When Worlds Clash: Reincarnated with the Arcane Register

Kai Drayken sat in the hut staring at his knees. He must have sat there for at least fifteen hours just staring into space. And all the time he was there, the shadows outside neither lightened nor deepened. This night did not break into day. He pulled at his knee. The pain wasn't as sharp as before. Very soon, he would be able to stand. But then, where to?

His mind was refusing to accept the only explanation that he could think of. He did not know if he could handle it. That he was trapped in a strange world, an unreal world and worse still, he was trapped in another person's body.

Kai shook his head again.

This had to be some kind of trick. It had to be the work of Andrew Cooper. He would tear the guy apart when he laid hands on him. That foul play was involved, he had no doubt. When did Cooper get himself involved in magic and stuff like that? Did he want the directorship position this bad? So bad that he was willing to mix himself up with dark stuff like this?

What if this is not the work of Cooper?

The little voice slipped into his mind.

But Kai shook his head for perhaps the thousandth time after he first awoke on the damp floor. If this was not the work of Cooper, then what did it mean? He was caught in a world that did not make any meaning? After Cooper shot him, he had somehow entered a place where there was no day, no night and worse still he was in another person's body? It did not make any sense to him.

One thing was abundantly clear to him though. He would not find any answers sitting on his ass in this shack. The thought of wandering out there was not appealing either.

What was that scream last night? Who was or more appropriately, what was making a sound like that?

Still, he had to venture out there.

"Come on Drayken," He muttered to himself. "You did not get to the top by cowering in fear man. You got there by facing your challenges head-on."

No matter what, he had to get out there. Now that he had had time to sit, reflect and realise that he wasn't waking up from a bad dream, a twinge of curiosity was beginning to grow within him. What could this place be?

Some secret magical land? Again, how had he gotten here?

He tested his knee. It was much better now so he struggled to his feet again. His eyes had now sufficiently adjusted to the poor lighting and he looked around to see if there was anything he could swipe from this strange shack before leaving. Some clothes maybe. He thought about food. He wasn't hungry strangely.

Just then, he spied something shining in a corner. Where had that come from? He could swear that it wasn't there earlier.

Intrigued and slightly alarmed, he shuffled towards it. But it was only a cupboard. Or something that looked like a cupboard. Only that the material it was made of was nothing like Kai had ever seen.

He did not know how to describe it. The material shone like glass but as he reached out to touch it, it did not feel like the usual cool, smooth surface of glass. Instead it was hard, coarse even.

"Interesting," Kai muttered to himself as he ran his hand over the cupboard. It was weird. That was for sure. But then, nothing had been normal ever since he came to. He himself was not even normal.

At last he got tired of feeling around the cupboard and began to check for ways to open it. It was what was inside that was important to him.

A quick look told him that the shining object was divided into five compartments. Kai yanked the first one open and found a curious collection of shimmering pebbles. There was no other way to describe them. They did not glitter...they shimmered. All kinds of colours that he did not recognise.

Kai had never seen anything like that before and he did not know what they were used for but he took them anyway. Who knew?

The second and third drawers were not empty but they equally did not contain anything of interest. At least not to Kai at that moment. The second compartment contained a vial with some powdery green material while in the third, he found a medium sized box with its lid tightly shut. And no matter how much he tried to open it, he just couldn't. It was a bit heavy too and although he was curious to know what was in it, he had to eventually abandon it. In the fifth drawer, he finally found something that was of immediate use to him: clothes.

Kai dragged them all out and examined them, his face all scrunched up. They looked like a cheap magician's outfit; billowing robes, capes and pointed hats.

Maybe this was a prank after all. Maybe he was in some film city or something. He trembled as rage built up within him. If Cooper had anything to do with it, he would deal with him. But magician clothes or not, they were better than the rags he was currently clad in so he took them and put them on. Surprisingly, they were quite warm and comfortable though and Kai immediately felt better.

There was only one more compartment to explore now and Kai pulled it open. At first, it seemed like nothing was there and he was about to slam it back shut when he caught sight of it.

The tiny piece of parchment that would change everything although he did not know it at the time.

Kai did not want to pick it up initially. It was just a little piece of paper in a cupboard. What was the big deal? But on second thought, he decided to check it out. Anything that would give him more insight about this place was welcome.

But the parchment was empty. Absolutely nothing was written on it. Again, he was about to toss it out when he began to notice something. First, what was a little piece slowly began to expand. And as it expanded, it began to glow as well!

"Oh come on." He mumbled to himself.

Did everything have to be so dramatic? It looked like gleaming objects was the M.O of this place. A bit ironic, he thought to himself. Considering that the very atmosphere itself was as dreary as could be.

But hang on a minute, the parchment wasn't just gleaming. Right before his very eyes, a screen-like surface appeared right on the paper and words began to show up on it. Words that made the very hairs on the back of Kai's neck stand up straight!