Intermittent scenes of my life on Earth were flashing one after another before my eyes. My consciousness could not hold to any of those long enough for them to make any sense, and it didn’t try to either. This hazy act lasted for some time, until I noticed this kaleidoscope of memories had finally ceased its delirious show. What I saw before my eyes was that familiar thrice-damned street. Yes, exactly that street.

The cloudiness in my head cleared and everything now seems so lucid, as if I’m reliving this moment again. There are no “blank spots”, no incongruity in surroundings. I can even see all the cracks in the stones of the sidewalk, despite the bad lighting around. It’s either my memory became phenomenal, or my imagination. Yes, I’m thinking about some irrelevant stuff again…

Soon, I’ll arrive at my final destination. Yes, final. That could very well be it for me. I can already see that street lamp post. Just a minute to wait… Three, two, one, and we’re going out with a bang! Hell yeah! The picture before my eyes shakes, first meeting the black metal pole. The pain was there as well, but this time it did nothing to distract my attention. Then the image before my eyes recoiled from the lamp post and began angling towards the cloudy night sky, as my body was falling backwards without any hint of control. The uncaring blinding light with a heavy orange tint from the street lamp prevented me from seeing anything clearly. Now I passed the point where my memory blanked out. I felt myself free falling downwards, the inevitable meeting with the ground was long overdue. Spinning in a weird space of bright acidic colors, I entered some sort of black nothingness.

Hey! That’s something new! There is no stone floor pressing on my face this time. Where am I? Some sort of a circular isle made of carved white tiles had materialized somewhere above me, lighted by an ambient light with no apparent source. At this time my consciousness was fully merging with the events, blocking any memories and thought process. I was literally reliving this memory now, as everything was replaced by my thoughts and senses from that time.

Descending onto this strange isle in the middle of pitch-black nowhere, slowly spinning in the empty space, I have finally reached this improvised floor. The gravity kicked in gradually, back to the level I’m used to. I got up from my unbecoming pose, straightening my clothes, and looked around, but could see nothing, but only the platform I was standing on. I’ve checked myself. I’m alright, more or less. Lost my hat somewhere, but I didn’t care. The next event completely stopped my ability to think for some time. A flash of green and a booming masculine voice stunned me.

“Greetings, mortal!” Thunderous voice reverberated in the empty space. “Welcome! Welcome to the end!” – At this moment, a horrifying, visceral fear gripped my very soul. – “To the end of your old life!”

“Wh… What d-do you mean… by that?” I’ve finally found strength to ask, fear still gripping my psyche.

“O-o-oh?” The voice expressed a pleasant and excited surprise to my question. “You want to know, mortal?” The voice talked slowly. “I can satiate your curiosity then.” The voice paused, and a bright green sphere, surrounded by the minty-colored haze, appeared before me. Two bright yellow eyes made of yellow light with vertical pupil slits swung open on the surface of the sphere. A weird feeling of being watched engulfed me, like it was staring into my very soul, and that could have very well been the case.

“Hmmm…” The voice ruminated. “Yes, yes, you will do just fine. Good. I didn’t waste my efforts, after all,” muttered the voice quietly, mostly to itself. “Now, this is your answer, mortal, so listen carefully.” The voice finally addressed me. “Your fate in your world, the one connecting you to it, was severed. By me. As a consequence, your own fate in your world has come to an end. The absolute one. No soul will ever remember you living there. None of your deeds left any trace in the minds of its inhabitants, like you have never even existed, but nothing else changed. Nothing has changed for anyone, but you. Even your name was erased.”

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait a second… My name is… My name… Name… Why can’t I remember? Is it all true then?” My panic deepened.

What happened next… I can’t say I’ve been surprised, because I was beyond surprised!

With a loud and clear laughter the voice thundered in the surrounding space: “A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha. Ha-ha…” the voice wheezed the last bits, forcefully halting its fit of laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!”

His sudden outburst of laughter and joy have managed to magically calm almost all of my nervousness and return my mind to a somewhat stable state. Is he an idiot, or is he a crazy genius? I’m inclined to the latter… I’m sure I’d never calm down in such a situation, but still, I just did. My panic vanished, leaving me with a mix of bewilderment and insecurity.

This strange creature continued meanwhile, “By the way, you are forever barred from your old world, as well as the whole layer”.

Then he proceeded to explain the things I already heard from him in the temple, but at that time it was all new to me. That included my highly probable miserable end…

“That’s totally nuts! What shit I’ve been dragged into? Good, I’m able to get somewhat angry, it’s a good sign.”

I tried to rage, to throw insults in every language I knew… yeah, that’s strange, but this creature knew all of them. In the end, I just had to accept these facts. Psychotic breakdowns were never my forte.

“Feeling better now?” The voice asked, devoid of any malice.

“Yeah… somewhat.” I looked at the strange glowing creature before me. “Are you… a god?” I asked, and got a much unexpected answer.

The strange creature laughed and paused. “No, mortal, I am not a god, I’m not even close to being one. And, you know, I’m tired of calling you ‘mortal’, but it was a must for my prank. Though first things first. Before giving you a new name, you should make a choice, which is not really a choice, but I still have to present it to you.”

The projection before me somewhat increased in size, now towering above me.

“Let me introduce myself first. I am Falda’ar, one of the ‘keepers of fates’, as some call us. I manage 24 areas of local layers of what you call your galaxy. And no, don’t misunderstand, I have not the slightest interest in the fates of puny mortals, I work on a scale of worlds, or layers but… I’ll get my ass kicked out from our little cozy community for sure if I allow the events to affect a whole layer, so I can say I keep an eye on worlds, inhabited ones. And you… You will help me with that. First, I’ll be sending you to a rather mild world called Equis. After you’re ready, of course.”

Yeah, that’s big news. And I have no idea what to do about it. I asked: “What if I refuse?”

Falda’ar made a brief pause, seemingly in thought, lifting his eyes upwards. “Well, do you know where your body is currently? It’s inside an interlayer tunnel at the moment, if I leave you as is, your body and soul will disintegrate into the most basic energy form and scatter across the multiverse. Not a very good prospect, is it? Also, I won’t lie to you, should you choose death, I won’t allow your body and soul to go to waste. I’ll erase your personality and start with a blank slate. Tabula rasa, like some of you used to say. You get me, right? It’ll waste a lot of energy and time, but it’s still better than just letting you die after I had got you out. Or, rather, completely freed you from the chains of fate of your world. That’s quite a remarkable state to be in, honestly.”

I took some time to absorb and process his words, but there wasn’t much to mull about, I had never been a stubborn idiot. “I agree.”

“Great! I just knew you are a smart guy!” Falda’ar answered. “Then, now you’ll become my apprentice. By the name of Falda’ar, the Keeper of Fates, and the master of ‘Life’, from now on you’ll be known as Ray, my personal apprentice!” Falda’ar declared grandly and then added succinctly, “No need to bow.”

The image blurred again before my eyes, returning me to a serene slumber. But it did not last for long as I started waking up. The events I’ve just seen were seared into my memory, like I’ve never forgotten them. I woke up on the stone floor with a ringing headache which was gradually subsiding. I took several deep breaths.

“That… was… something incredible!” Seems I can fully trust him after all, my intuition was not wrong at all. This is a very unusual feeling. With the part of my restored memory I became slightly changed, in a good way, more wholesome, more complete!

“Yes! I want them back! My memories of that strange place, all of them!” With those thoughts I continued to lay on my back, the cool surface of the stone did not discomfort me at the moment. The time was slowly passing me by at this strange serene moment. I was composing myself before starting my adventure, my new life, in my new world. Equis, is it? Though the recent memory didn’t reveal any new information about the planet.

Still, it’s… intriguing… fascinating. Exciting! The long period of emptiness of my past life has ended, and just like I said to myself, sitting in that night club, it is time to change something. But not just something, everything! And then I felt energized by this new way of thinking.

“Good. That’s enough lying on the floor for today.” I grumbled and got up without much trouble this time. I’m sure I’m feeling much better already. At least I’m not feeling like I’m already one foot in a grave anymore. Falda’ar has told me there must be some things on the altar, so I walked to the center of the hall.

“Interesting,” I muttered as I fiddled a small bluish-gray stone cube, with a side about the size of my pinky. Carved runes, which I could not understand, run along its sides. Three large seeds, looking not unlike mango seeds, are lying nearby. Well, those will be harder to lose with such a size. I pocketed the items and proceeded towards the exit. There was indeed a carving depicting a solar eclipse, I should put my hand on it, right? Strange, this analogue of a button is located too low, just a bit below my waist, a strange technical decision, but whatever.

The carving faintly flashed and the door sank down into the floor, its top stopping at the floor level, creating an even surface with it. “Not bad, not bad at all for a thousand years old mechanism!” I said to myself and proceeded forward.

I’ve appeared inside a broad, but dimly lit hallway. The only light was coming from small windows on the front wall, if I’m not mistaken, it should lead outside. The air was dry as very little water got inside from the small windows. Well, let’s try looking outside for now. Before I started walking, I tried pressing my hand against a similar carving on the other side of the door. As I expected, the door closed back. Good! At least I’ll have a safe shelter against wild beasts. I started walking by the hallway at a slow pace. I was still feeling tired, but all those painful sensations went away, what a relief.

Finally, I’ve reached my destination. The door slid down, bright light instantly flooded my eyes, forcing me to squint. I got outside and waited for my eyes to adapt. When I opened my eyes, a marvelous picture unfolded before me. I was standing atop a green hill without much vegetation, I saw the lake below the hill, shining with blue waves, glittering in the bright sun. The lake was surrounded by thick jungle-like forest.

There was something like a tilted upper part of a pyramid in the center of a lake. Most of it was submerged, creating beautiful scenery. It vaguely resembles Mesoamerican pyramids, but has its own style, somewhat more strict and sharp. Well, I can say I’ve found myself a source of water! The sounds of birds and occasional howls of beasts could be heard from the depths of the nearby jungle, but I could not see any beasts or birds in the premises of the hill or the lake. Falda'ar was right about this place. Even trees do not grow here.

I’ve made a circle around the building I came out from. Compared to the pyramid in the lake, which I deemed to be some sort of a main temple, it was a rather small pyramidal building, or trapezoidal, to be more specific, and could not be called a true pyramid. It was more like some utility edifice. All around the hill the surrounding space was covered in grass, gradually changing into a dense jungle at some distance away.

An endless sea of jungle sprawled as far as my eye could see from the top of the hill. It will definitely be hard to get out of this place… Well, let’s check if there is something useful in this building. A human being without any tools in a jungle area… sounds like a death sentence, and judging by the vegetation, strong rains must be a common occurrence here too, which pose another problem for traveling.

I’ve spotted two doors in the hall, and it seems to be all to it, judging by the size of the building. The doors were situated not far from the outer entrance. I chose the left one first. The door slit downwards, and thick clouds of dust were created at the entrance. I backed off from the door, waiting for dust to settle. There were no windows and no lighting inside the room. I carefully entered, and had to wait for my eyes to adapt to the darkness for several minutes. But this room seemed to be nothing more, but dust storage, so I left and closed the door.

The second room, to my surprise, was lacking almost any dust. There was something in the center of the room. When I tried to check what it was, it lit up. It was a large crystal emitting weak bluish light, but it was enough to navigate the room. Yes, I definitely respect whoever built this structure. Reliability of local equipment truly deserves some respect.

The light revealed that this room was some sort of an armory. Racks with spears and somewhat short swords, I’ve seen a few axes, but local warriors clearly were not favoring them for some reason, or maybe it’s the opposite and they have taken out most of them for themselves. Then I’ve found a lot of racks with… I don’t know what to call it, armor for some sort of battle creatures? But where is regular armor? I can’t see any. Wait… Quadrupeds, huh? Oh, god… I sighed, leaving the armor racks. I won’t find anything suitable for me here.

Well, let’s find some tools, then. I’ll need a knife, an axe, oh, a rack with spears. They seem somewhat short to me. Oh, these ones are a bit longer. I walked closer to the rack and sighed again. Time was not kind to these weapons, and most of them were bronze, not even iron. Rummaging through the stock of spears I’ve found something wrapped with an almost decomposed piece of cloth, which turned to dust the moment I touched the fabric.

Let’s see what it is. Oh, how unusual — the blade of this spear seems to be made with some sort of violet crystal. Its tip and side blades are really sharp even now, even after all these years. I still have my doubts about it as it looked really brittle, but on the good side, its wooden part is almost pristine for whatever reason. I’ll take it, along with an iron spear, in case this fancy one is just a ceremonial weapon unfit for combat.

I need to find one with less corrosion and rot. Also, I’ll need an intact knife. I’ve seen some daggers in that corner. I’ll just pick something made of iron and less corroded. Hope they have some whetstones around here, so that corrosion won’t become a big problem.

I was wandering around the room looking at the poor items, weathered by time itself. And these are swords… Nope, these things are anything but swords. What a joke! How come this handle is so short? Completely useless.

“Huh? I’m not an expert in terms of cold weapons, so where did these thoughts come from?” I mulled to myself, while continuing to examine the swords. And why do they need this metal ring down the handle? I can’t figure out its use. Whatever, using such a weapon will only get me killed, so I’ll go with the spear or axe. By the way, I did not manage to find any shields, so the spear will be more preferable in the absence of any armor suitable for me.

Finally, I’ve found some whetstones in a rotten box in the corner of the room; the stones survived the trial of time just fine. I did not find anything else particularly useful in those piles of military gear of a bronze or maybe an iron age. That will do for now. I took another empty wooden box which looked almost like an actual box, and not a sieve or a pile of rotten planks, left it at the door, and put my stuff inside. I had to leave my chosen spears in the corner nearby and now I’m starting to feel hunger, and quite strong one at that.

When I exited through the door, the light emitted by crystal faded off. I thought for a little while, and stepped back into the room. The light gradually lit on once again. Those strange armor pieces… the helmet should be suitable for carrying water, or maybe even boiling it. I walked up to the armor racks. The leather straps and belts turned to dust, mostly. Those which were still intact were hard like wood, and chipped when I tried to bend them. Except for this strange green skin leather, it must still be usable.

Well, I’ll think about it later, I’m getting too hungry, and thirsty. Actually, I am very thirsty. I took the first helmet I found and examined it. It had a simple round form, but what’s that? A hole? Why the hell there is a hole in the helmet? And it’s not made by some damage either, it’s intended. Well, I can’t use it to hold water, then. Let’s check another one. Oh, this one seems fine, time to go out!

I turned around and exited the storage with the helmet; I also took the iron spear with me. While I trust Falda’ar, I’ll feel safer with a weapon than without it. The door closed with a rumbling sound, and the silence returned to this millennia old building, with only my steps reverberating down the dim hall.

Nothing changed outside. Even the position of the Sun in the sky. “Oh really? Hmph, that's nonsense!” I commented to myself, I’m sure I’ve spent quite a time inside that armory room. Whatever… Let's call it some magic shit and get over it. I need water, and I need it now! The sensation of thirst was closing in to dangerous levels, so I hastened my stride. Traveling downhill was easy, and my poor joints did not disagree much with my physical exercises this time.

“Heh, life keeps getting better.” Having come down to the lake I pondered for a short while. My thoughts were about possible germs in the water. I don’t have the tools to boil water and no time either. I’ll try to find the source of the inflow, it may be more clean, and hereby, more safe to drink. Walking along the shore I spotted a rivulet on the far left side of the lake and something looking like a spring a bit closer, both coming from the jungle.

I’ve started walking along the shore of the lake, observing my surroundings, spear in one hand, and helmet in the other. A thought flashed inside my mind. I walked to the surface of the lake and looked at my reflection in the water. My mood soured instantly. My face was riddled in wrinkles and the skin went flabby, the eyes looked like they had sunk deeper into my eye sockets. Along with my complete baldness, my appearance reminded me of an old buddhist monk. “What a depressing sight,” I muttered to myself and sighed deeply, before continuing my stroll.

“But wait a second… The eyes. Yes, the eyes! Something is not right about them.” I returned back to the body of water, got on my knees and looked closer. Apart from my eyes looking very clear and lively, unlike the rest of my face, their color… I can’t see the color clearly in this water reflection.

I inched my face closer to the water surface. Yes, I was right. It seems the color is some kind of bright green. “Do humans have such iris colors? Yes, they do, but not so bright… Well, I was already told I’m not just a human anymore. Perhaps I should no longer be surprised by such things? But that's good, with these eyes I'm not looking like a living corpse at least, and I like the color.”

My gaze fell at my brows, or… at the place they should’ve been. “Huh… my brows look like I’ve shaved them. It gives me a somewhat creepy look, like if my eyes are staring right into your soul and see all of your sins.” I made a small laugh at this silly thought.

In a few minutes I reached the spring, it was rather broad and fast-flowing. The flow was carrying small stones and sand along the stream, a good sign which could mean the water comes from underground or mountains, and not from the surface. The rivulet in the distance was clearly not that pure, so it’s decided then.

I took the old bronze helmet I brought from the storage and washed it in the spring, clear water carrying away all the dust it had accumulated over centuries. I’ve scooped some water into the helmet and sniffed it. The water was odorless. I drank some, and could not stop. I filled the helmet again and again, until my thirst was quenched.

“This is damn good! So tasty…” This water had no strange taste, not in the slightest, and it was a bit mineralized, I suppose. Even if my stomach would revolt afterwards, it was still worth it.

Now, having my thirst sated, the hunger has kicked in in full force. And this problem is certainly more difficult to solve. I think it’s better to follow Falda’ar’s suggestion with that miraculous plant. I decided to collect some water for later use, so I filled the helmet, and went back to find more helmets to store water. When I was done with my water reserves, I chose a place at the foot of the hill, between the lake and my temporary stone abode, loosened the soil at the place with my rusted dagger and planted the seed not too deep from the surface. I’ve already prepared a helmet full of lake water, so I watered the soil.

Nothing happened in a while. “And then the same ‘nothing’ happened a few more times.” I laughed sarcastically at my naivety. Well, now I have to do something about the ‘essence’ part. And one helmet of water may not be enough, so I made two more trips to the lake. The seed unsurprisingly remained without any change all this while.

As I do not remember, or even know how to ‘channel’ my ‘essence’ by my will, should I proceed with ‘Plan B’ from the start? But what if I can somehow make it work? Let’s try.

I sat before the planted seed in a lotus pose, all eastern guys who claimed to know how inner power works were doing so. I’ve tried to sense the ‘essence’ inside my body for a long time without much success. I tried to expel something from my hands, so hard that my face cringed and my brows furrowed from my efforts. And, God, I’m glad there is nobody around to see this shameful performance. It's time for ‘Plan B’ then.

I've closed my eyes and calmed down. I was trying to get rid of my wandering thoughts, which just refused to disappear, and tried to imagine the state of the plant seed before me in some sort of a mental image. Another half an hour passed, and I did not notice any changes. Gradually losing my hope, I just continued to sit there with my eyes closed, with unfocused thoughts about this damn plant. I unconsciously relaxed from all the tension I’ve built up during my experiments with the seed. It was at this moment I felt a sensation of a soft and warm breeze wash all over my body. It was seemingly floating to the place where I had planted the seed. Actually, I felt this substance being slowly expelled by my whole body.

I was getting nervous, afraid to lose this state and fail the whole process, but calmed back down when it did not stop. It was going on seemingly by itself now. That’s… Was it that easy? Really easy… but so hard at the same time. It’s too vague of a feeling to explain it fully. The plant was slowly absorbing this ‘essence’ of mine. I’d feel very content with my success if not for the feeling of hunger and my growing tiredness. It seems giving away this essence has some consequences for my body. In about fifteen minutes the sense of flow diminished, and finally ceased. I felt utterly drained, like I’ve overworked myself with hard labor. When I finally opened my eyes, what stood before me was a little tree, with a height reaching just to my waist, but a tree nonetheless. It was reminiscent of bonsai. I checked my body, but it seems nothing is wrong with me, except for the feeling of tiredness.

The lutiana tree had a light brown bark of a greenish tint, with yellowish narrow cracks. Bright green foliage created a somewhat round form at the top part of the tree. It looked aesthetically pleasing to the eye. A large single flower bud was growing from one of the top branches of the tree, facing upwards. The tree, having absorbed all of my available ‘essence’, continued to slowly develop, no longer increasing its height, which was noticeable to the naked eye. I was lying on the ground, lazily looking at the whole process. In about fifteen more minutes the flower bud opened, revealing a large flower.

Its form was somewhat reminiscent of lily, but its size, width of petals and overall intricate form will put any flower from earth to shame. The center of the flower seemed to be the purest white, but at nearly a third of a distance from the center, the color begins to gradually change to the deepest blue at the ends of the petals, almost turning to utter black. The contrast between the clear white color and the utter dark, going through all shades of blue in between, created a mesmerizing picture. The dark sides of the petals were also splashed with a myriad of small, bright white dots, creating a truly magnificent look. This unique flower rightfully deserved its title of being created by a local goddess in terms of beauty. A heavenly aroma touched my sense of smell, eliciting a soothing sensation across my body.

“Mmmmm… what a pleasant smell…” I deeply inhaled the air in satisfaction. It seems now I’ll also have a sleepiness to fight against, in addition to hunger. This smell certainly has a calming effect on me.

Alas, this flower’s beauty did not last for long. After some time it withered and turned to dust right before my eyes, a fruit started to take form in its place. The speed of its growth was unsettlingly slow, at least for me, as I suffered from hunger and tiredness. The time flew by, and it just so happened that, in the end, tiredness had won the competition. I did not notice how I fell asleep right before the tree. It was a pleasant, dreamless sleep, which was slowly restoring my energy and strength.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but it was already night outside. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a picture of the night sky. A full moon was shining brightly high up in the sky, surrounded by a multitude of stars, creating unfamiliar constellations. Clear air of this world did not obstruct the starlight from reaching the ground and this unusual brightness of the firmament created a mysterious atmosphere. I’ll have no problem walking around and doing something at night if it’s always this bright, excluding going into the jungle or cloudy nights.

I moved my sight from the sky to the tree below. A pearlescent white fruit was hanging from the branch. It had a size of my palm and a half in length, maybe a little more, and had a mango-like form, a bit curved to one side. I pulled on it and it effortlessly fell into my hand. The weight of this fruit was quite substantial. It’s more than half a kilo, but definitely less than one. Quite a large one to be honest. It had a mild fresh smell I did not recognize. Well, bon appetit!

The taste was not what I had expected from a fruit of a goddess’ tree. It seems that taste was not the goal of this thing. It was a bit fibrous and viscous; the taste itself reminded me of some mix of soy and avocado with some weak fresh fruity flavor. The whole thing was just crying: “PROTEIN!” I agree that I really need it in my condition. Well, I should not complain about such things. I’ve wolfed down the fruit in record time, my hunger finally sated. It was very careless of me to fall asleep in the open. Anything could happen. I must ensure I won’t repeat such a blunder in the future.

I ascended back to the armory; this action came to me surprisingly easy. It seems that my body has started to recover from its sorry state all by itself. “That’s good news.” I returned to the altar room, sat with my back against the wall and tried to go back to sleep, finally succeeding after some time.

When I woke up, the sun was already up. My back and neck felt bad from the hard stone I was lying on. “When did I manage to lay horizontally? Did I just — fell to the side without waking up?”

I stood up and stretched my back and neck, which was accompanied by crackling sounds. Well, what can you expect from sleeping on a hard stone? I was somewhat pepped up from the little warm-up I did. I need to start working on improving my current living conditions. I’ll try to grow another fruit, then wash in a lake and prepare for my little journey into the jungle. I went out of the building and started my new routine. Firstly, I watered the plant. Then I spent some time ‘charging’ it. This time things were going smoothly, the plant did not require that much energy as yesterday, as it was already grown up, I suppose. But it still produced only one flower.

This time I did not wait for the process to complete and went to the lake to wash my clothes and clean myself too. “The water is refreshing, just the right temperature”, I said while I washed myself. I noticed some changes in my body condition. The amount of wrinkles had diminished and the skin itself became somewhat tauter, slight outlines of muscle appeared on the surface of my body. I clenched my fist tightly and felt my strength had partially returned to me. It will help me greatly in my first expedition to this tropical forest. I returned to my little tree, naked, holding my clothes in my hands.

The sun reached the zenith suspiciously fast, and ridiculously stayed there without moving further. The day is going to be hot, my feet will fry for sure in these heavy boots, but I cannot go anywhere without them. I’ve put my clothes on the hot stones of a fallen column nearby, or at least it looked like a column. It’ll dry them in minutes with all this heat.

By this time the plant had finished growing its fruit; it took much less time today. I had my breakfast, and did not forget to collect the seed this time. A seed from yesterday was found nearby, so I picked it up and returned to the warehouse.

I left all my stuff in the storage room, took a whetstone, an axe, a dagger and iron spear out with me. I’ve spent some time outside sitting on the fallen column near my still drying clothes, and while I was waiting for it to dry up I’ve made some minor work removing rust and sharpening the blades of my tools. It wasn’t much, but it made them so much better! At least the tools don’t look blunt anymore.

I’ve put my clothes up, tightened my belt and tucked my dagger under the belt at the right side, and my axe at the left. It was a bad way to keep them around, but it was the only one available to me at the moment. The axe was not a big one, so this should do for now. Also I’ll need my coat; going into any forest wearing just T-shirt is a stupid thing, so I had to return to grab it.

I decided to start my recon journey from the spring where I could drink some water before I proceed. After quenching my thirst, I started going upstream. This way I will not get lost in the forest. I won’t go too far, who knows what dangerous fauna inhabits the depths of this jungle.

Walking up the stream with a spear in my hands, I started to notice the presence of birds, small animals, and, of course, a whole lot of insects, some of which do not mind drinking my blood. “Hateful tiny bastards!” I thought, slapping yet another mosquito on top of my head.

While observing the area and the stream, I’ve remembered one important thing. The stream was littered by small stones, and there could be flints among them. It did not take much time to find one which looked like a flint, but you can easily mistake some other stones for it. I wiped the water from the stone with my clothes and made a glancing hit with my dagger on the stone’s surface, and indeed a few bright sparks flew out from the strike. “Nice!” I spent some more time searching for flints along the stream and managed to find two more of a decent size. I pocketed the stones and continued.

There were a lot of different vines of all colors entangling the trees and bushes, but mainly green and brown ones, some of them had razor sharp needles along its whole length. I’ll be better not to rush, lest I find myself nailed to one of them, and I’ll be lucky if it's not poisonous. From time to time I passed by some sort of bamboo stems. They were quite soft and elastic and did not break easily. I cut one with my axe to test it out. This will be a good material for a makeshift bed. The plant preferred to grow around water, so I could find it along the spring or that rivulet and maybe on the other side of the lake, too.

Suddenly I heard the sound of snapping branches, like something was rushing through the thickets of the jungle. The sounds were coming from the side of a clearing upfront, to the left side of the stream. As the clearing was surrounded by thick bushes I decided to satiate my curiosity, and also take refuge in the thick foliage. I'm too conspicuous out in the open space near this spring. I did not have to wait for a long time.

A creature closely resembling a boar tore through the bushes on the left side of the clearing and desperately rushed to the other side. A few seconds later, accompanied by a deafening roar, one of the bushes was literally obliterated by the paws of a large creature. After venting its rage on a poor bush it instantly resumed its chase. It mostly resembled a lion, with slightly larger maw and big pointy ears with the tassels on its ends. Its mane was in a shade of red, contrasting with its yellowish fur. “Not the best camouflage for the forest”, I thought to myself. On its back I noticed something similar to membranous wings, tightly folded along its sides, but the most ridiculous find was its tail. A giant scorpion tail was in place where a common cat tail should be! Its stinger was the size of a decent dagger.

“I know what it is: a mythical manticore! Well, it is no longer mythical to me, it seems.”

Meanwhile, the manticore made a high jump, spread its wings and, airborne, propelled itself forward with a mighty flap. When it landed, it was almost behind the boar. Doubling its efforts, the manticore closed the distance even more, launching its tail forward in a deadly attack. The boar made a sudden maneuver and moved around the tree, continuing the run for its life. What came next was a loud crash, as the manticore pierced the tree bark with its stinger. Some bark chips flew out from this strike, but the manticore’s tail became stuck in the tree trunk, but not for long. Roaring loudly in dissatisfaction, manticore continued its chase, disappearing back into the jungle. After a minute I heard a plaintive squeal, it seems the boar could not get away.

I waited for some time, but I could not see or hear anything suspicious. Out of curiosity, I quietly went through the overgrown bushes to examine the tree where manticore’s hit had landed. The hit was quite strong, the outer bark was torn out completely at the place of the hit, and the stinger left a hole around five centimeters deep in the wooden part. The wood around the area turned black, it seems the sting also has a strong poison that even affects plants. This thing is deadly. I won’t have any chance of survival should I encounter one. It’s even larger than the actual lion! I need to return for now; remaining in this part can be too dangerous. So I started to walk back towards the stream, trying to be as silent as I can possibly be.

But not long after, I saw a strange creature, not higher than my knee, standing before me a few meters ahead. It looked like some hybrid between a lizard and… a chicken. That's a damn chicken! With a lizard tail and leathery wings. It was drilling me with its angry gaze of its little red eyes, seemingly trying to kill me with its stare. “Well, I don’t mind some chicken for dinner.”

I started to slowly draw my spear, afraid to scare the chicken prematurely with my sudden actions. The chicken tilted its head, seemingly puzzled, then started hissing and clucking in a fit of its bird anger, showing quite sharp and long teeth inside its beak. “Does it eat meat?”

While the chicken was busy throwing this strange fit, I prepared to throw my spear. By this time, the chicken turned its right eye to me, perhaps to take a better look. Its eye had bulged, looking at me intently; red veins have become visible in its sclera. Then it made two funny jumps sideways towards me, abruptly stretched out its neck and its eye had bulged even more, looking right into my eyes. Its eye almost got out of its eye socket, as its head started to tremble slightly in overexertion. “What a stupid bird!” I was starting to have trouble holding my laughter in.

“Well, however funny this whole thing may be, I still need some meat in my diet, sorry!” I thought to myself.

I threw the spear at my target as fast as I could. The distance was not long, and it should hit its mark. The chicken turned its head and was following the spear with its eyes in total disbelief. When it finally realized what’s to come, it tried running to the side in a panic, but it was too late, its movements brought it right onto the collision course of the flying spear. It was an instant death, the spear pierced its chest and went out from another side, nailing the unfortunate chicken lizard to the ground.

“Gruesome! But this is life…” I had a little pity for the funny lizard chicken, but it was not time to ponder and hesitate. Without much delay, I grabbed it, pulled out my spear and hurried back. I don’t want to meet any predators attracted by the smell of blood.

On the way back wind started to blow above the jungle, bending the tops of the trees that were too high. It seems the rain is coming. I should hasten my step. When I returned to my abode, the sky was still clear, but the rain could come in the evening, I guess. I still have some time to do something useful.

I put the body of the chicken inside to avoid attracting beasts to my place. There are still a lot of things which need to be done, but I have little time. I decided to gather some dry wood for the fireplace in the nearest side of the jungle. I will also need some durable vines to make any simple constructions made of wood, but there is no lack of them at all. Then I’ll need at least four thin tree trunks to make a frame for my bed and a decent amount of that bamboo-like plant stems which like to grow near the water.

“I might not have enough time, damn it!” I grumbled to myself, looking at the distant horizon, where the first light-gray clouds started to appear. “Well, however tedious the task may seem, it still needs to be done.”

I made a small sigh, took my axe and knife and started on my way to the nearest patch of trees. I need to find dry wood first. It was not long until I found a dead tree that still hasn’t fallen, and it was sufficiently dry. The axe did a decent job, albeit a partially rotten tree did not offer much resistance, anyway.

It took me three trips to carry the firewood and dry branches I needed. The absence of any decent container for carrying stuff made the work much harder. Then I’ve found some more or less straight young trees to make a frame for the bed out of their trunks, which needed two longer ones and two shorter ones. It took much more effort than cutting a dead tree, but I managed to do it, thanks to my sturdy axe and my improved physical condition. Then I moved them back to my place one by one.

“Ha! Now I can take on some heavy weight without the fear of snapping my back!” I cheered myself up to focus on my task at hand. My health has definitely improved since yesterday.

Maybe I should do something with that wooden box in the storage, but I doubt it could shoulder the wear and tear by a heavy load. The next were vines, well, that’s the easiest part. I’ve got a whole pile of them in a short time. There will be a lot of waste for sure, not all of these vines were durable enough.

The winds in the sky had blown the clouds a bit to the side, so I’m lucky to have a bit more time. Walking down the hill, I noticed that my tree produced another fruit somehow. It was a pleasant surprise, but there wasn’t much time to ponder about this matter.

I rushed to the area of the spring, where ‘water bamboo’, how I called it, grew in abundance. It was light and was easily chopped with my axe, but I had to mind the size, it won’t be good if the stems are too thick or too thin. I’ve collected a whole pile of them, with length around a meter and a half, fixed the pile with vines which grew around, made some sort of shoulder straps from them and… “u-u-u-U-U-Uh-h! That’s… heavy…” I groaned and huffed as I lifted the pile. “Was I too greedy with the amount I chopped down?” I panted after lifting the whole pile of stems, but I think I can still make it to the hill this way, but I’ll have to unpack it there. It’ll be impossible to carry it uphill.

“Damn, if I was in my old body I’d do it… Well, maybe.” I did somewhat overestimate my capabilities, it took a long twenty minutes to get it to the hill, and it has already started to rain. Rare, but heavy drops were hitting my body from time to time.

Strong wind was blowing in my back the whole trip, somewhat making my job easier. “Damn it! I need at least half of these materials to stay dry.” I unpacked my stack of stems and, ignoring the pain and tiredness in my sore muscles, hurried up the hill with a third or so of the whole pack in my hands. After unloading and rushing back, my hands and legs were already trembling and unsteady, but it’s almost done.

“I shall persist!” I psyched myself to finish the job.

When I finally made it with another third, the sky floodgates finally opened, and torrential downpour washed over the land, soaking anyone unlucky enough to get caught by the storm outside any shelter. The landscape turned dark from the heavy clouds blocking the sun. Bolts of lightning illuminated the area with bright flashes frequently. They were hitting the ground and tearing the clouds with frightening frequency. Constant rumble of thunder resounded through the open space.

I sighed. “Well, this rain is going to be a long one…” I waved my hand dismissively at the last third of the stems, now completely soaked, shaking my head, then walked inside and closed the door.

“Damn I’ve left the fruit down there!” I kicked the stone wall in a small fit of anger and then sighed. “No. I should refrain from damaging my boots in the long run; there won’t be any spare pairs…”

Thinking that soaking under the downpour would be a bad idea with a risk of catching cold, I postponed my trip to the tree for later. Maybe the rain will get weaker after some time. All my clothes have already become drenched, not by rain, but by my own sweat. It's no joke to wear a coat designed for a cold autumn in a hot and wet jungle. I will have to wash everything tomorrow. I put off my clothes, except for my boxers. Even if I’m alone, it’s still uncomfortable going around stark naked. I still had my dry shirt that I did not take into the jungle; maybe I’ll put it on when I go to sleep, so I won’t freeze.

I moved my hoard of materials to the altar room, which still had enough light and started my work. The rain was pouring down at the center of the altar room, disappearing into the grooves in the floor, which must have led the water out of the structure. But it is really humid and cool here now. This room will be unsuitable for sleeping during rainy periods, so I have no choice but to move to the storage room every time it rains. It has stale air, but I won’t get sick at least.

One hour later.

So… Yes… I have failed. Again. “It seems my damn arms are growing from my rump instead of my shoulders! Why can’t I make this damn frame so it is not skewing sideways every single time I try to fix it in place?!” I shouted in frustration. Well, it could help if I made some grooves for the vines at the crossing sections. So, the work continued. It was tiring, and the hunger had set in quickly. I went to check the weather outside, the rain subsided somewhat, so it was possible to make a trip down the hill to grab the fruit. Wet grass and soil made my trip troublesome, and I’ve got my underpants, as well as my legs, stained with mud after a fall or two.

“Oh great… Just look at me. The first human bum of Equis. Behold!” I joked to myself, theatrically lifting my free hand to the sky. At least the fruit is still clean. As for water, I already had several helmets prepared at the storage, filled. It was a good idea to bring some extra yesterday. After wiping the mud from my legs with my… jeans, yeah, I need to wash those tomorrow anyway, and dealing with my bodily needs, I returned to my work.

My final result was somewhat… crude and shabby. A frame around one and a half meters by two, maybe slightly more. The bed stood pretty low from the floor, but I could fix that later, horizontal beams of elastic bamboo stems created a surface which could hold my weight without snapping or bending too much, but I should be careful to not fall on this bed, or it may snap. It was also wider than it needed to be, but that’s good, I guess. I don’t like small beds. The whole thing was shabbily tied with strong vines. I hope it won’t crumble in a few days from drying up.

“Oh, there’s still a chicken carcass in the storage room; I hope it hasn't gone bad already in this hot climate.” Now I have to deal with this matter, or my efforts in the jungle will go to waste. It must be getting late already, but the sun still did not move. I’ve descended to the nearest jungle to grab some large and flat palm leaves to use as a surface when I’ll be dealing with my today’s game. Things are going to get dirty, as I have no experience of gutting anything from stage zero.

By the time I finished my unpleasant deed outside, the sun had started to set. The process will probably take no more than an hour until complete darkness descends. I need a good wash in the lake with all that blood on my skin. I took a clean palm leaf and left my future supper in the storage room on it. I returned when twilight was already around. Starting a fire with a flint took some practice and a sacrifice of a shabby dagger covered with rust. The darkness inside the building was not helping me either, but after some time I had a bonfire burning. A bit of smoke lingered in the room, but it was mostly fine with it going out through the ceiling opening.

“I do not have any salt or spices for the meat, but I’m not complaining, the food provided by the tree is clearly insufficient for my body that is actively trying to restore itself back to health. Also, the fruit has a really bland taste, so a change in ration is really welcome.” I mulled, quietly talking to myself. “It seems I’ve started to develop some strange habits from being all alone, like talking to myself.” I commented on the obvious change in my behavior.

A simple construction of branches and a sword worked just fine. My fireplace was right in the altar room. The window in the roof was providing enough ventilation. Yesterday I even had a thought of starting the fire on the altar, but now I’ve dropped the idea as impractical and stupid, so it was a little on the side, where the ceiling protected it from the falling rain. Today, I’ll finally eat the food I’ve provided myself, with my own two hands. I’d raise a glass to this matter, but alas…

The meat tasted good, even without the salt or spices. Especially the tail! Well, in the absence of food variety and with my tingling hunger it may seem tastier for me than it actually is. I left around half of it for tomorrow, but I was still rather full, the lizard bird had a decent size, after all.

The bamboo bed was not bad in terms of comfort, surprisingly. The elasticity of these plants was much higher than the real bamboo back on earth, it was rather soft, and I can sleep on this bed even without any bedding, if it's not too cold. Not that I have it, anyway. Today, I’ll sleep in the storage room. The faint blue light is a little irritating, but I can’t turn it off, so I’ll just deal with it. And so, I’ve gone to sleep.

Canterlot Royal Palace. The day of Ray’s arrival.

Graceful being was half-lying on a large red pillow before the tea table. There was an extravagant tea set at the table along with a number of desserts. That being was no other than the ruler of surrounding lands, of a country named Equestria. Princess Celestia, a wise ruler, a keeper of peace and harmony of these lands for more than a thousand years. No one knows for sure how old she is, but she always looks to be in her prime. Her natural grace is often the reason for sleepless nights for male population of different species around the country, and even beyond. But by the chronicles, one can say she is far beyond a thousand years.

The local population calls themselves ‘Ponies’, and naturally, they have some resemblance to those species, but this resemblance ends at the distant anatomical association. One will never be able to mistake intelligent, conscious beings, with a face and mimic closely reminiscent of humans’, for mere animals, generally used as means of transportation some time back on Earth.

The Princess was having a break from her royal duties. Even after more than a millennium had passed, she insisted that she personally manage the whole country, to preserve that brittle harmony and peaceful times she was building for centuries for her subjects. She was a rare case of determination and selflessness in that regard. She could always put her work aside and indulge herself in pleasure and indolence, but she rarely allowed herself to actually do so.

A cup of hot tea was hovering before her, surrounded by a faintly glowing magic field, and the Princess sipped tea elegantly every once in a while. A fork with small pieces of cake on it flew up to her mouth periodically. At her side, in another magic grip, hovered a fresh newspaper, which she was reading at the moment.

Quiet and melodious laughter escaped her lips. “Those journalists will never cease to entertain everypony with new rumors about me.” She said with a smile. At this moment the doors to her room slowly opened, and her sister, Princess Luna, entered the room.

“May we join you, our dear sister?” She said in an old royal style.

“Oh, Luna, good day! When will you stop using this archaic royal speech?” She smiled wryly at her. “Our little ponies will never accept you fully if you keep using this arrogant style. You wanted to grow closer with our subjects, didn’t you?”

“I know, Celly. I was just teasing you.” She said mischievously and smiled at her sister, with a light giggle.

Celestia giggled briefly. “You were always like that, Luna!” She smiled back at her. “Why are you not sleeping at this hour? It's midday and you always prefer to sleep at this time.”

“Oh, I don’t know, but I can’t get any sleep, so I thought of joining you for a cup of tea… and some cakes. And I’ll personally deal with your high sugar intake,” she added solemnly, “by eating your cake!” She started laughing, lifting the plate with a cake in a dark blue magic aura.

“Alright, I don’t mind sharing.” Celestia replied with a chuckle.

Two sisters were having a good time while conversing about various things they deemed interesting. But that idyll was interrupted by Celestia. She opened her half-closed eyes and abruptly stood up from her pillow.

“Luna, please wait for a moment!” She said with a serious face. Her horn was instantly engulfed in a powerful magic field.

“What’s wrong, sister?” Luna stood up too.

“No, I can’t say it poses a threat. I feel some strong waves of unknown magic coming from the south!”

“Is it from Everfree forest… or maybe from our old castle?” Luna asked, her horn now alight, too.

“Try sensing it yourself. This anomaly seems to have disappeared. Maybe it’s a false alarm, after all.” Celestia mulled.

“I can’t sense anything from that direction, Selly. It’s strange I didn’t sense anything, but it’s not surprising given I must be sleeping now.” The magic aura surrounding Luna’s horn grew in intensity.

They were waiting for any strong magic activity for another quarter of an hour.

“Here it is, Selly! The south!” Shouted Luna. Then added: “I’ve never sensed this kind of magic disturbance in my whole life, I’m afraid I can’t help you much with identifying what it is, sister,” said Luna with regret.

“I don’t know, this magic signature is very unusual, and this magic resonance frequency… With this intensity, do you think it can be that far as Everfree forest? It’s more like its source is somewhere in the vicinity of Canterlot. Honestly, judging by intensity alone, it’s too powerful to be that far away.” Celestia’s eyes opened wide, and started to glow with intensive white light with the whole of their surface. Her eyes resembled a powerful floodlight at the moment. Her body floated up, and the wind started to swirl around her, her magnificent mane billowing in strong air currents.

“Impossible!” Her voice boomed across the whole palace, a royal guard looked inside the room to check if something had happened, but quickly escaped back when he saw Celestia. “This magic resonance frequency is impossible! Unless... unless… No, no, no, it must be some mistake or my imagination running wild… Can it be… her? No, that’s nonsense, it’s rather one of those sinister events…” she muttered almost inaudibly with a sad voice and then exhaled slowly, her eyes and horn returned to normal. “It disappeared,” she stated to her sister.

“Sister! Just what did you sense there?” Luna inquired.

“Nothing I can be sure of, Luna…”

“Sister!”

“…”

“Sister!”

“… alright, alright.” Celestia paused. “Magical resonance frequency… It’s abnormal.”

“What’s unusual about it? It’s not like we haven’t seen high frequencies before. We should just find the source.”

“It is indeed so.” Celestia sighed again. “But… it’s more than a million…”

“What do you mean?” asked Luna, bewildered.

“More than a million Swirls!” Celestia looked intently in Luna’s eyes.

“… … … What?” Luna shouted. “Are you kidding me?” She raised her brow.

“Do I look like I’m joking around?” Celestia replied.

“Um-m-m… no.” Luna scratched her head with a forehoof.

“We need to locate the exact location and find the source as soon as possible.” Celestia declared.

“I agree, sister.” Luna paused for a bit and asked, “Do you have any viable plan?”

“I think I do. I’ll contact Twilight. We’ll use a magical trace resonance method. We’ll need three alicorns to use it on a large scale. So it’s me, you and Twilight. She also has proper equipment in her lab in Ponyville. We’ll need it. Alright, I need to see her in person. As I need to conserve my power, I’ll have to do it in an old way, by flying. See you later, sister, be ready and try to rest before I return.” Not caring for any etiquette, she stormed out of the room right through the window, spread her wings, and disappeared into the horizon.

“What was she muttering about? She didn’t tell me everything…”

Author's Note

Revamped on 02 Sep 2022, bringing it in line with the ovehauled chapter 1.