It was a strange sight. The houses were shaped like massive balls with windows at the center. There were two doors, one at the top of the house and one at the bottom. There were also double sided torches hanging from the walls. There were also two sets of pathways, one on the roof and one on the ground. There was also a lot of greenery. Some green vines were hanging from the roof, while the gray rock walls were covered in moss.
These people live in a world that for some reason flips over. They must have made most of the structures out of necessity.
Alto quickly spotted someone near the outskirts of the small village. She was maybe around twenty or so meters away, sitting on an ashen gray rock. She seemed to be a girl with a white skirt, white hair, and green eyes.
She was staring directly at him with a perplexed expression.
Then she sprinted into the village while screaming.
'Oh come on? I can't be that ugly.'
With a disappointed sigh he began to generally worry. He did not know these people and randomly stumbled upon their small town. If they are undeveloped then they may run at him with pitch forks… or whatever they have in this world.
Soon, a small group of people gathered at the village's edge. They were all staring at Alto. They all looked somewhat similar to the girl who ran away. Green eyes, silky white long hair, and some form of white garments.
'Elves?'
No, they didn't have pointy ears. Alto did, however, see some of them holding weapons. Some had familiar weapons such as wooden bows, or spears, some had weapons that Alto had never seen before.
Alto's thought process was interrupted when an old man emerged from the small crowd. Walking in his general direction with two people following him. The old man was quite short and looked frail. Using a wooden stick to get around. He was covered in white garments, his hair was also gray instead of white.
The man walking right behind him to his right, looked quite stern. Maybe even noble? He had the same white hair and green eyes. Though he seemed taller than everyone around him. He was holding a short sword.
The woman walking to the left, had a sword holstered. She seemed kind of pretty, garments covered everything but her arms and face.
'This is… a lot.'
Barely having time to accustom to his new way of life. One thing seemed to be happening right after another... To Alto, it didn't quite feel real. It was like some sort of dream. Though it was all real. His sore muscles could vouch for him there.
"Why are you here?"
The old man's voice sounded somewhat hostile.
'What should I say?'
Hesitating for a moment, Alto responded.
"I'm lost, I traveled here by mistake while searching for shelter."
Alto felt somewhat pleased with himself. This was a very good response, especially for him…
Alto didn't even realize that he closed his eyes while talking. He was smiling at them with a strange face. Quickly correcting that mistake by reopening his eyes.
The old man turned to face the woman. She nodded to him.
'Strange.'
The old man turned back to Alto.
"Do you have any intention to bring harm to this village in any way?'
He instinctively closed his eyes once again and smiled. He was bent slightly over. Having one hand behind his back and the other arm bent in front of him, his hand, placed on his chest.
"No. Why would I ever do such a thing?"
The old man looked surprised, the younger man began to reach for his sword. Both tilted their glances to stare at the woman. She hesitated for a few seconds, then did a little nod. Both of the men looked surprised.
The old man quickly cleared his throat.
"Where do you come from."
"Earth."
The old man grabbed his chin.
"I have never heard of such a place…"
"Oh it's quite beautiful, you should visit some time."
'Shoot… I interrupted him. Instincts took over.'
That was meant to confirm a single thing. In which it did. It was quite obvious that he was no longer on Earth. The mere fact that the elder had never heard of such a place proved two things. One, the people here did not come from earth. Two, it must have at least been rare for people to come over to this world. If everyone who got into a serious car accident and probably would have died came to this place. Then more people would have known about their world. Especially an elder such as him.
That meant that there was something more specific that happened in his case.
"I'm sorry for interrupting. I have a bad habit of speaking out of place."
The woman once again nodded. Like it was a signal, the old man spoke once more.
"Very well… you are free to rent a room from Hia. As long as you have money of course.
Alto's face began to twitch, panic ran across it.
'M-m-money?'
—
Walking around the town. Alto was getting strange looks. Everyone here had white hair. He stood out like a sore thumb. He had black hair of course. The top of it was about medium length while the sides were cut shorter. His red shirt and blue pants didn't make the situation any better. Everyone here had clothes made from white fabric for some strange reason.
Luckily, that magic stone ended up selling for four silver coins.
The coins had nothing on them. They were just pieces of metal in a coin shape.
The place the village elder told him about turned out to be a sort of hotel with a few rooms. There were three in total though Hia ran it like a hotel. A night there cost half a silver coin. Which was strange. So he had to pay with a single silver coin for two nights.
It would be nice to have a bed again. Or whatever passed as a bed in this place. The room wasn't too big and there was a mattress built into the floor and one built into the ceiling.
He left the room and explored the village more. He ended up buying from local shops. A few loaves of bread, some of the village's normal garments, a metallic sword, that also came with a free leather pouch, or some kind of animal skin that seemed like leather. He also bought a book from a small library. Instead of lending them out, the clerk would only accept you buying it. She was so cruel that she wouldn't even let him read the book in the small building!
He had high expectations for that book, its title read Fire Magic, For Incompetent Fools.
There were a few books mentioning magic in their titles. Without the ability to read it beforehand, he had to go with what seemed like the simplest one.
At the end of the day, Alto's new coin pouch was completely spent.
He was reading the book while munching on his new bed. Looking towards his sword he prepared himself.
Tomorrow was magic stone, the gathering.