I gasp awake, greeted by the bright sunlight shining through my visor. I lift my head to see my body laying in the crater still, now wearing the armor of the Hero with the token embedded in the chest plate. My rifle lays on the ground to my left, the strap still tied in a knot. I put my head back down and sigh. So it wasn't a dream. Slowly I lift myself to my feet and look around. I'm still holding a piece of horn I had picked up from the bones of the Dragon Emperor. I look around my new armor to find satchels around my waist, in which I place the horn fragment.

The armor is surprisingly light despite it's size and coverage, but I have no weapons on me. I consider taking my rifle, but from what the Goddess said I can no longer remove my armor in the presence of others, which means I can never show my face to another being again. The villagers will never see me again, so there will have to be some explanation for my absence. I pick up the rifle and untie the strap so that it falls in two separate pieces again. Then, carrying it reverently, I pick up some fragments of armor from the Hero's comrades and store them in my satchels as well and make my way back towards Falacia village.

This is the first test of my disguise's effectiveness as well as will help give some consolation to my village for my absence from here on out. I reach the village's front gate and approach, cradling the rifle in my arms. The village is surrounded by a magical dome, typical of all villages, that only lets those with the access coin enter.

The dome protects us from beasts of the air while also allowing our flying friends to enter and exit naturally. The guard at the gate initially is wary as I approach, but he then seems to see my Hero's token and excitedly runs inside the gate to get the Falacia's Overseer. People begin to flock to the gate, crowding around just inside as I wait patiently at the entrance. Finally, the crowd parts after a few minutes and the Overseer walks forward. The Overseer is a younger man, only in his late 30's, responsible for all of the administration work of Falacia.

I nearly cry as I see my old friend approach, unable to greet him warmly as I normally do now that I am in the guise of a stranger. He begins to open his mouth to ask me what my business is when he spots the rifle in my arms. He runs forwards and slows as he reaches me, stumbling a bit as he reaches me and slowly takes the rifle, caressing it's damaged surface. I struggle not to cry as he breaks down in front of me, collapsing to his knees. The villagers, now concerned and aware I am not a threat, run out and crowd around. A few of the older gentleman that I used to take care of begin sobbing quietly while several of the children stare confused. The girl I was interested in, Celia, runs over and drops to her knees too, surprising me by beginning to cry softly. She never had shown me she cared that much about me before, and I couldn't even do anything with that information now.

Fearing I might succumb to the tidal wave of feelings around me, I begin to turn to leave Falacia and my people to grieve when the Overseer grabs my arm. I turn back, surprised and confused, as he wipes his tears and stands again, holding the rifle carefully. He whispers something to someone and they quickly leave and return with a small box. Inside is a Valiant Effort token, given to those of the Falacia village who have sacrificed a great deal for the good of our people. Very few have ever received it.

I lift the necklace, a small flat piece of alium metal meticulously cut and sanded into a circle with a 4-pointed star carved in the center along with the award's name, on the back of which is my original name Rualta Huntsman. I hold it up by the calpa-hair-braided strand on which it hangs and tilt my head as if to say, "Is this really ok for me to have?" implicitly. I don't dare speak for fear of falling into tears. The Overseer nods, "Rualta would have wanted you to take his token for bringing us closure for his death. We were planning on giving it to him after his hunt yesterday as he's done so much for us, but this only feels right." He says sniffing and trying desperately to remain professional.

I nod and place the token around my neck, then walking away for real this time. I hear them continue to cry behind me and can only help but silently sob as I leave the only home I've ever known. I don't look back, knowing I won't leave if I do.

I walk aimlessly for several hours after that, heading north where I heard the Capitol is from some of the village elders a while ago. Hungry and dehydrated, I finally come upon a river. I quickly kneel at the riverbed and begin to remove my helmet to drink when only an inch above my chin it stops and seems to magnetize to my head. Confused, I try again but it won't budge. I remember what the Gods said about being unable to remove it when intelligent beings are watching and quickly look around.

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There's movement in the trees and I see a young boy peeking at me in the bushes. I cup my hands and bring the water to my mouth under the helmet for a quick drink before quickly casting the spell the Gods had taught me to change my voice in my head and with a swirl of my finger behind my back. Then I stand up, announcing, "Come out, I know you're there." Out of the corner of my eye I see the boy stiffen and I continue, "Don't worry, I'm the... Hero, I won't hurt you." I say in a mix of confidence and hesitancy. My voice seems strange and alien to me. Claiming I'm the Hero still doesn't seem quite real as well, but I have a feeling I'll be called it much more often from now on so might as well get used to it.

The boy hesitates a second longer before slowly emerging from the bushes. He can't be any older than 6 or 7.

I wade across the river to his side, "What's a little kid like you doing out here all on your own?" I ask. He shyly considers answering for a second before speaking, "I was gathering berries for my mom," and brings out a little basket he had been hiding behind his back. It is full of little green berries, a common edible species. "That's very grown-up of you! I bet your mom is very proud." I say, crouching down to his height. He nods shyly, but then suddenly I hear a gruff snorting behind me.

I turn around quickly to see a spiked boar charging at me from across the river. My eyes widen as I realize we must be on it's territory and it plans to gore us both. Even if we didn't get impaled the impact alone from such a large beast would surely kill the little boy behind me. I reach for my rifle but forget I don't have it anymore, or any weapons for that matter, and have no means by which I can defend myself.

I begin to rise to my feet to charge it head-on in an attempt to divert it's course away from the boy when suddenly a dagger stabs the boar through the eye before I can take a single step. I freeze as the boar drops just as it crosses the river, creating a gouge in the ground with its spikes as it slides to a halt just feet from me. I stare in shock and confusion as I struggle to comprehend what just happened before it turns to awe as I check on the little boy to see him prepared with two more daggers, their edges glowing with magic. He was the one who killed it.

"H.. How did you do that?" I ask in amazement. The little boy shrugs, "All gatherers who goes outside the gates gets these. I think we got them from the Magistrate." I'm still standing there in shock and bewilderment as the little boy goes over to the boar and begins breaking off the tips of the spikes. I sit there for a moment more, still in disbelief, before the boy asks, "Would you mind helping me carry it to the town great Hero?"

I snap out of my haze and say, "A... Oh. yeah, I can do that." before walking over as well. I would say I'm pretty fit, after all my old lifestyle did consist of dragging animal carcasses across the forest daily, but Man was this boar heavy! I struggle to lift it onto my shoulders, the spines snapping against my armor. If only I was a bit stronger, just a bit! The little boy was staring at me incredulously as I struggle. I was going to blow my cover if this kept up! Just a bit... stronger...!

All of the sudden I feel a light warm breeze flow across my body and a light golden glow emits from my armor. Suddenly picking up the boar is easy! I take a moment to stare at the glow on my hands as I lift the boar on my shoulders as if it weighed only a few pounds. This must be one of the Hero's powers!

I sigh a bit shakily, thank goodness for that. I still haven't even considered the fact that I now have the Hero's abilities, much less tried to use them. I'll have to explore them a bit more later. The boy seems satisfied and leads the way through the forest to his town. We begin to see the barrier above the treetops when I realize something important. Considering I've supposedly just lost all of my comrades fighting the Spectral Dragon Emperor, my armor is a little too clean.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about the fight so before we leave the forest I quickly drop the boar and grab some dirt and sticks and rocks and rub them all over my armor, dirtying and scratching the surface. I rub a little harder with the rocks to create the impression of claw marks. The little kid turns back as I am doing so and asks, "Uhh, what are you doing Hero?"

I pause embarrassingly and say, "Uhh, I smell a bit bad as I haven't had a bath in a while, so I'm using the dirt as to not bother the villagers when we arrive." The boy peers at me, not convinced, and walks over to sniff me. He says, "I don't smell anything." I raise my hand in a thumbs up, "Correct! That means it worked!" I say enthusiastically. The boy still seems a bit suspicious of my behavior, but we continue with no further comments towards town. I am apprehensive about meeting other adults, especially closer to the capital as they will have no doubt either heard about the Hero or even seen and interacted with him on his way to my village. I begin to sweat a little as we exit the trees and head towards the massive city so different from what I've ever known.