"The general of the royal army had a similar story." The man said with a serious look on his face.
"She claimed to have come from another world. Had similarly unnatural scars all across her body, and all sorts of odd knowledge nobody had ever seen before."
"Do you know what she claimed her world was like?" Tharon asked, feeling a bit of relief that they weren't alone in their circumstance.
"The stories say it was terrifying," the shopkeeper said. "Somethin' about bombs that could level cities and such. Warfare that's bloodier than anything we've seen here."
Sounded like Earth, all right.
"Alright, so if the other world jig is up…" Calyx kicked the dirt as he stepped forward, "Can you explain the basics of this world to us?"
The shopkeeper chuckled. "Cursed is what I'd call it, and not just as a metaphor."
Was that why the forest was so odd?
"There's this cloud of energy we call the Veil. Sweeps through the land and saps its fertility, leaving what it touches as a husk of what it used to be."
"Veilbeasts usually are left behind after it comes around." The shopkeeper said, looking at the animal corpse they were carrying. "They aren't much worse than animals outside of the Veil itself, but they get nasty if they brew in the thing too long. Or if it's close to the gate."
"What is this gate?" Tharon asked.
The shopkeeper sighed.
"Giant portal to Hell, or more specifically the domain of the King of Gluttony." He walked up out of his stand and over to a board with a map not far from where he was standing. "That's all I can say without getting into rumor territory."
"A magical corruption and a demon king." Calyx said. "If I know anything about this genre, that's standard enough."
"Forgive my brother, he's weird." Tharon wished Calyx would try acting serious for once.
"If you're looking to sell the carcass, I'm willing to buy." The shopkeeper stood up and visually appraised it. "This town needs every scrap of food it can get, even if veilbeasts are nasty. So I can get you… around 200 gran for it."
"Gran?" Calyx asked.
"Currency."
Tharon didn't know how much 200 'gran' was worth, but decided to trust the shopkeeper's assessment.
"Alright." Tharon motioned for Calyx to hand him his half of the veilbeast.
They made the exchange, and Tharon put the coins in a sack he woke up with.
"If you two are new around here, the Profectus is hiring." The shopkeeper told them. "I doubt they would turn down two strong young men like yourselves."
"And what exactly is this Profectus thing?" Calyx asked.
"They are a group of people who use magic to resurrect farmland." He explained. "They are spearheaded by one known as Lady Hiva, and were formed in an attempt to counter the Veil."
"Sounds cool." Calyx said before Tharon could form a response. "Where are these guys?"
"They have a place in every major city, the nearest being Maltex." He pointed to a map on the nearby sign. "My daughter works there."
"I think that sounds like a good course of action." Calyx decided for both of them before Tharon could think it over.
"If you get there, I have a request for you." The shopkeeper said. "Deliver these letters to my daughter. Her name is Lania. If you do, I'll give you some supplies for the journey."
"That won't be a problem." Finally given a chance to speak, Tharon accepted the offer. He would have done it without the deal, but he couldn't pass up resources in such an uncertain place.
"Maltex is just down that road." The shopkeeper pointed. "Much safer a journey than the path you came from."
The road he gestured to was made from stone and stretched on as far as Tharon could see.
"Two strange people from another world coming at such a dire time… what are you two's names?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I'm Tharon. This is my brother Calyx."
"Name's Javin. Javin Karion. I expect to hear yours in the legends they tell one day, so don't disappoint me."
~=~=~=~=~=~
"This stuff tastes weird."
Tharon ignored his brother and concentrated on the aftertaste in his mouth as he walked down the road.
The supplies they had been given were small round green fruits and veilbeast jerky. While the fruit didn't quite taste bad, it tasted like diluted garlic with the crunchiness of bell peppers.
The jerky tasted something like pork, but with bitter undertones. Perhaps it was the veil altering it?
"The flavor is odd," Tharon said after he swallowed. "But we still have our cooking knowledge, so we could still be able to make good meals with this world's ingredients."
"This is all exciting." Calyx stared off into the sky. "I wonder if we can use magic."
Despite the long journey, Calyx still seemed enthused about being in a new world.
"Javin made it sound like it was something anyone could do." Tharon walked along, thinking about the situation they found themselves in.
"Aren't you at least kind of excited?" Calyx said, poking his brother in the face.
"Now isn't the time we should be celebrating. Our lives are in far more danger than they were before."
"Yeah, well look at what those chances brought us." Calyx said. "Quite frankly, I'd far rather die trying to conquer Hell than a stupid car wreck."
"I'm inclined to disagree."
"Y'know, you're a real stick in the mud sometimes." Calyx tried to poke him again, but Tharon batted his finger away. "We're definitely going to be the ones to fight the King of Gluttony, because that's how these stories normally go."
"That's not good evidence."
"We already have a quest." Calyx held up the letters. "Who's to say this world won't fit into the tropes?"
"You would know that better than I would."
Tharon knew being dismissive would annoy Calyx, but he was too tired to care anymore.
Tharon and Calyx were such close siblings that at first glance you would never guess they were practically opposites. Tharon was physically active and a workaholic, while Calyx was an anime and video game nerd. Despite their differences, they were each other's best friends, and shared a natural talent for cooking.
Calyx kept ranting to him despite knowing Tharon was too deep in thought to really pay attention. It had only been a few hours on the road, and Javin had told them it would take about three days.
"What do you think brought us here?" Tharon finally spoke. It might have been the first time on this trip that he had initiated any conversation.
"I dunno." Calyx shrugged. "Magic or something."
Tharon stopped walking.
"You can't keep treating this like a game." Tharon said, a tinge of anger in his voice. "Something brought us here, and we're now in a world where we very well might starve to death. Has reality not hit you yet?"
"Of course it has."
It was odd hearing Calyx take on a serious tone for once.
"But things like this can't be explained with logic." Calyx said. "I just hope this works out cleanly."
The exchange left the atmosphere tense.
"We don't have any good way to camp once it gets dark." Tharon said, breaking the moment of silence. "We might have to keep going until we stop at the nearest village up ahead."
"If you say so."
~=~=~=~=~=~
Three days of bickering later, the gates of Maltex came into view. Tharon's legs felt like melted wax, but the sight jolted him awake. He had never seen anything like the city, and it was breathtaking.
The city was built on a mountain, and was made almost completely of stone. Stone brick roads coiled around the mountain like a snake, providing a way for carts and a multitude of unfamiliar creatures to easily get around. The buildings were all either built or framed from the same stone as the roads.
Magical lanterns lined the streets, and stairs between buildings connected different parts of the road so that people didn't have to walk all the way around.
The atmosphere was less urban and much more magical than Tharon expected. At the top of the mountain there was a stone fortress, not unlike those he often saw in movies set in the Middle Ages.
"Excuse me," Tharon said, approaching another traveler who looked like a merchant, "But would you happen to know where the Profectus building is?"
"How can ya miss it in a city built around the place?" The merchant chuckled. "The top of the mountain is the headquarters of all of Profectus. You can't miss it."
That's strangely convenient.
The brothers started climbing the stairs toward the top of the mountain. After the first set, Tharon decided that maybe it wasn't strangely convenient after all.
"You'd think this would be easier with these buff bodies." Calyx panted as they continued climbing the stairs.
"Stairs wind you regardless of how strong you are." Tharon said, despite not sounding or looking half as winded as his brother did.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of Tharon pouring his blood, sweat, and tears into climbing the stairs (mostly sweat and tears), they finally made it to the top.
"Stairs suck." Calyx said, and Tharon internally agreed.
The Profectus building wasn't anything too fancy. It was a large stone building on the top of a mountain, and it didn't look very well kept.
Two guards stood at the door, looking like they could snap trees like toothpicks, and they wore helmets that looked more like something you'd see in the military back home than fantasy gear. Calyx looked intimidated, but went ahead of Tharon to take initiative regardless.
"Hello." Calyx said, "We're here to sign up for Profectus."
"Do you have a meeting scheduled?" The guard on the left said.
"We didn't know that we needed one." Tharon admitted, feeling a pang of worry. Javin didn't say anything about this.
"You came here to get a job without knowing you need to schedule a meeting?" The guard sounded annoyed, which made him terrifying.
"Now, now, Finn." A kind, feminine voice came from behind the two guards. "No need to drive away potential recruits. My schedule is free enough."
The voice was calm, yet spoke with an intense authority and a confidence that made Tharon feel inadequate just listening to.
Tharon started bowing just in case this was someone important. Calyx mirrored him, both brothers knowing that bowing for someone they shouldn't is better than not bowing for someone they should.
"There's no need." The woman said, stepping through the door.
"After hundreds of years, such formalities get old."
~=~=~=~=~=~
Lady Hiva was likely the most hauntingly beautiful woman Tharon had ever seen. She had long black hair and pale blue eyes that seemed to stare into his soul, and wore a long black dress. Despite her gentle demeanor, he felt on edge when she came into view.
"I knew I sensed something unusual at the door." She said, looking at the brothers with a blank expression. "You give the aura of a husk. I can't feel any vitei coming from your bodies."
If he felt unsettled before, he did more than ever now.
"No worries." She released a pulse of yellow light, and Tharon felt energy begin flowing through his body, unlike any sensation he had ever experienced.
"Your reaction to vitei..." She closed her eyes in thought. "Tell me, where are you from?"
Calyx looked over to Tharon as if needing confirmation before answering, and Tharon gave him a nod.
"We're from another world." Calyx said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Despite all his recklessness and bravado, even Calyx had to keep it together in the face of someone with such an overwhelming presence.
"...I see. You have the same scars as well." Lady Hiva said, even though their scars were completely covered.
Who exactly was this woman?
"I also would advise you against telling people about your homeland." Lady Hiva told them. "Some might think you're crazy. Or they might do worse."
Tharon felt unease at the comment.
"We don't really know what's going on, but a shopkeeper suggested we come here." Calyx began explaining.
"Well then, perhaps I should have introduced myself." The woman said. "I am Lady Hiva, the founder of Profectus and the queen of the fertility spirits. These two are my bodyguards, Finn and Sol."
The two muscly guards gave a quick nod.
"I'm Tharon, and this is my brother Calyx."
"Do they have surnames in your world?" Lady Hiva asked.
Of course they did.
But when Tharon tried to remember, his head felt… fuzzy.
"Cook." Calyx said as Tharon snapped back into reality. "Which is also coincidentally our talent."
His memories snapped back into place. How could he ever forget his own last name?
"Well, if you want to become a part of Profectus, then you need to do a few tests." She looked them up and down, as if inspecting prey.
"Lania!" She called, and a young woman came up behind her. Tharon assumed that she was probably Javin's daughter, unless the name was common here.
"Test these two on their use of vitei."
"Yes, Ma'am." The woman said in a gentle tone, and gestured for them to follow her.
She had pinkish purple hair, which was unusual. Tharon didn't question it too much, since several people he'd passed by since coming to this world had unnaturally colored hair.
She wore a light green apron and a dark grey outfit. Despite how odd it was, out of the outfits he'd seen in this world it was the one that Tharon would find the least weird if he saw someone in it prior to coming here.
Lady Hiva began to leave as well, giving one last word before she left the room.
"Lania, dear. Try not to break them too quickly. I'll have use for them later."
Excuse me?
Lania nodded.
"Come on." Lania said. "I don't have all day."
They followed her as she made her way towards an open courtyard. The floor of it was a layer of dirt, and there were several plain clay vases lining the wall. As it was, it looked like an interior design major's nightmare.
"Okay." Lania turned around in front of them. Her tone was much more relaxed and assertive once they weren't around Lady Hiva.
"The test is simple. All you have to do is enrich this soil. If you can do it efficiently, then we'll consider you for Profectus."
She gestured to two vases full of dirt, presumably drained from the veil.
"And how do we do that?" Calyx asked, looking into his vase.
"Use your vitei." Lania shrugged. "Lady Hiva should have given you extra, so it should be easier than normal."
"What's vitei?" Calyx asked.
"How do you not know what vitei is?" Lania sounded annoyed, her voice shifting into a higher tone. "Do you need to go back to preschool?"
"We're not from around here." Tharon said, "Where we're from, we don't use magic."
Lania's face contorted into a grumpy pout, and she muttered something that sounded like 'useless'.
"Vitei is a kind of life energy." She begrudgingly explained. "Every human body generates it, and it carries the power of fertility, specifically in soil."
"I know another thing every human body generates that carries the power of fertility in soil." Calyx jumped in, seemingly unable to resist cracking a poop joke. Despite his tomfoolery, his expression seemed more vacant than usual.
"Please don't hold me accountable for his words." Tharon muttered, feeling second hand embarrassment.
"As I was saying," Lania said. "Spirits can give and take natural energies. Around 600,000 citizens contribute to Lady Hiva's supply of vitei, which she disperses to those who use it. Profectus consists of people who carry her power.
"So she's like a beacon for this energy?" Tharon asked, intrigued.
"All spirits are a nexus for their respective energy."
Calyx looked confused, but also looked like he didn't want to pester her further.
"But basically, what you two need to do is pull out the traces of veil in the dirt, and put in vitei." Lania explained. "Just do what feels right with the energy."
Tharon nodded, raising his hand towards the soil.
He closed his eyes to concentrate. The feeling of the vitei in his body was overwhelming ever since he got it, so it wasn't hard to focus on it.
He couldn't feel the traces of Veil in the dirt, even when he felt it with his hand. What was he looking for?
After a half minute of trying to figure it out, he heard a low, pulsing sound from beside him.
"Hey, I did it!" Calyx said, presenting his soil sample, which was notably darker and richer than before. Lania came over and sifted her gloved hand through the soil, confirming that the entire vase was purified.
"Amazing…" She muttered under her breath, seeming both amazed and unhappy.
"I know I am." Calyx joked.
"That's not what I meant." She took another look at the soil. "Usually it takes much longer than that to figure out how to begin, and very few can do so much so quickly with such low levels of vitei."
Calyx looked happy with the fact he was good at this. It wasn't unusual to Tharon, since Calyx was always a natural at what he did. The only thing that Tharon was always better at was physical strength, since Calyx couldn't just naturally become strong without committing to it.
"It seems your lacking cognitive function is made up for in raw talent." She said, calming down from the revelation. "You must be a savant of some kind."
"Jealous?"
Lania didn't grace him with an answer.
"How tired do you feel?" She asked, now inspecting him.
"A little bit."
"Hm."
Tharon didn't want to be so thoroughly outdone by his brother, so he got back to trying to purify his own soil.
He focused as much as he could, but he couldn't figure out how to get rid of the Veil in the soil. Fifteen minutes passed of him attempting to do so, and he realized he was being watched by both Calyx and Lania.
"Who's the one 'deemed to be the weaker sibling' now?" Calyx teased as Tharon failed to purify the soil once again.
"It might help to know that you should be trying to absorb the veil energy." Lania said.
You could have led with that.
Tharon bit back the comment, not wanting to be rude.
He tried again for several minutes, until he finally managed to pull an energy out of the soil. Once he recognized it, he could finally identify the veil with ease.
He pulled it into his body, and it felt as if sludge had been injected into his body. He felt his body react violently as he was drained of his energy.
He felt his breaths deepen and clenched his teeth.
The feeling was draining, but it only lasted a few seconds.
"What was that?" He asked, now feeling exhausted.
"Your body was burning up the veil, which uses up lots of energy." Lania explained.
Calyx didn't mention this happening.
Instead of giving himself more time to rest, he immediately reached out his hand to pour the vitei in. It was much easier than drawing the veil out, and he did it faster too.
"Good job." Lania said with a hint of sincerity in her voice once he was finished. "While it's far from your brother's performance, most people collapse their first time or take hours before finishing."
Tharon was at least relieved to be doing well.
"Now, since you've both proven your value in using vitei, you two can begin training." She sounded much more content than she did when they began, perhaps because she had completed her task.
"How do you train for this?" Calyx asked.
"Burning veil is much like training muscles." She said, "You need to push yourself to your limits so your body grows stronger at doing it."
Tharon wasn't looking forward to that feeling again, especially at his limits.
"Hey, is your dad a shopkeeper?" Calyx asked as Tharon realized he had forgotten about the letters.
"Did you meet him?"
"He asked us to deliver these."
Calyx handed over the letters with a triumphant look on his face. Knowing him, he probably thought of it as completing a quest of some kind.
"My father likes to send people like this." Lania said, shuffling through the letters. "In the state of the world these days, using the mail system takes more time and is more expensive than sending them with applicants."
When a nation like this began to starve, it'd make sense that there'd be more demand for producers than mailmen. Tharon wondered if there was any magical system that could do something similar.
"Now that that's out of the way," Lania's voice took on a hint of a mischievous tone. "Come with me."
"We have some paperwork to do before you find out why most people quit after the first day."