Am-Reah had been deep in the heart of the southern deserts when she stumbled into a ruin there. She had no clue how she had ended up in a library but she figured that it had something to do with the monument she had been forced into by the harsh storm. She had just been trying to cross the desert to get back home, the school was preparing to accept new students, and she had been lucky enough to be allowed to go home and visit her family with the time off she had accumulated last year. On the way there though, a freak storm had struck the desert and it had forced her towards this strange ruin that just barely poked out from the shifting tide of sand that threatened to drown her.

  Even if she wasn’t sure where she was, Am-Reah considered herself lucky to be alive. The desert storms in that area were rare, but they were deadly. She didn’t have any way of handling it. So instead she just accepted that she needed to try and find a way out of…wherever this was.

  She had wandered the endless shelves looking for…anything, she found all kinds of books, tools, and rooms along the way. Almost everything was illegible though, except for the signs. Unlike everything else in the library…they looked brand new. They all pointed toward certain sections of the library. One of them said it led to the office. She decided to follow that one. It was probably her best chance of finding an exit.

  The spot she arrived at was a wide circular structure that filled the center of the bottom floor. A large reception desk circled the entire structure with entrances facing each of the four main stairwells to the north, south, east, and west. It was just like any other reception desk in a library, just a lot larger.

  She was disappointed to find that there was no one there.

  Tzzzzzz

  Albion entered the library and immediately was met face-to-face with a strange girl. The area he had decided to enter was coincidentally directly in front of this poor young woman and with a yelp, she ended up falling flat on her ass.

  “Oh, um, hello. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “...”

  “Um…hello?”

  Am-Reah was shaken up…who was this young man…was he really a young man. Who the hell teleports like that? She didn’t feel a thing when he stepped out in front of her. Even the teachers at her school couldn’t teleport like that. And only spacial masters could teleport. Was he secretly a master of spacial magic? Did she accidentally step into a spacial pocket of his?

  ‘Oh, gods. I hope he isn’t mad.’

  “I-I am, um, so sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to stumble into this place. I somehow ended up here when I found some ruins deep in the desert. I’m so sorry.”

  “Sir?”

  “Eeeep, I mean master.”

  “What? NO! I’m only 18 first of all. Second of all please just call me Albion, and stop talking like that!”

  “What? Y-your only 18? I’m older than you?”

  “I guess?”

  “How can you teleport like that? I didn’t feel a thing?”

  “It’s a secret.”

  “So…I can just call you Albion…”

  “Yes, please. Anything else would be weird.”

  “Um…okay. Albion…can you help me get back. Please.”

  Ah-Reah looked up at Albion, her dark brown eyes pleading with him to help her out of the library.

  “Um. I’m not sure, one second. Hey Journal, can I send her back?”

  Ah-Reah watched as a small journal appeared out of nowhere in front of the young man…was he really younger than her. Where did that journal come from? Why was it moving on its own?

  {No, she doesn’t have a card with coordinates. A person needs to apply for a card at the monument before entering or they won't have a way to get back to the location afterward.}

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  “Sorry, I can’t get you back to where you were. I can bring you somewhere else though. There are only a few places I can go, though”

  “Oh, um, that’s not good. Where can you bring me?”

  “Zolt, Aberelt, or the town south of Aberelt. I forget the name but I could take you there.”

  “You can take me to Aberelt?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please take me there!”

  “Oh, um, okay. I’ll take you to the outskirts though I don’t think they would want me to bring someone inside.”

  “No! I’m a student they won’t care. Please take me back.”

  Ah-Reah was begging at this point, she didn’t want to be stuck here. She didn’t like books enough to be stuck in a library and if she didn’t have to pay for a train back to Aberelt why not take the free ride? Her family would be a bit disappointed but they would understand.

  “Alright then, I can help you get back. You didn’t need anything else right?”

  “No. Thank you so much.”

  Ah-Reah was beaming so brightly that Albion could barely look at her. It was awkward having someone smiling at him like that.

  “Alright. I’ll just bring you to the main gate if that’s alright?”

  “It’s fine. Thank you so much, Albion.”

  “It’s fine. Come one.”

  Albion opened a portal and shooed her through it. He wanted to get back to his room in time to see the sunset.

  Or else he would have to wait for tomorrow.

  He didn’t want to wait.

  Ah-Reah had never experienced such easy teleportation before. That portal barely gave her any nausea. It was a breeze compared to what she felt going through some of the schools' teleporters.

  When she walked out she realized that…she had just appeared out of thin air as well, with no runes facilitating the magic at all. It was so strange.

  “Ah-Reah?”

  Ah-Reah looked to her left to see someone hiding behind the desk.

  “Jemma? Why are you hiding behind the desk?”

  “I should be asking why you just popped out of thin air! And aren't you the boy who just entered? You’re not supposed to leave the school until the tests are done or you could get in trouble.”

  “Wait you’re not even a student yet?”

  “Ah-Reah you know him?”

  “He just helped me get here. I got stuck in some weird place?”

  Ah-Reah looked to see Albion vigorously shaking his head no.

  “Where did you get stuck.”

  “O-oh, um just, somewhere. Not sure. Anyways it was nice seeing you I am gonna head inside and get some rest. Yawwwnnn It was a pretty long way to get back here. See you around.”

  “What, HEY!”

  “Sorry. I’m tired.”

  Jemma looked ticked off. She was just blown off. She’ll just get the other kind to…where did he go.

  Albion sat on the top of the building of the freshman dorms. Admiring the sky, watching darkness set over the buildings below him as the sun slowly dipped over the horizon. It was beautiful.

  [Isn’t it beautiful Pudgy?]

  Pudgy nodded, nuzzling up against Albion as he stroked his head.

  Albion couldn’t have asked for a better start to his new life.

  …

  Well maybe he could have done without the running, the snowstorms, and having to fish that poor girl out of the library.

  Ah-Reah was her name, at least that’s what the other girl had called her.

  He hoped that wasn’t a nickname it would be weird if he called her that and it wasn’t her actual name. She was in such a rush to get out of there. He wondered if he would ever see her again. He almost hoped he would. She seemed nice. If a little bit sporadic.

  [Let’s just try to have fun Pudgy. There’s no point in getting stronger and learning about the world if we can’t have fun exploring it right?]

  Pudgy nodded and licked Albion’s hand, he agreed fully.

  [Especially if we can go find some tasty new foods.]

  Albion and Pudgy sat drooling, thinking about all the tasty foods they would be able to eat. Albion had heard that the stronger the beast the tastier the meat.

  He wondered if that was true.

  He wanted to find out.

  To do that he needed to get stronger. So he was going to put his all into studying, practicing, and clearing the test with flying colors. No matter how hard it was he was confident he could beat it. He just needed the time he had left to prepare.

  [We need to practice a lot more, so we can get stronger and eat lots of tasty meat. Let’s get some rest. First thing tomorrow let’s go fight.]

  Albion teleported the both of them into his room. He had already gotten ready for bed so he tucked pudgy in and got in with him. Pudgy didn’t like sleeping alone after all. Albion didn’t mind. He was a good boy, he didn’t want him to sleep sad and alone at the end of the bed like some pet.

  He was his partner after all, not a pet.

  Albion stroked Pudgy's head a couple of times until the little guy was fast asleep and laid his head down to rest as well.

  Before long both of them were dreaming.

  Dreaming of adventure.

  Dreaming of relaxation.

  And most importantly…meat.