Amidst my dreaming, my memories of the game poured in.
The goal for my character was to be a magic brawler. Taking the fight with magic into close range combined my love for mixed martial arts and the wonders of magic. However, there was an issue that arrived.
Just before I got to max level, a second resource bar popped up within my status. Normally a player would just have their health and mana bar, but I was given a yellow bar.
I didn't know why I was given this bar, or if it might've been an update or quest reward I took, but the effects were minimal at best.
It allowed me to channel more strength into my body than anyone in the game, which gave me a little boost to my stats. It helped for one on one pvp battles, but in guild wars there are so many things going on that just brawling didn't help at all.
I could try to see if I can feel this other resource and allow it to help me, but I didn't know where to start.
As soon as I woke up, I started to sit down and search for the feeling of the yellow resource bar. I searched deep within my mind, but found no remnants of it.
〈Was it just a bug or error in the code?〉
I couldn't just give up on a chance to gain something that could benefit me, even if I never really knew how it all worked.
I sat down in meditation in order to search deep within myself. If I could just find that feeling, I might be able to break out of this prison. I tried copying meditation or yoga from my memories, it seemed to be useless considering I couldn't feel anything.
But I kept trying.
The power that the yellow bar held was focusing my strength into one point, like a precision shot from a bow, a thrust from a rapier or, in modern day terms, a sniper shot. Of course, I never knew how to meditate, so I just closed my eyes and really just prayed.
Hours went by as I attempted to gain that feeling until my concentration broke due to the sound of metal being cut, or was it a thread?
I opened my eyes to see two figures standing on the other side of the glass wall.
It was the hyena-like bastard and the third member of their trio. The other person never talked, nor did I even see him during the carriage ride.
"Gooood mooorrrning!" Carter sang in a disgustingly annoying tone. "Rise and shine poochie, you got a date with destiny."
〈Again with this fate shit, it's getting annoying.〉
The other one just stared at my direction. They were covered head to toe, and seemed to have their body distorted by some type of illusion magic.
I look back to Carter. "Who's your friend? I didn't get to meet them properly, would love to get to know y'all bet-"
Carter slammed his fist against the glass wall, cracking began to arise in the glass. "Enough yappin' mutt." His tone was less jestery than before.
"Are they THAT important?"
Before Carter could even try to unlock the wall and rush me, the other guy put their hands on his shoulder.
"Ah I see, a hierarchy? Carter's last in this it seems." It was clear they weren't wanting to kill me just yet. Probably wants to make it a spectacle, so I decided to rage-bait this scum a bit.
"Hahahaa, you think you are going to get under my skin like that, clever." He shook his finger side to side, as if he was just acting before. "Well, no worries, I'll see a more entertaining execution later!"
He laughed like a… hyena, and proceeded to command a couple mobs to open the cell and rush me.
They both tackled me to the ground and used darkness magic to make my muscles feel like they can't move.
They put me in magic sealing manacles and a cervical collar that swapped my energy. It felt as though I was dead tired and could move half as good as normal.
They picked me up and Carter walked straight to me, his face too close for comfort. "Now, I better not hear shit from ya. I don't have to play nice, and it's not like you'll be permanently injured if I cut some things off! Ehehheee!"
"Are you gonna try to kiss me you fuck? Get the hell out my face with that disgusting breath."
Whack!
A hard headbutt centered on my nose slammed into me. It crushed my nose instantly and blood poured out in pints.
"Aahhh fuck!" The pain was terrible, but I had to keep things together. I understand my mouth gets me into situations like this, but I had to make them believe I wasn't scared. "What a cheap shot you bitch!"
My nose started to regenerate as he snickered at my pain.
〈This fucking psychopathic sadist. If only the damn leader took charge instead.〉
I dropped my head out of fatigue since my regeneration couldn't help me at the moment when it came to energy due to the collar.
They guided, or more so dragged, me across the halls. I saw others in the cells, but it was concerningly empty.
The halls were organized in a straight shot out from a center column; this column was the elevator, activated by magic, that sent one up or down.
We ascended the floors, each one having their own reason. It seemed like the bottom, where I was at, was the prison. There was a lab, a study hall, hell, even a lounge and residential. These people seemed to live here.
It didn't take much time to get to the top floor. We entered a decently sized circular room. It domed off at the ceiling and had a crystal, presumably powering the elevator.
Both mobs continued to drag me out of the room, which led to more halls and eventually led to a large nave.
The room was full of worshippers, but not a single normal citizen was here. There were just people in black and silver cowls and nun outfits. They all ordained each apparel with frills and cloth wrapped around their bodies to symbolize shade.
It was like a horror movie how they all turned to see me. Their eyes, though not viewable, were peering into me. My every movement, my every step was watched.
It was as if I was being scrutinized by the world, put on a pedestal to send a message.
I was guided down the aisle, towards an empty altar. There was no pastor, or preacher in front of me, until the fully clothed figure stepped forward. They timed their steps to reach the altar as soon as Carter and his mobs brought me in front of the stage.
This figure looked down on me, as I looked up to them.
The 'leader' of the three stood up and stood to my left and Carter my right. Both of the other two stood behind me. All my routes to escape were taken away from me.
I couldn't tell if I was terrified, or if my instinct roared at me to stand strong.
No matter how stoic I could be, my breath hitched. The hairs on my neck stood up. This feeling, just as I faced Shade in the jungle, however this felt worse.
The two goons behind me forced my knees to buckle by kicking me into a knelt position. One grabbed my collar and yanked it back so I looked up at the one on the altar.
The murmur from the room started, and became louder before the priest held his hand out to silence the crowd.
"What is this? Are you going to read me my rights and pray for me? Heh." I snapped at the priest.
Everyone else looked at me with disdain, and whispers about being a "heretic" or "dirty beast" went about the room.
"Why me? What the hell did I do-" A heavy smack hit me at the back of the head. I felt dizzy after.
"You think you get to have a conversation with the head priest?" The leader, I'll call him L, of the group's hand was raised as if he just slapped me.
〈What bullshit is this? Why does this happen to me? All I wanted was to just relax and stay away from all the drama, the negativity. I get reincarnated into my favorite game just to be treated as lesser, to be discriminated against.〉
I grinned and looked straight to where I thought the eyes of the priest were. "I challenge you to a rite of combat!"
The hall went silent. Hushed whispers came out their mouths until his laughter broke through.
"Child, you must think no one in this world can break a rite. Well, shame to say, there are some."
〈But that's not possible. This is the law of RTO, the law of dueling. One can even ask a rite of combat to npcs, so why isn't it working. They are bound by law to accept.〉
The priest opened his book, and started to read. His voice echoed throughout the room as if it was over speakers.
"My prosperous flock. We are gathered here today, to bear witness to the flaw of our world's demise."
〈Flaw?〉
He continued, "The gods have deemed such existence as disruptive in our world. A danger to every existence. But fret not, as our prayers have been answered."
The windows, that seemed to let in light, started to darken. It was as if light itself was being engulfed… no… it was returning back.
It was… ending.
The room became pitch black.
I couldn't see anything.
I couldn't… feel anything.
I couldn't hear almost anything, only the words of the priest.
"Today, we solve an eras problem! This beast, this irregular… this error in the world, will now return back to what it was supposed to be. And that is… nothing."
I felt a surge of power erupt in front of me. I couldn't sense anything as if the world turned into an impenetrable illusion.
Then a gust of wind.
It swirled around this world of darkness…
〈Darkness… It's always the same. I can't escape it.〉
Color came back into my vision, instead of being in front of the altar on the floor, I was up on a raised platform. A gallows.
There was the whole church in front of me as we all were outside on a plateau of a mountain. The steeple was dozens of yards away as this plateau seemed to be used as an execution ground.
It was cold. Snow was falling slightly.
I've never been more tired. It's like my body is collapsing on itself.
As I stood on the gallows and looked out around. They all stared at me waiting for something. It felt as though the day sky was moving away.
I looked up and witnessed impossibility. My eyes widened with shock as I saw that the sun was moving faster towards the horizon.
It was as if someone was moving the sun with their hands.
〈Thus can't be real. It has to be an illusion!〉
As if the gods were playing a sick trick on me, a giant eye appeared above me. It was staring directly at me.
"My fellow believers! As you see, the day of reckoning is upon us. None can resist the call to become one with the end, the heretical tale is over! With this final offer to The Umbral Sovereign, the goddess of darkness in her empty beauty of nothingness! I give my all, my everything to you! VAEL MORRYN!"
A face of sheer pleasure showed on his shadowy face. A grin, wide and eerie, looked to the heavens itself.
A maniacal laugh left his mouth. "EHAHAHAHA! The saint wasn't even able to take you down, but look at me! My goddess, I have given to you a gift no one else has! I plead, you to accept it! For I love you with all my dark heart!"
I could only scoff at him.
〈Insanity〉
Like a ritual, the eye opened. Black fog fell to the mountain top engulfing the entire plateau.
I was enshrouded by darkness once again.
______________________________________________________________________
I tried to think about things… like I always do. Maybe I think too much?
In all honesty, I always wanted to believe that thinking through something carefully was always what I should do, but the more I think, the more I regret.
The more I regret, the more it weighs me down mentally.
If I don't think, I can't answer. And no answers means no solutions, no good ending.
Only defeat.
A vicious cycle isn't it? You can try to prepare for everything, yet not focus on what's in front of you.
But my mind is all I have at the end of the day. My thoughts are what I trust most, yet now it's used against me.
Dark magic has the highest proficiency in illusions. It can even make things seem real, as real as can be, simply by being moderately good at it. It was broken, to say it in gaming terms.
But the most overpowered thing about it, isn't just illusions, it is how it causes them.
Dark magic aims straight for the brain, the amygdala specifically. It's a portion of the brain to deal with emotions, and dark magic attacks that directly. It reverses brain waves back and forth and causes discomfort, like massaging a bruise, and in the end, that discomfort turns into paranoia.
Dark magic instills paranoia onto a target, making them unable to understand the difference between illusion and reality. It fosters until it breaks down the brain activity and in worse cases, mentally wrecks them.
Slave contracts used this before to force all other emotions out, and was used in high level torture practices. It can also be used for stealth and confusion tactics. It was a highly versatile magic school.
It capitalized on the idea of someone in a dark room. From before when they saw colors, to a pitch black room. They would be stuck.
Some could revel in said places, but those with fear, those are the people it affects most.
I tried to be stoic and steel myself. It didn't work.
I knew if I let the fear get to me, it'd be over. Well… it's over.
I'm trapped in the place I started… darkness. Why do I have to stay strong? Why must I fight this? … why try?
If a person was in a padded room or a pitch black corridor, anyone would go…
Insane…
Insane…
…
…
Thud!
…
Boom!
A loud explosion shook the mountain like it was hit by an earthquake.
"Through the darkness, light finds its way!"
The darkness vanished as bright light surrounded the mountain top. A few church goers were dusted due to the level of solar energy being casted onto them. Like devils against holy water.
After my eyes adjusted, I slowly with fatigue looked up to see a large ship.
〈A fantasy airship? More than that, A Tanger 500. A brig type airship with high maneuverability specifically made for warfare but also infiltration with the possibility of full on ship combat.〉
I didn't have the time to geek out, but I saw a row of silhouettes and in the center of it, a large hulking lizardman stepped up.
Yep, that was him.
I smiled sluggishly, knowing that these cultist bastards are about to get demolished.
Dozens of bodies flung themselves overboard, jumping to the ground to attack the church head on. A clash of dark magic against nature magic and light magic permeated through the sky and ground.
A darker scaled lizardman dashed towards me, picking me up in the process. He rushed back to his group as multiple cultists chased after him.
The cultists got intercepted by lizardmen and I was brought back to safety.
I sat behind Rak, stunned but glad to be alive. The darker lizardman tore apart my collar and manacles, and I was finally able to breathe normally.
"Thanks Rak, I owe yo-"
I was cut off by the darker lizardman. "Capt'n, we secured the wanderer. All that's left is-"
"I know Thraz. My time fer revenge has come." Rak pointed his spear towards the priest. "Alright ya damn cultist, I got yer 'gift' now. Only two ways this gonna end. Ya kill me, or I slaughter all a' y'all."
The crazy laugh followed that declaration. "You are a stalker, you know that, you damn lizard! All because your little misfit wife was given retribution, you think you have what it takes to combat me now? You are WEAK! You will always be-"
A thrust from Rak's spear comes closer to the priest. It was an inch away from his eyes, but even a strike that broke the sound barrier, couldn't catch the cultist.
The priest looked like he teleported back eight feet. "You've gotten faster, and stronger it seems. But is it enough!" A barrage of dark slashes were flung towards Rak.
He managed to dodge them all, but then went into his own barrage of attacks. The priest pulled out a scythe made of shadow and a dance that was too fast for my eyes to catch was being performed in front of me.
I casted
I heard another explosion underneath the ground. It vibrated the plateau. They were at an all out war here.
The carnage before me was immense. Bodies of cultists being ripped apart or burnt by light. The viscera was disturbing visually, but the smell…
My stomach ached. I was… starving.
Pains shot through my gut, it felt as if my inside were eating itself. Then a warmth in my heart.
〈Warmth? No… it's hot. It's too hot.〉
My body temperature rose drastically as veins of heat spread across my torso. It originated from my heart, and I heard a thumping my heart was pounding, but it didn't sound natural, it sounded like a furnace, a machine.
Tuffs of fur sprouted around my neck and face, my teeth were thinning but becoming sharper.
"Capt'n, the wanderers transforming!" Thraz yells out to Rak.
"Get that holy priest to help em! Do NOT disturb me!"
I saw a white robed man jogging up, and touched my shoulder. The feelings that were tearing through me subsided.
I looked up to the man, but it was too bright to see his face. "Thank you!"
"No worries, it'd be a shame if you got taken out right now."
〈Why does that matter? And why is Rak here late? He has a ship? A whole squad team? This makes no sense, but it doesn't feel right.〉
My eyes were becoming heavy, but before I fell to slumber, I heard Rak say, "Finally, all them years searchin', an' I got ya to come out of yer hole! Yer life is mine to take! An' that's now!"
〈So this was planned huh? You asshole〉
My eyes became heavy as I faded out.
______________________________________________________________________
I awoke in a hammock rocking back and forth. Trying to gain my bearings, I looked around. No one was here, but I heard yelling and commotion above me.
Finding myself underneath the deck to a ship, most likely the one Rak was leading.
I painstakingly got up, the fatigue seemed to persist even through my lycanthrope physiology. My feet touched the wooden floors. A floral of air was felt on the soles.
Seeing stairs leading upward, I decided to climb them up. Upon reaching the top deck, the sun hit my eyes, but more importantly, I felt the wind pass me by as the ship sailed the sky.
The deck was full of people controlling the sails, scrubbing the deck and repairing damages from the fight they just had. I looked around for Rak, or Thraz to get some answers.
No one paid me any attention, they just focused on their superior giving them commands.
I walked up to the one yelling. "Hey, where's Rak? I need to speak with him."
The guy turned to me, like I interrupted him rudely. "Ya don't need ta see the Capt'n right now. He'll call for ya when he's ready." He went back to barking orders and checking up on things.
〈He isn't going to see me? After all that?〉
I shook my head in annoyance. Looking around, not one person would give me answers. I became frustrated, and saw a door, presumably leading to the captain's quarters.
I hardly ever am this impulsive, but I headed straight for the door slamming my fists against it. "RAK! You got some shit to answer to."
The one that barked orders before grabbed my arm to stop me from knocking, and out of anger I threw him to the side of the railing, his back slamming against it.
"Motherfuh-" I kicked the door open with all the strength I could muster. It splintered and snapped as it swung open.
"Couldn't have waited?" That deep western accent crawled out from the back of the room. There he was sitting down at a desk acting like an actual captain.
"Waited? I waited for fucking weeks in the grove. I got snuck up on and captured for fuck sakes. I think I did enough damn waiting." The amount of anger I felt couldn't be described.
He just looked at me and continued writing something down in a notebook, and map.
〈What the hell is his problem? He doesn't try to apologize for leaving me behind. Didn't confront me, nor is he willing to explain anything yet?〉
…
〈Why? WHY?!〉
…
〈Just why is it that the first 'friend' I made does this to me?〉
"Damn son, you are mad aren't ya?" He laughs as he puts his papers down, clearly important documents. "Well, I s'pose there's a lot ya want ta ask, so out ya go."
I stare at him in silence for a little bit. "Fuck you. You want to hear my questions, you already know what my questions are, don't you!" I nearly lunged at him in anger but decided against it as he had a whole crew on deck.
"Got what you truly came for?"
Upon hearing my question, he grinned. "Actually, no I didn't, but best I can do fer now."
〈Why did he do this? Was I not his goal? Why even try to rescue me if he-〉
A sudden realization came to me. "You used me as bait didn't you?"
He looked at me, seemingly impressed I got it on the nose. "Now yer thinking."
It was unbelievable. We shared backstories together and I helped fight his damn beast with him.
〈Did that mean nothing?〉
"Why the hell did you do it? I understand you didn't know me as well, but we were out there for months. I even helped you defeat that fucking monster for you, yet the thanks I get is you leaving me for them to find me?" Another realization hit me. "You put me in the grove so I couldn't leave, and then waited for those bastards to find me. Is that it?"
Rak paused for a second. "Why should I tell ya that? It was a promise I had from the moment meh village got destroyed. What makes ya think yer so special to know my reasonin'?"
I held my tongue for a second. I couldn't argue against that, but it was still terrible what he put me through.
I felt so much during that. I've never lashed out, but knowing that this situation was close to my past life, I couldn't help but be angered. I perk up for a second, "It's about your kid isn't it? Or maybe your wife. These guys are cultists, or maybe they actually have a god backing them." I took a pause. "Perhaps you got a way to get them bac-"
Before I could utter another word, Rak leaped over the table and grabbed my throat, choking me.
"I w-w-was r-right, huh?" With the little breath I had, I was able to mutter those words.
"Can ya blame me?" Rak said to me.
I thought of this before, but lizardmen were hard to emotionally read considering their facial features. Just like last time, I could tell with just Rak's eyes, there was something deeper.
My face rested in a bit of grief as Rak let me go. I gasp for air as he does so and stay seated.
The silence was sharp, so much so that you could cut a gold coin with it. It pained me that I said something cruel, but what was so wrong? I was heated and all my emotions came out at once.
I'm not from this world, hell knows what's going on with my family. I came into the game I loved without being near the people I cherished in it, especially with how long it's been for in-game time for them.
I just stood there, unable to comment and completely demoralized.
〈I was nearly sacrificed Rak, you think I shouldn't be upset by that?〉
With a final, "fuck you," I left.
…
The day went by as I laid in a hammock in the forecastle of the ship. I just looked up at the ceiling and let my thoughts run. Well, I would if my bunk mates weren't so loud.
They continuously chattered amongst themselves while I tried to relax.
With them being so loud, I excused myself to the main deck.
It's been a while since we left the headquarters of the dark priests. We were in the sky flying for some time now, and now was the only time I could see the beauty of the land.
I saw behind me, the lands of floating upside down trees where I was revived at, and then the mountains that the prison I was in resided at.
〈I still can't get over how surreal this all feels. The game I've loved, a place in it that I never explored and I already found trouble. What a story that is huh?〉
As I sat there in thought, a voice called to me. It was melodic and soothing, however it screamed mystery.
I turned my head for my eyes to lay on, nothing? I turn it again and notice a pair of eyes focused on me.
"AHH SHIT!" I yelled out as I stumbled back onto the deck. "What the hell, who are you?"
From behind the ninja mask the girl was wearing, she put her finger to where I would say her mouth is. "Not telling. Mother seemed interested by Rak's report on a new blood. One that smelled of lycan, however you smell familiar to me yet I've never met you."
I couldn't see what she looked like as her entire body was covered head to toe. I could only see her bright yellowish-orange eyes peering into mine.
"Well sorry to burst your imagination, but I definitely don't know anyone in this region."
She then pulled down her mask for a second. What I saw was a fox-like appearance, well that's a bit exaggerated. Her beautiful face gave a sly-like feeling as she leaned into my chest and took a long sniff.
〈Did she just sniff me?〉
She was close to my chest, trying to smell me. When she leaned over, I also caught a whiff of her scent. I smelt nothing but the nature around me.
She put her mask back and straightened up. "What the hell? You gotta buy me dinner before that." I say nonchalantly although I was surprised at first.
Her gaze went into the sky as it looked like she was pondering something.
"What do you have in relation to mother!?" She pointed at me in an accusatory stance.
"Mother? Huh?" I was quite confused by her question. "Who are you talking about? Mother? Can I have a name or something?"
She ignored my questions and just shrugged it off. "Ah well, I'll know soon enough."
Then just as she arrived, she vanished into thin air.
〈Crazy girl. Do I smell that good or something?〉
I sniffed myself to see what she smelled. Nothing unusual, but I didn't smell great considering I can't use soap or anything.
As odd of an encounter that was, I wonder what it was all about. Mother? Looks like I need to know who that is and why I'm somehow "familiar".
I stayed on the main deck for a few more hours, watching the sun set.
It was mesmerizing. I couldn't stop thinking about the way that woman looked like- wait.
〈Why is she popping up in my head? I mean, she was attractive and she came on quite strongly, but that doesn't make me think of someone.〉
I started to think back when this was all a game. I knew of a ninja creed, one that I signed personally under my rule. The specifics of the people weren't coming to mind, but I swear it felt like the same style as the ones I had. Maybe it's just a common theme, or they were more widespread than I knew of.
〈This is too much for my brain.〉
I ended up just throwing the ideas out. Whether or not I figure this out, depends on what comes next. The girl did say she'd know soon enough. Perhaps this creed is the overarching leaders of the organization that Rak is from, or an ally?
Instead of trying to give myself a headache with all the stress and thinking, I returned to my bed.
Mostly everyone is now asleep so I jumped into my hammock and closed my eyes.
____________________________________________________________________________
Without the ability to wake up by myself, I'm shaken to consciousness. I hear faint commands coming in.
My body felt like it was flipped around and I fell hard onto the deck. An audible THUD rang out.
"Ah fuck, what the hell was that for?" I looked up to see dark lizardman who got me off the gallows. He stands there above me with a smirk.
"Time for yuh ta get yer ass up. Whole crew up an' ready."
I look around to see no one in the sleeping quarters but me. Groggy and still tired, I stand up to stretch.
"We gotta meet the leader. She wants ta see yer face."
〈My face? Why?〉
I walked alongside the guide for a minute, not knowing his name. "So what's your name?"
"Name's Thraz." He says. This lizardman is nearly fully black, with a forest green sheen to his scales. He's more bulky than Rak, but seemingly mostly because of his outer plates. He practically looks like a walking piece of armor.
Following his lead, we walked out to the main deck. The sight before me caught me by surprise, again. Tall slender mountains appeared before me. They were scattered as far as the eye could see. Numbering hundreds just from my quick glance.
I looked overboard to see settlements at the foot of the mountain, but we weren't here for those.
Ahead of us, multiple docks arranged for specific boat sizes. A nearly completed fleet seemingly at the peak of this tower made of rocks.
All of it connected to a plateau that seemed to be dug into to make a quarry, so there's a wall of mountain that surrounded it like a crescent moon that continues up. At the other side of this plateau, was a grand entrance with massive doors.
This had an eastern touch to it, like ancient Chinese or Japanese structures. Clearly this is the home, or headquarters, of the ninja creed that seems to govern over this sub-organization.
Thraz guided me through the plateau, seeing the sights of training grounds made of stone, like a monk's temple grounds. There were straw dummies and even targets scattered about. No sight of anyone training though.
We reached the grand gate that protrudes from the mountain side. It stands tall, too tall.
I hurt my neck trying to look towards the top of the gate.
Not even a moment passes as the huge doors slowly open inward. With each inch it opens, I see more of the interior. A grand bridge, hovering over an abyss of darkness with lights shining every once and a while like a night sky. This cylindrical room feels open and aerated.
At the foot of the bridge, there stands an elegant girl in a graceful Kimono dress. It's dark red and black color scheme contrast her porcelain skin tone. She looks like a doll as her fox ears perk up.
〈Fox ears?〉
She steps up to me, "Welcome adventurer, mother wishes to see you." She says, her tone is exactly like the girl who I met on the ship last night.
She waves her hand like introducing someone as she gestures towards the bridge.
Across the bridge at the other side of the interior, stands a large platform with multiple individuals all standing at attention. They make a walkway for me towards stairs that rise only fifteen steps to where I presume this 'mother' sits.
There she is. A beautiful woman sits haughtily in her throne with her legs crossed as she waits for my approach. Her long elegant black hair tied to a braid that laid on her front. Her porcelain skin, just as smooth as the fox girl. Her cat tail adjusted itself as her legs were exposed beneath her dress. She was any man's dream
I shook my head to focus back.
I step forward, and continue my advance with Thraz and this girl by my side. I was nervous, even more so scared. Not knowing what trouble I was in nor the etiquette I should show, was not a good situation to be in.
Once I crossed the bridge, I walked between the hundreds of soldiers and ninjas that were there. Rak was standing at the foot of the stairs to the throne when suddenly Thraz parted our walking trio to join in on the line of soldiers.
Each step I took was weight I couldn't breathe in. Then I stopped next to Rak and the Girl walked between me and Rak and took the lead in front of us.
"Mother, I have brought the requested man you ordered me to. The Lycan himself." She gestures towards me, like presenting me to the woman on the throne. I stared up at her, not knowing what to say or do next. But something weird was felt, a sense of ease or familiarity with this woman.
The woman on the throne, her cat eyes peering towards me. She stood up from her throne and descended the stairs. Each step she took, a wave of aura could be felt. It was something I never felt in real life, since Aura was only meant for the levels higher than eighty and it was obviously a game, but this time, I could feel it.
The woman finally stepped on the ground floor and walked to me. Her height matched mine, even with my body being the younger form of my game character, it was still interesting for a person from the kitsune race to match my height.
She stared into my eyes, her look piercing into mine. It was like she was trying to dissect my intentions, my very being. She was 'reading' me.
She then circled around me, the air was thick with tension. No one around us decided to even move a muscle other than the fox girl who was curiously peeking at the circumstance.
Then a sudden Sniff towards me.
〈Again? What is with these women and smelling me?〉
She did so while she took her pace in a full circle around me. Then met my eyes again.
Her face pondered my own, a sense of caution but also as if she was trying to figure something out.
She then, out of nowhere, cupped my face with both of her hands. She was molding my face weirdly, and trying to decipher my looks.
I wasn't going to make any stupid decisions, not when I'm in the center of her entire organization. Then suddenly, her eyes changed from investigative, to sudden excitement.
"Lord King!" She said as she threw herself at me and pinned me to the ground hugging me.
"What the f-." I'm tackled to the ground. Confusion in my face as I look around for answers. Everyone around us is shocked and just as confused as I am.
I look at this woman of vast beauty now acting like a house pet snuggling into me. "Um, excuse me. I don't wish to be rude or anything, but could you stop?"
Her ears perked up, and she looked around. A faint blush covered her cheeks for a moment before she situated herself appropriately.
A cough that was meant to showcase her coming back to reality and started acting professionally again. "Yes, um… well, where should I start?"
____________________________________________________________________________
We all went to a large dining room. It was me, the fox girl and this 'mother' figure that sat at the middle of the table, furthest from the door. There were a total of fourteen seats here, and It was set up in a very eastern design, so we were sitting on these zabutons as we were eating at a short table. It wasn't uncomfortable, but took some getting used to.
I looked over the room as servants brought in food for the table and I sat next to this 'mother' figure. I was confused and so was the fox girl, but I wasn't about to make a scene.
The dining hall had multiple people in it already, some captains from the throne platform I saw earlier, and funnily enough, Rak was there with Thraz and his other subordinates staring blankly towards each other as he snuck peeks at me.
It felt nice being here, even if I had no idea what was going on. I just showed an arrogant smirk towards Rak seeing him in distress.
Then, the fox girl stood up. Without skipping a beat, she tapped on her sake cup to hush the voices around the room.
"Thank you all for coming today. We have an amazing piece of news that we would like to share with all of you." She turned to me and gave a deep bow of respect. "Lord King, my name is Mika Kagehana, daughter of Kuroha Kagehana."
〈Kuroha? That name…〉
I looked over to the 'mother' as I stared at her. She noticed my peering eyes and blushed a bit. Her eyes were the only thing to see as her fan covered her mouth.
"See something you like, 'Boss'?" She emphasized the 'Boss' part as if to push a message of sorts.
Thinking back to when this was a game, I remember it. A ninja girl from the Kistune race, a species that could live for nine-hundred years with nine lives converted to a hundred years each. She was the main covert operative I had, the ninja creed only being a dozen upon inception.
〈Kuroha? THAT KUROHA?〉
I couldn't help but laugh.
Everyone in the room froze in confusion and tension. They couldn't understand what was going through my mind.
Mika speaks up again. "Well, it seems I don't need to introduce my mother anymore. Hehe."
Rak and Thraz looked at each other, and so did the rest of the groups in the room.
I looked over at Kuroha, and gently put my hand on her head, like I used to. I rubbed her head as she started to purr to my touch. "I can't believe it. You look… so… mature."
Her eyes opened accusatory towards me. "Were you going to say old?"
I stopped since I made it weird due to pausing. "No no no, I truly meant it. Last time I saw you, which wasn't very long ago for me, was when you looked like a teen."
She pouted as I spoke. I was never good with words towards women, so misunderstandings happened often. "Well, yeah, hundreds of years would do that to anyone."
〈Hundreds of years?〉
"What do you mean hundreds of years?" I asked in a state of confusion.
Her eyes shot a look like she mistakenly blurted that out. She covered her mouth with her fan again. "It's… Um, a long story." She leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Perhaps we speak of that after dinner."
____________________________________________________________________________
Dinner was a bit monotonous. It was simply eating and greeting people in the organization and getting familiar with the role they wanted me to play. They are trying to introduce me as the 'fate of their goal'.
Afterwards, Rak and Thraz took center stage and knelt before Kuroha and myself. I stared with a smirk on my face since I knew what this meant.
"I, Rak, apologize fer my behaviour to ya earlier." He tried sounding more professional but his accent still proved stronger.
"I, Thraz, also apologize fer my attitude an' acts to ya."
Seeing them kneel before me gave me a sense of pride, but this wasn't the apology I wanted. My smirk faded.
I didn't ask to be seen as a commander in front of them, I wanted Rak to apologize as a friend. This felt like he had to do it, instead of wanting to.
I waved them off and gestured them forward, an act I used to do constantly when I was in the game sitting on my throne. "I understand why you did what you did, but that doesn't mean I can forget nor forgive you for what happened. I'll need time for that."
Looking at him, his face relaxed more but was still tense even if Rak normally looks expressionless. Both of them looked up to me confused. "We understand."
"You did what you thought you needed to do. Even if it was using me as bait, you hardly knew me. I would hope someone that follows a follower of mine would choose family over strangers. But I'm still annoyed, however what's done is done."
After a brief goodbye from them, they left. They were still in a sense of shock, and I can't blame them. They had to come to the realization that the guy they nearly forgot and left and also treated like baggage, was the main person that
____________________________________________________________________________
I now find myself in a large bedroom. There's a lounge in the corner of the room where Kuroha and Mika sat across from me on a couch as there was another girl, a servant, playing an instrument while we talked. This other girl had a bandage or some cloth over her eyes.
〈Blind huh?〉
My eyes met Kuroha, and the questions soon followed.
Apparently, exactly two hundred years have passed since my 'disappearance' from this world. It was weird, since I never felt any time passing since my character died.
I told them how I died in the battle due to the interruption from a 'god' as I was told. The fact that this god somehow intervened was a mystery in of itself, but now thinking about it, it was weird.
My mind wandered back to when Carter, the jester priest, was talking about the fight with gods. Rak also mentioned this. I asked about this to Kuroha and she told me that shortly after my disappearance, there were demi-gods that ran amok on the earth. It tore lands apart and even killed millions of people.
What's more interesting, is the emergence of martial art clans scattered everywhere. She mentioned that a new form of power arose, Ki, or Prana by some.
My mind snaps back. "Ki? What does it do?"
"Well, it allows for the soul to empower the body, at least that's what I'm told by those who wield it. But the issue is that it's very difficult to control." She looks around collecting her thoughts. "The ability to empower your body in ways similar to magic, but instead Ki has an exponential growth."
In essence, magic itself is an effect of a specific type of medium of particles. The particles in question are mana particles, essentially the building block for any type of magic. Mana itself derives from an essence of 'Kael'Vyr', which translates to 'miracle essence' supposedly discovered by dragons from ancient times.
Mana is like a flowing river that comes from a pond or lake. The bigger your reserves are, the more mana you can use without exhausting yourself. This reserve exists in a sort of 'mana body' that overlaps with the spirit of a person. It has no physical location, but it would exist within a person's body to simplify things.
Just because you have a large lake however doesn't mean the river that extends from it is able to manage that flow. You need precise control, but that's all you need to learn. Controlling the river itself is all a mage needs since your mana pool is determined at birth, which in the game is controlled by your intelligence score. It can grow in size, but that's rare for everyone but wanderers since the level of beings native to this world is set in stone.
On the opposite side, spirit energy is more like the elements that surround the world. It exists everywhere and you merely use it to cause reactions based on how you interact with it. It's like using the world itself as a resource. Such as using a flat hand to push wind towards a direction, or throwing dirt at someone. This also means that someone using spirit energy cannot do so unless the form of that energy is present.
Ki utilizes spirit energy, which condenses that and allows the manipulation of spirit energy only on the most surface level ability. So instead of learning how to better flow a river, you are opening your senses up to the world. It's like digging a cave. Each crack allows more energy to come in, and only those that can make those cracks and excavate more of the cave is allowed more 'air' to circulate within.
The biggest difference I heard was the medium of the two. Mana uses the user as the medium, while Spirit energy uses the elements around it.
That was the basic understanding of the differences in magic and ki. Which to me were alien even when I was playing the game.
A headache started to arise in my mind. All this information was starting to be too much. "This is why I didn't like school."
Kuroha noticed this and clapped her fan into her palm. "Well, that's enough for this one day. Why don't you relax in the meantime?"
I took that advice immediately.
◆◆◆◇◇◇◆◆◆◇◇◇◆◆◆
King; level 21
EP: 0 (122)
Strength - 32
Dexterity - 32
Constitution - 16
Intelligence - 11
Charisma - 10
Luck - 21
◆◆◆◇◇◇◆◆◆◇◇◇◆◆◆