'A what candidate? What's that?' Asked Alto
'I'm.... I'm not from this world' I replied
'Mphh...Haha, Mister, it seems you've gone crazy.'
'No, I'm telling the truth. Look at my clothes. Don't they look strange to you?' I waved my hands from my neck to my hips to show my pajamas.
'Well, I won't lie, I haven't seen those clothes before,' replied Alto. 'But it's not like I know every corner of the world. There are a lot of places with their own cultures. I wouldn't know all of them.'
'Ah, it is indeed unbelievable that a person would be able to travel to another world. Or even the idea of another world existing would be illogical,' I thought. 'I should change the subject.'
'We should get moving, Alto. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.'
'Well, sure, mister, let me gather my things.'
After Alto finished packing his belongings in his bag, we started to walk south. For a moment, there was nothing except silence accompanied by the occasional cracking of dried leaves and sticks as we walked.
'Won't you question anything, mister?' Alto asked, breaking the silence
'Question what?' I replied
'Well, you didn't question who I was, how I found you. Stuff that people would probably ask when a random person finds them unconscious.'
I had forgotten that. How could I? Was it the utter strangeness of this world, the nauseating revelation of being in another world, that made me unable to even act like a normal person?
'Yeah, I should have asked you those questions. I was just... confused at that moment.' I replied, 'Ok then, what are you. How did you end up here? How did you find me?'
'Well, I am a cyclops from outside this forest. I come from the north. My tribe was attacked by the Kingdom of Frosten. I, together with 4 other cyclops, had escaped into this forest, but the rest didn't make it. And as I was moving further south, I saw you right in front of the forest's end.'
'I'm sorry to hear that. The journey must have been tough,' I replied. 'Why were you attacked?'
'Well, you see, consuming Cyclops meat has regenerative properties. While it gives us the power to heal from fatal injuries, it also makes us a target. I could have returned north, but I escaped to the south of this forest because people here don't know the value of my meat. The regenerative properties of cyclops meat are a secret between the Kingdom Of Frosten and the Kingdom of Oliva.'
'Ah, are your regenerative powers the reason why you look unharmed and uninjured despite travelling through this dangerous forest?'
'Yep, that, and my hiding skills, mister'
As we exited the forest, I saw a vast grassland laid out before me. I looked into the sun descending over the horizon with two huge bird-like creatures flying in the distance.
'Mister, we should set up camp here. Collect some firewood and dry leaves, will ya? I'll set up the tent.'
I explored the area at the edge of the forest to collect the firewood and leaves. It took me an hour, but in the end, I collected enough without any problems. All while doing this, I was scared that a monster would come out of the darkness and ambush me, but that never happened.
As I returned to the camp, I saw a huge tent. Bigger than I had ever expected for someone small like Alto to be able to make.
'Wow, this is a pretty huge tent, Alto. How did you make it?'
'Oh, I know a bit of wind magic'
'What? You can do magic?'
'Of course, everyone can do it. Can't you?'
'No, I can't'
'How have you even survived so long?'
'The idea of magic was pretty interesting, and I was very excited to learn it'
'ALTO, YOU NEED TO TEACH ME MAGIC!!' I exclaimed
'Well, sure, ok, calm down a bit, mister.' Alto replied with half a smile 'We need to check your mana first'
'Ok, then what do I do?' I asked
'Hold out your hands for me'
'Okay,' I replied.
He put my palm on his hands and closed his eye. He opened it again after a few minutes with a frown and a bit of shock around his face.
'Mister,' He replied. 'You don't have any mana at all. You are unable to use magic. I have never seen or heard of this condition. Are you really from another world, then, mister?'
I was saddened by the information I just received: that I couldn't use magic. Hearing what Alto said, not being able to use magic, put me at a severe disadvantage in this world. But this also paved the way for me to prove to Alto that I really was from another world.
'Yes, as I told you before. I am from another world.'
'That's hard to believe. But looking at you, mister, I can't think of any other possibility.'
'Well, I am from another world'
'This is pretty scary, and pretty interesting too, I won't lie,' replied Alto
'Yeah, it's much more for me. Since I actually travelled between worlds,' I said
'Then tell me, mister, how is the other world?'
'Well, we used to have empires and kingdoms before, like you do in this world. Nowadays, we have nations that are run by presidents or other elected officials.'
'What's a president, or any other elected official?'
'A president is an elected official. Elected officials are people chosen by the citizens of a country. No kings or monarchy. Some nations do have a monarchy, but they're purely ceremonial.'
'That sounds a bit like a republic'
'Yes, exactly, so there are republics in this world?'
'There was one. The Kluxian Empire used to be run by a senate before, and was called the Kluxian Republic. But after Emperor Lucius Cornelius took over with the help of the military, he dissolved the senate and killed every senator.'
'I see. Yeah, such things happened in my world, too. But those states always returned to being republics,' I replied
'Mister, how did you guys survive without magic in your world. How could humans even survive monsters without magic?'
'We had built very advanced technology. Even though I haven't seen any monsters so far. I'm guessing they're pretty dangerous, hearing from you about how one single monster can wreak havoc in a human town. We didn't really have many creatures capable of that.'
'I see. I'd love to hear about your technology, but I'm feeling hungry now' Alto replied
'Yeah sure,' I replied.
All this talk about Earth had made me a bit homesick. I wanted to go back home. My heart felt heavy, and I wanted to cry. I really missed the comfort of my home, my family my friends.
We started the campfire. Alto brought out some dead fish from his bag.
'When did you get fish, Alto?'
'This morning, before I met you'
'I see'
'You want some?'
'Yeah sure'
'You're lucky I decided to catch more than I needed today.'
Alto pierced a fish with a metal rod and handed it to me. He made a supporting spit beside the campfire using two sticks. We grilled the fish over the fire, we spent the time looking at the night sky, and having small talk. The sky was more beautiful than I had ever seen on Earth. Was it because it was a different world, or did the light pollution on Earth hide this tantalizing scenery? The fire warmed us while the cold wind tried to sweep our backs. After we were done eating, we returned to our tent. Alto had laid out separate mattresses within the tent.
My first day in another world had ended. Too much information had flooded my brain, and fear and doubt about whether I could survive in this new, strange, and harsh world loomed around me.
Alto looked at my face as these thoughts circulated in my head.
'Mister, I know this world is unknown and new to you, but worry not. I, Alto the Cyclop,s will do everything in my power to help you understand how this world, the world of Archaenium, works.' He said
'Thank you, Alto.'
'We should get some sleep now, Mister.'
As I laid down on my mattress, my eyes felt heavy and my body became stiff. This tiring day had put a strain on both my mind and my body
'Good night, mister,' said Alto
'Good night,' I mumbled back
As my eyes felt heavier, my thoughts slowed down. I felt my last senses fade and dozed off...