I stood up in a vision of green. I was surrounded by trees, bushes, birdcalls and small mounds of rock. The whole environment would’ve made a person with allergies have seizures.

The Watcher knew from my memories that I grew up in the city. Not even a small city, but a full-on metropolis. I wouldn’t know one tree from another, or an edible berry bush from poisonous, not to mention potentially magical.

So why did he toss me out here with almost no information? Was dropping me off in a town or city so difficult? Was this his way of being fucked-up funny?

I didn’t have a good sense of where I was, so instead, I just started walking in the direction I was facing when I landed. I figured it can’t be much worse than my current situation of stranded with no food, no water, and no knowledge of my environment. Dude, I had zero knowledge of the entire world I was in!

While walking, I opened up my Modified Truesight ability. I’m gonna have to mentally shorten that to MTS. Just quicker. So, thinking over what the tutorial showed me this far, there’s a primary class, secondary classes, and professions. What’s the difference between a primary and secondary class? Is there a limit? If I recall my gaming knowledge, no limits are overpowered as hell. I’ll have to assume there are limits, and figure out what they are as I go.

I hopped over a few rocks, jumped a purple-colored puddle...not unusual at all, and kept working with the MTS. I didn’t see anything I was used to from all the MMOs I’d seen on youtube. No stat screen, no breakdown of anything like that. Apparently, The Watcher designed this to just introduce me to the world in a way I’d understand. But what about my secondary class Earther? I looked at the MTS’s panel on the right, where classes had a 1 highlighted behind it. Aiming at it, I said “Open” and voila, visual magic.

Level 1- Earther(Unique Class)- Granted by The Watcher.

Congratulations! You’ve gained the Earther unique class. This limited class, granted by The Watcher, provides two abilities only available to those who have traveled from the primary world of Earth. As a limited class, this cannot be chosen as a primary class. This class can only be leveled up through its original sponsor.

Ability Gain- Private Holding

Ability Gain- Rosetta Stone

“Unique class, what the hell is that?” I said aloud, hoping the MTS would drop a hint. Nope. Nothing. Nada. I waited for a few more minutes, hoping this would explain some more about the world, but still nothing changed. I guess the MTS is a bit of a helper but not a guide.

“So that’s his plan” I expressed to no one at all. Drop me into the middle of the world, give me a visual upgrade that can point some things out, but then leave me to learn the rest.

“I’m totally gonna fucking die out here” I whispered as I started my trek again. A sense of relief struck me as I looked around and found that everything didn’t look as alien as I’d thought it would. Trees were trees, the sun is still a yellow sun, and water looks mostly blue.

I picked up the pace as I noticed that the woods were growing darker, and I hadn’t eaten or drank anything since my body was restored to me in the tower. Time passed by unnoticed as I wound my way through the foliage, moving across dirt and rocky outgrowth.

Strangely, I didn’t hear any bird calls. Even in a large city, birds still make noise. The absence of any natural sound aside from a slight breeze began to feel unnerving. All of a sudden, the trees around me felt too close. The bushes seemed taller and full of things best left unseen. Light slanted harder and darkness began to envelop every nook and cranny. I’m in a new world, who knew what monsters called this place home, called even this forest home.

Branches cracking behind me was my first warning. I kept moving along, not even wondering what presence may be heading my direction. But then I heard more of them, and the harder I listened, the quicker I realized that they weren’t branches cracking, but trees being torn apart, and from an incredible distance away. The snapping sound was growing louder and closer with every step I took, until eventually I gave up any pretense of traipsing through the forest, and started a full sprint at an angle away from the direction I was walking.

Crack, Crack, Crack, Crack

The snapping trees were growing louder, now only a few football fields away. My breath came harder as I sprinted through this dark and terrifying world I had been planted.

Crack, Crack, Crack

It felt like it was right behind me. Trees were catching on my clothes and slowing me down. My legs, used to football training, had been replaced brand new and had little to no endurance. My lungs, previously used to the daily practices, were now weak and not up to the standards I’d always held them. There was no way I was going to outrun whatever this was. So I made a decision.

On the left, there were only bushes and a divet from what used to be a small stream. On the right, a stick about arm-length was laying on the ground. I quickly grabbed it and held it with both hands, putting my back to a nearby rockwall and trying to slow my inexperienced heart down. I couldn’t slow down my breathing as much as I tried, so I’m fairly certain whatever was around me could hear the bellowing snot-filled figure shaking and holding the stick.

I stood there for a moment, just a Boy and his Stick against this new world.

Two more trees cracked right next to my position until all sound came to an abrupt end. I didn’t know what that portended, but soon enough the answer presented itself. A hand moving imperceptibly slow inched around and grabbed the rock’s rounded edge only a few feet away. It was the color of the midnight sky in a too bright city, and had pristine white bloodless fingernails. I edged closer to the wall furthest away as I found the inhumanness of a hand that showed no veins, no unique characteristics aside from a black hand and white nails, as alien as I could imagine. There was a constant low hum around it, as if a tongue was pressed against its teeth and it was trying to spit.

Thhthhhthhh

I held my stick out in front of me, wishing I had any kind of training at all. But I guess you can’t really train for monsters in an alternate world. Had I landed here only to die so quickly?

It inched its head around the corner in quick, jerking movements. Black strands of hair, flowing like ink off the edge of a table, patched a white skull in haphazard spots. It didn’t have blood red eyes, as much as its eyes seemed to be made of blood, with wide, red orbs staring right into my own. It continued to make that noise as it slowly came toward me.

ThhhhhhThhThhh

I couldn’t move. I don’t know what this thing is, but it’s absolutely terrifying and abnormal. I squinted my eyes and tried to see through the filter of my MTS. First, it wasn’t coming up, but I stared straight into the eyes of this thing and somehow pushed my vision upgrade to its peak.

Bshta- “The Blood God”

Level ***

New God

“Holy fucking shit”

As soon as I spoke, it screeched sounds started to come from its mouth as it opened far wider than should’ve been possible, stretching to three times the width of its original jaw. I realized those sounds were it’s jaw-breaking and reforming. It started to twist its body and overarch its back, the god’s body acting like it was made of liquid rather than solid matter.

Terrify has reached a new…

My sight became blurry as something invaded my mind and grabbed my body. I trembled from both seeing this thing and the effort of just trying to move my legs. Move, I thought. Just run! Since I’d identified it, it seems I could now see what effects it has. That’d be wonderful news if I wasn’t about to die an assumedly horrible death.

“Huzzah!”

For the second time in two days, the third really, I was saved.

Someone in shining golden armor, carrying a massive version of a riot shield, leaped over the rock behind me and began to bash the blood god.

“Hello!.” He exclaimed with another shield bash. “I….my god….help”

I had no idea what he was saying. It was all jumbled up in my head, and only a few words were breaking through, but in a randomly selected way.

Rosetta Stone: Activated

10% “common” language processed.

Thank god I had gained that skill. What would it be like to live in this world and never understand a single word of anyone you meet. He stopped talking so I quickly identified him with my MTS.

Unknown- “The Golden Shield”

Level ***

Shining Champion of the Heroic God

He bashed the blood god again, each touch making a hissing sound as if it was boiling its dark skin. I could only see the inside of his shield, which had a golden edge and a red interior that flashed at each hit. Once I had a good eye on it, I focused hard and let my MTS do its work.

Aegis of the Golden Champion

Class requirement: Shining Champion of the Heroic God

Level requirement: ***

Description: ***

Abilities: ***

Why the hell wasn’t it telling me anything? What’re all those stars? Why was his name so corny and without any subtlety?

The new god screeched again and rammed the hero, shuddering now as smoke came off of its body.

Rosetta Stone: Activated

2% “Language of the Bloodletters” processed.

Holy crap, those shrieks are a language? I backed up a little, edging further along the rock and away from the fight. The golden guy yelled some more, bringing my process of common up to 15 percent. I think he was saying that he was sent here by someone, but everything was so jumbled that it just came out terribly. The blood god continued to shriek and jibber as it tried to get past his shield. Suddenly, he banged a hand on his chest.

Heroic Shell!

He roared his ability as a dome shot out from a symbol on his chest and surrounded the immediate area. He seemed to grow an extra foot while holding the blood god at bay.

“Young traveler! I …….hold…...bay, run….village….leagues. Ugggghhh!” he exclaimed as Bshta pressed again, “You…..find the village….haven. Hiyahh.” and with that he open-palm slapped the dark creature with a golden flash, forcing my eyes to blink quickly just to regain my sight.

Judicial Palm!

I didn’t stay to keep watching the fight. This guy had jumped into fighting a god, just to save me. Did he know it was a god? I don’t know, all I knew was I was still alive, and I could put some distance between myself and the monster.

I heard a scream from the fight behind me, “Masterful gods, Bshta!. Run….!...young bane! ...forest. Don’t come back here!”. A loud suction sound began to reverberate throughout the land, the power of it shaking leaves off the trees I passed.

Rosetta Stone: Activated

20% “common” language processed.

I sprinted as fast as I could go while not entirely wearing down my body, stumbling in the unfamiliar terrain. Cuts and abrasions were all over my body, and the cheap clothing I’d had since my time on the red moon was torn to pieces. I saw an opening in front of me after too long of a time, and tripped as I finally entered a clearing, only a few feet out of the forest. A shriek echo’d behind me, and I tasted dirt as my body had finally had enough and gave out. A voice spoke from just beyond me, as drool leaked out of the corner of my mouth.

“Howdy.....Welcome to....”

Rosetta Stone: Activated

22% “common” language processed.