Larkin blinked, shook his head, and then blinked his eyes a few more times. But the notification stayed floating in his central view; black text emblazoned on an opaque blue pane.

  WELCOME, LARKIN SMITHSON, TO THE WORLD OF SYSTEMIA.

  Wow, he thought, just like a game.

  And, also like a game, he was able to get rid of it. A sliver of thought sent the notification flicking out of his sight. Leaving him to see another one beneath it.

  AS A TRAVELLER TO SYSTEMIA, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE COMMON LANGUAGES SKILL AND THE STRENGTHENED IMMUNITY SKILL.

  Skills, he thought numbly. It even had the same nomenclature of a game. Though that reminded him that he also had that other one he’d picked up - though the awful memory of that experience within the portal was already starting to fade.

  And not a moment too soon, he thought sourly.

  A mental thought dismissed that notification too, and that seemed to be the last one.

  Which meant that he could go back to inspecting the area he had found himself in before the interruption. It was sparsely wooded, with tall trees that spread green and red leaves out in broad arches. He was on a grassy slope, and the sky overheard was a pale blue, with just a few tufts of white clouds.

  Doesn’t seem much different from back home, he thought, taking a deep breath of fresh air. A bit cleaner, maybe.

  Most importantly, there was no sight of the others. Clearly they had been here, though, as there were wide areas of grass that had been trampled. And it didn’t take a woodsman - which he certainly wasn’t - to see where they’d gone. The grass in that direction had been kicked up and scuffed by the group heading downslope.

  It was also easy to see where the group had appeared from. Just like the last time, in the courtyard, there was a depression cut into the ground.

  A little deeper this time, maybe? He thought as he stared down at it. Guess earth and grass is easier to cut through.

  A breeze suddenly sprang up, and though it wasn’t cold enough to worry Larkin just yet it did remind him that the solitude was both perilous and liberating.

  And utterly alien to him.

  Did I ever leave the city back home?

  The sudden question came over him as he gazed around. All his life he was always surrounded by people - even if they were hidden by walls or carefully planted trees.

  And now… well, he would find out.

  I’m really here, he thought, as a wide stupid grin came to his face.

  Somewhere new. Somewhere different. Somewhere exciting.

  His mind went back to the first two notifications he’s received in that horrible void within the portal. The one that had given him a Class.

  Null Mage.

  Now what does that mean?

  A Mage he vaguely understood; the general image of a staff-wielding wizard coming to mind. Quite a bit like what he’d seen Cyril do, come to think of it. Throwing spells out left and right.

  But a Null Mage wasn’t something that he’d heard of before. If it was a Knight or Archer then he thought that he might know at least some of what to expect, but…

  “What the hell is a Null Mage, anyway?” He muttered aloud. “Isn’t that a contradiction? You’re either a mage or you aren’t.”

  Larking hesitated some more, but then glanced around his surroundings again. The sense of peril seemed to be growing.

  “Do I have a … character sheet, or something?” He again asked aloud. “An Inventory? A Spell List?”

  Nothing he said triggered anything, other than a general embarrassment at talking to himself like a loon.

  Where are my spells? He thought, finding himself aggrieved. Where are my stats, my skills?

  That last thought had him remember some of the other messages that he’s received; he already had some skills.

  Just concentrating on that idea brought another pane of light into his vision. It was quite large considering that it only had three things written down: Common Languages, Strengthened Immunity, and Calm Mind.

  He found that by just concentrating on the Skills brought up a smaller notification, though only with short sentences.

  COMMON LANGUAGES - YOU KNOW ALL THE COMMONLY SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN SYSTEMIA, AND CAN READ AND WRITE FLUENTLY IN THE MAJORITY DIALECT.

  STRENGTHENED IMMUNITY - YOUR BODY CAN IGNORE THE MUNDANE SICKNESSES OF SYSTEMIA AND IS RESISTANT TO MAGICAL DISEASES.

  CALM MIND - TRAVELLING BETWEEN WORLDS IS A MENTALLY DRAINING ENDEAVOUR THAT CAN BE TOO MUCH FOR THE UNREADY PSYCHE. THIS SKILL WILL PREVENT MENTAL COLLAPSE, AND YOU WILL NOT BE AFFLICTED BY STRONG EMOTIONS EVEN IN HIGHLY STRESSFUL CIRCUMSTANCES. REFRAIN FROM OVERINDULGING IN USE OF THIS SKILL.

  Larkin hummed discontentedly to himself as he read those descriptions again. They weren’t the most detailed, but served as a good summary.

  People will be able to understand me, he thought, and vice versa. And good to know that I won’t be dying to some alien cold.

  But both of them implied changes to his brain and body that made him a little uncomfortable.

  And that last one… Calm Mind.

  There was something odd about it, that was for sure. For one, it was written with way more text than the other two.

  Sounds like some kind of mind control or, maybe, mind suppression. And that warning in the last sentence…

  But after a moment, Larkin dismissed the concern.

  Nothing I can do about it now. And I need to find some kind of settlement before it gets dark.

  Pushing aside the concern that this very thought was the Calm Mind Skill at work, Larkin started following the trail left by the others.

  By the ‘Chosen’, he thought with a snort. That was what Cyril had said, he recalled. Chosen by this Soas, he reckoned. So he reasoned that they, or actually this Soas person, had a destination in mind.

  Which beats traipsing around in circles.

  The landscape didn’t change much as he descended the slope, though Larkin did get a better view of the way ahead. He could see rolling hills stretching towards the horizon, mostly covered by trees but a few of them seemed to be cleared and had signs of cultivation of some kind.

  The evidence of some kind of civilisation hastened his steps. Right up until he reached the first corpse.

  It was half-hidden within a depression in the soil. A recent addition, he thought, indicating who had done this. Though the presence of stone shards impaled in the beast’s hide implied that Cyril had been helping Bill.

  Another damn monster.

  This one seemed a cross between a giant turtle and a wolf; no matter how ridiculous that combination seemed. Its thick furry legs looked like they’d broken when it collapsed, but he judged that it would have been at least level with his own head if it had been standing on all four of its limbs. Which would have put such a head worryingly close to the row of sharp teeth displayed in the monster’s death grimace.

  Walking around the body, Larkin found the trail the others had made and started following it again. But had only been walking for another ten minutes before coming across another corpse.

  It was hard to say what it had been, as clearly Patricia had dealt with this one. Larkin could only see the occasional bit of bone and skin within the heap of ash and clay-like earth. It had crashed through a number of trees though, and Larkin spent a few moments trying to imagine what could have descended through the foliage like that.

  He spent less time inspecting the third body that he came across, and walked straight past the fourth, and all the ones after that.

  At some point, he realised that he could hear a rhythmic pounding noise coming from ahead. It didn’t take much to understand what that could be, and Larkin froze in place until the sound stopped.

  The others had only been a few seconds ahead of me in going through the portal.

  He guessed that it was his experience in the kaleidoscope prison that had enabled the others to go on ahead and for him to appear alone. Which he reluctantly accepted was for the best, though he certainly wasn’t glad for the experience.

  Focus, he told himself. Forget about that hellpit.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He had no idea how long exactly the others had appeared in Systemia before him. And they were evidently being almost constantly assaulted by monsters.

  This is crazy, he thought as he stayed there for a few minutes - he had no wish to encounter anything like the monsters he had seen.

  Are creatures like this everywhere?

  He had to imagine not, otherwise civilisation wouldn't exist - or, everyone would have the same crazy powers that Bill, Cyril, and Patricia had demonstrated. But if that was the case, why would Soas need them to save this world?

  He started following the others again, moving deliberately slower than before.

  The trail he was following suddenly became much steeper, and soon Larkin was approaching a deep ravine. Looming stone walls descended into a canyon maybe three metres deep. He grimaced, frozen with indecision for a moment as he contemplated the horrors that the shadows could hide. But he couldn’t think of anything other than following the others.

  Light was sparse the deeper into the rocks he went, until he was walking in semi-darkness. It was only for a dozen paces, but led to him blinking as he emerged back into daylight.

  Which meant it took a few moments to notice the giant winged lizard that sprawled across the path.

  Jesus, he thought, lurching backwards with a start.

  Peering around, he found a stone perch just above the exit from that ravine. He imagined that the monster had hidden there, waiting for the others to emerge before springing its ambush.

  It hadn’t worked, clearly, as the crushed skull of the monster attested to. But staring at the size of the creature made Larkin really not want to encounter a living version.

  Which was when he saw the second trail.

  The path that the others had taken was obviously past the body of the monster, angling back up the slope and to Larkin’s left. But there was a smaller trail going off to his right, hugging the cliff of the ravine and moving at an almost perfect ninety degree angle to the first.

  Without any hesitation, Larkin took that right fork. He could only hope that those monstrous creatures following the others would also chase off any nearby predators.

  After running parallel with the ravine wall for a short while, the thin trail started veering away, and heading alongside the contours of the slope. It was a crumbly earthen path, and more than once Larkin felt his feet sliding on the ground. But the path then started levelling out before it got too treacherous.

  As he approached a thicker copse of trees, Larkin paused and glanced around and behind him. The ravine was just about still in sight, but he could also see further over to where the others had gone.

  Hopefully the last I see of them, he thought. And of those monsters too. They can be heroes and save the world, so long as they stay away from me.

  Sadly, as he got closer into the trees, it seemed like his tempting thoughts had gotten a quick karmic response.

  The first thing Larkin knew about the ambush was something coming flashing towards him. It clattered right into his chest as he came to a lurching stop. His hand instinctively went to where he’d been struck but there wasn’t any blood… or any pain, when he thought about it.

  Crouching down, it wasn’t hard to see that someone had shot an arrow at him. Though, to his inexperienced eye, the weapon looked crooked and barely air-worthy.

  Is that what happened? Did the shooter miss entirely?

  He’d been sure he’d been hit, but…

  Just as he thought that, there was a soft impact against his head. And then another arrow thudded to the ground next to him.

  Shit, he thought ferociously as he came to his feet. Just in time to see a small figure approaching him through the trees.

  It was the size of a child, maybe four feet tall, and a skinny one at that. It was also green, and seemed as wrinkled as a ninety-year old. The little creature was dressed in an undyed leather shirt, was barefoot, and carried a very crude sword in its hand.

  And it shouted in a yipping, high pitched voice.

  “Die, Human!”

  As it charged straight at Larkin, he blinked as he realised that he could understand the creature - even though it was clearly not speaking English. And so he was completely flat-footed and standing slack jawed as the attacker approached.

  Only for the creature to come to a sudden halt when it was right next to him, its sword practically resting on Larkin’s shoulder. The creature gave a soft sound of surprise, as though wondering why it had stopped.

  And before it recovered, Larkin finally comprehended the danger he was in. And, without thought, his right fist smashed into the creature’s face.

  Now, Larkin might be completely inexperienced at fighting - and he was sure that punching someone shouldn’t hurt his wrist that much - but he had almost two feet in height on the creature and probably forty kilograms.

  So his flailing blow sent the creature down onto the grass with a thump, while Larkin hissed as he shook his now numbed fingers.

  The creature had dropped its sword but now started to reach for it, so Larkin quickly stepped on the blade, trapping it.

  “None of that.” He snapped at the vicious little thing. “Back off.”

  Except, that wasn’t exactly what he said. Instead it was a series of short snapping noises accompanied with a few hisses. And the result on the creature was instant; its pink eyes widened and it literally scurried backwards away from him.

  “You speak the Tongue?” It exclaimed, in that same mix of hisses and grunts.

  Which was the Tongue, Larkin realised. Meaning that it was the language of the Ghryzan people, or “Goblins” as some called them. That knowledge had snuck into his head stealthily, and yet Larkin was left unsure how to separate that new knowledge from everything he already knew.

  “Yes, I speak the Tongue.” He responded, putting the existential crisis to one side. “And I don’t want to kill you.”

  Larkin realised as he said the words that they were true. This creature was capable of speech, so it was capable of thought; or at least as much thought as a regular person. And he didn’t want to end that life, if he could help it.

  An image of a burning man toppling to the ground came to his head before he pushed the horrific memory away.

  The Ghryzan was still staring at Larkin, so he found himself snapping at it.

  “Why did you attack me, anyway?”

  That question seemed to make the creature even more perplexed.

  “I need to eat.” It relied. “Hunting has been bad with the new monsters appearing over the last few weeks.”

  Larkin frowned, though less at the idea that he could have been goblin-food as to the rest of what the Ghryzan had said.

  “Monsters?” He asked. “Where did they come from?”

  The Goblin made an exaggerated motion with its right shoulder - equivalent to a shrug, Larkin suddenly knew.

  “From the south.” Was all it said.

  Larkin found himself satisfied to know that his guess about the appearance of the monsters seemed correct. They clearly weren’t nearby or the Goblin wouldn’t have made an appearance. They were after the others.

  And they were welcome to them, as far as he was concerned. He didn’t have any magic to use, he didn’t even have a…

  That thought trailed off as Larkin stared down at the sword lying under his foot. He slowly raised his head to stare at the goblin.

  “Take off your belt.” He told it.

  And, as it swiftly went to comply, he bent down and picked up the sword. Or maybe short sword was correct. He wasn’t really sure of the difference; but the weapon was a rough bit of pitted iron, mostly straight, and about a foot long.

  The soft thud of leather hitting the ground reminded him of the Ghyrzan, who was now staring at him warily.

  “Alright, go away now.” Larkin growled - there didn’t seem to be any other way to speak in the Tongue - and without a moment’s hesitation the Goblin backed away before spinning and running off.

  Larkin retrieved the belt, awkwardly sheathed the sword, and just about managed to tie the leather around his waist. His gaze then fell to the two arrows lying on the ground, and he realised that the Ghyrzan was now somewhere nearby while possessing a bow and - presumably - more arrows.

  Still, it didn't seem like it wanted to fire at Larkin anymore. And there was still that oddity of all the shafts not doing anything. And how the Ghyrzan had stopped moving just before it attacked.

  Larkin was thinking about that as he started down the trail again. It wasn’t as though the goblin had run into a wall or anything, it had just stopped moving.

  He pushed that to one side as he passed through the close trees and started walking around a large hill. More important than thinking about that was finding somewhere to stay. It wasn’t dark yet, but he’d seen enough survival shows to know it could get real bad at night without having somewhere safe to stay.

  Following the others would have been a better way of finding people, but the words of the Ghryzan had only strengthened Larkin’s conviction in wanting to veer away from them. He didn’t want to encounter any of the beasts that had been attacking them. Or of encountering any of the other kids from Earth, for that matter.

  A little thirst and hunger beats being attacked by crazed killers - whether they walked on two legs or not.

  When that thought got a pitiful growl from his stomach, Larkin suddenly remembered that he didn’t have to put up with that. Instead he sat down on the ground - awkwardly, thanks to the sword - and had a snack of a granola bar and a few mouthfuls of water from his bag.

  It wasn’t much, but it put him in a much better mood as he resumed his walking.

  My ankles don’t appreciate this adventure much, he ruefully thought.

  The trail continued over another hill, then around a second, and then through a dense pack of trees - that had Larkin keeping a keen eye on after last time. It then crossed a stream and started going steadily uphill again.

  Larkin had just crested that rise and was catching his breath when he heard the shout.

  “Shoo, keep away.”

  The thought came to Larkin’s head that the language spoken was Calilean, that of the Kingdom of Girant, but most of his attention went to where those words had come from.

  There was a rocky outcropping ahead, and a sort of bird-thing was hovering around it. And underneath was a growling monstrosity.

  There was some strange light coming from the bird creature. It was pale and seemed almost ephemeral, and yet the beast seemed flummoxed by it - its huge claws raking against that light but evidently falling to pierce it or find purchase.

  And then, the bird caught sight of Larkin.

  “Hey, run away.” It called. “Get help!”

  It was sound advice, but unwisely delivered. Alerted by the bird’s shouting, the monster turned to face him. It looked a bit like a wolf, if it had been force-fed hormones and then had scales surgically added to its head, legs, and upper body. And maybe had its teeth lengthened.

  Larking reached for his sword as the creature started loping towards him, but pulling the damn thing out proved difficult. He had to grab hold of the sheath with his left hand and pull with his right. And he looked down at the thing to get the sword out.

  When he looked back up the monster was right on top of him.

  A yelp escaped Larkin’s lips as the creature swung at him with one huge paw, only for the blow to stop not an inch away from him. And that was accompanied by a faint growl from the creature, almost one of puzzlement.

  But Larkin didn’t waste any time on taking advantage.

  His sword was already clutched in his hand, the monster was frozen in place, and its neck was right in front of him. Larkin jolted forward, jabbing with his sword which went just to the left of centre into the monster’s throat. Where it promptly snagged on something and, as Larkin leaned into it, the blade ripped out with a shower of warm viscera and blood.

  The howl that the monster made seemed deafening. It reared up on its hind legs and then one of its large paws smashed into Larkin’s shoulder and sent him staggering back down the slope. His foot gave out from under him with a painful feeling in his ankle and he went tumbling downward.

  By the time the rolling came to an end, his head was ringing. So much so that he couldn’t even move for several moments and just lay there in a boneless pile. He heard the continued shrieks of the monsters, for a little while anyway. It was mercifully quiet when it finally trailed off.

  And then a blue notification appeared in his vision.

  YOU HAVE MET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FIGHTER CLASS.

  And then…

  APPLYING BENEFITS OF THE FIGHTER CLASS.