As much as Artyom would have loved to get his apparent exile started immediately, the process of getting everything ready would take some time: about half an hour.


    Most of that delay was from setting up the portal, namely in configuring the runic address of the destination. The magic of traveling between worlds was unlike the day-to-day version of the mystic arts most people were familiar with, which was based on the idea of harnessing a universally prevalent magical energy and putting it to use. Instead, multiversal travel was built on top of Runes.


    These were essentially the same Runes from Norse mythology, magical characters that held a kind of authority over the workings of the universe itself. Well, at least the strongest versions of them did.


    Apparently Runes came in tiers of degradation, with the lower tiered ones being stronger. Every time a set of runes was read and copied, they would degrade an additional tier and get weaker. The portals Artyom was used to utilized tier six Runes, the strongest TOAL had found so far. At least, that’s what the resident rune experts estimated, since nobody had ever seen anything stronger.


    Rune magic cast with higher tiers of degradation required additional time and material costs to perform, which made summoning rituals for some worlds a last resort since they could drain a kingdom’s coffers if their runes were degraded enough. This also made finding and incorporating better runes a high priority to the organization.


    These thoughts on the nature of Rune magic helped distract Artyom from the tumultuous sea in his heart as he readied himself for the mission. He grabbed a small knapsack from Sofia which contained three pairs of clothes, several nondescript coins, and a smattering of modern-themed survival gear. A thermal blanket, compass, multi-tool, and a week’s worth of ultra-dense ration bars that took no more than a cubic inch per day’s supply.


    Artyom took the bag to a nearby locker room where he changed out of his business casual wear into a set of humbly dyed linens; a light blue long-sleeve shirt and brown pants. As simple as his new wardrobe was, Artyom was more than happy for the swap to something much more comfortable. He only ever wore the button up shirt and dress pants when attending meetings, like the one with Gus, and preferred literally anything else. Even TOAL’s standard body armor was more comfortable!


    By the time Artyom finished up and found a safe place to store his old clothes, the portal was ready.


    “Everything is ready to go,” said Sofia. “Just step through the portal and you’ll find yourself on the outskirts of the nearby village of Freeacres, about an hour’s walk away if you follow the road forwards. Or likely much less if you run.”


    Artyom nodded, unfazed by the apparent distance. “By the way, what happened to the other guy who came with me?”


    “They delayed his meeting for another half an hour so the kids could have that moment. They should be starting up again by the time you head out, and I’m not surprised they’re taking their time to be able to do it distraction-free. I heard it’ll be a really big operation.”


    “Mhm.”


    “Oh, and Artyom?”If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The linen-clad man looked up with a quizzical look.


    “Enjoy your vacation,” she said with a smile.


    He quickly looked away and nodded, mumbling an awkward thanks before stepping through the swirling blue vortex.


    A blinding flash of white consumed Artyom, quickly turning pitch black as some long-forgotten sense in his brain told him he was moving at incredible speeds despite the balance center in his ears saying otherwise. At the end of the dimensional tunnel was another flash of white, which faded into a scenic countryside.


    Artyom stood on a wide, dirt road with an unenclosed empty field to his left and grassy plains to his right. The sky was mostly a solid blue, but the space around the sun shone with a spectral refraction of slivers of pinks, greens, and silvers. Before taking the first step in this new world, he performed a quick check to make sure everything was in place. Clothes, the contents of his survival bag, and his personal flip-phone.


    While Artyom was aware of the smartphones of the modern world, and even owned one before being spirited away himself years ago, he quite enjoyed the simplistic and stylish nature of what he currently had. Besides, it came with enough useful features to beat out a smartphone from Earth: a comm line directly to headquarters, an emergency recall function to send him back if anything went really wrong, and games made by volunteers with actual passion rather than a lust for player’s money.


    Satisfied that everything was present, Artyom began walking towards town. The road was quiet and the surroundings tranquil, only broken up by the occasional rustle in the grass or an unfamiliar bird’s chirp. The air tasted crisp as he took in a deep breath. It wasn’t even laden down with a high humidity or cloud of pollen that could be expected in the late spring, and there wasn’t even a spot of pollution.


    While the surroundings were a balm to his spirit, it wasn’t enough to calm Artyom’s still racing mind. He still needed a proper distraction. Rather than pick out a game to play from his phone however, he pulled out the dossier he’d stashed in his knapsack and continued reading.


    Right where he previously stopped, the mission brief was describing why he was here, with how there were signs of someone from Earth being in this world but no signs of someone actually being summoned. Summonings could be detected by the ripples the Rune magic would send out, but evidence of someone from Earth?


    According to the techies, each world had a “noosphere,” or a sort of psychic layer around it that formed from all the thoughts and feelings of the people who lived there. Tapping into it to get an idea of what a world was like was originally thought up as an alternative way to search for Earthers, as well as to perform preliminary scouting to determine how hospitable a world was. It definitely saved plenty of time since it was put into effect, as well as plenty of lives.


    It was how TOAL discovered this world might have an Earther; mentions of places, food, and ideas from back home sprung up at regular intervals before slowly fading out, only to repeat again and again like clockwork. It was the perfect sign of a traveling hero who happened to share bits and pieces of their culture with those he rescued.


    It was also how they determined this world was a Fairytale world; the kind of hate, suffering, and misery that plagued the likes of Gilded worlds wasn’t present here at all. Sure, tragedies still happened, but they were few and far between with community support helping to mend the worst emotional scars.


    So in other words, it would be a walk in the park for Artyom. He was confident to either find an Earther living out a heroic fantasy and a new kind of summoning ritual, or to mark the whole thing off as a weird coincidence. It was a mission for a new recruit. Or as Gus said, a vacation.


    At that point, Artyom had finished getting through the report background and finally reached the nitty-gritty parts, the actually useful intel that would help him track down this potential Earther. Before he could start reading however, he was interrupted once more.


    “Stand and deliver!” shouted a voice in front of him.


    “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”