Chapter 2: Immersion

"Master Krell?" A woman's voice spoke as Krell felt a light shake on his body. "Master Krell, lunch is ready." The voice continued as Krell lazily opened his eyes and saw the woman and child looking at him with warm expressions. Krell looked at them in confusion as he heard a roar go throughout the meadow, jolting him awake and forcing him to search for the cause as if his life depended on it.

"Krell, is something wrong?" The young girl asked. Krell ignored the question and looked around in urgency before quickly spotting the cause, a wyvern on top of a distant hill. He sighed.

'That was surprising...' He thought to himself. 'More importantly, did they speak to me?' He wondered as he turned his attention to the worker and the girl. 'I know that in the game they couldn't speak, so something is clearly wrong, plus... I should definitely be dead right now.' He thought as he shifted his attention to his hands.

"Master Krell?" The worker asked as she stood up and gently placed a hand on Krell's cheek.

'Warm...?' He wondered as he focused on the sensation plaguing his face. 'Sensation was never developed to this extent in the game. Also, now that I'm thinking about it, my GUI is gone...' He thought as he looked at the woman curiously.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

'Going through all the possibilities, this can only be one of two things. Either I died and reincarnated into the game or I died and this is all a figment of my imagination, but... I'd rather believe the first, in all honesty.' He thought as he put his hand over the woman's "Warm..." He mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that..." She said uncertainly.

'Thinking about it now... This is the first time I've felt the warmth of another person in over six years...' He thought as he tilted his head. "It was nothing." Krell stated as he moved his hand away and took a step back from the woman. 'I really don't know how I should feel about all of this.' He thought. "Bess, what was I doing just before I woke up?" He asked.

"Hm? You were taking a nap... You probably got tired while waiting for me to come back with the food, why?" She responded.

"No reason..." Krell said as he mulled over the information he received. 'It seems I have the backstory I gave myself and the blanks for everything I would have missed have been filled. I guess I'm lucky I made my character young since it makes sense for my memories to be foggy during this age.' He thought.

"Krell, you're acting weird, is something wrong?" The girl asked. Krell shook his head.

"I'm just a bit disoriented. I had a weird dream." He explained. 'If this is following that backstory, then that also means that I can't go to the lower floors until I grow a bit more, though I may be able to use teleportation magic to reach them regardless.' He thought. 'I'll have to do some tests later.' He added.

"Well, I'm sure eating will help you get on the right track, so let's dig in." Bess said. Krell nodded. A few minutes after they started eating, the wyvern flew over to the group and transformed into a humanoid creature with purple scales along her lower jaw and the sides of her neck. She's wearing a beige cloak along with a few obfuscated articles of clothing.

"Apologies for interrupting." She said as she knelt down.

"Is something the matter, Mireth?" Krell asked. She looked at Krell awkwardly.

"I've been called to the surface. They've found something strange. As you are on the fourth floor, you should be fine, but I wanted to make sure you knew I would be away for a small while." She explained. Krell nodded.

'I wonder what this is about. It's rather strange for a guardian to leave their post. Well, except for Bess.' He thought to himself as the girl transformed into a wyvern again and flew towards the staircase.

"That's strange..." Bess mumbled.

"Hm?" Krell asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. I'm sure it's fine." Bess said as she picked up her food again.

"Right." Krell said. Soon enough, they finished eating and walked to the second floor, that is, the floor with the cafeteria. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Krell turned left and entered the room at the end of the hall and Bess left with the little girl walking down the hall.

Krell entered a large bedroom with many ornate pieces of furniture and art. He closed the door behind himself as he entered. 'Now, for the tests...' He thought. He closed his eyes and attempted to teleport. Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in the same location as just a moment ago. 'Okay... That doesn't work...' He thought.

He walked over to a wall. 'Portal.' He thought as he held his hand toward it. 'Nothing...' He thought. "Portal." He spoke while still holding his hand toward the wall. 'Still nothing...' He thought. "Warp." He said to no avail. He sighed. 'Let's try changing my target.' He thought. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he found himself in the meadow. 'Looks like I was right...' He thought to himself. 'I can only teleport to the permitted locations.' He added. 'Well, that's fine for now, I know where the stairs are, the main issue is that I'll have schooling here shortly, and Bess watched me like a hawk.' He thought as he teleported back to his room where Bess was already waiting for him. 'Just as I made her...' He thought to himself.

She sighed. "Honestly..." She said exasperatedly.

'I was gone for less than thirty seconds, and she noticed fast enough to teleport into the room...' He thought to himself.

"I know that you can take care of yourself when you're inside, but you still need to be careful, especially since I'm the only guardian on the first four floors currently inside." She said. Krell looked at her in confusion.

"The only one?" He asked. She nodded.

"I asked Zamir about it." She said. "It seems they noticed something strange outside and are investigating it, but it's nothing to worry about for now." She continued.

'Something strange outside? It should just be a normal graveyard and meadow outside.' Krell thought to himself.

"I want to take a look." Krell said.

"Master Krell!" She said in surprise. "I can't let you do that, after all, it may be dangerous, and the other four are out scouting the area, so if I leave, I'd be leaving the first floors undefended." She explained.

"Are both the twins really needed for scouting?" Krell asked.

"Of course! Wolfkin are great for forested environments aftera-" She started, but quickly froze.

'We're in a forest?' Krell thought in confusion. 'Does that mean that when I was transported, the tomb was also transported to a new location?' He wondered. "I see, so that's how it is..." Krell said as he thought about the information he had just received.

"Y-you're willing to just take my report as an adequate substitute for exploring yourself!?" Bess asked with excitement. He nodded.

'I mean, I'd prefer to see it, but if I can't for logistics reasons, then that's how it is...' He thought to himself. 'That being said, I am a bit disappointed I can't go take a walk in a real forest... It's been so long since I walked out in the middle of nowhere.' He added. "Is there any other information?" He asked. Bess nodded.

"The forest has plants and animals the guardians have never seen before! Some of the plants even glow in the dim parts of the forest!" She began to explain in quite the excited manner.

"Interesting." Krell said as he tilted his head in curiosity.

"Yup! And Rue can even smell humans to the north! There might be a town nearby!" She said.

'A town? That could be useful, but... There could also be some issues caused by its proximity...' He thought. "That's great news!" Krell said with a smile. Bess nodded.