I awoke to the smell of fire. Not the oh gods my house is on fire smell but the smell of a campfire. I hadn’t been camping in years. In fact before that I couldn’t remember the last time I'd been camping. The smell was something you never forget. Another unknown smell like that of flowers wafted my way. It was so pleasant and soothing that sleep seemed like the thing to do.

  Suddenly a very important detail interrupted my slumber. What the hell was I sleeping on? The bed that I was on was definitely not my bed. It had a weird stiff feeling. Instead of my normal heavy blanket that usually draped heavily across me I felt nothing. As I shifted around uncomfortably I felt these strange clothes that I had never worn before on my body. This was turning into a weird feeling nightmare. Part of me urged myself to just calm down and accept this was most likely sensory rejection of some sort.

  Then I opened my eyes. A giant face…okay just a face peered down at me quizzically. It was a girl. She was in simple terms bodaciously beautiful. The kind of excellent Hollywood sticks a camera in front of for people to idolize. I was startled and confused. So I just stared up at the face of this girl. I knew I hadn’t gone to sleep with her. It had been about seven months since I’d last been in bed with a girl in any capacity. So waking up to a girl like that looking at me was just, I honestly thought I was dead and looking at an angel. Look before you imagine me some loner incel, I’m not. Okay well maybe I might be a loner, but still. I just avoid relationships; they are just complicated and I don’t need that.

  So I thought I was looking at an angel. Kind of foolish really but I had no idea who this girl was or for that matter where I was. There was no ceiling above her and the last thing I remembered I had gone to sleep in a building not outdoors. Questions like where was I, what's going on, and why is this girl so good looking, rollercoastered through my head. Oh sorry, when something rollercoasters through your head it kinda darts around, going really fast. When your thoughts are rollercoastering they are fast than slow and feel like they are all over the place. They eventually get to where they need to go but you get lost for a minute. She definitely could see my mental quagmire. My expression showed it cause my mouth had opened slightly but I couldn’t get my mind under control. My mind was on Mr. Bones wild ride and it couldn’t get off.

  “Don't worry” she said “We'll explain it soon. Take it easy.” That was a relief. All I was able to muster was a “uh” sound. It was just so much and all the new scents and sounds were overwhelming. Calm and reassured wasn’t quite how I would have described myself at that given moment but I laid there waiting. What else could I honestly do? It might have been her voice, or maybe the fact that she was gorgeous, either way I didn't bolt. Like where was I gonna go anyway. I still had no idea where I was. I shifted my shoulders a bit to get more comfortable on the bed. Okay quick correction, this wasn’t a bed as it was in fact a sort of cot like one of those ones you use on expeditions or military campaigns.

  I glanced around gathering in my surroundings. There were twelve other people in a clearing in the woods. At the center of this clearing was a marble pillar. On top of that marble pillar a golden cauldron billowing fourth flames. The girl, the closest person to me, had a pale skin tone that seemed to glow slightly yellow in the sun. Radiant white blonde hair cascaded from her head framing her face. Her face looked almost like it was airbrushed, beautiful, devoid of lines, lacking any blemishes, and with no bags under the eyes.To top it off it was neither angular nor overtly round. Her eyes captivated my attention as they seemed to glow slightly, but that could have just been a trick of how vividly blue they were. She had a slight athletic build with a bit of weight, the effect of which made her appear to have an amazing figure. I shifted and mumbled “Where are we?”

  “From what we can tell another world,” the girl said, straightening her posture and rising to her feet so she was no longer hovering directly over me. “Like you we just woke up here, well not all at the same time you were the last one to wake up actually. We kind of hoped that you knew what was going on because you were the last person to wake up. What do you remember?”

  “I remember going to sleep," I said “in my own bed.” My brain felt sluggish had she said another world. That’s what I heard but that couldn’t be correct could it.

  “Yes but on what day and at what time,” she asked insistently, interrupting my train of thought.

  I blinked several times, confused by the question why did it matter what time exactly I went to sleep. Asking the day made sense but not really the question about the time. Judging by the gaze of the gorgeous woman this detail was very important. Gaming was what I usually did at night. Part of the reason why I was alone or so people often told me. Truth was it was my unpredictable work schedule but I did game a lot. I gamed till exhaustion would hit so hard I’d sleep without dreaming. You couldn’t be troubled by what you couldn’t experience, avoiding dreams meant avoiding troubling dreams. It was admittedly flawed logic. I’d still occasionally dream and be haunted by them.

  “It was December 24th at about 3:00 a.m. Why,” I asked, puzzled by the question. The girl nodded her head.

  “Hey Timothy what you said was right he's the last to wake up and he was the last to go to sleep,” the girl said calling over toward a group of guys. The first was a tall man clad in a glistening set of metal armor, a sword hung loosely at his waist and he looked everything like a fantasy paladin or fantastical knight from a video game. He had long flowing black hair and skin that glistened in the sunlight. Possessing the kind of well defined jawline that comic book fans dreamed of he was, in short, also good looking.

  The second man wore a leather vest with fur trim. The vest was open revealing an amazingly sculpted body. He wasn’t body builder built but definitely had the body of a dancer or acrobat. His hair was black with a green stripe that hung in front of his face. The dude seriously looked like a boy band was missing their frontman. Great, I landed in the land of hot people.

  If you are getting the idea that I’m into looks I am. Like every literary hero I was as plain and boring as a lined eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper. No, I'm not secretly hot. I wasn’t ugly but I knew I was no Ken. I probably couldn’t even pass as an Allen. Pop culture references that no one will ever understand aside I just wasn’t good looking. I did cheer up a bit when I saw the third guy though.

  The third guy had dark red skin the color of blood and was tall and lanky. It took me a minute to realize that the man had scales, and a tail, and wings, and horns. This dude was a dragon man. It didn’t matter that he was dressed like Gandalf's kaleidoscope cousin complete with a pointy wizards hat, he was a dragon person. Um Galdalf is a rather famous wizard from where I come from. Honestly I was so caught up in figuring everything else out and absorbing everything that I didn’t fully take in everyone else. Which is embarrassing in hindsight but that's what happened. There were twelve people milling about the camp. I was the thirteenth.

  “Huh, I’m the 13th. I’m Ibn Fadlan,” I said out loud. I hadn’t intended to. Sometimes the nerdy side gets the better of me. Combine that with a mild autism and you have mouth before the filter gets the chance to stop it. AKA I just say stuff without thinking. Which will also explain why this account is well all over the place. If I’m going to explain things from my point of view I’m not gonna filter it. Yes I realize there it would be more proper to say I’m not going to filter it but this is my story so calm.

  “Please to meet Ibn Fadlan I’m Helen,” The girl stated. I was horrified in a moment of geeking out, I just spoke what was on my mind.

  “No I’m DJ,” I mumbled.

  “DJ Ibn Fadlan?”

  “No, I was making a joke, my name is DJ.” I still replay this moment in my head and cringe. Like what the hell was I doing? I was trying to sabotage myself in this world as well. Okay, I still wasn’t quite convinced I was in another world and not in some sort of weird dream. My plan at that moment was to clear this up. First I was going to explain the obscure pop culture reference. Then I was going to ask her if she had any favorite books. Like many girls I’d hope she’d say something common like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or anything Sarah J Mas. Then I'd get her to talk about books and maybe I could finally have a book friend that was a girl. Nothing wrong with guys, just there are other authors other than Sanderson and Tolkein. Also somehow there is no appreciation amongst men for regency which is a shame as Austin was amongst one of the greats. So yeah that plan went out the window when Mr Burn Your Eyes With My Shiny Armor interjected.

  “Hey. Helen, did you tell him what's going on?” Helen shook her head vigorously, her blonde hair bouncing back and forth. With a sigh Timothy spoke a hint of exasperation in his voice “To answer your questions now; no, we don't know how we got here. No, we don't know how long we'll be here. No, we don't know if there's a way back. No, we don't know if or when we will be back. No, we don't know where here is and most importantly; No, we can't figure out what connects all of us at this moment in time other than we all woke up in this circle and there's 13 of us.The last day we all seem to remember being the next day is December 24th which is the only thing we can find consistent with each other. Well except for you saying you are the only person to be awake on December 24th. I'd like to give you more answers but even though I may look like a knight in shining armor I just woke up looking this way. In fact all of us awoke looking this way. Like video game characters. Except for you, you look like a farmer or maintenance worker. I don't have the answers and I'm not actually in charge here despite what everyone thinks. I’ve mostly reacted and made decisions because someone had to. Because I woke up first, everyone assumed that since I've had the most time to be here that I am in charge. I figured out some of the things like were in another world first. Magic and levels exist, you're probably still level one. We have a little bit of food but not much. There is a stream nearby that has fresh water. Most importantly I’m Timothy, pleased to meet you.”

  “Dooley Jones but I go by DJ” I said automatically.This dude was frustrated and understandably so. The idea of being magically transported to another world for some must not be a fantasy. For Timothy it seemed more of a nightmare moment. As far as I was concerned this was probably just a dream and I was probably just experiencing the side effects of staying up way too late playing too many video games. I was pretty sure a doctor once told me that not getting proper sleep could lead to hallucinations. Adding to that if you play video games for too long it could be bad for physical health and affect your mental health according to experts. You just kinda never expect that lack of sleep and over gaming would make you hallucinate and go crazy but hey first time am I right. Just want to clarify that I am aware this isn't a hallucination, it was just the impression I was under at the time.

  “How do you know we're in another world? This could be a dream?"

  This was a mistake. I was about to learn this world was very real and very painful.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Slap Him.” Timothy said with a flat retort.

  Without warning I was sent flying off the cot. Dirt was tasty and my face burned with the sting of the slap delivered at lightning speed to my face. Getting my face out of the grass I looked at Helen. Helen looked startled and blinked several times. She looked down at me then up at Timothy.

  “Did you feel-” She started to ask. I exclaimed ooowww dramatically loud. It did in fact hurt very badly. Helen was super strong and I was weak. Crazy but true I am not strong. Never have been.

  The Dragon Man laughed and snorted, “Well he’s no fighter. I’m Gutari and the emo next to me is Rinn.”

  I sat up in the dirt not sure what to think or what to say. Another world sounded too fantastical too good to be true. Oh this is not good I thought as I began to panic. Other world stories were not always good, in fact sometimes the heroes died in other worlds. Also very often to get to another world the hero had to die in the first place. The idea that I was dead was disturbing. Were my cats eating my dead body? That’s what they did if I remembered correctly they ate their owners bodies. At least they’d be fed, I thought morbidly.

  I hadn't lived a particularly extraordinary life. That said, my life wasn't awful either, it was just kind of mediocre. I’d never have luck with girls or getting a good job or really excelling at much of anything. Sure I had a D&D group that I played with frequently which was better than most people. Most people found it very hard to find a group of people willing to sit around the table for four plus hours and play a game with pencils and papers that required you to do math. That was my only real social circle, outside of that game I didn't really have much going. I was kind of in a deadbeat job. Okay DJ DA DJ wasn’t the worst thing in the world but it wasn’t like that was going to “new heights” as the saying went. At 29 and I had begun to worry that all I would ever have to show for myself and my life was mediocre accomplishments. That’s not exactly what you think of as a kid ya know. Except, mail delivery kid that kid had simple goals and might have been unto something. He would have a nice retirement with medical and benefits. I really did want something more, lots more than my simple provincial life. Maybe this was my shot, maybe it wasn't but I wasn't going to waste my shot. Musical references aside I finally figured out something cool, something awesome, something heroic to say.

  “So did anybody get any cool special awesome secret powers? Wow, that sounded way better in my head.” I was so bad at this. How the ever loving toilet donkeys did that sound good in my head. If you have ever smacked yourself for your stupidity I almost did but stopped myself.

  Helen giggled, the smile lighting up her bright blue eyes. Helen at that moment looked like an Otaku’s wet dream. Blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, graceful body with curves in all the desired places, and pointed ears. Wait, she had pointed ears. I had missed it due to her hair. She moved the offending hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear with the poise and grace of a cat. The graceful kind, not the goblin kind that climbs up walls and dives into refrigerators. She was the very definition of high fantasy elf girl.

  Spade Williams coughed slightly interrupting my rambling.

  “Too much,” DJ asked, realizing he was going a bit overboard.

  “No, no, unless you want to be known as a creep,” Spade Willams commented. Pushing a pair of spectacles up on his face and giving me a stare.

  “You have to understand where I came from, you didn’t just run into people who looked like movie stars,” DJ said defensively.

  “Movie Stars,” The gnome looked up at DJ questioningly.

  “Never mind,” DJ stated. “The point is everyone was good looking. Well okay maybe the Lizard Wizard wasn’t exactly my type but he looked awesome. Maybe, I was a creepy loser for noticing how beautiful she was. Maybe what really drew me in was her smile, how it made her deep blue eyes sparkle. I’ll never know. All I knew is at that moment I was captivated. Which is probably why I spent most of my time, in the begging, not looking directly at her ... .Yeah, maybe I was a loser.”

  DJ continued to tell his story uninterrupted…

  “So did anybody get any cool special awesome secret powers,” I asked like a buffoon.

  “Yes, actually.” she said in between giggles “Everybody seems to have gotten something. I’m assuming you got something if you pull up your menu we can find out.”

  “Like in a video game?” I asked. I was trying not to get super excited and make myself look like a total geek. Okay I already looked like a geek but I was in damage control. Geeks tend not to be liked all that much so we kinda hide a lot. Then once we are in a relationship we reveal all the weird stuff and pray our partners will let it be and not complain much about our weird collections of plastic construction blocks.

  “Sort of,” Helen said “but not really.” The elf girl then held out a hand and said “knowledge.” A book materialized in her hand just like magic. She smiled at the open mouth look I had plastered on my face and said “now you try.”

  With a bit of a flourish I held out my hand and repeated what she had said. It wasn't a book that materialized, instead a scroll appeared. Carefully I unfurled the scroll, my hands shaking slightly, to find a menu just like any other video game. It had several tabs including status, map, equipment, inventory, and blueprints. My attention immediately jumped to the tab labeled blueprints. Imagine my shock when the scroll immediately shifted over to listing hundreds if not thousands of blueprints. The blueprints went cycling by at an unimaginable speed but somehow I Was able to keep track of all of them as if it was going at a normal speed. This should have been the red flag that said hey bozo you have magic powers. Nope. I had to check the little tab labeled status. No gamer in their right mind would ignore obsessing over stats, none.

  Level 1 builder

  Non-combatant

  HP 10/10

  Mana 200/ 200

  Skills

  Harvest, Tactical Speed, Area Claim, Sentinel Map, Build

  The hell was this! Only ten HP no wonder that hit hurt. I do have skills but what the hell was non-combatant.“ Non-Combatant?” I questioned out loud, mumbling to myself, not sure what it meant. If taken literally I guessed it probably meant I wasn't able to fight. Did I potentially get transported to another world where I couldn't fight? What does one do in another world other than fight. Like have you ever heard of a hero who couldn’t fight? No, I thought so.

  “What,” Helen asked, trying to figure out why I was grumbling like some sort of troll.

  “Guitari was right, I can't fight, at least not according to this,” I said dejectedly. I was in another world surrounded by people who all looked like the heroes of myth and legend and I was unable to fight at all. Holding the scroll out to Helen she glanced over my stats.

  “Your Mana pool is very high,” she said, trying to put a positive spin on things.

  “Yeah but that's Bogus if I can’t cast.”

  .“What else can you do?” Said the Dragon Wizard Guitari.

  “Not much,” I said, almost ashamed. Several people who had seemed very curious walked away speaking in hushed voices to one another. Disappointment at that moment everyone was disappointed. Them. Me. Disappointed all!

  “Have ya tried hittin shit wit dat hammer of yours.” said a small bearded man. I blinked several times at the man. Beefy, Bearded, Boisterous and short. He was a dwarf. The man who just spoke to me was a dwarf.

  “You became a dwarf!” I exclaimed.

  “Nah really hadn’t noticed. Names Don. Da big shock was de size of deez…” A howl interrupted Don the Dwarfs talk.

  “Wolves! Fighters to the front, everyone else to the rear,” Timothy bellowed in a commanding military type voice. Weapons were unsheathed as people scrambled. I scrambled toward the pillar which was what several others were doing. My heart raced as everything was plunged into chaos. When I got to the pillar and turned around my breath caught in my throat. Unable to speak, a croak escaped my throat. Below was a massive pack of wolves, at least two to three dozen. The wolves were larger than any that existed on earth. These must have been Dire Wolves. Stories about Dire Wolves littered myth and legend. They had died off on Earth but here they were very much still alive. Terror and amazement seized me. It was like watching an epic fantasy game come to life. Timothy, Rinn, and Don fought the ferocious animals in a glorious struggle. Part of me wanted to rush down letting out a primal scream as I unleashed… something. Wait, what was I going to unleash?

  That was the problem though everyone was clearly in some fantasy game but what about me. What kind of game had builders that didn’t fight? I removed the hammer from my belt and looked down at it. A wooden shaft went through a round cylinder made of a stone I didn't recognize.The stone hammer head was more narrow at the center and larger at the edges. Glowing characters in a writing I didn’t recognize wrapped around the rounded part of the stone cylindrical surface. Knowing my luck so far today

  It felt wonderful in my hands but I knew it was not a weapon for war. If the hammer wasn’t for fighting, what was it good for? Caught up in my own thoughts I didn’t notice the wolf break through the front lines. Powerful legs propelled the creature toward me and I would have remained oblivious if not for the snarl. Everything suddenly slowed and a robotic voice with a british accent proclaimed.

  Tactical Speed Activated

  Tactical speed, was that why everything seemed to move so slowly? I contemplated as the massive wolf continued his charge towards me. Sometimes things that are terrifying are also cool, like a wolf opening its jaws in slow motion as it lunges to kill you. This creature was the epitome of beauty and terror. there was nothing separating me from this massive nightmare. Not a fence, nor an enclosure, or a wall. What I wouldn’t do for a wall I thought. The scroll appeared hoving in air flashed to the blueprint for a wooden wall. A wall I could build a wall. I was a builder.

  Insufficient Resources

  Harvest to gather Resources

  I was a goner.

  “ Bogus! “ Not sure I said this but I definitely thought it.

  I was moving way too slow and I was out of required resources according to omnipotent british god voice number five. There was no way I could stop this thing as it came into striking distance. Behind the wolf an epic fight progressed in slow mo. This would have been so cool if I wasn’t about to die. Like what kind of hero dies the second they get to the brand new world. If this was a novel I’d be about to die in the second chapter. I didn’t want to be a second chapter refrigerator. I wanted to be the hero. Except I wasn’t the hero, I was a non combatant. My eyes shifted back to the wolf that was now in mid air, teeth fully bared a snarl ripping from it’s mouth. I was going to die. The epic thing to say would be like at that point I was all like f this and swung my hammer with all my might. Nope, I did no such thing. I screamed, flailed and panicked.

  The hammer connected with the wolf's head and was immediately repelled away. I was knocked over from the force tumbling into the dirt. Rolling, I oriented myself to see the wolf bearing down on me. Teeth tore into my upper arm causing me to scream in pain. An awful smell of wet dog and rot combined with the pain caused me to vomit. Death was rarely glorious or dignified I knew but this was pathetic. I was back down in the mud vomit covering my body as I was torn into like a piece of fried chicken. Suddenly I was soaring through the air as the wolf tossed me like a ragdoll. With a thud I crashed into the ground no longer able to take in the environment around me.

  Face down in the dirt, body unresponsive, choking on vomit time moved way too slow thanks to tactical speed. An armored figure flipped me face up and slapped my arm with a glowing white hand. Bringing a shield up suddenly the figure deflected an incoming wolf. Then with amazing speed the figure brought out a mace from seemingly nowhere and bashed in the wolf's skull. As I was laid out on my back again and I was unable to move I lost track of the figure as it darted off. I couldn’t see anything. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of battle. I was aware of the stench, the sounds, and the pain.

  “Don’t chase them, hold the line,” Timothy ordered. As suddenly the shouts and animal noises seemed to just cease. The battle must be over I thought. It was physically but mentally that battle never ends in my memories. I can vividly remember the panic. A feeling I would become all too used to.