Looking at the distant star Nik could only appreciate the beautiful haloes and lances of light that were emitted by the far-away celestial bodies. That was until he realized that especially color shifts could indicate the end of a sun's lifespan.

Some of the few wisps of knowledge about astronomy told him that the process was happening too fast.

Not that that meant anything. He was a lot faster at running now too. Maybe suns could have skills too. Maybe it has the Lesser Solar Eruption skill he mused. He did chuckle a bit until evaluating the situation properly.

Well, that and consider his livelihood. If I really only got teleported to another planet with magic to die because the freaking sun is dying I’m gonna be real mad. He chuckled again, there was a joke somewhere in his circumstances. Not like anybody is gonna care.

Before he figured out how to proceed he sprinted into the cave to gain a little bit of safety and observe the ongoings from a hopefully safer spot.

Deep down he knew that if one of the lances of plasma that shot out of the sun were to hit his mountain he wouldn’t stand a chance regardless of position but he ran regardless.

But like any good prepper Nik could at least try to increase his chances of survival if something like a stray sun eruption should hit his planet.

The cave might actually prevent me from getting a sunburn. Wait, I should have had one ages ago from how much time I spend outdoors. He sighed and tried to focus.

The adrenaline pumping through his veins wasn’t helping though. Regulating his breathing helped, the agitation never left, regardless of effort.

As the situation sunk in further his unease kept growing as he tried to consider his next steps. Gathering materials was both less and more important now than it had ever been. Food and water were going to be essentials.

I should have bothered with making more than just one small clay jug for water storage. Wood could be useful too. Especially if all the vegetation could just burn down due to the heat. Should’ve spent more time watching all those bunker prep videos on the internet.

With things as they were now, he could only work on the most basic stuff. His cave might be enough to shield him from direct exposure and increased heat - to some degree - but he couldn’t be sure.

Slowly a plan formed in his mind. He would go outside and observe his vitals. While his health meter wasn’t a direct indication of how much damage his body took, it was so indirectly. The amount of health loss corresponded to how much his body regenerated itself.

If the extrapolation from ten seconds would result in more than ten health per minute he would stay put for now. Any lower and he would sprint to the river gather as much clay as he could to fashion some vessels for liquid storage.

Before Nik could execute his plans the blue hue of the outside world had shifted once again.

Carefully he approached the few meters away from the entrance and stuck his head outside to glance at the sun.

The temporary blue shining ball had shifted back into its former incandescent white.

Drastic changes twice within maybe ten minutes weren’t good. The sun not exploding was nice though.

So what am I to do with that. Not like I really have a choice. I guess I can take some safety measures. Can I actually prepare for a solar explosion or eruption? Should I even spend my time on that or just try and work on what I can deal with right now?

Introspection and realism finally broke through his worried state and made him arrive at a state of willful ignorance and indifference. A feeling he had been confronted with too often back on earth when following politics and other global phenomenons he couldn’t influence.

For the next few hours, Nik expedited his plan. He gathered clay and formed crude pottery - the skill for which had unlocked some time ago but never bothered with, and still didn’t - to create vessels for storing water. And potentially also to make jam-like preservatives in the near future.

Most of the amphoras he produces shattered in the baking process but he just reused the crushed down shards in the next attempts. This - oddly enough - increased the chance of successful baking.

After the completion of his project, he had ended up with over ten water containers. Due to them not being glazed they would still slowly leak water but the rate seemed to be acceptable. For now, though he would have to observe the pots in regular intervals to be sure of that.

The moody sun had dropped behind the horizon some time about. For which Nik was glad. It exploding would still kill him he just wouldn’t notice.

Sadly he lacked surface sealants such as acrylic or ceramic paint for waterproofing. Eventually, after some pondering on the topic, he came to the conclusion that using plant oil would almost certainly accomplish the same results.

Lacking storage facilities the last time he pressed oil from the nuts he had to start the process anew.

Between two pieces of stone, nuts were pressed on mass. Nik saw almost half of his stash vanish to coat two amphoras on the inside. It would be enough for a test run though.

For now, he forwent the immediate use to let the oil be absorbed into the porous structure.

He did make a short trip to the stream to fill up two of the vessels but figured that he would have plenty of time to do so in the morning.

Even if the - hopefully - sealed reservoirs wouldn’t save him in the event of a solar flare or worse they had tremendous utility and he should have considered making them beforehand.

That however was all the time he was willing to spend on the less important parts of his new life. There was magic and there was smithing to consider.

But most importantly, there was sleep.

The next morning Nik awoke less than refreshed. He hadn’t been able to sleep well at all, constantly being disturbed by unpleasant dreams, had taken its toll. His body felt well enough only his mind was strained from the lack of rest.

But Nik didn’t mind all of that. He had spent plenty of days half-asleep in college and even more in high school. Spending most of his time at night playing video games.

Just like back then, he would pull through now as well. Even better, since he didn’t have to sit in stuffy classrooms and could actually move.

After some relaxed stretches he already felt better. Ready to get a move on.

It was time to get some experiments started and then on towards gathering more materials.

—

As Max opened his eyes the world had shifted. Maybe his mind had shifted too somehow grown insane, he thought as he stared with confusion around. He had thought his dreams and short bursts of perceived lucidness had been a trick of the mind.

And as indicated by the slight pressure in his head he wasn’t completely wrong.

He felt good though. Too good for how he had felt the last time he woke up.

Could that be another trick of the mind? A glance around implied as much. It had to be because the other options didn’t make much sense.

Where there had once been dorm corridors there was now strange unfamiliar grass of stalks instead of blades. The stuffy dorm air was replaced with clean, good-smelling, thought cold air. The houses in the distance, usually hidden behind walls and windows no longer reaching into the sky, instead, there were trees - types he had either never seen before or couldn’t place. Their treetops spanned all around him though not above him. There he could see a white blinding sun.

Immediately he regretted looking into it. The phantom image overlayed on his vision, even after shutting his eyes.

In just a few seconds the remnant of the sun was gone again and his vision cleared.

Odd.

Even though his surroundings were surreal, everything felt so real. The soft cold breeze flowing around his ankles and sounds of the forrest were palpable. How couldn’t they be real.

That was when he noticed a woman kneeling close to him with closed eyes, wearing what looked like the common dark green paramedic outfit.

He cleared his throat to get the woman's attention. She didn’t react.

He tried to approach more directly and just as he was gonna say hi he stumbled mentally.

What would he say? They were in a forest right now, so either he was being abducted or she had found him here. The few snippets of what could have happened in recent memory were bizarre. If real they didn’t explain where he was.

If a fabrication of his imagination he could have been drugged. Which made more sense. His contact with the large cat had left him slightly injured but he felt fine.

So what should he do? Runaway, or try to wake her.

He concluded that kidnapping didn’t make much sense either. He didn’t have much money. He financed college through his orphan allowance and some money from his grandparents.

And if he was going, to be honest, he wouldn’t be able to survive in some forest on his own.

“Uhm, sorry ma'am. I guess I am awake again. Could you maybe tell me what is going on and where we are?” The words just started flowing out of his sore throat, even though his voice still hadn’t elicited a response.

”We are obviously no longer in my dorm. Which my last memories are about and they are somewhat unbelievable,” he continued tentatively. Images of what had happened there flashing through his mind as he tried to remember how he got into a forest.

“I don’t think she is gonna respond to you. Observe her breathing. I am almost certain she fell asleep a few hours ago. She said earlier that what she did to help you seems to be really exhausting,” the gruff voice of officer Evans came from behind Max’s now upright back.

“Don’t ask me what she did though. Some weird magic stuff that she can do apparently. I wouldn’t have believed a word if her hands hadn’t started glowing.”

“Sorry, what? Are you making fun of me?” Max asked. Pushing himself up further for a second before his head made him reconsidered the movement.

“No, not at all I am being serious. We can talk in a bit once you calm down and get settled and feel better,” the older man responded.

Quickly as to hasten the beginning of the conversation and to take in his surroundings better and locate the man he tried to get up again, this time more successfully. Dizziness overcame him again and he almost fell over. That was until a strong hand touched the small of his back and his right arm, steadying him.

“Steady there, boy. There is no need to hustle. We are safe for now.”

Officer Evans filled Max in on the last couple of hours and his and Vera’s speculations about their situation, which Max doubted in their totality.

They didn’t know much, though while Vera had been taking care of him, officer Evans who now insisted on being called Timothy had done some close proximity scouting.

What they did know was that they were lacking food and water. Neither seemed to be readily available. Timothy had hopes that they would find some in the mountain range close by. Especially water should be easily found there.

Food would be more difficult but Timothy had indicated that he would be able to gather some shouldn’t they find civilization soon.

“Ok, this is gonna sound insane but both Vera over there and I have confirmed it independently of each other. Check your… notifications? Sure let’s go with that. It feels kind of like there is something pressing in your skull, or like a third eye maybe,” officer Evans, no Timothy said.

“What are you talking about, sir?” and then it hit him. He remembered how he had selected something with mage earlier. It fit some of what Timothy had just talked about.

“Don’t call me sir. We are three people stranded who knows where. Best we start getting to know each other asap. Call me Timothy,” the officer continued but Max didn’t listen anymore as he had just figured out what the officer had talked about.

New entity: Status requested

Status of Maximus Banner

Race: Human

Class: None

Status: Child

Unique Circumstance detected: System Age does not match biological age.

Status Update: Status "Child" has evolved to Adult.

Status Update: Race “Human” modified to “Frontier Human” due to Deed [Interplanetary Travel]

Class Qualification determined.

Greater Deed - [Dethrone] Help dethorone vastly more powerful opponent. (Deed not applied to racial level) (Downgraded from Legendary due to specific circumastances)

Class and Skill assignment imminent

Error: Class Path previously determined

Solution: Class Mage applied

Maximus Banner: Class {Mage}: Level 0 obtained

Class skill [Lesser Spell Slot Formation] learned

Independent skill [Identify] learned

[Lesser Spell Slot Formation] - A skill slot can be transformed into 3 (based on skill level) spell slots

[Identify]: Inspecting items, goods, and people results in knowledge about them depending on your Class and Race levels

Unique Deeds unlocked:

[Interplanetary Travel]: You have been on more than one Planetary Object.

[Realmer]: You have passed through the fabric of space itself and visited another Realm of existence.

Maximus Banner: {Frontier Human} 3 x Level up! You have accomplished the Unique Deed [Interplanetary Travel]. 21 Stat points have been awarded. Two General Skill Slot unlocked.

Maximus Banner: {Frontier Human} 1 x Level up! You have accomplished the Epic Deed [Realmer]. 7 Stat points have been awarded.

Reduced due to external influence. Counts towards class level cap.

Maximus Banner: {Extraterrestrial Human} Level 4.

“Holy Guacamole!!!” Max began but just stopped after that not knowing how to proceed.

“What is this. Is this a video game? Are we inside a video game?” and after some brief hesitation, a grin slowly appeared on his face.

“This is freaking awesome!!”

“Well, I was kind of hoping you could tell us, or me at least. I don’t feel quite comfortable with what is going on and thought you might have some insight with that sort of stuff. My nephew plays video games and they sometimes look very similar to what we have here.

“I am honestly fairly lost right now and while this is a new situation for us all I know that younger people adjust better to new strangeness, though I am trying.”

After some further talk with Timothy Max had gathered most of his wits about him and gained some understanding of the situation.

From what Timothy and Vera had gathered over the last couple of hours was that one of two things had occurred to them.

The first was that earth had drastically changed which didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Because why would earth change.

The other was just as unbelievable but Timothy and he had some indication of its likelihood. Whatever they had fought back in the dorm appeared from thin air according to Timothy.

Which implied one of two things. Invisibility or teleportation. The former would have made sense if a creature like that had ever been witnessed on earth.

He filed that under possible alien invasion if invisibility really were a thing. The other, teleportation, while insanely unlikely made more and less sense.

How teleportation could work he had no idea. But it would explain why they were in a forest now.

Apparently, both, Timothy and Vera, had experienced the same sensation when they changed location. It was dark and somehow time seemed to pass because they had been able to panic and calm down. Even plenty to go through a variety of other mental states until they both appeared in the forest at the same time.

Timothy’s watch implied too that several days had passed but that was about the extent of their intelligence on the matter. Interestingly enough, they didn’t feel tired or hungry afterward which didn’t make sense with the passage of time.

After arriving Vera had taken care of him with the best of her knowledge. Vera hadn’t been responsive after a certain point and so, feeling useless, Timothy just stood guard.

Just as Timothy and Max were discussing waking Vera who was still asleep thirty meters away the sky erupted in various hues of blue.