A pounding resonance echoed through Leoric’s skull, so much that he couldn’t bear to open his eyes or even move. The world spun, even in his stationary state and closed eyes, much like attempting to sleep while drunk. Thankfully, the pain began to fade, at least enough for him to open his eyes and sit upwards.

Before Leoric’s eyes was a rugged and grassy plain, blanketed by a moonless sky. That already piqued his concern, as one of the two moons should always be visible, even when one was going through a new moon. Could it be a domain made by an Emission Mage? Or even a higher power? It could also be someone attempting to manipulate his mind into not seeing everything there, such as the moon. Or even worse, an assassin.

Preparing for the worse, he took a defensive stance while feeling for ambient magic to use for assistance. Unfortunately, the ambient magic was lacking considerably, to the point where a mage like himself felt suffocated. Naked at the lack of defense, he subconsciously rubbed one of his pointed ears feeling the two chilly and crystalized earrings pierced inside of them. This did calm him down slightly, but not enough to break his focus. He then took a deep breath and assessed the situation.

First the environment. The dark plains around him gave off very little light, except for two beacons of it off in the distance. They seemed to be getting closer, but that just sped up his thinking even further. Next was himself, his access to ambient magic was stunted, and his casual wear showed he was taken when off his guard. Plus, his lack of enchanted and defensive gear didn’t help. Also, his staff, which he created himself, wasn’t there. Hopefully, it was still locked away in the castle’s vault, and not taken by the enemy. He dreaded to think of the damage one could do with it. Finally, was the enemy. None seemed to be nearby, but those two approaching lights could hold hostels inside. In case they weren’t he dropped his stance slightly.

The two lights bobbed up and down, like buoys in the ocean. They would even oddly swerve side to side, somewhat recklessly at that. And as they approached closer, a mechanical humming. He paused at that. Leoric hadn’t heard this kind of sound in hundreds of years, but nothing in the world he resides in had anything like it. Could it be a car?

Before he could doubt his thoughts or even figure why it’d be here, it began to come into his view. And his suspicions were finalized, as the thing in front of him was a navy blue jeep. It had no roof or even doors, but he couldn’t forget the sight of a car. There seemed to be two figures inside, who were slowly but surely leaving the vehicle. They didn’t seem to pay him any attention at first, just talking amongst themselves.

“Marcus, please let me drive next time. I know you’re excited but you still haven’t driven a car in three years. I swear, you’ll make me car sick.” The figure from the passenger’s seat pleaded. They wore all black and the white outline of some symbol was visible on the clothing of his arm. He looked human, but his eyes were glowing and seemed to even spark with lightning.

“Don’t worry, I’m getting the hang of it. Besides, it's not like we crashed or anything.” The one called Marcus insisted, wearing the same uniform as the other. He looked less human than his compatriot though, with green scales covering half of his body. Even one of his eyes seemed reptilian.

“Not crashing shouldn’t be the requirement for good driving, you know.” The first one lectured.

“Isn’t it though? Anyways, we should really get to our job, Connor, this guy here looks way too confused.” Marcus pointed at Leoric with a reptilian hand.

They didn’t seem hostile, Leoric thought. If anything, they were idiots. And he’s dealt with plenty of those in his years. But this is the first time idiots came driving in a car looking for him. Plus, their appearances didn’t seem to match any of the races he’s familiar with. Were they curses, or just transmutations?

“Hey there!” Marcus called out, “From the ears, it's obvious that you’re not human. So, what’s your name?”

To Leoric, this kid was incredibly blunt, and it even made him chuckle a bit. “I’m Leoric. Now, could you please tell me where I am.”

Marcus smirked, and seemed happy that he was understood. And with his human hand, he slammed it quickly on the hood of the jeep. It seemed to make Connor jump a bit, like he was on edge for this entire situation. It didn’t take a genius like Leoric to know that these two were definitely uncoordinated. “Well it seems like you recognize this. You’re on Earth!”

Those three words made his stomach drop, his light blue eyes widen, and mouth go gape. He was ashamed a bit at this, since he showed his emotions to unknowns, but the fact that he was back on Earth sent him into a slight panic. It's been hundreds of years since he’s been back. What kind of changes would’ve been made? And his family, they’d have passed away long ago.

Connor began approaching calmly, but by the way he walked and how his guard was up, he was an experienced combatant as well. And even though it was Earth, Leoric had a feeling that they were a Mage as well. “I know it must be scary, but it's true, you’re finally back. I don’t know how long you’ve been gone for, but don’t worry, not much has changed.”

Marcus chuckled. “You can’t say much hasn’t changed when he’s back as an Elf.”

Connor leered back, but quickly stopped and returned his attention to Leoric. Leoric paused, processing all the information he’d just been given. And it was incredibly strange that they knew he had been here before, and not as an Elf. Were they like him? After a few moments of debating silence, he looked down towards Connor. Connor was of average height, but as an Elf, Leoric stood above both of them. “I understand what’s happened. But that doesn’t help me with who you two are.”

“My name is Connor, and this here is Marcus,” He motioned towards the scaled humanoid who was approaching them, “We’re kind of like you. Not in the Elf sense, but the fact that we were in a different world before coming back.”

This piqued his interest even more. Leoric had studied multiple worlds for a long time, hoping for a way to come home, but eventually even he gave up. However, it did make sense that there were countless other worlds out there. Plus, it would explain why he didn't recognize the races of the two in front of him.

“Please, do tell me more!” Leoric insisted with excitement in his eyes.

“Don’t you worry, you’ll get all the answers you want, but not here.” Marcus interjected. “Come back to Base with us, and The Hammer will help you.”

He emphasized The Hammer, which caused Conner to roll his eyes, but he did agree that Leoric coming with them would help. He pondered it for a moment before saying he’ll go with them. To him, these idiots had information, but this Hammer person would most likely have more. Plus, if it was a trap, he had means of escaping.

“Great!” Marcus clapped, “Let’s go get something to eat then, the food on Base is trash.”

Leoric’s stomach rumbled in anticipation before walking towards the back seat of the jeep. Connor was able to take the car keys with a swift reach into Marcus’ pocket. Leoric even paused for a moment because that speed definitely wasn’t human, but brushed it off as some sort of enhancement. Which was even supported by the slight diminish of the already thin ambient magic.

The drive was bumpy at first, given the hilled terrain the jeep drove through, but soon flattened out when reaching an actual road. Given the speed of theirs and the other cars, Leoric could only assume it was a freeway of some sort. After about twenty more minutes, Connor began to head towards an exit, with the only restaurant being the clear golden arches of fast food: Mcdonald’s.

As they’re approaching the drive through portion, Marcus reached down below the chair and grabbed a grey hoodie. With a casual fling, the hoodie was sent towards the back seats and next to Leoric. He hasn’t worn one of these in who knows how long, but slowly started to slide it on and throw up the hood.

“Get me a burger and a large coke, and don’t forget the fries.” Marcus muttered, before turning to cover his right reptilian side. Now pretending to sleep, he waited patiently until he heard the car drive once more. Immediately, he threw himself back up and grabbed the bag from his electric-eyed partner.

He grabbed a few fries from everyone’s cases before distributing the food to everyone. Surprisingly, Leoric got the most, being two cases of twenty nuggets and a large shake. It had been ages since he had either fried food or a shake, so he spared no second before devouring his food like an animal. And just as they got back on the freeway, the first box of nuggets was gone.

After eating, the car was mostly silent, with the passengers just looking outwards towards the moving landscape. It reminded Leoric of the roadtrips he’d take with his family. How everyone would take turns driving since his family refused to stay at hotels during the night just to save as much as they could for the trip. Which made sense as to why they started taking more trips after his older brother got his license.

“What year is it anyway?” He muttered under his breath, not towards anyone in particular.

“December 3rd, 2021.” Connor informed in a tired and monotoned way.

Leoric’s heart stopped. 3 years. It’s only been 3 years since he disappeared? It was hundreds for him, but only three here? What kind of time difference was that!? The panic did subside quickly as it was replaced with excitement. That means his family was still alive. Those years of desperation and grief seemed to be lifted off his aged shoulders and his eyes wettened as he was about to cry. He was able to stop it though before his escorts noticed, last thing he wanted was to get sentimental around strangers again.

Once more, the jeep left the main road and went off towards the distance. Enough time has passed to cause the sun to finally rise, so Leoric could get a fair look at their destination. Before him was a large complex blocked off by wire fencing, and armed guards stood on the corners and possible entrances. They wore the same uniforms as his escorts, but that’s where the similarities stopped. They were all humans that seemed to care less about the approach of the jeep.

A portion of the gate opened upon the jeep’s arrival, and it was allowed in. Leoric looked about more to notice a few things. The first was the watchtowers, specifically the soldiers holding guns in the jeeps directions. They didn’t seem like they’d fire, but prepared incase they did. The second was the large complex inside the fencing. He had seen palaces and workshops bigger than this place, but it didn’t share this building’s intimidating pressure.

Marcus looked back at the observant Elf and smirked. “Welcome to Base. The home for Heroes.”