New World, New Rules

The man screams and falls back, his entire body, stiff as a board. The other two look at the scene with shock filling their eyes. The second one pulls his fist back and yells as he runs straight at me. His war cry was good indeed.

I flick my finger and the ground before him suddenly opens up. He yelps as he falls. I quickly bring the dirt back, leaving nothing but his head sticking out of the ground. He screams in terror as I step past him. The man in brown pulls his blade out and says, "I have no idea what kind of tricks these are, but you will die by my sword!"

He lifts the sword and swings it straight at my head. I lift my finger. As soon as the blade touches my finger, the blade turns into a bunch of wasps. The wasps fly around my head, missing me completely as they loop around like water passing around a rock. I keep my cold glare on the man in front of me.

He sucks in and stumbles back several feet in shock. He nearly trips on the girl as he looks at the blade handle in his hand and then back at the wasps with a look of disbelief. "Wh... what are you?" I smirk, "Me? I'm a pissed-off woman with a nasty headache."

As soon as he turns to run, the wasps fly straight at him. He screams and trips as the wasps begin attacking him. I watch him with cold eyes before turning to look at the girl still on the ground. She's staring up at me with bright, wide eyes. Her cute little mouth hangs open in shock as she remains frozen.

I take a few steps over to her and kneel down in front of her. I was expecting her to flinch in fear but she's just staring at me in wonder. I look her over and ask, "May I?" She blinks and looks down to find me pointing at her ripped dress.

She hesitates for only a moment before nodding her head with a frown of confusion. I give her a small smile and use my magic to fix the fabric. She watches with wide eyes but when she looks back at me, she leaps at me and hugs me around the neck.

I blink in surprise and lightly pat her back as I ask, "Are you okay?" She pulls back with tears in her eyes and says "Thanks to you, I am. Who are you? How can you do all that? Why are you wearing clothes like this?"

When her eyes meet mine, her jaw nearly hits the ground. I blink, feeling awkward. The man in the ground is still yelling like a middle-aged woman so I flick my wrist, putting him to sleep. She slowly reaches up and whispers "You have eyes like white jade... I've never seen someone with a color like this."

I give her an awkward smile and ask, "Can you stand?" She nods her head as I help her up. I look her over before nodding my head and looking around once more. "Where are we?" I ask as I look back at her. She blinks and says, "You don't know where we are?"

I sheepishly touch the tip of my nose as I shake my head. She narrows her pretty dark eyes and says, "You aren't from around here, are you?" I bite my lower lip a little and nod my head as I ask, "What gave it away?" Sarcasm thick in my voice.

She suddenly looks serious as she nods and grabs my hands. I jump as her hands cover mine. She looks at me with earnest eyes as she says "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. You saved my life, will you let me return the favor, please? My family must be looking for me but I'm afraid to travel back alone. If you help me, my family and I will help you in any way possible and pay you for your time."

I blink in surprise and think it over. It might be a good thing to have someone here tell me about this world. Plus, I can tell she's not a bad person. She looks to be fifteen, sixteen? She shouldn't be out here all by herself. This could happen all over again if she returns on her own.

I slowly nod my head and say "I'll escort you back in exchange for information about your..." She looks at me, waiting to finish. To be completely honest, I don't know where I am. Am I still in my world or have I somehow come to another?

We've always had theories about other worlds, other timelines. Being able to bend time and space but it's never been done. Have I somehow done that? I clear my throat and say "I just want to know a little about this place. That man said something about me not being a Cultivator. What is that?"

Her smile brightens her entire face as she says "A Cultivator is someone who has inner strength. They meditate and cultivate to become even stronger and faster. They are much stronger and faster than normal humans."

We begin to walk as she continues to tell me about this new world. I've never heard of a Cultivator back in my world so I can only assume this is something only this world has. She tells me more and more about imperials and martial artists and how the strong and powerful are respected here.

I silently listen to everything she says as I watch our surroundings. As we come to a clearing, I take a step as she yells out "Watch out!" As soon as my foot lands on the leaves, it just keeps going... and going.

I tumble down the side of the embankment before coming to a stop at the bottom. I look up at the sky with a look of defeat. I can't believe I was taken down by a pile of leaves... The girl suddenly appears above me, looking down at me in worry as she huffs and puffs. She must have run down after me...