After returning inside and searching through the rest of the rooms, it is clear the site has been abandoned. It does appear that someone has gone through in a rush and taken the most important items; not that I can blame them for leaving quickly. After observing the aftermath, I wouldn't want to wait to see if whatever killed the people at the summoning circle decided to come back or not. It has probably been some time since that happened, but the concern of either the monster or more members of the organization that built this place returning is definitely at the back of my mind as I pick through the rooms for anything useful.

The site was created from a small natural cavern with a few rooms excavated here and there as needed. The back contains about a half dozen prison cells, followed by a few rooms for experimentation among those I originally awoke in, and finally a burn pit, probably for corpse disposal. In the front are the large area for the summoning circle and some living quarters.

Coming across a mirror in one of the bedrooms, I take in how I'm looking. Average height, a physique that isn't out of place for anyone with my past, short light brown hair with a few days of stubble on my jaw, and grey eyes; that is all expected. How everything else combines between my generally stern expression, a single scar running diagonally from my brow down my left cheek, bloodshot eyes and various incisions across my body leaves a jarring impression. I'm not the type to care about people's verdicts regarding my appearance but I don't want to frighten anyone either, which is about where I am walking around wearing a sheet and carrying a large scalpel.

Things improve when I am able to find a robe along with blankets, pots, two daggers in good condition, and enough dried food to feed one person for a few weeks. I also manage to scavenge 4 gold, 18 silver as well as some reagents, although I suspect I wouldn't be able to find a place to sell those easily. Finally, I find a partially filled waterskin but nothing else aside from that; there is probably a stream or some other water source nearby.

I want to leave and look for the closest village but I don't know how dangerous things are out in the forest, so I try to leverage the capabilities the messages had mentioned earlier. Turning my attention back to the words and with some experimentation and enough concentration, I find they respond to my intent. There is a very rudimentary description of the basics of this system and after reading through them, I recall the earlier messages. They indicate three available classes and focusing on them individually yields the following descriptions:

[

Warrior: A common class optimized for dealing damage with melee weapons. Warriors are an offense-oriented fighter class capable of withstanding a moderate amount of damage and serve as the starting point for other melee damage specializations. Skills include short-term party-wide damage enhancement, single target empowered strike, defensive weapon deflection action, and a passive minor increase to durability.

Shield Guardian: An uncommon class ideal for defending allies using a shield. Shield guardians are not the only class that can defend allies, but this class line has a very high emphasis on defense. Skills include a charge movement, disruptive shield attack, pain infliction, and a passive major increase in durability.

Elemental Conjurer: A rare class with strong support capabilities. A conjurer can create elements that are either permanent or long-lasting in contrast to the ephemeral elements used in most mage attack spells. Skills include the ability to conjure any of the six common elements, an arcane-based attack spell, a single target haste effect, and magical storage.

]

The first two classes look interesting and depending on what an increase in durability really translates into, could help very much with surviving injuries. The Elemental Conjurer class, however, is the only one that is rare and also offers magical skills. I didn't have the inherent ability to cast spells before and having magical support abilities could help make my skills better-rounded overall.

I'm not as worried about melee skills at the moment. As soldiers, we have been trained in simple but proven techniques. We both drilled them in practice and refined them under different conditions in combat until they were second nature. I am dressed like a typical mage with a robe and dagger, but unlike most mages, engaging in close combat with something frantically trying to kill me is something I have experience with. I wouldn't fare well against an expert swordsman, but I like my chances against any monster that is equivalent to an average human.

'Ok- Elemental Conjurer it is.'

I focus and choose the Elemental Conjurer class. I can feel a subtle shifting in my body for a second, but nothing aside from that seems to happen. I search for an option to display my general status and am presented with:

[

Rem - Level 1

Class slot 1

Skill points: 0

Elemental Conjurer skills:

1. Conjure common element - 1

2. Arcane bolt - 1

3. Haste - 1

4. Dimensional storage - 1

Class slot 2 - allocation currently unavailable

Class slot ?

#%~*@+ skills:

1. Absorb

2. Recall

3. Dismiss

Attribute points: 0

Attributes:

Strength - 15

Dexterity - 12

Intelligence - 8

Wisdom - 8

Constitution - 16

Endurance - 11

Vitality - 9

Health - 25/25

Mana - 22/22

Stamina - 23/23

General abilities:

Resist fear - 14

One-handed sword proficiency - 12

One-handed shield proficiency - 10

Dodge - 4

Identify - 1

]

Among the various pieces of information, I'm curious about the section starting with the garbled characters that concern me the most:

'#%~*@+ - what is that? More questions to add to the list I suppose.'

The first skill I tried in the Elemental Conjurer class is the Arcane bolt. Gesturing towards a piece of rubble, I activate the skill, and immediately a bright white flare comes to life near my hand. From almost a standstill, it accelerates toward my target and impacts with a small blast almost the size of my torso. The damage doesn't look likely to kill anything outright, and the pause at the start of the cast is worrisome. I'm sure I could dodge it myself if it were aimed at me, and I was paying attention. On the positive side, from checking my mana it appears this only costs 1 mana point per usage and the concussive effect may be useful to disrupt enemies.

I try the Haste spell next but mostly feel an immediate draining sensation. Quickly checking my mana, I see it is at 0/22 and not recovering. The haste feels negligible at this level of proficiency, and it is constantly consuming my mana pool. I disable the haste effect and decide to revisit this in the future when I have achieved higher levels.

After resting to recover my mana for several minutes, I try each of the six variations of the conjure common element spell. The light, dark, and fire elements allow me to manifest them in mid-air if I continue to concentrate on that point but immediately flicker out of existence when I stop. If I apply them to something solid like rocks, however, the effect seems to bind with the material and persist. The dark element creates a small layer of blackness around the target, the light element is broadcasting a very strong radiant light much brighter than a torch and the flame element is similar to a campfire in terms of the size and heat being emitted. I have to believe these effects must have a limited duration, but after a half-hour, they are all still very much active; I will need to test the duration limits in a more secure location.

The wind element is something of a mystery. I can feel a slight disruption in the air in front of me, but nothing else seems to happen. The earth element creates a stone about the size of my fist out of thin air. I can cause it to move forward a little, but I could propel the stone much faster just by throwing it with my arm. The water element spell generates a larger blob of water about the size of my head before I release it and let it splash down onto the floor. I'm looking down at the stone and puddle waiting for them to disappear but nothing is happening, and I'm beginning to appreciate why this class is so beneficial. I had seen mages in the past cast amazing spells, but the element would disappear at the end. The idea that a spell could create something permanent from nothing seems incredible to me.

I finally try the dimensional storage spell on a piece of rubble. It takes a few seconds, but the stone eventually disappears and I can concentrate to see it listed in the system display. I take another few minutes to try adding and retrieving additional items of various sizes. It appears larger items require proportionately more time and mana to store and retrieve. If there is a limit to the number of items I can store, I don't see any indication of that... another thing to test later.

I proceed to store most of the items I found and think of the implications of these new support skills. Exposure isn't an issue in this climate if I can carry blankets or a tent in storage and use a heat source that doesn't require fuel. I can generate an infinite supply of water it seems, and I can hold extended amounts of food in dimensional storage. I'm very happy to have taken this option, especially now considering I'll be striking out into the unknown wilderness.

...

A couple of hours go by as I wait for dawn and the rays of the sun are finally starting to illuminate the forest. The first thing I'd like to do is to get a view of the surrounding area to choose a direction to set out in. The fire I had started when I began testing the skills is still burning undiminished, but I quickly extinguish all three effects and exit the cavern. From a nearby hillside, I can make out a gap in the trees which may be a river, and angle my way towards it. After hiking for half an hour I come across a slow running stream perhaps thirty paces wide and coming up to the hip at the deepest point. I don't need to drink this water anymore, but there is something I want to check.

Standing in the middle of the river, I place my hands into the water and activate the wind element conjuration skill. I can see a large bubble grow around my hands for a moment before the water breaks it up and carries it away. I try dipping my face underwater with my hands cupped around my mouth and find I can breathe if I time the bubble of air being created with my inhalations.

'I can create air now- ridiculous!' I think grinning like an idiot. I don't know when next I would need this capability, but I can't help but feel impressed with this class skill.

After getting out of the water, I spend the better part of the day following the river downstream. I've put a fair amount of distance by now between myself and the summoner's cavern so in the afternoon I start looking for somewhere I can camp for the night. I still don't know what threats may be roaming about at night, so I would like to barricade an enclosed shelter if possible.

With some searching, the best I can find is a deep rut on a cliffside. I set about collecting a dozen thick branches a little wider than the opening and digging holes in the wall to set them. When placing the branches, I try filling the gaps in the holes by conjuring stone. I don't have fine control over the form, but it does materialize around the end of the branch helping to secure things in place. This isn't much protection, but I'm hoping this will require a larger animal to at least make some noise as they work past the branches.

Ensconced behind my rudimentary barricade, I set a few rocks near me on fire while I pull a blanket and some dried meat from my dimensional storage. As I wolf my food down I can feel the fatigue from the exertions of the past night and day weighing on me. When sunset approaches I extinguish the flames; I would rather not be visible in the night and will have to rely on whatever heat the rocks have retained.

Finally relaxing a little, I close my eyes and think back to the events of the past few days. The soldiers in my garrison have most likely all been slain by now. I understand that I would have made little difference had I stayed and that it was a random chance in the unstable summoning ritual that pulled me to this world. Regardless, I know some part of me will continue to wonder why I'm still here and alive while somewhere far away, ashes are settling on the scattered corpses of my comrades.