Reality Drift

What happened? ...Where am I?

Moving his head here and there, he looked for the bridge, full of confusion and unable to find it.

He wasn't in his right mind anymore. He stood up and tried to figure out what happened. Where was he all of a sudden? The last thing he remembered was Ava's voice calling out to him while he was drowning.

The sun is up, but… didn't I jump at midnight? Looking up, he noticed the sun with a blue moon-like satellite not far from it. A trail of white dust followed it, it was a comet perhaps. 

Maybe I just passed out and washed up. And there is some weird comet passing overhead today. He thought while he tried to make sense out of the conditions he was in. 

For confirmation, he checked his fingers, but they weren't wrinkled at all. It's as if he hadn't been in the water at all. He realized something then.

His surroundings were different. The first thing he noticed was the trees and foliage around him. On a tree nearby him, there were multiple kinds of leaves growing, and he couldn't recognize any trees around him at all. He was seeing them for the first time. What is that? An insect was digging a hole using his two fists, which was somehow odd enough for Kaye to believe. 

What's wrong with me? Do I think this is some kind of different world now? Sigh… I really do believe it. At the very least, I hope so because there's nothing left for me on Earth anymore.

He speculated as to whether he was in another world. It was more plausible to him to be in an unexplored world somewhere in an ever-expanding universe than being in a VR world created by humans, solely due to the current status of technology on earth. He didn't even notice the stitches had disappeared from the back of his head, and he was healed completely.

I'll be strong, just like you wanted me to be. He decided not to give up and to start a new life in this foreign world.

He wandered for three days in the forest and spotted some bizarre occurrences like plants that not only walked, but seemed to shimmer in the light. The sightings made him wholly convinced that he wasn't on Earth anymore. To survive, he ate fruits from various trees, only glancing at them before deciding they were edible. 

It's been two days, and I haven't seen a single intelligent life form. If this continues, I don't know what I'll do! Those animals or whatever they are might eat me. My only hope is her words, a new life for me. If that's what she wanted, then I'll do it.

He was walking towards a line of trees afar. After walking for a while, he heard a scream and ran towards it. He soon came across three men dressed in dirty black robes, and four men kitted out in a combat uniform fighting each other beside a fancy looking wagon. He started observing them from behind a tree.

Are those knights? Are they even humans? The thought passed through his mind while he tried to examine their outfits. The fight quickly became chaotic as two knights got stabbed by a surprisingly muscled man in a robe, before he dragged a very human girl out from inside the wagon, while the other two engaged the remaining knights. She must have been the person who screamed! The fight reminded Kaye of his mugging, and he was rapidly overtaken by anger and jumped into the fight.

He reached them in no time and aimed for the muscled man's head, breaking his neck with a single punch. He followed this up with two kicks directly to the chests of the other two robed men, crushing their ribs and stopping their hearts.

When he came to his senses, he finally realized that he was not the same Kaye, but now was someone with superhuman strength. The situation became quite awkward, as both remaining knights were staring at him in astonishment. He became aware of what he had done and apologized quickly by bowing his head. 

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to kill them!" Kaye's eyes filled with fear at the thought that he might get arrested. That's not to say that he regretted killing them, though. 

The girl didn't appear to understand the language spoken by Kaye, and gently approached him with a confused expression before she too bowed her head.

She cautiously pulled a wand out from her coat pocket. Kaye was desperate to leave and a little bit confused, because he had done something terrible. He had killed three people, but he wasn't feeling any remorseful about it, and no one else seemed to be mad. Is that a wand?!  he stared at the girl's hand.

"^$*& ^#^*&^* %&^* %^$#^?" The girl said something showing the wand to him, but Kaye didn't understand.

It almost looks like she is trying to ask my permission to cast a spell. MAGIC. What am I even thinking? He snorted at the thought of magic.

What should I do now? I don't think they would kill me for saving her life. He reluctantly nodded his head in agreement.

She started waving the wand and chanting some spell. Kaye's eyes went wide as he saw her actions. As soon as she cast the spell, small shards of light appeared in the air surrounding Kaye's head. 

"Thank you very much, sir! You have saved our lives." the girl said in a trembling voice. Kaye's eyes became wide; he just understood what she said and did.

"Was that a spell to teach me your language?" he asked. If the girl is human, her guards probably are too, and they have to be coming from somewhere!

"Indeed, I cast the spell such that you'd be able to understand the common language, sir." She said, her demeanor presented her as someone well versed in communication. But she was apparently confused. Why is he acting all surprised by the magic? "May I know your na..."

"Sorry, but I need to leave. Travel safe." Kaye interjected the girl, and headed in the opposite direction to the wagon, aiming to find a town. The best decision he could make was to leave them as soon as possible. He didn't want to be engaged in formal inquiries because he was completely unaware of the rules and laws in that country.

I wonder who that man was; I owe him my life for saving me. The girl wanted to find out but couldn't do anything about it, since Kaye was already out of her vision.

"My Lady, should we continue onwards or head back to the town to report the incident?" one of the knights asked her.

"I need to deliver the documents to the capital so we must continue. Furthermore, I don't think these thieves had any purpose other than kidnapping me, because they didn't seem to care for the documents when they attacked." She replied in a dignified manner, which was quite amusing to maintain after going through such an incident. She was supposed to be prepared for such a situation, but when it all got out of control, she panicked like any other normal person. The guards put the bodies of the deceased on their horses, and headed towards the next checkpoint on the road to the capital.

Kaye was mostly unaware of the changes that occurred to him after he was transported to this world. For starters, he had multiple personality disorders for the last few years. After he went to therapy for anger management issues, he had suppressed his emotions to the point of forming an alter ego, which never showed up until the incident. He didn't know that he had killed the thieves, who ambushed him and Ava. But the identities became one again upon entering this world, thus the reaction towards the bandits. More importantly, though, he had realized his superhuman strength.