Maxon continued walking through the dense fog; the fighter swore that he was walking in circles for the past 10-15 minutes. He’ll more than likely go into a different direction if he can’t find anything that was not obscured by the mist. In all honesty, it reminded the soldier of the time during training that he and his buddies were trekking through a tropical jungle with similar weather conditions. They lost count on how many times they accidentally deviated from the intended route, but fortunately it was only a practice course and not an actual fight. Yet, a lot was learned during that period of time.

At last, he arrived at an area where the fog was lighter; not only that, he spotted an encampment with numerous tents. It was relatively quiet, so there’s a good chance that its army was either out fighting or sleeping. Max was relieved by the fact that he found a place where getting aid was possible.

Just before he approached the perimeter of the military camp, two armed guards appeared out of nowhere to stop him in his tracks.

“HALT!” shouted one of the guards, “Identify yourself or we’ll neutralize you!” he demanded, while the both of them pointed their double-barrel shotguns at Maxon.

“Hey, hey, lower your guns; I’m not from a hostile faction!” Max stated with surprise, while putting his hands in the air.

“Then identify yourself; we won’t ask again!”

“My name is Maxon Cortez; I’m a foot soldier serving in an army named the Legion of the Eagle.” the fighter stated.

“Do you have any papers or anything to confirm that?” the sentry queried.

Max reached into one his combat pouches and took out a plastic card, along with a square piece of laminated paper. The guard snatched them from his hand and carefully read them.

“Yeesh... who pissed in your coffee this morning?” Maxon thought to himself.

“Alright, you’re legit then,” the sentry verified, “Follow us, we’ll take you to the general’s tent. You can get these back after everything is sorted out.”

Max sighed, “Alright then, lead the way.” he reluctantly encouraged.

10 Minutes Later...

We now see our fighter sitting down on a chair in front of the General’s desk. The commander herself was a woman in her mid-30s with brunette hair tied in a ponytail; her most notable physical aspect was that she had the ears and tail of a horse. She was a Darwanian: a race of humanoid creatures that possess animal ears (along with human ears) and tails of their corresponding species, like a wolf or lion.

Maxon briefly explained his predicament to the general.

“And that’s what happened.” Max said, after telling his side of the story.

“Randomly transported to another place without warning; quite a strange account you’ve told.” General Linda Steelmane commented.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t my fault that I ended up here,” Cortez remarked, “Also, two guards from earlier threatened to shoot me if I didn’t reveal my identity. What the hell was that about?” he somewhat grilled, wanting answers.

“Look, I’m sorry if my patrolmen gave you a hard time, but as of right now, we’re going through some really serious issues regarding security and safety.” the horse-woman revealed.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, things like persistent in-fighting, theft of sensitive information, many soldiers falling ill for no reason, ferocious creatures raiding the camp, and even rumors of mutiny spreading throughout.”

“Wow, it seems you and your army have seen better days.” Maxon commented.

“Yeah, Soulwind Forces were never the same after my grandmother died,” Linda revealed, “When she was around, everything was great... give or take the occasional gambling and drunken fist-fights, but those are relatively harmless compared to things going on recently.” she stated with a melancholic tone.”

After hearing this, Max couldn’t help but feel sorry for this woman’s predicament. Throughout the history of El Mundo, the majority of armies either got exterminated or dissolved due to specific circumstances in their first years of being active; so being a General of one that spanned multiple generations is something that bore great weight to everyone involved. If it were to go out with a whimper and not a bang, it would be an absolute tragedy to those who sacrificed a lot to elevate their cause to prestige and/or widespread notoriety.

So, it was time for Foot Soldier Cortez to step in. The Legion of the Eagle had a long history with helping out armies in need; backing out is not an option.

“Anything I could do to help?” Maxon chimed in.

“What about The Legion of the Eagle?” Linda asked.

“Those guys can wait; we can handle ourselves quite well.”

“Alright then,” General Steelmane accepted, “First off, head to the armory; you won’t do much using that worn-down equipment you have.” she suggested.

“Understood.”

Then, the two guards from earlier went inside the General’s tent and escorted Cortez to the weapons cache, where he’ll be given new weapons and armor. While making the rounds there, Max was having weird thoughts about the whole situation. Something tells him that there’s more to this than anything; quite possibly a sinister conspiracy is in the air.

Whatever it is, he’ll stamp it out with great strength and bravery. In his mind, that’s how it was and will always be, no matter what sort of danger there may be.

--------------------

At the outskirts of Menda Village (the town Jason was in), sat an old, yet well-maintained fortress. Its approximate location was at a hollowed-out side of a mountain surrounded by pine trees and a lake nearby its vicinity. Inside the place had smooth stone walls and cherrywood flooring, along with several pieces of furniture all throughout. Furthermore, it had a mess hall, training facility, weapons cache, resting quarters, and separate bedrooms with their own bathrooms.

Jason, along with his friends Leslie, Jeffrey, and Mr. Hamilton, were in the lounge room having a reunion filled with root beer and Italian-style pizzas. All this time, Jace thought he would never see them again, but now they’re with him; the 19-year-old felt a sense of relief and an exquisite vibe that’s quite difficult to describe.

“All of you have been gone for three months straight back in the real world,” Jason informed the trio, “For me, I’ve spent most of my time just doing stuff around town before I came to this world by portal.” he explained himself.

“Really, three months?” Leslie reacted with surprise, “Because for us, we’ve been here a whole year!”

“It appears that time in this realm passes way faster than Earth’s,” Jeffrey McGruder deduced, “It also makes me wonder: how do we get back to our world?” he posed.

This was a question that had nearly everyone scratching their heads. However, the European Martial Arts teacher, David Hamilton, had an alternative course of action.

“This may surprise you all, but returning home should be a distant goal, like Priority #50,” David suggested, “I mean, we barely scratched the surface of what this plane of existence has to present and offer; there’s so many things that we haven’t discovered yet, that they’re begging us to find them. Now that Jason is with us, we can do so much more together.”

At this point in time, Mr. Hamilton’s students found themselves unable to refute his statement. They too want to explore a realm that’s very different from their own; squandering the opportunity to do so will leave them with regret so immense, that trying to live it down will be an extremely daunting task.

“Yeah, I pretty much share the same sentiments.” Jeffrey acknowledged, with Jason and Leslie agreeing as well.

“Then it’s settled, we shall remain in this world until it has nothing left to show.” Hamilton declared.

“But wait, what about our other friends and family?” Leslie posed.

“Eh, don’t worry, we’ll send them letters every now and then,” Jeff assured, “My parents are too busy to even care what I’m doing.” he said.

So there’s that; for the most part, they have nothing to worry about regarding the real world. Suddenly, a desperate knock occurred at their door, causing David to rise up from his seat to answer it; he found an armored fighter covered in severe bruises, bloody gashes, and wheezing quite heavily. The soldier almost collapsed onto the ground, but Hamilton managed to catch him.

“Hey, what happened?” David queried earnestly.

“Are you... the Covenant Of The Dragon?” the fighter asked, before coughing profusely from possible smoke inhalation.

“Yes, what do you need?”

“My commanders... my colleagues... they need your help,” the soldier implored, “Enala... Forest...” he uttered, before falling unconscious.

“Damn... Guard! Nurse! Bring this man to the infirmary, ASAP!” Mr. Hamilton urgently ordered.

Two workers of the fortress swiftly appeared to take the injured man to a room where he’ll be healed and patched up; in the meantime, David and his three students head to the armory to gear up for a mission. While putting on her awesome-looking trench coat, Leslie notices Jason fiddling around with his tablet, upgrading his attributes and what-not.

“Need some help, Jace?” Leslie asked, offering assistance.

“Nah, I’m good,” her friend declined, “I’m just upping my stats so I can have a better chance for survival.” he said, raising his Toughness to a 7 and Vitality 6. The knight’s Level now sits at a 3.6 as a result.

“Hey Les, what’s your level?” Jason wondered.

“Mine? Well, technically I’m not the most powerful of the team, like only 3rd.” Leslie said, while getting out her info-tablet.

Leslie Guerrero -

Main Class: Knight

Sub-Class: Fencer, Soldier

Power: 7

Toughness: 6

Mobility: 8

Vitality: 6

Smarts: 8

Charm: 7

Level: 4.2

“Woah... you look crazy-strong with those stats.” Jace said in awe, “Compared to mine, I look like a small fry to you.” he uttered, feeling a sense of inadequacy.

“Hey, come on, don’t be so down on yourself,” Leslie comforted, “You may be at a lower level, but that doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way forever. Just keep working on it and you’ll get there sooner or later.” she assured him.

“Yeah, that’s all nice and what-not. But, as for the current situation, Jason shouldn’t come with us.” Jeffrey suggested.

“What?! This could be a huge opportunity for Jace to level up several-fold; making him stay here is not going to help!” the girl protested.

“Well guess what? Getting him killed the second we enter the battlefield, due to his low level and inexperience, won’t do us any favors either.” her comrade retorted.

“Jeff has a point there you know,” David concurred, “Please understand that this is not out of spite, but concern. Jason here is too much of a liability in his current state; it’s much better if he just builds up his strength with challenges that are equal to his capabilities.” he advised.

“But...” The Filipino fencer uttered, before feeling a hand on her shoulder, which is from Jason himself.

“Look, it’s okay, I understand,” Jace validated, “I need to develop myself before I can embark on amazing quests with you guys. Just like you said, I won’t stay like this forever.” he expressed, while giving off a small, but assuring smile.

His friend sighed, but nonetheless conceded. Deep inside Leslie, she wants to quit the Covenant of the Dragon and take Jason under her tutelage, but since the lives of many innocent people hang in the balance, she decides to go with it.

“Alright then, I wish nothing but the best for you.” Leslie expressed, before leaving the armory with Jeffrey following suit.

Before David left to pursue helping an army, the 37-year-old man approached Jason with a hand in one of his utility pouches.

“My boy, I would like to give you something to aid in your quest to get stronger.” he says.

The E.M.A teacher pulled out a green crystal that had a diamond-shaped button on it and gave the object to his student. He then proceeded to head out without saying a word on what it does.

“Wait, what’s this?” Jace asked.

“That’s for you to find out; I will only give you the key.” Hamilton ambiguously responded and then left to help those who are in need.

Jason’s teammates had now vacated the area. Alone and mystified, the knight decided to take his master’s word for it and closely examined the mysterious rock. He pressed the button on it and low and behold, a blue holographic map was projected from the magic crystal that had numerous points of interest located throughout Otono. By being presented with a multitude of opportunities to not only get stronger, but to explore many places, it swiftly sparked inspiration into our hero.

However, this presented a small problem to Jason: Who will accompany him on his journey?

This is a question that could be answered back at Menda Village, so it was time to pay another visit to that town once again.