemnly. "The Kingdom of Lunaris. And we stand at the edge of ruin, our land poisoned, our people cursed. You have been summoned to defeat the Dark Queen and restore balance."
There was a brief pause as the reality—or unreality—of it hit him. "I think you've made a mistake. I've never held a sword, much less… fought some dark queen."
The robed figure seemed unperturbed. "Your strength and skills will awaken in time, hero. All will become clear." He held out a hand, and in his palm, a small, intricate medallion glowed. Its surface was engraved with the same spiraling symbols Adrian had seen in the alley. The sight sent a strange pang through him, something that felt like… recognition.
Adrian's hand drifted toward it involuntarily. As soon as his fingers closed around the medallion, a rush of energy pulsed through his body. Images flashed through his mind—a blazing sword, landscapes that seemed to stretch beyond reality, a towering figure wreathed in shadow. The weight of it was overwhelming.
"You will stay here in the capital until your training is complete," the figure said, as though this were all perfectly ordinary. "Only then can you face the Dark Queen."
"Wait," Adrian protested, the dizziness fading but his heart still racing. "I don't even know your name."
The figure's eyes glimmered. "I am Meric, Keeper of the Order." He paused, a strange smile creeping into his voice. "And your journey has only just begun, Adrian Woods. Embrace it. The fate of Lunaris—and perhaps your own—is now tied to the magic that brought you here."
Adrian felt himself sway, the enormity of it all finally settling on his shoulders. He looked past Meric, over the misty landscape that stretched on in strange hues, toward the castle on the hill. It felt both daunting and oddly… familiar, as if some part of him had been waiting for this moment all his life.
"Right," he said, the weight of the medallion pressing into his palm. "Guess there's no going back now."
And as the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, Adrian Woods took his first steps into a world that would demand everything from him—magic, strength, and perhaps even a fate he could not yet understand.