super natural A New Farmhand In A Very Foreign Land- Part 1: The Arrangement

[JasonDarkfire]

Hello everyone. Just put the finishing touches on Part 1 of my latest story: the prologue is here if you need to get caught up. Hope you enjoy, and as always all constructive criticism is welcome.

              “Hey Xavier; thanks again for agreeing to help me out with the alpha testing of our new device!”

 

              I re-read the message from my old high school friend Rachel as I stepped into my garage to begin my workout. It’d been almost a decade since we last saw each other in person when she left for one of the top 50 colleges in the country while I’d attended a nearby community college. We kept in touch with each other throughout the years, but while I stayed pretty stagnant after graduating at my crappy retail job, she always seemed to be moving on to a new company or institution. Still, even I was a little surprised when she informed me of her most recent venture; starting her own indie video game studio.

 

              “We’re developing more traditional games, but to help with funding we’re partnering with the exercise machine company BigFlex. They’re looking to bring together gaming and exercise to make the former more productive and latter less boring, so they asked us to develop a game for their latest line of products. The tentative name is Magic Mirror.”

 

              Pretty apt name, considering it looked just like a massive gold trimmed mirror with a treadmill in front of it to me. It certainly hadn’t taken long for the delivery guy to set up; he came just as I got home from work, and by the time I let him into the garage and changed out of my work clothes he was already packing up to go. I admit I was a little worried that he must have forgotten something, but reading through the paperwork that came with it confirmed that this was it; just a treadmill and the mirror where I assumed all the hardware must have been.

 

              “Well, it IS in alpha. Still, I never seen a treadmill without siderails or any kind of display…though I guess all that will be on the mirror?...” Ah well; no point in worrying in about. It’s not like Rachel would send me something potentially dangerous, right?

 

              I quickly slipped my phone into the armband case, getting a brief glance of myself in the mirror before I stepped onto the treadmill. I thought I was a pretty good looking guy for the most part; nice soft brown hair, blue eyes, and just a little bit of a gut. I honestly wanted to build a bit of muscle first so I’d have an easier time with getting rid of that gut later so I didn’t look like every other out of shape white guy in America, but there was no way I was gonna pass out on an opportunity to help my friend and try out some new tech at the same time.

 

              Rachel’s message said I just had to step on the treadmill and it’ll-whoa! Yup, it’s starting on its own alright. A few seconds of jogging in, two points of light appeared on either side of the mirror and began to trace around the edges until the entire mirror emanated a soft glow. The pace of the treadmill started to pick up a little as the words, “Welcome To Terra” appeared in gold letters across the mirror before a flash of light replaced it with a very lush, lively looking forest. Damn, the graphics on this thing are amazing!

 

              As for what happened next… it all happened so fast, but just as the treadmill hit a new speed and I moved to catch up, there was a horrible grinding sound coming from below me. The treadmill went from me almost needing to run to keep up to a dead stop in an instant. My forward momentum didn’t stop, and without anything in front of me I headed right for and ultimately through the Mirror.

 

 

 

              “…And that’s how I ended up here. I must have tripped on the edge of the mirror as I came through, and by the time I got to my feet the portal I came through was gone. That’s about when you ran into me, and the rest you know.”

 

              “Wow; that’s quite the crazy story. Kind of hard to believe, really.” Asura, the woman with canine ears and a tail sitting across from me crossed her arms as she pondered my story.

 

              “I know, I know, but I swear it’s tr-“

 

              “I mean, a pathway that moves on its own? Who would come up with such a thing?”

 

              …Wait, it’s the concept of a treadmill that’s making her question my story?

 

              “Still, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying either. I mean, you’re a male in our world; clearly something extraordinary must have happened to have bought you here.” She motioned toward the now tar covered towel sitting on the table between us. “And you’re immune to The Blight on top of it.”

 

              “Yeah; I’m sorry, but that’s the part I’m having trouble believing. Males just… don’t exist in this world? You seem to be familiar with the concept of them so they obviously existed at one point, but they’re all just… gone?” My head started to hurt as I tried to imagine how such a thing could’ve happened. “How?...”

 

              “We don’t know. At least, I don’t know what’s the truth and what’s fiction. They were gone by the time I was born, and by the time I was old enough to understand there seemed to be a hundred different stories. Some say it was divine punishment from the gods for their hubris that wiped them out. Some think us women are the one being punished and they were taken to some paradise while we wait our eventual deaths here on Terra. There’s one about a warlock who used dark magic to kill every other male so he could turn the world into his personal harem, then had a heart attack and died as soon as he cast the spell.”

 

              I really hope it wasn’t that last one; that’d just be pathetic.

 

              “About the only thing that’s pretty consistent is The Blight played a huge part in their end. Any male who touches it transforms into some kind of massive monster, only concerned with death and destruction. Nothing seems to cure or destroy it, and other monsters love to make their nests nearby pools of it, so we mostly just try to avoid them.” Asura thought about that for a moment, then added, “Well, MOST of us try to avoid them. That one I found you near is a great shortcut, and when I’m moving on my own I can dodge pretty much anything out there with ease.”

 

              “Well, thank you for that; it sounds like I would’ve been in trouble pretty quick if you hadn’t come along. Thank you, Asura.”

 

              “Don’t worry about it; I’m certain you would’ve done the same if it’d been the other way around.” Asura smiled softly, her green eyes looking me over for a moment before sighing softly. “Besides, I’m not exactly sure if I made your situation better or worse.”

 

              “Worse?” I tilted my head in confusion. “How could this be worse than being killed by monsters?”

 

              “Well, I’ve been thinking about it a bit. There are still some people out there looking for answers, but there are a lot of people who have simply given up and are making the best of the time they have knowing there’s nothing left for them. If suddenly you come along and offer them a potential future they never could’ve imagined, yes, some of them will be thrilled, but there will also be a few who will be angry with you, or think you’re some kind of demon and try to kill you.”

 

              That seems a little harsh, I thought. Then again, the more I thought about it the more she had a point. Besides, I know nothing about this world and can’t even speak the language without magical help. Assuming I don’t just get killed the second I try to make it out on my own, where would I go? Who could I trust? Hell, if what Asura’s saying is true and word spreads about the only male in existence, what’s to say I won’t end up as some sex slave, or having women literally fighting and dying just to try and gain control over me?...

              …Admittedly that does have some appeal from a carnal fantasy perspective, the thought that literally armies might move just to get to me, but I wouldn’t want anyone to actually die over it.

 

              Of course, this was all taken on the assumption that Asura was telling me was the truth and not just some lie to keep me here. I couldn’t totally discount that possibility; it did seem unlikely she just happened to run into me within seconds of me appearing in this world. I had no way to prove her words one way or another though, and at least she was helping me right now. Whether it’s genuine or just an act, for now at least I didn’t see much else I could do except take her at her word.

 

              “So… what do you suggest I do now?” I asked Asura, who seemed to be as deep in thought as I was. “I don’t want to cause too much trouble, but how am I going to find a way home? That big stone archway we ran through in the forest before popping out here was a portal, right? Do you know of anyway I could use it to get back?”

 

              “I wouldn’t say it’s IMPOSSIBLE, but I’ve never heard of portals between different worlds, only different locations in our world. I’m no expert on magic, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin finding someone who could help you with that. That being said… I have a proposal.”

 

              “A proposal?” I was a little weary of where this was going, but I encouraged her to continue.

 

              “I have a feeling Cyra’s going to absolutely hate this, but…we need help here on the farm. A lot of help. We lost a lot of our last crop to plague, and when it came down to the end of the year we either had to use it to feed ourselves or sell it so we could pay our workers for next season, not both. We ended up doing the former, and after paying out compensation for them we’ve barely got a handful of coins between us, much less enough to hire new workers now.”

 

              “Cyra could probably take on most of the load herself, but she’s also falling behind on the extra blacksmithing jobs she took on to try and cover our losses and she’s stretching herself too thin. I help where I can, but my skills are in gathering and hunting, and meal prep. I don’t know what skills you have in terms of farming, but even the most basic manual laborers would be more than we could afford right now normally. So… would you be up for it?”

 

              “Me? Work a farm?” I barely know the first thing about tending crops(I was about to make a joke about the only thing I knew about plants was that they liked electrolytes before realizing that it would’ve been absolutely lost on her) or raising animals. Still, it wasn’t exactly like I was rich with alternative options. “If I’m not working for pay, what WOULD I be getting instead?”

 

              “Room and board for one; we have a spare bedroom that you could stay in. I’d provide food for you, and on my trips to the nearby villages I’ll try and make some discreet inquiries about travel between worlds. It’s not much, I know, but…” Asura’s eyes suddenly lit up before smiling. “You said you wanted to get in shape, right?”

 

              “Right, but what does that have to do with working a farm?”

 

              “You see how big Cyra is? That was mostly from farm work. It’s not easy, but if you’re looking to get strong you could certainly do worse. With a good meal plan from me and Cyra’s help, reluctant though I’m sure it will be, we could really help you out. And to be honest, after only hearing about males as things of fiction before having one right in front of me…” I swear her voice actually sounded sultry and I wasn’t just making it up as she continued, “I’d be personally curious to see how close you could get to the legends.”

 

              “L-Legends?...” Come on, Xavier; keep your cool. She’s just trying to appeal to your stupid male lizard brain. She’s only flirting with you to get you to agree with her! Just because she’s very attractive looking, and to be honest the ears and tail are kinda things you’re into, and she’s offering to help you get in shape like you’ve been trying and largely failing at the last few years, doesn’t mean you should agree to these terms. Stop blushing like an idiot and say something!...

 

              “S-Sure; sounds great!”

 

              Stupid male lizard brain…

[Ro20316]

Her friend set him up for something. There is no way she couldnt know about the portal in the mirror. I love this