As Sarah got in the car she entered a state of resignation. It wasn’t that she was resigned to whatever they wanted, she was just so overwhelmed with the insanity of her surroundings that nothing phased her. It started with the fact that if they were in the Himalayas, the air wasn’t nearly as thin as it should be. If she had to equate it, then it would only be a few hundred feet above sea level. She thought about how they were doing it, whether it being they are producing and containing such a massive amount of oxygen or somehow collecting it from the surrounding environment. She guessed “because magic” would be a constant explanation going forward.

  As they drove through the valley she watched the surroundings in silence. Throughout the ride she saw evidence of the supernatural world she was now a part of. A human-looking being sitting in a clearing with a growing ring of fire swirling around them, a tall walking tree ponderously waved as they drove by, and many other examples of the previously impossible. The final were tall obelisks every kilometer or so looking to be made of clear blue quartz.

  She was taken out of her musings by the red being. “I want to begin with giving you my condolences on your current situation. It is not unheard of for someone to be dragged into our world like you were.”

  Sarah didn’t know how to initially respond. If it was the old Sarah she would shrink back and stay silent, but the new her refused to be so meek. “Oh, I bet,” she turned from the moving scenery to look at him. “And what do I get for being dragged into all this? My family thinks I’m dead, my career is ruined, and every chance for a normal life is down the drain. So, if you can give me a few upsides that would be great.”

  The man gave her a side-glance before returning to the road. “How old are you?” he asked.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Please?”

  Sarah sat back before answering. “Fine, I’m 25.”

  “Alright, do you know how old Councilor Sigurd is?”

  “What does he have anything to do with this?” She asked tersely.

  He sighed, “the Councilor is over one thousand years old. No one is sure exactly how old. It’s said that he was a Norse raider before getting cursed in a fight against the dragon Fafnir.”

  She blinked in amazement. Over one thousand. She was already floored by Miyuki being almost one hundred. “Over one thousand?” she asked in obvious shock.

  “That’s right. You have been alive for about 0.02% of his life. To him, wasting twenty years of his life is like you wasting a few months of yours. He once took a fifteen year vacation where he just worked on his hobby, he’s apparently one of the best antique wood carvers in Europe. I don’t know if they’ve told you, but cursed beings don’t have a natural lifespan. Something about how their magic modifies their bodies lets them live longer than any other flesh and blood creature on this planet. Their aging decreases astronomically, they are stronger, faster, can heal massive wounds, never get sick naturally, and can tap into the power of their curse.” He side-glanced her again. “Logan is older than me, yet he still looks young enough to be one of my grandchildren.”

  Sarah was reeling at the information. Sure, Miyuki had said something about the only way beast-cursed dying is in battle or by suicide, but she wasn’t exactly in the best place at the time. Forgetting the physical ability to live forever, the sheer volume of mental strain required to continue must be monumental. Humans get tired of living just 80 years, what about 800?

  “Do you understand why just 20 years is nothing compared to how long you will live?”

  Sarah nodded, “yeah…I think I get it.” When putting it in that kind of perspective, a few years of school is inconsequential.

  “Now that your time-frame has started to sink in, we need to get you set up for the long-term. You’ll be entered into the being equivalent of a basic crash course in survival while also being thrown in special forces.” He turned off onto a side road toward a dorm-like building. It was on the far side of the multi-forest, which in itself was another dose of “because magic.”

  “Training will start tomorrow at daybreak, so we’ll have to get you settled in now.”

  They parked near the dorm’s entrance, and she got out. The building itself was unremarkable. Unlike the grand temple from before, it looked more like a giant concrete block with windows. It was three levels of bland. She guessed that if it was a military dorm then aesthetics wasn’t important. Next to it was a larger building that was as tall as the dorms but easily twice as long and wide. He retrieved a paper folder from the back seat and handed it to her.

  “Enclosed is everything you need to know. Tomorrow you’ll go through processing so try and relax until then. You can hang out in the common area or your room. It’s up to you.” That was the last thing he said before backing up and driving off.

  Sarah stared after him for a while before opening the folder and reading the contents. She took a deep breath and gripped her sword tighter before entering the building. The interior was at least a little more interesting than the exterior. The first section of the first floor was set up as one large, shared space. The first section was set up as a rec room with a large table and a wide couch. The second was a workout space complete with unnaturally large dumbbells and machines she couldn’t recognize. The final portion was a counter top and kitchen equipment. The whole thing was lit by strange circles on the ceiling emitting bright white light. She assumed they were magic since she couldn’t see any bulbs or technology. At the end of the room was a stairwell leading upwards and a hall leading deeper.

  She took a closer look at the furniture. The couch, table and chairs of the recreation space were strange with each one different sizes and dimensions. One chair was large enough to fit the cyclops she met while another was normal sized with the back in a unique hourglass-like shape. She guessed that the large seat was for larger beings while the hourglass was for ones with wings.

  As she walked through the room toward the stairs, the hairs on the back of her neck stiffened. She felt something was wrong. The feeling wasn’t like she had experienced before. It wasn’t based on any of her regular senses but something her beast picked up.

  She whirled around and searched for the source. The room was as empty as ever. If it was the old her, she would have disregarded the feeling as her nerves or imagination. The new her believed in her instincts that were screaming that there was something there, something watching her. She slowly reached for the grip of her sword and drew it. Even though she had absolutely no idea on how to use the deadly instrument, something sharp between her and whatever out there was better than nothing. The steel gleamed in the light as she waited for whatever it was to come out.

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  She combed the empty room for anything. Her eyes snapped to each piece of furniture and shadow. She spun as she heard a sound behind her. A screech like something sharp digging onto metal. Her ears felt like nails were being shoved into them as the sound intensified. At first, she saw nothing until she caught movement in the stairwell. From the sparsely lit darkness a pale figure crept.

  It started with a thin ash-gray hand ending in sharp black claws. The limb extended further into the light revealing more of its decrepit form. It was both emaciated and muscular. It was as if someone had taken a fit woman’s arm and dehydrated it while keeping the firm muscles intact. She couldn’t help but take a step back. Her tiger was screaming that it was a predator, a stronger force, and fighting would be pointless.

  The thing continued forward with more and more of it being revealed. Topping its head was long black oily hair covering much of its face. From what she could see she could see the rest of her was as emaciated as its arms. Its pure black eyes sat in sunken pits and its dried lips shriveled back over sharpened yellow teeth. Sarah’s feeling of wrongness only got worse as it crawled from the shadows. Only with its shoulders and torso being revealed did she realize it wasn’t naked or in some sort of ragged clothes, it was in a uniform. In fact, it was the same uniform she was wearing. This instantly confused her.

  As it looked to be preparing to pounce, someone in a white uniform appeared, reached down and grabbed the creature by the back of their collar. They were a causation man over two meters tall, had broad shoulders, smooth features, short snow-white hair, and most notably of all, two white wings growing from his back. A small mysterious smile natural on his lips.

  That was the first angel she had seen that she truly believed was angelic. Michael just looked like a regular guy with a penchant for white clothes that happened to have wings. Sure, she heard her uncle and aunt talk about angels being real and all that, but here was real proof. She was thankful that he was the human-like angelic creature and not the incomprehensible monstrosities of wings and eyes apparently described in the bible.

  Intellectually, she knew they were real from reading the database, but seeing it was different. The sight of him calmed Sarah almost instantly. In the back of her mind her tiger told her that this was because of some sort of aura he possessed and not to be swayed by the feeling.

  He effortlessly lifted the creature o causing it to dangle limply as he turned it to face him. The language he spoke was unlike anything Sarah had ever heard before. It was as if he was singing some sort of distorted Latin while reverberating longer than it should. After what Sarah assumed to be a few sentences of lecture he turned to Sarah with the creature still nonchalantly held in the air.

  The angel said something to Sarah in his lilting language. Sarah lowered her sword and blinked. The angel rattled off multiple languages, some of which she was pretty sure were long dead. Through her studies Sarah did learn the basics of a few languages like Latin, ancient Greek, some Mesopotamian and most recently Sanskrit. None of which she was able to have any kind of fluent conversation. Without any hint of annoyance or weariness they eventually asked if she spoke English.

  Sarah jumped in on the question, “yes, English. I speak English.”

  The angel’s smile remained as it was. He took a few steps closer until he saw Sarah’s increased wariness of the thing in her hand. In a singing accent he said, “hello new one. I can see from your aura that you are new to your beast.” His eyes appraised her. “I am Frederic of the Fifth Wardens. And this,” he held the creature a little higher, “is Wen.” The creature lifted its hand in a semblance of greeting.

  “Alright,” he said putting Wen down who returned to a bestial position of squatting low with her hands on the floor, “off with you.” At the instruction it scurried away back to the stairwell’s darkness. After watching Wen disappear Frederic turned to Sarah. “What is your name newcomer?”

  Sarah hesitantly returned her sword to its sheath. “My name’s Sarah.”

  “Greetings Sarah,” he said while putting his hand over his heart and giving a slight graceful bow. “What may I ask about your purpose in your visit?”

  Sarah felt more and more at ease without the creature there. Frederic’s aura also probably helped with this. “I was assigned here. I’m going to be in beginner and Hunter-class training.”

  He raised an eyebrow, “is that so?” his ever-present smile widened a touch more. “In that case I welcome you to your new home. There is only me and Wen here right now with the others out in their own training. You can take any empty room on the second floor. If you have any questions just let me know.”

  Sarah nodded and hesitated. Her curiosity was poked. She didn’t know if this question was insulting or overreaching, “one question really.” Frederic nodded. “What is Wen? And do I have to worry about them?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. She’s special and her story isn’t mine to tell. Let’s just say that as long as you don’t upset them, they’re nothing but a very hungry puppy.”

  “But what are they?”

  He looked to think a few moments before answering. “All I can really say is that she is part wendigo. Even then she isn’t dangerous. She has the intelligence of a human but the instincts and mannerisms of an animal.” A silver watch on his wrist started beeping. He stopped the alarm and checked the time.

  “Ah,” he said, “I must go. I hope you enjoy your stay and I’m happy to welcome you to a wider world of wonder and possibilities.” He gave Sarah another small bow and walked past her toward the entrance. She watched as he exited the building, extended his wings and with a burst of power flew away.

  Still weary of Wen, Sarah started toward the stairwell once again. After a hesitant and careful ascent, she arrived at the well-lit second floor. The second floor was a bare-boned hallway with doors lining both sides with the strange light circles on the ceiling. The doors themselves were unremarkable, easily found in the average dorm or hotel complete with room numbers. The only unique thing about them was their strange door handle. It was shaped like a standard handle but was missing any kind of keyhole. Instead, there was a small clear-cut crystal.

  She stopped at the first door and examined the abnormality. She touched the crystal and after a light tingling as she felt it somehow looked at her power. After the tingle the crystal turned from its slightly blue clear color to a fogged red. She pulled her hand back and kept watching as the crystal faded to its usual clear. She assumed the handle turned red because the room was already claimed. She touched another few door handles before they stopped turning red and instead fogged into an ocean blue and let her open it. The room she entered wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. If she had to describe it, she would say it was a nicely sized dorm room. It was complete with a bed, desk, and small door-less closet. The only unique thing was that on the wall opposite the bed and above the desk was a set of shelves with weapons and magical tools.

  There were plenty of things she recognized from the myriad of small but well-organized items. including a short sword, a knife, an unstrung bow, a sturdy looking watch, a phone, a tablet and what had to have been a fist-sized crystal ball. The other items were cubes and, what she assumed to be, hand-held devices. Every one of them had the same crystal as the door handles installed somewhere on them.

  The constant combination of things she was used to and things she had no idea about were really starting to get to her. She placed her sword and folder on the desk and flopped onto the bed. The mattress was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It was just enough to get a good night’s sleep on but not enough to make her want to hang out in it. With a sigh she sat up and retrieved the folder for a closer look at the contents.

  The schedule stated that the regular day started at 05:00 with physical training. From 06:00-07:00 was breakfast and prep for lessons. Throughout the rest of the day was a collection of specialized training, introductory lessons, and general education stopping only for a quick lunch until dinner at 17:00 with the warning of possible additional late-night drills. Some of the listed classes seemed interesting like cursed energy manipulation, being history, and introduction to magic.

  She couldn’t tell if the schedule was grueling or moderate. Through her experience in college with balancing her classes, graduate studies, homework, and whatever social situations she was absolutely required to attend, it wasn’t bad. She had no doubt the intensity of the training and lessons was going to be unlike anything she had ever experienced.

  She checked the clock on the desk which read 18:05 in bright blue letters. Maybe she could get her hands on a dinner that wasn’t in bar form or tasted like concentrated grass. She left her room with the hope the refrigerator she saw earlier may have something in it for her.