JayFLQZA

This Series is for fun and to train my creative writing so the updates may be irregular and the story pacing may be slow. I have a day job so I'm not sure of the frequency of the chapters so please be warned. I hope you enjoy it.

In front of the City Library, a man could be seen locking the doors. He had short and curly black hair, clear brown eyes, and had a medium-sized build. The only striking feature he had was his height which was about 6' 4" and the mole under his left eye. He wore an I.D. That reads Josh Ainsley and looked like any ordinary person that you would lose sight of him in a crowd. However, in the distance stood a figure that was observing the man's every action with intensity. Even though the figure was standing in the middle of the street, everyone was ignoring them as if they weren't there.

"Finally, I'm done with my shift." I sighed as I check my watch as I walk down the stair to the Library and take a deep breath of the cold Autumn air. It was always cold around this time of the year so I never really liked going out, however, I need to work if I don't want to be either hungry or become a homeless person. I continued walking and the felt a breeze pass by that made me shiver so I raised my coat's windbreaker. "Damn it, it's not even wintering yet." I picked up my pace and started walking toward the station hoping I would make it to the last train home.

I went down the subway and grabbed a ticket for the train heading home then sighed again. I'm not complaining though since it's an easy job of arranging books, checking the books being borrowed or returned, and making sure the books are preserved and taken care of. Due to my introverted nature, I try to keep on minding my own business or in other words, keep my human interaction to a minimum so I choose the job of being a Librarian that has the least human interaction, not that anybody even visits the Library anymore after the internet became accessible. "I guess It's just there to keep the history." *Screech* I stood up and went to the platform as the train arrives and got on. There weren't that many passengers on the train. Just a bunch of office workers and a weird person that is standing even though there were many vacant seats. I just ignored everyone and watched the window as the scene outside passed by and had a quiet ride home. 

I arrive at my apartment fumbled my key to open the door and entered inside. The inside of the apartment was small but cozy, just enough space for a single guy to live in but I'm not complaining since it at least has a bath that I can soak in. I cooked a small meal for one and ate it while watching the news. after that I went to the bathroom to take a bath. "sigh, It's already this late." I say as I saw that it was already midnight so I rushed to the bath. After washing my body, I soaked myself into the warm water and relaxed as I thought about these past few years. 

I never really understood human relationships so I never got a girlfriend. I guess being 27 years old, a librarian with ordinary looks never really helped in getting the ladies. I also drifted away from most of my friends and relatives since my parents died years ago, it has been a while since I ever contacted anybody. Just going to work, getting groceries, reading books, and repeating it all over again. The only places that I visit in the city are the Library, Grocery store, and my house. Yes, 6 years of repeating that out of the 27 years of such a mundane life. Living life that way has been peaceful these few years and the only thing I would want would be to live quietly in the countryside after I have enough savings. feeling a little dizzy I decided to get up and leave the bath. I wiped the water off my body, got dressed and dried my hair using a hairdryer, and got ready for bed.

 I lay on my bed and relaxed, as soon as my back touched the soft mattress I felt sleepy and peaceful 'till I noticed a shadow in the corner of my eye. I sat up, turned my lamp on, and looked around. "Sigh, I'm being paranoid. why would anybody be in my room?" Just to make sure, I went around the apartment and check the locks and saw there was nothing amiss. "I guess I'm just tired."  I lay down again in my bed and let my sleepiness takes over as  I fell unconscious.

…

A shadow slowly materialized into a figure in his room as soon as he fell unconscious "Hmm, he can already sense me even while being in this world with very thin mana.  His potential growth makes him the best candidate. I should send him now so he can prepare." The figure chanted in an unknown language and made different gestures as a spell formula was formed and started glowing in a pulsing way and then came a flash of light that left the bed bare with nothing on top as if no one was ever laying there in the first place. The figure started another chant that made objects inside the apartment slowly fade. This went on for a few minutes till there was nothing left, only an empty apartment. This wasn't the only thing happening, even the memories of people about a person living there slowly faded. Everything about the individual started to fade, and after those few minutes, it was as if he never existed. The figure looked at a forward as if they could see a faraway place. "I wonder how he will fare in that world. May you be protected by my blessing and thrive." They looked around the barren room with a smile and just like how the figure suddenly appeared, it also disappeared from the room as if it was never there.  

…

I was jolted awake by the loud sound of water so I groggily opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling, or rather, there was no ceiling at all. I only saw leaves connected to branches and the largely blue sky with sparse clouds passing by. "What the hell? Where am I?" I immediately stood up and looked around, to my left is a river and a falls in the distance, to my right are a lot of trees, behind me was a mountain and in front of me were more trees. I had no idea of how I got here and the only possible cause I could think of would be that shadow I noticed before I slept which I looked for but never found. I looked down and saw that I was at least fully clothed when whoever kidnapped me threw me into this forest. I wanted to scream but panicking wouldn't help me right now. I decided to climb a tree to see if there are any settlements or roads nearby only to find myself in the middle of a forest or at least very deep within the forest since I can't see the end of it, this made me a little nervous. "Maybe I'm still dreaming right now and having a Lucid dream? There's only one way to find out." And so I proceeded to pinch myself, which hurt a lot. "Guess it's not a dream which is way worse." I looked to the distance and saw unfamiliar animals roaming around. Then the realization hit me, I was in a forest that had a lot of carnivorous animals that could kill me.

"I needed to get out of the forest or at least find a shelter before nightfall and the first step would be to find a settlement or road. Maybe a higher point of view will help me see some sort of civilization or at least a hunter's trail." having set a goal I head towards the falls to see if there was any way up there. I also picked up a sturdy-looking branch on the way that I can use to defend myself from creatures and to steady my footing.

Upon reaching the falls, I saw two small ways to get up the side of the cliff. One was in the form of thorn-covered vines so I decided against using that but the vines can be used for another purpose. I decided to take another route, a long path up the side that looks a little sketchy and as if it was man-made. I observed the path and noticed that it looks as if it hasn't been used in years as it was covered in moss. It looked like it was carved from the cliff's side and was a little slippery because it was slightly damp from the water coming from the falls. I continued climbing up and reached the top of the cliff. I looked around and gasped. What I saw was best described as a sea of trees with no roads or settlement in sight however those aren't the only thing I saw. Mountains were reaching the clouds, trees that were as tall as a building, and even large scaly flying creatures at the distance that I can't identify. Whatever that was I probably have never heard of it.

I sat down and contemplated my findings: unidentifiable beasts, overly sized trees and mountains, and me in suddenly in the middle of nowhere. "Did I just got sent into Another world? Is this like those things I've read in novels? Hmm, I didn't meet a god though." Even though I was asking, there was no one here to answer me. "I thought there would be someone to help people like me like a tutorial or did I skip that. Did I accidentally end up here or was I summoned here instead?" There were shows on the Television and even videos on the internet about this but I am not fully convinced. This place is certainly not Earth, as I have never heard of a place with these sights or those weird animals. Figuring out whether I'm in another world should come later as I also have something more important to worry about, that is surviving in this forest 'till I get out of it.

 *growl* I heard my stomach and remembered I haven't had any breakfast yet. There is a lot of sources of food in a forest and I already have a source of water. I'm not sure if it's potable tho but boiling it will make it a lot safer to drink so I need a pot or some kind of container and also fire. Since I don't know which plants or fruits are edible I have to rely on the river fish for food, or at least until I find out which fruits are safe to eat. I went into the forest and gathered some twigs or branches, dried leaves, and some small rocks to prevent the fire from spreading and prepared my campsite about 50 meters from the river bank.

 I went back to the river to look for some fish and clay that I can use to make some kind of pot. There were small fish by the riverbank so I picked up a big rock to throw. I kept on throwing the rock and managed to kill 3 small fish. I removed the fish guts and gills, since parasites usually live there, and skewered it with a branch. The rock-throwing also helped in looking for clay which was easier to find since it was more of a gray-colored than ordinary soil. I marked the place by placing a stick as a marker and returned to my camp.