Chapter 2

Saranie slid down onto the ground. She was exhausted and tired. She had been awake for a bell or so, but still she was tired. The adrenaline to help her find out about her surroundings was wearing off. Nothing more could be gained right now and she needed to adjust to everything.

Since things were settling down, she focused on her back. The pain was much clearer now than before. It was always present, but not this bad. Sure it was because she focused like she was on the battlefield, but now that she was tired everything came back in full.

She really shouldn't have moved with her back injured. It was such a terrible idea. Now she was paying for it. She took her dagger, the first one she created all those years ago, and poked her finger. Having done this more times that she can count she started weaving her lifeforce to heal her back.

Quickly she canceled the spell. Her lifeforce had changed. No longer this soothing red color, but now a collection of sparkly colors. A rainbow, like she had seen when she destroyed the portal.

Saranie wasn't a religious person. Especially not after being sent into war, but this was strange. Everyone's lifeforce was different from another. A mother could have a blue lifeforce and their child a green. Sure most colors were the same between people, like two men from opposite sides of the world with a yellow lifeforce, but it never changed. It would always be the same for your whole life.

Mana could change colors depending on the spell. That she knew, that was common knowledge. But lifeforce was from one's own blood. It can't change and yet hers had. A rainbow of white, blue, red, yellow, green, orange, black, brown and so on. Too many to count and more than she ever knew. Some of those colors she had never seen before. It was scary and exciting. What kind of possibilities would this allow her?

Then it hit her again. She wasn't with her friends. In the lands she grew up and fought in, but some other place in the world. Or if Jekki was to be believed a whole new one. A world without magic.

"Terrible…" She mumbled out to herself.

'If magic didn't exist, how would most people get around? What about those carriages or these buildings? How did they work or were made?'

She had a question, but she mainly had an injury she needed to heal.

Saranie searched through the trash for anything she could use. Food was a priority. That was absolute. Her muscles were going to be drained when she healed her back. Nutrients were necessary. Of course most of the food was either rotten, spoiled, or used. She found some of the used food. It was strange and disgusting, yet somehow delicious in her sights. This kind of food was fit for royalty and yet she was eating it out of the trash. Wonderful.

Though through her search, she found a quill. At least it was something like it. It had ink and could draw on surfaces. Her plan was to make a barrier to block out sound from her cries There was some quill or something in one of these bins. It wasn't perfect and barely had enough ink, but it would suffice.

Sure she could like she always had done and created a circle using earth magic, but she didn't even know if it would work on whatever this material on the ground was. It seemed like earth. I just might be, but in a city they would have sewers. Those could be destroyed if she didn't know where they were. For now, she would stick with this make-shift quill.

Thankfully during her search, she found a board or sheet. One side was brown and the quill didn't work well on that side. On the other, was a white canvas. Most artists would go crazy for something like this. Although the canvas wasn't made cotton or linen. It felt smooth and a little slippery. The quill didn't have much difficulty on this side.

Drawing the magic circle and runes to match what she wanted, she spent a quarter of a bell doing just that. Most of that time was spent finding another make-shift quill somewhere in the trash. Thankfully she found two more that helped her out. Afterwards, pushing some of the trash to give her privacy, she set down the circle on the ground and sat in the center. Using a leather strip from her equipment, she put it in her mouth and bit down.

Then she set her lifeforce to work out through the night, drawing more than enough of it to use if she passed out. It was time. The circle beneath her would keep out sound, the trash would make it difficult for others to see her, and her back was going to be healed.

Taking a strong bite and closing her eyes, Saranie started the spell. The pain was unimaginable. She had been injured many times, but it was never as big as something like this. Her spine controlled many nerves throughout her body. Even though the bone was merely nicked, the lifeforce was moving around the injury touching everything. Sure she had stopped the bleeding, but the cut made into her flesh was still there too. It hurt, but she stayed awake for the whole ordeal.

Time slowed to a point where it was just pain. Nothing more. Her mind only felt pain. It was all she could think about. Attempting to focus on her breathing felt strangely more difficult as her body moved and that slightly interfered with the healing process. Nothing would stop that though as she had already planned ahead. The only thing she could hear were her muffled screams. Her own little world was filled with nothing but pain.

---

Bells, days, years later… She didn't know, didn't care. The pain was mostly gone. Still there like someone who had lost their limb, but reduced to a manageable level.

Looking around she noticed it was starting to become light out. Sure those lamps, carriages, and even buildings produced light, but not as much as the sun. The temperature was rising and she felt better.

Leaning back against the wall, she took off gear. It was time to take stock of what she had.

Her helmet was battered and would do little to protect her anymore. Actually it hindered her sight. Until she could re-forge a new one, it was essentially worthless. She moved on to the chest plate. It was one of the things she was proud of as a blacksmith. Saranie never made it herself, but she watched it a lot of times. It would easily fit her allies, so it wasn't made specifically for her, but it could still function. Though on the back side, a large gash formed in the metal where she had been cut. The rest of the injuries it had sustained weren't much to worry about.

Turning towards the arm and leg guards. Arms, like the helmet, were worthless. The legs were still good and possibly in the best condition to the whole. Her clothing underneath would suit her for now, but she needed new clothes.

She polished her armor with some rags she found after using a cleaning spell on everything. At least she and what she wore would be clean. Considering how people treated her yesterday, if she wore anything different than the rest, she would be noticed. Even the clothing she wore under her armor was nothing compared to what the commoners here wore.

So if she couldn't blend in, she could at least stay normal. Though she never was good at any of those blending in missions. After the first two didn't go so well, she stayed back after that. The first time was just a fluke as she tripped against her target and ended up being hunted out of the city. The second time someone pissed her off so much that she ended up being hunted by the guards.

Hopefully things would go better.

There was one thing she did notice. It took her some time to realize though. Her body didn't use itself to repair her body. That food she ate was still in her belly. Nothing was used as it should.

---

Walking around the streets she ended up back at the same alley way. At first it was intentional as it was her safe place. A forward base of operations. She was just scouting around. Quite a few people came over to her asking to take a picture with her. After a while she started saying yes. It was so interesting to see what pictures were. If a painting could be blurry, then a picture was crystal clear like looking in a river at her reflection.

"Do you have PACK?" It was a younger girl, on her way to school, that asked this question towards Saranie.

"A what?"

"PACK… You know the app on the phone for sharing pictures?"

"I don't have one of those things." She said pointing towards the 'phone' in the girl's grasp.

"The app or a phone?" The girl was looking at her like she was a lost soul. Being pitied.

"You know what… I gotta go bye." Then Saranie just left.

She wasn't only out there interacting with people, but scouting her location. She tried looking for shops that sold maps or a guild of some kind. Maybe she could take a job and make some cash. Having a few gold would go a long way.

Hunger got in the way. She moved back to her 'base' and checked if any new food had been dropped off. She could smell a bunch of food around the city, but without money it was going to be hard. Also she didn't want to get any handouts. That felt so wrong to her.

But it was too early still. Not even at midday. Without a bell to help her with the time, she has had to rely on the sun above. Sure she was used to not having a bell to tell the time and on the battlefield it was an impossibility.

---

Her dinner wasn't all too bad. The unfamiliar food tasted great regardless of the trash around it. There were these potato things that tasted great with a red tomato-y sauce. There were also some burgers that had that same sauce on them and it tasted great.

Saranie thought back to her people. Her family in the orphanage and the ones who went to war with her. The pain from losing them hurt. It hurt more than she wanted to. She pulled knees close to her chest, holding up in her little corner of this place. Hiding from those that might hear the pain she felt.

Crying was something she always tried to avoid. Being surrounded by siblings in the orphanage or hunkered down in the military, there were always too many people around. People who would gossip, attempt to comfort her, or just pity her. She didn't deserve it nor want any of it. It was a feeling for her personally and she didn't need to share it with any others. But now she was alone. All alone. A place far from anything she once knew. I hurt more than the loss of those she cared about. Because she had nothing to fall back on.

It got much colder than it was yesterday. She casted a small spell through her whimpers. It heated the air around her body, like she would do just for her clothing, but this was on her whole body. It would wear out in a few minutes. If she wanted to keep it going over night, she would need to use her lifeforce.

Thinking about her lifeforce again stopped her tears. Focusing her mind.

Her lifeforce had changed. That was a fact. It was different in ways it shouldn't be. Impossible ways. Of course she was teleported across the world, so anything was possible.

She pricked her finger with her dagger and casted the spell to keep her warm during the night. Mystical, divine colors, twirled around her and enveloping her in a warm aura. It was amazing to see it again. Those colors and how they shined and sparkled around her.

Saranie wanted to cast more spells using her lifeforce. Just to see more, but if she did then it might turn bad. There were people in her past that lost themselves in the power lifeforce presented to them. Now it was no different. Even if she had used it many times in the past, it was now a whole new thing in front of her. She wanted to explore all of its new aspects.

Shaking her head, she just sat there against the building. Regardless, it was time to sleep. Setting her head against the stone she slowly kept thinking about the new possibilities that she could pursue.

---

A loud noise came from around her. An enemy was attacking her base. Quickly getting up, she moved to get an idea of what kind of enemy she was dealing with.

What she saw was someone wearing an apron carrying out a bag of trash. It was in those weird black bags.

"I fixed this yesterday… Who keeps doing this? Stop messing with me!" The guy just threw the trash on the ground, turned around frustrated and stomped back inside the building.

She felt a little bad about that. That wasn't an enemy, just some random kid. Someone trying to make a living… doing whatever he does. She shook her head, relaxed and fell back down onto the ground.

The problem was that she couldn't really move from this spot. This was her main source of food. Maybe if she traveled a bit more today, she might get an idea of this place and find a new forward base.

---

Travelling through the city, she started to understand people. Those wearing suits, like those of royalty, ignored her. It was strangely comforting that something so familiar happened. They had those 'phones' by their ears most of the time.

Then the younger crowd tended to talk to her. Ask for photos and other things. She out right ignored everyone she passed by that day regardless of what they wanted to talk about. She couldn't stand standing out. There was no way she was going to dump her armor or weapons.

Actually another thing she learned was that no one carried a sword. No weapons at all really. There are these guilds called 'police' and gangs. Honestly she was starting to understand that the 'police' were the guard. If there were bandits nearby she could take them out for a reward, but based on how everyone reacted it would make her the bad guy. It was like everyone was innocent. The city was peaceful. It disgusted her.

Sure she always wanted this. A place of peace where there was no more fighting. To relax. Not having to worry about someone trying to slit her throat in the middle of the night. An utopia that she had always hoped for.

But this place was so foreign to her. The people, buildings, technology… Everything really. Jekki also happened to be right. No magic. Not once in the time she has been here has she sensed magic. These people had something she never had. She wished that she could go back in time and bring her younger self here with everyone she cared about. If she could bring anything of this place back to her home, she would do it instantly.

The only problem is the way home…