The familiar feeling of falling embraced Regis, followed by a small crash-landing a few moments later. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the alleyway where he was attacked by the shadows before leaving for the Amaranthine lands.

“Was it a dream?” Regis asked confused while scratching his head.

He remembered being chased there, then fighting the shadows and his pursuers. He remembered all the things that happened in that other world, but now they felt like a strange dream. His thoughts about all of it being a trick of the mind due to blunt head trauma vanished when he looked at the back of his left hand with the mark still glaring back at him.

{You have returned to your origin world. No tier bonus present. Time dilation negated. World-shift is on cooldown. You can return to the Amaranthine lands in 58:43}

Regis felt strangely relieved as the floating words showed up, but no matter how hard he tried, his mark only showed him the countdown like a mystical watch. With no other idea in mind, he decided to return to the college and see how things were back there. It took him roughly half an hour to get there and during that time he figured out from the neon clocks on the streets that a bit more than eight hours went by on Earth.

That meant that time flowed about 3 times faster in the other world. Although it mattered little, it was a good distraction for him until he reached his destination. The old yet prestigious building looked somewhat desolate in the dark; only the light from some of the dormitory’s rooms gave it a semblance of life. Its gates were still open and the night guard was patrolling the area as usual.

“Regis,” he called out to him. “What are you doing outside so late?”

“I’ve just got back.” The short answer came.

“Then get inside, kid. It’s getting chilly out here and besides; Mr. Simmons has been looking all over the place for you.”

“Oh,” Regis nodded. “Is he still awake?”

“He’s back in his office with those two idiots.”

“We have a lot of idiots Mr. Slavomir, so you’ll have to be a bit more specific.”

“I’m talking about Nate and Richie. They came back a few hours earlier, raving on about those shadow things that appeared out of nothing to attack people. I’m pretty sure they’re still in his office with the college psychologist listening to their ramblings.”

“I better get going then.” The young man said as he headed inside.

‘So they’re still alive. I guess the records about returning on death are true after all.’ He thought as he walked through the scarcely lit familiar hallways and corridors. When he reached the director’s room, he knocked on it twice.

“Yes?” A tired voice called out from behind the door.

“Me. Simmons; it’s me, Regis. Mr. Slavomir told me that you were looking for me, sir.”

“Regis?” Several voices repeated the name before the door got flung open with a greying haired man standing there.

Mr. Simmons was an old fashioned British professor assigned by the government to their college in hopes of bringing some much needed class and order into the place. Even though his hair was somewhat dishevelled and deep circles ran beneath his eyes, he still had a dignified manner to his stance. His aged face showed relief as he let the young man into the room.

“Thank God,” the man said. “I was getting worried about you. The boys came back talking about how you got dragged away by those shadows that the news spoke about and how they too went to another world…”

“The Amaranthine lands,” Regis cut into his words. “It’s called the Amaranthine lands and it really is another world.”

“See,” Nate jumped up from his seat. “I’ve told you we’ve been saying the truth. Even this idiot can confirm it.”

“Language!” A lanky woman in her late forties raised her voice and Regis recognised her as Mrs. Emma, the college’s resident shrink.

“Enough about your fantasies about some tunnel world.”

“What tunnel world?” Regis asked with a faked surprise. “I was pulled to a port-city with a mixture of late medieval and early baroque design. It was quite fascinating, if not for the monsters.”

“Monsters?” The psychiatrist turned her head towards him quickly.

“Yes, monsters. Apparently, there was a war between several small kingdoms that ended up with a lot of zombies shambling towards any settlement with living people in it." He explained it with a firm tone.

"The place I’ve ended up in was a small port-city called Hunor where the refugees of said war got trapped by monsters from outside the city’s walls. And yes, apparently, magic is an actual thing there. Just in case that wasn’t obvious from the way we were dragged there.”

“Are you drunk?” The director asked curtly.

“Why would I be drunk?”

“It’s one thing for Nate and Richie to spout such nonsense, but you,” the man sighed. “I thought that you went and got your hands on some kind of alcohol or drug in your anger.”

“In my anger?” the young man repeated the words. “Why would I be angry?”

“I know it’s hard for you son, but there will be other chances. I promise you that I’ll try to get you a good…”

“What’s going on?” Regis cut into the man’s words again. “What other chances do I need?”

“The internship,” Mrs. Emma spoke up finally. “I believe Simmons thinks that you were out there to vent your anger for not getting it.”

“What?” he asked back flabbergasted. “What do you mean I didn’t get it? Mrs. Andela herself praised me for earning one of the slots.”

“Yes,” Mr. Simmons sighed. “But then we both got a call from the education bureau that we got one less slots allotted. The teachers all agreed that it was only fair for the one with the lowest grades to be pulled from the list. I know that this feels bad son, but you are…”

“You are just another reject like us!” Richie laughed as he stared at Regis’s strained expression.

The young man tried to breathe, but the air felt heavier than ever. His fingers turned white from the force he closed them into a fist.

“You are not a reject,” Mrs Emma tried to calm him. “This is just an unfortunate turn of events. I’m sure that next year there will be more slots and Simmons will keep one for you.”

“Or you can wait here for a day like us,” Richie put his hand on Regis' shoulder. “And once we get back to that other world, you can be our mule boy while we kill monsters like a real knight."

Regis' whole body was shaking with anger when he felt a warm pulse in his left hand. As he looked at the mark on his hand, he couldn’t help, but sigh.

{World-shift is available in 00:29}

The counter showed less than half a minute, helping him relax a little. ‘At least I still have this.’ He thought as he looked back at the woman.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Emma, but I’ll have to refuse.”

“But why?” The psychiatrist asked before Regis suddenly punched Richie in the jaw hard enough to send him sprawling on the carpet.

“I need to find a way out of Hunor and then inlands the kingdom.” The young man answered as he willed his mark to activate.

His shadow thickened on the floor and a second later black goo bubbled fort from beneath him. The dark tendrils showed up again to grab his legs. This time however he didn’t fight back. Regis closed his eyes with a wide smile as he fell back into the black puddle. The others in the room watched in horror as he splashed into the liquid darkness, sinking beneath the floor in a moment. When he was gone, the bubbling puddle dried up immediately.

He fell through the void for only a couple seconds before his body began to burn with an intense pain. Once he got spewed out of the darkness through a small tear in space, he hit the ground from the height of an inch or so, but he could barely open his eyes from the pain that wrecked his body.

“Regis,” Bray called out to him. “Is that you?”

The young dark elf tried to answer but his muscles got locked into a cramp. He could hear his bones creaking and he felt like every organ in his body was on the verge of tearing itself apart. It took him at least a minute before the pain subsided enough that he could finally move.

“Damn it,” he cursed. “Why the heck did I get tortured just now?”

“I don’t know what you did,” Bray poured a cup of water for him. “But you’ve changed. A lot.”

“Changed how?” The young man asked as he tried to stand up, but he realized it the moment he was standing straight.

“I’m taller,” he mumbled. “And my voice…”

“It looks like you’ve grown up, lad.”

“I think this is what outgrowing my ‘fledgling’ status resulted in.” He said while prying off his boots that got stuck on his feet, finding them a perfect fit once the rags he wrapped them with got removed.

“So it would seem,” Bray nodded. “When you fell on the ground screaming before, I didn’t know what was going on. All I could do was to knock you out to ease your suffering. I never imagined that you would disappear in the next moment.”

“I somehow went back to my world. It looks like the records about traversing back and forth are true after all. I seem to have an ability called World-shift. Or at least that’s what my mark referred to.”

“So you can return home. That’s good. At least you can leave this place if you can’t make it out of Hunor in time.”

“Not anymore.” Regis shook his head dejected.

“What happened?” The elderly man asked when he noticed the youth’s strange expression.

“I went back to the college.”

“You mean the place you’ve mentioned before? What happened?”

“We’ll, the good news is that Nate and Richie are still alive. Apparently, the records were also right about killing them here being a method to send them back for a time-out while the planes are close enough to each other. The bad news is that I didn’t get the internship I’ve mentioned before.”

“But didn’t you tell me that it was already set in stone?”

“As it turned out; the director of the college got called by the education bureau because they took back another slot. The teachers agreed that I would be the one to get pulled from the list.”

“I’m sorry,” Bray patted his back. “I’m sure that you’ll have another chance later.”

“Not for another year I’m afraid,” Regis sighed as he slumped back on the ground. “Unless I manage to get an internship in a roundabout private way then no matter how I look at it, I’m royally screwed. If I go back, I would have to keep on studying and working for some company under a ridiculous intern contract. Here at least I have a chance to fight for my fortune with my own hands instead of just some bureau douchebag deciding my lot for me.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Bray said. “I can somewhat understand how bad you must feel right now. I wish that I would have some clay with me right now.”

“Clay?” Regis looked at him puzzled.

“I’m a potter, remember? I would show you some of my crafting moves. You’d be surprised just how calming pottery can be.”

“Thanks,” The elven youth said. “I’m sure it would be pretty cool. And thanks for listening to my ramblings. Now I have to think about my fuck up of a future and check out what else changed with the ‘fledgling’ status gone.”

“You mean besides finally becoming a man?” Bray laughed. “I’ve no doubt that a lot of things are waiting for you. Make sure that you make the right choices. They will follow you for the rest of your life.”

“I’ll try my best!” Regis promised as he sat down to meditate.

‘Soul-space.’ His thoughts echoed in the dark before the feeling of weightlessness surrounded him for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting in front of the familiar shrine again.

“This thing sure brings self-worship to a new level.” He admitted as he raised his left hand forward while still sitting.

He was curious about the unreadable words that flashed by when he was writhing in pain. As the hearth answered his un-asked question with a new set of floating words, is eyes turned as big as a saucer.

{Your Allure attribute has been increased by 2 as the result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Deftness attribute has been increased by 2 as the result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Erudition attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Faith attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Luck attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Might attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Mind attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Physique attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Spirit attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

{Your Willpower attribute has increased by 2 as a result of outgrowing your fledgling status.}

“Well, shit.” Regis mumbled as he read through the dry lines of notifications.

As it turned out, he started a whole avalanche of attribute changes with his forced growth. ‘I have to admit that as much as I hate info-dumps, I didn’t expect to gain this much from just 2000 Amaranth. Then again, I was going to reach these stats sooner or later. Now let’s see where I stand.’ He thought as he stood up to touch the tome.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Beginner staff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 2405}

{Caste: vagrant}

{Path: ???}

{Craft: ???}

{Attributes}

Allure: 15 Deftness: 15 Erudition: 16 Faith: 8 Luck: 11 Might: 12 Mind: 14 Physique: 13 Spirit: 14 Willpower: 16

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{27/27}{35/35}{21/21}

{Status effects}

None

‘Nice.’ He smiled with a weight lifted of his shoulder when he saw the results of his torture.