Emmanuel Salvador Papa

17 - Doubt

The gates of the Celestia Academy closed behind them, the sound of iron and magic-infused steel sliding shut ringing faintly in the afternoon air.

For Anna, it was like the end of one storm a...

16 - Adopted

The snow was still falling. Fragments of ice clung to the battlefield like the remnants of a dream that had not yet faded.

Professors, students, and attendants alike stood frozen on the sidel...

15 - Spar

The field between them stretched wide and empty, a natural arena carved out by fate.

Sunlight poured down, gilding the grass in gold, though the air between Luna and William Terra thrummed wi...

14 - Slipping Out

The examination room had fallen into a steady rhythm, quills scratching parchment, pages turning, the faint cough of a nervous student.

The supervising professor sat at his desk near the fron...

13 - Admission Test

The carriage ride that morning should have been filled with laughter and chatter—at least, that was how Luna pictured it. Instead, the air inside was taut with silence, broken only by the rhythm ...

12 - Celestia

The road to Celestia curved past wide fields and tidy villages, each more lively than the last. Smoke curled from chimneys, the air carried the scent of baked bread, and merchants called out their ...

11 - Softening

The morning air was crisp, carrying the faint smell of dew-soaked grass and damp earth.

Birds trilled overhead, weaving a chorus that filled the spaces between the creak of wagon wheels and t...

10 - Anna Crimson

The days blurred together after Luna’s hasty departure from the city.

She had fled with her coin purse heavy, her arms stuffed with sweets, and her heart light with the thought that she had...

9 - Leaving Town

The adventurers’ guild was still buzzing with whispers when Luna leaned back in her chair, waiting for the receptionist to finish her paperwork. Her grin had faded, replaced by a thoughtful frown...

8 - Adventurers Guild

Luna woke to softness.

Her body sank into the mattress, limbs cocooned by warm blankets.

For the first time since she had been dropped into this world, she hadn’t slept against cold s...

7 - City

The forest path stretched long and uneven, but Luna walked it with a bounce in her step and a smirk tugging at her lips.

The weight of the sack hanging at her side rattled with each stride, j...

6 - Bandits

The fog rolled thick across the outpost like a tide swallowing the night. At first, the bandits barely noticed. They laughed, argued, and drank around their fires, thinking little of the haze that ...

5 - Goal

The wind whipped hard across the summit, carrying the scent of stone and frost, tugging at Luna’s cloak. She didn’t mind. She stood tall at the jagged peak, hands on her hips, her silver eyes w...

4 - Mountain

Time blurred inside the forest.

By Luna’s best estimate, several days had passed since she first stumbled out of the ruined church and into the woods.

Her inner sense of time was shar...

3 - Forest

The church shrank behind her as Luna stepped off its crumbling stairway.

She half-expected the doors to slam shut on their own, trapping her inside forever like some haunted ruin. But they st...

2 - Altar

The first thing she noticed was the cold.

Not the artificial chill of a graphics engine simulating snow, not the sterile vibration of haptic feedback. This cold was sharp, biting, real. It li...

1 - Tournament

The arena lights dimmed, and the crowd’s roar rose like an ocean tide. Thousands of voices merged into a single, thundering pulse that shook the virtual coliseum.

Screens floating high abov...