Aa, another day of this hell.
The sun filters through thin curtains, promising more of the same. I drag myself from bed, groaning—another marathon of college classes, the same faces, the tired routine. "Let me tell you about my life. I'm a second-year student with nothing special going on. Every day is just… ordinary. My world didn't need zombies or monsters to be hell. Reality was enough. Honestly, some days I wish something—anything—would break me out of this."
I rush through my morning, half-late already, and squeeze into my usual seat among a sea of classmates—though today, it seems only fifty or so turned up.
Suddenly, the air vibrates. A harsh red light blazes overhead, etching itself into a glowing square and then twisting into a complex magical circle on the ceiling.
My heart stops. No freaking way. I've watched enough anime to know exactly what this looks like—
A summoning.
The ground vanishes. My body tingles, weightless. Everything is blinding white.
When sensation returns, grass chafes beneath my palms. I blink, gasping. It's too bright, too blue. Around me, scattered and frightened, my classmates lie sprawled on what looks like a massive open field—like a circular ground, but surrounded on all sides by dark, towering forest.
Armored **guards** ring the clearing, weapons at the ready. Nearby, robed **mages** are clapping, laughing, even hugging each other—some are crying for joy, shouting, "It finally worked!"
But the celebration is suffocated in the next instant.
From deep within the woods, snarling and shrieks erupt. Forest bushes part to reveal a wave of horrors: at least fifteen **goblins**—green, shriveled, shrieking—rush us, backed by hulking **orcs** with rusted weapons, and black, slavering **wolves**. Their eyes glitter, hungry for magic.
Panic hits.
Some students make a wild dash away from the monsters—straight into claws and teeth. Blood splashes the grass. An orc grabs a fleeing student, and with horrifying ease tears him apart. Wolves circle, picking off anyone who stumbles. Screams echo, sharp and helpless. I stand frozen, the world shrinking to a tunnel of noise, terror, and bright, impossible color.
The guards throw themselves forward, blades flashing, but the monsters are too many. Mages try to cast spells, but their formation breaks in fear. All around, my classmates are ripped apart—dozens dead within seconds. Less than ten of us remain.
A roar, impossibly loud, shakes the sky.
I lift my head. High above, slicing through the clouds, wings as wide as a house—it's a **wyvern**. Sunlight glints off crimson scales. It spirals, then dives, hunger in its gaze.
The guards rally, frantically gathering the survivors, urging them toward the safer edge of the field. But I'm too far, stuck at the clearing's center, legs leaden with fear.
The wyvern's shadow swallows me.
I can't move, can't even scream, as jaws like swords close around me. Rough, ragged teeth clamp down. The world rushes by in a blur of wind and cold air as the beast launches aloft—high above the trees, above the dying screams below.
Through the wyvern's jaws, I glimpse endless forest, then, far off, the rise of gray mountains. I want to cry, or fight, or even faint, but all I can do is hold on and hope.
Suddenly, an immense flash—like a blade of light—slashes through the sky. The wyvern's head twists violently, then separates from its body.
We plummet. My vision clouds, pain explodes behind my eyes, and then—
*End of Chapter 1*