Remembrance, what a fitting name. Ren wondered if the rebels of the previous world had a name similar to it. He thought of the commander he once looked at as a force of evil, but that commander was actually a brave soul who tried to fight back against a force he could not win against. Now there was Dr. Tirion to lead the rebels, how long had he been doing this? How did he get his memories? How did he get his powers? These were the questions Ren intended to find the answers to.
Dr. Tirion led Ren and Terra to a room he called his office. On their way, Ren took in his surroundings. The room (the one they entered after leaving the tunnel) seemed to be the main room of the underground complex. The room was massive. The floors were concrete (Ren wondered how they got so much concrete underground) and the walls were drywall painted white. The room was probably about twenty feet tall and was a perfect square with side lengths of about one hundred feet. There were also concrete pillars spread throughout the room to support the ceiling -- and the ceiling had electric lighting! This room alone was testament to the year they had spent gathering their forces. Ren really wondered how they did it. A large number of people were gathered in the room, Ren estimated at least one hundred to two hundred people. Most of them turned and cheered when Dr. Tirion and Terra came out of the tunnel (they appeared to be well respected). The ones that didn’t cheer must’ve realized that there was one person missing: Hector. As Ren followed behind Dr. Tirion he thought back to Hector’s body laying there on the floor. Was there really nothing he could’ve done?
Ren sat down on one of the chairs in Dr. Tirion’s office. The office almost made it feel like school to Ren instead of a rebel hideout; however, instead of a teacher’s classroom the two chairs seated in front of Dr. Tirion’s desk made it feel more like a counselor’s office. Terra sat down in the chair next to him after closing the door and Dr. Tirion sat down in his chair behind the desk. Dr. Tirion let out an exhausted sigh as sat down.
“It’s been a long day.” Dr. Tirion let out an exhausted sigh. “Managing an army isn’t as easy as teaching a class. Although I don’t know if I was ever good at the latter let alone being a leader.”
“How’d you become the leader? How’d you get your memories back?” Ren went straight to the questions. Dr. Tirion gave Ren a surprised look.
“Huh? Wasn’t it the same for you?”
“No. I just got here tonight, probably not even an hour ago, and I came with my memories.”
“What?!” Dr. Tirion leaned forward. “That’s unlike anything I’ve heard thus far!”
Terra interjected, “I thought something was off in the tunnels,” she said, “you looked very confused after Dr. Tirion said that Tye took over almost one year ago.” Ren glanced at Terra and thought that was a sharp insight, he wondered how much the confusion on his face had shown.
“Ren, I take it you know nothing at all about this world?” Dr. Tirion asked.
“No, I know nothing.” he responded.
“Then I will tell you everything you need to know.” Dr. Tirion leaned back in his chair, prepared for the length he was about to speak. “Everyone starts out the same, they’re living their life here as if nothing was ever wrong. Brainwashed. That’s all it amounts to. The majority of people will go through their lives thinking that Tye is their good-hearted, true leader; however, there is a certain circumstance common amongst all people who have regained their memories. If a person survives this certain circumstance then not only will they regain their memories but they will gain their own ability as well.”
“What? A circumstance that can return people’s memories and give people an ability. That’s quite the huge flaw in the system isn’t it?”
“While it sounds great, isn’t pleasant in the slightest.” Terra turned her head away as Dr. Tirion said this, “It requires a near death encounter with an executioner.”
“An executioner, wh--” Ren almost asked “why” but stopped himself. He thought about the two executioners he had encountered, Dee and Finite. Could there be something these two had in common to give someone an ability? “What’s so special about these executioners? Could it not just be a near death experience?”
Dr. Tirion thought about it for a second. “I don’t think it can just be a near death experience. Everyone here is the same: they got both their memories and ability after almost being killed by an executioner. For me, my story goes back to Tye’s takeover of the capital city Averaelia. After I saw Tye and his executioners go to take over the castle, I ran away to get out of the city. I had actually been standing close to the castle at the time, so I guess that’s why I was his target. One of the executioners, one that wore a hood and had the most murderous red eyes you could think of, he began to hunt down regular citizens who had been in close proximity to the castle. There were a few other citizens running behind me as I made my escape, and I made one attempt to look back and I’m glad I did. I saw the hooded figure chasing after us, making some kind of movement as if he were about to throw something. At that moment I dodged out of the way and into an alleyway, still unsure if something had been thrown, but I found out that I had been right as I sat up and looked out of the alleyway from where I had been running from. From there I could see that the other citizens running behind me had all fallen to the ground with knives in their heads. That’s when the fear really struck me, that the hooded executioner was going to kill me. As I thought that, I felt as though I was sinking into the ground -- and I was: the ground swallowed me whole. As I panicked in the darkness that swallowed me, my memories returned. I felt calm, and then confused. I tried to collect my thoughts under the idea that nothing else mattered until I knew I was safe. So I sat there underneath the ground for a while until I felt that it was safe to leave.” Dr. Tirion gave a laugh. “Ha! Sounds pretty ridiculous so far, doesn’t it?” Ren agreed. Even now, he knew that things like magic existed but the story Dr. Tirion was telling still sounded farfetched.
“Now you may wonder how I knew that it was I who had actually made that hole in the ground and enclosed myself to save myself,” Dr. Tirion continued. “When my memories came to me, so did the feeling that I just knew -- I just knew -- how to use my ability, and using that feeling I reopened the hole I had fallen into and escaped the city. All of our stories are similar to this. An encounter with an executioner that made us fear for our lives but we somehow escaped thanks to some miraculous ability. That’s why I need to ask, Ren. Do you have an ability as well?”
Ren could say that he knew how to use his ability once he awoke in the world, which would fit in with the idea that he had his memories when he awoke, too. The better option he thought of was to say, “Yeah, I got mine when I fought that executioner earlier.”
“So it was an executioner that killed Hector after all… I wanted to wait for the right moment to ask you what happened to him but I guess that’s the answer. The good thing to learn is that despite the fact that you came here today with your memories intact it still remains true that one must have a near death encounter with an executioner to gain one’s power.” Ren felt a little bad that Dr. Tirion’s conclusion was not factually correct, but it wasn’t like he could just tell him about Mana.
“And Remembrance, how’d you become its leader?”
“Ah, yes. I started this army shortly after I regained my memories, so we’ve been around for almost a year as well. After I fled Averaelia I arrived here in Centiria, this square shaped city, where originally there was no central tower in the garden but I’ll get to that in a second. Once in the city I decided to gather information from whoever would give it to me. The information in particular that I wanted was if anyone ‘remembered,’ and if the person I was asking didn’t know what I meant I would tell that person to pass the word around. After a while there were a lot of rumors about people who ‘remembered’ and I tracked them down. That’s how the original team came together: me, Terra, Hector, and a few others.”
“So, Hector had been around for a long time… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to save him.” Ren interrupted.
“Don’t worry about it, Ren. While Hector was around the longest out of any of the others, it’s not like we haven’t experienced any loss.” Dr. Tirion said this in a voice that was monotonous and the expression on his face displayed his true feelings towards Hector’s death. Nevertheless, he continued, “After we got a few, we got more, and more and more through the same kind of information network manipulation. I became the leader because the original group had decided that I was the man for the job. While I may not be the best fighter, they said my ability to come up with new ideas was unparalleled. So in the end, I agreed....” he trailed off and his face molded into the mellow expression he had when Ren mentioned Hector. It was a face of someone who had the responsibility of hundreds of lives on his hands. It was a responsibility Ren didn’t think he could ever feel confident with, and for the responsibility to be put onto Dr. Tirion’s shoulders -- the weight must’ve been heavy.
Terra noticed the mood and interjected, “I think it’s about time we went to sleep. Like Dr. Tirion said, it’s been a long day.” she smiled. Dr. Tirion looked back up at her, clearly exhausted. Ren wanted to hear what Dr. Tirion was going to say about the central tower in the garden but decided that could wait until tomorrow.
“Yes, you’re right.” Dr. Tirion agreed. “Terra, if you would show Ren to one of the empty rooms that would be wonderful. I’ll finish up here and turn in for the night as well.” Ren stood up and bid farewell to Dr. Tirion for the night. Terra was silent as she led Ren through the dimly lit hallways. The electricity must’ve been turned to a low power level to preserve power because the lights in the base were all emitting a dim light. Ren didn’t feel too tired because he had just arrived in the world about an hour ago but he thought he should go to sleep anyways to keep on track with the world’s day/night cycle. That’s why the quiet hallway and the dim lights actually set the mood perfectly for sleep.
“Ren.” Terra saying this after being quiet for so long almost made Ren jump.
“Yeah, what is it?” he asked.
“What you said… about having just come to this world along with your memories, was that true?”
“Yeah, of course it was. I wouldn’t lie to you two.” Ren couldn’t see since Terra was in front of him but Terra bit her lip as he said this. Of course Terra knew that Ren wouldn’t lie to her, but the truth hurt her. Terra became quiet again as they continued down the hallway. Ren questioned why Terra would ask that question. Ren thought he had the answer when he thought back to the conversation he just had with Dr. Tirion. Terra had looked away when Dr. Tirion said that people needed to have a near death experience with an executioner to gain their memories. So that would mean she asked that question because --
“Terra.” Ren struggled to ask the question. He knew the question would hurt her but the pain of struggling would only hurt more if she carried the burden alone. “How did you gain your memories?” Terra stopped walking forward and so did Ren. She stood there facing away from Ren, as if she were contemplating telling Ren or not -- or maybe contemplating if it were even possible for her to talk about it or not. She turned around and threw her arms around Ren and began to cry. Ren put his arms around her as he understood, it was something that she couldn’t say. The two stood there for a while until Terra pulled herself back together. Neither of them said a word.
Terra took a step away from Ren, then said, “Let’s go.” In a quiet voice. Ren said nothing as he followed behind her. She led him to his room, he entered, and Terra said “good night” as she abruptly shut the door behind him. Ren turned on the light and looked around at the small room he was in. The only thing in it was one plain white bed: nice and simple. Ren turned the light back off and hopped into bed. He had a lot thrown at him in the hour that he had been in this false world, but he decided not to think about any of it and get some sleep instead; however, it seemed as if someone had just turned on the light in his room while he was sleeping. He opened his eyes in an attempt to look for the culprit but what he saw astonished him. He was looking up at a bright sky… he was back in Mana’s realm.
“What! Did the world get reset as I was sleeping!” Ren exclaimed.
Mana laughed. “No, the world hasn’t been reset. I can assure you that is the case.” Mana had been walking over to him. Ren was laying down in front of Mana’s house. As she leaned over Ren she smiled, “Welcome back!” Mana leaned back out of the way as Ren rocketed up to his feet.
“Why, or how am I back here?”
“I laid claim to your soul, remember? That means I have control over you. I made it so that your spirit will come here every night.” She said, pointing at him while winking.
“And what about my body?”
“Your body is currently asleep in the other world. That’s the trigger to come here: you need to sleep.”
Ren sighed. “All of this god stuff is confusing. I feel like all I ever do when I’m here is ask questions.”
“That’s why you should just accept what I say, it’s easier if you don’t think about it. Plus, if you don’t understand it then that means you can’t replicate it so there’s less of a chance of you becoming so strong that I’d have to kill you.” She smiled.
“The fact that you can smile while saying that’s more scary than Finite.” Ren said with a broken smile.
Mana tilted her head, still smiling. Then she said, “Are you ready for today’s training.”
“Eh?! Training!”
“Of course! You’re here after all. I’ve got to make sure you’re in top shape so you can defeat those executioners -- like Executioner D, Death -- or as you call him, Dee. You’re curious as to what his ability is aren’t you? It caught you quite off guard. Don’t you want the strength to fight back against him.” Those words struck deep within Ren, catching his full attention.
“All right, I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
“That’s the spirit!” Mana smiled.
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Character Files
Executioner D: Death (Dee)
Age: Unknown
Eyes: Green
Hair: None
Height: 6’ 5’’
Clothing: None
Likes: ???
Dislikes: ???
Information: A lizardman? Meaning there are sentient beings in this world other than humans? Not to mention that this particular lizardman appears to be very strong and muscular. He carries around a large claymore as his weapon. Ren couldn’t get a very good grasp on his personality, for it seemed to be all over the place. He couldn’t decide whether the lizardman appeared to be someone dedicated to his job or just an airhead.
Executioner E: The End (Finite)
Age: Unknown
Eyes: Sharp red eyes that shine under his hood
Hair: ???
Height: 5’ 11’’
Clothing: Covered by a hood. What’s underneath? Unconfirmed…
Likes: ???
Dislikes: ???
Information: Attributed as a monster by Ren, Finite is the deadliest of the five executioners who serves as their leader. His main objective is unclear…
----------------------------------------
At the top of the central tower in Centiria.
“So… you met the boy? That’s where you were?” Finite questioned.
“Yes...” said Dee, kneeling before Tye on his throne as he reported to Finite (who was standing at the base of the throne). “He was just as you described him. Blond, green eyes, a black uniform, that expensive looking pendant, and the motivation to strike me down. I’m sure it was the boy you described.”
“So he’s finally appeared in this world.” Finite said to himself.
“He may have priority status, but he has his powers. Should we act to eliminate him?”
Finite glared at Dee. “No. The boy is an important factor in our plan. We need him alive. The time is almost upon us, Dee. Recall those two, we need to make our move.”
“Oh, she arrived earlier today. As for the other one, I’ll make sure to recall him.”
“Wait... Dee. Did I hear you correctly? She… is back?” Dee cowered slightly because Finite's questioning tone sounded as if he had been angered.
“Yes, she --” Finite cut him off.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!” Finite roared as he threw his right arm to the side. “If she isn’t here then that means she’s looking for Ren! She alone can throw off our plan! Find her immediately!”
“Yes, sir!” Dee yelled as he stood up and hurried out of the room. As Dee left the room Finite looked up at Tye on his throne. Tye was asleep, as he had been for the year it’s been since he recreated the world. Finite thought back to one year ago, when they had overthrown the nobility living in Averaelia. Finite had questioned why Tye had needed to make such an act. He had purposely created a world with a false history dating back hundreds of years only to conquer the land in one siege. Finite questioned if such an action had any meaning behind it. When asked the question, Tye only smiled as if his only purpose in life was to create such destruction. Tye then came to Centiria, the city he had designed and created the tower he currently resides in. Once inside, he sat down on his throne and began to speak to Finite, something Tye almost never did.
“Finite, I must sleep now. It’s too powerful, I can’t hold back the slumber anymore.” Finite questioned why Tye felt so tired. “It’s this power. Just like how I fell asleep for one week in the previous world, this power requires a vast amount of energy. I’ve used far beyond the scope of that which is possible, so I must sleep to recover my strength. It is sure to be a long slumber.” Tye sleepily looked at Finite as he asked, “Can I count on you? Finite? To lead the executioners and the people of this world while I’m gone?” Finite assured Tye that his world would be in good hands while he rested. After hearing those words, Tye smiled as he fell asleep.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
As Finite stood there staring at Tye, he repeated to himself, “Almost time… huh?”
----------------------------------------
“So then, Tye’s asleep right now?” Ren asked Mana. After finishing training for the day, Ren asked Mana about where Tye was. Mana explained to him that Tye had been asleep in the previous world for one week and that this time he has been asleep for nearly one whole year.
“Yep. He’s been asleep for almost an entire year. That’s what happens when you use so much willpower without letting it replenish, your body tries to make up for it somehow. That somehow is a sleep proportional to the amount of willpower debt created.”
“What else can you see through your reflection pool? It seems like it could become a helpful tool for you to give me information every night.”
“Well, I can’t just look around everywhere -- I mean I could -- the reflection pool allows me to view anywhere in the world that I want to see -- it’s just that I need to focus on the events surrounding you. Everything else comes second, I need to be able to know what’s happening to you at all times so I’m not left out of the loop when you come here.”
“I’d almost want to say that you should just use the reflection pool to watch the enemy and gather information instead of watching what I’m doing, but I get that if I’m going to be here every night then we’d be saving time if I didn’t have to explain the events of the day to you before you train me.” Ren’s gaze fell down to the reflection pool as he began to wonder what the events of the next day would hold.
“I think it’s about time for you to wake up, Ren.” Mana said as she gazed into the reflection pool.
“Eh, how do you know --” Ren was cut off as he felt that he suddenly became enveloped by a mysterious sleep. The next thing Ren could perceive was the sound of someone calling his name. It was Terra. Ren opened his eyes and realized he was back in the human realm. He was awake. He sat up in his bed and looked towards the door where Terra was standing with her arms crossed.
“You’ve never been one to get out of bed on time have you?” Terra questioned, referring to the bad habit of sleeping in that Ren’s had since his first day of high school. “Making me come into your room to wake you up in the morning.” Terra sighed. “Come on, Ren. We’re going to take a look around the city -- or you are at least.”
“A look around the city?” Ren questioned.
“Dr. Tirion says that it would be best if you became somewhat familiar with the city. You’ll be exploring the city, I’ll be gathering intel. The item we were hunting for wasn’t in the research lab last night, so I need to see if I can find out where it was taken. As for you, if you’re going to be helping us fight back against Tye you’re going to need to know the layout of the city.”
Ren understood that he should learn the city’s layout a bit more. Of course, he knew the overall layout of the city was that of a square, but the minute details remained hidden to him. What kind of shops, stores, and businesses were there in the city. Where was the residential district, or was there even a residential district?
The one detail about what Terra said that stood out to Ren was, “What was the item you were looking for? What was in this research lab that you need?”
“I--I can’t tell you.” Terra turned her head away.
“Wait, why?” Ren asked.
“I’m sorry, but the only ones in Remembrance that know are those of us on the inner circle.”
“To prevent leaks?”
“That’s one reason. In short you can say it’s for security. That’s all you need to know.” Ren didn’t question anything.
“All right. You don’t need to tell me anything else. I trust you.” Ren stood up out of bed and stretched. “Time to explore the city, I wonder what it’ll be like.” he said with a smile on his face.
“Follow me, I’ll take you into the city.” Terra said as she led Ren through the hallways of the underground base. As Terra led him into one of the -- as she explained -- multiple exit tunnels that lead to the surface she told Ren that she was taking him to Sonon District. Sonon District is one of the four districts within Centiria. The districts of Centiria are of three kinds: residential, commercial, and private organizations. There are two residential districts, one commercial, and one for private organizations. Each district is defined by the cardinal directions: east, west, north, and south. The east and west districts of Centiria are the residential districts. The north district is the district of private organizations (such as the research lab). The southern district, known as Sonon District, is the commercial district.
As Terra and Ren emerged from the secret underground entrance (hidden inside a building within the Sonon District, Terra said that a Remembrance member had bought the building to use as an entrance to the underground hideout) Terra said, “Sonon District extends across the entire southern edge of Centiria. The same can be said of the northern district. The residential districts therefore only cover half of their respective edges of Centiria.”
“I see. This city’s symmetry is really something else.”
“Right, the way it’s so organized is scary when compared to Kizuna. Kizuna is laid out in blocks with organization in mind, but it’s not perfect. This city on the other hand… it’s hard to find something about the layout that couldn’t be called perfect.” Terra and Ren went outside of the building and into the alleyway. “Just over there,” she pointed down the alleyway, “that’s Sonon Road, the road going from the midpoint of Centiria’s southern edge to the inner road. You can use that to find your way back here. I would say we should meet back here at a certain time, but if I can’t find the information we need then I may take a while. So you should explore the city and return here after you’re finished. No need to wait for me.”
“Sounds good.” Ren responded.
“Great. Then I’ll be on my way. See you later, Ren.” Terra waved as she turned and walked down the alleyway in the opposite direction of Sonon Road. Ren could only watch as she walked away from him. He couldn’t help but feel like he wanted to explore the city with her but he knew she was going off to gather important information. Ren turned around to face Sonon Road.
“Well then. The centermost road of the southern edge, Sonon Road. That means it’s probably the busiest street so I should check it out first before moving to the other areas of the district.” he said to himself as he began to walk towards the road. As Ren came out of the alleyway he looked left and right down the road. From what he could tell the layout of the road appeared to be the exact same as the road he had walked down a few days ago. It was just a normal road aligned with tall buildings. The thing that stood out to Ren was that the road was bustling with people walking in the middle of the street, not on the sidewalks that aligned the road. Were they not afraid of some kind of traffic? Or was there a form of traffic in this world?
Ren walked down the sidewalk towards the inner city. As he walked his gaze shifted from the shops on his left and the people on his right. The shops ranged from restaurants to department store buildings. The thought that amazed Ren was that every building in this southern district must be some kind of store as the district is known as the commercial district. For there to be so many shops and of all different kinds was astonishing. As for the people, not only did they catch his attention for their lack of concern for vehicles but how were there so many people walking around in the city at this time of day? What was a person’s daily life here in Tye’s world? Was it enjoyable? Ren’s mind was full of theorization as he continued down the road.
While the number of shops was a great multitude, Ren took no interest in going into any shop to explore them. From the outside he could get the general idea of the store and that was enough for him, until something caught his eye. As he was passing by an alleyway he caught sight of a bright neon sign displaying the name: Kallen’s Pub. As it was the first place he had seen of the sort and after the sign had caught his eye, Ren thought that it would be a good place to check out. Maybe he would be able to relax for the first time in over a week with a good meal and a nice drink. That thought only made him curious as to how good the food of this world could be. Ren walked down the alleyway and into the pub.
Ren had never actually been into a pub before but the inside of Kallen’s Pub looked just like he would have imagined a normal pub but with a lot more decorations and colorful lights. A bar lined the back wall with a bartender cleaning out a glass behind the counter. Tables and chairs filled the room with customers happily enjoying their meals together. The liveliness of the people was only amplified by the colors of the neon lights that ran across the ceiling and walls, giving the pub more of a “party” kind of vibe. The tone of the pub could only make Ren smile, but it was a smile that was also pained. Right now, he had entered a pub for the first time and looked at it as a truly lively and interesting environment… but after looking at the people within the pub -- ignorant to the state of the world they lived -- it dampened the tone.
Ren began to walk towards one of the only open tables in the room when he saw a girl shoot to her feet. As she stood to her feet, so did the people she was standing with. One person may think that they were getting up to leave the bar, but with the urgency that the girl had tried to leave the people at her table and the uncomfortable expression the girl had on her face Ren thought that something was wrong. One of the men reached out to the girl’s arm and she threw her arm away from the man’s. Now it was clear that the girl was very uncomfortable. Ren walked over to the girl and the three men standing around her.
“I think you should be a little more careful with the way you treat women. She’s obviously uncomfortable, so I think you should leave her alone.” Ren had said looking at the man who had tried to grab the girl’s arm. The girl (a girl with snow white hair and light blue eyes who was a few inches shorter than Ren) had quickly retreated behind Ren, holding onto his shirt tight as she hid from the men.
“Look pal. I don’t think you know who you’re messing with here.” Replied the man who had tried to grab the girl. The man was at eye level with Ren and had an intimidating face, Ren didn’t get the feeling that the man was a person to let something slide. Before the man could say anything else, a figure rose up from the table behind them. It was a lizardman! -- but no, not Dee. This lizardman was shorter and not as buff as Dee was. The lizardman was scrawnier in his appearance yet still appeared to be muscular nonetheless. As the lizardman stood up, the men noticed and made way for the lizardman to move closer to Ren. This must mean that the lizardman is the boss of the men.
But for there to be a lizardman in this pub and for no one to make a big deal out of it, wouldn’t that mean that such beings were common in this world? Surely if a lizardman were a rare occurrence to find in a bar then someone would be curious, but no one seemed to care until he had stood up to walk over to Ren, and the reason for that was because Ren and the men were already making a commotion. As the lizardman stood there in front of his men, he looked at Ren, unamused. Obviously Ren was getting in their way and making the men angry.
“Listen here, boy. Me and my men have business with that girl. If you would be so kind as to hand her over then we can just forget about your intrusion.” The lizardman said this as he looked down at his claws, as if he was warning Ren of what was to come if he didn’t comply. The three other men -- all of their faces becoming intimidating faces -- looked at Ren as the lizardman said this and grinned at him.
“Hey!” The man behind the counter yelled at them. The lizardman turned to face him; he glared at the bartender. The bartender remained unintimidated and yelled, “If you’ve got some kind of problem then take it outside! I don’t need some ruffians ruffing up my pub!” Ren thought that the bartender’s name must’ve been Kallen then. The lizardman scoffed, but agreed with what Kallen had said.
“You. Outside. Now.” The lizardman snarled as he pointed at Ren. The lizardman began walking towards the door. His three lackeys began walking towards Ren, causing him to back away from them with the girl still holding onto his back. He was being pushed outside.
“That’s right, out the door. You’ve upset our boss and now you’ve gotta pay!” One of the men said as Ren walked backwards towards the door. Ren frowned as he realized what kind of situation he was getting himself into. Was he going to have to fight four on one to protect a girl in an alley? Sure the alleys in this city were bigger than the alleyways they had in Kizuna. They were like narrow streets in comparison to places in the original world (given, the purpose of making the alleys so wide in this world was because it is a system connecting every building in the block to maximize the number of buildings possible), but for Ren to fight four against one whilst protecting a girl did not seem like a hopeful situation.
Ren turned around and took the girl into the alleyway. The lizardman was standing to his left as he exited the pub so Ren took a few steps to the right and the girl once again hid herself behind Ren. The other three men shuffled out of the pub and stood behind the lizardman. Ren looked at them closely, studying them in preparation for the fight. The three men seemed average: all average height, not particularly muscular, nor did they seem armed. On the other hand there was the lizardman of whom Ren could see had some kind of sword on his back as the large hilt of the sword was visible from over the lizardman’s shoulders. Ren could also see that the lizardman had multiple scars covering his body, evidence that this lizardman had fought and taken some strikes but survived in the end. This lizardman had real combat experience. Ren’s experience was that of the SwordTours he participated in while in middle school (of which he dropped out of in the end) and the training Mana had given him so far. Needless to say, Ren was not feeling very confident about his upcoming fight.
“Let’s settle this with a duel.” the lizardman said. Ren’s eyes opened wide for only a second as he readjusted the look on his face so as to not show the lizardman how confused he was by that statement. Requesting a duel was actually a very common occurrence in the original world. Like most of the original world’s culture it was a tradition started before history -- meaning no one knows how it started -- but is a tradition that has been around for as long as people can remember. Ren was not expecting such a formal way of settling matters in Tye’s new world. Perhaps this meant that Tye had incorporated some of the original world’s culture into this world.
“That’s fine with me.” Ren agreed. Fighting one on one made Ren much more confident, but for his opponent to have to be the lizardman… it left Ren with an uneasy feeling. “But we’re missing an overseer.” An overseer is needed in a formal duel to call the match when a player has clearly triumphed over the other. The reason an overseer is needed is so that the match does not go far enough to be deadly.
“You’re right, we have no overseer, and none of these three nor the girl can be an overseer due to bias. Guess we’ll go without.”
“What!” Ren objected. “We could just grab one of the bystanders in the pub to be a neutral--” The lizardman cut Ren off as he shook his head.
“I’m not getting any bystanders involved in this -- not with her.” Not with her? He emphasized that part of the sentence. Was their business with her so important that it should deny a duel to have a proper overseer? “We’ll just have to either kill each other or forfeit ourselves.” The lizardman reached for the hilt of his sword and pulled the sword over his shoulder. His sword was a longsword that was almost as tall as the lizardman himself. Ren told the girl to step back and she did. Ren then summoned his gear: his school uniform transformed into his combat outfit and his sword appeared in his right hand. “Pretty nifty power you have there. If only you weren’t on their side.” Ren had no clue whose side the lizardman thought he was on. The only thing Ren knew was that he had to protect this girl from these ruffians.
Ren took his stance: he held the sword out from the center of his body and lowered it to meet with his left hand, he shifted his left leg back and his right leg forward, and he tilted his shoulders to the left slightly. The lizardman took his stance as well, but it appeared strange to Ren. The way he was shifting all of his weight forward was almost as if -- the lizardman propelled himself forward at a velocity much greater than Ren thought was possible for the lizardman. The lizardman’s longsword came crashing down above Ren of which Ren miraculously managed to block by lifting his sword up horizontally -- pushing up against the lizardman’s attack with his left hand on the blade and his right hand on the hilt -- to stop the lizardman’s sword. As Ren stood there underneath the lizardman’s sword, he could feel the lizardman’s pure strength crushing him. The lizardman was much stronger than he appeared and it only made Ren question: if this lizardman’s strength was proportional to Dee’s then just how strong was Dee?
To break free from the lizardman’s intense downward force, Ren bent his left elbow and angled his sword down so that the lizardman’s sword would begin to slide, then he quickly took his left hand away from his sword so his sword’s angle would change drastically causing the lizardman’s sword to fall down to the side of Ren and allow Ren to close the distance while the lizardman was recovering. Ren went to slash the lizardman’s stomach from right to left as he would dodge into a roll underneath the lizardman’s arms but was instead met with a kick to the jaw as he got close enough to strike. Ren was sent flying backwards and landed with his back on the ground. Slightly disoriented, he opened his eyes to see the lizardman motion to swing his sword down to finish Ren. Ren rolled to his right and dodged the overhead swing and then instinctively stood into a crouch to then dodge forward into a roll to avoid the other swing he thought had been coming (it had, and it missed). Ren quickly stood up and turned around but the lizardman gave him no time to catch his breath.
The lizardman went for a right to left horizontal slash of which Ren dodged by ducking underneath it. Ren thought that he could attempt to try again to close the distance, this time avoiding the kick. The lizardman used the momentum from his swing to lift his sword over his head while Ren was closing the distance. Ren watched the lizardman’s movements closely this time, that’s why he noticed -- the lizardman had grinned. Ren stopped his advance and rolled out of the way to his left. He heard a loud crashing sound while he was dodging. When he looked back at where he was he saw the lizardman with his sword against the ground -- or at least, where the ground was. The lizardman had struck the ground in a way similar to how Dee had attacked Ren: with so much force that the ground had been blown away. Ren looked at the rubble that the lizardman’s strike had generated. Even being hit by the debris of that attack could mean the end of their duel, Ren knew he needed to be careful.
“Heh heh heh. You avoided that?” The lizardman sounded surprised. “Ah, it must’ve been shown on my face again. I’ll have to make sure I don’t give away anymore hints.” Ren wondered if that was actually the case. If he pegged him on enough, maybe the lizardman would blab too much.
“What the hell was that! It doesn’t seem like you’re going to give me any chance to live in this fight.” Ren said fiercely.
“Do you really have no idea? Have you no combat experience at all?” Was it really something that obvious? “It’s my ability. I won’t say what it is, but if you’re smart enough you’ll figure out what it is. That’s how you survive these fights.” So the lizardman is an ability user -- wait, does that mean he had a near-death experience from an executioner? Ren was curious whether or not this was really the case, but from the experience Ren’s had so far with this lizardman he wasn’t exactly the type Ren would like to sit down and talk with over a good cup of tea. The lizardman began to raise his arms above his head.
“If I’m hit with this I’m dead!” Ren thought as he went to move out of his way to the left. The lizardman’s sword came down where Ren had been standing and hit the ground with such an explosive force that the debris that had exploded from the ground hit Ren in the back and caused him to fall over. Ren began to pick himself up but was met with the lizardman’s foot kicking him in his side so powerfully that Ren was launched from the ground into the wall of Kallen’s Pub -- no! -- through the wall of Kallen’s Pub. Parts of the wall collapsed on Ren and he was buried underneath the rubble. The lizardman stared at the broken wall for a few seconds until he was sure that Ren was no longer moving.
“He’s done for!” Shouted one of the lizardman’s men as the other two shouted out in victory. “Let’s grab the girl and go!”
“No!” Shouted the lizardman. “We haven’t confirmed that he’s down yet! He may have some kind of hidden ability!” The lizardman stared at the debris for a few more seconds until he was confident that Ren was either unconscious or dead. Kallen approached the hole in the wall.
“You morons! Who’s going to pay for this!” Kallen shouted at the lizardman.
“Stuff it bartender.” Retorted the lizardman. “Or would you rather become another corpse underneath the rubble?” Kallen made a “tsk” noise as he retreated back into his pub. The lizardman began to turn towards the girl. “Now then, it’s time you come with --” the lizardman stopped his sentence as he heard the sound of Ren picking himself up out of the rubble. He turned to see Ren’s face dripping with blood as the impact had given Ren a head injury. “You’re still alive?” The lizardman questioned. “Stay down, boy. You’ll end up dead at this rate. What do you have? A concussion? You can’t possibly--”
“Like I care!” Ren yelled as he began to walk back into the alley with his right hand against what remained of the pub’s wall to use as support. Ren looked at the lizardman with determination. “I can’t turn a blind eye to this! I’d rather die than let you take her away against her will!”
“You know nothing of our situation! What right do you have to interfere!”
“You’re right. I don’t know why you’re after her, but after seeing her face do you really believe I can just let you do what you want?”
“Even if she’s a murderer?”
“That’ll be for me to find out after I’ve stopped you. Even if she is a murderer, it doesn’t give you the right to settle things yourself.”
“You! You understand nothing!” The lizardman was truly angry at this point and began walking towards Ren.
“Strength enhancement.” Ren said. The lizardman stopped in his tracks. “Strength enhancement, that’s your ability. The attack you used, I’ve seen it before but it was used by someone way stronger than you are. So how would you be able to strike with the same force? What kind of ability would allow for one to strike with more force? A strength enhancement ability is the answer.”
“And what of it! Do you think knowing the answer will help you! -- save you! -- there’s no hope for you!” The lizardman lunged at him as he yelled, “Die!” Ren smiled, for the lizardman had been just as provoked as he had hoped.
“Waterburst.” Ren said weakly as he raised his right hand and aimed it at the approaching lizardman. Water burst into the lizardman’s face just as he had gotten in range to strike Ren, causing the lizardman to stop his advance and recoil away from Ren, but Ren chased after the lizardman. By the time the lizardman opened his eyes and could see clearly again Ren was directly underneath him with his hand hovering in front of the lizardman’s chest. “WATERBURST!” Ren yelled with all his remaining strength, causing the jewel in his pendant to overload with willpower, breaking the pendant and creating a waterburst spell much larger than there should’ve been -- but it was Ren’s intention to do this. The resulting waterburst was so powerful that it shot the lizardman into the opposite wall even harder than Ren had been shot into the wall of Kallen’s Pub. The lizardman shot through the wall and tumbled across the floor unconscious. Ren fell to his knees, his clothes returned to normal, his sword disappeared into thin air, and his pendant reformed. Ren thought about the lecture Mana had in store for having broken his limiter and sighed. He smiled a smile of relief but was extremely exhausted. He looked for the other three of the lizardman’s minions expecting them to want to fight after their boss had been defeated but instead saw them huddled around the lizardman’s body in the apparent clothing store that he had been thrown into. Customers of the store had already come towards the hole in the wall to find out what happened. On the side of Kallen’s Pub, Ren had earned a few fans. After rising up from the rubble the people inside the pub had gone to the hole in the wall to watch Ren fight against the lizardman. After winning, the crowd cheered for Ren (although Ren was sure that Kallen was probably not one of those cheering). The girl who had been watching Ren’s fight walked over to Ren to talk to him.
“You’ve been severely injured. That head wound -- and your broken ribs -- you surely have internal bleeding as well.”
“Broken ribs? What do you--” Ren realized that most of his ribs had either been decimated by either the lizardman’s foot kicking him into the wall or the impact with the wall. “I--I guess I didn’t even notice.” Ren said faintly.
“Hold on, my ability is a healing ability.” Ren hardly heard her say this as he was beginning to black out. The girl’s white hair extended -- as if it were growing due to her willpower -- it wrapped itself around Ren’s chest and glowed bright white as if it were a light. Ren couldn’t perceive that he had been wrapped in hair but felt a warm feeling, as if the pain he felt was being washed away and his faint consciousness was being dragged back to an awakened state. Ren and the girl sat there until Ren was fully conscious. He snapped back into it and looked at the girl in front of him. Her hair retracted from around him and returned to the length it had been beforehand. The girl smiled at him and said, “Welcome back. My name’s Lilith. What’s yours?”
“I’m Ren.” he replied softly.
“Thank you for saving me, Ren.” Lilith grabbed his hand and stood up, pulling Ren to his feet as well. “Come on, we shouldn’t stay here any longer or else we’ll get caught by the knights.” Lilith then pulled him along before Ren had a chance to say anything. They hurried down the alley in the opposite direction of Sonon Road and went down alley after alley after alley, an act that was surely meant to make the knight’s (most likely referring to Tye’s military force) job of searching for the two much harder.