The white light faded and I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. I found myself on a path in the middle of a forest. 

 

I had no idea where I was or how I got there. The last thing I could remember was being dead. Unless that was a dream. Or was that reality and this was the dream? I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't fully awake yet. My memories were fuzzy and thinking felt tiring.

 

Looking around I saw a lot of very large tall trees to either side of me. I saw pines, hardwoods, and some fairly dense underbrush too. The path I found myself on was unpaved, it was just hard-trodden dirt with some loose leaf-litter and weeds to either side. 

 

I couldn't see very far in any direction, on either side of the path the forest was thick and dark, and frankly kind of ominous. I couldn't see more than a dozen or so meters into the woods. And the trail seemed to curve and wind, so I couldn't see more than twenty meters in either direction looking up and down the path before it turned and was lost in the dense woods.

 

The sky overhead, at least what I could see of it through the canopy of leaves that overhung the path, was clear and blue. It seemed like a nice warm day. I could steal a few glimpses of the sun through the trees up and to my left. The higher leaves moved slightly in a gentle breeze, but down here at ground level the air was fairly still.

 

It was clean too. The air smelled fresh and clear, the only scents I could detect were natural smells of the forest.

 

After taking stock of my surroundings, it occurred to me to take stock of myself as well. In my right hand I held some folded pieces of paper, and in my left hand was a roughly-made canvas bag held closed with a draw-string.

 

The bag was a little on the heavy side, which made me wonder what was stuffed inside it. For now my attention moved to the papers in my right hand. I let the bag drop to the ground by my feet and I unfolded the papers. 

 

As I unfolded the pages I realized it wasn't normal paper. It felt thicker, heavier. It had a sort of rustic home-made sense to it that brought the word 'parchment' to mind. It made me think of some kind of LARP prop. That impression was reinforced when I saw the flowing calligraphic writing inside. Before I started to read though, my attention was drawn away from the letters and onto the hands that were holding the large parchment sheets.

 

The soft alabaster skin was flawless, the hands were small and the fingers were slim and delicate. Each was tipped with a slightly long perfect nail. The hands were both attached to smooth, slender arms. My eyes widened as my gaze shifted to look straight down at myself.

 

I was wearing a long black linen sleeveless tunic-style top. Or maybe it was a short black sleeveless linen dress. Whatever it was, the hem stopped a few inches above my knees. My slim shapely legs were concealed in what appeared to be grey cotton tights. I had a pair of simple black leather shoes on my feet. 

 

As unexpected as my clothes were, what caught my attention next was the two mounds on my chest, pushing out the contour of the tunic dress thing. The parchments wound up on the ground at my feet next to the canvas bag, as my hands moved to my chest. My eyes widened as I grasped them through the linen fabric. 

 

I was still kind of confused and disoriented, but I was positive I didn't have boobs before. I sure did now though. They weren't too big. Each fit nicely in my small hands, but they were still a lot more than the nothing I was used to before. 

 

After a half minute or so it finally occurred to me to check the rest of me out. I let go of my chest and reached down and pulled the hem of my dress up so I could look underneath. 

 

The grey cotton hose were tight and form-fitting, and they reached up to my waist. My eyes took in the narrow waist, the wide hips, the flat belly, and the lack of any tell-tale bulge between my legs. 

 

Still, I had to be sure. I reached down and ran my right hand along the soft cotton fabric, over my flat stomach, down over my smooth groin, and between my legs. 

 

Ok. I was a girl. I probably should have known that already, but it felt like news to me. 

 

I wondered what my name was, and realized I should probably already know that too. Then I remembered those sheets of parchment, and I wondered if there might be some clues there. I picked them up and had another look at them. 

 

The sheets were large, and they were written in fancy flowing calligraphic script with what looked like proper pen and ink. They looked very impressive and official, one of them even had a fancy seal at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately I couldn't make head or tail of the text. It was written in some kind of language I'd never seen before.

 

They seemed important though so I figured I should keep them. I carefully folded both sheets back up, then my attention turned to that canvas bag I'd been holding earlier. 

 

I loosened the draw-string and had a look inside. The bag was kind of heavy so I thought there might be something important in there, but all I found was clothes. There was a second outfit similar to the one I was wearing now, a second pair of soft leather shoes, and two thin cotton night-gowns. There was also a hair brush, a tooth brush, and a small hand-mirror, all wrapped up in a towel. One thing I noticed was all my belongings seemed to be hand-made and sort of rustic or artisanal. 

 

The mirror caught my attention as I realized I had no idea what I looked like. I pulled it out and got the first look at myself. Or at least, the first look I could remember.

 

I saw a young face, pretty, with more flawless alabaster skin. My lips were wide and full, in a luscious pink tone. My eyes were green, but they weren't what I'd call a natural shade. They looked like a light lime green or light apple green, and they almost seemed to sparkle in the bright daylight. My hair was the same exact colour, a light unnatural green that hung in waves down past my shoulders.

 

I reached up and pulled some hair out front so I could see it. It was soft and silky, and the light green colour stood out in contrast against my black dress.

 

As I continued staring at myself in the mirror while I played with my hair I caught a glimpse of my right ear. Something about it seemed strange, and after the eyes and the hair I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know what was up with my ears.

 

Still, I figured I needed to know who and what I was so I took a closer look with the mirror. I pulled my hair back out of the way, and as I did I ran my fingers up over and around my ear. It was taller than a normal ear, and seemed too narrow. It tapered upwards and ended in a soft point. It definitely wasn't like a human ear at all. 

 

I stared at that for a minute or two, then finally put the mirror back in my little bag. I tucked the two folded parchments in there too, then pulled the drawstring closed. 

 

"Ok," I said to myself. "I don't know who I am, what I am, or where I am. So what do I do now?"

 

When I spoke, I noticed my voice sounded really nice. Soft and cute and girly, it really seemed to fit my appearance perfectly.

 

I picked up my canvas bag and the weight of it confused me again. It was just too heavy for a pair of shoes, four pieces of clothes, a towel, and a few other things. I hefted it a few times and moved it from one hand to the other, before it finally dawned on me. The problem wasn't with the bag or its contents, it was me. 

 

I was a total wimp. Except I was positive that wasn't right. 

 

And as I figured that out, it was like a fog lifted in my mind and my memories came back. Or some of them did anyways. I was a twenty-five year old unemployed young man, or at least I was right up until I got flattened by a truck. I still couldn't remember my name which felt weird, but I already had a sinking feeling what I needed to do to find out.

 

"Ah fuck," I sighed to myself. I grimaced and asked softly, "Status?"

 

As soon as I said the word, a bunch of text seemed to appear hovering in the air before me, as if overlaid on my vision.

 

My eyes widened as I stared. The text faded after a few seconds, but I'd seen enough.

 

According to the physical stats I was seven years younger, eighteen inches shorter, and ninety-eight pounds lighter than I was used to. I was absolutely tiny. And if the stats where anything like from the games I was familiar with, then I was even weaker than I thought. No wonder I had trouble carrying my little sack of clothes.

 

The other big shock, beyond being a weak tiny girl, was that I wasn't even human now. Or at least, not entirely. I supposed that explained the strange hair and eyes and ears.

 

And apparently I was on my way to enroll at a magic school. Between that and the fact that everything I owned was simple and hand-made, I figured this was some kind of medieval setting.

 

I sighed, "Truck-kun, check. Reincarnated, check. Isekai'd, check. Gender-bent, check. LitRPG, check. Fantasy setting, check."

 

It seemed pretty obvious, that Natasha woman sent me to some kind of world that was based on all my favourite stories. There were still a few tick-boxes that hadn't been checked, or at least not yet. I felt a little flutter in my stomach at that thought, but I couldn't tell if I was scared or excited. Or possibly both.

 

"Ok Abby," I said to myself as I hefted my little bag of belongings over my left shoulder. "May as well play along. Let's go sign up for magic school."

 

I set out, walking along the path. I didn't actually know which direction was the right one, so I picked one at random. I just hoped it wasn't too far a walk. I had no food or water with me, and between my tiny weak body and my low constitution I knew I wouldn't be able to haul my belongings that far. Not to mention, I was in absolutely no shape to handle any sort of random encounters with danger.

 

Fortunately it turned out I was going the right way, and I wasn't that far from 'school'.

 

After about twenty or thirty minutes following the twisting path through the woods, I emerged into a large cleared space, at the middle of which sat a tall impressive-looking castle. It was like something out of a fairy tale, with white stone walls that stretched perhaps fifty meters along each side and fifteen or twenty meters high. There were circular towers at the corners, and bright blue flags flying from the tallest spires. A wide water-filled moat surrounded the structure, but a drawbridge was lowered across and the front gates were open. The path led right up to the drawbridge and gates.

 

I took a moment to stand there and stare, while also dropping my bag to the ground to let my arm and shoulder rest up. It actually seemed like an unlikely place to put a castle. It was surrounded by dense forest, I couldn't see any sign of farming or a supporting village, nowhere the castle residents would get their food from. Unless all that was behind me, on the other side of the woods. 

 

From what I could see, there was about two hundred meters of cleared space all around the castle. It would allow the inhabitants to see people approaching, but it wasn't enough room to grow food. And I didn't see any food anyways, it was all just neatly-manicured lawn. Which now that I thought of it, seemed kind of improbable.

 

Finally I lifted up my canvas bag again and followed the path up to the castle gates.

 

There was a sign on the side of the castle wall, it looked very official and impressive. It was made out of wood, painted black, with text carved into it. The lettering was highlighted with gold paint that glittered in the sunlight. And this was text I could actually read, unlike the two letters I had in my bag.

 

"You've got to be kidding me," I said to myself as I stared at the sign. "That's not even subtle."

 

The sign proudly announced that this castle was in fact "Sappho's School of Sorcery".