This time darkness was not absolute. It pulsed, going from orange and red to pure black. It cycled between horrible pain and easing oblivion that brought relief from a cruel reality. It juggled him, dropping into the deepest parts of an abyss, and pushed him back to the light. It hid the smell of burned flesh, hellish heat, and dense smoke only to bring them back in a few moments. Robert was sure that not much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity. Even with half-blind vision, he could see as red skin on his arms was melting.
Rob tried to move, but the lack of breathable air made him lose consciousness once again and then return it because of his supernatural abilities. Knowing that he had almost no time as a huge temperature would burn him to a crisp, he continued to crawl further. Each move brought more pain as crushing heat ate not only his body but also his willpower. The wounded soldier was already dead silent after he was kicked directly on one of the fire sources. Robert, on the other hand, didn’t want to give up so easily. Fortunately, by sheer luck, he managed to find a hatch in a cellar in the center of the house where he dropped down immediately. His face crashed into the ground, blanking out him completely. His last thought was about the need for oxygen, critical damage to the brain, and the scope of his regeneration ability in such a situation.
Robert didn’t know how long he was in such a state, but when he woke up the flame above him had long died out. Through the empty hole of the hatch, he could see the lights of local moons in the cloudy dark sky. Heavy silence embraced the surroundings, making the atmosphere quite oppressive. Rob stayed motionless for some time just to recover his mental state from the burning hell, which he had experienced from the first row. Again, he was lucky enough to find a place to hide from direct flames but that was only after falling in these shitty circumstances.
I don’t even know if it can be called luck. Luck must prevent such things from happening to me and not rely on my abilities and decision to give me a last push to barely survive… Still, I am alive, so no complaints.
Robert sighed and finally checked himself, catching strange thoughts about the frequency of this action. Remnants of boots and underpants were everything left from his clothes. At least there were no visible wounds. However, his skin had quite a few burns that hadn’t disappeared yet. Rob was sure it would add a couple of new scars, but a complete check of damage would be delayed until full recovery because right now he couldn’t even move without feeling extreme pain. Therefore, he stayed in one place, looking at the dark sky with an empty look. His mind followed his body in this stillness. Soon he fell asleep without even noticing it. However, there were no pleasant dreams.
In the last one, Robert was constantly trying to escape from the swarm of aliens. An already seen stony field didn’t give any other chances except to rely on his own weak legs. He was already running for hours, exhausted mentally and physically, but his thirst to live pushed him forward. Thousands of enemies almost surrounded him, leaving only a small gap in this dense crowd. A mad laugh sounded from above as a faceless God was enjoying the survival show.
“Let’s add some fun!”
The familiar godlike voice roared inside Rob’s head and the sky began to burn. In just a few seconds, it started to rain with literal fire, quickly engulfing everything in flames. The chaotic fall of these burning droplets left only to luck whether he would live or not. Jumping over another charred body of an unfortunate alien, Robert focused on a possible route while hoping for the best. The hope shattered in thirty steps when he got his portion of “fun”. It was only a tiny dot, but in no time, it spread across him, coloring the world in red and orange. Rob started to scream before his pain receptors felt it. His willpower gave him ten more steps, but that was it. Soon he felt as fangs start to tear parts from his burning body while the God was speaking something about another broken toy with noticeable regret in his voice. With a final scream, Robert woke up.
The night sky was already replaced by cloudless azure. Rob breathed out cleaning his head. He was extremely careful with the first motion, waiting for the pain. There was none. His spirit body restored him again, but not without adding a few new scars. Moreover, he didn’t need to shave anymore, as all his messy hair burned down, making him bald. Still, he was very lucky to find the cellar, as it was almost not damaged by fire. Being mainly storage for food, it had a few barrels and a single chest near the far wall, close to a broken ladder. That was the moment, when hunger and thirst kicked in, forcing Robert to rush all over the place in an attempt to find something eatable.
Five minutes and one kilogram of dried meat later Rob continued his search of useful things. Unfortunately, except for food and a small bag of strange copper coins, there was nothing. No clothes, no flask, no rope or weapons, nothing. Logically, no one will keep in a cold cellar with earthen walls something that can be spoiled or damaged only by staying in such place for prolonged periods. At least food helped Rob to stop his stomach from speaking with his surroundings. Weighing in a hand half of a kilogram of local currency, he decided to take it after a short consideration. His doubts were not in a deed of marauding itself, but in the question whether he needed currency or food more. There was only one bag available and no chance to take the barrel with him. He wasn’t sure in the first place if he could climb up from a cellar without a ladder. It took him four attempts to throw out the bag with coins before he made his attempt to leave.
Burned wood couldn’t keep his body and immediately shattered under his weight. Rob tried to jump up to grab the edge of the hatch, but no to avail. The fall was painful, but it didn’t stop him. The next attempt was made by moving barrels under the hole after a few minutes of pushing them, as they were quite heavy. Robert still failed. That didn’t stop him from continuing his attempts. In the end, it took him a few scratches and bruises, all his strength, and many more cursing to free himself. He wanted to laugh and cheer his victory over an obstacle, but the charred ruins of the house made him mute.
Crap, I was quite lucky not to be buried alive. However, locals can’t boast about the same… I wonder if the children managed to escape. Hope this risk was worth it… No, no, no, Robert! It was worth it regardless of the outcome. Hard to live with a fact when you ignored the need for help before your eyes in a life-threatening situation when you could help. Awareness of such deeds couldn’t be hidden from us. So, definitely was worth it!
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Rob made a weak smile before squeezing himself between burnt wood. He almost left remnants of the building when he stopped and had to return to find the bag with coins. Focusing on this task, he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings at all. His bare body was covered in soot which he personally didn’t like in the slightest. Now not only he needed the water to quench his thirst, but also to wash himself. So, when he finally stepped outside from the remnants of the house and was greeted with the sword near his neck, Robert’s mind stalled for a moment.
“I told you I heard someone’s scream. Who is deaf right now, ah? What? Why did you put your tongues in your asses? Nothing to say?”
An unknown man with a huge hawknose grinned, showing his yellow teeth. He was speaking to a few more armed soldiers who surrounded the entrance of the burnt building. All of them were equipped with much better armor than previous ones.
Metal breastplates with attached segmented shoulder pads and leg guards. Helmets without visors, but with a noticeable peak above, going from the front to the back, where there was additional protection of the neck. Moreover, metal covered forearms and palms, making them look like half-knights. The main difference from full-fledged ones in the eyes of Robert was that these warriors didn’t have any defense under the knee pad, wearing ordinary leather boots. The back of their legs and even buttocks were also unprotected. Plus, the inside parts of the shoulder pads didn’t cover anything. It was as if they were trying to achieve a balanced approach between mobility and protection while being foot warriors.
Rob wasn’t stupid to think that leather could achieve the same as it had to be quite thick to give defense that would lose against a few millimeters of steel without any doubts. Nobody in a sane mind could say that the leather would be lighter or would not affect the movements in such a case. On the other hand, it was definitely much more costly. Moreover, Robert once again couldn’t miss the fact of equipment similarity between all warriors that was possible only for a good level of production. They had similar short swords, round wooden shields with metal edges, and small hammers, which hung on the belts. However, what attracted Rob’s gaze was an image of two moons above a bonfire with two tiny swords in the right top corner.
They must be guards of these lands. Crap… I need to think about a believable story quickly!
“Josh, you scared him to death, while we need him to talk clearly,” intruded grey bearded soldier, approaching from the back of the others “Get back for search of traces, lazy assholes!” The loud command instantly made everyone scatter.
At this moment, something clicked in Robert’s mind, and he finally realized what was bothering him all the time. Even his upgraded concertation didn’t help if his brain couldn’t process the information. In his defense, he was quite busy before and it wouldn’t help him at all to notice such a fact. Everyone was tall. And by tall, Robert meant really tall. His own height was 213 centimeters (7 feet), but right now he was the shortest and the thinnest among all present. While he was in the bunker, most of the soldiers wore exoskeleton armor, which made them look huge, nullifying possible contrast during face-to-face conversations. However, now the situation was rather different – leather boots couldn’t possibly give them additional tens of centimeters of height.
Okay, now it is fun. Not only do I have pathetic weak muscles, but even my body constitution in comparison to locals is below average. Wow, what a fantastic head start… At least it can give me a possible excuse.
“Now, you. Name yourself and explain what has happened here,” Rob’s thoughts ended right before he got a direct order from the senior soldier. The sword near his neck hadn’t moved at all, almost cutting his skin. The soldier didn’t even look tired while holding it on almost straight hand all this time. Not that it was heavy, but still it weighed something. Robert involuntary glanced at the steel blade that had many marks from sharpening or hitting before answering.
“My name is Robert. Most likely, I lived here, but I am not sure. You see, when I was young, I was attacked by a wild animal and that affected my mind. Everything was always cloudy as in haze, hard to understand… I behaved like a real child… or fool, don’t remember exactly,” trying to be more believable, Rob showed his scars, wiping soot from his skin. The regeneration ability of the spirit body made them look quite old which fitted his story.
“I never did anything useful, as you can see from my thin body. When soldiers came, I just ran away and hid in the cellar. Maybe all this massacre, flames everywhere and dead,” Rob gulped, before continuing “fixed something inside my head. Now I understand but can’t remember anything. The single thing that imprinted in my mind was the image of five arrows, pointed in the sky, drawn on a white mountain’s background.”
“Your speech is too complex for fool… But you indeed don’t look like a warrior. Even peasants have stronger physiques. Maybe your parents were scribes or clerks… Hmm, we will investigate everything. At least you remembered the emblem,” the man felt in deep thought.
“Sorry for the question, but am I a sole survivor from the village? I hope not. In my vague memories, there were children…“
Rob immediately understood everything, noticing the change in the soldier’s expression. A mixture of horror, rage, and guilt washed him over before he managed to calm himself. Even the cold touch of metal against his neck faded into the background. He wouldn’t blame himself for not saving anyone. No, the whole fault was on those beasts, who only by accident could walk on two legs, speak, and even looked like humans. He didn’t know anyone here to proclaim a noble goal of revenge, but Rob was sure that if he had the opportunity, those murderers would beg for mercy.
“What will you do to me, sir?”
Robert asked again, glancing over the remnants of the village. He saw several more figures of warriors who were in the process of checking everything around burnt buildings, but the whole atmosphere was filled with death, physically pressing on him. The scenery was shocking, especially taking into account that it was made not from a distance from some guns, but with eye contact.
“You indeed were a fool. Never name a random man a knight, boy. You will lose your head without even realizing it if a real knight hears it,” grey-bearded retorted with a small smirk, before continuing, “We will take you with ourselves. Need to check your story and you need to be nearby to answer emerging questions. And about your future - you will be conscripted in the militia. If you are not lying, you are still Baron’s villager, and now he needs armed men to defend his property. Even if you are lying, your life or death can be useful for Baron as a meat shield on the battlefield in squads for prisoners.”
“I can become a warrior like you?”
Robert immediately was intrigued, muttering his doubtful question. After serving in the army and training for it for the most part of his life, this future didn’t sound like something horrible. On the contrary, strict rules might help him to adapt faster to a new world. Together with some proper fighting education on top, it would definitely increase his chances of surviving the incoming apocalypse.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha,” the Older soldier broke into loud laughter and in mere seconds everyone followed, “Boy, we are personal guards of the Baron. To raise to our level you would need much more. Aim for survival in the very first battle because even that can be easily above your capabilities. However, don’t be upset as you will definitely have your own portion of revenge. Or at least the possibility for it.”