"Time out," two iconic T shapes were formed with my hands, "What do you mean by 'summoned to another world'?" Even though I could adapt to almost any situation, I was still confused by what I just heard.

"Ah," the little-girl-who-was-not-a-little-girl smiled with a frown, "This one will help you to understand. This world of Azzarath has had many otherworlders come to it from many various universes. This one has seen it all since it began, and it was done so to prevent kidnappings from occurring on another gods' world. Thus, Azzarath was created as a sort of neutral ground for the gods of other worlds to come and choose a champion, or several, for the people of their own world."

She shrugged and raised her arms in a helpless gesture, "It was also created to keep your humans' people of a country called Japan from vanishing outright. This one does not know why other gods seem to enjoy those humans, and by the looks of it, neither do you." To be fair, I really didn't understand why the Japanese had a higher tendency to vanish more so than any other country. Perhaps it was their love of the idea of adventuring into a new world for whatever reason. Who knows?

"So," I spoke low and slowly, "where am I being sent, and does this god know I am a six meter tall skeleton, with four arms, a tail, and poison soaked bones?"

She grinned sheepishly up at my ever grinning skull, "No. This one believes it saw you as a human who could do what you did with your Zabartik's armour, and left to fill out the form before inquiring further. This one suspects He is a newer god, and will be surprised when you reveal yourself. This one also believes He will try to gain a refund, but all sales are final in regards to summons."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Sales? What? Are you profiting off of us, and we don't have a say in it?" At this point in time, I was angry at the creature before me. So much so, poisonous fumes began to escape from behind my sharpened teeth.

"Ah," she blinked as she recalled her words, then became startled as I hoisted her up to eye level.

"Explain. Slowly." And she did. Her world gained knowledge and minerals such as iron and zinc, which allowed her own world's people the ability to craft better items for whatever they wished for. Most of it was probably for war, though. This was in exchange for people the other gods have chosen for their own world's people. However, they could only take otherworlders, but were running out of them. It was because those that were summoned either stayed on that world for some reason or other, or were traded off to someone else in an illegal exchange. The last bit was confusing, even to this day I still do not understand why gods would seemingly trade off their contracted heroes for something else.

Anyways, how they gained the people of earth's trust to come here of their own volition was pretty ingenious. They created a company that dealt with virtual reality. Of course, this was nothing new, as other companies have been doing this for the last decade. However, what their company did was much, much different. They created fully immersive VRMMORPGs, just like the ones seen in shows, or read about in novels. This alone caused an uproar with our world, as many began using their products without much fear and risk of brain damage, because all of their technology was a headset of some sort.

This, and this alone, is what duped the human race into trusting their company, and allowed the creation of the pods liken unto the one my frail body was placed into. However, mine, and a few others, was a special case. Because my body could not handle the stress of the transfer, it expired. Meaning, I would never again be able to set foot upon earth, unless summoned there, but that was unlikely to occur.

I was lying down when the news of this truly hit, and only wanted to cry. Unfortunately, I could not, as I lacked the organs necessary for the production of tears. No, instead I slammed my fists into the ground repeatedly. "This one apologises for your lost, Undead Karastak, but this one should remind you," I turned to stare in her direction, "Your family will be coming here once you return from your quest in another world."

"You had better explain to them what it means to adventure into your world, or I will wreak havoc upon the land." Yes, my threats were empty, and even she, at that time, knew they were.

She only nodded and pointed at my body. "Undead Karastak," the hand that pointed its finger at me was as translucent as ever, and once again began to glow, "Your body has been reforged. Go now, and fare thee well."

The light soon engulfed my figure, and I was once again standing in the room of the cathedral. This time, however, I could not summon Zabartik, nor would I be able to wear the robe and boots once more. The backpack with the bottomless pit was nowhere to be found, either. As I gazed about me, I noticed a strange light coming from beneath my feet. The very moment I did, however, it expanded greatly, and I could hear what sounded like a chorus of angels and bells ringing all around me. Not knowing what to do, I quickly intoned the spell, ">," and became the poison coated longsword just as the circled sucked me into its world.

**********

Within a temple hall stood the lifelike statues of various deities and fallen warriors of an age gone by. Some were in disrepair, whereas others had a few minute hairline cracks within their smooth surfaces. However, all served as eternal witnesses to the ritual performed before them. Male and female humans could be seen chanting and dancing around a very large and complicated circle. The edges of the circle held a dim quality of red light with varying degrees of unknown text and pictographs. Every so often, a stretch of text, or a pictograph, would light up just as the chants and dancing increased in tempo. Those who were dancing were young adult females, and wore naught, but mist linen which showed everything to the world. However, the males that were chanting were old, and would often glance at the females during their chants.

If another male were to see this performance, they too would stare as the old men stared hungrily at these females. However, at one point the old males turned their eyes towards the center of the circle. This was because they had reached the end, and lightning arched out from the unknown texts and pictographs. The arching points latched onto the center, and tore it open. This revealed three individuals, and a bone-like sword, which sank into the floor up to its hilt.

Those in attendance were shocked to find only three humans, by the look of it, and one dashed out of the temple. This lone person ran into a fairly large grey stone castle, and began shouting, "My King! My King!"

This person, who served as a messenger of sorts, kneeled before a regal throne of gold and crimson, and bowed his head to the old man who sat upon it. The old man, who the messenger called 'King', had scars running across his face and the left side of his neck. This king's once regal self was now marred by these scars, but one could see that he is indeed still handsome beneath them. Others may not, but those who still could would see his square shaped face and cleft chin, a hawk shaped beak of a nose, iron grey eyes, and a mane of snow white hair that draped across his shoulders. His head was adorned by a crown of what looked like seven spires reaching for the heavens, but were bound to a thin circlet of gold that wrapped around his head. Each spire, however, held a small pearl-like jewel that caused each to give off an almost overwhelmingly powerful aura. The robes which were draped over the shoulders of one such as he, was one that appeared to be heavy, and coloured with rich, deep blues, violets, and reds. It was assumed that these robes alone were considered to be as valuable as almost three times its weight in gold.

The king raised up an overly calloused hand, and bid the messenger to rise. "What news of the temple," he asked the messenger before him.

To which was replied with, "My King, the ritual was a success."

He could sense the hesitation in the one before him, "But?"

"But there is a slight problem, and may need your attention." These small words alarmed the king, who stood up, and called for his guards. The messenger left quickly, as the king and his guards shuffled towards the temple, wondering what went wrong.