"Level 8?" I yelled, my fight-or-flight response instantly choosing the latter. I didn't have weapons. I didn't even know how to throw a punch, let alone fight a glitched-out crystal wolf.
I scooped up Snow mid-pounce —who let out an indignant squawk of "Unhand me, peasant!"—and scrambled up the steep, ashen side of the crater. The dirt slipped under my feet, but the adrenaline (and whatever that new 'Awakened Baseline' stat was doing to my muscles) propelled me upward with surprising speed.
We crested the rim, bursting into the dense, bioluminescent undergrowth of the Great Wilds. But my relief lasted exactly two seconds.
Three more Void-Touched Stalkers stepped out of the glowing ferns, their purple crystal spines humming with digital static. We were completely boxed in. The lead wolf bared its teeth—a horrible, jagged sound like grinding glass—and lunged.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the "Game Over" screen.
CRACK-BOOM.
A shockwave of dense, crushing gravity hit the forest floor so hard my teeth rattled. The lunging wolves didn't just stop; they were flattened into the dirt by an invisible, localized anvil.
I opened my eyes to see a massive, armored rhinoceros with armor of volcanic glass skidding into the clearing, ridden by a Dwarf with a glowing ruby beard and a warhammer the size of a mailbox. Right beside him, a sleek Beast-Man with im guessing, either cat ears or a very fashionable headband in white alabaster armor, dropped from the canopy, an Aether-Bow drawn and humming with lethal, blue energy.
"Area secure!" the Beast-Man called out, his voice modulated by a holographic visor. "The Pillar of Light originated from the crater. Target is... wait."
The entire Adventurer team paused, staring at me.
The adrenaline suddenly crashed, leaving me acutely aware of the cool evening breeze. I looked down at Snow, whom I was still clutching like a football. Her white fur was tipped in ethereal blue frost, and I distinctly counted two spectral, starlight tails flickering behind her. She was definitely not a normal Earth cat anymore. And she seemed to be significantly larger than I remembered.
Then, I looked down at myself.
The transmigration process, it seemed, was strictly biological. No fabric allowed. I was standing in the middle of an alien jungle, completely, absolutely, buck naked.
Snow's voice echoed in my head, dripping with feline disdain. "Oh, wonderful. My Tamer is an exhibitionist. This is going to do wonders for my reputation."
I scrambled backward, desperately using my two-tailed cat as a makeshift fig leaf. "It's not what it looks like!" I stammered, my brain short-circuiting as it searched for a cover story. "I was... uh. Mugged. Yes. Mugged by a very aggressive, very specific breed of... denim-eating wizard. He took my jeans. And my shirt. Left the cat, though. Real weird guy."
The Dwarf blinked, slowly lowering his warhammer. He looked at the Beast-Man, who just sighed, the sound crackling through his visor.
"Right," the Dwarf grunted, entirely unimpressed. "Denim-wizard. That's a new one. Last week we found a guy who claimed a Void-Slime melted his pants, but sure, let's go with wizard."
He reached into a saddlebag on his massive rhino, pulled out a rough, woven wool cloak and a pair of oversized linen trousers, and threw them at my head.
"Put those on before you traumatize the rookie," the Dwarf ordered, jerking a thumb over his shoulder toward a young Human squire who was aggressively staring up at the glowing tree canopy, her face bright red. "We're heading back to Vanguard City to report the energy spike. You're coming with us to get sorted out at the Guild."
I caught the clothes, my face burning hotter than the sun. "Yeah. Vanguard City. Good idea."
The scratchy wool cloak smelled faintly of wet stone and stale ale, but considering the alternative was trekking through an alien jungle in my birthday suit, it felt like spun silk. I quickly hauled the oversized linen trousers up to my waist, rolling the cuffs up three times just so I could walk without tripping.
Once I was somewhat decent, the Adventurer party fell into a loose walk while watching the trees. The Beast-Man took the vanguard, his sleek white Alabaster armor glowing softly in the shadows, while the blushing human squire took up the rear.
I ended up walking in the middle, right next to the Dwarf and his massive rhinoceros. True to the fantasy reputation, the Dwarf was loud, barrel-chested, and had a ruby-braided beard that bounced as he let out a booming, obnoxious laugh that shook the glowing ferns around us.
"A denim-wizard!" the Dwarf roared, slapping his armored thigh. "I swear by the High King's anvil, that is the worst lie I've heard since a Wood Elf tried to tell me their ale was better than ours! You're lucky my Rhino didn't step on you, lad. I'm Thorek, by the way. Iron-Weaver of the Onyx Legion."
"Noah," I said, keeping a wary eye on the Rhino's massive, glowing horn. "And I'm... well, I'm just telling you what happened. One minute I'm minding my own business, the next there's a flash of light, and bam. No pants. The wizard was very thorough."
Thorek snorted, taking a swig from a metal flask at his hip. "Right, right. So, 'Noah', where exactly in the Blazing Hells are you from? You don't have a Guild tag, you don't have the calluses of a Flicker, and your magical signature feels like a box of loose gears tumbling down a flight of stairs."
I scratched the back of my neck, deciding that the most vague version of the truth was probably my safest bet. "I'm not from around here. Honestly, I couldn't even point to where I am on a map. I lived across... a lot of water. Far away. Woke up in that crater with a headache and a severe lack of wardrobe."
"Amnesia, then?" the Beast-Man called back over his shoulder, his voice perfectly modulated and logical. "Common side-effect of close-proximity Void-Rot exposure. Or severe blunt force trauma."
"Let's go with that," I agreed immediately.
While I was busy deflecting, Snow was treating the Great Wilds like her own personal botanical garden. She padded alongside us, completely unbothered by the giant Obsidian Rhino or the glowing flora. Her two ethereal, starlight tails swished behind her with a hypnotic rhythm. She stopped to sniff a bioluminescent mushroom, batted at a floating, glowing spore, and then cast a judgmental look at a passing neon-blue beetle.
"This ecosystem is severely lacking in premium salmon," her voice chimed crisply in my head. "And tell the loud, bearded one to watch his beast's heavy footfalls. The vibrations are entirely unrefined."
Tell him yourself, your highness, I thought back, hoping the psychic link worked both ways. And try not to look too magical. I'm currently selling the 'helpless amnesiac' angle.
Snow shot me a look of pure, concentrated feline disdain, but she gracefully trotted a little closer to my ankles, maintaining the illusion of a normal—albeit two-tailed and frost-tipped—pet.
Thorek leaned down from his saddle, squinting at Snow. "That's a strange-looking beast you've got there, lad. Looks a bit like a Lunar-Cat, but those went extinct a millennia ago. Where'd you form the bond?"
"Oh, Snow?" I said, trying to sound as casual as a guy wearing a sack could. "I've had her for years. She just... uh, learned a new trick in the crater. Must be the local air."
Thorek let out another booming laugh, shaking his head. "You are a terrible liar, Noah. But you didn't flinch when the Void-Stalkers ambushed us, so you've got stones. We'll get you to Vanguard City. The Guild Registry crystal will sort out exactly what you and your glowing furball are."
We pushed through a final thicket of massive, twisting vines, and the dense jungle suddenly gave way to a massive clearing. I stopped dead in my tracks.
Spread out across a sprawling valley was a city that looked like an architect's fever dream. Towering spires of white magitech contrasted with heavy, brutalist stone fortresses. Massive, bioluminescent trees wove through the streets like living highways, while a massive, shimmering barrier of gold and blue energy domed the entire metropolis, holding back the oppressive dark of the Wilds.
"Welcome to Vanguard City, lad," Thorek grinned, his runic armor catching the ambient light. "Try not to lose your pants this time."