The surrounding was foreign just like his clothes. He was alone in the middle of nowhere. Although the land was large, it was cracked by the prolong drought.

This wasn't the first time Armad found himself naked in an unfamiliar place after using Lightning Flash. It would take some doing but he always found his way back home.

What really bothered him was his new clothes. He didn't remember having any reddish attire, why was he in one? Armad immediately realized he wasn't alone. Someone must have changed his clothes while he was out?

He walked several meters in each direction but there was no sign of life. All he could see was an endless field of barren land that was cracked by the lack of moisture.

After walking for some minutes, he found a huge metal plate stuck into the ground by a long stick. There were several names written on the plate, with each name having a number next to it.

The first two names caught his attention the most.

1. Áyúbu Nára 1320 AD

1. Anas Seiru 1852 AD

The rest of the names had different numbers ranging from '2' to '10'. The first name belonged to the famous emperor of the Fourth World, Áyúbu, who was obviously closely related to those sword worshippers. Now that he thought about it, the fourth world was filled with bloody sword worshippers. Those three must have came from there. Did this meant they had him? That he was caught?

But there was something else, the year in front of the second name read 1852. He left home one week ago and it was November of 1851, why the hell was he seeing 1852? Did he somehow travel through... time?! No, that wasn't possible. Armad shook his head vigorously.

"Who are you? And how did you came here?"

Armad turned around hurriedly to find the speaker. She looked young (probably a year or two older than him), fair in complexion with bright green eyes. There were a hundred things about this woman and this place but the first thing that came to his mind was: "which year is this?"

She turned around uncomfortably and looked into the distance for a moment before she turned and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "1st February 1852 AD. Why?"

Armad widened his eyes in shock. That would mean he'd just lost three months on his way to this place. "Are you sure? I left home one week ago and it was November, 1851."

"You have probably hit your head. Rest for a while. It will all come back." She said.

Armad knitted his brows. His knew he was fine. This was the first time he'd lost time after using the full power of the Lightning Flash. Was it the spell? Or was it something else entirely?

The woman in front of him maybe the key to leaving this place. She wore a reddish attire....

Reddish attire? Armad took another look at his attire and hers. They were of the same design. Now that he paid more attention, he saw a small drawing of a flower at the right armpit of the dress. It was definitely a feminine thing.

"Thank you for the clothes." He said.

"You will pay one ayrid coin." She said flatly.

Armad narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't have a single coin but he couldn't complain since the attire would cost more than ten ayrid coins in the market.

"Thank you. But I don't have the money now... I'll definitely pay you back later." Armad said, half expecting her to disagree.

The woman smiled and she didn't pursue the matter.

Wait, is that...? He definitely sensed something in her voice.. Maybe it was her posture. He had the urge to ask her if she had seen him naked but he resisted. More importantly, he needed another favor from her.

"Can I please use your ayrid comm?"

The woman frowned slightly. Armad could see her pupils constricting in hesitation.

"I'll definitely pay you back later." He added as if afraid she would refuse. "That will be one plus... twenty? Yeah, I'll give you twenty-one coins. I really need to send a message home."

"It's okay. Just... don't take too long, I have only a few minutes remaining." She said.

Armad nodded in appreciation. He was desperate, alone and with no cash.

The woman threw a five-inches long rectangular prism and a pen at him. Armad gladly caught it midair and found a seat on the dry ground. It was time to send a message home. He'd intended to send it the minute he arrived but things happened and he got delayed.

Both the pen and the prism were carved from the mahogany-class ayrid trees, which were then enchanted to serve this specific purpose.

He wrote:

Hello, Sadi.. How is my mom?

He waited anxiously for a response. After a minute, the whole prism glowed, Armad's writings disappeared while new writings appeared.

ARMAD, THANK GOD! Are you okay? Have you arrived safely? I have been trying to reach you for three months.

Armad hurriedly cleaned the writings with his hand and then wrote.

Sadi, I was in a bit of a situation so I couldn't call, how is mum? Is the Air Potion working?

Yeah. She woke up once but she didn't recognize us. I think the potion is working. Babara came a month ago to check on her.

Good. I'll be back with a cure in six months. Take care of her, cousin, I promise to find you a nice husband. If anything changes, contact me immediately.

Yes, cousin. Good luck. But I DON'T need you to find me any husband.

So, it was true he'd somehow magically lost three months. Armad felt a sudden headache. Where did he spent those three months and how? Did he just omit them? Did he actually travelled through time?

He handed the prism back to the woman. "Thank you. I owe you ayrid coins."

"You still haven't told me who you are or how you came here. In case you didn't notice, this is the Shiire, the most warded place in Seith."

Seith? That's the empire north of the Fifth World. Armad thought. It just kept getting worse.

First, it was Babara. The man who was supposed to send him directly to the Fourth World where the Triple-factor was last seen, instead he sent him to the interworld dungeon. Because of that he met Nostalgia and her wicked brothers who forced him to use a spell that sent him three months into the future. And now he was on the Fifth World, not Fourth. It could be the spell misfiring, it could be Nostalgia and her wicked brothers who took him to the Fifth World when he was unconscious, or maybe it was this Saif Iqra...