Mug Shot

I was on the last guard duty shift during that night. Not only was it probably the easiest and safest shift, but I had the pleasure of watching the sun rise over the flat horizon for the first time in this world.

There was no morning fog, so the sun lit the sky into an orange tint. As the bright fireball peeked above the skyline, it cast long shadows from the tall blades of grass. I simply sat on the cool ground watching the sunrise. Slowly, I felt the air become warmer, and my skin felt pleasant under the heat radiating from the sunbeams.

I heard movement behind me, and I turned around to check on the other three, who were still sleeping on the thick cloth Abby had materialized for us.

Then, as if all sensing the morning light at the same time, my companions woke in unison. One by one, they yawned and got out of their makeshift beds. Not wanting to bother them or have to get pulled into another conversation, I turned to the other side and continued to gaze into the now blinding sun.

"Had a good sleep?" Ari asked nobody in particular as he grabbed his two swords, sending a few clinks into the silent morning air.

"Mhm," Em replied. I was looking the other way, but I could tell she still hadn't fully woken up yet.

"You know, I swear I must have had a nightmare about those wolves last night." Abby still sounded annoyed, though it seemed she had calmed a bit after the tensions from yesterday.

"Well, it ain't our fault you're so scared of wolves," Ari joked.

"You… Do you need another lesson from me!? Actually, you know what? It probably wasn't a dream. I might have just thought that the actual fight was a nightmare."

"Okay, okay! Just go easy on me, alright?"

"I—I think we should forget about yesterday's, umm… incident…" Em cut in.

"Yeah... you're right…" Abby responded. "Either way, we should get going. Looks like we're all ready now. Day, you ready too?"

I turned back to face the group. They were already standing up, and everything that was laid out on the ground earlier was gone. How did they get prepared so quickly? Were we really in this much of a hurry? I reluctantly stood up from my comfortable position to show them I was ready to start walking again.

"By the way," Ari started as we walked down the road, "We've been walking through this field for almost a week now. We have got to be getting close to the Capital, right?"

He looked at Abby for an answer. She smiled and seemed to have become excited. "Yeah. From my calculations, if we eat breakfast and lunch on the go… we should be able to get there before dinner today!"

"Wait, already?" Em's excitement was showing as well.

"Yes. Finally, I can apply to be an adventurer," Abby said with a sigh. "And you'll be going to the magic academy there! Agh, I can't wait!"

"You leaving me out on this again? I'm gonna become the best fighter in the royal task force and prove my strength!" Ari turned to me. "And Day, you haven't heard about my story yet, right? I bet you'll love it!"

I shrugged. Was it going to be another fantasy or sci-fi world from the movies? To be honest, I couldn't care less about those anymore.

Ari assumed I had agreed to listen to him blabber about his background and started. "Ashen was a pretty chaotic place, at least compared to here. It was normal to me, though. From the time you were born, they just force you to think of three things. Military, fighting, and more military. You know how much training they put you through?"

When he saw that I wasn't answering, he continued. "Anyways, so from when I was little, my father trained me to wield this—" He motioned to the large sword behind his back. "—and my mother taught me to fight with this." He touched his hand to the hilt of the thin blade at his side. "I know, it's awkward to carry these both at the same time, but what can I do? I ain't gonna prefer one of my parents over the other," he said with a laugh.

"So, well, when I was twelve, I went to this military school my parents entered me in. Its training program definitely wasn't as rigorous as my parents', but it was boring as hell! Thank god my headmaster recognized my skills and transferred me to the nation's top military academy. You hear that? I couldn't believe it at the time either, but I knew that I had to use my talent responsibly.

"So at my new school, we went through temporally accelerated training. You know, where we all had to slow our age progression. But damn, everybody there was all such pros at combat, man. There were a few people which I couldn't even beat once with either of my swords!

"Hahaha… Well, I guess those were the people who got the offer to join the nation's highest-ranking forces. Meanwhile, I was simply stuck with an offer for a regular infantry unit.

"So that's why I came here, I guess. I'm gonna show those guys just how strong I am! If I get a position in the special task force here in the Kronoan Empire, I'm sure they'll have no choice but accept me in!"

"Yeah, right, I'm sure you'll get somewhere with that cheesy dream of yours." Abby cut in sarcastically.

"What do you mean 'cheesy'?! You're the one following this cliche message your parents sent you!"

Abby sent a deadly glare at Ari. "I'm sorry… What did you say about my parents again? I'm not sure I heard that right."

"I…" Ari trailed off as he looked away innocently. "It's nothing."

***

We walked for another few hours and ate our breakfast of simple sandwiches as we traveled. We were still passing through the large endless field, but for the first time since I set my eyes on the greenery, the landscape started to change.

The ground became less flat until there wasn't a time where we weren't either climbing or descending a hill. In the distance, I saw clouds concealing rocky mountains I hadn't seen before. Around us, the grass became taller and more yellow than green. Now, there were no patches of flowers in sight anymore, and I could only see a thick forest far out on either side of our path.

It was only after we climbed to the top of a particularly tall hill when I finally saw the edge of the field. Well, it wasn't the end of the grass, but there was a long wall stretching across the land and into the forests, marking the end of the area and the beginning of a new one. The path winded down our current hill and to a gate built into the tall walls.

We hiked down and to the gates, which looked much larger up close than they seemed from afar. Here, we greeted four guards positioned at the sides of the closed doors.

The guards wore thin, light-blue armor with shining golden patterns embedded in them. None of them seemed to be holding any weapons, but they already looked dangerous in the metal protection. The four guards had been conversing before we got here, and when they saw us, they resumed a straight posture.

"Identification, please," one of them said to us.

Abby held her hand out to the guard, and three small cards materialized. The soldier took out a cubic device the size of his palm and hovered it over Abby's hand as if scanning the cards. There was a quiet beep, and the guard held the device up to study it.

"Okay, you three are clear to head out. Though you must be pretty close to be letting one person carry all your cards." He turned to me. "And you? You got any sort of identification?"

I panicked and felt around my clothes as if I had one of those cards as well. Does this mean I'd be arrested? And put in confinement again? I opened my mouth to speak, but Abby cut me off, saving me from any embarrassment.

"Sorry, Day doesn't have a card yet. He transmigrated here into the reserve, and we just sort of met. He plans on signing up once we get to Kronon, though."

"I see. Don't worry, it's not like this hasn't happened before. Since you guys are only leaving the reserve, all we need is a photo and answers to some quick questions."

Another guard stepped up and took out a camera. She instructed me to stand by the wall and took a few pictures of me. It felt like I was getting mug shots, but I told myself to remain calm. They said this was normal, right?

When the officer finished taking the photos, she brought out a sleek tablet and asked me a few questions.

"What is your name?"

"Day— Oh, I mean, Damien."

She sent a few swipes on the tablet with her finger.

"World? And temporal region if possible."

"Umm… Earth? I mean… Terra?"

She swiped her fingers some more, then paused with a confused look on her face. After a few more swipes, she shrugged and entered the information onto the device.

"Race?"

Race? Is that what I thought it was?

"Human," I replied.

She nodded and entered some more swipes and taps into the tablet.

After a few more questions regarding my identity, the guard nodded to me, put her device away, and stepped back to her position.

"You four are free to go. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks!" Ari replied and started crossing over to the other side of the gates. Abby tugged on his clothes and stopped him.

"By the way, just before we go. We had this sort of encounter with a few silver-fur wolves last night, which I found a bit odd. We're all okay, but I just wanted to let you people know."

A third guard spoke up. "Yeah… That is a bit unusual. We don't have wild silver-fur wolves here…"

"Okay. We'll send a few people to check it out," the female guard told us.

"Sure! Thanks!" Ari began to leave again. "We gotta get to the Capital, right? Come on, I can't wait!"

"Well, good luck, my friends," the fourth guard finally said as we started walking through the gates. "It must have been a pretty long journey back there. The Capital, Kronon, pretty close, so you're almost there."

As we walked away, the guards waved at us, and Abby waved back. I wasn't looking back at them, though. My eyes were set on the far distance in front, where the path led.

It was a town. No, a city. No, even larger than that. Small buildings currently the size of grains of sand littered the land, spreading even wider than the entire mountain behind the city. The mid-day light reflected off tiny roofs, making the structure sparkle.

It was the Capital.