Gabriel opened his eyes sore.

Not physically sore, more like something inside of him was.

My… heart is aching?

It felt a bit like being heartbroken. The young man had felt something like that in the past, like when he woke up from the coma and her mother said that his father and sister died; then again years later when his girlfriend had cheated on him.

It wasn't a new feeling. It just felt very much more real. As if his soul, spirit, or whatever it was, had taken a physical form.

Gabriel caressed his chest, and so the blankets; under them, once again, he was naked.

I don't like this pattern, he thought.

Getting up, he took a nice view of the room he was staying in.

Wooden walls and sober furniture, clothes characterized by the same lack of inherent style had been placed on a chair by the desk, and leather boots were waiting on the ground.

Two things apart from the lizard sleeping soundly on the other side of the double bed took his attention, though.

One was undoubtedly the window and the scenery which he still couldn't entirely make out; the other were the paper sheets on the desk; he could see the writing on it, a definitely out of style feather pen lied by it, the same could be said for the bottle of ink.

Someone must have just written something on there.

He quickly dressed up, an orange shirt on khaki pants. Ugly…. and got up to read the letter.

Getting up had bounced the lizard awake.

It stretched behind him; Gabriel did not know how he knew it was stretching since he was giving it its back, but he just knew.

However, the letter was much more interesting. Gabe started reading it.

'To Gabriel Walker.

Welcome to the Cradle, Mr. Walker.

Take your time to gaze at its beauty. I'll be waiting for you under the Rapids of Mana, whenever you'll be ready.

Look for the Rock of Old once you'll be there and ask around for directions. You are welcome here, don't think about what people might say to you. You belong here, probably more than any of us do.

Sincerely yours,

Gaia Waterfront.'

Gabriel did not know what he was expecting. However, the kindness in the letter surprised him; he took the names to memory.

Rapids of Mana? Rock of Old, Gaia Waterfront.

Next, he got up and headed for the window.

There he gaped.

He was in a city, a city built in the middle of some gigantic dome.

Am I in the middle of a mountain?

He couldn't make up the walls of the dome because various parts of it had been broken to let in the light; the sun was seemingly high in the sky because light descended perpendicularly toward the ground.

Most of the city was bathed in dim light; it came from massive azure flambeaus blazed atop each of the structures. Few had them unlit or maybe too attenuated for him to see.

The dome walls' cuts shined rays of light on the parts of the city that held huge fields.

From where he stood, he could notice that some of those empty patches were used for agriculture, but some others looked like training fields.

He could see all that because he was extremely high up; from where his room was located, there was almost no place his eyes couldn't reach, and only a few structures were higher up than his own. It wasn't about the size of the building as much as the fact that the hidden city was built in a weird way.

There were many height differences, one part was built on high ground, the next one on a depression; it reminded him of an irregular BPM rate on a screen.

Most structures were built in rock and wood; their shape was, well it was a mashup of many different architectural styles; as if many cultures had come in and started building at various points in time as they saw fit; and yet, what was even weirder was that they felt… powerful.

As if not even missiles could breach them. Honestly, he did not understand why they felt like that for him.

I mean, what can't a missile destroy? And yet…

 

For some reason, the place in which he was staying had been built on one of the highest spikes in the land; thus, he had such a view of it. At the same time, it was notable how different the buildings looked poorer, the lower the depression on the ground in which they were built.

What is this? Class disparity?

He shook it off. There would be time for questions.

Gabriel opened the door before turning around. He had forgotten something.

The lizard, like him, had been staring at the city. Its little paws were attached to the window, and its face was practically plastered on the glass.

The man walked back to it.

"It's absurd, isn't it?"

The lizard nodded.

"Yeah, I don't get how-" Gabriel stopped.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. I must have a concussion. It definitely hasn't just nodded, right? I mean, it can't have? My life has just become so weird as it is, you can't possibly give me thinking animals as well…

Gabriel turned toward it once again.

Yet this time, the lizard did nothing; or at least mimicked nothing to him. It simply turned around and jumped on the ground, heading for the door. Then it sat, pushing out some sort of sigh. Gabriel stood by the window, gauging its reaction.

The lizard turned once again at him, eyes half-closed; it looked back from him to the door, once, twice, thrice.

Gabriel got there and opened the door, staring at the lizard's reaction.

As in thanks, the lizard nodded, and it went out, its tail and hips swaying all confidently.

"Yep, I'm definitely concussed." He shrugged, then started walking through the corridor.

 

The structure was deserted, or at least its corridors were; if he focused, he could hear sounds from inside of some of its rooms, people talked, one screamed something, and somebody else even sang; he was fairly sure a couple was fucking; Wait, is that a third voice I hear? Nevermind, not my business.

Gabriel descended the four sets of stairs he found on its way when finally, sounds became stronger. There was definitely music playing.

He could hear shuffling, tapping of shoes, and clanking of what couldn't else be but cutlery and glasses.

Gabe gulped; there were three doors in front of him now, one at the center and two at its sides; he did not know why, but he was getting tense.

As if sensing his mood, the lizard started walking up to his leg. It did so in a few seconds, and soon it was sitting on its left shoulder.

The young man gave it a look, a smile crept up his lips seeing her.

He felt tense for what probably felt like the fracas of a bar or a restaurant, a very active restaurant from what he could hear.

Suddenly, at his right, a door sprang open, clanking against the wall.

A thick short female holding a plate with several more pints of beer than humanly possible moved like the wind and entered the door directly in front of him; he doubted she had seen him, or if she had, she didn't mind his presence; and because of the intense light coming from the door his sight failed to identify the details, both hers and what lied after that door but, something about her figure hit him.

Was that a… Dwarf?

She was rather small, no taller than 4 feet 5, and had a stocky figure about her, yet she looked rather feminine, unlike the dwarven lasses he had seen in fiction. But this was not fiction; it was real life.

Let's- let's just go, why don't we.

As if to respond, the lizard raised its arm toward the door, as if signaling the way. Gabriel sighed but went forward.

The door opened in front of him, welcoming him in a very loud environment.

A densely packed wooden hall welcomed him. Walls filled with furniture, the hall crowded with people, the tables loaded with dishes and most importantly mugs of what couldn't else be but beer.

A giant screen on top of the counter made a lot of noise, yes, but what really was louder was the group of people enthralled by it.

They jumped and screamed and shoved each other in a friendly way, even though, judging by the sound the pushes made when they connected, it reminded him of punches on sandbags.

There were people of any type and any race in there, plus people who clearly were not human.

There it is, my knowledge of the world flying out of the window…

There were dwarves, real-life dwarves, and elves… and some orcs… beautiful orcs, skin ranging from blue to green, yet so akin to human, instead of the usually depicted monstrosity he had grown used to, they all had fangs, yes, but they were very much easy on the eyes.

"Laddie! Don't stand there, if you mind been' trampled on!" Came a voice.

Some heads turned toward him, but they very soon lost interest; however, the voice called him again, before he could feel a grip as strong as steel take him by the arm.

The gripper pulled him toward him, just a moment before the door behind him sprung violently open, and a beautiful she-orc burst through before it closed back again.

The violence of the wind generated by the heavy swinging door, and its speed, would have definitely broken something in him if he had remained standing in place.

That was close… Never stand near a kitchen door; I taught it to each and every one of my servers. How could I forget… Gabriel thought, shaking his head.

"Thank you, there I'm very… very… obliged…" He managed to finish, trying to lock his eyes in those of the Dwarf as they decided instead to dart here and there on the Dwarf's face and body.

The Dwarf in question was exactly like one he would find in fiction, long red braids, a massive braided beard reaching up to his waist, and arms as thick as his legs were.

"No biggy. You mus' be Gab Wolker! The newcomeh!"

"Yes, that is I, and who might you be, nice sir?" His voice switched to that much practiced modal voice he used to accommodate his restaurant's clients.

"Commodo, Commodo Heisen, owner of tha place! Now, please, please! Come! Have a pint. It's on the house!"

Commodo led Gabriel to the bar, where there were machines that could spill the beer.

This place is wrong… that's a spiller… and the TV is definitely a led TV, but what is going on here is not how fiction usually does things. Gosh, I'm not in a book, for god's sake. I've got to stop thinking in those terms!

He couldn't help but gauge at the surroundings. A huge hall adorned with all kinds of memorabilia on its vast walls, photos, and paintings of scenes so far away from what he knew and saw that made them bizarre.

At the center of the grand hall, a vast, beautiful hearth took up a good portion of the room yet gave it that much of a luster. It had a low fence around it, with benches and a circular desk all around it for the guest on which to sit and eat.

The atmosphere was golden. Everybody smiled, some sang, some drank, others were definitely flirting, some feasted, and everybody was having fun.

This place is really nice…

"So, Gabriel, they say you are an outsider, eh? Tell me 'bout it, I'm all ears!" Said Commodo, pinching his ears and bringing them forward with a laugh.

"I- I have no idea actually… from what I've guessed, people were not exactly looking for me, as much as I was placed in their care… but more than that…" He shook his head.

"The trial, then, you must have passed the very first trial on your own… as it was done hundreds of years ago," he said, nodding, his voice lowered.

"Hundreds of years ago?" Repeated Gabriel.

"Yes! The ways of the-" He leaned closer to whisper in his ears, "...Heralds."

Backing away, Commodo looked like he expected something from Gabriel's look, but he was met with a lost gaze. Gabriel had clearly no idea what the dwarf was talking about.

As Gabriel shook his head and shrugged to further questions, Commodo's smile dropped in carats. But soon, he was called for some beers to fill, and when he came back, he was smiling again.

"Don't worry, laddie, you shall find your road, Herald or not, no one gets left behind in The Den! That's why me and my dwarven folk have come here, all the way from the Core!"

"The Core?"

"Oh, righ'! You can't know, silly me! Well, you know what!? Lady Gaia is waiting for you there. She has even left me a nice tip to point you over the Verdant Fields. Come, come with me, I'll point you the way, I'd accompany you all the way there, but as you can see, the game is on, the inn is full to the brim, you understand, right, laddie?" Said Commodo, leading him to the rear exit.

"Yeah, sure, I wouldn't abandon my restaurant either," Gabriel answered, at which Commodo stopped.

"You've got a restaurant back on old Earth?"

"Yeah, mine, and my mother's."

Commodo paused for a few seconds, as if considering something, "Fate, eh?" He said to himself before continuing, "Well, it's a beautiful business! And remember, come back here when you're done, your room is booked for the month, three meals a day! Have fun, laddie!"

"Wait!" Gabriel said.

"Yes?" Answered the Dwarf.

"What is a Herald?"

"A Herald? The one that will lead us through the darkest day. And believe me, as the world stands right now, we are at one step from our the darkest of them all..." Said the Dwarf.

Then seeing that Gabriel did not answer back, the door closed behind him with a crash.

"Well… he's definitely intense…" Said Gabriel, chuckling.

"The Wandering Hearth. Nice name too," he thought, raising his eyes up to stare at the huge banner.

The lizard jumped from his shoulder, landing on the stone ground, and wiggling forward, it proceeded, turning back every once in a while to check for Gabriel.

The young man was intent on studying the structure, though, and the people moving about in the streets.

"There are a lot more humans than fantasy beings, though."

The view blew his mind. There were people in animal shapes, half-animal, full-on animals, which he understood were humans that had turned completely into animal shape, and there were others accompanied by their Bond Spirits.

Animals were much varied. There were way more Spirit Bond than the types he had seen listed on his options for selecting his own.

In fact, he recalled the "Spirit Hall" that he had seen while doing the Testing.

However, there were many Spirits of the exact same race among the people. Maybe it was related to the path they had chosen? He couldn't know.

The houses were made of the same quality he had seen from above the inn. They were homogeneous in that, though the ground was diverse, little roots broke out of the stone-paved road, and plazas were aplenty, there was space, but it was also cramped.

Then there were the high and downs in the structure of the city.

Some were so well defined, and the way they had built around them was spectacular.

On some of the heights, terraces sprawled diagonally, held on by pillars of a dense, mighty looking wood; they were most probably used as dining places, or he even saw someone teaching a class in the distance; Gabriel thought he might have seen wrong since the one at the board looked like it had just left Hogwarts.

However, what stood out the most, in the end, were the people.

There were some huge-ass insects among them, ants, in particular, walking around or beside their bonded humans, and they all shared a uniform; it was of shiny brown color.

The guards were distinguishable in being the only ones allowed to move about armed; for some reason, nobody else was armed; most of the people with insects, or in half-ant form- Which is not actually that ugly, it looks almost funny? -carried spears on their backs and weird guns on their sides. Some others carried shields and swords too.

There were a few Beetles, people with huge flying insects could be found wearing the same uniform too. Less common and definitely dressing not in a uniform were people with birds of a sort. Most of the time were people walking or half transformed into horned beasts, and there were instead many fanged creatures, too many for his liking.

Really few were instead rabbits, or monkeys and other animals; he even thought he had seen a sloth somewhere.

Then he saw hedgehogs, turtles, snakes, armadillos, and even a few other lizards, though much bigger than his, but for some reason, those last ones were in the vast minority.

Gabriel steeled himself in talking with one of what he thought were definitely police or guards in general. They were half shaped into ants; their carapace protected their bodies and their mandibles clicked under clearly human eyes, or the opposite.

In the group he had encountered, there were a red ant-man and a green beetle. Like other ants, they both wore a uniform slightly more adorned than the other, more common kind of uniform.

He spoke with the man who had turned into a half-man, half-red ant, curious of his- Might be a she, who could tell. -different color.

"Err, hello there, I am in dire need of directions," he said tentatively.

"You are the wish-to-be Herald, aren't you, the newcomer?" The red ant-man said right away.

And here it is again. Why does everybody know about me already?

"I don't think that's exactly how it works when somebody asks for your help, officer, right?"

Gabriel's tone was sharp. He didn't like the sound of those questions, and even though he couldn't interpret his facial expression in the same way he could for regular people, he could see a smug face under that chitin mask.

"Oh, is it, then tell me, Gabriel Walker, right? How should it be?" The tall officer asked in response.

"Am I being picked on by an officer right now?" Gabriel's eyes grew wide. He was losing his temper, something which happened not as rarely as he wished.

"Marcus, stand aside," came a voice from behind.

The man, releasing his half-green beetle transformation, turned back in his original form, a human, a black man, his accent suggesting that he probably came from France.

The man-ant raised his arms and backed away.

"Don't let our Marcus make a fool out of you; he's just a bit psychotic when it comes to defending the denizens of the Den; how can I help you, Gabriel Walker?" He said.

"Damn… everybody knows my name here…"

The man chuckled, opening his mouth, but then shaking his head, he clearly changed what he wanted to say.

"Please, you wanted directions, right?"

Gabriel inhaled sharply but exhaled as a different man; he was calm; instead, the little lizard started acting up a bit, moving about distressed and a little snappy.

The young man dressed his formal persona, his voice turning ceremonious, his eyes sharp and cold.

"I wished simply for directions for the Verdant Fields, and subsequently to the Rapids of Mana. Might you help me?"

"Of course. Look over there," he turned to his right. "Keep going straight, and you'll find yourself in the Verdant Fields… however, the Rapids of Mana… I don't think you'll be able to get there, as you are... I'd take at least a few months of preparations."

"Make it a year," said the red ant.

"I don't think I'm following. What would the trouble be?" He continued as cold.

"The problem is that you are a weakling, Gabriel Walker. How does a Waterfront take an interest in somebody without even a family is beyond me," replied the red ant, shaking his head.

Gabriel's fist closed in a grip. This guy… he's going way out of line… if it wasn't for fucking magic…

"I'm sorry, but I have to agree to what agent Marcus Rainer said. Don't take it personally, but you can't go past the Verdant Field like this. You are level 1… I have no idea why you would want to head to the Rivers of Mana, but that is something only a party of level twenty should do… just take your time. You should get there, eventually" finished the beetle, which was soon called by a shop owner, and left Gabriel with a nod.

The red ant pretty much did the same, but with a smirk.

As they walked away, he noticed them and the ones waiting for them. They were a group of six people. The Bond of the Ant passed through his mind; he remembered it quite thoroughly.

Strength in number… I don't think I like this police very much.

Gabriel continued forth; his trip had gotten quite a lot weirder. Why would she, whatever she is, want me to head there? Did she want me dead? Usual luck.

"What do you say, lizard? Should we go and take a look at those Verdant Fields?"

The frantic lizard nodded multiple times; it seemed still quite enraged for some reason and full of energy.

In search of answers, Gabriel ventured forth, passing the rest of the city by and reaching an immense arch.

Standing so close to the dome, he could finally see what he was made of and what he saw made him gape.

"No way…"