The next day he was standing in front of that “someone”. His meeting with the sage went about as he expected. He heard much the same stuff as he heard from Sam last night. Thought the sage couldn’t be bothered to be honest about the chances of him going home. He got a more honest answer from Sam. The sage’s vague “The rewards will be beyond those desires.” For saving the humans here. He did learn something though. In 3 months he’d be leaving this place and heading to a magical academy of sorts. It was a hidden, strictly human academy. When he asked the Sage about whether or not he could even learn magic, the sage laughed and said he was CERTAIN he could.

When he asked how he was supposed to lift the curse the sage simply told him to not worry about it. That if he was the chosen one, spoke of in prophecy he’d simply “know how” when the gods chosen to tell him.

He spent most of the rest of the day after talking to the sage contemplating what to do next. Part of him wanted to tell them all to go fuck themselves. But that didn’t solve his basic problem. They clearly never thought about sending him back. He got here with magic. Which meant if he wanted to return he had to learn magic and figure it the fuck out himself. It was good that they meant him to learn magic.

From what he had learned it sounded like a world extremely hostile to human life. He didn’t even know if he was immune to the curse or not. One thing he was certain of was if he was not immune then he could NEVER let them know. The moment they realized he wasn’t immune he lost the last leverage he had. If he was immune. Great. If he wasn’t then fuck them, they’ll never learn otherwise. Since this world was hostile to human life and he planned to go home, he suspected at some point he’ll become the enemy of most of this world.

Which meant he needed to play nice, furthermore it meant he needed to EXCEED. They had already summoned him. He didn’t know how easy or hard this was. If he didn’t exceed then they might dispose of him and summon someone else. He also needed to exceed for his own good. When he tried to go home he was sure he’d get resistance. So he had to know how to protect himself. It also sounded like humans were basically the enemies of this world. If he didn’t and couldn’t protect himself he’d probably end up in a ditch with his throat cut some day. He suspected if the Fairies of this country discovered what the sage had planned they’d kill him without mercy.

The most important thing was he had to do something he never did in his whole life. He had to become the best at something. Everything if at all possible. Even if he wasn’t some chosen one, his situation was such that he needed to look like a chosen one. The ghosts of hockey still clung to the back of his mind. He had tried, tried very very hard to be the best at hockey. But he had failed. There was always someone better then him. In fact, he probably gave up at some point because of that. He knew it somewhere deep inside, that he always never really believed he’d become the best goaltender in hockey. He always expected there to be someone else better. He had done the same with most of his hobbies. Karate, Soccer, Swimming, school. you name it he had done well enough to be praised, and only just. He then half assed the rest. He was even starting to do the same with sword fighting. Just 15 days of it and he was already happy with being as good as everyone else.

He had to be honest with himself. Because his very existence was dependent on this. But he needed to be the best. And he needed to train like his life was on the line. Dangerous. Fearless. He had to exceed. Or he would die. Either die trying to exceed, or die from a knife in the back when they decide the project won’t work with him as the key.

He couldn’t expect mercy when they turned on him. He was nothing to them. He knew that. You didn’t kidnap someone from their life if you respected them. They were a desperate people looking at the extinction of their kind. There probably was nothing they wouldn’t do to avoid that fate. So he had to match their desperation.

It took him a whole day by himself to harden his resolve. He locked himself in his room and forced Sam into the hall. Normally he let her come and go as he please so the no-nonsense request took her by surprise. However considering the conversation with the sage she understood some of what he was thinking. She just waited quietly in the hall for him.

Hardening your resolve is an easy thing to talk about but what he needed was to confront himself. He spent a long time just thinking about why he did the things he did. He considered his life. He hadn't lived long and really he wasn't sure if he could examine himself honestly enough to really harden that resolve. However one thing he was clear on. Half assing it won't work. He would NEVER see home if he half assed it. The collective geniuses of this world spent some 20 years on the effort to summon him. Not one of them thought about returning him. The challenge was IMMENSE. He didn't even know Magic.

The more he thought about his situation the more he realized just how fucked he was. Still there was a saying he remembered hearing once that sorta applied to it. Marv Levy liked to say, “When it’s too hard for them it’s just right for us.” He had to make his whole existence a dangerous walk on the edge of destruction. He had to walk where no one else dared. He had to go where no one else dreamed. His life was already over. That cozy life in Buffalo New York was done. That kid about to commit to a college in his senior year of high school is dead. His old name, the mediocrity failure and laziness attached to it was gone. He even spent some time thinking of a name to take for himself, then a thought crossed his mind, and he started to laugh.

“Yeah. I think that’s perfect.” He suddenly opened the door to the hallway, Sam looked over at him so he smiled and said “Call me Jace”