A few hours later, after Lu lets me leave almost reluctantly, I find myself heading towards the exit which is basically a glowing white orb, feels pretty cliche. I shudder to myself at the thought of the dwarf and her endless marketing schemes. Yes, the dwarf's name is Lujadin, also known as Lu. Her name sounds kind of fantasy wannabe, well who am I to judge, cultures are different and our names will be strange sounding to them.

Well, back to the present... As soon as I place my hand on the luminous orb, my vision flashes and I'm back to the forest, the strange metal canister in front of me.

I hear a low buzz followed by some high pitched shrieks, soon enough I spot someone running in my direction. A swarm of insect-like creatures chasing him, "Don't lead them towards me, turn around," I shout to him. The boy runs even harder in my direction, all the while anxiously screaming.

"Help me please, I will reward you with money. My father is a very rich man and will surely appreciate this gesture."

I turn around and run towards the river that I had crossed to get here. Maybe, the insects will not attack in the water, just maybe. I splash into the water and prepare to sink as soon as the swarm come close, I know that the boy will certainly follow my steps and jump into the water. The gushing water is slowly but surely carrying me away, I decide whether to let the current take me with its flow but I feel it might be too dangerous as the current might suddenly turn rough and I might drown. I hold on to a rock that is in the middle of the river, my arms tightly wound around it. The flowing water constantly hitting my face and causing me to take deep gulps of it.

The boy jumps into the river, landing with a splash, his head is under water. The swarm stays above the waterline for some time but quickly get uninterested and fly away. A head exits the water, "help me," the boy sputters. I sigh in regret, why must I attract these weirdos. I let go of the rock and slowly make my way towards him, as annoying as he is I will not sit back while a life can be saved. As soon as I reach him, I realize the problem, his arms are wildly flailing about and I might be injured if I try to help him. I kick him and quickly take hold of him and pull him to the river bank. The boy drags himself up and starts coughing out lungfuls of water.

"Are you okay," I ask, more out of pity than care.

"What the hell man, why didn't you help me when I called you and what was that kick for," he asks, his face red with anger.

"What? And risk my life for a stranger, no thanks. I kicked you to get your attention or would you rather drown," I ask in an annoyed tone.

He huffs angrily and says, "I will tell my father about you, then you will realize the mistake that you made."

I shrug and turn around, starting to walk away, I would rather not deal with this. How ungrateful can someone be? He must be some rich brat.

"Stop, the least you can do is help me," the boy says

"Help yourself," I say and ignore his next words.

"You will regret this boy, I will make you pay."

I walk back into the forest, hopefully, I will never meet him again. I don't look back to the boy and ignore the chills running down my back, I know he is looking at me. "Whump" I trip on a knot of grass and firmly implant my face in the ground. I hear laughter and jeers from behind me, "aargh." Now of all times? Just when I was making a sufficiently cool exit. My hands close around an object, without thinking I place it in my pocket.

What feels like hours later, I hear a flurry of voices from in front of me. Deciding to choose the safer alternative, which is to hide, I crouch behind a bush. A minute later, I can see them, the group comprises of 3 men and 2 women. All of them are chatting amicably and share the same crest on their flowing robes. The group does not give me a feeling of danger so trusting my gut on this one, I come out of the bushes, surprising them.

Two of the men immediately pull weapons out while one of the women jumps back and draws out some kind of ranged weapon. They look at me warily but upon realizing that I am just a kid, their guard lowers slightly.

"Who are you," says one of the men, "Why did you jump out like that."

I realize that I might have alarmed them through my actions and in a placating tone, I start explaining my circumstances. The five nod as if my story doesn't sound unbelievably crazy thereby making me question their sanity.

"We are from the Grayps Clan in the Elder City. It is pretty close by, would you like to come with us?"

"Sure," I nod. Anything to get back to civilization and away from this dreary jungle.

"You might get prosecuted for trespassing in the safe zones without a permit but because you are a challenger you should be acquitted."

I sigh, the tangle of legal proceedings lay powerful even in another world.

"So, have you found others like me," I ask.

"No, but there will be many of you who will be found, when a challenger appears, he never comes alone," answers one of the women.

"I am Ashwin," I say.

The group nods, looks like their names will not be forthcoming. Either they do not wish to share their names or they missed my obvious cue.

"So how long will it take to return," I ask.

"Not more than a day or two," answers the same women, which makes me wonder if she is the group's speaker.

Their definition of soon could sure use some changing. Then again, life in the big cities is always more hectic and fast-paced, for us even a few hours is a lot of time. The same amount of time in a rural village is not a lot, given that they have the patience to grow crops which take months to a year to fully ripen.

"Shall we begin?" I ask the terse lipped group.

"We shall."