Pondera

Chapter 1

Sorren slowly woke up to see a street. Unlike normal streets, it didn't have cars going along the roads, or people walking along the sidewalks. There were people, but they were... peculiar. One woman that was walking briskly through the paved road was wearing some kind of robe with starry constellations on it. One man was walking along the opposite direction wearing metal armor that looked like it came out of a medieval movie. He even had a sword on his belt. Sorren carefully got up from off the ground and realized he was in an alley connecting to the street. The alley was deserted for the most part, but the street was full of people like the man and woman before. There was a stand that had blue and red looking potions on them, and a vendor was peddling his wares there. He yelled out,

"Mana Potions and Health Potions for sale! Come get your potions today! A Mana Potion for only 20 copper!" Sorren had no idea what he was talking about. Mana Potions? Health Potions! Copper?! He vaguely remembered that those things were from a game he used to play when he was a kid. He began to slowly walk out of the alley,  looking around to see more of those stands everywhere, selling all kinds of things you would see if you played a D&D game. He quickly made his way to a man that was walking towards one of the stands. The man was in what looked like metal armor and was carrying a sword that looked pretty dangerous. Sorren made his way to the man, taking a wide berth around the sword and said,

"Um, excuse me, but do you know what the name of this- um, establishment is? I'm afraid I don't know where I am." Sorren asked the man. The man gave him a strange look. 

"We are in one of the border towns in the kingdom of Scalise. This town is called Wotten. If I may, how do you not know where you are? You seem to be a little lost." The man replied.

"You see, I got here- I actually don't know how I got here. I just know that I'm not in my countr-homeland." Sorren said carefully. 

"Hm, that's weird. Have you ever heard of the Kingdom of Pelvania?" The man asked, looking casual. "Because it seems you are not from here, or anywhere, a matter of fact."

Sorren quickly surmised that the man knew he wasn't from this world. "No, I have never. I don't know how, but I think I was transported to this world." He mused. 

"How about a deal." The man stated. "My name is Osidius. I will show you how this world works if you help me with something."  Sorren felt a little suspicious. 

"What something?" He asked, curious. The man looked at Sorren appraisingly.

"Oh, just a little something. I need help with breaking open one of my Mana Gates. But by the look on your face, you have no idea what that means. Just come with me to my humble establishment, and I will teach you."

Sorren made a decision. "Alright. Oh, my name is Sorren," Sorren responded. Osidius led the way to his house, which was very small, only containing the bare things needed. 

"It isn't much, but it'll do," Osidius said while leading Sorren in. Osidius arranged some pottery so it would look nicer, and gestured for Sorren to sit down on the two chairs that surrounded the small table. He took a seat, and Sorren did the same.

"Hmm, how should I explain this?" Osidius pondered for a couple of seconds before continuing.  "This world that you are in is called Pondera. It has only one continent that we know of, and it is surrounded by an impenetrable ocean. The entire continent has many nations vying for control over it, and we are in one of them. The Kingdom of Scalise. The continent is filled with mountains and forests and most importantly, Beasts. Beasts are not like regular animals. They are very strong, and the reason they are is that they have a Core in them. The Core gives animals power and also if you can get a Core, it gives power to humans too. Right now, pretty much all of the nations are fighting against one, The Kingdom of Pelvania. It is a very corrupt nation that does very bad things, and it is very powerful. That's why all the nations are fighting it. Oh! I almost forgot! There is something that makes people stronger, and it's the core concept of everything we do. It's called cultivation. Cultivation is where you draw in Mana, which is the energy that forms all living things, to empower yourself. Many people would think, why do I need to get stronger, right? Well, Beasts are very dangerous, and they like to attack settlements like this one. That's why many people want to get stronger. There is also a specific ranking to tell how strong you are in cultivation. It goes like this: Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Jade, Ruby, and Diamond. Each rank has ten.. like... subranks in them. There are some higher ranks after that, but that isn't common knowledge. Also, there is another factor that helps you control your Mana and the Mana around you. Mana Gates. There are twelve in each person, and you need good control over your Mana and have enough of it to open more. There is also something called dungeons. They are beings that "spawn" monsters for you to defeat. After, you can get their Cores and cultivate them to rise higher in the ranking. There is a lot that I am omitting, but you can learn that easily." Sorren was blown away by the amount of info that Osidius was giving out. He told Osidius,

"I-I need I little time to think." Is there somewhere I can stay and think about what you told me for a bit?" He asked. 
"Sure!" Osidius replied amiably. "Just right up here!" He led Sorren upstairs to a guest bedroom that didn't have much of anything in it. As he lay in it, his mind was awhirl with possibilities. I wonder who- or what brought me here...