They came from the land; crevices filled with fire and screams opened at random across the kingdoms, and from them came Hell. With wings of our saviors and faces of our demise, they purged those deemed unworthy of their Lord’s benevolence with iron whips in hand and stalwart vows keeping them true.
Mercy we pray to Gods we fear have abandoned us. If this purge is your will, Almighty, then show us our wrongs so we can offer ourselves to your holiness stripped of worldly desires, flayed bare by the crack of your harbinger's lashes.
But in prayer I fear that our mercy is but a wish; but a tune on the fleeting wind, hoping to be heard by a God who prefers silence.
Anonymous, 9 years after the Invasion.
[https://pngimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/royal-border-design-png-1.png]
The ground was cold and damp. As more feeling returned to him, Kayn realized it was rocky as well; sharp at the edges and smooth on the faces. These sensations—this knowledge of the ground being cold, bumpy, and damp—were not feelings he wished to have.
Feelings meant senses, senses meant brain activity, and brain activity, unfortunately, meant life.
Why was he alive?
His eyes opened with a slow reluctance, and at first, he was content with what he saw. Because what he saw was nothing.
The cold, damp rock of wherever he lay was consumed by a blackened void much the same as the one he fell from. This was comforting. Perhaps in the land of the dead, the souls wandered with a recollection of their past, with minds that functioned just the same they when they filled a living body. The rock at his supposed hands was but a sensation of this voided world. He was not alive. He had passed on.
And with a single message, lighting up the dark with its blue screen, all the hopes he pumped himself full of deflated like a punctured tire.
WELCOME TO VIRNNEL, KAYN VALLIS.
“Virnnel…” Kayn muttered as he rose to a sit. That name he’d heard a hundred times but from whom he couldn’t quite remember. In his mind, he could envision only a voice but no face to match it as the words were spoken to him; ‘Virnnel…Virnnell’, so familiar yet so mysterious.
Acknowledging the screen played the words in his head like a text to speech tool. It was a monotonous woman's voice.
The blue…screen? He believed it was a screen, but why was a screen just hovering in front of his face? Well, either way. The blue screen that displayed the message illuminated his surroundings, and with its dim light, he could see the stalagmites that lapped the sprinkles of water falling from their brothers and sisters above.
“A fucking cave,” Kayn said.
He gazed around but saw little with how dim the lighting was. He was in a cave and there wasn’t a light source to be found, not even a hint at one flittering in from a crevice somewhere in the cave roof.
“Blasted gods. Think they can have their way with my life? I’d be damned if I ever do their bidding again. Get the hell out of my face!”
With a violent swipe, Kayn dispersed the welcoming message out of sight. Although it vanished momentarily, the blue screen reappeared with a different message.
IT SEEMS YOUR BODY HAS ASSIMILATED NICELY THUS FAR. IT IS STILL POSSIBLE THAT YOU MAY EXPERIENCE SOME DIFFICULTIES AS YOUR SOUL FULLY TRANSFERS OVER.
“Ah, so that’s what this is.”
A memory of better times flashed through his mind. His first rebirth, the grasslands in the countryside of Esmera sprawling as far as the eye could see, Esra at his side, the raspy voice from the realm of white, giving him a rundown of the situation he had found himself in.
This was the same as then, just….disconnected.
“So you can’t even come to see me in person now? You send some voiceless robot to check up on me and deliver your messages? Talk about a decline in customer service,” Kayn said as he grimly chuckled to himself.
A third message popped up.
I AM NO ROBOT, KAYN VALLIS. ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SURE WHAT THAT IS. I AM YOUR GUIDE FOR THE TIME BEING. A SHARD OF VIREN. THE ONLY THING SHE COULD SEND YOU WITH, GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I AM TO AID YOU UNTIL YOU’VE COMPLETED THE FIRST QUEST AND ARE WELL EQUIPPED TO VENTURE ON ALONE.
“Is that so? My apologies then. But I have no intent on venturing on fucking anywhere, so you can place yourself back into whoever the hell Viren is. I don’t need you to guide me through anything.”
A fourth message.
BUT YOU WILL. WITHOUT ME, YOU’LL FACE UNNECESSARY DIFFICULTIES. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GROW YOUR STRENGTH AND SAVE THIS LAND AS INTENDED.
“Great then, because I don’t plan on saving anyone anyways. It’s not my problem what shit you Gods have gone and gotten yourselves into. You can tell your master Viren, whatever the hell she is, that I’ll be leaving this place as soon as possible.”
BUT…YOU’RE THE HERO. IT’S YOUR JOB TO SAVE THEM. DO YOU SIMPLY PLAN TO FORSAKE MILLIONS OF LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED ON YOUR SHOULDERS?
Because you’re the Hero…right? a woman’s voice echoed in Kayn’s head. He found himself clenching his jaw before he knew it. His knuckles whitened under his tightened grip.
“I’m no Hero. I’ve never been, and I never will be,” he said. He stood and slid up against the cavern wall. It was far too dark to navigate his way out of here, but with the wall of the cave, he could at least keep himself anchored to a set path and go from there.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN, BUT FROM MY KNOWLEDGE YOU ARE THE HERO I’VE BEEN SENT TO AND SO I WILL TREAT YOU AS SUCH. WE CANNOT LEAVE THIS CAVE YET. YOU MUST LEARN OF YOUR STATUS PAGE BEFORE WE VENTURE OUTSIDE. IT IS THE MAGIC EQUIVALENT OF THESE REALMS.
From the moment the message popped up, Kayn had tried swatting it from his sight like before. It would vanish when he did but soon after it would pop back up all over again, repeating the same message. He sighed but ultimately was thankful for the message ever so slightly lighting the way forward.
“I meant what I said. You don’t have to understand any more than just that. I’m not the Hero now, won’t be tomorrow, wasn’t yesterday, and never will be on any other day. The reason why? The deeper meaning? Even if there was one, you don’t have to know. Just take it as it is and sod off.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The harshness of his words left a sour taste in his mouth that would've spread to the rest of his body had the recipient of his beratement not been an emotionless window of text.
The blue screen faded from Kayn’s view and unlike before, did not return immediately after. He waited for a moment, standing against the wall with bated breath, but the boxes did not return.
Kayn let out a sigh. The light would be missed but finally, he was left to his own devices.
The further he progressed through the cave the quicker he realized he had been walking on an incline. Up, in all cases he could think of, meant he’d find an exit soon enough. What he’d do after he was out and into the open world, he wasn’t sure of. But he’d experienced enough about magic in the past to know everything has two sides to it. If his soul could be taken from the dead and transferred into Virnnel, the opposite would also be true.
He just had to find out how.
STATUS UPDATED. DISPLAYING PAGE NOW.
“No! Go away!” Kayn roared.
But go away the guide did not. A much larger blue screen appeared in front of his face moments later.
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Equips | Quests | Inventory
Status [Personal] Name: Kayn Vallis Age: 18 (Current) Level: 1 Race: Human Class: N/A Exp: 0/10 [Stats] {Points Available: 0} SP: 60/60 MP: 20/20 Power: 13 Endurance: 10 Agility: 7 Perception: 7 Dexterity: 7 Wisdom: 6 Willpower: 5 Control: 2 Arcane: 4 [Skill Trees] {N/A} [Perk Trees] {N/A}
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THIS IS YOUR SYSTEM. IT IS ESSENTIAL IF YOU WISH TO GROW STRONGER IN THIS WORLD AND FIGHT THE BATTLES YOU MUST. AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU’RE PITIFUL AT THE MOMENT. REMARKABLY WEAK. BY LEVELLING UP AND COMPLETING QUESTS, YOU CAN EARN POINTS TO GROW STRONGER.
“I don’t…”
I don’t care, is what Kayn went to say. He cut himself off as he stared at the holographic message in front of him. Slight awe filled him deep in his bones.
“What is this? It looks like something from a…video game? I’m not sure if I’m getting that name right. But I feel I’ve seen something like this before. You said it’s this world's magic?” Kayn said.
Even the shard of Verin was caught off guard with his sudden interest. It took it a while to formulate its message.
‘VIDEO GAME’ IS NOT A WORD I KNOW OF, BUT YOUR FAMILIARITY WITH THIS FORMAT WILL BE TAKEN AS A POSITIVE. IT IS THE MAGIC OF VERNELL; ALL HUMANS IN POSSESSION OF A VESSEL HOLD THIS EXACT SAME SYSTEM.
All humans? Kayn thought. To think that magic was a universal power in this world. Only the Heroes had access to it in Esmera.
Kayn chuckled wryly, ridding himself of any curiosity he felt to the so-called system.
“All humans can use magic here. Doesn’t that make Heroes obsolete? They can handle their battles just fine, even without me,” he said.
YOU’RE DIFFERENT. YOUR POWER IS GREATER THAN THEIRS, IT JUST CAN’T BE SHOWCASED THROUGH THESE NUMBERS ALONE.
The bubbling in Kayn’s stomach rushed to his throat. It felt tight and scratchy and sent his mind into a spiral of annoyance. He was about to snap again when—
“GRAAAAAHH!!!”
An ear-shattering shriek violently shook the cave.
What followed next made the hairs on Kayn’s arm stand firmly straight. Multiple screams—man, woman, child, he couldn’t be sure—echoed from the same direction as that beastly roar.
IT SEEMS UNWANTED GUESTS HAVE STUMBLED INTO OUR TRAINING GROUNDS. THEY’RE IN DANGER; THAT BEAST IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.
“By unwanted guests…you’re referring to the humans, not the beast?” Kayn asked, a little dumbfounded.
OF COURSE. THE BEAST WAS MEANT TO BE HERE. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR TASK TO SLAY IT DOWN THE ROAD. IT APPEARS WE’LL BE MOVING QUITE FAR AHEAD OF OUR PLANNING. GET A MOVE ON.
Kayn stood his ground. Regardless of what the shard would say to him, regardless of what he’d hear, he would stick to his vow. It was not his fault these people recklessly stumbled into danger. He was not the Hero of Vernell. Kayn turned and walked in the opposite direction of the screeches. When everything was over, he would start back that way, avoiding whatever made those terrible sounds and leave this cave. Whatever happened to those people was of no concern to him. He had steeled himself to deal with this type of thing many years past.
At least, that’s how he hoped things would go.
“Goddammit!” Kayn roared as he rushed blindly through the dark with naught but the blue screen to light his way.
“Where can I find a weapon?!” he shouted to the guide.
I’M AFRAID THERE ARE NONE AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THIS CAVE. YOU’LL HAVE TO MAKE DO.
“Of course I will….I just can’t catch a fucking break.”
As he ran through the cave pathways, he etched a vow into his heart that this would be the last Hero business he’d ever partake in.
He etched it alongside the hundred other vows he’d made in the past, all promising the same thing.