Darkness. It was everywhere. And not just a lack of light, but the absence of… anything. A black voidscape extended to infinity, and Artyom floated through it. Without a body or any physical form. Just his mind.


    “Physical” didn’t exist here. But where was “here”?


    “I’m pretty sure I’m not dead,” thought Artyom to himself. Here however, his thoughts were as loud as any shout, yet utterly silent as even sound could not exist.


    “I got knocked out though, ran straight into an attack from something sneaking up behind me. And I even canceled my armor spell to run faster. I’m an idiot!”


    Something changed in the realm of nothing, and a dense fog descended upon infinity. Artyom’s voice became muddled, his thoughts less sharp, and his will nearly nonexistent.


    “I can’t blame myself, I wanted to get out of there.”


    The words came out with Artyom’s voice but they didn’t sound right. Did he mean to say something else, and the fog distorted his words?


    No, Artyom felt that deep down, they were his own. He recalled the pointed elf-like ears on Tommy, the hero supposedly from Earth. Was he really from back home? Artyom could have been helping out with the latest big mission instead of wasting his time on such a gamble.


    He should have taken up Gus’ offer to head back instead of staying here, but he didn’t, and now he was paying the price.


    [Class Obtained: Mage]


    [Level up! Mage: 1]


    “Oh that was right, Skeya said that the goddess’ blessing would let me level up. It’s about time!”


    [Level up! Mage: 2]


    [Skill obtained: Lesser Magic Regeneration]


    “And now all of the spellcasting I’ve done over the last few days is finally paying off.”


    [Level up! Mage: 3]


    [Level up! Mage: 4]


    “But I should have waited until tomorrow to enter the dungeon, why didn’t I? Was it the headache? Or maybe I just didn’t think about it…”


    [Level up! Mage: 5]


    [Skill obtained: Lesser Spell Efficiency]


    “But these levels and Skills should help me escape once I wake up. Or better yet, I can just use my phone to get myself an immediate extraction if they haven’t taken it. But what will happen next?”


    [Level up! Mage: 6]


    “I head back to base, go on a new mission, and someone else comes here to keep an eye out on Tommy. Some newbie who’s better off here instead of on the front lines. This place is a Fairytale world, after all.”


    [Level up! Mage: 7]


    “Except for the Dark Lord’s army, committing war crimes left and right, even if they act all naive about what they’re doing. This… isn’t a safe place. And Tommy is a kid, he’s not ready for that kind of thing. But he’s not from Earth, so it isn’t my problem, right?”


    [Skill obtained: Lesser Strength]


    “It’s the problem of whoever replaces me here. Yeah. And if Tommy gets killed since he’s way out of his depth, then it’s… his problem too…”


    The fog felt more dense than it did a moment ago, and Artyom felt his mind enveloped by its cool embrace. His thoughts became strained as his mental voice was muffled by the cotton-like cloud. No point thinking any further, just let the level ups keep piling up and get back home after waking up.


    Home…


    Home?


    “Earth. That’s home. Or rather, that was home. Everything was taken from me the day I was summoned, and there’s no way back. The same thing happens to so many other kids, and maybe even Tommy.”


    [Level up! Mage: 8]


    The fog began to shift around Artyom, trying to wrap around him but finding itself drifting just too far to the side.


    “But I was able to build something back up. I had to fight tooth and nail to do it, but not everyone gets the chance, especially if they’re dead. And if Tommy dies?”If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Artyom let loose a mirthless chuckle.


    [Level up! Mage: 9]


    “Then his chance disappears with it.”


    A spark went off in Artyom’s mind, jumping from neuron to neuron and triggering a massive cascade that brought forth true light into a world of nothing. The fog retreated in its presence, leaving a small sphere of clarity around him.


    “I made a promise! To give everything I had to keep the people of Earth safe from those that would do them harm! I’d sooner see this world burn than… no, watching another world burn is easy, and this one might already be on that path if it really is Gilded. I’d sooner see my world burn once more than willingly let another innocent kid from Earth die.”


    The fog surrounding Artyom began to grow in density and slowly creep towards him, growing unafraid of the slowly fading light.


    “So what if I don’t know if Tommy’s really from Earth or not? I’m not about to risk his life on a maybe, letting go of him is against everything I stand for! Saving kids from Earth is my purpose, my duty! I’m going to get out of here and save him!”


    [Level up! Mage-


    [Level ups canceled]


    …


    [System Reloading]


    …


    The fog began to grow thin, and soon disappeared completely, leaving him once more alone in the empty voidscape save for that single spark. Artyom felt a rush of lucidity and a sudden realization of what had happened to him.


    [Skill obtained: Emissary of Dharma]


    He opened his eyes.


    “Lensa you bitch!” shouted Artyom as he shot up.


    A group of diminutive creatures gathered around him all began to scream and run towards a cage door on the far end of the room and close it shut behind them.


    Still shaking off the last bit of dizziness, Artyom was unable to grab any of them or give chase. And the door was already locked by the time he got to his feet.


    The man from Earth took a deep breath and took in his surroundings. He found himself in a dungeon. Well, a dungeon within a dungeon. The small room featured a natural rock formation that mimicked a row of prison cells, splitting a section of its floor space into squares barred off by speleothems too close to each other for a normal human to squeeze through.


    The cage door, made of metal bars, was attached to a nearby stalagmite on a swivel, making his small enclosure a true prison cell.


    And looking in from the cage door was a tightly packed group of short creatures covered in teal colored scales and wearing torn brown linen rags. On each of their heads was a pair of stubby horns and on their backs was a tail that extended about two feet.


    They were all squeezed up in front of the cage door to stare at him with wide eyes, filled with fear and concern, but mostly curiosity. None of them made a move to run out of the room to warn anyone else, so Artyom was content to process his current situation.


    “So first things first, Lensa’s a bitch. Her so-called ‘goddess’ blessing’ must have actually been some kind of high level Confusion spell. Maybe it did come with a blessing attached, but I’m certain it was only to hide the intended effect.”


    Artyom had been affected by Confusion and its stronger cousins before, and knew to recognize when his head wasn’t on straight, but only because they solely affected surface level thoughts and senses. This was something completely different; it messed him up on a fundamental level.


    “That just went to show how strong all of them are, not just Xerica.”


    Artyom started to feel relief at the thought of Tommy having such a powerful entourage to keep him safe, but that soon froze and turned to dread as he realized their actual character.


    “At worst I looked like an overeager fan, nowhere near as annoying as the one from the Arena in that one game, and their response was to try and get me killed? Who the hell are these assholes?!”


    “Hey, we’re not assholes!” shouted one of the creatures.


    Artyom broke out of his thoughts and turned to them. “Didn’t you knock me out and drag me here so you can eat me?”


    “No, only for our boss to eat you!” another one shouted. “We eat plants, rats, and spiders.”


    “The ones that don’t outsmart us,” added in a third.


    Artyom slowly blinked. Why were these monsters, who’d knocked him out and locked him up, bantering with him like they were old friends? Artyom looked down at his body and saw.


    “Right, they all think I’m some dumb peasant who ran in here. But that doesn’t explain how familiar they’re acting with me, like I’m not some kind of enemy. Are they looking down on me? No, they wouldn’t be so friendly if that were the case.”


    Artyom’s eyes lit up with realization but then dimmed in disappointment. “Right, ‘Fairytale’ world. Everyone here is naive but can be as brutal as any Gilded world.”


    However, one thing stood out to him about these creatures.


    The man from Earth cleared his throat and asked, “So what are you all, some kind of kobolds?”


    “…yes?” one of them replied after a moment.


    From his experience, almost every fantasy world had some kind of creature fit a particular role: weak, diminutive, dumb… low level mooks in essence. But in large enough numbers with the proper armaments and home field advantage, they could be incredibly dangerous.


    “As weak as these kobolds look, I don’t trust a thing those four said about this dungeon.”


    “Oh, you know what we are?” asked one of them.


    Speed of the Olympian. “I need to figure these creatures out.”


    “Do you think we’re famous out there? Does anyone else know about us?”


    Tungsten Body. “Find their weaknesses.”


    “Too bad he’s going to get eaten soon, I like having a fan.”


    Lion’s Strength. “And do whatever it takes to keep Tommy safe.”