--Chapter 1--

--The Calling--

A large metal door stood alone, surrounded by mist. It was dark in color and air, bound by numerous chains, imprisoning something powerful and terrifying. Sometimes, screeches, growls and whispers can be heard, low and sparse as if from far away, but shivering, sending fear to the very soul of the living and the dead alike. In the middle carved a dragon's bronze sculpture, curled up into a circle , its body full of thorns.

For thousands of mortal years the door stood still, closed, unmoving, and the dragon slept, oblivious to the chaos on the upper worlds. For a short moment, there were silence and respite.

But then rumblings could be heard. Then scrapes, thumps, gnaws, screams, louder and louder, fiercer and fiercer. Soon the door started shaking violently, the chains vibrating and stretching, trying their best to detain the chaos behind. A mere sight of the door would make anyone shudder and faint, much less for any fool who dare to approach it.

And yet I'm here, walking toward it. Despite all the horrifying noises it makes, despite my every cells telling me not to, I kept walking. As I advanced, the screams got louder and the pounding stronger, to the point of deafening. Until I stood right in front of it. Then the noises ceased. All was silent, except for a faint whisper. "Come. Open it. Kill the prophet and the false god. Save us, and we shall sing your true name instead."

I raised my hand and tried to touch the door. But halfway there it was stopped in place. The head of the dragon was looking at me. I struggled, but realized I couldn't move my body anymore. I'm paralyzed. I couldn't even breathe.

The head looked at my eyes, then bared its teeth. A disgusting smell assaulted my nose. The dragon started rotting, its bronze skin melted away, revealing blackened flesh. Its eyes fell out, dropped to the ground with a splash, exploding into a nest of crawling maggots. Some of them got on my clothes. I tried to struggle free, but it was impossible. At the same time, from its deformed mouth escaped an ear-shattering scream. Unable to withstand the sight and noise, I passed out.

I woke up from the terrifying dream with a jolt, sweating and breathing heavily. "The fuck was that thing? Fucking disgusting piece of...Bleh!"

I threw up. The dream was too realistic it made my stomach stir. Somehow, it seemed more of a scene I had personally witnessed than something from inside my head. The horror and confusion made it unbearable. What was the door? The hell did the voice mean? Why did the dragon suicide bomb me?

I threw up more. Everytime I thought of it I couldn't hold the content of my stomach in. This kept happening for god knows how many times, until there was nothing to throw up anymore, and I passed out again.

The next time I woke up, it was already dark. Or at least I thought so, because I couldn't see the sky. It was covered by leaves, so dense even the light couldn't pass through. They belong to trees so big a family car would fit, and as high as a 10-storey building. But there were some kind of mushrooms near the trunks of every tree that gave up a green light, which in combination with the abnormally tall trees and dark sky made for a weird, eerie scene. Like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

 I forced myself to sit up, feeling weak and exhausted. The episode of dispensing every bit of fluid and solid in my internal food processor made me feel like crap. Nonetheless, lying unguarded inside a forest in an unknown world at night is never a good idea. I looked around, trying to find anything resembles human trace, but there was none. There were only trees and mushrooms in my recognition range. Valrenos, why did you send me here? You wouldn't want your private detective to die in the middle of nowhere, right after you made a deal with him from starvation, or worse, would you? Do you even care about me?

Sighed, I tried to get up, but then my right hand touched something leathery. I looked to my right to find a crude leather bag, small and worn. Inside were two daggers, two small gemstones of some sort which are stuck together, a paper wrap containing something, and a letter. I opened the letter. It read: "Hello Dan. Sorry for communicating like this, instead of by telepathy - which I had planned to do, but by the time you woke up, I would already be serving my sentence for, you know, mismanagement and all that. Do not worry, I can take it. More importantly, I need to give you some explanation and direction, lest you become disoriented and lost. Read carefully and remember.

You are in the Giant's Garden, a forest North of Gladia, the city of trade. It is home to a species of abnormally large trees, their origin unknown.  The trees radiate mana, a term I assume you are quite familiar with, and for that reason the forest attract numerous terrifying beasts and monsters. These things are strong and ruthless, and will hunt anything that has mana to feed and strengthen themselves. Don't worry, however, because you won't be their target. You see, your world doesn't have mana, which means it doesn't exist within you either, so to them, you are worthless as a prey."

Thanks, Valrenos, now I don't know if I should be relieved that i won't be eaten by monsters, or depressed since I don't have the one thing to do what I dream of the most right now with. Yep, no magic for me.

The letter continues: "However, that won't last long. Being continuously exposed to high density mana like this, sooner or later you'll gain magic power. This is one of the reason why I sent you to this forest, because without mana, you won't survive long. You won't be able to fight, and even mundane task like creating a fire would be much more difficult than with mana. By the time you leave this place, I believe it will be possible for you to wield magic to some extend. But for now, you are safer here. At least the residents are picky when it comes to food.

Speaking of, there is food in the paper wrap for you to eat. The two gemstones are magic stones. The amber one creates fire by rubbing it on a rough surface. The sapphire one holds water, release the content by applying a bit of pressure on it. If you had magic, then you can fill it up as well, but for now there should be enough inside to last you a few days. There are also two Koenic steel daggers. Koenic is a material a bit stronger than steel, but is twice as light and harder to rust. They are not rare, but still fairly valuable and good for beginner's weapons. Keep them carefully. The clothes on you are made from feranea silk ( it's a kind of spider) and tougher than normal beginner's armor.

I have altered your appearance a bit, since your "accident" is already quite well known over here, so the risk of the gods there recognizing you will be dangerously high otherwise. I have also given you my blessing, which will grant you elementary weapon handling techniques - a requirement since you've never done it before, and a small buff to how quick you learn things.

Well, this is all I can do for now. Maybe after I've served my time, I could find some way to get you more equipments, but for now this'll have to do. When you are ready, put the two magic stones together and throw it on the ground and it will become a compass. Go north where the sapphire end points at to get to Gladia. Register as an adventurer there and start training. I will contact you again when I have the chance. Until then, stay safe." -Val.

...I take it back. He does care about me. A lot in fact, since the instruction is really detailed and he gave me this much stuff. And he calls himself Val, what a friendly guy. "But you could've given me a bit more food, you know." I said as I looked at the small paper wrap. I pulled out the content of it, which seemed to be some kind of jerky, and put a piece in my mouth. "This is not a whole lot." I swallowed it, and immediately felt full. "What the? How am I full already?" I guess it's some magical meat jerky, because I'm staring to feel energetic again.

Then I separated he stones, squeezed the water stone and drunk the liquid that poured out. "And this water is really sweet!" Now I'm already full of energy, which surprised me. "Well, since I'm refreshed now, I guess it's time to go then." I stood up, put the two stones together again and dropped them. The north end pointed in front of me. It's dark now, but I had the mushrooms to light my way, and the faster I get out, the better. I strapped the two daggers to my belt and started walking.

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