Although Orion was already preparing to gain his first experience, looking at the creature, he saw that it apparently changed its mind. Staring into his eyes for a moment, the strange creature slowly loosened its grip and shyly retreated into its burrow.

  He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this development. On the one hand, he needed to see how this whole level-up thing worked, and he wanted to test his Consumption skill. On the other hand, when he looked into the big eyes of this wrinkled creature, he had to admit that somehow it was pretty cute. As it backed away, he thought of Byton when he had done something wrong.

  Examining his leg, he saw that the wound was rather shallow. It likely wouldn’t impede his walking, but the bleeding still needed to be stopped.

  So he sacrificed part of his leafy T-shirt to prepare a dressing. Tying it tightly, he stood and continued his way towards the village, this time paying a little more attention to where he was stepping. After a while, Orion decided that he needed to force himself to check his status window as well. He sighed and turned his attention to the table icon, which responded by flashing the screen before his eyes.

  “Uh.” Orion gasped when he saw the bottom of the stats section. Although he didn’t know what the average numbers of first-level humans were, he assumed they were around ten. Following this line of reasoning, should the normal value of a healthy person in terms of sanity also be around ten? What if this statistic drops to zero? Ultimately, he’s going to have to get some answers about that.

  As he walked towards the village, he thought for a moment about the stats and concluded that perhaps the beasts he had consumed in the quarantine zone had influenced them.

  His surroundings slowly grew more and more green. When he noticed this, he assumed that perhaps only plants adapted to it could grow near the stinking liquid. There was a thought that came into his head that kept bothering him. Everything he saw here looked like it had been growing for years. It didn’t look like a newly reconstructed world.

  Did the system just glued together several planets, but the changes are invisible to the naked eye? Orion thought, remembering the being’s words about adapting to the increasing energy level. Probably, the adaptation of plants and soil took place on a different plane than the one available to mortal sight. However, both the tall trees feeding on the sticky substance and the sight of unknown planets made him doubt that he was still on Earth, although he firmly rejected such doubts.

  After a few hours, a tall wooden palisade stretched out before Orion’s eyes.

  From this point, he could already hear the commotion inside. When he found the entrance, he put down the sharpened stick and an interwoven bag of picked fruit, then went inside. This place had no gate, so even before entering, he noticed the peculiar architecture.

  The buildings here were for the most part round, giving the impression of giant eggs dug into the ground at various angles. This comparison, however, ended with the shape itself, as each house was painted with colorful paints, creating various images.

  He still didn’t see anyone alive, but laughter and shouts reached his ears, probably coming from the center of the village. So he took a closer look at the surrounding buildings.

  Orion noticed that each of them had openings spaced in different places, some of which were covered with horizontally rotating blinds. Naturally, there were also arched entrances and doors.

  After looking more closely, he realized that some buildings had general paintings depicting different creatures or simply being an abstract mixture of colors, while others had paintings with specific functionalities. One structure had painted a forge filled with floating hammers and blazing fire, while another depicted a person standing behind a counter with products of unknown origin displayed on it.

  Except for a wide, paved road, each building was within a few meters of the other, allowing for easy passage. Benches and tables carved from rough stone, along with various plants, often emitting soft, colored lights, were scattered throughout the open spaces. As he walked, he kept looking around the buildings, trying to guess every feature, and the voices grew in intensity. Perhaps they have some kind of festival? Celebrating their return from the tutorials, he guessed.

  When he finally got to the center, he noticed a large group of people in a crowd gathered around something in the middle. From the outside, he could only see their backs, but it was enough to make him stop in his tracks.

  Dozens of different races intertwined side by side. Some had skin covered with scales, others were unnaturally short and stocky, and others looked like elongated versions of humans with long, thin limbs and pale skin. Among them, he even noticed races that he almost automatically identified as elves, although after further observation, that wasn’t quite so simple. Some had pointed ears, only slightly longer than humans, but some were at least twenty centimeters long, bent slightly downward. Those with longer ears also had darker, bluish skin.

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  He also noticed a half-human with a wolf’s head and fur up to his elbows or a fairly short man with gray skin that looked like it was cracked and was emitting an orange light from the crevices. Still, among these mixed races, there seemed to be a slight majority of ordinary humans.

  Looking at each of them individually, he also couldn’t help but notice what they were wearing. Although some seemed like they’d been pulled away from their work, wearing coats and protective gear, the overall atmosphere was definitely medieval.

  The everyday clothing was rather simple, with a small amount of complicated cuts, but he also sometimes saw drawings incorporated into the fabric. Though, he noticed that these everyday, casual clothes were seamless. The longer he watched, the more mixed his feelings about the medieval feel became, as the materials were smooth, well-kept, and appeared high-quality.

  His initial impression, however, was reinforced by the fact that some people were wearing various types of armor.

  Light armor contained a minimal amount of metal, limited to protect sensitive areas, and in the form of clutches holding all the elements together. Heavy armor, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, looking as if it were determined to avoid anything but hard metal. These naturally had leather or chain mail parts at the joints so that they could move at all.

  He could also see hybrid versions and something resembling armored robes. Yet, regardless of the type, each of them had patterns carved in various places, either on the leather or on the metal.

  Going back to the appearance of the people themselves, he could stand there and admire them, as he noticed that no matter how attractive they were, there was something about each one that caught the eye. They were pleasing to watch in some way. Not necessarily in terms of sexual attraction, but every detail just seemed to fit. For example, a person with scales on their skin, it seemed as if each tile was perfectly aligned at just the right angle. Some were charmingly shiny, others contrastingly matte.

  He noticed that this attraction effect wasn’t just caused by the physical elements. In the case of the bluish-skinned elf with long ears, she exuded an indescribable grace and elusiveness, while the man with the wolf’s head gave a sense of wildness but also stability, strength and masculinity.

  Since the group gathered here probably numbered over a few hundred, he was quite overwhelmed by these new sensations. However, an even stronger feeling emerged when he stopped paying attention to appearances and focused on the behavior of these people.

  The first term that came to his mind was Ecstasy. They acted as if they were experiencing some kind of rapture, and some looked like they were practically spasming in orgasm. Being so close, he noticed that the laughter was also interspersed with moans and cries of pleasure, but his eyebrows, raised in surprise, frowned as another thought occurred to him.

  From within the crowd came softer moans, ones he knew well. It was a groan of pain, belonging to an exhausted person who was suffering. Realizing this, his mind automatically went back to the time of his captivity, but he shrugged off those thoughts, immediately moving toward the center of the group, trying to push people over and clear his way.

  To his surprise, they were unnaturally stable, and he had to exert a lot of force to create a passage for himself. While he tried, several people simply moved, but they paid him no attention. Finally, gaining a glimpse inside, he spotted a naked middle-aged man. His skin bore the marks of numerous stabs, cuts, or burns, and his limbs were broken.

  Above the man stood another, wearing something akin to a ceremonial robe, holding a sharp, red-hot rod over his head. Nearby, a fire was lit, heating metal tools, and various torture implements were scattered about.

  Orion met the begging eyes of the poor man and reached out to him, but he was still blocked by others. A man opened his mouth, only to have a hot spike land in it, creating a horrible hiss of burnt flesh. This caused a few spasms in the man’s body and finally, exiting the back of his head, the weapon ended his agony.

  The people gathered around him shifted in unison from one of rapture to one of wailing and sadness. They whined and cried, tears welled up in some of their eyes.

  Orion, with his hand still outstretched towards the man, stood still for a moment, trying to digest what he had just witnessed.

  His mind was empty, and his stomach was filled with a heavy sense of helplessness. But it didn’t last long, as after that, there was an instinctive panic.

  After struggling for a moment to get out of the group, he ran.

  He didn’t remember escaping the crowd, speeding across the paved roads, or escaping the village.

  He just ran, eyes wide open.

  When he was far enough away, his thoughts started coming back, and the first one was ‘Where the fuck did I end up?’.

  Still not slowing down, his eyes filled with tears, and his mind filled with guilt. If only I were a little stronger. If only I’d gotten to him sooner, he thought, scenarios forming in his mind of what he could have done better.

  But all of that was soon replaced by another vision. Instead of an unfamiliar man, he saw his brother’s face. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and occupy his mind with something else.

  These people; these monsters, clearly had their culture here, so the likelihood that he wasn’t on Earth increased significantly. There was simply no way that a few hours after the tutorials, people could have gone so mad. And this architecture. Looking into the air, he asked. “Where the hell am I? And why am I here? Why did you send me here?”

  Minutes passed, but he received no response. The only system message he could see was the ignored one, waiting to be noticed, which had appeared while he was running.

  [Sanity: -1 (2)]

  Even though he now had access to the clock, he didn’t know how long he had been running. At some moment his limbs gave out, so he fell, rolling on the grassy ground. His rapid breathing began to gradually calm down, and he lay looking up at the dark sky above.

  Finally, he raised his hand and covered his eyes. At first, a silent, single giggle came out of his lips, but it soon turned into a loud, uncontrollable laugh, interrupted only by sniffles. After an unspecified amount of time, he lost the strength to do that too, so he simply stared up in silence.

  However, that ended the moment he heard someone else.

  “Is everything all right?” a warm, manly voice reached him.

  Now that he had recovered some strength, he rose to a seated position and looked in the direction from which the voice had come. There he saw a group of four gazing at him with a certain amount of caution. Among them were two women and two men, at least if he could tell, given their race.

  The first one on the left was a human male, about twenty-five, maybe twenty-seven years old. He had fair skin, short blond hair and green eyes, and his handsome face now expressed concern. His rather loose, gray robes were wrapped around the chest with a leather belt that contained numerous pockets. He looked a little like a clergyman, but in his hand was a gnarled staff.

  The next person didn’t look much like a human, except perhaps for a generally humanoid, male silhouette. His skin was completely black, and it looked like it was partially submerged in shadows. These dark, ethereal streaks drifted slowly along the surface of his body, making it partially difficult to see the lizard face. He was quite a massive figure, probably reaching almost two meters in height. Dressed in matte black leather armor, with a pair of daggers strapped to his waist, he definitely exuded the feel of an assassin.

  Only his eyes stood out among the blacks with their orange irises, divided by pointed, reptilian pupils. On the right side of the lizardman was a rather big, azure crystal levitating, next to which stood a woman, or so he thought, judging by the flexible figure.

  Three thick toes at her bird’s feet ended with large claws. These feet then extended into calves adorned in brownish feathers, which were hidden around the knees by metal guards and tight, beige leather trousers. Looking up, the trousers were covered with a kind of ornate chain mail, interwoven here and there with strips of leather and fabric.

  On the sides of her short neck were large, metal shoulder pads, from beneath which peeked feathered arms. Behind them, small wings could be seen. Her feathery, round head was distinctly reminiscent of a burrowing owl, possessing no human features, with birdlike eyes resembling the sharp gaze of a predator.

  Next to her was another woman, who stood out in height, even compared to the lizardman. She was quite massive, clad in thick plate armor painted white with gold decorations and patterns. She held a helmet under her right arm, and a huge kite shield was attached to her left hand.

  Although her general appearance was mostly human, this was denied by greenish skin and two protruding fangs beneath her lower lip. Even with this somewhat harsh look, she exuded a strange sense of kindness and protectiveness, as if she wanted to shield the entire world with her body. Given all this, it was quite difficult to determine her age, but she was probably quite young, perhaps in her twenties, judging by her lively gaze and smooth skin. Her face, despite the fangs, was pretty, and she had long pony-bound, black hair.

  Looking at the group, Orion shook off and responded.

  “Doesn’t matter. The village, there.” he said, pointing in the general direction he’d come from. He hadn’t expected to meet people here, let alone talk to them, especially considering his recent experience. As soon as he realized this group might be ‘normal’, he tried to rush to convey the information. “Something is definitely wrong with people. They tortured a man and enjoyed it. Then he was killed and everyone suddenly started crying. This is madness! What the fuck is going on?”

  The group looked at each other, frowning, then the lizardman nodded and began to literally collapse into the ground, as if it suddenly became liquid. After a while, there was no sign of him.

  “Avir will check it out. You can rest assured, friend. You’re safe now.” the man said once again. “We’ve seen you from quite a distance. You ran in here like a raging thargrim, and then we heard laughter. But I think that explains a lot.”

  “Can you tell me what the hell is going on? And where am I anyway? Did you really have a tutorial a few hours ago? Or am I just right in thinking I’m still trying to force myself to believe this?” Orion asked, finishing almost in a whisper.

  The group was silent for a moment, pondering the meaning of his questions, but after a while the tall woman answered.

  “We had tutorials. Or rather, our ancestors did. That was over five hundred years ago. Are you telling us you just finished yours?”

  Before Orion could react, a dark spot appeared where the lizardman had disappeared. From it, a dark silhouette emerged again, only taking on a distinct shape after a moment.

  “Impossible. The System won’t send someone fresh out of the tutorial to another universe, let alone the red planet. Everyone goes to their worlds.” the dark lizardman said in a rough, slightly distorted voice. “Besides… done.”

  “This doesn’t necessarily mean…” the second man began again, and then his language shifted, making Orion unable to understand anything.

  His words sounded like a strange mixture of Italian and… French? After a moment, when he finished, the tall woman spoke again. She directed her words clearly at the man, and her pronunciation was fairly reminiscent of harsh Hebrew, often containing grunting sounds in her words.

  Sitting for a moment, disoriented, he began to wonder why he’d been able to speak with these people at all, ignoring their now-incomprehensible words. If the fact that they’d had tutorials long ago was true, it meant he had indeed landed on another planet or even another universe.

  They clearly weren’t supposed to be speaking the same languages, yet he only stopped understanding them when… they stopped speaking directly to him. At that moment, he had two possible answers: either they were deliberately speaking so he wouldn’t understand, or some skill wasn’t working this time.

  The System mentioned several default skills it would help him learn. Was multilingualism among them? If he didn’t have it, perhaps he could still understand words when spoken with the express intention of making him understand? He decided to interject, as he might be missing out on some important information. After sharing his thoughts, the blond man replied.

  “It looks like we have something to talk about. But there’s no need to stand here. We should get you to a safe place.” he said warmly with a sympathetic smile. “There’s a city a cycle away from here. Now that we’ve confirmed the village’s condition, we can head over there. Along the way, we’ll tell you what you likely witnessed. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Egill. Next to me are Avir, Zaiah, Olympia, and Eyharnis, but she prefers to be called Eynis.”

  “Uhm, nice to meet you, I’m Orion. People just call me Ori.” he said, slowing down gradually with each word. He was quite sure Egill had said five names in total, and there were four people before him.

  After a moment, frowning, he looked at the crystal levitating among them.

  “Yes?” the crystal flashed subtly and a slightly childish voice, resembling a choir, emerged from it.