"look, i can explain..."

Luke is fucked, Eryn had accidentaly seen him charging the phone, and now she won't go away

"What was that glowing slab?"

"Nothing, just some magical scrap we found on the dungeon!"

"I've never seen anything like that, can i take a look?"

"Oh no, no need haha... We we're talking about whether or not to sell it"

"Oh really..."

"Yes!"

"Then why are you hiding it hmm?

"It's private, so now please go back to your room..."

"No, if it's a new artifact i must record it! For knowledge!"

Eryn tried to reach behind him to where he's holding the phone

"Vina! Hold her down!"

Luke had to admit, despite Vina just sitting like a kid listening to an argument in the bed the whole time her reaction time to a help request was fast, she jumped out of the bed and into Eryn's back and pinned her down, and it's clear that Vina is physically stronger than her.

"oof... hey! What is this? Let me go!"

"What do we do Luke?"

"Uhh..."

"Excuse me! Mind explaining what's happening here?"

"Oh no... Ah fuck it, it's gonna happen anyway sooner or later"

"Does this have something to do with that slab? Did you two steal something?"

Luke crouched down to be more level with her eyes, it honestly looked like something out of a cheesy action movie where the bad guy crouch down in front of the downed protagonist to tell him an evil plan or a harsh truth or something.

"If you promise to keep this a secret i Will tell you"

"What is this? You two did something did you?"

"Shush! Listen to him!"

Eryn stared at Luke with anger or perhaps annoyance in her eyes, it made him nervous

"How do i uhh... Explain this... Have you ever dreamed of going to another world?"

"What?"

"Like a magic spell that enables you to go to another world? Have you ever think about it?"

"I don't get what you're saying here"

"Have you ever noticed anything strange? You know... About me?"

"You're the weirdest orc i've ever seen, but what does that have to do with this?"

"Well you see... I'm not an orc, i lied to you about that rejected thing"

"Huh?... Then... What are you?"

"Ugh! Let me explain" Vina hopped in the conversation, she Bent to whisper something to Eryn, after a short moment her eyes went wide.

"You're from another world!?"

"Yes! But let me explain..."

"Oh godess i must be going crazy! A fugitive archmage and a visitor from another world? I knew i shouldn't have left the city!"

"You're not! Just listen! Yes... I'm not from this world and yes i'm not an orc, but i am not your enemy...."

"Then what are you!"

"Human, that's what my species is called, don't worry my name is still Luke"

"How do i know you're not gonna hurt me?"

"I won't, you healed me, i thank you for that"

"Then let me go!"

"No, i can't let you run around knowing what i am, if you want to be let go, promise that you Will keep it a secret and we Will forget about it"

"And how do i know you Will keep your promise? How Can i believe you?"

"You want proof on what i am?"

"Yes"

Luke pulled out his phone and did the same thing he did to convince Vina, a video, he rested the phone in front of eryn's face and let her see for herself, her anger instantly Vanished.

"How..."

"Here's the thing, in my world... Magic doesn't exist so my people try to find a way to live without it, thousands of years experiments, research and innovation resulted in what you see right now"

"Is this... Real?"

"Yes it is, he's from another world, right bad luck charm?"

"My God! stop calling me that for a second Will ya?"

"Ah! What is that?"

"Huh?"

He looked down to his phone and see that the auto-play feature on his video gallery was on and is now playing a video of ww2 tank startups and drive-around he had visited.

"Wow, what is that..." Vina helpfully added

He took the phone away "i'll explain to both of you later, for now though... Eryn can you keep a secret?"

"I..."

"Yes or no?"

"But-"

"Yes or no?"

"...."

"Mmm?"

"Yes... yes i can"

"Good... Vina is going to let you go... Don't run"

She nodded

"Let her go"

Vina released her grip and took a position that lets her act fast if Eryn tried anything, Eryn stood up slowly all the while staring at him with caution and fear though he can see a hint of awe somewhere in there, it was a strange feeling really, since she's taller than him by a good measure.

"So- you're actually..."

"Yes"

"This is..."

"Crazy?"

"Awesome!"

"What?" Luke was surprised at the sudden shift of mood, her attitude Went from scared to excited in an instant, and to add more to the surprise Eryn ran into him and grabbed him on the shoulder and threw a wall of question at him, every question making her face Lit up even more.

"What can you tell me? What is it like in your world? What are those Giant buildings? What is that Giant metal thing with a pole sticking out of the front? What is-"

"Stop-stop-stop! Hey calm down with the questions!"

"I can't calm down! What does your female look like? Is it like you? Or very different? How do you make a picture move? What is that slab?"

"Sit and i'll explain!"

Eryn and for some reason, Vina, immediately sat down on the bed staring at him like kids hearing the word bedtime story.

"Okay... But first you must know that ALL of this must be kept a secret ok? I don't know what the hell Will happen if anyone with a slightest bit of influence learns that a creature from another world exist and i don't wanna end up like the witch of Salem"

"You have my word, i Will keep your secret"

"Do you swear?"

"I swear upon my honor"

"Huff... Okay, so this thing i'm holding is called..."

----~----

'god damn this girl is resilient'

Luke had been answering eryn's questions for HOURS now and she still hadn't ran out of it, even Vina already gave up and is now currently sleeping it off, leaving him to suffer the constant questioning, what's worse is she's not letting him go until all of Them is answered.

"What's this? What is that?"

"Ugh.... Eryn.... Please just stop"

"I can't! There is so many new things to learn!"

"Jesus... Are you always like this?"

"No, only when there's something interesting i don't know, and knowledge from another world is definitely interesting... Oh! What is that thing for?"

"Farming"

"With spinning Blades?"

"Yes, basically the Blade cuts the plants and the fallen crops gets sucked, sorted and stored on the machine"

"Incredible..."

"You have been saying that for everything i've shown you, including a garden hose"

"But it's something i've never seen! Oh! Is that the Giant metal thing from before?"

He looked at his phone and Saw what she is refering to as 'giant metal thing' is a tank, an old one, he had been saving the military stuff for last because you know... It might make Them shiver when you tell Them we can delete a city in a fraction of a second or have weapons that can go through a super thick armor like sword through fabric.

"Ah yeah... I've been saving that for the last"

"What is it though?"

"It's a machine of war, it's called tank"

"Oh... How does it work?"

"They're usually line breakers, anti-stalemate basically, thick armor, powerful weapons and what not"

"How thick?"

"Thicker than your whole body"

"Impossible! Wouldn't that be too heavy?"

Considering the tank in the picture is a Tiger 1, she's not wrong on that one, damn thing's transmission is breaking even before assembly.

"You'll be surprised to see what the new ones can do"

"New one?"

"Yeah, what you see here is an old model, early tanks basically, they're impressive, but lacking compared to the new one"

"What does the new one look like?"

He swiped to a picture of a t-90A with APS attachment on it, making it look like it has red glowing eyes, Eryn, who has her face close to the screen jumped away in fear or perhaps shock.

"What was that!?"

"That's the new one"

"Why does it have eyes?"

"It's not eyes, it's too complicated but it's like an invisible Shield"

"Incredible..."

"*Sigh*"

----~----

"Remember, want you see here today must be kept a secret"

"I understood, you can trust me"

He closed the door to his room and Eryn breathed her relief, she was excited to learn all about his world but the fact that Luke was very serious on keeping this secret is not lost on her, she had to be honest, she too doesn't know what Will happen if his secret spread to the whole land, he could be taken away for experiments or labeled as demon.

The more she thinks about it, the more she realize how messed up of a situation she's in, as if the one before isn't already messed up, his world is fascinating but several things Luke had explained... Scared her to say the least.

'Destroying a Giant building in a single attack? Deleting a whole city from the map without having to get close?' she was glad that only Luke and Luke alone got to this world otherwise...

'no... His people can't be that bad right? Why would they need to do that when they have all of those amazing things? Those are probably just for life-threatening emergencies'

She entered her room, sat in the bed and started writing everything she can remember out of their exchange when a thought hit her

'is he really the only human in this world?'

----~----

Garsh really hates this assignment, he had been chosen as a 'messenger' to deliver a letter of warning to the magiae guild, there are two things he hates, the first thing is that he has to leave the town and into the inner Cities, he doesn't hate the going out part, no he hates the city they were going to, he used to live there, he was poor back then so he was constantly bullied, that was the reason he moved to a small town like lannegar, the second reason is that it's fucking cold and they have to travel for atleast 5 days

He scratched an itchy scale and thinks about the conversation talking about the reason why he is chosen

_______________________________________________

"you need me sir?"

"Yes garsh, sit down, i have something important for you to do"

"What is it sir?"

"There's a fugitive loose around here and we need someone to deliver a letter and warn the army about it"

'the one that escaped a couple days ago?"

"Yeah that one"

"why?"

"We have a report from an elven mage couple days ago informing us that sylvia, our fugitive, is a Rogue archmage"

"What!"

"Yeah you heard that right, somewhere in this town there's an archmage on the loose"

"Why send me now?"

"We actually want to send one the day of that report but he's out delivering another one, after some debate we choose to send you"

"but why me?"

"Garsh, i don't want to make you worry but... We have no chance against her, she'll take us out one by one or just roast the town, we send you because you're the youngest, that and you can run fast, this mission isn't just to keep the town safe, it's to keep you safe"

"But sir, what about my parents?"

"We'll keep Them safe, you just have to be fast, you'll be going out with two others as an escort, you understand?"

"Ye- yes sir"

"Good, you Will going out now, go to the south gate"

Garsh stood up and nodded, he got out and Went straight for it, even though he was running fast, he can't help but notice that he is shaking everytime he took a stop, he realized it's because the whole town could be depending on him right now and he's not used to that kind of responsibility, He turned a corner and ran into someone and fell to his back, that someone is big.

"woah! Hey garsh what's the hurry?"

He opened his eyes and see drako, his private trainer, fellow guard and friend

"Drako! I need to go to the south gate now! Can you carry me?"

"What?"

"I'm the new messenger! I need to go now!"

"What are you delivering?"

"An alert, we have a loose Rogue archmage around here"

Drako seems to go quiet at his statement

"You don't know? Oh well i just know 5 minures ago, can you carry me?"

"Y- yeah sure"

Drako turned around and Bent down, garsh had done this a couple of Times, since drako is pretty much Twice as big as him and can fly, he climbed up and held on to drako's uniform

"You good?"

"I'm good, let's go"

Flying had always been an experience for garsh, even though he's a draconian he's a normal one, not a true draconian so he doesn't have wings, everytime drako offered him a ride he always open up his arms to feel the wind, he can't do that now due to how urgent this is

They landed right outside the Southern gate and he can see two guards and three horses

"Thank you drak"

"Your welcome"

He ran up to the two guards and one of Them handed him a scroll, they didn't said a word and got up on their horses and he did too

"Hey garsh"

"What is it drak?"

"Be careful out there"

"Yeah you too, keep my parents safe while i'm gone!"

"Yeah... I'll tell Them you ran out because you're a coward"

"Ha funny, i need to go, tell Them i love Them!"

"Yeah i Will... I Will"

Garsh set off into the dark of the night and looked back after a moment, he watched as the light of the town gets farther and farther away, he can still see drako standing on the gate, he had always been a nice guy and an inspiration for him so seeing him still standing on the gate seems a little out of character for a man like him, but he paid no mind and focused on the road

_______________________________________________

He sat around the fire of the camp they had set up for tonight and contemplated what happened

First a news about an archmage fugitive, second how he was chosen to be the new messenger, he kept thinking about it and can't get over how big his responsibility is, it's either do or die, an archmage have the ability to decide the fate of a town and the only thing that is keeping lannegar looking like a town and not a grave might just be him.

"Hey newbie"

"Huh?"

"Nervous?"

"No, just..."

"Worried?"

He nodded

"Yeah me too, shocking huh? An archmage? My fur be damned"

"Yeah, and the fact the town might be depending on us"

"Not used to this kind of pressure?"

"There's a first time for everything i guess"

"Even saving a town from chaos and destruction! Hah!"

"What do you think the reinforcement s gonna be like?"

"Probably another archmage and a small army"

"I think small would be an understatement"

"Probably, hey Ket! Did you bring the waterskin?"

"I'm not stupid rokkar!" Said the fox-headed beastmen

"Hehe good"

Above Them, a huge shadow is making circles around the camp, watching like a predator, after a moment of silence the shadow dived into the camp, landing right on the bonfire and spreading the burning embers everywhere, starting a fire on the dry grass around the camp and the tent

It took out a huge sword and stabbed rokkar with it, he died in an instant, the sword occupying most of his stomach and straight through him, garsh, who is lying in the ground shocked by the sheer force of the landing opened his eyes and Saw a true draconian with dark cape and an iron mask covering the whole face for the exception of two small eye slits standing in front of him and staring with a huge bloodied sword.

He Froze in fear, he had never actually fought someone in a real fight other than childhood brawls and is now facing something much stronger than him, his trance was broken by the sound of a shout, it was Ket

"Garsh! Get out of there"

The huge draconian turned around and swung it's sword at her, Ket, instead of dodging, jumped on top the wide sword and ran into her attacker with her weapons out, garsh picked up his sword and stumbled doing so, his fear is overtaking him but he steeled himself as he remembered what drako had teached him

"Don't be afraid! You're a draconian! You're Noble! You're brave!"

"AAH!"

He looked back and Saw that Ket have been caught in the neck by the masked true draconian, it tightened it's grip and broke her neck then threw her limp body to the ground as if to make sure she's dead.

"No!... You bastard!"

Garsh took a stance drako had teached him to take when fighting a bigger enemy and watched in half-fear half-anger as the attacker pointed it's sword at him, he charged and it swung wide, he slid under it, the sword nearly slicing his Chin, he went straight for the leg and stabbed eliciting a Roar of pain but it didn't go down kneeling like thought and jumped away for a second try.

"Try me again you dull-scaled coward!"

It charged at him which is exactly what he wanted, he charged as well but aimed his sword upward, he dodged the attack and let the momentum of Them running into each other combined with his swing hit the attacker, it hits right under the face and actually made the huge draconian recoil backwards.

It turned it's face around and stood still as garsh recover himself from the hard swing

"Yeah! I hit you! You're scared?!"

It took it mask off and turned around, it was... Garsh couldn't believe it

"Dra-"

He was cut off by huge sword going through his gut in his moment of shock, he looked up at the face of drako, his trainer and shed a tear, before blacking out he managed to say one word

"Why?"

----~----

"Luke, wake up"

"...."

"Luke!"

"Wha! Wha... Huh?"

"Get up, i want you to do something"

"What?"

"I want you to buy some things, here is the list"

Vina handed him a shopping list written on a piece of leather with writings he can't understand

"You know i can't read right?"

"It's just some meat and bread, just go to the market"

"Why though?"

"Because winter is coming"

"Can't we just buy a meal?"

"We're gonna go somewhere"

"And where is that?"

"Inner Cities"

"But i thought you said we should be here for now, you know... With that draconian still on the loose?"

"We can't anymore"

"Why?"

"I talked with Eryn this morning"

"Wait what! Did she leak the secret?"

"No, i talked to her about checking the town-guards to ask about if they have sent a warning or not and...'

"And?"

"The messenger that was supposed to deliver the warning is found dead last night"

Luke Froze, this implies that the witch knew what he was planning and is not happy with it, but to the point of murder?

"The messenger was sent yesterday, he was escorted by two other guards and we're riding horses, his body were found dead by the Southern wall, the other two is missing"

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah... Holy shit"

"And you think we can go out?"

"We're going to be in a convoy, it's the last one, after that no more of Them is coming into or out of the town for the rest of the winter season"

"You sure?"

"She has the nerves to attack three guards, but i bet she won't be when presenter with a full convoy with a couple dozen guards"

"...."

"I know you're worried, but trust me, i've been talking with Eryn and she said this is the best choice and if you're wondering, she is still keeping your secret"

"Yeah... Ok, i- i'll go buy the stuff, when are we going?"

"In 3 days"

"I'll go now"

----~----

"I'm not proud of what i have done"

"You know it's neccesary"

"IT'S NOT! All of this wouldn't have to happen if-"

"If WHAT?"

"If you stop doing all of this shit! Seriously! What is so special about that ring!?"

"It's- it can help us"

"Help us what?"

"I... Don't know"

"Sylvia, i killed three of my colleagues to keep you safe! One of Them is a newbie for God sake! And YOU don't know what that stupid ring does?"

"I'm sure it can, i'm sure of it! I just have to get it"

"You have to stop, we've gone too far this time, do you know... How fucking guilty i feel when garsh's parent found out he's dead? I have to console Them and do you know how horrible i felt?"

Drako sat on the cold floor of the abandoned building Sylvia has been hiding on and started crying

"I don't-"

"I watched as they buried his body... He's 18 years old Sylvia... i trained him! and i killed him... FOR YOU! The only reason why i bring his corpse back is because i feel bad to left him to just die alone out there!"

"I-"

"Do you know... How his face looked like when i was about to kill him? Do you know what he said?..."

"...."

"He said why... that's all, no Scream, no cries for mercy but his face! There is no fear... No anger... Just a face of someone who felt betrayed"

"Drako... I'm Sorry..."

"WHY WOULD YOU FEEL SORRY HUH? YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE! YOU NEVER DOES!"

"i care for you!"

"YOU'RE NOT! ALL YOU DO IS USE ME AS A PUPPET TO GET WHAT YOU WANT! THAT'S ALL YOU DO!"

"I'm your wife!"

"No, not anymore"

"What are you talking about?"

"See this?" He held out the necklace used to signify their marriage, took it off and tossed it to the floor

"What are you doing?"

"You're on your own from now, i'm not helping you anymore, and never come back!"

"But-"

"Not my problem anymore, i'm just gonna live life as a guard, away from you and if i caught you, i'm not going to give you a chance, goodbye Sylvia"

"Drako!"

He didn't respond and walked out of the building as if nothing happened, she stood in silence for a good minute before she grabbed a support pillar and squeezed, destroying it into splinters

"That damn pest!"

She picked up drako's necklace and looked at it, she wanted to throw it away but couldn't

"Oh i'm gonna make you suffer!"