You sat on the bed for a long time, just staring out the window. You hadn't really gotten a chance to absorb everything that had
happened to you, so now all of the day's events began sinking in. This morning, you had woken up and gone for your usual jog before
class. You had decided to take a different route and found an old, disused park. In the woods, you had found a ruined temple of some
sort with a portal to another dimension. You had been forced to come here by what was apparently a powerful magical society for their
entertainment. You had been transformed into a demonic creature associated with death and faced with the choice of chancing the
village or staying unprotected in the woods at night. A "Messenger of the Mages", one Amy Brük, had left you articles of clothing,
weapons, and various odds and ends. You had been allowed into the city against the will of the populace by a benevolent lord-knight
named Alec who had also put his son, Roran, under your charge.
"So, I'm an outcast demon on a reality show for wizards with no idea how to return to my own world," you summarize for yourself.
"Splendid."
"Surely, it's not all that bad."
You spin around and find yourself face-to-face with a beautiful young woman clad in a mint green dress which hugged her form and
showed quite a bit of cleavage. Her long, silky, curly blonde hair hung down to cover her bust, however, so that cancelled out the
dress's immodesty. You recognize her as the figure who had instructed you in the portal room, though she was even more enchanting
than her hologram.
"You're the one who sent me here!"
"No quite, devil boy," she replied, sitting down on the other end of the bed. "The ones who sent you here are of the upper-mage class
and their lords. I am only a middle-class enchantress, a servant to their whims; though, fortunately, not those baser whims which they
exert upon the lower-class and you humans. Sorry about that."
"Gee, thanks, because 'sorry' really helps me now," you snap.
"Temper, temper! I'm trying to help you, so you might want to lighten the tone a bit. Anyway, my name is Amy Brük—"
"Messenger of the Mages?" you finish.
"Aw, you remembered my name, how sweet. I'm glad you enjoyed my present, because my boss wasn't terribly thrilled about what I did.
I'm only supposed to contact you about things the mages want you to do. The other lords liked it, though, so I went unpunished."
"If there's a chance of punishment, why are you helping me?"
"Because I find the whole thing repugnant. Forcing other creatures to suffer for your own entertainment, sick! If I could stop it, I would,
but I can't, so I just try to help whoever is unfortunate enough to be sent here."
"But, wait, aren't we being watched now?"
"No, you've only got the 5-8 slot. They're watching another helpless creature struggle now."
"But it's 7," you say, looking at the clock on the wall.
"Not in my world. Your time goes slower or faster compared to ours so that they don't miss anything important. Right now, you're sitting
on the bed, so your time goes slower to keep you boring until they are ready to watch you again. It's both amazing and disturbing."
"You're telling me."
"Anyhow, I thought I would give you some assistance. Fortunately, my Masters have put me in charge of your time flow, so I can give
you as much time as you need so long as it doesn't become conspicuous. I can only help you in small ways; if you were to solve the
puzzle on your first day, they would know I had intervened. However, I will help you survive in this world until you can figure it out on
your own. First of all, do you know swordplay?"
"I fenced in highschool."
"Hm, at least it's a start. How good were you?"
"I went to state finals."
"Better than nothing, I suppose. I will teach you some new techniques for this heavier sword, but when we're done you should think
about purchasing a rapier in town until you are proficient with the new style. But first, let's practice your stance."
And so, Amy helped you learn how to better handle your broadsword. By the time she was done, you held a strong stance and could
perform basic parries and blows. When she was satisfied that you would learn quickly, she used her magic to take your wallet out of
your pocket. The large leather thing had two button-down pockets: one for your coins and the other for miscellaneous items. Amy
removed two silver coins from it, each of which read "Antioch Kingdom 1/5".
"Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, the money system here works by 100s. A tenpiece is actually worth a thousand units of
currency. The smallest valued coin is this penny here." She holds up a small piece of aluminum labeled as such. "It is worth one unit.
Some items (like an apple) will cost less than that, but, since there is no currency for that amount, stores and vendors keep a credit
system. Your ID," here, she removed a card with your name printed on it and a line for your signature on the front and multiple lines on
the back, "acts as both your legal documentation and credit card. Any store that opens a credit with you will put their seal on the back.
Most vendors are trustworthy, but some are not. I gave you the sticky notes to keep a tab of your expenditures and credit lines. You had
100,000 units worth of currency in that wallet. You've already spent 1,000 and this 40 should get you a decent rapier to hold you over.
Now, it's almost time for your slot again, so I must leave. I will be watching to help whenever I can. Good luck!"
Amy disappeared in a flash of light, leaving you with many answers, but more questions.