*Evan POV*

I walked towards the east side of the kingdom after talking to the library's granny.

Maybe I should’ve stayed there and read a couple more books and shouldn't have just given her the money and left. But what's 10 silvers? I had to get to the east gate for the slimes quest and the alchemical ingredients in the wilderness at exactly this time, so I couldn’t waste time and risk another run-in with the zombies, and I want to explore a bit too, find some answers. Everything will be hard once the moon comes up.

As I entered the east side of the kingdom, the bustling people faded away. There were fewer houses, more empty lots, and fewer happy people. There were more adventurers, like me, wearing armor and carrying weapons, but there were also more poor people, unclean people wearing dirty or tattered clothes, It was clear that I had entered the slums. The smell of sewage filled the air, and the houses were battered and neglected.

I checked my map and there aren't even any inn's here. I scanned my surroundings and saw Kids, dirty, with the bare minimum of clothing, ran about or sat motionless. I couldn’t help but clenched my fist a little bit. I don’t know if I was naïve or felt charitable but these kids deserved a better life. Regardless, poverty was something that I couldn’t do anything about, even if I did gave them all my money, they’ll be back to scrambling the streets for survival the very next day, I couldn't afford to help them even if I wanted to.

Maybe later down my adventurer career, I might be able to do something, but my objective right now was clear. Getting the money and some answers was top priority.

My train of thought derailed as a familiar word was spoken behind me.

“Reid?” It was a weak and quiet voice, maybe some of the kids called someone out but that name was so familiar to me. I knew I had heard it before somewhere… but where?

Suddenly, my status window popped up, almost on queue.

Name: Reid Sord (Evan Langford)

Oh yeah that's the one…

My eyes immediately widened as I figured out what this meant.

WAIT! HOLD ON! THAT'S MY NAME! DOES SOMEBODY HERE KNOWS ME!?!

My head snapped around as soon as I figured out that the voice was calling me, and I saw a young girl standing before me, her long, ragged cloak trailing in the dirt. Despite her disheveled appearance, her beauty was striking - her silver hair fell in soft waves around her face, and her bright blue eyes gleamed like stars. Was she, like me, a silver daemon?

“Reid!” With a sharp cry, she sprinted to me, her face lighting up with joy but she was frail, and I watched as she almost fell, I quickly dashed forward to catch her. Without a word, she clung to me, her tears drenching my shirt.

Under normal circumstances I would've just not cared and carried on, but not when someone is looking for a shoulder to cry on.

Though my instincts were telling me to run away, since if she is someone who knows the original person of this body I’m possessing, then talking with her would be the worst option to do, but I’m also not someone who wouldn't normally stop for a crying woman, but something about her made me pause. She buried her face in my chest and sobbed, her small frame fitting perfectly under my chin.

Though my instinct told the best course of action was to run, I still couldn't bring myself to leave her alone in her distress. As she pressed her tear-stained face into my chest, I realized just how petite she was - the top of her head barely reached my collarbone.

If I was a lolicon then I would've been ecstatic about what was happening right now. But, Thankfully, I'm not one of those degenerates.

She cried and muttered while holding onto me. The poor people and the adventurers started staring at us so I moved us to an alley to avoid attention. Once we were alone, I waited until she stopped crying, she couldn’t stand straight so I knelt down beside her and couldn’t help but think to myself.

She called me Reid… My status also tells me that I'm Reid but what does that mean exactly?

My status also says that I’m Evan as it should be... So, do I have two names? Wait, is that why I'm in a different body? ... Did I possess someone named Reid?

Some terrifying thoughts started popping up but then the girl spoke again, her words interrupted by sobs. 'I really...thought you died,' she said, tears and snot streaming down her face. 'Where were you?' Her gaze was desperate and pleading, like she needed me to provide an answer that would make everything okay

Ohhhhh Boy. How do I do this? … I really think this Reid guy is actually dead and I’m somehow possessing his body.

… I can’t tell her any of this! I’ve got to lie!

A lesson from my senior quickly surfaced in my mind, a twisted take on the art of deception. “Sometimes the best lies are the ones that are closest to the truth,” he would say… Looks like I was about to find out if he was right.

“I don’t know.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. "The last thing I remember is waking up in the middle of nowhere with no idea how I got there."

“No way! You have amnesia!?”

“I was almo-” I was gonna tell her about how I was almost mauled to death by an entire zombie armada but she just said something that made me stop thinking for a moment, “Wait, what?” I said confused.

“You don't remember who I am?” she said with fear in her eyes, it really looked like she’d rather not ask me that and remain in ignorance.

“I, Uhhh,” Her terrified eyes made me want to lie but there was no way I could lie about this and suffer the consequences later. “No… I don’t know who you are.

She put up a false bravado and tried to wipe away the tears from her face but the tears started to flow again, and I knew I had to do something to comfort her.

I patted her head and hugged her close. "It's okay," I said. "You've been through a lot. Let it all out."

For the next few minutes I remained embracing her as she cried her heart out. I didn’t let her go of my embrace until I finally felt like she stopped sobbing. She lifted her head up and I saw a frail yet beautiful face hidden under all the dirt and mud, A warm smile finally bloomed up on her face as she looked at me.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Welcome back, Reid," she said, wiping her face. "I'm Luna. Princess Luna. I’m your princess."

… I’m sorry what? A Princess? My Princess?

I stared at her in disbelief. "Princess?" She nodded. "You must have a lot of questions but first We have to hide. They're still after us."

"Who?" I asked, trying to make sense of it all but I suddenly felt a presence behind me.

“I am.” I spun around to face the speaker and was confronted with a formidable figure. The man stood tall and straight, his features twisted into a scowl of fury. His left eye was a mess of scar tissue that looked like it had been carved by a knife, and his amber eyes blazed with a fierce light. He wore armor made of iron, and with every step he took, the metal clanged and rattled like a herald of doom.

I knew him from before, but I was still mad about him catching me off guard. So, I came up with a plan to ruffle his feathers. I gasped and pointed at him, shouting, “I know you! You're that racist guy from the inn!”

He turned beet red as he started yelling back at me, “I'm not a racist guy! My name is Lenard!”

We locked eyes for a moment until I realized what I had done. I shrugged it off and turned to Luna. “See? That's one way to get a name out of someone.”

Lenard clenched his teeth and spat, “You bastard!” Clearly, he didn't appreciate being played with. I, on the other hand, excelled at it. But, as I began plotting my next move, Luna clung to me and whispered, “W-We must flee.” It was clear that she was scared.

“Whaaat?” I said playfully and loud enough that Lenard could hear me, “You’re afraid of that twink?” I pointed at him as he took out a metallic sword from his belt, It was a double edge sword that looked silver with a hint of green.

That’s a Tungsten sword I believe.

He pointed at the scar on his right eye with his sword. “You gave me this cut right here, I’ll be sure that you see exactly what the price for cutting me of is.”

I didn't cut no eye, guess Reid did that. I thought to myself, my lips curling into a smirk. "That pun didn't quite cut it out for me. You got anything sharper?" I asked, unable to resist the urge to make a bad joke. I laughed at my own humor, savouring the moment of fun in this tense situation.

"Funny guy, huh," he growled, his anger palpable. But instead of being intimidated, I laughed even harder, reveling in his frustration.

His sword glinted in the sun as he groaned in anger and pointed it at me. "I have my subordinates surrounding this place! There's no way you can run away now!" The archers appeared on the rooftops, arrows at the ready. "Surrender now and give us the girl." Luna shook with fear as her breath started coming in short gasps, her eyes darted between me and our attackers. I knew I had to act fast… but not before one last quip.

“Don’t tell me!” I said, completely surprised as I pointed at Lennard like I finally realized something. “You’re a pedophile!”

“I’M NOT A PEDOPHILE!” He screamed out, desperately trying to defend himself, but I didn’t let off.

“Don’t deny it! Otherwise why would you try to kidnap such a cute little girl.”

“WE NEED HER AS A SACRIFICE! THAT'S WHY!”

It was only after he screamed it out that he realized his mistake. I was shaken up when he said sacrifice but I still couldn’t help but grin again, “You see Luna, that’s how you get info out of someone.”

His anger seemed to have finally boiled over as he tightened his grip on his sword, “You… Bastard!” He said as he suddenly charged at me, shouting, "That's it, you're gonna DIE!"

In the heat of the moment, I pushed Luna away because I didn’t want her to get in the cross-fire and because I knew they didn’t want to hurt her but rather kidnap her.

As Lenard charged at me with his sword, I quickly withdrew my handy-dandy wooden sword. Time seemed to slow down thanks to my reflex skill, and I took advantage of the moment to use the Magic skill imbuement skill to imbue the wand of sparking magic on my High Rise skill. The magic coursed through my body, and I felt like I lost control over my body as it stanced up.

My Wooden sword caught on fire. I turned to the side to evade Lenard’s thrust and swiftly hit Lenard with the new High Rise Strike. Fire crackled and spread everywhere from my sword as it swung up, launching Lenard away

I easily sidestepped Lenard's lunge attack and My wooden sword suddenly burst into flames, signalling that the new High-rise was in effect. I didn’t even give Lenard the chance to regain his balance as my sword swung up, launching him away as flames crackled and erupted everywhere from my sword.

Even I knew that wouldn’t be enough to keep him down so I had to resort to my shotguns. I quickly dual-equipped both my shotguns and shot him mid-air, The sound of the blasts echoed through the alley.

I saw a bunch of Damage numbers pop up, but even with all that, his health had barely reached halfway. When Lennard landed down on the ground with a stomp, he immediately started rolling around to put out the fire that was on him.

Time suddenly slowed down for no reason so I assumed I was getting attacked by one of Lennard’s friends, I immediately jumped to the side and an arrow struck where I was before. I switched out one the shotgun to my wooden sword and tried blocking the next arrow that was shot at me. The arrow hit my sword and bounced back before dropping down on the floor like a ball hitting a wall.

*Skill unlocked: Parry (ranged)*

*Skill unlocked: Counter (ranged)*

Oh hey! Free skills!

Lennard finally extinguished the fire on him as he was left with 1/4th of his health while looking a bit burnt.

Lenard finally extinguished the flames on his body, he only had a quarter of his health left and there was a trail of smoke rising from his burnt clothes while his face was left a bit charred.

Lennard had a tough time moving around but it didn’t really concern me that much, “Geez, you look so much better now. Alright, I'll take everything you have as payment, doing makeup is not an easy job.”

Lennard was panting in pain but it seemed like my words still got him again, “I… will kill… you!”

“Hey, you’re the one who surrounded me with your buddies, not my fault you’re getting folded like an omelet.”

“ARRGHHH!” He screamed and then started glowing with white light for some reason before charging towards me again.

I have no clue why he started glowing but I’m not gonna stand here and wait to see if he’s gonna turn super saiyan or not, best I finish this fight already.

With the shotgun in my off-hand, I shot near his feet to make him lose footing a bit, My plan worked as he stumbled at me and I quickly smacked him on the head with a good bonk.

Lennard groaned inhumanly before falling unconscious. I looked at his friends on the rooftops, and after witnessing him collapsing, they decided to stop being lenient and let out a whole volley of arrows towards me.

Guess they don’t care about their friend getting caught in the crossfire now.

“Reid!” Luna scream broke me from my thoughts and in a flash, she threw herself in front of me.

“What the hell are you doing!” I shouted as my immediate next move was to brace myself and protect her from the brunt of the arrows by using my body. But then, a giant magic circle bloomed overhead, unfolding into an immense shield of ice that loomed above us. The shield exuded a visible frigid air that was almost suffocating, and as the arrows pelted it with a fusillade of thudding impacts, the shield held steadfast, unyielding to their assault.

Luna started panting, that spell she casted clearly took out a lot from her, “We have to run! Now!” She yelled desperately.Top of Form

I didn't need to be told twice. "I know a place!" I said, scooping up the nearly defeated Lenard and slinging him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then I grabed Luna's hand and took off in a dead sprint toward the safety of the adventurer's guild.

*3rd person POV*

The hooded people on top of the buildings were frustrated at the large ice shield blocking their line of sight until it finally cracked and shattered into a million pieces that disappeared into nothing.

“Damn it! They got away again!” One yelled angrily as they threw their bow to the ground.

The other hooded figures were scared, Lennard’s mess-up was going to affect their whole team and a light punishment was going to be the best-case scenario. “What should we tell the captain?” said one of the scared Cultists.

“That we don’t have her! The elf festival will start any day now and we can't be late! Let’s just hope they have a backup or I don’t think we’ll ever see the light of day.”

They were all terrified, “What if we just run away? We’re all small timers, they won’t care about us!”

“Go on then, Let’s run away from the organization which can commit complete genocides whenever they feel like it, I’m pretty sure they’ll just give you a slap on the wrist and get us back on their team.

“Oh god! what do we do? Lennard died! We’re gonna be next!”

“Calm down, you pathetic pansies! If we’re late to daily meetings then you better believe we’ll die. Let’s go back to HQ and hope for the best.”

They all exchanged a scared look before running away and disappearing into the alleyway.