I'm getting impatient, so... I'll just post it. It's quite a bother adjusting the lines, though.
*Note that "eltra" is like the equivalent of "F*ck!" in the story.
Why the alternative? Well... you'll find out.
*The following are events simultaneously in line with when Alice met Aya and Naito
Part 1
After the boy woke up, he found himself in a forest.
Looking around, he found nothing that could help him figure out why he was here.
Or who he was, for that matter.
When he stood up, he found that the ground had been smeared by blood.
His bones creaked and his body hurt all over.
Checking his head, he found a wound on his face.
Blood... My blood. I better treat this early, else it'll leave a scar.
He knew he should, but how?
Another thing on the ground was a sword.
Was it his sword? He didn't know.
Taking the sword, it fit perfectly on the sheath that was on his beltstrap.
He sat down on the ground again and began to concentrate.
He understood that he needed to remember.
First, try remembering your name... name...
"!"
That's right... name. That's my name.
After two whole minutes of concentrating, the boy finally remembered. And so, he had a faint glimmer of hope.
Maybe he can recall everything, after all.
"Urgh...! Grahh!!"
The boy groaned in pain as he tried to remember again.
Fortunately, it wasn't all for naught.
He remembered a few things, though somewhat vague.
A sister.
A promise.
...A father.
"My... My head..."(Boy)
The boy was satisfied with that and decided to try again when he's feeling better.
For now, I need to find shelter.
...Civilization. I need to find people.
Fortunately, the boy was sharp. He knew exactly how to survive through instincts alone.
After listening intently, he found a lake.
Alright.
And following it downstream, he eventually saw light from a settlement in the distance.
For how many days he wandered, he didn't remember.
He found out that he was particularly skilled in hunting and fishing.
So I was a hunter? That explains why I was in the forest... But why so deep in?
Feeling a coming headache, he decided not to pursue the matter any more.
When he was within a kilometer of the settlement, night had already fallen.
He had been attacked by countless predators, but he defeated them easily, even having some of them as food.
Alright! Finally, my luck is changing!
He could see the settlement's light, nearer this time. Torches, they are.
A few steps from the gate, he heard a shout from above, on top of the gate.
"Halt! Who goes there!" the guard questioned the boy as he aimed his bow at the boy.
The boy raised both his hands, a show that he's not an enemy.
He was smart enough and didn't want to trouble the guard so he simply stated,
"I am but a wanderer, friend-- looking for a place to stay the night."
He didn't want any unnecessary doubt by adding strange words like, "I have no memories."
"Aye, lad. So you came from the forest? Hehe. Not many brave'uns like you in this town. Oi, Rahl! Open the gates!"
The boy found it strange. He didn't think hunting was that bad.
He knew it was still dangerous, though.
The wooden gate creaked with a pleasant sound as the guards conversed from above animatedly.
Deciding to keep silent, the boy waited for the gate to fully open before thanking the guards and entering the town.
He looked for an inn as it was already late and realized he didn't have any money. Not yet, anyway.
The boy figured he needed to pay for things, so he collected the pelts of the animals he hunted on the way along with other useful things such as teeth and sharp, heavy bones.
He found a kind old blacksmith who bought everything from him for 2 silver despite his store being closed already.
The old blacksmith also saw that the boy's clothing have been tattered, so he decided to add a bag full of clothes along with the coins, free of charge.
The boy thanked the blacksmith with a smile and the blacksmith, in turn made the boy promise he'd buy steel from him from then on, to which the boy nodded quite readily.
The boy retained his common sense, 2 silver coins is the equivalent of 200 copper coins.
The inn lets him stay for 2 copper a night. With that, he could stay for at least a hundred nights and if he wanted a meal, he could go hunting.
Of course, that's purely imaginary.
The boy passed through a dark alley, thinking about what he would do from now on.
It's not like he's going to spend everything on the inn.
Eventually, he will start moving to other places that are in his mind as they might help him remember things about the past.
He will need to buy several other things for daily necessities as well.
Not to mention the sword's repairs.
As he was thinking this, he heard a voice.
"Hey! Stop--struggling...!"(???)
"S-Someone, help! Please help me!"(???)
Hearing the cry that broke him out of his thoughts, the boy instantly made his decision.
None of my business, better stay out of it.
None of my business, better stay out of it.
Better stay out of it--
Ah eltra!
He screamed in his mind as he ran back and grabbed the arm of the huge man from behind.
The boy's sword was already drawn, he--
Splatter
"Arrrghhh!"(Man)
--chopped off the man's arm with an upward slash, causing the man to howl.
Because of the pain, the man immediately released the girl as he grasped what remained of his arm.
The girl was too surprised to understand what happened as the man had suddenly let her go, while the man glared at the boy.
"Heh... Playing hero, are we?"(Man)
The man glared at the boy as he ripped off a part of his pants and used it to wrap around his bleeding arm.
The man had decided to kill him then take the girl. Oh well, she was beautiful enough that losing an arm meant nothing as long as he acquired her.
"Heroes die real early, y'know?!"(Man)
At the man's angry roar, the boy only showed a challenging smirk with a "Heh." and taunted the man with his hand along with a,
"Come get me."
The man charged towards the boy, sending him crashing against a wall.
Unfortunately, the boy couldn't evade properly because the alley was too narrow.
However, the boy was unexpectedly unharmed as he agilely used the wall as a foothold to dash toward the man.
Deciding to use his speed to overpower the man, the boy reversed his grip on his sword and bisected the man as he passed through.
The fight took no more than two seconds, the boy was surprised at his own strength.
...Not just a hunter, after all.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The boy nodded with an "Alright..." before sighing.
He turned towards the girl,
She was in a slightly tattered red dress that the boy was sure to had been beautiful once
She had beautiful black hair that didn't match together with her strange violet-like purple eyes
Upon seeing her face, the boy felt an odd sense of incongruity.
It was as if he's seen her before, but not here. It was somewhere else.
Somewhere far, far away from here.
He then looked at her chest--the boy quickly averted his eyes--
Not really, he kept on staring.
Large.
He thought as he nodded to himself twice.
The girl who was crouched on the ground looked at her savior with a thankful expression as she finally realized what happened.
This boy had saved her.
He wordlessly extended his hand, asking for hers and helped her stand, leading her away from the... unsightly view.
He decided to bring her with him to the inn, to which she consented with a pleading nod.
On the way, he asked for her name.
Still a little shaken, but the girl spoke politely, with dry tears still stuck on her unbelievably beautiful face.
"T-Thank you for saving me... I...I am Eris. Eris A-- Just Eris..."
Eris--? Eris... huh?
The name sounded slightly familiar.
The boy was not stupid, he figured she had a second name-- that she was a noble based on her dress.
But he was also smart enough to realize that there are some things other people don't want to reveal, so he didn't even think about prying.
Still, there was something about her face-- and her voice that was tugging at his mind.
Have we met before...?
Eris had noticed the scar on the boy's face.
She asked him to stop moving for a second and placed her hand over his scarred eye.
He figured it wouldn't disappear anymore as it had already healed, but contrary to his expectations, a warm feeling filled his head as he felt his skin regenerating.
Eris looked at him, "Are you not surprised?"
The boy looked back, "At what?"
"T-That was... chantless... casting..."
Seemingly disappointed, Eris explained with furrowed brows.
The boy realized, responding with an "Oh."
He, himself didn't understand why he wasn't surprised.
The boy only shrugged and the two kept moving. Since it was dark out, not many people were out on the streets.
Chantless casting... that's pretty amazing, isn't it?
The walk wasn't quiet as Eris started off,
"I uhm... like your eyes."
The boy laughed, he has seen his reflection several times in the water.
How could eyes like his be likeable?
Though he thought that, he still responded with a grin and a, "Well, I like your face!"
He expected her to be flustered and unable to respond, but she only smiled sweetly with a, "Thank you."
It was then that he confirmed--
Definitely a noble.
Her smiling face was refreshing to look at but the boy couldn't help but wonder, "...How could you remain so sunny even after almost being kidnapped?" he asked with furrowed brows.
Eris chuckled and said, "I don't know. I'm an optimist, I guess? And besides, it's all over now thanks to you."
The boy looked at her strangely, "...You were crying then, weren't you?"
"You simply caught me at my worst... besides being an optimist doesn't mean a person never cries..." she said with a pout.
The boy found it adorable, he smiled and added, "I see." as they walked side-by-side.
After a while, the boy spotted a slightly larger building, he knew that they had reached their destination and the two of them entered the inn.
Seeing that it was full of lively adventurers, telling their tales and exploits, the boy couldn't help but smile.
"Eris, you go find us a table, I'll go ask the counter if they have rooms available."
Eris nodded slowly before walking off.
The barkeep was a jolly old man who offered free drinks because of an event celebration.
He had no idea what it was about, but free drinks were free drinks.
The boy had asked the barkeeper for two rooms.
After he received the keys, he looked around for Eris.
He decided to visit the room later.
For now, he'll ask her some questions before going off to bed.
Finding her table wasn't a problem at all--
Look for the table with an uncomfortable atmosphere...
Spotting it immediately, he discovered that the table was surrounded by 3 men.
I'm getting the feeling that she's more trouble than she's worth...
Briskly, he walked towards the table.
There was a bearded geezer, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and a plain young man.
"You want to drink with us, girl? Ga-hahaha!"The bearded old man laughed loudly.
Eris tried politely declining and as the two older ones were ready to accept and leave, the youngest among them was stubborn.
"She's with me."
Were the words that came out of the boy's mouth.
Without him realizing, his voice had turned rather threatening.
The boy was expecting a fight to break out, but the other three meekly left after that, with the bearded man apologizing.
Strange... Real strange.
The boy thought as he took a seat opposite of Eris.
After that, she beamed quite happily with a, "Thank you again."
The boy smiled wryly, "You're too beautiful and attract too much attention."
Right after he said that, a waitress came over and asked for their order.
Eris looked at him awkwardly.
Realizing what that implied, he signaled Eris a, "Go on." with his hand.
Eris smiled once again with a, "Sorry, I will definitely pay you back."
before ordering every sweet thing in the menu while the boy only had a drink.
He wanted to talk to Eris after eating, but he was unexpectedly tired, and so was she.
Agreeing that they will talk tomorrow, the boy handed Eris her room key.
He wondered why she had a sort of disappointed expression, but didn't ask why.
And so, the boy stood up from the chair and was about to leave for his room.
"W-Wait!"
Eris called out.
"Hmm?"
The boy looked at her quizzically.
Eris smiled at him, giving the illusion as if she was too bright to look at before saying with a giggle,
"You're my savior, but I never got your name. You're not about to leave without telling me your name, right?"
Oh yeah, I forgot.
The boy thought. Though it was ridiculous in itself to forget introducing yourself, he did forget everything, after all.
There was no definitive proof that it was even his name, but he was certain that it was his.
Thus, there was no real problem with him calling himself that.
What was he like before? What was his personality?
That didn't matter to him for now. He will remember his life in time, and if he doesn't, then he will start living now.
And so, he said with a wink, his red eyes glistening.
"It's Luke. But you can call me Handsome."