Axton fell.
Not through space or time in the way a mage might describe it, but through realities. One moment, he stood atop the Tower of Echoes, his blade sunk into the heart of the Demon King. The next, the sky above cracked like shattered glass, and he was dragged—not by magic, not by fate, but something far more ancient.
Then came the light. Blinding, cold, sterile.
And then, the noise.
Car horns. Shouting. Metal beasts on wheels racing past like monsters without souls. The world he landed in was suffocating, filled with strange structures of glass and steel, strange garments, and stranger people.
He collapsed in the middle of a sidewalk.
The world kept moving.
But before unconsciousness took him, a screen appeared in the air—translucent, glowing, written in perfect Common:
[Initializing... Adaption System Engaged.]
[Welcome to Earth.]
[User: Axton Valeblade]
[Status: Dimensional Refugee]
[Tutorial Mode: ON]
[Objective: Survive & Integrate]
Then everything went black.
---
He woke up in a white room — no torches, no firewood, no alchemy herbs or blood runes. Just a steady beep, clean sheets, and a strange scent he would later learn was called "disinfectant."
A woman in a lab coat peered at him. "You're lucky to be alive," she said. "You just collapsed in the middle of the street. No ID. No phone. Nothing."
Axton didn't know what half those words meant.
But the System was already working.
[Skill Acquired: Language Comprehension (Modern English)]
[Skill Acquired: Passive Adaptation – Cultural Absorption I]
[First Objective: Learn to Function in Modern Society]
[Reward: +10 Sanity, +5 Intelligence, +1 Social Survival]
He stared at the floating blue text only he could see.
"Where... am I?" he asked.
"You're in a hospital in Tokyo," the woman said. "Do you remember your name?"
He hesitated. Then nodded.
"Axton," he said slowly. "Axton Valeblade."
She raised an eyebrow. "...Right. And where are you from?"
He looked out the window. Neon lights. Flying signs. Sky-high towers.
No dragons. No magic.
He breathed in.
"A long way from here."