Chapter 1

Have you ever been devoured alive? Not? Me too. Up to this point ...

I recovered from a terrible pain in my leg. Opening my eyes instantly, I stared at the strange four-legged creature, which looked like a hybrid of a crocodile and an armadillo, only the size of an average dog. And this unknown creature was tormenting my limb with might and main, trying to bite off a noble piece from it.

- Let go! I shouted, and with all my might, I put a sneaker on the nose of a beast with a sneaker. Surprisingly, it helped. The monster released his trouser leg and looked at me in bewilderment, and then growled menacingly and rushed to the attack. I had to charge him on the nose again, but with that I almost put the second limb under the creature's sharp teeth.

By a miracle, I managed to pull my leg back before the jaws closed on my lower legs. I jerked back, trying to break the distance, and at that moment I heard a woman scream.

- Get down!

Crouch? Where to duck !? I already lie on the ground!

But I did not have time to answer the unknown girl, because the next moment a clot of fire crashed into the beast, simultaneously hitting my shoulder. Fortunately, on a tangent, so I got off with a slight startle.

-How are you? Badly injured? - a young girl of about eighteen to nineteen ran up to me. My age, in a word. She was dressed in wonderful clothes, as if taken from some fantasy book, and the image was a wide-brimmed hat, which should be a magician. If you believe the same books, of course. But outwardly the girl was very personal: long brown hair, blue eyes, a cute little nose and puffy lips. Definitely to my taste.

But looking up from the contemplation of a beauty who appeared literally from nowhere, I discovered one simply amazing strangeness. Tongue. She spoke a completely unfamiliar language, and, nevertheless, I perfectly understood her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not saying ..." - and then I stopped short because I didn't hear the usual words. It turns out, I also speak this language?

-What don't you say? - the girl blinked in surprise with her long eyelashes.

"Yes, probably ... nothing already ..." I replied to the girl, trying to figure out how I did it.

"Let me examine your leg," she suggested, seeing the bloodied leg, which I nodded in the affirmative.

I frowned a little when the girl laid bare a terrible wound on my lower leg. The monster tried nobly. I couldn't bite, but I spread the flesh with my teeth so that I could hardly walk normally in the near future.

-Lady Selina, is everything all right? - Another voice was heard, and two soldiers dressed in ... came out from behind a tree nearby. real armor! But not plate, but simpler - lamellar. And the swords on the belt hang. Is this cosplayers or role-playing? And what's the deal with this new language?

"Yes," she assured them, not distracted from the wound.

"You ran away so fast," one of the men who appeared worried.

-Sorry, it's just that the Search Network has found a person and a sarkh, so I rushed to the rescue.

"It would be better if we were warned," the second one did not agree with her argument.

"There was no time," the beauty shook her head. - If I had not immediately rushed here, then most likely this young man would have been dead.

The soldiers grumbled displeased but said nothing more.

- Doesn't it hurt? She somehow inquired in surprise, looking into my eyes. And honestly, at that moment my heart in my chest started beating faster.

-In terms of? I did not understand.

-With such a wound you should writhe in pain, and you only frown. Can't you feel anything?

- Why don't I feel? I feel it. It's just ... I feel pain a little ... differently. You can say this is my feature. It hurts me now, but ... - I thought, trying to explain my feelings as capaciously as possible. "But that doesn't bother me." It only hurts for the first couple of seconds, and then it seems to shrink to the level of "irritation" or "itching" that you feel, but if you want to, you can ignore it.

- Interesting ... I heard about people who do not feel pain at all, but about this for the first time.

"This is such an unusual feature," I grinned wryly, trying not to look at my foot, there was too much blood there. - I would impose a tourniquet ...

"This is not necessary," the girl smiled very sweetly, after which she rummaged in a small bag hanging on her belt. Having got a bottle from there with a strange green liquid, the girl handed it to me. - Have a drink.

-What is it? - I had no desire to drink this liquid ...

- Healing potion, will help restore blood vessels. In the meantime, I will heal the damaged tissue.

Sighing, I still drank this brew. And, of course, it tasted as nasty as it looked. And what kind of "aroma" came from him ... So, probably, the dirty socks that they wore for a couple of years without taking off smell.

-Drink it? She asked.

"Yes ... and disgusting ..." I returned the girl an empty bottle.

- Okay, now relax. Maybe a little burning, "the beauty laid both hands on my wound and began to whisper something inaudible. Around her appeared luminous symbols, which I stared at with huge eyes.

And then I really felt a burning sensation. And very strong, as if they poured hot iron on my leg.

-Keep him! - the beauty ordered the soldiers, and they immediately pressed me to the ground. But they did it quite late, by the time they fixed me, the pain had already gone. Only her faded echoes remained.

-Fuh ... - the girl wiped sweat that appeared on her forehead with the back of her hand and rose to her feet. "I have healed the wound, but you'll be limping for a couple of days."

"It's not scary," I answered, and the soldiers helped me up. The leg really was like a cotton, and standing upright was hard. But nothing will recover. - Tell me, was that magic?

-And what else? She grinned. "Have you not seen magic before?"

"I didn't see ..." I honestly admitted. More precisely, I saw some semblance of magic in my world, but what the girl did is a completely different level of influence on the world.

- Where did you come from?

- Good question ... still to understand where I ended up.

"So easy, we are on the lands of Count Voulard, about a day's journey east of his main city, Vularian," with these words the sorceress pointed her hand towards the forest, where the soldiers came from.

-Vularian? - I asked doubtfully, realizing that this name does not tell me anything.

-Yes, Vularian. Have you lost your memory?

- Rather, I just can't understand how I ended up here.

"Try to tell me, suddenly I understand," she suggested.

-Oh well…

I remember that in the evening I walked along the Moscow streets from the university. I can not stand it when couples are in the afternoon, as probably most students. And even more so, he was not thrilled that his studies had ended already in the dark.

Initially, I wanted to get on a minibus, but after thinking a bit, I decided to take a walk. All the same, it was not so far to go to the house. Already in the middle of the walk, snow began to fall, which even encouraged me. The first snow is the same!

And at that moment I felt something strange. At first, it was like a distant hum, and then an invisible wave nearly knocked me down. And then something unimaginable began to happen. The whole world around is frozen. Cars, people, that brown dove and even grains of snow literally froze in space, but not me.

For a long time I could not be surprised at this, because in the distance above the houses, shaking the ground, a snow-white tower appeared so huge that Moscow high-rise buildings faded against its background.

"What the ..." - I just managed to mutter at the moment when the world instantly went out. And the next moment I woke up from the fact that an unknown creature was eating my leg.

The girl listened carefully to my story, and when I finished, she nodded in the affirmative.

"I know how you got here," she smiled. "I'm only afraid you might not like it."

-Lay it out ...

-It was the Tower of Eternity. And you are her chosen one.

"And ... does that mean something to me?"

- In your world they say nothing about this? The Tower of Eternity exists in all worlds at the same time, and sometimes it transfers one rational to another world, believing that it will be better for him.

-What!? That is, I got into another world !?

"Calmer," one of the soldiers put his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm down.

- Yes, who gave her the right to decide for me !? - in me, meanwhile, indignation grew more and more. They threw me into a strange world without my knowledge, believing that "here I will be better" !?

"I didn't quite correctly put it," the girl thought. "Considering that this is the place for you." That in another world you can accomplish something great. Or vice versa.

"It's just ridiculous ..." I sighed, plopping down on the fifth point.

"The chosen one of the Tower, you have to ..." the other soldier grunted. "I've never seen them before."

"I hope I don't need to defeat any necromancer king or save the world?"

"No," the witch smiled all the same sweetly. - The tower never poses specific tasks for the chosen ones. It only provides a place where they can fully reveal their potential.

-And why is she doing this?

What the girl shrugged.

-There are higher beings. For us, their goals are incomprehensible.

-Wonderful….

-If you do not mind, I propose to join our caravan going to the Vularian. You will have the opportunity to think carefully about everything and decide what to do next.

I decided to accept the girl's offer. To stagger in a strange world with a wounded leg, not really knowing where to go - is a dubious pleasure. Most likely, I will perish here, and my bones will digest these very sarkhs.

Before I hit the road, I took off my jacket. Hot. Walking a bit, I found a bag nearby in the grass. There was nothing interesting in it - mostly lecture notes, but I didn't really want to drop it.

Then I took a phone from my pocket. The battery is about half charged, and, unfortunately, I doubt that I can subsequently charge it, despite the presence of a charger. Of course, there were no "sticks" reflecting the level of communication.

With a sigh, I turned off the phone so as not to consume battery power, and returned it to my pocket.

The parking of these people was located literally three hundred meters, and I did not see it because of a small cluster of trees. There were four more soldiers, one of whom was much older than the rest - for fifty at least. From this I concluded that, most likely, he commands them.

In addition to people there were two carts and about a dozen horses. The vans looked very simple, no-frills, but very solidly. There was not even a doubt that they might fall apart along the way.

-And who is this !? - asked in the almost commanding tone this same old warrior, coming up to us.

-Mistress Selina found the Chosen of the Tower! - reported one of the soldiers accompanying us with the sorceress.

-Choice of the Tower? In this wilderness? - he was surprised and gave me a suspicious look. "He's somehow flimsy for the Chosen One."

"That's for sure," the other warrior laughed. "If it weren't for the lady sorceress, the sark would have eaten him!"

"His clothes are strange," the warrior still looked at me with a certain suspicion, but not so severely. - Yes, and no weapons. Boy, have you ever held a weapon in your hands?

"No," I answered honestly.

"Hmm ... some useless Tower Chosen One."

"I promised that we would deliver him to Vularian, Mr. Ficht," my savior addressed him.

"Well ... it is possible, only let it help too," on this the old warrior completely lost interest in me, having returned to his business.

"I didn't ask your name," the witch said to me. - My name is Selina Auterald. And you?

"Maximilian Gothard," I replied. "But you can call me just Maxim or Max."

"An unusual name," said the girl.

-This is what my environment thinks. What can I do, so my father called me.

As a result, not allowing me to really recover, I was contracted to search for brushwood for a bonfire, despite the decent lameness. So, getting rid of unnecessary clothes and bags, I went to the forest. To my joy, the beautiful witch decided to keep me company. So gathering brushwood turned into a very pleasant walk for me.

From the conversation with the sorceress, I learned a lot. For example, there is nothing strange in the fact that I understand a foreign language to me - this is all the Tower. She gave me this knowledge during the transfer. And this is great, I would not want to be here without knowledge of the language. I would have to study long and hard, and so I adapt very quickly.

But to my next question, can I return, the girl pursed her lips and said with regret:

-I'm afraid this is impossible. More precisely ... perhaps, but there are many worlds. Thousands, maybe even millions. There are ways to move between them, but where is the guarantee that you will be in the right place?

In the end, I'm stuck here forever. I just did not intend to put up with it yet, but suddenly the Tower really brought me here for a reason. I still have not really seen this world. It is possible that this is not so bad.

Then the girl fell asleep with me just a ton of questions about my world, she was curious about completely different aspects, starting with what our girls wear and ending with the peculiarities of the political system.

And each time she was so sweetly surprised at the things normal for my world that my heart began to tremble. Yes, in such beauty for long and fall in love.

From a conversation with her, I was able to fetch something for myself. For example, now we are in the territory of free counties. It represents several dozen feudal lands, each of which is ruled by a particular prince or count. Places are hectic, but people live here too. Free counties are located between two huge states: Trilor and the Empire of Faldar. In Trilor, the so-called council of three rules, but Faldar, on the contrary, is controlled by one single person. Is it human? Emperor Husar has ruled for over six hundred years, and many of his subjects consider him a god in the flesh.

Between these two large countries there is a kind of truce, and free principalities serve as a kind of buffer. Numerous disputes and conflicts are resolved precisely by the rulers of these lands.

But it was only part of a vast world. In the south were other countries about which Selina knew very little, and what she knew was at the level of rumors. So she herself warned that you should not trust her words.

And I also learned that not only people live in this world, but also elves, orcs and other fantasy creatures. Although I'm not sure that the word "living creature" can be applied to sentient beings.

It was evening, so with the gathering of brushwood we finished, and I finally had the opportunity to have a bite. The stomach had already begun to grumble displeasedly, demanding food. The stew was very simple: water, meat and a couple of vegetables unknown to me. But overall it was very tasty and nutritious.

At dinner, another man joined us, also not young, but unlike the others he was not wearing armor. As I later found out, it was the merchant Gus Shari, and he was transporting his goods from the principality of Noran to the county of Voular. The soldiers were his hired guards.

But with Selina, everything was much more interesting. She was not in the guard, but, like me, was just a fellow traveler. The girl studied at the magical university of Trilor. Now the beauty was returning there after a vacation from her native county of Zarania.

After dinner, the girl continued to torture me about my world, but only this time the other members of the caravan began to listen carefully. Sometimes soldiers also asked for some things. In the end, I became their main entertainment for the whole evening.

Unless old Ficht asked anything, he only silently sat on the sidelines, pretending not to listen to me.

Gradually, stories about the world turned into just stories, and I began to retell the films I saw to them, trying to somehow adapt the plot there to the public. Still, there are things that are hard for them to imagine - for example, the Internet.

In the end, Ficht commanded the lights out, distributing the duty among the soldiers. At first I wanted to slap it too, but Selina stood up for me, saying that I needed a rest.

"Thank you for the entertaining stories," the girl said, and then she took a step towards the meeting and kissed me on the lips. The kiss came out quick, I really did not even have time to enjoy it. Selina, smiling sweetly, pulled away and, waving me a pen, disappeared into one of the wagons.

Since there were two carts, the merchant himself slept in one, and the other was given to the girl for sleep. But the soldiers had to sleep on the ground near the fire.

"Not bad, man," one of the soldiers who saw my kiss with Selina approvingly slapped me on the shoulder. - Don't fall in love.

-Yeah! - supported him second. - I had a friend, so I started an affair with one magician. And she was jealous of the waitress from the bar and turned it into a frog! So do not mess with the sorceresses, it does not lead to anything good!

- Is that a friend? Zurak or what? So I saw him recently!

-This is another friend, you do not know him!

"Yes, you have no other friends," the third soldier neighed.

-That's why there is no other, because he has become a frog!

- Enough already! You and Zurak haven't been with anyone else!

"Enough already," the elder barked displeasedly. "Or do you want to be on duty all night?"

The soldiers only grinned at this, and, having laid the bedding near the fire, began to prepare for the night. Ficht also handed me the same package as the soldier's, which I immediately spread. Sleeping on it was not very comfortable, but in any case better than on bare ground.

Better yet, sleep with Celina in the wagon. Take cover with a blanket and warm one another with the warmth of naked bodies. Willy-nilly, I remembered how appetizing the witch's ass looks in these tight-fitting leather pants.