Where am I?

Blood adorned my golden sword.

Bodies of warriors lay beneath me, their comrades lifeless behind me in my wake. Remnants of their bodies were scattered throughout the land surrounding our battlefield.

Heads rest in the tan dirt, basking the ground in a maroon red. Limbs caked in blood cut off from their owners were numerous.

Golden strands of hair caress my sun-like gaze. My yellow irises blazed with vigor.

A man cowers in front of me; Pitiful.

My stare pierced through his being. He was helpless. Powerless. I could feel it; it fulfilled my gluttonous desire to inflict fear, pain, and terror.

He cowers because of the impending demise, for he knows I am death.

I shall be the messenger that delivers him to hell.

A mere step dramatizes his trembling, beads of sweat wafting down his hairline.

A second step causes him to stumble down, ensued in sobbing and begging. The apex of his sword was still directed at me, his hands shaky.

My eyebrow cocked, "You plead, yet still dare to oppose me?" I question.

I did not allow a response, I slammed the flat of my blade near his crossguard, the weapon being hurled meters away.

He began to whimper like a dog and tried trudging back, but I shut it down quickly with a brutal stomp to his leg.

Grotesque crunching resounded like a bellow, accompanied by crying full of agony. The man clutched his mangled leg, cursing something in a language I did not know.

"Y'know, ever since I got here, I've just been gettin' attacked left and right!" I exclaimed, wiping the sweat off my brow.

I knelt next to him, smiling. A smile filled with sinister wrath and depravities. "It's… Frustrating," I let an exaggerated sigh escape my mouth, "And… I like to release my frustration!" I spoke with odd mirth.

He stared at me, so many emotions in those eyes of his.

Anger, fear, apprehension, confusion… Dread.

My golden fist launched forward, smashing into his nose.

Teeth soared and blood splattered onto my face, a sickening crunch echoed when his head slammed against the ground.

Ah, another life.

I have claimed many of those this past week… Dozens, perhaps a hundred?

I mean, what else can I do? I walk upon a portal in the middle of nowhere I go into it, and wallah! I'm here! Warriors as I've never seen before attacked me, villages got all defensive when they saw me, and a woman even ran from me!

I don't know where I am, I assume on the other side of the earth, as the time of day flipped when I portaled here.

My gaze scans the area around me.

Titan green trees burrow into the clouds and sky above me, and tendrils of dull green vines coil to the branches.

Bodies are littered around, belonging to the many men I killed, in self-defense of course!

I walk to the closest body and rummage through his armor and pockets.

After a few seconds, nothing.

I sigh and look around again, "Why did I kill so many…"

—

Almost an hour passed before I finished looting the rest of the bodies, and I managed to find some coins, what I assumed to be their currency.

I stand up from the last body, a sapphire amulet dangles from my hand. I peer into its glistening center, curious.

I feel something when I grab it.

However, it makes my body feel electric. It percolates through my pores, and I grin.

I want more.

I recall the feeling and let it flow into me, a mysterious energy churning in my lower stomach.

My right arm pulsates in strength, my veins on show as they show from under my skin. As it circulates in my gut, I feel an epiphany arising from within my being.

I feel something click in my brain, and I'm suddenly assaulted with information.

Some are pictures, most are words or voices. Despite all occurring at once, I can make out each distinct piece of it.

I stumble backward and clutch my head, wincing as I piece out the pictures.

I can tell what they are.

Illustrations of someone.

Me.

Above are letters painted in red, below a large piece of text. My stomach deepens; This is most definitely a poster of a bounty on me.

Four of the letters repeat, followed by illegible characters. I can only conclude these to being digits, and a whole hell lot of them. I frown.

"That's a hefty price for my head," I mutter aloud. I scour through the Information and work with what I can. Luckily, in this amulet, I was given a map. I can now see where I am, and where to go.

I observe the land and its edges, and I only grow more curious. "Definitely not Thorla," I say to myself, referring to my home. Thorla harbored smooth and fulfilled lands, while wherever I was contained sharp turns and edges with random missing patches of land.

I move my mind to other things to distract myself.

Firstly; This amulet. How?

I was beyond dumbfounded when I pondered about it.

Something that can import info directly to your brain in such a neat, effective manner? How didn't Thorla have this? This would be such a profound advancement, it would grow Thorla in every aspect.

Am I in a new world?

I throw that thought away quickly.

Nonetheless, I peer at it in shock. I'll figure it out.

I shake my head and walk forward, as there is a sizable settlement right in my path. My excitement still surges through my body, overshadowing the ominous fear I contain, as the unknown is always scary.

The warmth of the sun disappears, replaced by the frigid breeze of dusk.

I step through gaps between trees before coming into a sandy land, not far in the distance, I see buildings.

Not intensively tall, but of great size. "Finally!" I cheer. Maybe I can figure out where I am and leave. Relief grows in my stomach and I subconsciously release a smile. Before I could step further, a guttural snarl emitted from behind me.

I snatch the sword from my sheath and slash behind me almost immediately; Not checking what was behind me or caring.

CLLLNGGGGG!

A loud clang reverberates from the clash, my arm trembling.

My eyes landed on the thing liable, and it was a sight… Not to behold.

Ugly, brown, and hairy.

It was fat, had a lot of teeth, and had metal claws.

How freaky!

I leap backward, my sword primed in front of me. It shook its paw and grunted. I guess I also hurt him a bit.

Despite its appearance, it withstood a blow and even managed to block it.

It shifted on four legs, crimson orbs in place for its eyes. The horns on its forehead spiraled and ended in a sharp point forward.

It was like a hairy, imp pig.

But why was it attacking me?

Animals don't attack humans unless it's a bear or you threaten them somehow. Even worse, it possesses metal claws.

And normal animals damn well die in one swing.

It lunges forward on the hind legs, raising its claws to slash vertically. It towers over me to my surprise. It only came to my stomach on all fours, but I do guess it was a pretty long animal.

I step in, below its arm, merely close enough to breathe in the prudence radiating off of it.

Before I could jab its abdomen, the beast brought its other arm down in retaliation, threatening to claw my head to oblivion.

I raise my sword, meeting the beast mid-way.

The paw connected and my feet sunk into the ground, my arms suffering damage from the sheer force. I grunt and push upwards to relieve pressure from my limbs, successfully getting its claw off my sword.

I dashed sideways and disengaged for a moment. "Abnormally strong," I state.

I shake my arms, and they ache. My eyes narrow and I heave a deep breath, "This… isn't normal."

First, a beast I've never seen before appears, then it's insanely strong.

Before I could think furthermore about this revelation, it charged at me, the hind feet of it upheaving sand.

I can't run, it's fast.

I dash at it my sword pointed behind me.

One attack.

As it neared, my eyes hardened and I took a lengthy stride forward, torquing my torso to generate more force.

A gorgeous, silver blur strode past me, so fast even I couldn't catch a glimpse of it.

Unfortunately or fortunately; It wasn't my sword.

Blood soared from its head. The power behind the silvery blur caused the head to fling to the side, breaking it. Its body stalled before it plummeted to the ground in a dull thump. Blood gushed from its head as it inundated its upper half, streaming down its fur.

I glanced over, noticing a man clad in a light grey cloak, his arm extended forward in my direction. He seemed angry; His eyebrows lowered and a frown plastered on his pale white face

I caught his gaze and was interlocked with bleak ivory irises. Hm.

Before I could speak, another stripe of silver energy materialized from his hand. I flicked my sword upward to meet it. A powerful force rammed into my sword, causing my hands to wail. I changed the angle and It skimmed off, ricocheting into the void of the sky above. I slide my foot to my right and assume my stance, watching the man.

He peers at me and frowns; I do the same.

I saw his eyes darting around my body. My hair, eyes, clothes, all of it. I lightly shuffle my feet to keep my restlessness and adrenaline at bay.

His eyebrows raised and his lips slightly curled out of nowhere.

"Thorlian?"

I halt. My eyes enlarged and my brow furrowed in disarray. "How'd you know?" I query, but nonetheless on guard. My mind raced, yet nothing seemed to mix together well. He dropped his palm, "Your features, and attire. I lived there too, believe it or not." He told with a chuckle.

I lowered my sword and observed him closely. Nothing remotely about him connected to those back in Thorla; Not a single bit. An unknown substance was painted on his skin it seemed, I could not make out what. Flames, possibly.

"As for how you got here, I don't know, but there are a lot of things for you to discover, young man."

I didn't respond in words or facial expressions; goggling blankly at him. I reasoned I had a lot to learn. I mean, bolts of light shooting at me so fast from a few dozen meters away?

Impossible, until I saw it.

"Like?"

We lock eyes for a few seconds before his hand raises and aims to the sky, "Essence." Suddenly, a silver embodiment of energy exuberance swelled in his hand, taking the form of an opaque orb. A tickle crept through my stomach before it tore through the air, gradually stalling in momentum before discharging a vigorous explosion. The sparks and embers of the energy dwindled in the air before dissipating into nothing. I eyed in marvel at the showing before flicking my head back down to him.

"M-Magic?" I sputter.

"In a way, yes."