Book 1: Chapter 2: Strange Screens and Panic Attack

Book 1: Chapter 2: Strange Screens and Panic Attack

"What the... Where is this?" Darren muttered in confusion as he stumbled around in the endless darkness he had suddenly found himself in.

He felt his hand brush against something soft, fluffy and oddly familiar. Darren jumped away from the furry thing and tripped, landing on his face.

Again, he could feel something velvety and large brushing up against his legs and back. Even the noise of his impact on the ground had sounded odd as if his ears werent in the right place.

"What the fucks going on?" Darren asked as his confusion slowly began spiralling into something more fearful.

"Ahhh!" a high-pitched and noticeably young sounding voice screamed upon hearing Darren throwing questions into the void.

"A child? Is someone there? Are you okay? Where are we? Do you know anything?" he asked in a slow voice.

Although his instincts as a teacher made him want to make sure that the presumed child was safe above all else his rising dread at the peculiarity of the situation got the better of him.

He was hopeful this child also had some ideas about where they were because he certainly didn't. Still, even if his motives for calling out weren't entirely altruistic, he did truly want to help both himself and the other unfortunate soul who also seemed to be here with him.

However, the owner of the voice seemed to be even more terrified of him than he was of this whole situation. At least, that was how he chose to interpret them failing to respond.

"I'm a teacher so you don't have to be scared. Ive got no idea whats going on but maybe we can figure something out if we work together? Darren asked while he tried his best to ignore the fluffy objects that his hands kept brushing against.

If the other person truly was a child as their voice would suggest then getting them to remain calm was far more important than anything else in Darrens mind.

A short silence reigned between him and the mysterious child before she chose to respond very carefully. "I was in my dimension... I was just minding my own business, but I don't know either where we are. Who are you, Fox Man?"

"'Fox Man'?" Everything else this child had mentioned was white noise compared to this in Darrens mind. Why did she call me 'Fox Man'?

A sudden thought entered his head to answer his ponderings, and he grew increasingly concerned by the possibility his mind had thought up. Raising his hands to his head, Darren's fears were confirmed.

Two fluffy and pointed ears were sat atop his head, and he soon discovered that the fuzzy things that he was touching earlier were actually tails. Counting them, he had nine in total, just like his gaming character, Lone Immortus.

Greetings, Cosmos-level being, Sophie Vladimirovich. Greetings, Mortal-level being, Lone Immortus.

Sophie Vladimirovich? So a girl? But isnt ovich only used on boys? Thats old Russian tradition. I dont know enough about that to be certain, Darren thought before realising something else.

He hadnt spotted it immediately since his online friends called him Lone all the time but didnt these strange words just refer to him like that as well? With the full name of his character, even.

Several hours, days or even years might have passed, but eventually, 'Lone' opened his eyes.

Coughing up a mouthful of sand, 'Lone' pushed his body up and wiped the dirt from his face. It would seem that he was on a beach of some sort. He couldn't quite tell, but it looked like he was on an island in the middle of an ocean.

The coastline certainly appeared to curve sharply enough for it to be an island, not a landmass, but he wasnt a geography teacher so he couldnt be certain.

"Where is this?" he asked himself absentmindedly.

'Lone' walked around for a bit of time and couldn't find any signs of civilisation, however, what he did find was the lack of the young girl, Sophie.

"Sealed it was a skill or something, right? Uh, I cant believe Im fuckin doing this but show skill 'The Summoning Room'?" 'Lone' asked with uncertainty clear in his voice.

Thankfully, his memory didn't fail him and he wasnt just making a total ass of himself since a big screen appeared in his vision, greeting his request.

Unique Skill: The Summoning Room

A skill unique to the host, Lone Immortus.

Grants the ability to summon and unsummon listed beings at will.

Listed Beings: Sophie Vladimirovich.

Cost:N/A Mastery:N/A

"Summon Sophie Vladimer- Fuck. Summon Sophie Vladimirovich?" Although he messed up her name initially, he succeeded on his second attempt and much to his amazement a young nine or ten-year-old girl appeared in front of him.

She had red-raw closed eyes and she was holding her head while her body was violently shaking. Clearly, she had been crying, and she was experiencing some sort of panic attack.

'Lone' didn't know what to do but he wasn't indecisive enough to simply watch a child suffer so much when he was a teacher and a decent person. Well, at least the first one. The second could be debated.

He immediately grabbed her and hugged her firmly. Comfort of any kind could help in these situations he had read. He placed one hand on her head and stroked it lightly.

"It's okay. Everythings going to be okay. You don't have to worry. Youre safe now, alright?" 'Lone''s kindness was evident in his tone.

He didnt really know if he himself believed what he was saying but so long as he could help this girl out then he could work on planning out what the hell to do in this weird place after that. This was more important than anything else, currently.

Whether due to his words or due to the warmth of his body, Sophie's shaking stopped. 'Lone' could feel her hands roughly grabbing his tails, and to be honest, it hurt, but he didn't mind. Pain was nothing new to him. 'If they comfort you, then squeeze them as much as you need to.'