The library wasn’t big, by any means, but the bureau of education donated hundreds of books along with several computers to the facility. The library also had a decent internet access as well. Regis needed something to get his mind off from the battle and from his own demise. After shaking his head regarding the thought of Nate and Richie dying again, he double checked his chest beneath his shirt. There wasn’t even a scratch mark where he was stabbed through by that sword before.

The college was surprisingly quiet and he couldn’t see any of the staff members either until he entered the library. A plump woman sat behind the counter where the students would get their withdrawals recorded. When she noticed the somewhat haggard looking youth, she perked up at the sight of the familiar face.

“Regis, you’re back?” The woman jumped up from her seat.

“I get to stick around for a short while.” The youth answered as he headed towards the nearest computer.

“Does the director…”

“He knows I’m back,” Regis nodded. “I’ve already talked to him and he also told me about the things that happened while I was away. Do you mind if I check the internet? I need to look up a few things.”

“Oh… I guess, if the director knows you’re here then everything’s fine. Go ahead.”

Regis sat down and began to look for detailed news about the shadows and the Amaranthine lands. He found photos of several different looking black coins and he learned about the confirmation of at least one more world beside the one he went to. Seeing the many coin variants made it obvious that there were several other worlds, but so far only people from the Amaranthine lands and the so called Ashworld managed to return with some information.

Those that returned from the Amaranthine lands all talked about demons, undead and wars. The people of the Ashworld described a land covered in what seemed to be volcanic ash, where everyone tried to live beneath the surface. Nothing new appeared as most people only talked about the powers given to them by their marks and how the other worlds looked like a brutal and dark fantasy landscape. With his curiosity somewhat sated, Regis decided to look into the more important matters.

He had the luck of gaining access to transmutation alchemy and it had an enormous potential, if he used it in the right way. However, the notes he read so far only gave him a glimpse about how to create crafting resources from other resources, along with creating simple objects and components. His first priority was to watch an in-depth video about the simplified creation process of regular and toilet paper.

He then looked at several crafting videos about ordinary items that didn’t seem to exist on the Amaranthine lands yet. The videos about bold fashioned book binding and items such as a looking glass proved to be quite fascinating and useful for him. By the time he finished making mental notes on the many things he wanted to craft with the aid of transmutation alchemy, he had already spent two hours sitting in front of the monitor.

His stomach grumbled and his eyes burned, forcing him to stand up and head towards the cafeteria in hopes of getting some food from the kitchen staff. He entered the mess hall with firm steps that halted the moment he noticed several students and children sitting beside one of the long dinner tables.

“Regis?” An older girl from his own class called out to him in surprise, making everyone else in the room turn towards the youth.

“Ms. Emma told us that you went to the other world too. When did you come back?”

“A few hours ago,” He shrugged as he walked over to the counter to talk with the startled kitchen lady. “I know that it’s not lunchtime yet, but can I get anything to eat? I’ve been through a really rough night and I could use some food. Anything is fine, really.”

“Sure.” The woman stuttered as she stepped back behind the door that separated the kitchen from the dinner hall.

“Is it true that you’ve been to that other world?” A little girl no older than six or seven asked.

“Yes, I did go there.” The young man answered as he wondered how the heck did these little kids even got into the college.

“Were there dragons?” Another child asked, staring at him with pure blue eyes.

“I didn’t see any dragons so far, but there could be some out there.”

“That’s so cool. I want to go there too. Nate and Richie had already been there and they say that you can become real knights by defeating monsters.” A young boy said as he struck a heroic pose.

“You don’t have to believe everything they say,” Regis shook his head. “They were sent back before they could get a really good look at the place. I’ve spent days there and I can tell you one thing. You don’t want to go there.”

“But why?” His classmate asked with a puzzled expression.

“The kingdoms of the Amaranthine lands are at war. Most people don’t have enough food to feed their families and the monsters attack the cities every night. Even I wasn’t strong enough to fight against so many of them. Do you think that you’ll really be able to become a knight when neither I nor Nate and Richie could? At least you’re safe here. You have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in and food to eat. I had to kill many monsters just to get some bread and water, not to mention that I had to sleep on an old cloth sack.”

“Oh,” another student mumbled. “Are the monsters really that dangerous?”

“They really are. One of them hurt me really bad too. That’s why I was sent back here, to heal. Now get back to your books! I think my food is ready.”

The young man left the disheartened children and students behind and walked back to the counter where the older woman stood with a small tray filled with food.

“That was kind of you,” she said as she handed over the tray. “Simmons was terrified by the thought of these youngsters trying to go to that strange world of yours. Many of the local families sent their smaller children over to be looked after by their older siblings and the college’s staff. With each day, things are getting more hectic and it doesn’t help that the students are fed stupid tales by those that return from that other world. Now that these rascals heard how scary it is over there, I’m sure they’ll tell the others as well. And when they do…”

“They’ll further spin it into a horror story, just like children and old ladies usually do.”

The woman chuckled at the youth’s words and watched him sit down at a nearby table. Regis looked at his tray that had a plate of scrambled eggs with some bacon and bread, along with a mug of tea. For someone who kept eating mostly dry rations and thin soups in the past few days, it was a welcome feast. After barely five minutes, he returned the empty tray to the counter and thanked the woman once again before returning to the dorms.

On his way he saw only a few students and children that were staying in the college. His room’s door was closed, but the key was still in his jacket’s inner pocket. He grabbed some fresh clothes from his drawer and headed towards the communal bathroom. On the way, he looked at the mark on his hand for the first time since his arrival. His mark flashed with a faint light as floating words appeared in his vision.

{You have been banished to your origin world for 24 hours. Time dilation negated. You have ascended to the pathway of a neophyte, reducing the banishment by 10 hours. You have ascended to the pathway of a fighter, reducing the banishment by 10 hours. Your banishment length was permanently reduced to 4 hours. Maximum time reduction achieved. You can return to the Amaranthine lands in 1:41:13}

‘It looks like there’s a serious reduction for those that manage to reach Tier one. This could be both good and bad, depending on the situation.’ He thought as he reached the communal baths. The shower water was lukewarm, but it hardly mattered. After five minutes of soaking under the water, Regis dried himself off and got dressed. As he headed back to his room a pair of familiar faces showed up at the end of the hallway.

“Hey jackass!” Richie yelled as he recognised the refreshed youth.

‘Not these two idiots again.’ Regis thought as he watched them walk over.

“I owe your face a beating!” The muscular youth said as he took a swing at him.

As Regis watched the incoming fist, it seemed to be slower than before. He reached out with his own hand, grabbing it halfway towards his face. Much to his surprise, he really did catch the attack.

“What the… argh!” Richie screamed as he tried to yank back his hand.

The still wet haired young man let go of his attacker’s hand, noticing a slight burn mark on it. As he looked at his own hand he noticed that pale orange flames covered it. ‘Runic searing touch?’ He recognised the spell he subconsciously cast as a slight nausea and weakness got hold of him like it always did when he used up all of his arcana. The flames died out and he turned back his gaze towards the terrified youth in front of him.

“Do you want to try it again?” He asked, trying to bluff his way out of a second round with a stoic expression, but the muscular young man stepped back, turning around to run away.

“You’ll pay for this bastard!” Regis heard from the running youth as he turned towards the other one that was still standing over there.

“What about you?”

“Do I look like I want to fight?” Nate answered with a question of his own.

“Not really. Did you two die again?”

“Yeah,” the young man nodded with his gaze cast down. “Richie convinced one of the guards to give us some broken down weapons so that we could join the people that defended the town. He ran into a crowd and killed three of those zombies before he got mobbed by them. I’ve managed to last until the beginning of the next wave before they got me.”

Regis saw that Nate’s eyes were filled with dread as he remembered about the battle. He knew full well just how terrifying those fallen were, so he didn’t blame him.

“What about you? Did you die too?”

“Yes. There were these fully armoured undead that came out of the shadows, decimating the defenders. I only hope that at least some of my friends managed to retreat.”

“You have friends over there?” Nate raised his head upon hearing the youth’s words.

“I guess I do,” Regis nodded with a slight smirk on his face. “We watch each other’s backs and we get along quite well. That’s as close to friendship as it gets over there.”

“Nice. I’ve tried to get friendly with others too, but Richie said that they would only hog the glory from us.”

“That’s because he’s a self-centred idiot. You’ve always followed him like a lost puppy, but if you’re planning on going back to the Amaranthine lands, you should try to find better company. Fabien said that there are guilds over there formed by other outlanders like us. I’m sure that they would let you join them and once you’ve proven that you’re reliable, getting a starter gear will become easier.”

“Thanks,” Nate nodded after listening to him with rapt attention. “I know that we’ve had a lot of fight and that you have no reason to help me in any way, so, thank you!”

“A friend I’ve made over there told me that we all have a choice. I just follow his advice and choose to walk away from my past grievances. You should make your own choice as well, without caring about what Richie says.” Regis gave his last, extremely cringe advice before turning towards the dormitories.

He didn’t know how the other youth would decide, but at least he reminded him about the possibilities. As he thought about the things that happened, he tried to form runes to summon the runic searing touch spell again, but the faint glowing lines barely appeared for a moment before vanishing again.

It still proved that Earth’s arcana density was slowly rising and that his ‘local’ body became stronger as well. He wasn’t as strong or fast as he was in the Amaranthine lands, but he was better than he was before. His room was still empty when he returned, his roommate nowhere to be seen. Regis looked around the room with a slight nostalgia before lying down on his bed.

Sleep overtook him in just a few seconds, but he soon woke up with a start, clutching at his chest as he tried to breathe. The memory of drowning in his own blood felt all too real after the nightmare he had, but once his mind cleared, he realized that he was back in his room. As he looked at the window of his room, only the steadily moving sun could be seen outside. He checked at his mark for the count down, but the numbers were a bit disappointing.

{You can return to the Amaranthine lands in 00:27:41}

Not knowing what to do with himself since he wasn’t tired anymore, he grabbed one of his notebooks that still had a few empty pages and he began to write down the things he had seen on the internet. Regis tried to ingrain the method of paper making and the other crafting methods into his memory, so that he could attempt them with the transmutation circles later. He even tried to create a small version of it on his table, but his arcana reserves were empty and even meditation didn’t help. Reaching his soul-space proved to be impossible as well. As he tried to rummage through his books out of boredom, a knock on his door stopped him.

“Are you in there Regis?” A soft voice called out to him.

He walked over to unlock the door, finding a familiar face staring back at him.

“Ms. Emma,” he looked at the woman. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” the psychiatrist shook her head. “I’ve just heard that you’re back and I wanted to check up on you. Simmons told me about what the two of you talked about. I’ve figured that you might want to talk about it with someone. May I come in?”

“Be my guest!” The young man waved towards the room and the woman walked inside with slow and measured steps.

Once inside, she sat down on the bed that belonged to Regis’ roommate. She studied his face for a few moments before she spoke again.

“So, do you want to tell me about what happened? I’m an excellent listener, you know.”

“I still have time,” he shrugged. “So, I might as well tell you my story.”

Regis sat down on his bed and took a few breaths while collecting his thoughts. After that, he told her about pretty much everything from the moment he left the director’s office. Of course, he left out some of the gory details, but even the milder ones made the woman shudder and pale from time to time. The psychiatrist sighed deeply as she looked at the boy with a conflicted gaze.

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “I thought that I could help you, or at least give you some kind of an advice, but it seems that my studies are sorely lacking when it comes to crossing to other worlds and fighting against an undead horde.”

Her strange joke made Regis chuckle as he looked at the woman with her straight faced speech.

“On one hand I’m terrified to think what horrors you have to go through over there, on the other hand I’m happy that you’ve finally grew so much. You were always too quiet and antisocial here, but from what you’ve told me, you’ve made quite a few friends there. That’s good. As for that incident with that armoured… thing,” she shuddered at the thought. “I simply can’t imagine the pain and the fright it caused you. I’m glad that you were able to talk about it. An event like that could cause lifelong trauma.”

“Not if you’re dead.” Regis shrugged it off while realizing that he almost felt numb now towards his own demise.

“Regis,” the woman chided. “Don’t shrug this off. This is a serious matter.”

“I know, but who’s to say that it won’t happen again? If I break down because of this, what will I do when something similar happens later?”

“True,” the woman sighed once again. “That’s why I can’t give you any real advice. Just promise me that if it does happen again, you’ll come to see me. I’ll be here to listen.”

“Thank you!” He said with a slight nod as the woman stood up from the bed.

“I should go. There are matters I must attend to. Please, be careful and good luck to you and your friends!”

“I’ll try, and thank you for listening.”

“You’re welcome!” She smiled and she left the room.

Regis sighed as he felt his chest lighten a bit before he closed the door. He looked at his mark to confirm what he already knew.

{World-shift is available.}

‘Time to go!’ The youth thought as he walked to the middle of the room. He activated world-shift and the pitch black goo seeped out of the floor beneath him. Dozens of black tendrils reached out to grab him, pulling the young man through the void.