Have you ever had liquid metal poured on you? That was what I was currently feeling. To add to that, it also made me think I was being stun by thousand of bee’s all at once. I let out a scream louder than any of the ones from the time I was experimented on. These sensations were also moving along my body. It was the nanobots, something seemed to be effecting them. The moment it stopped I vomited.

(What the hell just happened? Did the nanobots have some sort of malfunction?) I would later realize that they had each absorbed the mana of this world, and by doing so underwent a radical change.

I fell backwards, heard a clicking sound as I landed flat on my bottom. (What was that sound?) I reach under, and am white as a ghost, what I find is the button I have dreaded for the last month. Even though my body had pressed it there was no reaction. I could feel the humming in my hand, meaning it still had power. I pressed the button of my own free will. Nothing happened. I press it multiple times. Still nothing happens. “Huh?” (Wait? That would mean I am free?)

My mood just got a lot more cheerful. I quickly look around, only one thing seems familiar, the corpse behind. I become less cheerful, but I am free after all. Of course nothing would be familiar to me, the only different environment I have known, is the artificial constructed in door driving range, which was full of sand dunes. My environment had mostly consisted of metal doors, and cold metal floors and walls. Now that I thought of it, how did I get outside in the first place, did that man destroy a wall or something?

I decided to run forwards, he did say he had a house to the north right? As I walk forward I see a strange looking lizard. It only has two feet, they are similar to how ostriches are shaped, only they are clearly lizard legs. (Dam, global warming has done a number on the environment!) The mutated lizard quickly dashes off. Well at the time I thought it was a mutated lizard.

I am making my way down the mountain top. The piece of rock I was holding lets go, but thanks to my new and improved reflexes, I am able to quickly grasp a new one. Normally a mountain this size would take forever to climb down. (Wait, was there not sand under my feet while I was being marched into that building?) Something was not adding up.

At the bottom of the mountain was a thick forest. My improved eyes sight was able to make out the small wildlife. (Really now, global warming has done a number on this place!) I said small wildlife, but in comparison to the normal size these things are huge. Butterflies the size of birds, ground hogs the size of German-shepherds, and snakes the width of cats.

The wildlife leaves me alone. The snake seems to be just a garden snake, so I do not have to worry, even if it does happen to bite me. Although I wonder if the nanobots can construct an anti-venom if it happens to be dangerous. While thinking this the forest becomes dead quiet.

I run forwards at an unimaginable speed, not as fast as a certain red wearing superhero, but still pretty fast. I hear a strange noise from above. It sounds like a loin had obtained a surround-sound system. Looking up slowly, I also realize there is a huge shadow covering me. Above me is some sort of blue lizard with giant wings, and razor sharp teeth. One word slips out of my mouth. “Dragon?”

I back away slowly, but that is when it breaths out its own personal blizzard. I fall on the newly formed ice, and begin gliding towards its now landed form. I do not have time to get up. Its mouth is above my head, and then I feel its razor sharp teeth biting into my neck in on swift action. It just swallows my now severed head in one motion. I can feel my head being digested. The dragon now satisfied, flies off somewhere.

My corpse lays on the ground, new flesh begins to form from the base of my neck. This must be what it feels like for a hydra to regrow one of its heads. What I do not understand is how I remember my head being eaten. I would later learn that the nanobots have created backups of my memories, and the ones inside the dragon’s stomach had transferred those memories through wireless interface, directly to the ones remaining outside. If I got my head chopped off, would that mean I would then have two bodies? Like I would ever test that theory.

I ran faster than before, arriving at the village as quickly as possible. (Which one was his house again? The one without doors? How could you get into a house without doors?)

I stood in front of his house with a perplexed look. (What did he say again? The green cube was my entryway or something like that?) I pulled out the green cube, banged it against each wall. Nothing happened, well something did earlier when my hand slide down the cube. A pale green light radiated briefly. I slide my hand more carefully, moving it up and down, rubbing it like a genies lamp.

As the green light got brighter, it swirled around my body, and then began to enclose around me. The next thing I knew I was standing in a huge room. A woman with long light blue hair, and the most beautiful silver eyes I have ever seen. Not that I have seen anyone with silver eyes before. She began to speak, but I could not understand her. Now that I think back the man that saved me had a very strange accent. His A’s were like a seagull, while his T’s were like a snake, as for when he said the word mana, the M was like a barking dog, while the N was like a baaing sheep.

Back Gate’s maid

A young man with clothing from the mythic continent suddenly appeared in the entryway. I ask him. “What has happened to my master? Why do you have his key?” He just looks at me blankly. (Wait could it be that he does not understand my words?) I think about it and ask him in the mythic Continent language. Lucky for him I am one of the ten percent of people that understand the language.

“Sorry about that. I thought you understood languages other than the mythic one. I want to know what happened to my master, and why you have his key.” I bow before him, if he has the house key it means he is not likely a threat.

Subject 33

When suddenly asked I do not know how to respond at first. “Well, your master rescued me, but ended up dying as a result. He said something about his mana not forming, after asking me if I could cast a healing spell. I have no idea what he meant. Because I could not do anything for him, he handed me this cube, and entrusted me with what this key opens.” I show her the key. “Come with me.” The woman brings me to a bed chamber.

“This is what the key opens. If you are able to open it, then I will know the story is true.” I guess she has her doubts. I place the key into the small box, twist it to the left, it glows, and then the box opens. Inside is a violet gemstone, with strange symbols. “This was entrusted to my master by the princess of the frozen lava region. If ever you are in trouble use it.” I close the box and lock it anew. A question has been at the back of my head for a while now, so I ask. “What is mana?”

The woman clutches my arm and drags me to a library. (So this house seems to have a personal library.) She pulls out a book and places it on the table in front of me. I can not make out a word. She looks at me expectantly for a few minutes, and than slammed her palm to her forehead. “It did not occur to me you may not be able to read the language. Let me read it to you then.”

I soon learned what mana was. It was a natural resource all around us, the could be used to invoke amazing phenomenons. The book she was reading was called the basic of magic. After awhile I realized I have heard something like this before, but when and were. Everything before my abduction was a blur, the only thing I could remember from before was the day of.

I suddenly was able to recall. I use to read light novels, and play video games with mages that cast spells. (Ah! I am in a situation like that.) The only difference was they did not have tiny machines coursing through their bodies. “By the way could I ask your name, or are you an orphan like my master?” My name she asked. I was not an orphan and I had a name, but I could not remember it. I was not going to tell her my name was subject 33. So I decided to give my self a new name here and now. Because I was recalling light novels a certain female half elf with emerald green hair came to mind. Her name was Sylphiette, a child hood friend of a reincarnated NEET. But considering I was male I decided to adapt it a bit. “My name is Sylphire.” Part of my new name was just to mock the ice dragon that bit off my fucking head.

“Okay Sylphire, I want you to try emulating what the books said about sensing mana.” I imagined the light as a bright gold with traces of silver, when I brought it into myself, I felt the pain from earlier, but to a lighter extant. It also gave off the feeling of sighting on a heater that let out warm air. That feeling was somehow refreshing. My sight became even sharper, I could hear the snakes from the forest I left, even the subtle noises of the ground hogs chewing on food. This was amazing, it was like the nanobots functions had been upgraded.

“Now try to push the mana outwards, like the book described.” I did as I was asked, at first it took me a while to understand what the vomiting from my body would feel like, but soon I achieved the goal. I could now see the forest, not just hear it. The book described it like seeing behind a wall, but I could see much farther than that.

“Next lets try an actual spell. I was told by my master this was the first spell he ever learned to cast. It is entitled Ice lance.” I focused on the imagery of the lance, imagining it getting colder and colder as it moved forwards. Suddenly thirteen lances appeared at once. The young woman stared blankly for half an hour. “They should have vanished by now.” She was pocking them. “Not only should they have vanished by now, but there should have only been one!”