Prelude: Unfortunate happenstances.

*Alarm clock sounds*

“Urgh…” I Groan, as I weakly flop my hand vaguely in the direction of the alarm clock; Trying, and failing, to put a stop to its horrible racket that is interrupting my well deserved sleep.

Finally, after 4 unsuccessful attempts, I manage to quell the evil noise and flop my head back unto my wonderfully soft and fluffy pillow.

‘Shit… So it's Saturday today huh. It's already 04.30? Even though I've supposedly slept 7 or so hours, I feel like I've barely slept at all...‘ I muse groggily as I try to gather the willpower to get out of bed. A few minutes pass as I try in vain to get out of bed.

"Ok!" I say and start counting down from 5. "Time to go. 5, 4…". Once I get to 0, I commit all my will to the task and push myself up and off the bed.

"I don't know how I'd manage my life without that willpower trick…" I mumble to myself and start putting on my workout outfit; A runners outfit, all the while yawning every other minute.

Once clothed, I brush my teeth before walking towards the entrance of my apartment, grabbing my prepared workout bag as I pass by the cabinet it's placed on and sit down on the low chair beside the shoe-threshold and put on my running shoes. With the preparations done, I walk out and lock the door before making my way to the streets below. Once on ground level, I promptly start jogging towards my destination.

-----

An hour and some 10km of jogging later, I arrive at my destination; The mixed martial arts gym I attend on a thrice a week basis.

Walking in, I greet the receptionist; A half-japanese like me, named Yuina with a warm smile and a "Good morning". She's a rather young 24 year old beauty who's been working here for some 3 years now, and quite honestly, I have a bit of a crush on her. That said, I don't think I have ever actually spoken to her properly; except for the greetings and the occasional banther before I leave.

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I just don't have the courage to actually walk up and start a conversation with her on my own initiative, not to speak of having the nerve of asking her out on a date.

She smiles brilliantly at me and greets me back warmly before wishing me a good day as I move by the counter and make my way to the locker room.

Once inside, I can only sigh and shake my head at my lack of confidence. 'I can't keep making excuses forever… I just keep shooting myself in the foot...' I think to myself dejectedly as I take off my runner jacket and pants to reveal my sports inners which I wear underneath. Unfortunately, saying something and actually living it are two totally different things, or I would have just walked up to her and asked her out years ago.

'... No, it's time I stop procrastinating and just ask her out. After my workout today, I'll ask her out.' I decide.

Quickly pulling on a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt, I make my way into the gym proper and start stretching lightly to soften up my muscles from the long jogg here.

15 minutes later, I am all stretched out and ready to go, so I start punching and kicking on a kickboxing bag; at first slowly and deliberately, before quickly picking up the pace until I'm going all in full speed and power on the bag. By now more and more people start trickling in and starts doing their own workouts; I've seen almost all kinds of styles used here in the gym, from Karate to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and even a rare few occasional Shaolin kung fu practitioner have appeared over the years I've been going here. But I mostly let them do their thing while I focus on my own training.

Before long, I lose track of time as I single-mindedly keep punching and kicking the bag; each time with a different angle of approach and purpose.

This continues until I am interrupted by a voice calling out to me.

"Hey! Kai! I think you should take a break before you collapse, man. You've been at it for like 3 hours now, non-stop…"

Snapping out of my trance, I look over at the speaker and belatedly realize it is my friend Kyle, Kyle Eriksson that is speaking to me. As his father and his grand-father, who was a swedish immigrant, he has blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Combined with his handsome face, rather tall and muscular frame, he is quite popular with the ladies.

Kyle is one of my few true friends, who has been with me for most of my childhood and life. I've known Kyle for more than half my life by now, we met at 15 at a certain sports gym, which unfortunately closed down some ten years ago, and we hit it off right away. These last 15 or so years we have been helping each other through tough times; whether it be flunking tests, break-ups, flunking job interviews or just working through a particularly bad day.

Taking a moment for my mind to process what he said to me, I nod to him and reply with a simple "Sorry, lost track of time again." Which comes out in a much hoarser voice than I'd imagined. 'Damn, I really do need to rehydrate bad…' I reprimand myself as I receive my water bottle that Kyle hands me while shaking his head disapprovingly with a slight scowl on his face.

"This makes it the third time this month that you zone out like that." He says concernedly. "Are you ok? Did something bad happen lately? Is your boss giving you trouble again?"

Waving his concern away, I drink deeply from the water bottle before replying. "I'm fine, really. And my boss is the same as usual, an asshole and slave-driver, but she's not been worse than usual." I reply while pondering the issue that is on my mind so much lately. "No, it's none of that. My life is fine, for the most part. It's more… I dunno, I feel lost lately." I say and sigh. "Like… have you ever felt like, there should be more to life than just… Well, going through the routine that is 9-5 work? Then with the weekends usually consisting of working out with the occasional bar visit, going out and eating or going to watch a movie thrown in every now and then. I mean, doesn't it make you feel so… empty?" I finally finish, giving Kyle a searching look.

Kyle just looks at me for a long second as he mulls over what I say. "Wow, ok… That's deep, and a little concerning, to be honest." He says slowly as he gives me a pondering look. "Alright, you know what? You continue your training, get some food and then come meet me by the station entrance at 6pm sharp. I want to show you something I think could help." He says and promptly turns and makes to go shower and get changed.

Grabbing his right shoulder reflexily, I stop him to ask for clarification.

"Hey, Kyle, wait. What's up so suddenly? What do you want to show me?" I ask curiously.

"It's a secret." He says while smirking at me. "You'll see soon enough. Now, I need to go make preparations, so I'll see you later. Don't forget, 6pm at the station entrance!" He says cheerily over his shoulder as he walks away towards the locker room.

Scratching my head at my friends behavior I can only shrug and watch him go. Once he leaves my view, I resume my training, after a quick protein shake and a light snack.

------

After finishing my training and clumsily managed to actually ask Yuina out on a date; To which she smiled and replied that she needed to think about it.

Which isn't a straight no, I at least. Right?

…Maybe?

… ...I dunno.

But at least it is done, and it is out of my hands. And strangely enough, it's a good feeling. Scary as hell, sure, but at the same time, it's like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

With that sorted out, I quickly slinked out of the sports gym after giving a quick farewell to Yuina.

Then I went to grab a bite to eat; which led me to go to a non-chain small family restaurant close to the station, where I ordered a steak meal with mashed potatoes and boiled veggies. After paying for the meal and sitting down at a table, I pull out my phone and start going through my usual sites to see what's new. Once the food arrived, I started eating my food slowly and quietly all the while browsing the web. Once I'm done eating, I sit a while longer and continue browsing the web while I wait for the clock to approach 6pm.

At 5.30pm I stand up and make my way to the door, thanking the staff for the meal as I pass them.

Once outside, I leisurely make my way to the station entrance and arrive a few minutes or so before 6pm.

Scanning the crowd, I don't see Kyle; I I pull out my phone and check if I have any messages. There being none, I move over the wall next to the entrance and lean against it and start checking some social media while I wait the last few minutes until 6pm.

----

Just as the clock turns 6pm, I notice Kyle appear out of the crowd in front of me, he spots me almost instantly, and makes his way towards me. Putting my phone in my left jeans pocket, I walk out to meet him halfways.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Kyle says and gestures for me to follow him as he walks eastwards, toward the shopping mall area.

Falling beside him, we walk in silence for a few minutes.

"So… Where are we going, anyway?" I ask, not able to keep quiet any longer.

However, Kyle just looks at me and smiles. "You'll see soon enough. It's just around the corner" he says and gestures towards a crossroad, some 200m in front of us.

'Were there any shops or malls around here?' I ponder thoughtfully to myself as we continue walking in silence.

Once at the crossroad, he takes a left and walks another 20 meters before suddenly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and turning to me.

"We're here. What do you think?" Kyle says and gestures towards our surroundings.

Confused as to what he's getting to, I can only confusedly look around while searching for whatever it is he wanted to show me. "Uhm… well, it seems like a nice enough neighbor, I guess?" I say vaguely as I keep looking for whatever it is Kyle wants to show me. "I don't see why we're here though; do your girlfriend live here or something?" I ask him hesitantly.

Laughing at my question, Kyle simply shakes his head and gestures to the apartment building in front of us. It's a decently sized three story, vine red and orange brick building with, I dunno, say ten or so apartments within it. "It's officially mine today." He says and somehow, he seems to stand a bit taller.

"Huh…" I say slowly. But then the words sink in and I realize their meaning. "Wait, what!? You own this building?!" I exclaim surprisedly.

----####----

Showing me around the building, Kyle explains that he has been saving all his money to be able to make a 10% down payment on loan to buy this whole building, which he says he is going to fix up a bit and the rent out for quite a bit more than it is currently rented for. Once we go through the whole building, he locks up and we walk slowly back towards the station while he explains his thinking.

He tells me he wants to be independent; To be free from having to think about how he will be getting his next paycheck every month; That his goal is to own and operate several buildings like this one.

"That is my current life goal" Kyle says, a serious glint in his eyes that conveys his seriousness. "That is why I got out of bed every morning and why I continued going to a job I didn't like for years. To realize my dream."

Taken aback by his sheer conviction, I am lost for words, and can only nod my head. As we arrive at the station, he puts his hand on my shoulder and looks me straight in the eye. "That is what you currently lack. You need to find your goal, a dream to chase." He says seriously. "Once you find that, everything else will work itself out. Trust me." He finishes before waving me farewell and walking away.

------

Getting on the train home in a daze, my thoughts are a mess as what Kyle said swirls inside my head, and before I know it, I am home.

Once at home, I brush my teeth and take a quick shower before throwing on some clothes and then promptly falling into my bed, staring up at the ceiling, but not really seeing it as I look out into nothing.

'Find myself a goal in life, huh…' I ponder dazedly as I feel sleep creeping up on me. 'What do I want most...?

…Freedom, I want free..d..om….'

-----_--+++#/@#++&##-+----

I am startled awake by a sense of falling, I open my eyes, but can see nothing but inky darkness. a split second later, panic sets in and I start wildly flailing to try get a hold of something, anything, to arrest my fall; but it is to no avail.

After what feels like an eternity and yet at the same time could have been an instant, I feel something solid under me. But no pain. And no “bounce” or splat or… anything. Suddenly and without warning, my sight is abruptly returned. Only for my immediate surroundings however.

‘What is happening? I was in bed just a minute ago; Where is this!? did I die…!? Am I Paralysed!?!’

Panic builds in my chest as I look at my hands and legs as I tentatively test for problems with my hands and legs.

‘No obvious problems with my limbs… So, what? Am I dead, or …?’

Slowly turning my head and taking in my surroundings; Or rather, lack thereof, as I can only see about 2 meters around me; Peering out further only reveals darkness. Not ‘pitch black, can't see nothing’ kind of darkness, more of a ‘black but somehow able to see something, but could just be imagining it’ kind of darkness.

Shuffling up into a sitting position and moving into a crouched position, I'm suddenly blinded by bright flickering lights in all manners of colours imaginable. It's like a full-blown rainbow cannon right into my eyes.

Shielding my eyes with my hands as best I can I can only wait for the blinding light to either dim or let my eyes adjust as best they can.

Suddenly a voice deep and rumbling like lightning descends “TRESPASSER, PREPARE YOURSELF!”

Startled by the booming voice of unclear origin I whip my around, eyes darting wildly, seeking the source of the voice.

The space I am in is strange, the floor is made of what looks like painted glass; However it is seemingly floating in space. There are no walls or ceiling to speak of either, only darkness exists outside the circular glass floor. Looking down through the see through glass-like floor, I can only see more of the strange darkness.

Suddenly a glowing circle appears on the floor half a dozen of meters away, a moment later a deafening roar follows as a huge two headed dog-like creature appears from within the circle.

Easily 6 meters high and 3 meters wide, I stand frozen in fear before its otherworldly bulk and stature.

Growling with a deep low rumble that shakes my bones like a superpowered bass box. It narrows its eyes as it focuses on me and snarls, showing its razor sharp teeth.

“Holy-shit-that's-a-big-dog!” I exclaim in panic as I take a step backward in utter shock at the suddenly appearing absolute behemoth of a dog.

Snarling furiously, a booming voice emerges from the huge dog creature “I AM NO GODDAMN DOG!!! I AM THE GATEKEEPER OF WORLDS, DAMN IT!, THE LORD OF HELLHOUNDS: CERBERUS!!!” It "yells" furiously. I say "yell" because it's not really speaking, in the sense that I know of speech, anyway.

Still quite furious, Cerberus starts ranting, strangely enough. "Why do you damn people keep calling me a dog?! I'm not a god-damned dog! And why is there even another anomaly here from the same world so soon?!?" He mutters loudly, seemingly complaining to himself.

Stunned into silence by the strange turn of events, moments pass as an awkward silence descends.

'Ok… So, Giant talking hellhound, and this strange place… I must've died, right? It's the only thing that makes any kind of sense in this situation…' I ponder as I stare at the gigantic dog-looking beast in front of me that is looking back at me menacingly.

Moments pass as we stare at one another, until I clear my throat and ask if my conjecture is true.

"So… Am I dead then? And you're here to judge me or something?"

Tilting his head at me, he narrows his eyes and puffs out a pair of plums of smoke from his double pair of nostrils.

"Unbelievable. Not this again…" He says and sighs deeply. "Let me guess; you just happened to end up here, and you have no idea how or why?" He asks exasperatedly.

Blinking a few times, I can only nod my head in response. "Yeah… I was sleeping on my bed, and then I was suddenly awoken for a feeling of falling; and then I wasn't falling any more, and then you came and well, you know… Here we are." I explain, somewhat incoherently.

Cerberus just stares blankly as me for a long moment before sighing wearily.

"What the hell is wrong with your world…" He mutters under his breath before he focuses his gaze onto me.

"Look, there's no easy way to come out and say this; So I'll just be blunt and come out and say it: I can't send you back from whence you came, and I can't let you stay here." He says slowly, making sure that I understand what he is saying. "So you are left with choosing between living in another world, and being obliterated from existence."

It takes a moment for my mind to register what he just said, and when it does, option 2 gets a whole bunch of nopes.

"Uh, yeah, I'd like to stay alive, thanks." I hurriedly say.

Nodding, Cerberus looks indifferently at me. "So I guess that leaves us with living in another world then." He says and seemingly ponders something for a moment, as his gaze drifts away from me.

"Hmm… Might as well, right?" He ponders aloud to himself before bringing his gaze back unto me.

"So it is settled. I will send you to the same world as the one before you. With some luck, you may even be able to help each other stay alive; If you manage to live long enough to meet each other, that is." Cerberus pauses as he lets the words sink it. "The world of Krei is currently a particularly dangerous world, and you will need to be careful if you wish to survive."

"Uhm, don't I get a say in it? I'd much rather go to a world that isn't, as you put it: "Particularly dangerous", if possible. How about a peaceful world or, like, a little dangerous world?" I ask hopefully, while knowing that it is unlikely that he will change his mind.

Snorting, Cerberus simply chuckles. "Ha, you're funny. No, I can't just send you to a peaceful world. What would I do if you turn out as a dictator and enslave said world? Do you have any idea how much of a pain that would be for me?" He continues heatedly. "It's not like I can just swoop in and smite you if that were to happen; Oh no; There are strict rules against just that! Too many arrogant Gods and Goddesses have already done that to make it a taboo, so go figure." He finishes, The last of the rant becoming more of a grumble than anything else.

'Seems like even otherworldly gigantic dogs have problems to deal with…' I think amusedly before remembering that my life is on the line here.

"Uh, right… So, I guess that's a no on the peace or semi-peaceful worlds then?"

"That is correct; you may choose to be sent to Krei, where you have a fellow earthling wandering the planet, or you choose to be sent to one of the dark worlds. Mostly pain and suffering on those though; I wouldn't recommend it. Like, seriously, I would not recommend it." Cerberus says seriously.

"So Krei it is." I say hesitantly. "Uhh, could I get like, some help at least? Like I don't know, some holy sword or super tool, or… or something, anything?"

Tilting his head, Cerberus seemingly ponders the question for a moment. "I have no holy swords or otherwise godly artifacts, so no." He says slowly. "I can, however, gift you with magic. The kind of magic you receive however, all depends on you; Your gifts, talents, personality and fate all influence what magic you may receive."

Perking up at the mention of magic, I ponder the possibilities that magic may present me and potential downsides to it. 'I mean, it's magic! Can it be anything but awesome?

"Alright, hit me with it! If I am about to be sent to a "particularly dangerous world" shortly then I could really use all the help I can get, so, by any means, please give me magic." I say, quite excited by the prospects of magic.

"Very well." Cerberus says before suddenly vanishing and then reappearing right in front of me with his right paw extended towards me, his middle claw touching my chest.

Looking down on his enormous paw and wickedly looking claws on said paws, my body freezes as a deer in headlights.

It takes long moments before my body unfreezes and by then, Cerberus has already withdrawn his huge paw and stood back to inspect me.

"Shit! You scared the living shit out of me!" I exclaim as I take a step back to steady my unsteady feet. A moment passes, but I feel nothing different about me, so I look questionably at Cerberus. "I don't feel any different." I say simply to the huge hellhound that towers over me.

"Give it a minute." He replied simply as he keep looking at me.

Moments pass but nothing changes, I feel the same as I've always felt.

Feeling slightly cheated, I look at Cerberus suspiciously. "... Are yo..u……" There is a strange pressure that suddenly starts pushing me from inside out, causing a mind-numbing amount of pain. "OowhhaaAaaaaaaAAAaaaaaa"

It takes my mind a long moment to register that the scream is actually coming from me. The pain is so bad it is partially overwhelming my mind.

"Oh, hey! there it goes!" Cerberus exclaims cheerily. "Alright, good luck then! Bye!" He says, and before I know it, I am once again falling through darkness.

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End of prelude