Chương 2: Strangers

The sensation of the sun brightly beaming down onto his skin like he was meat being cooked woke Oscar up. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, but when they finally did, he saw that he was on top of a grassy knoll. Plains stretched out far and wide, eventually turning into lush forests that he couldn't seen an end to. Which was the first sign that he'd actually been transported into another world. Not that there wasn't nature like this on Earth, but more so…

Well, he didn't tend to frequent the great outdoors, nor did it exist in this capacity anywhere near his city of concrete. Just waking up in this environment alone was enough to tell him that Friend's promise had been true. A grotesque bout of moaning and groaning from behind made him snap his attention away from the view. Tangled up in a mass ball of limbs was what looked to be six people. How he hadn't ended up in that mess, he didn't know, but neither was he complaining.

As the strangers untangled themselves, an impossibly familiar face popped up." Brock?" His blond-haired acquaintance from Earth stared at him in confusion. Then he looked around at the vast horizon and then to the five other strangers. He blinked hard once, twice, and then on the third blink… he fell backwards onto the soft grass. Oscar joined and lay down beside him.

"Brock… don't freak out, but… we're in a different world, I think."

"Yeah, I know…"

"You know? How? Did you meet Friend?" Brock propped himself up and gave him a blank look.

"Friend? I don't know who that is, but I saw… someone. Before dinner, I had to rush home to take a nap due to a sudden bout of exhaustion. And during that nap… I felt something invade."

"What'd it say to you? I was told that I'd be summoned to this world to help free it. Apparently Friend's soul has been stolen and divvied up into six individual fragments."

"No, I wasn't told anything like that. It was more like… it was appraising me or something. And apparently I failed because it told me that I was… unsuited for any of its gifts. Whatever that means."

"What an honor…" Oscar remarked dryly.

"It said to call it Friend, but… I don't know. I've seen enough horror movies to know when something is evil. Not to mention how we were summoned here. I mean did we really have to die in order to be summoned?" Brock opened his mouth and closed it as one of the strangers called out to them.

"Hey! Do you two know what's going on?" a man asked. He was a dark-skinned man with an impressive build. He was likely around 6 feet tall and quite muscular. Without knowing anything about this person, Oscar felt like he was someone he could trust.

"Uh… no, I don't know anything just like you," Oscar lied. It was best to keep Friend a secret between him and Brock until someone else mentioned them.

"I'm Oscar, and that's Brock. We were having dinner with… people from our class when… well, when we died."

"Shit… so we all really did die?" the guy said. Before any more discussion happened, the strangers all introduced themselves. The first man was Amari; then there was Josiah, Jane, Chloe, and lastly, an intense girl named Gita. Not that Gita had really said anything, but still, her presence was oddly intense.

"Wait, so… we all died and were reincarnated like one of those animes, yeah?" Jane asked.

"Oh, shit! I hope we all become like stupidly overpowered!" Josiah said with far too much enthusiasm, which then waned as he realized that there was another kind of isekai.

"Oh, shit… I hope we don't get one of those lame powers like summoning a vending machine… or something just as dumb." Brock cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Hey, I don't mean to sour anyone's mood. Having good morale in a situation like this is important, but we should really be thinking about our next moves. We don't know what time it is in this world, and we currently have nothing to our name."

"There's a trail over beyond that hill," Gita pointed out, her first words aside from stating her name. Oscar squinted, unable to spot what she was talking about at first. Eventually he saw the trail, which looked more like a road. A dirt road, but a road all the same given how wide it was.

"Maybe we'll be able to stop someone that's traveling?" Chloe said without any confidence. Amari clapped his hands once.

"Right! Let's walk that path… and head… uh, north? I think that's north, at least."

"Doesn't matter what direction we go, meathead," Gita said and stalked off toward the road. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Since there was no alternative offered, Oscar was second to follow. The rest soon followed. And thus began the boring trek towards wherever this road led. With a lot to think about, he lost track of time fairly quickly. Eventually, he'd tell the others about Friend and their quest, but now just wasn't the time.

Being placed in a strange world was scary enough without having to also figure out how to complete an objective that they never agreed to. Once shelter and hopefully food was secured, then he'd tell them the truth behind their summoning. The sound of someone approaching from a hill beyond made everyone freeze. As they got closer, he saw it was someone driving a caravan.

The horses feet galloping against the dirt and the sound of the wooden wheel rolling got louder and louder until finally, the stranger was upon them.

"Whoa, now! How are ya folks doin' today?" the man asked as he brought his vehicle to a stop.

"Lookin' for a ride?" Oscar surprised himself by stepping forward and answering first.

"Yes, sir. We were robbed by bandits. They stole everything from us."

"[Bandits]? Out here? Bhenna!" the man said, the strange word sounding like a curse.

"Well, I can offer you folk a ride if you'd like. I'm heading towards Burgen's Hill to make a delivery, but first I'll have to check to see if ya aren't [Bandits] yourselves!" Something about how he had said bandits felt different. Maybe it was just the thick, country accent. This man looked to be an average looking man, and given how he spoke, likely someone who resided in the country.

"We shall comply to any security checks that you deem appropriate, sir. All we seek is safe passage," Amari said. The man let out a hearty laugh and stirred as he dismounted off his seat.

"Fancy fuckin' speakin'! No wonder y'all got robbed!" He flushed a deep red.

"Shit, sorry. The name's Terry Wichet. I'm a [Farmer] and [Trader] today."

"What're you on the other days?" Jane asked.

"Whatever I need to be, little lady! I'm feeling like being a [Drunk] tonight, though!" Terry laughed again, but no one else joined in.

"Ah, well, I really do need to get a move on. Like I said, I'll need to perform that security check."

"Of course, sir, we'll empty our—""[A Good Deal]." A brief and invasive sensation washed over Oscar after Terry had spoken. He shivered slightly, but then returned back to feeling normal. All eyes stared at Terry in confusion. Terry, however, just chuckled.

"Ah, yeah, I don't really have a skill for checkin' ya for weapons. What that skill does is just check folks intentions. Helps me determine which sneaky bastard is tryin' to cheat me! Anyways, I don't detect any deceit on any of ya, so hop on in."

"Um… right, thank you," Chloe said. Oscar climbed into the back of Terry's caravan and noticed that for a trader… he sure did travel light as there was absolutely no cargo at all. Since he didn't want to risk provoking any potential ire, he said nothing and made room for the others to climb in. Once they were all settled, Terry spurred his horses on. The ride was pretty smooth for a dirt road. After a minute or so, their hero spoke up again.

"I don't reckon any of ya got any money, do ya?" Terry asked.

"I know you didn't get robbed by any [Bandits] as the only gang that was around these parts was just taken care of last week. Whatever's left ya all spooked… you don't have to tell me. I'll offer a deal to ya that involves food and shelter, if that's okay."

"That'd be awesome!" Josiah shouted.

"Yeah, we'd all really appreciate that," Jane said. Terry looked back at them and nodded.

"Alright, Burgen's Hill is only about forty minutes away. Once we arrive, you'll all help me unload my cargo. Once that's done, I'll pay you all enough coin to buy temporary shelter and a meal."

"Wow… thank you! That sounds like a really generous deal," Oscar said.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Now you all look quite tired, so get some rest, okay?" He didn't need to be told twice, and neither did anyone else. And so, the rest of the journey was uneventful and relaxing. While their situation was far from good, this was at least a step in that direction. Just having a bit of stability would be crucial for their plans for the future.

The caravan came to a stop inside of perhaps the most fantasy looking village to have ever existed. Which wasn't to say the place looked bad. If anything, it looked quite idyllic and pleasant to live in. All of the buildings were made out of a gorgeous red wood. The town roads weren't cobbled, but they were still maintained well for how simple they were. People were walking around, doing chores and other odd jobs. Burgen's Hill just looked nice. That was it. Nothing crazy, just simple and plain, but safe.

"Darlith's shop is this building right here," Terry said, pointing at a long building that they were parked in front of. Then he cracked his back and spoke another strange phrase.

"[Trader's Treasure]." From the spot of dirt that was directly in front of Terry, a large chest spawned. It was a wooden chest that was adorned with metallic patterns each in the shape of what he presumed to be coins. It rose up out of the ground quickly, but miraculously it didn't disturb the dirt. It was as if this chest had phased through the earth undisturbed, leaving no signs of its arrival whatsoever.

"Holy shit…" Oscar breathed out. This was genuine magic! If there was any doubt that this was another world, then it was removed as there was no other explanation for what had just happened.

"Handy little skill I got awhile back. Hard to believe a [Trader] of my level got a dimensional storage skill, but shit I won't complain!" Terry laughed at this, which was sadly just him once again, as everyone else was still shocked.

"I'm goin' to go on in and have a talk with Darlith, but first let me grab the cargo for ya." Terry moved on and started pulling out bag after bag of various vegetables. It was an impossible amount of produce for the chest's size, but that was the power of magic, he supposed. After around twenty bags of produce, Terry pulled out something new. In his hand, Terry held some strange stone that was engraved with a glowing blue sigil. He didn't explain what it was to them.

Instead, he just left them with the produce and went inside.

"Yeah, this place is fucking awesome," Josiah said.

"Let's see how awesome it is after we finish hauling all this produce in," Brock said. Oscar—and everyone else—had forgotten about their deal with Terry. After a collective groan, everyone got to work and each grabbed an astonishingly heavy bag of produce. As they brought the bags in, they heard Terry arguing with the owner, who was an older woman with dark red hair.

"Darlith, calm down! It's a gift; don't make such a fuss about it. Besides, I also brought a bunch of produce for ya, so if you don't accept it, then it'll all surely go to waste. Is that what you want?" The woman, Darlith, looked absolutely pissed off at Terry.

"You know I can't afford a preservation glyph! I just set up here not too long ago! And before you speak, you know I can't accept one for free!" Darlith crossed her arms at Terry.

"Oh, come now, Darlith. You've been a good boss to me, but I already figured you wouldn't accept my gift for free. That's why each bag of produce I have brought will be…" Terry paused for dramatic effect.

"One gold piece each, and the glyph will be two gold!" Darlith just sighed in defeat, clearly used to his antics.

"Alright everyone, shows over! Get the rest of that produce in here. You can throw it all into that room in the back," Terry said, pointing at where he meant. It didn't take them too long to haul it all in, especially with Brock, Amari, and surprisingly, Gita, all being capable of handling the labor with ease. After finishing, Oscar plopped his butt on the ground. He was both immensely fatigued and hungry.

Terry and Darlith were engaged in a much more friendly conversation now, speaking with a familiarity that's only achieved after many years of friendship. He briefly wondered what Terry meant when he'd called her his boss, as it seemed both of his jobs were independent. But it wasn't his place to ask, nor did it matter. The two weren't acknowledging them yet, so he figured he'd shut his eyes for a moment and rest until Terry needed him. And as soon as he closed his eyes, a sense of familiar dread washed over him.

He looked around the dark void he found himself suddenly back in and desperately looked around for some way out. Of course, he saw none, and on his last scan around the void, that same door that had spontaneously appeared the first time… had appeared once more. The door creaked open, revealing the same place where he'd first met with Friend. And with no other option aside from going forwards… Oscar met with his subjugator once more.