He, the one we’ve summoned from another world to be our Champion, learns quickly. Though he is barely of age, has a mind sharper than most. He spoke an alien tongue when he first arrived, one I’ve never heard in any of the Realms despite me being a learned man. He cked knowledge of any nguage in Avani. This made communication difficult, as you can imagine. Yet he soon began to learn our tongue with surprising speed. I can only hope he learns how to fight and master Ether as quickly as he picks up our nguage. If he does, then he may well and truly be the Champion we need to turn the tides against those dreaded elves!

  -Excerpt from “The Chief Summoner’s Observations”

  After his talk with Athanasius, the god of the Dominion departed the next day back to Branlyn. He left Galen’s education and training in the hands of his people in Axis Mundi, having expressed utmost confidence that they would do their job well.

  Most of Galen’s time since was spent studying and learning the official nguage of the Dominion. The nguage itself was called Durainese. Questionable naming sense aside, it was unlike any nguage he’d seen before. He’d already learned several tongues back on Earth, courtesy of his grandfather Non. Through that, he found that he had a talent for learning new nguages. Even with the knowledge of several tongues, however, Durainese well and truly felt like the nguage of another world.

  Not all his time had been spent huddled up studying, however. Even the most stalwart and introverted schor would eventually go mad if they never left their room. So, he found time to get some exercise in to make sure he didn’t get out of shape.

  The first time he’d left his room to get some exercise early in the morning, he’d done it unannounced. He’d nearly caused a panic when the servants found his room empty. Thankfully, Aleksi had quickly found him running ps in the interior of the castle before the panic got too high. Galen had been so confused when he noticed the armed state of the servants and guards.

  Thankfully, after he’d expined what he’d been doing, Aleksi had transted for him. While the people in the castle had been uneasy still, they finally rexed when the man had offered to keep an eye on their new Champion in the making.

  Though it was annoying not being able to be on his own, Aleksi’s presence at least allowed Galen to get some exercise without causing a scene. And it had been during one of his morning runs during his first week in this world when he’d made a shocking discovery. It had happened when he went outside in one of the castle’s many courtyards.

  The heat had hit him damn near like a furnace. The sudden and unexpected change in temperature from pleasantly cool to middle of summer hot had spooked him into running back inside. Aleksi had seen the entire scene, and his ughter had made Galen blush to his ears.

  It had been after his embarrassment had died down that the realization hit him.

  The castle had AIR CONDITIONING.

  “Is something the matter, d?” Aleksi asked him as he rubbed the ughter tears from his eyes.

  “The castle has air conditioning!” Galen paused, “ah… never mind. You probably don’t know what that is.”

  Aleksi smiled in a knowing way, “Oh, I do! It’s quite common in the capital as well as the other cities in Axis Mundi. It’s one of the best inventions ever made! Especially for this Realm. Axis Mundi is filled with an overabundance of Fire Ether. That’s why it’s so hot you see.”

  Galen opened and closed his mouth repeatedly like a fish out of water. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. Now, he already knew a lot of the anime, manga, and light novels where the protagonist got sent to another world probably wasn’t going to be very accurate or helpful for his situation. However, based on the looks of the castle he stayed at, he figured the technology in this world would be like it was in a lot of those stories. That is to say, Medieval or Middle Age era tech.

  Yet the Dominion had something as modern as air conditioning.

  “How do you-” Galen began before Aleksi cut him off with the answer.

  “When the First Champion was summoned and gained enough power, prestige, and influence to sway the Dominion, then called the Empire, he proposed many such inventions. All apparently inspired by the technology of his, and your, original world. You could say your predecessor led a technological revolution in the Dominion. It was one of his many, many accomplishments that eventually led to him becoming the new Emperor when the old ruler perished. The former Emperor died in battle during the war with the elves.”

  That was a lot to take in for Galen. Yet his mind clung to one thing, “There was a war against elves? Wait, elves are thing in this world?!”

  Aleksi frowned, “Yes… you look and sound positively baffled, d. Were there no elves in your world?”

  “No!” Galen immediately answered, a smile forming on his face, “wow, that’s… that’s amazing! I- wait! Are there any other races besides humans and elves?!”

  The man nodded in confirmation.

  Galen couldn’t keep the childish grin from his face, “There’s no way! Awesome! I can’t wait to- hold on… you mentioned war against the elves. Are humans and elves not on good terms in this world? And what about the other races?”

  Aleksi sighed, “That would be an understatement, d. We won’t go into it now, however. It’s quite an extensive topic. For now, focus on learning Durainese. After you do that, we can begin giving you lessons on the history of Avani.”

  Galen felt disappointed at that, yet he nodded in understanding. He would love to meet an elf and ask them about their culture and history if possible. He wondered if they were as beautiful as the fictional stories on Earth made them out to be. Yet it seemed that meeting one would be more complicated than he hoped.

  Moving on from the topic of elves, he asked, “What other technology did the First Champion introduce to the Dominion?”

  Aleksi smiled, though instead of answering, he said, “We’ll get into all that once you become more fluent in Durainese. So you better learn quick!”

  Boy, had that been a motivator for him. It normally takes a person anywhere between months to years to learn a new tongue. However, after he’d spent a total of three months in this world, he’d attained a decent grasp of the nguage. His talent for tongues, combined with most of his time having been spent doing nothing but learning Durainese, helped him learn exceptionally quickly.

  Once he’d learned how to read the nguage, he’d requested several books to further his study and mastery of it. Aleksi, who by now had basically been designated his tutor, had assisted him in procuring the material.

  Galen had requested books that covered the history of this world, and his now tutor had taken the opportunity to begin giving him lessons on the matter.

  Now, he sat in his room, awaiting Aleksi to return with the history books. He studied the room that had been given to him. It was the kind of bedroom that someone with too much money to spend would have. It was extremely spacious, and had the biggest bed Galen had ever seen in the middle of the room. Maids worked hard to keep the entirety of the space nice and tidy, without a single speck of dust to be found.

  With how rge the room was, and considering how Galen was the only occupant, it made him feel rather lonely…

  He smiled as he briefly wondered how Serenity would react if she saw the room he was staying at. His smile died at remembering her...

  A knock on the door mercifully kept Galen from falling back into grief. “Come in!” he called out.

  “That’s no good, d!” the now familiar voice chided as the door opened, revealing Aleksi followed by two maids holding stacks of thick books.

  Galen raised a brow, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what if it wasn’t me? What if you gave someone you didn’t know permission to come in? You need to be careful about that,” Aleksi warned.

  Galen frowned, “Is that actually something I should be worried about?”

  “Perhaps,” Aleksi said with a serious expression.

  His strict demeanor cracked as he chuckled, “For all you know, I could have been a beautiful woman looking to bed you.”

  Galen nearly choked at the suggestion, “Uh… yeah, I doubt that.”

  Aleksi raised a finger in warning, “And that right there is what I mean, d. You’re still not fully aware of your position here. You’re the new Champion. Summoned to fight on behalf of the Dominion! Considering the things the First Champion accomplished, simply being his repcement has pced the eyes of many influential and powerful people on you.”

  He still had a hard time believing that. He gnced to the two maids who had helped Aleksi bring the study material. They were surprisingly beautiful in their own right. They both flushed and turned their heads with a shy smile when he met their eyes. He felt his own cheeks fre with a blush at that, making Aleksi smirk. He gave his mentor a half-hearted gre.

  “Maybe I’d be more aware of my position if you hadn’t held off on teaching me the history of this world,” Galen pointed out.

  “You have a point there. And for that, I apologize,” Aleksi said with a light bow of his head, “Learning Durainese first was of utmost importance. Especially considering how, even though I can speak your tongue, I’m not completely fluent. I didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings.”

  Galen snorted, “Not fluent? Sure, you have an accent when you speak English, but it’s not that bad.”

  “You ftter me, d,” Aleksi said before frowning, “however, if I’m being honest… your nguage, English you called it? It… can be rather confusing.”

  Galen chuckled, “Yeah, I can get that. Hell, even native English speakers have a hard time with it sometimes.”

  They both shared a ugh at that.

  “So? How have I done in learning Durainese?” Galen asked.

  This entire exchange had been done in the nguage of the Dominion. Judging from the beaming smile Aleksi gave him, he’d done well.

  “You’ve got an obvious accent,” his tutor pointed out, “but overall? You’ve done marvelously. I can hardly believe you’ve become this proficient in just over three months.”

  “A bit ironic to have you of all people point out my accent.”

  Aleksi gave a hearty ugh, “I suppose it is! How about that? Well then, let us begin your first history lesson.”

  He dismissed the maids who had helped him lug and organize the plethora of books. Galen eyed the textbooks suspiciously, “That’s a lot of books.”

  “Well, you are asking to learn the history of Avani, d,” Aleksi picked up one of the books, “I hope you’re mentally refreshed. Because this is gonna take a while.”

  Galen nodded with a smile, “Well, luckily for me, I happen to love learning about history.”

  Aleksi beamed and began the long, long lecture.

  ***

  Galen’s head pounded after Aleksi finished today’s history lesson. To make a long lecture short, he learned that Avani was the name of the world itself, and that it was a rather strange at that.

  It was nothing like Earth.

  For one, where Earth had been a globe, Avani seemed to be a world comprised of several Realms. Each Realm apparently followed the Ft World concept. Well, not EXACTLY. It was just the closest comparison he could think of.

  There was the Realm Galen was currently in, Axis Mundi, which at one point had been the center of all the Realms. Then, there was Branlyn, which was the native Realm of the humans of this world. There were a couple others as well, but Aleksi had brushed over those as to not prolong an already long lecture.

  The strangest thing about Avani was that it wasn’t always like this.

  According to the history books, the Realms of Avani had once been one as a globe like Earth. But a cataclysmic event had separated them into their current state. Galen had a hard time believing any of it. Especially since he had not been allowed to leave the castle since his summoning. He wanted to go into Axis Mundi and see for himself if this Realm was truly a Ft World.

  This reminded him of how strange the skies of Avani were.

  Unlike on Earth, where the skies were blue and filled with clouds and stars, the sky in this world was covered in a thick, swirling veil of orange and yellow light. It was quite the spectacle to behold for him the first time he’d seen it.

  The sky here seemed to dance with celestial light in a swirling, shimmering, and almost chaotic motion that was hard to put into words.

  Avani’s version of the Aurora Borealis covered the stars that should have been present, yet in a contradicting manner they seemed to dim as the sun set, allowing for there to be darkness during the night. Strangely, the moon’s light seemed to be able to pierce the veil, particurly on its fuller cycles, yet the moon itself was somehow hidden by the celestial lights. He only knew there was a moon at all because of the moonlight, and because he asked if Avani had one.

  The colored veil that covered the skies were high, as clouds still formed as they did on Earth and covered the view of the strange lights.

  At least the clouds of this world seem to be the same as Earth’s, Galen thought.

  Comparing Avani to his home world was always a dangerous rabbit hole. Dangerous in that he could and has spent hours thinking about various conundrums and came away each time with more questions than answers.

  As an example, was Avani simply another pnet in the nigh endless universe? And if so, then that meant that there WAS life on other pnets! Which led him to naturally ask if and how many other pnets had sentient life.

  And if Avani wasn’t another pnet in Galen’s universe, then did that mean that he was in another reality altogether? And if so, then did that prove multiverse theory true?!

  The previous two questions had also brought a set of theological problems he was wrestling with. He wasn’t super religious. His mother Olivia, however, had been the most religious one in the family, surprisingly followed by his grandfather, Non. And he himself did have a belief in God. His current situation, however, brought up so many theological questions and implications that it made his head spin whenever he thought about it.

  “Screw it,” Galen muttered.

  He lied down on his too rge bed and wrapped himself within the warm sheets, “I’m too tired to ponder on all this. I’m going to sleep.”

  He’d spent so long thinking about what he learned about Avani and his own conundrums that it was now night. Mercifully, he quickly drifted into unconsciousness.

  ***

  Another month had gone by since the first historical lecture. Aleksi had some duties to attend to, and had encouraged Galen to continue his studies on his own.

  He didn’t need to be told twice. He’d have done it with or without Aleksi’s suggestion considering he liked history too much to do otherwise.

  Galen smiled as he thought, Man, if Serenity were here, she’d no doubt call me a nerd-

  He grimaced as he felt a strong stab of guilt, Don’t think about her! Keep yourself busy. There’s lots to learn here…

  And kept himself busy he did during the st three weeks. During that time, Galen confirmed the existence of other races in Avani. He had all but jumped out of his seat in excitement when he learned that dwarves, along with elves, were among those races. No orcs unfortunately. But giants were apparently a thing here! As were demi-humans, apparently. Though they were the most reclusive of all the races, even before the Realms had been separated.

  Unfortunately, as Galen continued his studies, he found that it was unlikely he’d have a friendly meeting with any of the other races. The reason being was that nearly a millennia ago, the elves had invaded Branlyn, the Human Realm, and started a war with the goal of conquering humanity. Man, of course, did not take kindly to being invaded. They had fought back with enough ferocity to keep the elves from completely conquering them, but they were barely hanging on.

  On the losing end of the war, they decided to perform a Summoning. To bring forth someone who can aid them in their time of need. It was here when the First Champion was summoned, and he would eventually lead the armies of man in their war, successfully defending Branlyn and pushing the elves out of their Realm.

  Humanity ter caught wind that the elves were conspiring with the other races to conquer and ensve mankind. After this, they’d decided to themselves become invaders and pushed to conquer Vindanna, the Realm of the elves, before they could gain the support of the rest of Avani. They had gone as far as conquering Axis Mundi, the center of all the Realms, and were primed to invade Vindanna.

  Unfortunately, the act of conquering the Center Realm had given the elves the justification they needed to sway the other races into assisting them. Their goal was to prevent Humanity from invading the rest. This led to the cataclysmic event that left Avani in the state it is currently in. As such, this event had appropriately been named the Great Fragmentation.

  Galen had a bad feeling as he read the history books chronicling these events. No matter how much he pondered on it, however, he couldn’t pce what was causing him a sense of unease.

  He sighed, and realized he now had a clearer idea as to what Athanasius had meant when he said there was ongoing conflict in this world. And it was looking like he had to be a participant in the conflict if he ever wanted to go home.

  Galen didn’t like the idea.

  He disliked war. Grandpa Non told him plenty of stories about its horrors. As he got older, his grandfather revealed more and more of the more of the unpleasant and graphic details.

  In spite of that, Non had also expined the necessity of fighting to keep your home and those you loved safe. Only, in Galen’s case, he wouldn’t be fighting for either of those. He would be fighting on behalf of people he didn’t know, for an empire that he cared little about, all for his selfish desire to return home.

  How many lives would he be forced to take to achieve that? Galen began to feel sick at the thought...

  A knock on his door mercifully took him away from his brooding. He already figured who it would be, but he asked anyway, “Who is it?”

  “It’s Aleksi,” the familiar voice identified himself, “I’ve returned from my duties. And I’ve got good news!”

  Intrigued, Galen invited him to come in.

  Aleksi smiled, “Well d, as I said I got good news…. And unfortunately bad news.”

  “Bad news first,” Galen requested.

  Aleksi chuckled, “Well, in this case the bad news won’t make sense if you don’t get the good news first.”

  Galen sighed, “Fine. Hit me.”

  “I know you’ve been itching to explore Ignis. And I received word when I returned that it’s finally time to show you around!” Aleksi announced.

  “It’s about time,” he frowned and added, “wait, let me guess. I’m not allowed to go alone, am I?”

  Aleksi sighed, “As sharp as ever, d. I knew they wouldn’t let you go into Ignis alone. So I tried to ask if only I could accompany you. That way you could be more comfortable. Unfortunately, that idea was shot down. You’ll have a group of soldiers guiding and guarding you as you tour Ignis.”

  Galen groaned, “At least tell me you’ll be there.”

  Aleksi’s eyes twinkled, “They said if you specifically requested it, then I will be allowed to attend.”

  Galen nodded vigorously, “Of course! Though, I don’t want to force you. Only go if you want-”

  “Don’t you start with that, d,” Aleksi interrupted, “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I minded going.”

  Galen breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks. You’re the one I’ve known the longest so… I don’t know. It wouldn’t feel right not having you there.”

  Aleksi gave him a warm, paternal smile, “I’m honored to hear that.”

  Galen returned his smile. Over the course of the st four months, they’d gotten to know each other rather well. Aleksi was not only his tutor, but he was also the only one in the castle who treated him normally. Everyone else called him, “Champion,” and would give him words of reverence and praise.

  It made him extremely uncomfortable.

  Aleksi, on the other hand, didn’t do any of that. Besides occasionally calling him “Champion” that is. It also helped that the man was very patient and was an overall jovial person. He even reminded Galen a bit of his te grandfather. If, a more rexed, happier, less paranoid, and less strict version of his grandfather.

  Actually, Aleksi’s more of a mix between Dad and Grandpa. I wonder how Dad would react if I told him that, he chuckled at the thought before quickly growing somber thinking of his family.

  “When will we go?” Galen asked to distract his mind.

  “Tomorrow morning. You will be awoken by the maids when it’s time to get ready… is what I would say if you didn’t normally wake up just before sunrise,” Aleksi answered with a chuckle.

  Galen shrugged, “What can I say? Early bird gets the worm.”

  “Quite,” Aleksi turned to leave, “I’d best get going. No lessons for today. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. So we should both get plenty of sleep and rest.”

  Galen nodded in agreement, “Good night, Aleksi.”

  Aleksi smiled, nodded, and began to leave. He hesitated at the door for a brief moment, however. Galen frowned, “What’s wrong?”

  “I…” Aleksi began before shaking his head, “it’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow, d.”

  He left without another word.

  Weird… what was that about? Galen thought.