I woke up with a throbbing head that was being aggravated by the fact that I was bouncing around. I was lying on a hard surface of some kind, and when I sat up, my head banged on another hard surface. It was already aching, and the extra smack didn’t help it very much. My forehead pounded, and my nose felt full and swollen. I reached up to touch it and winced; it was broken, for sure. That wasn’t a problem, since I’d reset it before, but it would take some time to heal. There was a lump on my forehead, and as I touched it, my memory came rushing back. I recalled falling through the door and seeing the woman yelling in some strange language, her foot slamming into my face, and darkness.

I stopped and considered that last part. The woman had been standing twenty feet from me, easily, and I hadn’t seen her cross the space in between us. That meant that either she’d teleported, or she was so fast that she moved without me seeing it. From what I’d seen of the old lady, it could be either of those. Just my luck to be dropped right next to an angry girl from one of the old kung fu movies – or maybe wuxia ones. As I recalled, the big difference was that the wuxia films had characters with near-magical powers, while the kung fu ones had regular people who were just supposed to be amazing at fighting. She might have been more of the magical variety, if she’d teleported her foot into my face somehow.

I blinked my eyes to get rid of the blurriness and looked around me. My first impression was that I was inside a basket. My second impression was that I was inside a very large wicker basket. My third impression just confirmed my second. It seriously seemed that I was stuck in a wicker basket about three feet tall, two feet wide, and four feet long. The floor looked to be lacquered so it was harder than the rest, the walls were softer and looked like woven reeds, and the top appeared to be crafted of something like bamboo but mottled brown and green. The entire basket was bouncing around in a way that made me think it was mounted on wheels, and the inside smelled like spices and pungent vegetables.

I glanced down at myself and realized that I was no longer wearing my leather jacket, white shirt, and black pants. Instead, I was dressed in a black vest that looked like silk but was thicker and coarser. The vest was tied at the chest and waist, and it hung down below the waistband of my pants. Those were made of a similar material, also held up with a tie. They were baggy in the crotch and ended at mid-calf, exposing my ankles and bare feet. My gun was gone, but there was still a leather pouch at my side where the holster had been. When I opened it, it held what looked like a pair of spiked brass knuckles that I held up, staring at them in disbelief.

“Where the hell am I?” I muttered. I almost shouted in surprise as my SARA apparently took that as a request and popped up a screen in front of my face.

Doorworld: Kuan Yang

Magic Rating: 20-40

Tech Rating: 20-40

Bio Rating: 40-60

Estimated time for full analysis: 3:18:51

Okay, so I was in a world called Kuan Yang. That didn’t help me much, because I had no idea what a Kuan Yuang was supposed to be or what I was supposed to be doing here. And my SARA wasn’t being a whole lot of help, since it wouldn’t be able to give me accurate information for another three hours or so. Fat lor of good that did me.

“I’m sorry, John, but that’s three days, eighteen hours, and fifty-one minutes. It takes time to analyze a new world, and I’m working as fast as I can.”

I shouted and scrambled back, my hand dropping the brass knuckles and going for my gun out of instinct as a woman appeared before me. I blinked as I realized that she wasn’t just any woman; this was Skye, my armorer and weapons guru – or, more precisely, it was the top half of Skye, protruding from the hardened floor, wearing her usual biker jacket, her blond hair chopped short and ragged, and her legs vanishing through the floor below.

“What the fuck?” I shouted, my hand scrabbling futilely as I remembered that my gun wasn’t there. I snatched up the brass knuckles and jammed them on my fist; they weren’t a pistol, but they would do. As I did, I half-wondered why the woman who’d knocked me out hadn’t taken the knuckles from me.

“Please calm down, John. I am SARA, your System Adapted Realm Avatar. And your weapon is Bound; it can’t be taken from you, remember?”

“You – you look like Skye!” I half-shouted. “Why do you look like Skye?”

“I chose a form from your memory that you find trustworthy and comforting. Travel to a new world can be disconcerting, as your new mind will have difficulty processing until you’ve fully adapted. There were remarkably few from which to choose, I’m afraid, and this is the only one you consistently recalled wearing clothing. However, if it bothers you, I can take another form.”

I took several deep breaths, forcing myself to be calm. “No,” I finally said, shaking my head. “No, this is fine. I just – you caught me off guard, is all.”

I didn’t realize that the basket had stopped shaking until the lid flew up, and the angry woman from before poked her head into the space. I squinted, dazzled by the sudden sunlight, and tried not to look directly at her while shading my eyes.

“Who are you talking to?” she demanded, her voice angry. “Why are you speaking in that strange tongue? Can’t you talk a civilized language?”

I blinked in surprise as I realized that I could understand her. Before, her words had just been gibberish. It seemed the Omnilingual ability had finally kicked in.

“Yes, I was able to hear more than sufficient speech to translate the Kuan tongue while you were unconscious,” Skye/SARA told me.

“I was talking to…” I gestured at Skye a bit helplessly and watched as the strange woman glanced at my SARA and back at me, her eyes suspicious. I quickly realized what I probably should have deduced a while ago. “And you can’t see her, can you?”

“Why are you talking nonsense? I did not strike you hard enough that you should be seeing things that are not there.” The woman snorted, clearly unimpressed. “I see that you speak the true tongue, though. Why, then, did you not answer my challenge earlier?”

“Careful, John,” Sara warned. I decided I was just going to call her that, at least for right now. Skye was an actual person, and this wasn’t her. “I recommend that you keep the fact that you’re an Inquisitor or that you came from the Nexus to yourself, at least until you know more about this world.”

I snapped my mouth shut. I had been about to say something like that. “Wait, can you hear me just from my thoughts?” I asked Skye silently.

“I’m present in every part of your body, John. That includes your mind. I know everything you think, hear, see, and feel. So, yes, I can hear your thoughts.”

Well, that made things easier.

“Why do you not speak?” the woman demanded. “Are you simple?”

“Probably,” I sighed, shaking my head and instantly regretting it when it throbbed mercilessly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you earlier. I had a really bad headache, and I was having trouble concentrating…”

That had to be the worst excuse I’d ever given anyone, but the woman was nodding sagely at me. “Your meridians are too clogged,” she declared. “That is why it was so easy for me to defeat you. You are fortunate; my father, Wader-in-the-Morning-Water, is an excellent teacher. He will help you while you work off your debt to me.”

“Debt?” I asked, confused. “What debt?”

“I challenged you, and you lost,” she said as if it was something everyone knew. Of course, for all I knew, everyone did. “It becomes my duty to teach you, now, and you must serve me to repay the debt that my teaching incurs upon you.”

“I thought you said your father would be doing the teaching,” I said a bit thoughtlessly.

“Yes, because he is a better teacher than I am. You will not be unhappy.” She shook her head. “And I will have a servant to draw my bathwater and clean for me. We will both benefit from this.”

I simply sat there, a bit stunned. “I – thank you, I guess?” I stammered. I didn’t know what else to say.

“I need no thanks for doing my duty,” she shrugged. “Now, relax. Meditate if you know how. Sit quietly if you do not. We will be at my family’s farm in an hour.”

She shut the lid, and I sat there, processing what she’d said. This all sounded like an actual kung fu movie, although I didn’t exactly feel like the hero in it.

“I will have to finish my analysis, but from context, I’m guessing that Kuan Yang is a cultivation world,” Sara told me.

“Cultivation? I’m not sure what that is.” I almost said that aloud, but at the last instant, I managed to keep my thoughts silent. My brain was feeling slow and sluggish, and I was having trouble focusing. Had I been hit that hard?

“No, John, that’s the effect of your new body adapting to this world,” Skye assured me. “Here, take a look at your status.”

Status

Species: Kuan Pureblood

Active Professions: Inquisitor (Hidden)

Current XP: 0 Current Level: 1

Mental Stats

Reason: 6 Intuition: 5 Perception: 7 Charm: 3

Physical Stats

Prowess: 7 Vigor: 6 Celerity: 8 Skill: 7

Skills:

None

Abilities:

Sense Imbalance, Omnilingual

Well, that explained that. I’d taken a hit to all my stats. No wonder I felt so weak, slow, and – well, stupid. “Any idea how long that will last?”

“That’s up to you, not me, I’m afraid,” she answered. “You have to gain an understanding of this world to be able to regain your lost stats. I can give you direction, but I can’t fix that for you.”

The old lady hadn’t mentioned that, had she? “So, how do I gain an understanding of the world?”

“All I can suggest is to try living in it. Right now, you don’t feel like part of this world, so you’re rejecting your new body without realizing it. Once you feel like this world is your own, you’ll start to understand it.”

Well, that was clear as mud. I sighed. “Okay. So, what is cultivation?”

“It’s just another type of magic, really. Instead of casting spells, on cultivation worlds, you use magical energy to strengthen and purify your body, gaining superhuman abilities in the process. I’m afraid I can’t tell you more about it until I’m done with my analysis; every cultivation world is a bit different, and the rules change from place to place.”

So, it was more wuxia and less kung fu, it sounded like. That was a shame; my martial arts training didn’t include Kamehameha Waves or whatever. If this world had been a Bruce Lee movie, I might have been all right. If it was more ‘One Punch Man’, though…well, I was way behind the curve. I glanced at my status and realized that thanks to my lowered stats, I was probably ridiculously far down the curve. As I stared at the screen, something on it caught my eye.

“What’s this about being a Pureblood Kuan? I’m human.”

“Not anymore. Your human body is gone, John. While you were out, I was able to learn enough about this world to shift your body into the species of the dominant local sapient lifeform. That happens to be Pureblood Kuan, the same as the woman who captured you.”

I sighed. I hadn’t really internalized that fact, yet. I was dead. At least, my body on Earth was dead. I’d seen it, but I hadn’t come to terms with the concept. That was probably a necessary first step to understanding this world; I probably had to give up my life on the last one. I didn’t know if I was ready for that, though.

“You have time, John. You haven’t sensed any imbalance, yet, and you know nothing of this world or its ways. Give yourself a chance to learn and grow. This is your first day in a new life. In a way, you’re an infant, barely able to take his first steps.”

Well, that wasn’t at all insulting. Still, she was right. I was just taking my first steps in this new world. And, as I recalled, one of those steps was to choose a new Profession. “Any ideas on what I’m supposed to do there?” I asked silently.

“I have some options, but I’ll have more once I’ve fully analyzed the world.”

“Is there any advantage to waiting? Do I have to master one Profession before taking the next?”

“Not at all. As an Inquisitor, you can adopt any Profession for which you meet the criteria. However, you can only add XP to one Profession at a time, and then only by doing things that are part of that Profession. For example, you can’t level the Alchemist Profession by fighting monsters or the Scholar Profession by painting.”

Well, that made sense. So, I could do as many things as I wanted, but I guessed that the more things I tried to do, the worse I’d be at all of them. If I could only level Scholar by studying and something like Fighter by fighting, then I’d have to choose which way to spend my time. Of course, for me, that was a fairly easy decision.

“Okay, so what sort of options do I have now?”

“Here, take a look.”

Professions Available:

Warrior

Common

A standard fighter

Rogue

Common

A person skilled at stealth and sleight-of-hand

Minstrel

Common

A traveling singer, dancer, and performer

Farmer

Common

Someone who raises crops or farm animals

…

The list went on, detailing Professions from Artist to Zoologist. “Why are they all called ‘Common?”

“Because they’re just that: common. They’re the kind that practically anyone qualifies for. Most of these will carry over into any Doorworld, as well; Common Professions are usually basic enough that there are examples of them in any world.”

“That they’re called Common implies that there are Professions that are uncommon, doesn’t it? Why am I not seeing any of those?”

“Because you don’t qualify for them, I’m afraid, or none of the ones I’ve matched to this world so far. My list won’t be exhaustive until my analysis is complete, of course, but I doubt any will appear until you’ve recovered your stats and learned about how this world works, sorry.”

I sighed. Of course, I couldn’t access the good Professions. I scanned through the existing ones, discarding things like Librarian and Butcher right away. Not that there was anything wrong with being either of those, but I couldn’t see how cutting a perfect slab of meat would help me. Nothing was jumping out at me, and I was starting to feel frustrated.

“Okay, help me out, here, Sara. Do I need to pick a Profession? Or can I just wait until a better one comes along?”

“You don’t have to, but if you don’t, any experience you might have gained while you’re waiting for another Profession to unlock will simply be wasted,” she explained. “Plus, while Common Professions aren’t very powerful, they level quickly. The rarer the class, the more XP it takes to level it up. You can get a Common Profession to level twenty with about the same amount of XP it takes to get an Unusual class – two ranks rarer – to level ten.”

“But what’s the point? Why do I care about gaining levels in a Profession?”

“Well, there are clear benefits. You can gain new skills, new abilities, or bonuses to existing ones by increasing your level. Rarer Professions can even improve one or more stats per level. Even the Common ones will give you skills and simple abilities.”

It sounded like I needed to pick out a Profession. The only problem was, none of them really jumped out at me. I didn’t just want to be another Warrior or a random Rogue, especially because if this world was as big into honor as the woman who’d captured me seemed to be, stealing was probably very heavily frowned upon.

“I have a suggestion for you, John,” Sara said tentatively. “One that I think you missed. Tell me what you think of this Profession.”

Pugilist

Common

A person who fights in unarmed combat

I read the Profession over with a frown. “Isn’t ‘pugilist’ just another name for ‘boxer’?”

“Yes, it can be, but in this context, it refers to anyone who chooses to focus on hand-to-hand combat rather than fighting with weapons. The style doesn’t matter; what matters is that you’re fighting with only your body.”

I considered her words. That could work, especially on a world that was big into martial arts. The odds were, my training would count as experience for the Profession, and I’d level it up fairly quickly. Plus, if I did end up learning how to use this world’s version of magic, maybe the skills and abilities from this Profession would apply to that, as well.

“Okay, so what do I do?”

“Just think about making it your Profession. It’s that easy.”

I concentrated on adding the Pugilist Profession to my list, and instantly, a new screen popped up.

Profession Chosen:

Pugilist

Common

Primary Stats:

Intuition, Prowess, Celerity

Skills Gained:

Unarmed Combat, Weapon Focus (Unarmed)

Ability Gained:

Deep Strike

I was about to ask Sara about my new Profession and what all of that meant, when suddenly the basket stopped bouncing around. A moment later, the top was flung open, blinding me once again, and the woman’s head appeared in my vision.

“There is a small difficulty,” she told him, her face creased with a frown. “We are being hunted, and I cannot move fast enough to outrun them while carrying you.”

“Hunted?” I repeated, feeling a surge of adrenaline rising in my body as I remembered the streets of Lunaya. “Hunted by what?”

“Long-beaked Heart Hunters,” she answered swiftly.

“Long…what? What are those?”

“You have not seen them before?” she asked, her voice surprised. “You have been most fortunate. I was wondering how you were still alive when it was so easy to defeat you. The Goddess of Beneficial Luck must smile upon you.”

She shook her head. “It does not matter. There are but ten of them, so I will not require assistance. However, should you wish to participate in the battle, I will not forbid it. Long-beaked Heart Hunters are not particularly dangerous.”

“They sound dangerous,” I muttered, rising to my feet. My body ached from being cooped up for so long, and I groaned as I stretched my back.

The woman shook her head at me. “Such poor conditioning,” she sighed. “You are stiff and sore from such a short period of inactivity?”

I didn’t bother to answer since it was clear that I was. Instead, I clambered over the side of the basket and dropped as lightly as I could to the ground, bending my knees to accept the impact and barely making a sound on the soft grass. I turned to face the woman and found her giving me a disapproving gaze.

“So heavy. Your meridians must be clogged with stone.”

“I don’t even know what those are,” I sighed tiredly.

She nodded, her expression understanding. “That explains much. It is clear that no one has taught you of the Heavenly Path. It is my hope that it is not too late in life for you to walk it.” I opened my mouth to reply, but she held up a hand, cocking an ear upward.

“The Heart Hunters arrive,” she told me. “We must prepare for battle. Choose your target, and I will deal with the rest.”

“I can handle myself,” I snapped, realizing as I did that, to be honest, I didn’t know if that was true. Still, her condescending tone was starting to grate on my nerves, and I was getting irritated by it. If my words offended the woman, though, she didn’t show any sign of it.

Instead, she nodded approvingly. “We shall soon see, strange one. Prepare yourself; the hunters are upon us, and glorious battle is at hand.”

Yeah. I couldn’t fucking wait.