Ard opened his eyes. He blinked and saw himself climbing a mountain staircase, breathing heavily. When he reached the summit, he saw a cliff with a huge magic circle in the center, surrounded by stones like Stonehenge. He felt his feet move on their own toward the center of the large magic circle, beneath the neatly arranged Stonehenge stones, which clearly served a purpose because runes or magic script were visible on every stone.
["Huh... where am I?" Ard's consciousness asked internally.]
"Azroth."
Azroth turned around. He saw three knights walking toward him. Behind them, soldiers from the Orthus Empire began running up, then surrounding Azroth, who stood in front of the magic circle. Azroth glanced right and left, looking around as he drew his sword, Exgrandal, from his dimensional storage. A knight from the Orthus Empire stepped forward, removing his helmet to reveal a handsome face with a thin beard and long blonde hair.
