Doorway to Another World 

Chapter 2. Part 1.

Background on Gwen Hellen Singer.

From a wealthy family, her father is on the school board, in addition to his regular job. She is often called Princess, although she dislikes it a lot, she no longer makes a fuss about it. She has gotten use to being center stage in everything. She lives up to everyone's expectations, because failure is not an option. She is a top student and all around good girl.

Although she does not seriously want to rebel against her life. She does often wish things could be different, that she could be free from all the expectations and responsibilities. Escape in a real way, not with some silly video game.

Usually she can talk her way out of any situation, using charm and diplomacy. But last summer she got into a very bad situation. She was in real danger and there was nothing she could do to get out. Luckily some guy (MC) stepped up to try and help. Unfortunately he was not much of a hero. He got beat up. But he did draw enough attention that the thugs left her alone and ran off.

The incident troubled her more than she could admit. All her words had been useless. She lacked the skill or strength to fight. Then the only passerby who had the courage to step in proved just as helpless as her. Gwen promised that sort of thing would never happen again. So she joined a self defense class. Not a martial arts school, with all the traditional trappings and mystic stuff. She needed a down and dirty, teach you to survive, sort of school. Of course she kept it secret from her friends. It just did not fit with her image.

“Most people pretend to be good or strong. But it is just an act, they are basically week and selfish.” Her father often told her that. “People want to slide by in life with minimal effort. Dont hate them. They are just imitating what they see all around them. But dont be fooled by them, either.”

 “What should I do?” she asked

“Seek out people who have true honesty and courage. Even if they have a hundred other faults, if they have honesty and courage, they are worth knowing and having near you.” he answered.

So that is what she thought of when that boy tried to save her.

 

Note – It will not be clear at first, but Gwen turns out to be a combat junkie. She enjoys the thrill of battle and the rush of life threatening situations. She will often be the one wants to fight.

Lets Go Again.

A few days later, at school. “I want to go back.” Gwen says to Mark as they eat lunch together.

The wound on her hand mostly healed by magic, but still wrapped in a sports bandage.

Mark looks hesitant.

“I know you feel bad about putting me at risk, But its ok.” She tells him with calm confidence. “Iv got an idea, how about you show me how to use a sword and some magic? I promise to stay out of trouble. Until you think I can handle some monsters.” she makes it sound so reasonable.

“What ya talking about?” asks a fellow student, sitting down with them.

Mark looks surprised but quickly blurts out “The new Dungeon Raid game.”

Gwen picks up on that cue “Yea, he finally talked me into trying it, and its great.”

So the conversation dives into video game talk.

 

Time for a Training Montage.
Over the next few days, they spend a few hours (days) per evening in the other world.

In the yard of the cabin,  Mark and Gwen practice with swords then with magic.
They have tea, while Bob explains magic theory.
While she does have the same ability to quick cast as him, she is not as naturally talented with magic.

It takes her longer to grasp the conceptions of a spell and how to focus the mana. And like most people she has no idea how to create new spells.
They practice some more.

They fight an illusion of a monster for training.

Then the real thing.

In the forest, near the cabin, they take on a giant serpent. It is not a hard fight, but their lack of coordination makes it a bit messy. It is clear neither of them have practiced teamwork.

After the fight Gwen is beaming with joy.
Mark smiles and says “Well done. But dont get too overconfident, there are no resurrection spells.”

“You worry too much.” she replies.

“Yea I guess I do.” he answers. Thinking - Iv never worried about anyone before. I always worried about what they would do to me, or what they would think of me. “I just like you a lot.” he says.

She looks stunned by his honesty, but quickly recovers. “ok, just dont worry about it.”

Needing to change the subject he says “Tomorrow lets visit the village.”

Setting the Stage for Later.

They arrive at the village, for them it has only been one week. For the village it has been half a year.

At the Inn they get Gwen a guild card. Then while she goes to show off her skills to a few fellow adventurers, Mark talks to the Innkeeper. “Your basically the guy in charge of this village, right?” he asks.

Lened Grogson the retired adventurer, now Innkeeper and guild master, shrugs, “Its an informal roll. We dont really have any leader or lord here.”

“Yea about that.” Mark says trying to sound resolute “Remember that letter I got with the royal seal on it?” he pulls out said document from his bag. Then hands it to the old man.

The Innkeeper suspected what was up, having seen the front of the envelope when it arrived. But now having read the document, it was official. So he quietly says “I cant argue with that, my lord.”

Mark waves a hand dismissively, “None of that please. Im telling you this now, because I want someone in authority to know. But I dont want everyone to know. You know?”

The old man looked confused. So Mark tried to put it more clearly. “Im putting you in charge of the village. Keep things running just as they have been. Dont tell anyone about me being lord, unless you absolutely have to. Got it now?”

The Innkeeper nods, “Clear enough. You dont want any taxes or changes to the way things work. You dont want anyone to know your the lord.”

Mark nods.

The truth was, it was all old news. Rumor having spread quickly over half year ago, when the letter from the king at first arrived. Today was just a confirmation of what everyone had already accepted.

The Wolf Hunt.

There were not many quests on the guild board. This being a small village there was never much work for adventurers. Most of what needs doing is discussed directly without need for a written notice. The one new thing on the board was a quest to capture a big wolf monster from the dark forest and transport it alive to the city of Midval.

“We can try this.” Mark suggests. Gwen nods, so they take a seat to talk strategy. Killing a wolf monster would not be a big deal for the pair, but how to capture one? Gwen brings up a few ideas from a nature documentary she had seen. Of course that was about regular wolves.

Some sort of tranquilizer potion or sleeping spell should work.

But then transport is a problem. They cant simply stuff the monster into a bag of holding. They will need a wagon with a cage. Mark briefly considered lots of rope and a regular wagon. But if Murphy's law worked on this world like it did on Earth, the monster would somehow get lose at the worst moment. Best to keep it asleep and in a cage.

So they walk over to the village cart-wright to see about having a wagon customized for the job.

“I can do it, with the blacksmith's help. But it isnt gonna be cheep and it will take at lest a week.” the man answers after Mark explains what they want. He then adds, “We will need a driver too.” having just realized neither of them know how to handle horses.

 

Back in the real world.

The next day, at school, the pair are talking about the hunt. The fellow student, who was joined them in the conversation about the Dungeon Raid game, sits down again. “Hay what part of the game is that?” Make does not want to lie too much, but cant think of what to say.

Gwen jumps in with “Its not in the game. We were just saying it would be cool if it was.”

This sounds normal enough to the guy so he just chats away as kids at lunch usually do.

Later on, Mark says “We really have to stop talking about this stuff at school.” 

 

That Evening in the Other World.

They practice on an illusion in the yard. As instructed, Bob runs a few different scenario. Like what if the sleep potion does not work, or what if more wolves show up. They practice all day, till they feel that they are working better as a team.

The next day it is time for the real thing.

They use ideas from nature documentaries, with a freshly killed rabbit as the bait. Instead of dosing it with a potion, Mark enchants it to be a sleep bomb. Using a variation of the warning spell as a trigger so when the rabbit is moved, poof. Anything near by will be put to sleep. If things go well, there will be no need for fighting.

Gwen comments on how this sort of trap would be very useful in lots of situations.

Mark agrees, and says they should get some items that have resistance to sleep and similar effects. He is now actually very worried about this sort of trap spell. As it seems a great idea with a zillion uses.

 

Note – most magic items deal with a single type effect, as attack or defense. For example, A ring that offers protection from everything is a very rare item and would only offer a small defense against any one form of attack. More common would be a ring that keeps you safe from fire.

Although Bob has talked about magic items, he has not tried to teach Mark how to make them.

Now Back to the Quest

A pair of big wolf monsters come sniffing around. Poof the trap gets one, but the other is unaffected. Time for a fight. Gwen is excited to try out her new skills, including her favorite spell, lightning.

Working together she and Mark take down the creature quickly.

“I almost feel sorry for these things.” he says. A bit confused by Gwen's lack of girly emotion over the dead creature. In fact she enjoying the thrill of the fight and not at all concerned with the corps.

They tie up the sleeping creature and drag it over to the wagon. Mark casts sleep on it again just to be safe. Then they struggle to get it up into the cage. They both end up using strength boost spells to get the muscle power to move the monster into place.

Three days later, the pair with the monster in the wagon reach Midvil. 

The guards at the gate look rather worried. But when Mark presents their guild cards and explains the quest the guards wave them along. So they deliver the monster to the sage who posted the job. Fezil Bonyon. He seems like a harmless old man, happy to talk about his work, as he shows off his underground zoo of creatures.

He is trying to find ways to control monsters. Magic-tech based on the slave collar. “Punishment and reward is fine but that takes a lot of time and training. It requires a beast master's skill, and just does not work on some monsters. Im trying to develop a more direct sort of control.” he happily laughs like a mad scientist.

Gwen is creeped out by all this. Mark is fascinated and enjoys the chat.

Bonyon pays them as promised and offers them tea.

Gwen says “No thanks. We really should get going.”

Note – Bonyon's controlled creatures will come again up later.