4 Avalon Miller – 2

(Avalon's POV)

Sudra grabs my head with his massive head, making me think instantly that I made a mistake and that my skull would soon splash and my brains splatter on the ground. However, while I'm frozen, Sudra gratefully doesn't smash my head in. instead, he seems to be focusing on something, and I feel a strange feeling from his hand, as if something was flowing from my head to his hand.

After a few seconds, he took his hand off my head and demandingly said:

(Sudra): "Your name."

(Avalon): "A-Avalon Miller."

I answered instinctively, the feeling of sudden death dispersing like the energy in my head.

(Sudra): "Don't move."

He then proceeds to take a crystal from his pocket. It started glowing, and a feminine voice speaking a language that I don't recognize from anywhere in earth started talking. After a few exchanges, Sudra clicked his tongue and looked at me with slight anger in his face.

(Sudra): "Alright kid, you're coming with me." Then he looks at the other people and screams. "I'll take fifty of you! The rest stay inside the wall or you'll die to the stuff outside! The group that will come with me from where I'm pointing right now will follow me closely! If you fall behind, you die!"

The area that he pointed, surprisingly accurately splitting fifty people from the larger group. The other people follow unwillingly but follow anyway since he just killed someone. Since I know better, and had my head clutched and rather not have that happen again, I followed silently. We got out from the middle gate.

We walk to the gate, and I notice the archers atop the wall. They seem fairly intimidating, and the faces that I see through the have distinctive traits that I have never seen in my life. They also don't seem confused, so I guess they weren't brought here like us.

We go out of the gate, to a wide path that disappears in a turn after round three hundred meters. around it, a dense forest of extremely tall trees blocking the vision for anywhere else. Sudra looks at us and says as the gate closes behind us.

(Sudra): "Follow me closely! We will through the jungle to the middle of the left path meet another hero! The jungle, this forested area, is dangerous and full of monsters that you won't hope to defeat! Don't lag behind!"

He turned and started running. I get startled by his sudden speed, and to incentive people to survive, I raise my staff and start running while screaming a "let's go!" in English. They may not even speak it, but since it's fairly known, most people will understand. With that, I run after Sudra with the other people in toe.

And I must say, I am a very athletic person, and I can run much faster than the average person, but Sudra makes me eat dust! I'm running full speed with my all just to follow him, and even so he looks like he's barely even trying!

After the first ten minutes or so, he finally stops, and I raise my hand as I stop as well, the others surprisingly following my command. They all collapse on the ground, exhausted. I heavily lean on my staff to stay standing. I make a quick head count… alright, it seems nobody is missing, or so I hope.

As I struggle to stay standing, Sudra approaches us.

(Sudra): "We will make a short break here." He says, normally this time as his voice can easily reach all of us. He then points at me. "Come with me."

I nod and follow him, using my staff as support. Running with all your power for ten minutes ain't easy, even more on the uneven terrain of the forest. Sudra takes me for a slightly isolated area, still near the group. I worry that this might be the end for me, since I don't like that glint that he has on his eyes.

When we're on a distance that they can't hear us, he says to me:

(Sudra): "Avalon, right?"

(Avalon): "Yes sir."

I answer. He smiles, and although I admit that he is handsome, the feeling that I'm getting from his mug is far from sympathetic.

(Sudra): "You know how this place works?"

He asks out of the blue. Taken by surprise, I answer, surprisingly not stuttering.

(Avalon): "No idea."

He nods, as if expecting my answer.

(Sudra): "Before I continue, have been some cases of people passing out and never waking up again in your world?"

(Avalon): "Yeah, we know about that. It's the latest thing that has been happening for the past two years."

(Sudra): "By the looks of it, you figured out that they come to here when they pass out."

I nod, since that was the logical point for me judging for what happened about me and how varied the other people are.

(Sudra): "In a resumed version, when you people pass out, your souls are brought here. The people that don't wake up are the ones that died here, so the soul never returns to the body. And the ones that return are the ones that survive."

I nod to the new information. It makes sense, considering the strange shit that has happened till now.

(Sudra): "As for why you guys are dragged here, you know about powers?"

(Avalon): "No."

I answer honestly. Sudra raises his eyebrows, seeming genuinely surprised.

(Sudra): "Anyway, every single being has powers within them. Therefore, minions come to the battlegrounds to go through life threatening situations to awaken their powers. Well, if you fail to awaken a power you die, since the threat of death here is real. So now, since you are somewhat valuable for the team, I'll teach you to shoot magic. You don't know how to do it, right?"

I shake my head. I have no idea how to use magic, if that even exists. Sudra makes a weird face, as if my denial was something that he wasn't expecting.

(Sudra): "Well, I guess it's time to teach you then. Let me see… do you feel any kind of energy inside you? Like a strange feeling or something?"

(Avalon): "Actually, yeah, I do."

I answer, since when I hold the staff, I can feel a strange energy flowing back and forth. He nods.

(Sudra): "Have you tried to control it yet?"

I shook my hand. He then makes a hand gesture as if saying "go on". I shrugged and closed my eyes, trying to remember the stuff of the fantasy novels that I have read. Well, at least I can try, right? I think that he'll kill me if I don't, since he has threatened to kill me more than actually giving orders.

With my eyes closed, I can focus on the strange feeling. I immediately feel a response and an even stranger feeling, as if I had grown an extra limb. I feel some energy in my belly, and I try to move it. it immediately responds. The alien feeling makes me fell a bit weirded out, but I endure it.

(Sudra): "Well, you got the hang of that fast." He says as I open my eyes. "Now point your staff to that tree and make the energy come out of the tip of the staff."

I nod, pointing my staff to the tree that he pointed me to. As he told me to do it, I move the energy with some difficulty to the staff. Even when it's outside of my body, I can feel it and still control it. it's an extremely strange and alien thing. It's harder to do to, the energy feels sluggish.

But I get the hang of it soon enough, and direct it to the crystal, that then shines in a light purple. To my surprise, something flies off from the crystal, some kind of purple, smoky projectile that flies at high speed and crashes on the thick tree, gouging a big chunk of the wood. That's some serious firepower there… it may not be as fast as a bullet, but it's faster than anyone can dodge easily.

(Sudra): "Yah, decent enough. Alright, let's gather the other minions, Furya is waiting for us."