Aki woke up to a head-splitting headache. While groggily examining his surroundings, he began to realize that something was quite horribly wrong. Instead of the cramped student apartment he had expected to see, he was splayed in the middle of something that looked like a dubious eldritch ritual. Around him was a circle of wooden talismans carved with mysterious symbols, crackling with an unnatural light. Aki began to slowly gather his thoughts.

What on earth... This is not any place I recognize. Have I been kidnapped? This doesn’t feel like a dream. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to feel such painful headaches in dreams.

The last thing he could remember was his feverish reading binge, during which he had attempted to read all 1200 chapters of “Begone Jade Beauties, This Lord Only Wishes to Defy the Heavens” in one sitting. He had just gotten past chapter 1000, when the dehydration, hunger and exhaustion had finally caught up to him. He vaguely recalled feeling some kind of pain in his chest and falling unconscious.

Suddenly, the wooden talismans around him flashed with one last bit of energy, before crumbling to dust. Aki watched the piles of dust warily, but they remained inert.

Well, that certainly didn't seem natural. I don’t think laying on the floor is going to help me figure out this situation.

Aki stood up shakily and began to take stock of the situation. First, he noticed that he was not in his comfortable loungewear. Instead, he was wearing flowing white and blue robes embroidered with gold highlights. At his waist hung a sheath containing a finely ornamented knife. He was also feeling a lot more energetic than he should have. Considering his recent life habits, he should not have been feeling more full of energy than he had been in years. It began to feel downright unnatural, like there was some sort of energy trapped inside his body, searching for a way out.

He looked around, rubbed his eyes, then looked around again, but the world around him still looked very different from how it should. Everywhere around him, wisps and threads of light were drifting off from nearby surfaces. Brown, firm strands of light were drifting off from the wooden floor below him while the lit candles around the room gave off red, energetic sparks.

What’s with these lights? Am I under the influence of some drug?

The room was rather austere in appearance. The surfaces were made of stark, undecorated wood. Instead of a comfortable bed, the room contained an elevated wooden plank. The shelves in the room were filled with slips of jade, and the simple desk in the corner contained no writing implements. A simple stone washing basin filled with water stood next to the elevated plank.

As Aki stumbled to the washing basin, he gasped in surprise at the reflection gazing back at him from within the water. It was an unfamiliar face, with sharp, intelligent features and eyes that shone with a golden light. An elegant black beard was complimented by a stylish moustache as well as a mane of long, flowing black hair. It was the face of a wise eastern philosopher, not the face of a 23-year-old student.

Now, as a man quick on the uptake, who had read several hundred reincarnation light novels in the last few years, Aki started to gradually get the picture of what was going on.

“Is this some kind off isekai scenari-”

Knock Knock

A sudden knock at the door was followed by an elegant female voice.

“Master, disciple Passionate Seeker offers greetings. May I come in? Did you finish the ritual successfully?”

Evidently, Aki was not to be provided with time to get his bearings. He snapped to attention, and his mind began to race at increasing speeds.

At his core, Aki was a man of improvisation. So far, he had lived by the rule that if he did not know what was going on, he should pretend he did while going with the flow. He had learned through his years that a confident smile and vague, encouraging statements could get you a lot further in life than one might expect.

Thus, despite the absurdity of the situation, his mind quickly arrived at an appropriate plan of action. He walked next to the remains of the ritual and turned his gaze towards the door. He attempted to fix a knowing, wise expression to his face and adopted a confident, authoritative posture.

“You may enter, disciple.”

Despite being surprised by how deep his voice now sounded, he managed to keep his voice steady and make it evoke a fatherly tone.

The door opened and a young woman carefully stepped into the room. Her auburn hair was arrayed in a loose bun, which was fixed in place with a thin wooden hairpin. She had clear blue eyes which eagerly darted around the room, as if in an attempt to commit every detail to memory. She eyed the remains of the ritual with an especially hungry gaze before politely bowing towards Aki.

“Greetings Master, I hope you have found success.”

On closer inspection, the woman seemed to be somewhat beyond natural. Rather than just seeming young, her face had an ageless quality to it. Her eyes shone with the light of a summer sky, and blue strands of energy occasionally flickered across her unnaturally smooth skin.

Aki noticed that her robes appeared to be similar to his own, save that the golden highlights were replaced with silver ones.

Well, this appears to be quite the interesting situation. Aki began to ponder. It appears that I’m some sort of teacher figure here. She introduced herself with a rather quaint name, I wonder if I have a similarly curious name? Taking into account this whole situation, this talk of a “ritual” and these threads of light drifting about everywhere, it’s probably safe to assume that some sorts of mystical forces are at play here.

By now, the Aki’s headache had had mostly faded away. He was still holding onto the hope that this was some elaborate hoax, which was a rather flimsy proposition. However, considering the absurdity of the situation, it was the best Aki could do. He elected to continue his charade, as going with the flow seemed to be going well so far.

After offering her greetings, Passionate Seeker frowned in concentration at Aki for a moment, before her expression turned puzzled, then concerned.

“Master, I’m not sensing your domain at all, and your aura feels very different from usual. Were there issues with the ritual?”

Aki was somewhat alarmed by the question. Domain? Aura? I’m supposed to have mystical powers too? True, my eyes did seem to shine a bit too brightly to be a mere trick of the light, and this energy pulsing in my veins does seem unnatural. Still, it seems my “powers” are not quite at the level they are supposed to be at. I wonder if it is a matter of me not knowing how to use them, or of this “ritual” resulting in their loss. As he did not want to out himself as an imposter without careful consideration, Aki quickly made up a passable excuse.

“Umm, don’t worry disciple. The ritual was absolutely a resounding success. I am merely practicing a technique which suppresses my powers in order to refine them.”

Passionate Seeker sighed with relief, after which her expression returned to a more neutral place.

“Ah, pardon my worries. Then, onto the matter I am here for: elder sister Spring Melt sent me to inform you that there was a bit of a mix-up in the scheduling of the contest. Your presence is requested at the earliest convenience, as the judging cannot proceed without your oversight.”

He had gone along with the act this far, so Aki of course would not fight against the tide here.

“Ah, it would not do to keep her waiting. Let us be off immediately.”

Aki followed Passionate Seeker out of the door into a hallway. The lack of extraneous decoration continued throughout the residence, with walls being made of polished logs of wood. It was rather bright inside, as a warm summer sun shone through open windows. Aki glimpsed pine trees and hills outside the windows. There were various rooms with closed doors lining the hall, and they even passed by a quaint courtyard with a pond surrounded by a charming garden. The floating strands of light seemed especially plentiful there. Eventually they reached an exit leading outside.

Aki had to stop by the door for a moment to take in the view. The residence appeared to be high up in a ridge of hills, below which lay a landscape of hundreds of lakes. It was a rather nostalgic view for him, bringing to mind some of the grander vistas he had seen in his hiking days back home. Between the lakes, a sparse evergreen forest spread out, with trees dotted around the hilly landscape. On the other side of the lake-dotted landscape, a vast body of water spread out: far larger than any of the smaller lakes before it.

After she had stepped outside, Passionate Seeker drew her knife out of its sheath, and threw it off into the sky like a boomerang. Aki watched curiously, wondering what the purpose of this was. As the knife flew, it began to circle back towards Passionate Seeker, seeming as if it would pass just slightly over her head. Before it could do that though, she jumped high into the air and landed elegantly on top of the knife. She set one foot on top of the blade and other on the handle and began to hover in place, in front of Aki. Aki noticed that she had a pattern of the lights in her left hand, which she seemed to be manipulating.

The blatant display of supernatural abilities unnerved Aki quite a bit, but he managed to feign an outward calm, while his mind began racing with the implications of the situation.

Seriously? Is this seriously happening? A magical world with magical powers? Can I do that too? Sure, it feels like there is some sort of energy roiling in my veins, but I have no idea how to control it. If you muck up an eldritch ritual and invite a wandering soul into your body, you should have the courtesy to leave behind memories to parse through, or at least a note.

Aki eyed the floating Passionate Seeker and her knife warily, then gazed at the knife in his own sheath.

Besides, I end up in a world like this, and I don’t get flying swords, but flying knives? There is no way that can accommodate more than one passenger, and I am not feeling foolhardy enough to attempt that on my own knife.

“Master, what are we waiting for?”

Ok, relax Aki. You can’t act suspicious here, who know how these people would react to the presence of a body snatcher like me? You must play it cool like you have so far, go with the flow. You are a master; she is your disciple. How might a wise master act in this situation?

As Aki began to search for a way out of his predicament, he quickly arrived at the obvious solution. It sure was convenient that there was an apprentice eager to follow his mysterious orders ready at hand.

“Disciple, I have decided to give you a practical training exercise to test your creative thinking. Your task is to transport me to our destination as quickly, elegantly, and safely as possible, while I use none of my own powers. You should act as if I was a completely powerless mortal!”

Passionate Seeker appeared to be slightly mystified, but not surprised by the task.

“Master, I never see the purpose behind your tasks. Am I allowed to use magical tools from the residence? It may take longer than I would like otherwise.”

Well, that went better than expected. Aki thought. It seems that I was a rather annoying teacher for this one. This may prove a rather convenient arrangement.

“Yes, you may. You have permission to use whatever tools you judge necessary. I expect an elegant solution.”

At those words Passionate Seeker’s expression grew a tad bit more confident, and she quickly jumped off her knife, put it back into its sheath and ran back into the residence. In no time at all she was back, holding two wooden talismans which were filled with carved symbols.

“Using the motion synchronisation talismans should be best solution. Here, I activated this one already.”

Passionate Seeker handed a talisman crackling with light to Aki, while fiddling with the other.

Aki carefully picked up the crackling talisman and noted that the crackling seemed to transfer in part to his body. He tried to steady his trembling voice and maintain a facade of confidence.

“A fine solution indeed, disciple. Let us be on our way.”