Underground City

It was an awkward 30 minutes later that Jason found himself standing before a massive gate into the city, one he had seen earlier when he first laid eyes on the city. During that walk, he had truly begun to consider the world he found himself in. He didn't have a lot of information to work off of, but if the status window, glowing runes, and sword strapped to the waist of his guide had anything to say, it would be that he wasn't in a world of sunshine and rainbows. Those clues usually led to monsters' existence, level-based societal standards, and probably evil cults. He wasn't even going to try to guess the level of technology of the world. It would do him no good to base his assumptions on the city before him simply because of how ancient the entire area felt. It was as if he was walking through a relic of a bygone era. Another point to keep track of was that magic existed, and if it was able to pull him across realities using glowing symbols, then it could probably do entirely mundane things like the internet reasonably easily.

That said, it was magic, and that thought made everything that happened so far somehow less of an issue. It truly is hard to be in a bad mood when you realize that you will probably be shooting fireballs from your hands in the near future.

However, Jason is not an idiot and had read enough to know that things are never that easy in a world that grants people the ability to control reality with their will regardless of the possible use of weird chants. Considering he was summoned for a purpose, he is probably stuck with a few options. Option 1; Follow his guide to be either brainwashed or, after that talk, more likely trained. Option 2; get the hell out of dodge and somehow avoid the guide who has no blind spots while surviving in the surrounding darkness. And finally, option 3; run back and bleed on the summoning altar because, let's face it, bleeding on ancient things usually does something in stories. Outside of that, he could simply die, but after going through it once, Jason wasn't willing to even consider that as one of the options.

After using the last 30 minutes to think everything through, Jason was mentally prepared for facing the reality of his situation and knew which option he was going with.

Looking up towards the guide that had helped him through his breakdown by comforting him, Jason decided he would trust him. 'Oh shit, I don't even know his name.' Was Jason's next thought after making that decision.

"Hey, you never told me what your name is," Jason said.

"Was that a question? It certainly didn't sound like a question to me," the man said as he looked down towards Jason with a playful smirk on his lips.

"It was an observation, one made while under high mental stress in a situation that no person should ever have to truly comprehend," Jason said while glaring at the man again, goodwill forgotten.

"You know you look like a 2nd grader, right? You talking like some kind of mature adult is fucking weird looking; I recommend changing that if you want to make any friends," the man said, looking down at Jason, who frowned at the remark. "Besides, I told you that I would tell you later, and it isn't the right time yet." He said before walking up to the large stone gate in front of them. Jason would have argued more with the man but was more amazed by the gate, well not the gate exactly more like what it was doing. When his guide walked up to the large stone gate, he hadn't even slowed down. All the man did was put his hands in front of him and push slightly, which had the fantastic effect of throwing the thick stone doors wide open. To Jason, it cemented in him the feeling he had when he first considered his guide after finding himself on that altar, strong. He had come to grips with the idea that magic existed and there was a status like a game but seeing a man around 6ft tall throw open a stone gate with doors as large as the Great Wall of China, well, let's say it brings the reality of his situation into focus.

Once through, they maintained their pace and direction towards the center, where a obvious castle could be seen. As they walked, Jason decided not to continue poking at his guide for the time being and got a closer look at the city around him. They say you can learn a lot about a culture based on observing its structures, and Jason was determined to learn.

They seemed to have found themselves walking down what was probably the main street. The road was solid stone that seemed as smooth as granite, runes carved into its surface like the walls they had just walked past. Cutting the street down the middle was a raised garden with enough space to fit a few flowers side by side. Each side of the road looked as if it could handle two cars driving next to each other without worry of a crash, and on the outer edges were stone buildings that opened towards the street.

It was all so...simple looking. Each building seemed to have been copied and pasted, the flowers followed the same pattern for red, blue, green, and everything was white with etched in gold. It was beautiful in its design but sterile in its feel. The place was empty. However, it was the feeling of isolation that unnerved Jason as they walked down the street. He couldn't understand why this beautiful place felt so... lifeless.

"What is this place?" Jason asked finally, his curiosity beating out his short bout of cautiousness.

The man paused for a moment and looked back at Jason's inquisitive stare, furrowing his brows as he did, before continuing to walk forward again. He stayed silent for a few more minutes before he spoke in a whisper that seemed almost sad. "This was to be the last defense during a war that ended a long, long time ago."

Jason could see the confident superman in front of him sag with those words as if each one placed a weight on him that was too hard to carry. "Was to be? What happened?"

"We won." The man said.

Jason had assumed as much but still, the man seemed dragged down by his thoughts. 'What the hell is going on? Why would that make him sad?' he thought.

"That's a good thing, right? I mean, that's the whole goal of war, right?"

This time, the man entirely stopped and turned towards Jason, his brows furrowed, and mouth pulled into a tight line. "Kid, winning a war is fine, but it isn't the most important part." The man said before turning around again and continuing to walk in silence.

'Not the goal? How can winning not be the goal of war? Why even fight if not to win?" Jason thought as he continued to observe his surroundings but spent more time looking towards the man guiding him.

Eventually, after walking past a couple of fountains and what seemed to be marketplaces, they had found themselves before the castle that Jason had seen from the city entrance. Upon closer inspection, it resembled more of a fortress than anything, making sense if it was meant to be a last line of defense. The castle was surrounded by a moat filled with the purest water Jason had ever seen, the sight of which caused him to gulp in thirst. Beyond the moat were the walls; they seemed to shine brighter as they drew closer, the ever-present runes carved into the marble-like stone. Set into the wall closest to them was a set of light green doors that appeared to be made from some type of metal. Above the walls, Jason could count six towers standing each in a separate corner making the castle hexagonal in shape. By the time Jason observed all of this, they had arrived before the moat. Before Jason could ask how they were going to cross, the man simply stepped off the ledge and stepped onto a translucent walkway that rippled out light from where the man stepped all the way to the metal doors.

Turning around, the man saw Jason staring at his feet with a stunned expression and chuckled, "Haha! Well, come on, you haven't seen anything yet."