Yuuya sat in front of the newly appointed study desk, chin in cupped hands as he glowered at the culprit that ignored him completely as she flipped through her book. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, and daylight illuminated the little cabin, the leaves of trees outside twinkling with dew.

He stared at her mouth, the disjunction between the voice and the movements extremely jarring to his vision. His brain couldn’t make sense of it, so he had attributed fault to his own brain’s injury from the Taotie’s magic.

Until Miras had begun teaching that day, right before dusk.

Miras was an excellent teacher, breaking down all these new things that he’d never heard into simple blocks of information that he could easily swallow without having to trouble his brain too much. She had started with Threonite, the archaic language that existed before the Five Continents had formed. Before, there was only one landmass, currently the continent-pair that was dubbed “the mainland”, then called Kranea.

Kranea had been an excellent system, having risen from several prior failures to institute this powerful kingdom. In order for the denizens of its huge land to not feel the strain of multiple languages, had created Threonisian, the fairly formal language made in order to make inter-community interactions mutually understandable. And in order to send notices in such a way, the Kranean royalty had issued the official Threonite Script. The script that was still prevalent, to this day.

‘However,’ Miras had said then, ‘Now, Kranea has fallen, instead giving birth to two of the most powerful continents in Redorias. Vreede and Ars. Of course, they still used Threonite for communication with each other and with the newer continents that broke off in the great disaster that occurred ages back. However, they still made their own languages, Artethi for Ars, which, as you know, is what I’m speaking in, and Vreedian.’

And that had caught him off-guard.

For it seemed like everything had crashed around him at her words, as when she had finished, only one line remained. “Artethi, which is what I’m speaking in”.

Artethi.

She was speaking in Artethi, a language of their world.

Then why was he clearly hearing Japanese, the language of his world?

Two distinct possibilities, he came up with. One, the more unlikely one, that Japanese was coincidentally the same language that the Ars continent had come up with.

Either that, or the even more unlikely possibility, one that every fibre of his being wanted to reject.

He could translate Artethi to Japanese and Japanese to Artethi.

His world-crossing power would have to be Translator.

Yuuya wanted to tear down the sky and scream at whatever power was responsible for bringing him to Redorias. It was that same being that could possibly have given Shizuka and the rest world-crossing Hero powers, whilst it had given him “Translation” powers. Of course, translation would be immensely useful to him considering his situation, but if a World-governing power had to give him some sort of gift, surely it could be something other than ‘translation’?

And so he stared, determined to prove from her words that it was something wrong with his brain that made it seem like she was talking something different, but she had been talking Japanese all along.

So far, his dread had only deepened as Miras seemed to be moving her lips in a way that did not even remotely connect with what she was saying. Forget similar, with how she was speaking, it wasn’t humanely possible for that to be Japanese. He had begun jumping to wilder and wilder conclusions, the least of which were his possible tutoring in Artethi in school.

“Will you be telling me why you’re staring at me like that for, any time soon?” Miras said. She carefully turned the pages of her book, which looked like they would fall off any time.

“It’s...” Yuuya began, considering how to phrase his question. “It’s uh...”

“I see,” Miras said. She softly smoothened out the page and began, “Anyways, the Threonite script wasn’t abandoned after the Kranea Era, as the Five Continents... Well, Grimoi uses it rarely, what with their ‘conservative’ approach towards things. Anyways they still use it for official missives and notifications-.”

“Aunty, I have a doubt,” Yuuya interrupted.

“What is it?”

“You really are speaking Artethi? Artethi the language of Ars? Really?” He asked, nervous.

“Indeed I am. Is that all?” Miras answered, glossing it over as she began to continue her lecture.

“No, but...” Yuuya hesitated, but went with it. “Well, you say that you’re talking Artethi, but I hear you talking Japanese, and I thought maybe Japanese was the same as Artethi and then I realized that you aren’t speaking Japanese at all, so I was wondering if... If I had the power to translate and all...” He trailed off, looking away.

“You do not have to worry, you have no ‘world-crossing powers’ whatsoever. Of course, there are some other interesting things about you, but the translation,” she looked at him with an enigmatic smile, “Is all me.”

Relieved yet disappointed, Yuuya slumped back into his chair. But then he started, “Other interesting things? What things?”

“Certain things, amongst others. For one, although your mental capacity for understanding isn’t too impressive, your mental capacity for remembering is quite... quite interesting. I have my theories, but nothing conclusive as of yet,” she said.

Confused, Yuuya replied. “Remembering? I mean, I’m not that great at-.”

“Who added the second addendum of the Threonite draft, and what was it?”

“Tuvoh Decei, that the Threonite Script, while it is meant for formal writing, informal versions, or mix of other scripts thereof, are allowed, however, too much deviation from the Kranean version will not be recognized by any institute of law,” Yuuya replied. His eyes widened as he looked at the Miras’s smile. “Oh.”

“As I’ve said, your capabilities were quite astonishing when I first noticed it. Even you don’t realize how your functioning has improved so much,” Miras said. “Well, back to our lesson then.”

***

“Alright alright! I’m up!” Yuuya yelled out, right before the pitcher dumped its contents onto his face. He jumped out of bed, already used to this schedule. He rushed away with haste, fearing that she would still pour it on him, judging from past experiences.

Miras stood there, smiling, showing him the pitcher. To his surprise, it was quite empty.

“The funny thing is aunty, it still feels colder than usual,” Yuuya sighed, tousling his hair. Miras simply chuckled, placing the pitcher on to the wooden stand. The concoction next to it was, as usual, filled to the brim.

“As I’ve told you, doing it enough times, you’ll begin waking up on your own,” Miras said, headed toward the table.

“But aunty, your water’s becoming colder every day, I might just become sick from this,” he said, plopping onto his chair.

“That’s a risk you’ll have to live with then,” said Miras, settling in as well. She picked up her characteristic book, which he could swear was getting thicker every day. With a bang she opened it, hard cover smashing on the table top. She flipped past the pages, filled with notes that he could barely catch a glimpse of.

It was written in thick Artethi script, long curves that wound around gracefully on the paper.

“Artethi was designed to be easy and understandable, and it was made to be widely spread to every part of the world so that people could use it as a common language. Naturally, Vreedian was quite well-spread as well, so although the Artethi script wasn’t a huge success, it was still a success. It’s easier to write, and nobility did prefer to write it so,” Miras explained, tracing out the letters one by one.

In the previous twenty two days since Miras had begun teaching, she had finished Theurian first, right after the fairly archaic Threonite. The common tongue of the Kabal Continent, it was the complicated script in which most of the books of hers were written. It was filled with dots and dashes, with careful combinations of them making the letters. Theurian itself was a graceful language, soft and quick.

“This would have meant the spread of Artethi from Ars, the centre of the Western World, to all the other continents, but Kabal stuck to Theurian, steadfast-,” she snapped her fingers. “-What makes Theurian more preferable? Explain to me why Pursia could have chosen to adopt Artethi as its language?”

“Pursia had already been engaged in a dependent relationship with Ars, with them supplying the necessary spices and grains that Ars, with its huge demand required. With Ars granting monetary support and personnel to it, Pursia was already a subsidiary continent to Ars. Theurian on the other hand, is a graceful language that was already very prevalent in Kabal, and it made no sense to adopt Artethi,” he answered promptly in thick Theurian.

“Very good. Now, tell me what the fifth continent is?” Miras said, switching to Artethi. She would always teach the language first before the script, to make it easier for him to understand. Her switches were quite spectacular, as her Theurian and Artethi sounded like music to his ears. He struggled to imitate her enunciation, but he would be impeded by the Japanese within his system, hindering him.

“Fifth continent... er... It’s I don’t really know it but, you didn’t even teach me that, aunty!” Yuuya complained, only for her to silently chuckle.

“Indeed I haven’t. Now that we’ve covered Threonisian, Artethi and Theurian, you’ll eventually get Artethi down, I’m sure, we can start with a new subject. I would say these many days of languages with the occasional hint of the world would have to have been quite the strain on thine performance, would it not?” She said, switching between all three in the same breath.

Yuuya stared at her, struggling to comprehend her words. The moment she’d snap her fingers, all sense of ‘Japanese’ would be gone, replaced with pure gibberish. She had to start slow for him to slowly pick it up, and would occasionally turn on her ‘translator’, only to take him out of his comfort zone once more. She would constantly talk to him in Theurian for the first ten days before he understood it somewhat, and Threonisian wasn’t even meant to be spoken all that much. Artethi, however.

Artethi troubled him.

Something that was made to be informal and easily understood, he was having the hardest time comprehending. Miras had contributed it to the significant difference between the graceful Theurian and the rather crass Artethi.

“Now,” Miras said. One by one she picked up the books and placed it back on the ground. She then reached back, rolling something as she picked it up. A huge cylinder she pulled out, lines spinning around it. On both ends it was covered with a graceful silver cover, shaped like frozen flames. She set it with a thump on the table, over the books.

Yuuya pushed his chair back, startled. Getting up, Miras unscrewed the covers, setting them aside as well. She looked up to smile at Yuuya and then unfurled the paper. It flew up into the air like a bird, waving as it slowly landed on the table. Dust flew off it, which Miras promptly dispersed with a wave of her hand.

“Today, we study the map,” said Miras.

The entire world stretched out before him, with an ornately drawn compass in the corner. Royal blue danced through most of it, a wondrous quality as it seemed to be faintly moving, like the waves of the ocean. Six huge landmasses spanned the map, each given its own characteristic color, albeit with other colors flickering past it, depicting regions.

“This, is the mainland, consisting of Ars and Vreede,” Miras said, still speaking in Artethi. She pointed to the biggest landmass, the one that seemed to be the king of it all. Previously Kranea, the sole Continent of Redorias itself, its glory still persisted, although as two separate powers. “The Viriel Mountain Range protects these two powers from each other, ensuring ‘peace’, as it were, between them. Although both of them would like to be the one who rules over it all, nature, says no,” she said.

“And over here is Kabal, the land of Elves,” she drew her finger to the left, showing a continent that stuck to the edges, mostly in green as it seemed to sing of freedom. She then drew her finger to the extreme right, where another continent was. “And here is Pursia, within which is Hordshen, the haven of dwarves. The Hordshen have several conflicts with the human influence there, which is why Pursia isn’t the best place to be in.”

Yuuya looked on, astonished. Pursia was painted brown, with ridges that rose out of the paper on it. Upon it was Hordshen, written in complicated Theurian. “Elves and Dwarves? Like, the races? Do they have pointed ears? Are they really short? Are they real?”

“I see you’re losing our Artethi deal in your excitement. Well, no matter, you’ll catch on either way. And to answer your question, yes, Elves and Dwarves are real, brat. Why else would I be talking about them? You have seen them?” Miras said.

“Seen them? They’re everywhere in light novels!... I mean, literature. Elves of archery with bows aloft and dwarves beneath their mountains, forging,” Yuuya responded, enthusiastic.

“Interesting... Could it be?” Her eyes clouded over as she once more began ignoring Yuuya. But he did not mind. He himself was absorbed in the map, looking at every corner with unhidden enthusiasm. It was incomparable to any work of art from Earth, that he even suspected it had something to do with Magic.

He had asked Miras about the existence of Magic, but she had only smiled, refusing to confirm his suspicions. Her translator powers had impressed him, but it did not seem like actual magic. But now, right before his eyes was a live map, shimmering and shifting in colors as it showcased an entire world.

“Perhaps it is so,” Miras said, snapping out of her reverie. “Now, as I was saying. Below the mainland, the land of demons is Grimoi, a smaller continent, but filled with elite warriors.” Yuuya had the urge to roll his eyes when he heard of the ‘demons’ only to be replaced with another worry. She still had to be safe. He looked at the map to distract himself, down at the smaller landmass beneath the Mainland, yet separated by a wide sea marked the Padziel Sea.

“And up here is the fairly peaceful continent, the trade centre of the world, Rudia. It is populated mostly by humans, and thrives on trade. Perhaps the entirety of Redorias depends on Rudia for that,” she explained, pointing at a continent in the North-east, right above Pursia. It was painted a faint brown, with a grove of red trees in a corner.

“But what about that?” Yuuya asked, pointing toward the last continent, at the top of the map.

“That...That is Ignoratica, the forgotten continent. It used to be called Silurai, one of the major powers, but the... the First Alignment had occurred there, causing massive amounts of damage there,” she said, averting her eyes. A grimace flashed past her face, but she did not comment further. Yuuya did not want to ask her as well, and remained silent.

“Well, that will be enough for today. You can... you can return to your exercising now,” Miras said, hands faintly shaking as she rolled the map back up. Without waiting for him to leave first, she left the map partially closed and left the cabin half-running.

Looking on with a troubled gaze, Yuuya rose to his feet.

But then his eyes sharpened.

He looked the way Miras had left, the possibilities dawning on him. Perhaps, perhaps this could be his chance. She had been understandably affected by mentioning Ignoratica, and he dared to hope that she had been gone a further distance this time. Although it was distasteful to consider it so, her past would be his chance.

He scrambled forward, and slowly swung the door closed. It was inch by inch, wanting to make it seem as if the wind were blowing the door shut. He neared it till the doorframe, and left it there, not wanting to make any unnecessary sounds. Having done so, he released a sigh of relief.

He walked back, tip-toeing out of anxiety. This might alert Miras of his plans of rebellion. Although he did like Miras quite a lot, everything about him itched uncomfortably. He was worried. He was immensely worried about Shizuka and whether she was alright.

No matter what, he had to leave.

He swirled the half-closed map open, and studied it carefully. The drawing gently moved, simulating life. His heart pounded in his head, his blood seemed to be roaring. The light had begun to dim already, but the map itself seemed to glow faintly.

He studied the map carefully, searching every inch of it. He had to know where he was, any clue to imply it.

And then he hit the most probable spot.

“Kabal,” he whispered.

Verdant forests covered the entirety of the Elven continent, and Yuuya could swear that only the shade of the forests there seemed to match those around him. He remembered the sight he had seen as he fell from the sky. Five mountains rising up, aiming for the sky. The shade of the forest canopy, the variations in it, it all seemed to match as it was perfectly in the map.

“I’m in the Elven continent,” he said, a tinge of excitement leaching into his voice. But he did not know where to head toward. If he headed the wrong way, he’d only end up deeper in the forests. Was he on the inner side of the five mountains or the outer?

But then he spotted the blue line that wound down the continent, even the movement of its waters clear to him. And above it, in tiny words, he read the name of the river. The Reijler. The very same river that Miras had mentioned when he described what had happened to him.

The Reijler was on the outer side of the mountains, and he had to walk away from them to reach outside the forest, perhaps a trade centre or shipyard. From there, if he could, he could catch a ship or be a stowaway and find his way to Ars… somehow.

The dubiousness of his plan astounded even him. Shaking his head clear of faraway goals, he decided that he had to find his way to some town first. Perhaps earn some money there before heading to Ars. First, he had to get away from here. He rolled the map back up, the first phase of his plan complete.

With a sigh he headed out, back to train.

He ran around, completely enjoying the feeling of consistent improvement. His body seemed to metamorphosing, becoming a butterfly. His athleticism was through the roof as he was confident that he could have outrun the Taotie if he were to be given another chance. The Dreadwolf he was not so confident about, but perhaps he could escape in a better shape. The Dragon, he did not even dream of escaping from. It could fly and breathe fire.

Tired and panting he headed back, sweat glistening on his body. He was a changed youth. Nearly two months he had been here, and he felt stronger. Better, better than ever. He was no longer Yuuya, the weak boy that ignored all the insults. He was Yuuya, the one who had survived and gotten stronger.

He downed the usual dosage of the concoction, face puckering as it ran down his throat. Panting, he laid down to sleep, but not before directing a worried gaze out, wondering what had happened to Miras.

In the middle of the night, his eyes snapped open.

The possibility had struck him, and he was raring to try it. This might be his only chance, and he did not want to waste it. Although his intestines greened from having to take advantage of Miras’s grief, he knew he had to take this chance. The fear and trepidation for Shizuka was only intensifying, and he had to know something at the very least. Miras seemed awfully patient with him, as if she did not even imagine him leaving. That… that worried him.

He listened carefully, and waited. He wasn’t confident yet. Only the faint sound of branches sighing in the wind responded to him. Shivering with fear, he decided. There wouldn’t be a better time. A battle surged within him, hate for himself at having to leave Miras, the poor old aunty behind, alone. She seemed to have only him as her company, and teaching him gave her something to do.

But he had to help Shizuka. He had to be with her, to help her, to support her. He had to be there for her, as she had been with him.

Quelling his thoughts of doubt, he headed out into the night, pitcher in hand.