The moment I open the door, a cold breeze hits me directly, making me feel cold. I cover myself with my hands, showing how cold I am.
"Why is the weather in this world so cold when it is at night..."
I said, trying to feel familiar with the cold.
"I think I need to start getting going before everything is too late."
I mumbled to myself, starting to run toward the kingdom.
{Kingdom Gate}
Everyone, knights, adventurers, and mages, is standing outside to prepare for the Monster Raid. They are gathering together, chit-chatting before the raid. The mix between the chatter and metal sounds clashes with armor and weapons. Four guilds will be joining the raid.
There is a guild gathering near the gate, the Azure Magus guild, easy to notice with most of its members being genius mages who use water magic. On their blue and cyan cloaks, there is a sigil or logo: a large sapphire crystal surrounded by flowing water.
Not far from them, there is the Frostveil guild, a guild that contains ice mages and ice knights, mostly mages. The sigil of their uniforms is a silver crescent moon wrapped in frost and mist.
There is also the WolfCrest, a guild that contains many adventurers. The speciality of this guild is that no members of this guild know how to use magic. Instead of wearing cloaks or a uniform like other guilds, they wear armor with a wolf wearing an eyepatch that covers the right eye on the back and front of their chestplate. Some people don't have the logo on their chestplate because the logo is on their shoulder armor.
And lastly, the last guild that will join the raid is the Holy Knights. The guild that is closest to the King and that many people admire the most. Their guild is different than others. A balanced guild with a balance between defensive and offensive, mages and knights. The guild sigil is gold: A sword pointed down like a cross. A halo around the sword with two wings side by side with the sword.
Right now, everyone is chit-chatting. Alice and Arthur run toward the crowd and reunite with everyone in the guild.
"Everyone ready?"
Arthur said, wiping the sweat from his head.
"I think everyone is ready..."
One of the members said.
Alice, who is standing, watching the crowd of adventurers and mages, breathing heavily from the run, notices something. Two people are coming toward her.
One of them has unique hair that some people think is silver, while others think it's light blue. She wears a long black, white, and light blue uniform. A cold, freezing aura follows her wherever she goes, causing nearby people to step aside. Alice immediately recognized her as Seraphine Everain, the leader of Frostveil.
Beside her is a blue-haired woman with a playful expression. She is Vaelira Corvayne, the leader of Azure Magus, but many of her close friends call her Vaeli because she likes it.
Vaelira runs toward Alice and waves at her.
"Alicee!"
She shouted happily, hugging Alice.
"Hi, Vaeli..."
Alice said, hugging Vaelira back and ruffling her soft hair.
A voice came after Alice hugged Vaelira.
"It's been a while, Alice. I'm sorry for not attending the meeting earlier."
Seraphine said, flipping her hair. Her ice-cold aura around her made everyone pay attention to her.
"It's okay, Sera, I know you have been busy lately."
Alice replied.
"Yeah, those nobles from the different kingdoms are so annoying with their arrogance—"
Before Seraphine could finish her sentence, the roar of the crowd interrupted her, making her mad.
"What is happening over there?!"
She asked, clearly annoyed.
The three exchange confused glances before making their way through the gathering adventurers and mages to see what is happening.
Their eyes widened.
Walking toward the gate was the King himself, in golden armor and riding a majestic horse.
A guy from the Wolfcrest steps forward to the King and politely bows to the King.
It's the leader of the Wolfcrest, Kael Draven. He is tall, with gray hair swept back and a scar running across his right eye. He wears a leather tunic and pants beneath an iron chestplate and iron shoulder guards.
"Y-your Majesty, why are you here at this time? It's very dangerous to go out, Your Majesty."
He said, his face full of worry.
The King looks at him and everyone outside the gate.
"I, the King of Serenvale, King Aurelius Valerius, will be fighting along with you guys in this battle."
As soon as he said it, everyone was shocked at his decision.
Meanwhile, I keep running toward the kingdom gate. When I'm running, the system appears with some notification, but I don't notice it.
< STA: 1 —> 2>
I can feel my tiredness coming; the sweat is coming, but I'm keeping running.
God damn it! I need to be faster! I need to change this future!
{Kingdom Gate}
"Y-your Majesty, what are you thinking? We can't let you go out to the battlefield; it's too dangerous for you to go."
Kael said, with people behind him agreeing with his decision.
The King looks at them again and sighs.
"I know it's dangerous, but I want to follow you guys; I don't want my people to die..."
He said firmly.
Feel the King's feelings in his words, maybe sadness. Fewer people are buzzing about this.
Knowing that, the King smiled and said.
"Don't worry, I will stay behind you guys."
Everyone heard that and feel relief at the King's words.
Kael is still trying to advise the King not to go.
"B-but Your Majesty..."
"No buts. I said I will go, and my decision will not change."
He said this firmly.
"I- We understand, Your Majesty..."
He said, standing up and going back to his guild.
Suddenly, people are buzzing about something coming. One of the knights goes through the crowd and runs toward the King.
"Your Majesty, we just see something coming."
Kael was surprised at the news.
"WHAT?! THE MONSTER RAID IS ALREADY BEGINNING?!"
The King is also surprised, but he gets his calm back as soon as possible.
"Is the 'something' you said a monster or a human?"
The King said, thinking calmly.
"I-it's a human, Your Majesty."
The King heard that and suddenly laughed, making everyone confused about his action.
Arthur, the leader of the Holy Knights, comes toward Kael.
"What's happening?"
He asked, confused at the King laughing.
"I don't know. The king suddenly laughed when he heard a boy coming toward—"
He stops himself, looks at Arthur.
Arthur is silent but looks at him. Both of them look at each other with a knowing look.
"Don't tell me... The boy is..."
Kael said, kinda stammering.
Arthur nods.
When I see the destiny I'm heading for, I try to stop. But when I try to stop running, my legs can't stop as I'm running too fast on a downhill platform.
W-wait! N-no! I can't stop!
People notice that and move to the side. I can see the King, a knight, and two people standing at the end of the way.
My legs finally stop when I am almost to the end of the way. But I tripped, and my face hit the ground. In front of the King and everyone.
"Are you okay?"
The King said; there is gentleness in his word.
"I-I'm fine..."
I said, embarrassed by this situation.
It's so embarrassing when tripping in front of everyone...
I thought, laughing weakly inside my head.
I get up slowly and brush the dust off my outfit. The King's watching me, quietly, till I finish brushing the dust.
"I see, it seems like you're different now, but what brings you here, young chosen?"
He said, referring to the change when I removed my glasses earlier.
"Oh, haha... I come here to help you guys..."
I said, with little tension because of how introverted I am.
Everyone was surprised by my bold talk toward the King. No one has ever been rude to the King like that before. Some people kinda angry of what I did, because it's disrespectful toward the King.
"I see..."
He mumbling.
Alice, who is standing afar with the crowd, is surprised by my appearance and by my not listening to her about staying inside the house for safety.
Vaeli interrupts, Alice thought.
"Is that the kid from the meeting?"
"Y-yeah... He is also staying at my place..."
Alice said, embarrassed.
"That's amazing! I should visit both you and him sometimes after the raid."
Vaelira said, her confidence is so high as to be extinct.
"I see... So that's the person I heard from my member who attended the meeting..."
Seraphine said, adding to the comment.
"...And interesting."
She said with a smirk.
In my conversation with the King, Arthur interrupts us.
"Wait! Your Majesty, I don't think it's okay for him to join the fight. He is too young."
I was surprised and did not think about that. I turn to the King, surprised when I see a smile on his face.
"I know you are worried for him, but I trust he will be able to work a miracle for our battle..."
He stopped, turning his head to a knight nearby.
"...Hey, young knight over there, can you give this boy a sword?"
Arthur was confused by the King's action.
"W-what are you doing, Your Majesty?"
I stand there, looking confused, when the knight gets a sword that looks like a beginner's sword, comes to me, and hands me the sword.
When he goes to hand it to me, my hand hovers over the sword, hesitates. The King notices that and smiles.
"Young man, you should know that this is not a game. The moment you step onto the battlefield, you must be prepared to die..."
He looks at me with a macabre face and says the words firmly.
"...So choose your path."
His words hit me, making me freeze in place. I know that meaning of his, I know the truth that if I join the raid with everyone, I will die. I suddenly think of the threat from the weird system. The threat is that I don't have a choice but to join the raid.
I smile, look up at the King with determination in my eyes. My dark brown eyes glow through the night when I speak.
"You're right. But I'd rather die as a warrior than live as a coward."
I said, grabbing the sword from the knight firmly.
The King looks at me, feels relief, and looks at everyone outside the gate.
"Let's go, everyone."
Everyone begins heading toward the forest where the battle against the monsters awaits.
As the kingdom's gates slowly closed behind us, the fate of the kingdom lies on us, on me.
—— PROFILE ——
Name: Zin Fortis (The Ghost of the Future)
Lv. 1
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Race: Human
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Authority: Unknown
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Stats:
STR: 1
AGI: 2
END: 1
STA: 2
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Skills:
None
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