This morning, I spent a good hour crafting a simple bow for my sister and a tomahawk for myself. I couldn’t keep borrowing my father’s tools, so I decided to make some of our own. A tomahawk might not be much better than a stick to some, but it was nearly as effective for bug hunting as a real weapon. The bow, though simple, would shoot accurately.

For Theresa, I took some old arrows that the village hunters had lost at a makeshift archery range nearby. If the adults of the village—and our parents—had been supportive of us learning weapon skills, I would have asked the hunters to teach her. But life always seemed to complicate things. So, I went early in the morning, before the hunters woke for practice, and took what we needed. In the end, we’d be saving their lives too. The arrows were old and battered, but still better than the time I would spend making low-quality ones myself.

After another two hours of teaching Theresa how to aim and shoot, I was amazed at her progress. She was a fast learner, but it would still take time before she could reliably hit a moving target on her own. Increasing her aim discipline with “skill” experience would help; that would come naturally from killing with arrows.

This was where she initially struggled. The small beetles and wasps were quick and hard to hit, not to mention their size made them difficult targets. So, she started by shooting at the ones on the ground that weren’t moving. With a bit of luck, she managed to get a few kills. Most of her total kills, however, came from me stunning the targets with a soft “whack” of my weapon while she finished them off while they were down.

As we continued to hunt the woods bare of any critters we could find, we felt our experience pools grow. After nearly a week of hunting, I knew we had accumulated more than enough general (green) experience to create any “Will” power we chose. Tomorrow, I would test the waters by creating my own power before letting Theresa try. It was my theory, and I needed to ensure it was safe first.

The next day, I sat in a meadow near our home, far enough away that my parents wouldn’t see and disturb me. I needed peace and silence. Taking on a meditative pose, I closed my eyes and envisioned a world. As this world began to form, I shaped it into golden gears like those of a clock. Every piece was fine-tuned and calculated. Most of the complicated parts were prearranged, requiring only a simple level of mathematics to complete. What would have been simple for someone from Earth was likely not so for a medieval civilization. The previous hero probably solidified this power with sheer experience points and force of will. I calculated and improved its efficiency. My spell was a well-oiled and finely-tuned machine!

With what I believed was a far greater focus than a young boy could typically achieve, I constructed my spell and poured my willpower into it. I desired to change what was meant to be written in stone as the future. When I finished, I was amazed at the result. It was beautiful, but I remained uncertain how strong it was compared to the game’s protagonist. This aspect had never been shown to the player, so there was no way to know.

“Slow-Time!” I called out as I activated my power. Saying its name wasn’t necessary; it turned out that wasn’t even its true name but merely one possible action to utilize it. It wasn’t “Time Manipulation,” like in Fable 2, but that was closer to the truth. Its true name was “Time Control,” and it was far better than it had ever been in the game!

I watched as time nearly came to a halt around me while Theresa stared in awe as I moved about. Two seconds in, and she hadn’t even noticed I had disappeared yet. Level one Slow-Time only worked for four or five seconds in the game, but for me, it lasted nearly nine. What’s more, I could tell that the area effect wasn’t the only way to use it. If someone wanted, they could speed up time, but that would rarely be useful. Just as I could slow time in an area, I could slow time for a single object, which would be much more efficient in terms of “will” energy. I could already think of several incredibly useful applications, but since it was my first time casting, I didn’t have the energy left to test it immediately.

Feeling my “Will Pool” running low, I picked up a perfectly good apple I found in the meadow, leaned against a boulder, and took several quick bites. As I finished, the spell ended, and Theresa scanned the area hurriedly until her eyes landed on me, lounging lazily against the boulder. I attempted to play it off, but she saw right through my act, covering her mouth and scoffing.

“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting here forever!” I said, pretending to yawn.

“I was almost starting to think you were an imposter and not my actual brother, but then you do this and remove all doubt!” she teased.

Her playful statement startled me momentarily, causing me to drop the partially eaten apple. I stared at my hand for a moment. The truth was, I didn’t really know who or what I was. Was I an imposter who had stolen her brother’s life? Or was I truly the hero himself, somehow infused with memories of someone from Earth? What if I was two souls fused together by the work of a god? I found myself in a sort of existential crisis, struggling within. I held my head in genuine pain, and Theresa looked at me with concern.

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to—”

“Theresa, what’s my name?” I asked desperately. It felt as if some sort of PTSD had suddenly overtaken me. I had mostly avoided contact with others since I woke up here. The villagers who had seen me merely called me “Boy,” and my parents had said, “Oh, son, did you hit your head on the floor?” Even Theresa had just called me “brother.” People had always done this in the game, and the main character’s name was never revealed. No one had said my name, and I was at a loss. Who am I?

She was silent for a moment, then approached me. “Your name is Arn, brother.” The next thing I knew, I was being hugged. “Your name is Arn,” she repeated.

Comforting me, she said, “Trust me, even though you’ve become more knowledgeable and mature, you are still you.” Her maturity and emotional intelligence for a girl her age were astounding, and fortunately, it was just what I needed. She calmed me down, even though I doubted I was truly her brother. Heck, I even questioned if he had ever existed at all, or if he was a construct added by some powerful being to place me here. Yet the simple kindness of an innocent child was enough to pull me out of my state.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Since the day I had awoken here, I had felt emotions of love for these people, but they always felt foreign, almost alien to me. The desire to help them was genuine, yet it sprang from my mind alone; I just knew it was the right thing to do. As I touched my face, I realized there were tears in my eyes. So, it seemed I too was only human after all. There went that hypothesis, and just another million or so to narrow down.

The old version is below.

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This morning I spent a good hour making a simple bow for my sister and a tomahawk for me. I wouldn't be able to keep getting away with borrowing my father's tools. So I made some simple ones of our own. A tomahawk may not be much better than a stick to some but it's nearly as effective at killing bugs as a real weapon. The bow although simple would shoot accurately.

For Theresa, I stole some old arrows the villages hunters would lose at a small makeshift archery range nearby. If the adults of the village and our parents were okay with us learning weapons skills I would have tried to get the hunters to teach Theresa. Life, however, always seems to try and make things difficult. So I went early in the morning before the hunters woke up for morning practice and took what we needed. In the end, we would be saving their lives too. The arrows were old beat up and discarded but still better than me spending days to make the same low-quality product myself.

Spending another two hours showing my sister how to aim and shoot a bow so she could hit something, I was amazed at her progress. Theresa was a fast learner but it would still be a while before she could shoot a moving target on her own. It would be less of if she increased her aim discipline with "skill" experience. That she would get naturally from killing with arrows.

This is where she initially struggled. The small beetles and wasps were fast and hard to hit while moving. Not to mention that they are a small target as well. So she shot first at the ones on the ground that wasn't moving, to begin with, and she got a few lucky kills. Most of her total kills were from me stunning targets with a soft "wack" of my weapon and she finished them while they were down.

As we proceded to hunt the woods bare of any critters we could feel our experience pools grow. After nearly a week of hunting, I knew we had more than enough general(Green) experience to create any "Will" power we may choose to create. Tomorrow I would test the waters by creating my power before letting Theresa try. It was my theory and I would have to make sure it was safe myself.

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The next day I Sat in a meadow that was near our home but not so close my parents might see and disturb me. I needed peace and silence. Taking on a meditative pose, I closed my eyes and imagined a world. As this world began to form I shaped it into golden gears like a round clock. Every piece was fine-tuned and calculated. Most of the complicated parts were seemingly prearranged and only needed a simple level of mathematics to complete. At least what would have been simple for someone from Earth but most likely not so for a medieval civilization. The previous hero probably solidified this power with sheer experience points and force of will. I calculated it and improved its efficiency. My spell was a well-oiled and tuned machine!

Using what I believed was a far greater focus than a young boy would be capable of I built my spell and poured my willpower into it as well. I desired to change what was supposed to be written in stone as the future. When I was done I was amazed at the result. It was beautiful but I was uncertain how strong it was compared to the game's protagonist. It was never shown to the player so there was no way to know.

"Slow-Time!" I called out as I activated my power. Saying its name wasn't necessary and turned out that wasn't even its name but a single-choice action one could use it for. Neither was it "Time Manipulation" like in fable 2 but that was closer to the truth. Its true name is "Time Control" and it was far better than it had ever been in the game!

I watch time nearly come to a halt before me as Theresa stared on at me as I moved around. Two seconds in and she hadn't even noticed I disappeared yet. Level one slow time only worked for 4 or 5 seconds in the game but for me, it lasted nearly 9. What's more, I could tell the area effect was not the only way of using it. If someone wanted they could speed up time for example but that would rarely be useful. Just as I could slow an area I could instead slow time on a single object which would be much more efficient "will" energy-wise. I could already think of several incredibly useful aspects of this but since it was my first time casting I didn't have the energy left to test it out immediately.

Feeling my "Will Pool" running out I picked up a perfectly good apple I found on the meadow, then leaned on a boulder and took several quick bites. The spell ended and Theresa scanned around hurriedly until she saw me leaning on that boulder trying to look like I had been chilling there lazily for quite a while. She saw right through the act covering her mouth and scoffing.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting here forever", I said right before pretending to yawn.

"Here I was almost thinking you were an imposter and not my actual brother but then you do this and remove all doubt!" She said teasingly.

Her statement startled me momentarily as I dropped the partially eaten apple I was holding. I stared at my hand for a moment. The truth is I really don't know who or what I am. Am I an imposter that's stolen her brother's life? Or am I really the hero himself and somehow I got memories of someone from planet Earth. What if I'm two souls fully fused together into one person by the work of a god? I found myself in a sort of existential Crysis struggling within myself. I held my head in genuine pain and Theresa looked at me worriedly.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean t..."

"Theresa, what's my name?" I asked desperately. It was like some sort of PTSD had suddenly overcome me. I had mostly avoided contact with others since I awoke here. The villagers that had seen me as an annoyance just called me "Boy". My parents earlier had said, " Oh son did you hit your head on the floor?" Even Theresa had just called me "brother". People had always done this in the game and the main character's name was never revealed. No one had said my name and I was at a loss. Who am I?

She was silent a moment and approached me," Your name is Arn brother. " Next thing I knew I was being hugged. "Your name is Arn", she repeated.

Comforting me she claimed, "Trust me that although you've become more knowledgeable and mature you are still you". Her maturity and emotional intelligence for a girl her age were astounding and fortunately for me, it was just what I needed. She calmed me down even though inside I doubted I was really her brother. Heck, I even doubted if he really existed at all in the first place and was a construct added in by some powerful being just to put me here. It's just that the simple kindness of an innocent child was enough to pull me out of my state.

Since the day I had awoken here, I had emotions of love for these people but they always felt foreign or alien to me. The desire to help them was genuine but came from my mind. I just knew it was the right thing to do. Touching my face there were tears in my eyes as well. So it appears I too am only human after all. There goes that hypothesis and just another million or so to narrow down.