Benjamin's mind blurred and his surroundings faded into the white light. He felt a sense of vertigo as his body moved between Arthea's Pantheon and Arthea. He almost threw up when he suddenly switched directions but managed to keep it inside.
Before long, he landed on the ground with a soft thump. His legs were unsteady and he ended up plopping down on his behind.
Benjamin sighed as he rested his arms on his knees.
'Well, this sucks.'
Benjamin didn't have the slightest clue about anything that had happened in the last hour or so. But his heart was full of grievances and anger toward the powerful beings who announced themselves as gods.
Sure, his life on Earth hadn't been anything to write home about, but he just needed to finish school and get a job far away and everything would be fine. But now, he was stranded in a strange world he didn't know the first thing about other than the fact that it apparently had gods overseeing it. It sounded like a daydream or a fantasy story.
Benjamin's only solace was the look on Rydell's face when he processed Benjamin's last words before their descent unto Arthea.
There was no way for Rydell to confirm the truth of that statement now that they were in another world. Even if it was almost definitely a lie, Rydell would live with the nagging whisper of the possibility of Benjamin engaging in grown-up actions with his mother.
That was unless everything so far had just been a dream and he would wake up in the classroom in a few minutes with a teacher whacking his head and his classmates laughing around him.
A few minutes later, Benjamin was still stuck in the forest in a foreign world.
Benjamin had a crooked smile as he eventually decided he couldn't just sit here and mope. He had to find a way back home or a way to survive.
Since he was stuck in a lush forest, his odds weren't the worst. There should be things to eat, water to drink, and shelter to seek or build. It wasn't as great as Rydell, who would be delivered to the capital of an empire, where he would be received by believers of his god.
But Benjamin wasn't going to keel over and die.
However, as he looked around, Benjamin felt watched. Years as a bully victim had given him a keen intuition for when he was targeted.
'That's just great. My arrival must have been a beacon for all the wild animals around here.'
Benjamin didn't hope for a second that Tamzi would have been nice enough to grant him protection or help him adjust before having him face danger.
Benjamin pinpointed the source of the gaze, and his thoughts about Tamzi and the other gods faded. He could instinctively tell that the pitch-black fox sitting below one of the tall trees around him wasn't an ordinary wild animal.
His first thought was that he should have expected it.
In a world of gods and owl-heads, the supernatural is only natural.
Meaning, he didn't stand a chance.
"Welcome to Arthea, Benjamin Vrolas. I choose you as my avatar."
However, the reality differed from Benjamin's expectations.
Benjamin didn't have time to think more before the black fox spoke. At the end of its words, before Benjamin could comprehend the ridiculousness of the situation, his ears rang and his mind went blank. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
"He didn't die. That's a good start."
The black fox walked up to the unconscious Benjamin and inspected his newfound avatar more closely. The fox's glossy pitch-black fur swayed slightly in the nonexistent breeze. Aside from its fur, the black fox was completely motionless as it watched Benjamin. It was like a statue or a being frozen in time, or perhaps unaffected by the passing of time.
Eventually, Benjamin woke up with a headache and a frown. He looked at the black fox.
"...Are you a god?"
He remembered the ritual where his classmates had been chosen. It was slightly different but still similar. The key difference was what the black fox had chosen Benjamin as. Only Rydell had been chosen as something, and he had been chosen as an apostle.
The black fox nodded.
"I am the Black Fox God."
Benjamin looked the black fox up and down.
"...You don't say."
"Eluzan is a fitting name for this era. As you are now my avatar, you may call me as such."
Benjamin nodded slowly.
"Eluzan. Got it. Uh, Eluzan, do you mind explaining a few things to me?"
Eluzan nodded.
"You are my avatar. That much I can do without issue."
"What the fuck is going on?"
"..."
"..."
Eluzan looked at Benjamin silently. Benjamin returned his silent stare while lying prone on his back with his hands clasped over his stomach, his head tilted to the side to look at what might be a figment of his imagination.
"I am more real than anything or anyone you have ever encountered before, my avatar. Do not doubt me or this reality."
"So, I'm not dreaming?"
"No. You are awake. I can explain what is going on to you, but it is one of those things in your life that you must understand on your own to comprehend it."
Benjamin sighed. That wasn't the answer he needed or wanted.
"Wait…Did you just read my mind?"
Eluzan gave a slight nod.
"You are my avatar. Our connection is deeper than that of lovers. But it is not quite the act of reading minds. I can feel what you are feeling to some degree. Strong and precise feelings, I can interpret. Do not worry. Your privacy is guaranteed."
Benjamin looked at Eluzan with a blank expression. He strained his eyes as he stared straight at the black fox's forehead.
"...What are you doing, my avatar?"
"I'm trying to read your thoughts."
"...Do not get ahead of yourself, my avatar. You must first understand yourself before you seek to understand another."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You are a few thousand years too early to read my thoughts."
Benjamin gave up and looked into Eluzan's abyssal eyes.
"Okay. So, from the beginning, why were my classmates and I summoned to Arthea?"
"Once again, it is something you need to understand on your own for it to make sense unless you wish to waste all of your life listening to the complete explanation. But as you are my avatar, I feel obligated to give you a few pointers."
"Great."
"Fate. Luck. Misfortune. Greed. The greater good. Boredom. Love. Hatred. Enemies. Allies. Destruction. Recreation. Time. Space. Sovereignty. Rising. Falling. Action. Inaction. Fame."
Benjamin's head was askew and his face was one big question mark. Those pointers from Eluzan, his god, had done nothing but confuse him even further.
"I told you. Still, I condensed a few millions of years of history to less than a minute. In time, it will make sense. …As long as you don't die first. Let's hope not."
"..."
For some reason, Benjamin couldn't find much hope within him.