Surrounded by dead bodies, Ian felt one emotion he didn't expect to feel in this hellscape.
Happiness.
It was a strange feeling.
Yet he couldn't deny it because that was what he genuinely felt.
Ian wasn't alone in this waking nightmare.
There was someone he could talk to.
Someone he could get answers from. To make sense of his current situation. He only had a vague idea of completing the trial to hopefully return to where he came from. But Ian had no idea what the trial was or if he really could return home and not be transported to another place.
So as anyone would do Ian return Primus' greeting with a question that popped into his mind.
"Excuse me but-"
"Don't talk. Listen. We have limited time."
Primus immediately interrupted him causing Ian to frown but he felt that he should listen. For now, his ego mattered little in a unknown place with a stranger who had all the answers.
So Ian silently nodded in acknowledgement.
"Good, the tether to thy world is still weak meaning I can barely maintain this form here. Thy goal in this legacy trial is both simple but difficult. Once the trial is completed, thou can return home."
She took a brief pause as if letting Ian process the last words carefully before continuing.
"Thy goal is to escape this city. There is no time limit but I suggest thou complete it with haste. For this city fell only just recently. Around you are weapons to use. Now I must conserve my strength. I will wait for thee at the end."
Similar to Ian, Primus started fading out of existence while blue sparks akin to fireflies spawn from her form then flew away from her and then....she disappeared. It all took less than a second for her to disappear in front of him.
Ian was left alone in the darkness.
He replayed every word she spoke once.
Then twice.
Ian repeated the action until he felt satisfied.
His guesses were on point to what the cloaked figure, or better known as Primus, explained. He just needed to escape this city then he can go back home. But Ian clenched his teeth when he thought of the difficulty of such a simple task.
'The more simple the end goal is, the more difficult it actually is huh?'
Ian chuckled bitterly. Primus was kind enough to mention that this city fell recently.
How recently?
Recent enough for the dead bodies to start decomposing around him. Ian wasn't sure of the exact time but he could guess whatever battle occurred here, the perpetrators were still in this city possibly patrolling for survivors.
So, Ian looked around him for any weapons. He walked around the graveyard staying inside the moonlit area in fear of what lurks in the dark. Bitterly, Ian looked closely at the corpses for anything useful on them. But the closer he looked, the more grotesque the images became. There were cuts, broken bones, and even bite marks. Hell half of the corpses looked like they were attacked by wild animals.
Ian wasn't sure if he could be glad that monsters possibly killed these people instead of other human beings. At least for now, he could put that thought in the back of his mind as Ian finally caught sight of something akin to a weapon.
Attached to a dead knight's hip was a wooden club. It was the only weapon Ian found so far as either they were too broken to use or too heavy for him to carry.
Ian pulled the club off the corpse along with the belt for holding said club. But before Ian could equip the belt, he noticed something different with his attire.
His regular clothes were gone.
Instead, in their place was a bloodied leather vest over a thick padded shirt with thick padded leggings and leather boots.
Ian immediately frown at his current attire and his thoughts drifted in worry over his personal belongings. But he shook that thought off as soon as it appeared, he couldn't afford to worry over something out of his reach.
He needed to return home soon.
He didn't want to worry Mike and his parents.
But more importantly, Ian didn't want to cause further stress to Mike's mom.
At least...
At least not in the short time she had left.
So Ian continued searching for more items to use before he began his journey.
He rummaged through the corpses coming upon a short dagger along with its holster, a unused torch, and a rusty key. The key itself was useless but Ian, having played a variety of fantasy role playing games, decided to hold on to it in case he ever needed it.
Ian continued scavenging before-
"RAAAAAWWWRRR!!!"
-he heard a monstrous scream in the distance. Ian instinctively flinched at the noise and quickly hid amongst the bodies. He waited and waited until he was sure it was safe to come out.
'Fuck my life, there's monsters roaming around!'
Ian shouted in his mind with sheer frustration. Now he would have preferred facing against other humans since they were more familiar to him. But monsters come in all shapes and forms. From what Ian heard, it wasn't an animal from his world leaving it an unknown entity to him.
And the unknown instinctively terrified Ian.
His teeth clattered at the thought. He let it consume him before taking a deep breath to calm himself while clenching his fists.
For now, Ian needed to escape this hellhole but he wasn't sure on which direction to take. He could also continue rummaging through the corpses for more items but Ian felt that his grace period was running out. He wasn't sure why he felt that way but it was probably the monstrous roar from far away that imprinted the idea into his mind.
He looked in the cardinal directions around him.
North or what Ian considered north was completely hidden from the moonlight because of tall buildings including a massive one that seemed to be a cathedral.
West seem to have smoke far off in that direction with the orange glow of fire.
South was where Ian heard the monstrous scream and also the most lit up direction as the buildings were mostly destroyed.
East had a fair amount of lighting and enough buildings for Ian to hide in but that direction felt eerily still as if nothing was allowed to cross there.
None of the directions were safe. North was pitch black to the point Ian couldn't see without a lit torch, but lighting a touch with monsters roaming around was like lighting a beacon for an easy meal.....not that Ian would taste good. Ian shook that ludicrous thought away to continue pondering his options until he finally came to a decision.
Ian was going west.
Why?
Well, Ian was banking on the idea that the fire would ward off whatever was creeping into the night and if not then the smoke could mask his scent. Also with the fire, Ian could see his surroundings better.
Nodding to himself, Ian then walked off in that direction. He was terrified at what he might encounter but it was better than waiting to die by whatever things that stumble upon the graveyard.
Ian just needed to escape this city to complete the trial.
Then he can return home...
....hopefully.
***
In the shadows of the surrounding buildings, an unknown entity spotted a humanoid figure walking towards the direction of the sea of flames. It crawled on all fours navigating the buildings easily to get a better look at the mysterious figure.
Once close enough without alerting said figure, the entity saw a blacked hair boy who barely reached adulthood. Upon a closer look, the young man was terrified but his silver eyes held a sharp look as if defying against his fear-inducing circumstance.
The entity smiled crookedly at the sight and opened its mouth whispering demonically.
"Miiiiineeeee."