After a short nap, I woke up. My stomach feels good, and the burning in my throat is gone, but I have other sores to care for. I need countless things to do, organize the new equipment I brought, then process that wolf's meat before maggots decide it's a lovely place to live, etc. But before that. "Now, that voice from yesterday, if you are here, tell me, what are you?" I asked the mysterious voice. I can work while it answers my questions.

 

"What am I?" Said the voice suddenly appeared inside my head. "My given name is Guideline. A gift for ones chosen by gods to help them get used to this world. People summoned from other worlds tend to struggle to adapt, and my objective is making this transition smoother, or it is what I am obligated to tell if any user asks the reason for my existence." It finished its sentence.

 

Skipping summoned by the gods part for now, I now know that I am not on earth for sure. Well, I already had accepted it. It only supported a fact I knew since even a moron could tell this from all the monsters I encountered. I coughed to clear my throat. "So miss or mister guideline, where and why the hell am I here."

 

It immediately answered all three of my questions. "Firstly, I do not possess a gender. I am a force of energy placed in your soul to accompany you. I do not possess a physical form or self-consciousness to have one. Secondly, while I cannot say your exact location, my knowledge base says we are in the world known as Eventide. Thirdly. I seem to have something to say about it, but I cannot access the answer to that question is locked. Sorry, I cannot answer it."

 

Now things got a little more complicated than they used to be with this "guidelines" addition. Some of my questions got their answers, but a thousand more appeared. Guess I have to look at things from the bright side. Even though I am unsure about half the things it said and pretty curious about those locked-away answers, I know I now have at least got something that might help me escape from this place. "Do you know a way back home" I tried my shot.

 

"Negative. I do not possess such information."

 

"Then what you possess."

 

"The information I have."

 

 "Alright, you take even jokes as questions. Good to know. Guideline, would you tell me basics about this world, information that can help me understand my surroundings and increase my odds of survival."

 

"Affirmative. I have enough knowledge in my library to make a simple explanation: You are currently standing on a planet called Eventide, a planet blessed with magic by ten good and ten evil gods, and in Eventide, every being, living or not, has this magic, even though some are not capable of using it. People chosen by gods are an exception since they came from another world. Yet while they lack natural magic, through small alterations on an atomic level and help from their assigned guidelines, they can learn and master it just like any other skilled magic user."

 

I looked to the sky like the voice inside my head was there. "Magic, my body getting modified, these sound stupid, but, considering I am still one piece after point blank bomb blast, I suppose I have no reason not to believe you. At worst, what I ate was hallucinogenic, and I lost all manners of sense."

 

"As you wish." The voice immediately answered. "Ten good and ten banished evil gods of this world are creators of Eventide. Six major evil beings: God Of Forge, Goddess Of Life, God Of Air, Goddess Of Fire, God Of Beasts, and God Of War. Six major good gods being: Goddess of Light, Goddess Of Love, God Of Victory, God Of Nature, God Of Justice, and Great God Of Sky."

 

"And about the eight minor ones?"

 

"As you instructed me to give you the basic knowledge you may need, I skipped them. Would you like to learn about them?"

 

 "No, no need for that. So, those beings are the ones who created this world, so say, who summoned me here, bad or good, Victory or War. Being called a heretic, then getting executed the second someone found me would spoil my fun."

 

"Sadly, I do not possess an answer to your question. I can tell you that a divine power summoned you here, but I only know this much."

 

"Thank you enough for this much. Now, can you tell me my purpose? Am I something like a champion or a messiah, or just a guy thrown in here just for the sake of it?" Hopefully, just a random guy summoned. My brain is already on the edge of exploding. Evil gods, monsters, magic, those should stay in stories and legends, but I suppose I already found myself in one. It's better to accept whatever utter nonsense guideline tells me.

 

"I am sorry, but most of my knowledge is corrupted or locked away. I cannot help you with what I know. To clarify things, I am currently capable of taking notes, helping you translate languages of this world, following your state of health, and some other small things."

 

Good enough, I guess. I didn't have any expectations, but I now know I will not encounter any language barriers if I see other humans or intelligent beings. A notepad is always appreciated, and keeping track of my health is, well, quite vital. I hope it will stay that way too. "No need to be sorry. It is not you who sent me here, my anger is to that asshole gods, so I appreciate your help, and I have one more question. Do you know where I can find other humans?"

 

"Sorry."

 

"Okay, that much is enough for today." I finally finished the whole preparations of equipment thing, and I can finally start moving towards my shelter. I put the wolf over my shoulder and carried it near the entrance.

 

***

 

Who knows if I would be this good coming back home? I didn't, and now I finally hunt myself something to eat, and even though I don't prefer the meat of a carnivore, I can start preparations.

 

First, I need to gather large amounts of wood. I can use my ax to do that. Cutting wood pieces into specific lengths will be a pain in the ass, but it will be worth it. I want to build a smoking hut to preserve meat. I can do that by using the wolf pelt to make a tent. I think I can make support from four long blocks of wood that I soaked in snow, then use them to keep wolf pets away from fire. So it won't burn but dry from the heat. Then I will use wolf pelt and wet barks I get from nearby trees to cover the same support to build a smoker.

 

And to make the smoker much sturdier, I could use a mixture of water and dirt to cover the bottom parts of the wooden supports and dig a little into the ground for the fire pit. With it, support won't burn. Okay, my plan is ready.

 

I moved to the closest suitable tree with my ax, marked where I will hit by rubbing the ax's edge, then began swinging.

 

One, two, three, hundred. I lost the number of my swings, but with each hit of my ax, I watched pieces of wood scatter to the snow-covered ground. The cold makes it harder for me to work, but sometimes, your only option is working.

 

It's been hours, but I am finally getting closer and closer to the core of the tree. Just a couple more swings, and I will be halfway there, just a couple more. I raised my ax and hit the tree trunk once more, and more and more.

 

Sometime later, it is finally over. The massive log hit the ground and shook the earth. I dropped the ax to the ground and sat next to the fruit of my labor. It took me much longer than I excepted, and I think I lost some skin to rough conditions and cold, but I think it is worth my pain.

 

"Now, I need to split these parts." I got my ass up and moved towards a large branch. I can cut this out, shape it like a triangle, then nail it to the tree's body. This way, I will split it into several pieces, like a miner cutting large stones using iron rods.

 

***

 

It took me some time, but I finally finished it. I split the log until it reduced to a fitting size, cut all the branches around it, and finally rolled it to my shelter. After it, I began processing it. Press wooden wedges into the log, and let the pressure do the splitting for you.

 

After the woodwork, I moved back to the wolf and began processing it. From its hide to its teeth, I took every piece I could. "And to all my hard work." I raised one of the tankards I got from the skeletons, filled with boiled and filtered water. Then I grabbed a piece of wolf meat, skewered it with a stick, and placed it over a small campfire I built close to my smoking tent.

 

"This big boy will take a long to finish cooking, so what can stop me from enjoying this meanwhile." I put the skewer in a makeshift turning mechanism over the fire and began humming.

 

"I have a better idea." I grabbed the meat from the mechanism, placed it over a log I now use to cut ingredients, diced it into small cubes using my ax, and made wolf meat shish kebab for myself. "This way, you will cook much faster."

 

I am happy, thankfully, not because of toxins from a wild berry like the last time. I think I am adapting to this place. Just look at all of these, I built myself many helpful things, and I still have many more days to make more. Perhaps I can even make myself a door one day if I find enough materials. And that day way I will finally have a place to call home.