"Where am I then?" I asked Molnjir.
He theatrically swept his arm around to display the vibrant nature of the world.
"Welcome," he boomed, "to Andorra. Our base is called Algronda, which is where we are standing now."
"How did I get here anyway?" I asked him. Inter-world travel seemed like a fascinating topic to me.
"Melissa used a teleportation spell to bring you here," he said, looking at Melissa. She shrugged.
I was fascinated by the idea. "Can I learn how to teleport too?" I asked eagerly, trying to mask my excitement but failing.
Molnjir smiled understandingly. "Unfortunately not, young man. That spell is exclusively for members of the royal family."
I frowned, and Melissa stuck a tongue out at me. "I`ll have to keep you around as my personal teleportation manager then," I suggested brightly.
She laughed, loud and clear, and I found myself wanting to hear her laugh more.
"You wish, little peasant" she snorted, smiling.
Moljnir interrupted us as the gravity of the situation reasserted itself.
"We`ll have to bring you to the King immediately and inform him of the situation," he said gravely and looked at me as if deciding what flowers he would put on my grave.
Before I could reply, Melissa grabbed Molnjir with one hand and me with the other, and we were whisked off the face of the earth as everything went black again. My body was crushed and weightless at the same time until a second later, we reappeared in a small room. I came to my bearings and studied the room. It was tastefully furnished, with vague paintings hanging on the walls. A large, mahogany desk stood immediately to attention, as a big man behind the desk gasped at our sudden entry and spilled ink all other whatever he had been working on.
"Melissa!" he boomed disapprovingly, "what have I told you about surprising me when working?"
"Sorry dad, but this is important," she said, not looking sorry at all. The man finally took notice of Molnjir and me, and his eyes narrowed.
When no one moved for a few moments, he frowned. "Well?"
Molnjir took a step forwards and bowed deeply. "My lord, we have a special situation here, and I thought it most prudent to inform you of it immediately."
He gestured towards me, and whispered, "Show it."
I willed the ring to be visible and it plopped into existence on my finger, filling the room with a green glow.
The King`s eyes went wide as he stared in open astonishment at the pulsing ring. Illuminated by the viridescent light, I saw different emotions flitter across his face. First shock, then fear, followed by deep respect. He tore his eyes from the magical object and studied me intensively. I willed the ring out of existence again as I withstood his scrutinizing glare, and although uncomfortable, I stood my ground. Finally, he nodded his understanding of the situation.
"Tell me how this happened," he ordered Moljnir.
The giant bowed his head. "He says he killed a demon, and got the ring. He has not elaborated further."
The King went thoughtful, before turning to me. "Explain," he said curtly.
My mind raced as I wondered what to tell him. I couldn`t tell him I was an assassin, now could I?
"Well... he tried to kill me, and I got a lucky hit," I stuttered. I knew it wasn`t very plausible, but it was all I could reveal.
He noticed I was holding back something, but thankfully opted to give me the benefit of the doubt, and my respect for him increased. "Very well."
He began pacing in the room, deep in thought. We watched him in silence, wondering what he would do. Suddenly, I realized I didn`t know anything about this world. These people were obviously fighting against Evil, and because of the ring, they might see me as a threat, I concluded grimly. Melissa probably wasn`t joking when she said she could have me executed.
Finally, he came to a decision, and looked at me with a serious look.
"You will remain here and train with the others. However, I can`t risk you losing control over that ring, so you`ll have private lessons with Neyzar instead of public magic classes," he declared. He walked briskly to his desk and pressed a button. Seconds later, a tall and thin man arrived, dressed all in black. He wore a permanent scowl on his face that accentuated his pitch black intelligent eyes. His silky hair was, you guessed it, black as well, and he wore it long and tied behind his head.
"You called, my lord?" he asked in a shrill, annoying voice.
"Yes Neyzar, I want you to give..." he looked at me and I helpfully supplied, "Alexander Red".
He beamed at me. "Yes, give Alexander private lessons. You`ll start as soon as possible."
The man called Neyzar slowly looked at me, and I saw distaste in his eyes as he glanced once at me. "My lord, I do not take students anymore, and you know it. I`m afraid I`ll have to decline."
The King nodded, as if he had been expecting something along those lines. "Show him Alex."
I made my ring visible and it`s green glow filled the room once more. Neyzar stopped and stared at it in wonder, showing for the first time an emotion other than disdain. I saw a flash of hunger in his eyes before it vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving me to wonder if it was my imagination. Whatever the case, I made the ring vanish again, and Neyzar actually seemed disappointed. He slowly began to nod.
"Yes, that will do. I will take him," he announced, an evil grin spreading on his face, making me shiver involuntarily.
The King, oblivious to this or deciding to ignore it, patted him on the back.
"Thank you, my friend. Now get out, all of you! I need to work." With that, he waved his hands, and his spell engulfed and flung us back into infinity.
We landed back where we came from, with a view of the four houses, me with a lot less dizziness than before. I must be getting used to teleportation, I mused.
"Better get back to the tour!" Molnjir exclaimed enthusiastically. "As I was saying, you`ll be assigned a house, and that will be your new home."
"Wait a minute," I interrupted, "what determines what house you`re assigned to?"
"Good question," he appraised. "Only magical beings can enter Algronda. Magic exists in these four types, so it depends on what magic you have in you. You get your magical powers from a parent, although in rare cases higher powers have gifted humans some powers, usually in a very limited form."
I thought about my parents. My mother died bringing me to the world, which left my dad. Was he magical? Considering his eccentric lifestyle, he very well could have been, I realized with a start.
"So, as I was saying. Next to Life we have the House of Good, then the House of Evil, and finally the House of Death, which is empty."
Putting Evil and Good next to each other seemed brave, I thought, but held my mouth on that topic.
"Who`s in the House of Evil?" I asked.
"Ah, those with Dark powers. Just because their parents were agents of the Dark doesn`t mean that all the kids fight for them, too. Just as you have sons of Good fighting to Evil, you have Evil offspring fighting for Good. That answer your question?"
I nodded, and he continued.
"The big empty patches in the forest are the different battlegrounds, you`ll get to know them soon enough. That only leaves one area left!"
With that, he began to rapidly march towards the edge of the village, and we hurried to keep up. Melissa seemed to realize where we were going, and I thought her cheeks turned slightly red. I had no idea why, until I passed an invisible barrier.
All around me, a huge, second part of the city popped into existence. Bigger and more menacing creatures lumbered around here, and I could almost smell the high concentration of magic in the air. I watched as great green giants wrestled brutally in the mud, and dark-clad figures waving their hands in the air. Seconds later, clouds formed directly over them and lightning streaked down to touch their hands. The clouds vanished, and the figures left, seeming extremely satisfied. I saw a glimpse of a now-cooked marshmallow, and I had to grin. "Cool."
"Welcome to the Arnea, the only place where serious magic and pure magical beings are allowed," Moljnir declared.
My eyes swept around me, taking it all in, before coming to a stop at a pile of hay. Two bodies were wrapped tightly around each other, fucking in the open for the world to see. The man`s face was turned away, but I saw the woman`s, and it could only be described as utterly average. She was neither pretty nor ugly, and she seemed almost bored. I raised an eyebrow but kept on looking, before seeing another couple fucking, this time on a wooden roof. I looked closer, and saw that while the man was obviously different, the female looked exactly like the first one I saw.
"Twin sisters?" I wondered, but as I looked, I saw dozens of different couples fucking in different positions, but with the girls looking exactly the same.
"What the hell?"
Moljnir caught me looking and grinned at my confusion. "That`s Jane. That`s what the final part of the tour is about. We have to wait here, I`m afraid."
Final part? I saw we had come in front of a huge white mansion, with it`s massive door looming in front of us.
"We`ll wait at the exit," Molnjir stated, and grabbed a blushing Melissa as he walked away at a brisk pace.
I waited stupidly, not knowing what to do, as a light breeze played with my hair. Finally, I blonde haired dude walked towards me.
"Hey, you here for the tour?" he asked me, not making eye contact.
