《Slave 53: The Phoenix》 Prologue Prologue The wind is bad today, the golden sand seemed to get everywhere, other slaves faces seem to naturally adapt a squint in their eyes.Even though it was windy it wasn¡¯t cool, the heat drained the life out of us.Walking barefooted my feet were burned severely.This last month was much hotter than the previous months.To the right of me a slave fell to the ground in exhaustion.A guard quickly ran over and yelled for him to get up, it didn¡¯t take long for the whipping to start, but the slave just stood still. Two dead today already huh? It¡¯s been eight months since I walked out that tunnel and grabbed by these slavers.Everything is a blank, I don¡¯t remember anything prior, I walked out of a cave dirty and bloody with a sword and some armor, after a few hours I was caught by these guys and been carrying big stones to carts ever since.I¡¯m about a head taller than most men, fair skin made tan due to the months in the desert, I feel like I¡¯d be intimidating, well¡­use to be intimidating, eight months ago I was extremely muscular, but with the meagre number of rations received I¡¯m starting to look more like a corpse than a living person. Most the slaves here have brown skin, I imagine that¡¯s normal because of the heat.They most likely have committed some sort of crime, or maybe they were unfortunate like myself and was just at the wrong place wrong time.They are treated better than me, I think not knowing the language really frustrates the guards.One thing I noticed different from him and everyone else is the tattoo markings on the chests, I never see the guards¡¯ mark because they all have clothing, but a lot of the slaves wear no shirts. Themarks all had a red coloring.The colored marks on their chest seem to symbolize their power, and the color the type which my guess would be fire.An interesting thing I see is people change their bodies into different animals, I¡¯ve seen a man who can change his legs into something like a rabbit and hop at great speed.He tried running away but a spear was thrown through his chest, but something strange happened a green sort of material left him and traveled to the killer.Since I have no mark I was someone with no importance to the slavers.Which is why I¡¯m lifting and carrying stone to carts all day.One of the lowest jobs a slave can have here.I haven¡¯t had much of a chance to learn because I don¡¯t have anyone to converse with, knowing the language would benefit much because not knowing is the main thing that causes most beatings. The sun was setting, one of the few moments of the day that I enjoyed.The red desert sky was breath taking, I watched the sun slowly past over the quarry hill that I was under.After sunset I am taken to a wall part of a mountain, not far from where I had my first memories of arriving here.The shackles connected to my feet were chained to a post on the wall with a few feet of slack.Close to me were slaves to the left and right.Some of the children there also do not have a mark as well, which I found strange, it must be given at a certain age.Many of them were hesitant to talk to me, but over time they opened up and slowly were teaching some words.Tonight, the slavers in camp seemed to be having some sort of celebration, even the moldy bread was given without an insult or a kick.Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Working until sun rise to sun set is hard work, so I don¡¯t stay awake for very long once I do have free time.There was a large amount of noise being made when I woke, I was asleep for maybe a couple hours. Slaves were cheering, some were crying in joy.The sky emitted bright colors coming from a moon size comet, it was speeding through the sky at amazing speeds, the trail was a mixture of multiple colors, a flash occurred slightly blinding me, I put my hand in front of my eyes, but the light went through my hands, as if it was coming from multiple angles. Red light pierced my chest, the pain was intense, all the beatings and whipping was nothing compared to that brief moment.After the shock of the pain he looked at the mark on his chest of a red bird, before he can react his vision went black and then he awoke laying on a floor he did not know. After opening my eyes and looking straight down on the unfamiliar surface I was on, I found out that I wasn¡¯t on anything, I was staring at blank space with the extremely large planet right in front of me.I panicked and got up and ran on a ground that does not exist, each step felt squishy as if I was stepping on a few inches of water, the was no air but for some reason I didn¡¯t have to breath. After a few minutes I realized that this must be a dream. Flapping noises came from a distance.Staring off it came in view, a bright red dot far away coming towards me.In the distance it didn¡¯t look big, when it got closer I couldn¡¯t even believe it, it was the size of the whole quarry, it was as if the bird was a mountain itself.The red feathers surrounded by flames, I felt the heat of it but for some reason it felt almost good to me.The bird had big blue eyes it was staring at me, it was so big it was hard to tell. ¡°Wh-wh-wh-what is h-happening?¡± I said silently as I stagger backwards. The bird seemed to look off in the distance and sigh.After a few seconds this behemoth reduced down to a similar size of myself, but changed into a human looking man with red spiky hair, pale skin, feathers designed into normal clothing.One thing that stayed the same is the piercing blue eyes that felt out of place. The bird man snapped his fingers and my head hurt with pain, knowledge of words swarmed my mind. It took a minute to recover, by then I was no longer in space, but on grass, the area was hilly, a calm breeze, sounds of small birds in a few trees nearby, and a perfect blue sky, for some reason I felt like I¡¯ve been here, as if this was home.An out of placed throne was right in front of me, it was made out of small pieces of twigs, same type of material birds build their homes with.The now transformed man was lazily sitting on it. ¡°About time you recovered¡­learning a new language isn¡¯t that hard.¡± He said with an elitist sound to his voice, he looked at me as if I was dirt. ¡°What¡¯s going on this isn¡¯t a dream?¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening?Makes sense since you are so old without a mark, you¡¯re obviously not from this world.I¡¯m a God, the Red Phoenix, and lucky for you I blessed you with my powers.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Shocked with what was happening, I wasn¡¯t used to having a conversation with anyone over the last eight months, this is the most I have conversed since I can remember, and it¡¯s with a God! ¡°I might as well let you in on what¡¯s happening now¡­I give you this mark and then you receive some of my powers, when you gain life essence from the planet you can exchange it for more powers.Eventually one day you can become a Phoenix¡­Kinda.¡± His bored tone didn¡¯t match his stare at me as if the very thought of me being a Phoenix disgusted him. ¡°It¡¯s not very easy though, the location you are at has very little life essence.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a slave, I can¡¯t leave, I¡¯m chained and constantly guarded¡­¡± I know my place in this world, even if I try and resist or escape it will just end in torture and death like the many I¡¯ve seen before. The Phoenix laughed hysterically.His personality seemed to switch instantly.¡°Sorry!Sorry!Hahaha¡­ I¡¯m talking with you in the future as well, just something really funny.¡± He quickly went back to his elitist look and viewed me like I was below him. ¡°Your Human problems do not concern me¡­I will tell you that a Phoenix can never be put in a cage, we fly high¡­and prey on the weak.¡± Confused at what he¡¯s saying, I look down to the dirt in front of me, eye contact is hard, after so long being treated as a slave it¡¯s hard to act what I imagine is normal. ¡°Come here¡­¡± he said, instantly the surrounding changed again and I¡¯m standing in a cave with a wall of flame covering a whole wall next to me, the Phoenix was sitting in his throne again facing the fire wall and he pointed at it, as if he didn¡¯t want to even waste energy talking about it.I stared into the fire and saw unlimited possibilities.I saw the ability to grow wings that are on fire, flying through the sky, fire developing on a sword as I sear people in half with it, also being cut in battle but in a short amount of time my wounds heal as if nothing occurred, and many other things not even combat related, like making weapons, armor, pottery, clothes, and everything you could imagine.The possibilities seem endless. ¡°So now you understand.My power is great, and so can yours.These abilities aren¡¯t given, they are earned, you must trade life essence to receive such rewards.You just happen to have enough for two abilities¡­ you may choose from these.¡± The Phoenix waved his hand at the firewall creating five different screens each one had an image of myself doing different abilities. So, I must choose two, I analyze the abilities and try and figure out what can help me immediately. It was interesting to finally see what I looked like, I could feel the scars on my face before, but I had no way of seeing myself, my left side of my face was very disfigured, it would probably startle most people.My hair was jet black, it looked as though I usually kept it short but over the months it has grown into a ugly shape, I have a large jaw, and thick eyebrows.The lack of food I was receiving really showed in my face, as my bones indented more outward.Whoever I was before, seemed like someone you wouldn¡¯t want to mess with, this current version looked as if someone you wouldn¡¯t want to mess with also, but for the reason that it looks like I might try to eat you. The first ability was the Phoenix¡¯s wings, the image showed me gliding through the sky, the wing span was twice as long as my body, easily scaling mountains.The second one was a leap ability, the video shows myself leaping from about 25 yards away at great speeds towards a bear, flames followed my jump leaving a trail, as I reached the bear the strike was devastating, killing the bear instantly.The third screen was just a sword becoming engulfed in flame, it seemed self-explanatory.The fourth was myself being stabbed and cut all over my body in battle, during the fighting and after, the body was closing the wounds, recovering at an astonishing rate.The last was a screech coming out of my mouth at people running toward me, they quickly rolled on the floor covering their ears as it disoriented them. All five seem extremely useful, there are only two that I can see helping me escape my current predicament. While the screech seems like a way I could immobilize the guards and make a escape, it wouldn¡¯t be long enough for me to get away. The flaming sword is useless now because I have no sword. I strongly considered the leap, it could help me quickly get away then give me enough breathing room to fly off with the wings, but if I was injured during this it¡¯d have no way to treat the injury. ¡°The wings, and the ability to recover fast.¡± I said nervously, it¡¯s foreign to me to request something. ¡°As you wish¡­¡± the Phoenix snapped his fingers again and a wave of pain hit my head as knowledge expanded my mind. I awoke in the grass fields again with the Phoenix standing right over me, I rolled on my back staring right back at him. ¡°Do as you wish mortal¡­ a word of advice, head East, you will encounter something you¡¯ve lost in your past.¡± My sight went black again and I was back at the slave camp, the comet still flying through the night sky, not a moment has passed since he left, hours have gone by with the Phoenix but not even one second seemed to pass in this world. The next day went on as normal, the comet was gone in the sky and I returned outside in the quarry picking up stone and carrying them to the cart.My torn-up shirt had enough fabric to cover the mark on my chest, the guards seemed to care less what my new mark was.One thing was odd, right when I picked up my first rock, it felt much lighter than normal, it was almost as if I could pick up two at a time now.The speed at which I picked it up perked a guard¡¯s attention that has been watching me for months, he knows my strength and knows I couldn¡¯t easily lift such a weight.He followed me until I reached the cart, I tried to nonchalantly walk away after that.A swift kick in the back knocked me down, I knew there was no way for me to hide it.The guard stood close looking at me on the ground, I tried to look weak and pathetic, maybe he¡¯d just walk away. ¡°Number 53! Turn your ass over now!¡± he yelled full knowingly that I didn¡¯t speak his language. I acted like I still didn¡¯t understand not to rouse suspicion.He grabbed his whip out and hit me a few times causing me to bleed on my back ¡°Get the fuck up fifty-three!¡± At that moment I knew it was going to be bad if I didn¡¯t get up, I couldn¡¯t let them see it yet, once they figure out what my mark is, they might know that I can fly.They¡¯d try and keep me grounded. A shout came across the quarry ¡°Hey Rolo!Need your help moving some slaves to town!¡± ¡°God damnit!Why the hell I gotta go?This is bullshit!¡± He grumbled while he walked away from me. Close one When he walked away I stood up making sure my shirt still covered my front, I touched my back where the pain was, feeling the blood, but the wounds were already closed up.I got lucky he was gone, if he saw his rejuvenation ability that would¡¯ve been bad.I moved stone for a few more hours in the heat, the guards were taking a break eating and talking to each other at the tables 100 feet away.If there was a time to get some space and fly off with no one looking it¡¯d be now.I threw a rock onto the cart and shuffled to the far edge of the quarry, no one seemed to notice me so I went around a large stone in the open, so no one can see me, immediately after going around the corner I activated my wings, it was strange because I¡¯ve never used it before but it was quite natural for me to do.In an instant large wings sprouted from my back, the feathers red in color, with hot flames emitting off of it, which I was immune to.I didn¡¯t take too long admiring it, I flew off in great speed going East.I didn¡¯t know what was East, but it felt great to finally be free. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The world seemed so much different this high up, seeing the whole world that I knew in just one minute of flight. After an hour of what seemed like endless dunes, I finally arrived to an arid mountain range, it had trees and brush, some areas bare because of past wild fires. My curiosity got the better of me and I started gliding over the treetops, I knew what these trees were but this was my first time actually seeing them. By the time I start to lose interest my wings all of sudden stop, as I lose control of my wings they slowly start reentering my back. Trying to slow down my pace it was too late I was going too fast, I was not too much higher than the trees when my body free fall hitting the ground. I awoke yelling in pain, I don''t know how long I was out but before I even looked at myself I knew my whole body was mangled. As I try to view myself I couldn''t move my neck, I was stuck looking directly over my left shoulder. I could see some of my body, my left knee was facing the wrong way, my femur bone was sticking out of the skin, the shackles connected to my feet chain broke just leaving the shackles, although my feet were completely shattered. From what I''ve seen and feel it''s probably not too much different for the rest of my body. It didn''t take me long to realize that I''m dead. No way I''ll be able to walk or do anything, and worse part is I''ve seen plenty of large looking animals lurking around while flying by, it¡¯s just a matter of time until they get my scent. As I dwell in self-pity, movement happened. My femur bone was slowly moving inside the opening, it was burning with pain, but it was moving. I watched for about 2 hours when the bone finally went back in place, at the same time my feet were aligning back in place, I was slowly starting to rotate my neck back straight. It was about 8 hours until I was able to sit up, another 4 hours to stand up and take small walks. The rejuvenation ability was slow, but it really was a lifesaver. It was night now; it would not be safe to continue by foot, the plateau I crashed on will be good for the night. Even at night it was still hot enough to where I would not need a fire, I didn¡¯t want to draw any sort of attention as well. After laying up next to a tree that I apparently crashed into, I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep before sunrise. The sound of clawing could be heard and small movements. It didn¡¯t seem far but something was climbing up here, I cautiously viewed around the tree that I was leaned up on. Five large mountain lions were about 100 feet away slowly creeping up behind me. When I saw them it made my mouth gape. They were the size of horses, their steps now sounded heavy. Without a second to even think I took off in a sprint forward toward the edge of the cliff, I tried to bring out my Phoenix wings but nothing happened. I jumped off the edge and rolled down the large hill grunting after each bounce. The mountain lions not far behind. When I reached the bottom even in all the pain I ran in full sprint through the valley, it wouldn¡¯t be long until they reached me. I passed around a corner of a large boulder and hid in a small indent of that boulder, the monsters ran by in hot pursuit on the trail near me. It was just a matter of time until they found me, after that thought I immediately ran the opposite direction they went. About five minutes in the run I saw a small camp of a few men cooking some rats over a fire, it looked like they just woke up recently and were eating breakfast.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I was not planning to approach them since I did not know if they¡®d be hostile, until I heard movement not too far behind me, maybe they could help. I ran toward them and when I came within a reasonable close distance, I shouted. ¡°Hey! Help me! They¡¯re right behind me!¡± Startled they stood up and tensed up with the nearest weapon they can find ¡°You just wait right there, don¡¯t come no closer!¡± I didn¡¯t listen. I kept running full speed and ran right around their camp; a minute went by after I ran when I heard fighting. Deep down I knew it was wrong to drop the monsters off on these people, but it was the only thing I could think to do, I cautiously made my way back over the next five minutes. When I got sight of them from behind cover of a rock, it was a bloodbath. There was body parts of the mountain lions all over the place, two of the men were on the ground, it seems their throats were cut out. The last man was fighting the last Mountain Lion by himself, he had an arm that was barely attached flopping uselessly by his side, his face was slashed by the claws, there was so much blood you couldn¡¯t make out any details of his face, but you could see his left eye dangling out of its socket. The man used a large sword that was obviously meant to be wielded with two hands. He had one monkey looking forearm and hand. The mountain lion leaped at him, he cut off one of the paws but couldn¡¯t power through to the mountain lion¡¯s head, it roared in pain but started biting its way through the mans stomach as he yelled in agony. This is my chance if I ever had one I slowly approach as I saw a spear off to the side that one of the other men used; the monster seemed occupied tormenting this man. It paid no attention to me, as I moved around the corpses, I had a clear shot at its back, with all my strength I slammed it hitting its heart, I heard a light growl and it fell to the side motionless. Slowly after, a large amount of green essence flew through the air and sunk into my skin. The man was still screaming as he was trying to put his insides back into his stomach with his one arm. He soon saw it was futile to do it anymore and looked at me with rage. ¡°It¡¯s all your fault! Why would you enter the mountain lions territory?! Everyone knows to stay away from it!¡± he coughed a few times slowly losing his energy. ¡°Uhhh¡­Sorry.¡± I said unenthusiastically ¡°I swear. I should have killed you right when you ran toward us and let them tear you apart. You piece of shit.¡± He spit. I wonder if he could give me life essence The man was not going to make it, he was slowly dying painfully, and if I were in his position, I would be begging me to kill him to end the pain. Knowing how this guy felt about me I¡¯m sure he doesn¡¯t want me to end it. Therefore, I¡¯ll just have to kill him. As I slowly walked closer to him with the spear, his eyes went wide, he opened his mouth, before sound came out I shoved the spear as hard as I could through his mouth, the shocked look in his eyes was quite enjoyable for me for some reason. Then the shocked eyes turned lifeless, not long after green particles flew at me and sunk into my skin again, this time it was not that much. Chapter 2 There was a brief silence. Everything seemed to stop. My heart was beating rapidly, keeping the spear tip in his throat to make sure that he was for sure dead. I decided to leave the spear stuck in him; there was a brief moment of confusion, as I didn¡¯t know what to do next. I glanced at the corpses all around and then back at the man I just killed. Might as well take their stuff It took a lot of force pushing the mountain lion off the man, but after I was able to grab some valuable looking items. On his side he had a coin bag with about 15 silver coins and 25 copper coins, I didn¡¯t understand the currency here so I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a lot or not. Around his neck he had a shiny silver necklace of a monkey looking animal, in my mind the word gorilla came up. The thing that was the most appealing was the sword he was using, I picked it up and it felt somewhat heavy, it was four feet long and would require two hands to use it properly. The other bodies had less valuable things, and only a few silver and copper on them bringing my total to 18 silver and 35 copper. I did eat the rat they were cooking for breakfast, which was delicious considering I haven¡¯t eaten in over a day, or maybe it was because the slave food was just awful. Other notable things I found was a decent looking brown leather armor set with a gorilla sketching on the front, these guys were caught off guard when the mountain lions came, they didn¡¯t have enough time to get their armor on. I decided to put on the man¡¯s armor since it was better than just wearing the rags I had, the other basic looking leather armors I placed in a large backpack I found. I frowned when I looked at the dead mountain lions, I just honestly didn¡¯t know what to do with the bodies, it felt like a waste. A familiar feeling of heat entered me. Right away I felt my wings come back out, making holes through the new armor I was wearing. A grin appeared on my face naturally, as I felt the flames on the wings. It appears to be only a certain amount of time a day I can use the wings, my guess would be a little over an hour. Not wanting to waste the time I shot into the air with my new loot, flying eastward over the mountain pass. After twenty minutes of flying I saw a small village, it was at the base of the mountain on the other side of where I was at before. The walls of the village looked to be about 8 feet tall and only one entrance in and out at the front. It probably would not be smart to just fly into town, so I stopped about a quarter mile outside town and walked toward the gate. The gate has two guards; both quite bored looking as they let people in and out. After ten minutes of watching, I decided that I might as well try to get through. I walked by at first not making eye contact and just passing by them, they both brought their spears into a cross blocking my entrance. ¡°Show your pass please.¡± The guard on the right said. ¡°I uhhh¡­don¡¯t have¡­¡± The guards at the same time brought their spears back opening the passage. ¡°Sorry sir, I didn¡¯t notice the aspect of the gorilla on your armor, please forgive my insolence.¡± ¡°Sure¡­no problem¡± I said so low it was like a whisper. I walked by and then the guards seemed to relax. Apparently, this gorilla guy was a big deal. I walked in town for a few minutes until I reached what I imagine was the villages market. The road was small and the amount of people inside made it feel quite cramped. As I walked through, I stopped at the first sign that resembled an armor, and entered the shop. There was a ring when I opened the door and a large bald man was behind the counter, he had a grin to match his body size. His mustache is thick and red. He seemed to have a very positive vibe, which is something I could not trust; whenever the slavers got friendly, it was usually a lead up to physical pain. ¡°Welcome to Durden¡¯s! Have a look¡­¡± his eyes locked onto the emblem on the armor I wore, then to my face. ¡°Hey¡­You¡¯re not Lord Balkor, what are you doing in his armor?¡± ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± I replied nonchalantly. The man¡¯s face became a little pale after that, he looked around the shop and was deep in thought. ¡°You kill him?¡± ¡°No of course not, mountain lions got him. I just happened to come by in the aftermath and took what was there.¡± I answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible. ¡°Yeah¡­of course. That makes sense; I don¡¯t feel any strong power from you. You can¡¯t be wearing that around here, ya know what I mean? That guy runs this place with his brother who also is a gorilla aspect, that emblem on your chest will get you killed.¡± I gulped at that statement, the man was more important than I thought, I was lucky that the guards did not recognize that I was someone else. ¡°Can I sell it to you then? I got some other armor as well.¡± ¡°Hell no. I¡¯ll take a look at your other stuff though. What¡¯s your name?¡± It took me a second to think, I didn¡¯t have a name, but saying I don¡¯t have a name felt like the wrong thing to say at this moment so I said the first thing that popped in my headUnauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Fifty-three¡± The man squinted his eyes a bit and opened his mouth slightly like he wanted to say something but decided not to. ¡°I¡¯m Alic Durden and I own this place, I¡¯ll take a look at your stuff, umm¡­Fifty-three.¡± I brought the armor out of my backpack and Alic gave all of it a quick look. ¡°These are some basic stuff, but it sells easy. I can give you a silver each.¡± I nodded, taking note of the prices. ¡°So you really should change what you got on. To be honest with a face like that, it looks like you killed that fucker. I just happen to have some armor for a reasonable price. I¡¯m guessing you are a fighter class?¡± ¡°Fighter class?¡± The man went to the armors in a wooden storage box, and then gave me a long look. ¡°So you¡¯re new to this world then?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been here for about eight months.¡± ¡°What world are you from?¡± ¡°The thing is¡­I don¡¯t remember really anything before.¡± I scratched the back of my head, really feeling slightly embarrassed that I knew almost nothing about how things work here. Alic laughed quite a bit at my words. ¡°No way! I¡¯ve heard that it happens sometimes to people, they lose most of their memories when they enter the portal. Never thought I¡¯d meet one though. So this world you¡¯re in is obviously not yours. I¡¯ve been here for about four years, but from my understanding the first humans here were five years ago.¡± This news shocked me quite a bit, so everyone is from a different world then. What he is saying about the missing memory is true, so it must happen to other people as well. ¡°Anyways, not to be rude, but I have somewhere I gotta go in a bit so I don¡¯t have a lot of time to talk about things, have a look at some of these armors and let me know what you think.¡± The first to catch my eyes was a shiny silver breastplate; it had designs that I did not recognize in it, but there is some appeal to it, a sort of strength that emitted from it. ¡°Ah, one of my best products has your interest? It¡¯s about 15 gold coins.¡± ¡°Ehh¡­¡± I shrugged a bit and shook my head. Alic understood that it was above my price range. ¡°So what kinda budget we working with here?¡± I felt the coin sack on my side as I remembered how much I had, 18 silver and 35 copper from before, but now I have 6 more silvers from the equipment I sold. It seems important that I should keep some silvers after just in case there is other things I¡¯ll need to buy. ¡°Should be about 20 silvers and 35 copper.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Alic put his hand to his chin as he pondered about what to do. ¡°Alright, maybe I can¡¯t get you any mail or plate, but I can get some decent leather armor that will be not as nice as the current set you got going, but at least it won¡¯t cause any issues.¡± The man grabbed a clean looking leather armor set, it was true that it wasn¡¯t as nice as the one I was wearing but it definitely was better than the other pieces I looted. ¡°On top of that I got a cloth shirt and pants you can wear under, it¡¯s a huge improvement compared to the dirty clothes you use now. Also walking around with bare feet is quite strange, I took the size of your feet and I just happen to have some boots you can use. Overall it¡¯ll be¡­17 silver and 20 copper.¡± After a moment of hesitation, I agreed to it and gave him the coins. Alic took my measurements, adjusted the armor, and gave me clothing that will fit, he couldn¡¯t help but mention how skinny and smelly I was. Looking in the mirror with my new attire it came apparent how dirty I am, the dirt and dried blood on my skin was quite disgusting. Wearing such clean armor was an odd sight with me in it, the white linen with the nice smooth leather chest. ¡°You know when you first came in here I thought to myself. Damn he looks like he kills children for fun, you still do of course, but you ended up being a decent guy. I¡¯ll give you some advice before you leave, head to the giant black stone in middle of town and select a class, with that big sword you got I recommend the fighter class, it¡¯s well rounded for melee types. I need to close shop now, but I can talk about the basics later with you. See ya!¡± Walking out the shop with my new equipment, the gorilla marked armor in my backpack. I headed down the crowded street toward the center; wherever you are in town, you could see the stone quite clearly. Distracted for a second by the black stone I ran into a woman. ¡°Oops sorry!¡± I said. ¡°You fucking imbecile! Watch where you¡¯re¡­¡± her brown eyes met mine and there was a brief moment that felt like minutes where she scanned every inch of my face, and her eyes went from anger to the same shocked fear I saw in the man¡¯s eyes I killed. Her skin was darker than mine, and her eyes had a slant to it, the hood over her head showed black hair. After that moment she quickly moved the opposite direction I was going, moving at a very fast pace walk that looked slightly awkward. She¡¯s a strange one I didn¡¯t think too much about her while I made my way to the stone, there were many symbols etched across the big rock. I walked around the rock as I read the signs that someone made describing each one. Fighter: Well-rounded melee fighter that is the best at receiving blows from enemies. A need for every group for adventuring. Weapon and shield style of fighting for most abilities, but there are abilities that complement other fighting styles. Ranger: A ranged fighter that uses bows or crossbows primarily, if you do not use ranged weapons avoid this! The skill set moves are the best for solo adventurers, a skill exists for a beast companion. Skilled at making traps. Thief: The stealthy class, it is useful for groups in detecting traps and disarming traps. Primary weapons are daggers and short swords. Takes a lot of talent to do well. Very weak against monsters by themselves. Can do a devastating amount of damage when behind someone. Mage: A magic caster that focuses on fire and arcane spells. Has ability to make magic contraptions, and travel across the world through portals. The weakest in physical defense. Works well in groups. Uses a staff, known to use a dagger or sword with a magical offhand. Warlock: A magic caster that focuses more on demon minions to fight for the caster, very exceptional with fire and shadow magic. Uses a staff, known to use a dagger or sword with a magical offhand. Shaman: A hybrid of melee, fire, and healing magic. Good with groups, has a very deep connection with nature. Can conjure magical totems to assist groups. Uses blunt type weapons. Cleric: The main healer class, a need for every group for adventuring. Can create magical shields around themselves and other people. Uses blunt type weapons. The signs I read were information that people knew on a basic level, nothing was very detailed. I then thought about how rough it was five years ago when people just had to guess what it was by just looking at the symbols. I considered all the options; Alic was right, a fighter was the best option for me. One thing that stuck out is the classes that can do fire magic, but no other element. It must be that since we have the red mark it only allows us to use fire. That was just a guess though. I walked up to the fighter symbol and pressed my hand on the stone. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Opening my eyes, it was a familiar sight. Standing on the fake ground in space where I first met the Phoenix. A circle of weapons was floating around me in a 20-foot radius. Weapons that stood out immediately were the large polearms, and axes. After a brief look I saw the smaller ones, a gauntlet with spikes, a short sword, duel weapons, about every combination you could imagine was all around me. My eyes locked on one, the large two-handed sword, similar to the one I grabbed from Lord Balkor. I walked toward it and grabbed it by the hilt. In an instant, I was in a large hall inside what appeared to be a castle, around there were people training, people having conversations, and weight exercises. I looked a full 360 around to take in my environment, when I stopped was when I noticed a man a few feet away staring at me. His eyes covered by a white cloth with sweat stains, his skin pale with a blue tint, short brown hair, but with a large wild beard, strange red tattoos all over his bare chest, none of them resembling an aspect. Even though he had a blindfold, it felt like he was glaring at me. Shocked at first, I was about to open my mouth and ask him who he was when he moved his sword pointing the tip near my head. Just like when I learned my Phoenix abilities my head rushed with information, my muscles in my body twitched slightly as well, as I took a knee on the ground. After a few minutes I recovered standing back up noticing I was in a new environment, I was outside in a castle courtyard, with the man the same distance away as before. He motioned me to pick up a sword that was near my feet, as I did he charged at me trying to strike me overhead. In an instant my feet acted and I side stepped at supernatural speeds, dodging the attack effortlessly. He tried the same thing again and I did it going the opposite direction, we continued this for a few minutes. I felt quite exhausted breathing heavily. He had a look of disapproval and stopped. After recovering and steading my breathing the trainer motioned to me if I was ready, I replied this time with a voice to see if he would react. ¡°Before we start can you at least tell me who you are?¡± The man did not even respond as he pointed at two men that appeared out of nowhere a few feet away. They were in pain and bloodied, a sudden energy was inside me, it felt foreign. A second later the trainer made a large grunt as he did a large overhead strike on one of the men, sinking the blade half a foot in between his neck and shoulder, the man died soon after. The trainer pointed at me then pointed at the other injured man. I hesitated. The man sighed and twitched his finger as he changed this man into a severely injured monster. The monster had blue skin and a human like body, its tusks were quite large and had the most hideous face, it stared at me with extreme hate. That¡¯s better As if I¡¯ve done it over thousands of times, I swung the sword overhead with a strong force slicing through the monster¡¯s shoulder, digging deep into his chest, the monster let out a small gasp and fell over and died. The trainer walked closer and slightly punched my shoulder with a small smirk. ¡°That is execute, and the skill before was side step¡­Congratulations Fighter.¡± He said in a surprisingly normal voice. Shortly after, I flashed back in town where the big rock was, not a moment in that time went by. A new burning sensation happened to my body but it wasn¡¯t on my chest or head¡­It was my hand. Inside my palm was a red sword symbol. A few minutes later, I decided it would be best to find out what¡¯s the next step. A smell was in the air of something delicious, similar to what he smelled at the small camp in the mountain. It was coming from a store not far away, as if in a trance, I quickly made my way to the door. * Raven Issers: What the hell is going on! The man she bumped into earlier was no other than the Madman of Stonehelm, the infamous General of King Johannes army turned enemy Warlord. A vicious man she had a few encounters with, but knowing the wit of this man he should have realized who I was just from seeing me, if he so easily spotted me back then, there was no way he didn¡¯t now.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. 15 years ago Raven was in her early twenties, she had an athletic body, an average appearance that caught the eyes of some men, she wasn¡¯t beautiful, but she wasn¡¯t ugly either. The years she trained being an assassin there was a thing she learned that all assassins strived for, the appearance of an ordinary person. The Assassin¡¯s Guild just recently pledged to King Johannes after he took their city, for their own safety and stability it was safer to line with Stonehelm¡¯s expanding empire than to be some sort of resistance, most cities that fell to him quickly adjusted to the new emerging world power. This was Raven¡¯s first mission from King Johannes¡­Infiltrate Azgarth¡¯s camp, report news of movements and activities. This was quite an easy task for Raven; it wasn¡¯t hard for her to blend in with whatever crowd she was working with, whether it be nobles, peasants, or barbarians. She used one of her usual disguises when dealing with brutes, an escort. Being an escort herself wasn¡¯t beneath her, whatever gets the job done gets it done, she actually quite enjoyed it, if she wasn¡¯t so damn good at killing she¡¯d probably do it full time. She arrived at the rebel encampment on a wagon with many other escorts as well, this was a common thing for this camp and coming in with a crowd will help her blend in. When nighttime came, there was a large gathering with a bonfire in the center of camp, men were playing on drums, and alcohol could be smelled in the air. She walked around camp taking note of the important people in this camp as she brushed off the men coming up to her, she told them a simple excuse that a man already payed for her services all night. She finally caught her target coming out of the command tent, the music stopped and everything got quiet. Even though there was no battle in the near future, he had on all his armor and carried his gigantic sword strapped to his back, the sword matched him perfectly, his height and stature made him look like a giant when he stands near an average man. The air around me felt heavy as I stared at him, as if his aura affected gravity itself. He looked quite annoyed at the sudden interest everyone had of him. ¡°Look¡­I wouldn¡¯t have paid for all these fucking whores! This fucking booze! Just so you guys can have a nice quiet night!¡± The men all around were quiet, until a random drunk replied. ¡°I already fucked two of em!¡± A roar of laughter followed and Azgarth had an amused sneer on his face that must substitute as a smile. He turned around to walk back into his tent. Raven figured she might as well find someone with some influence around here and pierce her claws into him gathering all the information she could. She felt an eerie feeling when she glanced back at the tent entrance; Azgarth with his wild eyes was staring right at her. Raven froze, as she didn¡¯t know what to do, all this training and her mind went blank. Soon after, he took aggressive steps heading right toward her. She still couldn¡¯t move, her mouth was gape. When he got close, a back handed strike hit her face with extreme force, she hit the ground hard quickly grabbing her poisoned dagger that was strapped to her thigh under the dirty dress. She threw it upwards aiming for his throat; almost effortlessly, he blocked it with his bracer. How does he have such reflexes? Two of the men grabbed her by her arms pinning her down. He scanned her face as she looked at his, she¡¯ll never forget the face of that monster. His most infamous trait was the extremely large scar over his left side of his face, his wild black hair, piercing dark brown eyes of a predator that surprisingly showed a lot of intelligence, his teeth showed as if they were fangs, they were yellow and some had black coloring. ¡°Let¡¯s take her outside base for some fun¡± his amused sneer returned. He looked at one of the guards behind him and told him to grab the bag on his table and meet him where they were going, the guard nodded and left. The walk away from the camp was short and we did not wait long for the guard to bring the bag. Azgarth looked into the bag, and then looked back at me with his crazy eyes. For the first time in Raven¡¯s life she felt something that she haven¡¯t felt before¡­fear for her life. ¡°I have a task for you¡­Return this item to my dear old friend Johannes and I¡¯ll let you live.¡± As he nonchalantly tossed the bag on the ground, a head of a man rolled out of it. Raven was confused, how did this man see through her so easily? Her curiosity took over even though she had no position to ask. ¡°How¡­How did you¡­know?¡± a hint of defeat in her voice. That annoyed angry look appeared on his face. ¡°I know everyone¡­Underestimation is what gets even the greatest of fighters killed on the battlefield. As one of the top assassins out there you should know that already.¡± He said in a low deep voice. He turned around and head back to the base camp. ¡°Oh, you guys can do what you want with her, just don¡¯t kill her¡­and let her go by tonight.¡± The men had smiles on their faces as they looked at me with lust in their eyes. Current Day Whenever she thought of that night, it made her angry. She has never failed a mission until then, and she was the best. One of the worst parts is when she came back to King Johannes he just laughed when he saw the head in the bag and dismissed me. Watching Azgarth now through the window of the store was quite confusing, he was awkwardly standing in front of the counter eating the food he just bought right in front of the storeowner, instead of taking a seat at a table like a normal person. The owner eventually hinted at him that it¡¯s fucking weird to do that, Azgarth eventually caught on and sat down. What the fuck is going on here? Chapter 4 Chapter 4 I was a bit embarrassed when the shop owner kicked me out of the front counter like that; a few people there were laughing at me and talking about it. I quickly ate the rest of this magnificent thing called a chicken sandwich and left the store. Right when I walked out of the store, I caught the eye of that strange lady I bumped into, she was sitting on a bench across the street, pretending to read a piece of paper while clearly trying to conceal her face. Since she¡¯s stalking me, might as well ask for some advice. I headed straight for her, I noticed a little twitch, and her hands turned into fists as she tore the paper. She had the same look of my slaver Rolo, when I did something wrong, he would have a similar frustrated look. ¡°You did it again! I don¡¯t know how you can find me so easily, but this is the 2nd damn time you did it. You really piss me off Azgarth!¡± she crossed her arms and tensed up with a pouty face. I froze for a brief moment, then kept walking toward her, the name Azgarth sounded so familiar. ¡°Hey do you know me?¡± Her face went blank. ¡°You don¡¯t know? Wait¡­ You¡¯re one of those that lost their memory in the wormhole? Hahaha¡­holy shit, of all people they got you!¡± she held onto her stomach as she laughed hysterically. I frowned for a bit, I have a feeling I¡¯m going to hate this woman. Another side of me is relieved that someone knows me. ¡°So¡­ Since you know me¡­ Can you tell me a bit about myself or something?¡± I felt a bit awkward, because I don¡¯t know her, but she knows quite a bit about me. I don¡¯t like this disadvantage. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± she put her fist to her chin and stared off for a bit. ¡°I got it! I¡¯ll take you to King Johannes, he knows you better than anyone I swear!¡± she analyzed my face when she said King Johannes; it seems she wants to see some sort of a reaction. ¡°That¡¯s great¡­ Where is he at?¡± I pointed my hands in different directions awkwardly. She laughed. ¡°No no no! He¡¯s about five hours north walking distance in a city called Broke Ridge, we can leave now if you¡¯d like!¡± This woman¡¯s extremely upbeat personality really bothers me, I know it¡¯s fake, but she does it so damn well it¡¯s scary. ¡°We can leave now. Wait¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Raven and yours is Azgarth if you didn¡¯t know.¡± I nodded. What an ugly name Azgarth ¡°You have everything?¡± as I pointed at my own backpack. She nodded and tapped her small empty bag on her side. ¡°Can you fly?¡± Her eyebrow perked a bit at the question. We were flying for about five minutes when Raven who I was holding demanded to be brought down to the lake, I didn¡¯t understand the emergency. When we landed, she quickly got her distance from me and had a face of hatred, which I imagine is her true face that she hides from everyone. ¡°Why the fuck you smell so bad?! We¡¯re flying in the air and all I smell is horse shit, get your ass in that water! Try and smell somewhat decent.¡± She grabbed a towel out of her bag that didn¡¯t seem like it would fit and threw it on the ground near my feet, then stormed off and left me there near the lake in the woods. I¡¯ve always smelled bad so the thought never occurred to me that it¡¯s unusual. I stripped my armor and my clothes and got in the water, it was nice and refreshing. I only spent a few minutes scrubbing the dirt off my skin; there is only so much you can clean without soap.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I dried myself with the towel then started putting my clothes back on when I heard a splash behind me in the lake. I turned my head and saw a monster alligator right behind me, it wasn¡¯t a normal sized one, it had to be about 6 times bigger than it, its maw could probably put all of me inside of it. Before it dove at me I activated my side step and dodged it. It turned and surprisingly moved fast toward me, I was about to go side step again and grab my sword on the ground when a shadow appeared on top of it¡¯s head. The shadow revealed Raven, she thrusted down with two daggers that were on fire striking the top of its head, the alligator groaned then died shortly after, life essence came out and went into Raven. ¡°You know this fucker wouldn¡¯t have snuck up on the old Azgarth.¡± She snorted. She then moved her hands around the alligator as if she was looking for something, she then started cutting it open around the middle, where the heart would be, she slid her hand in and grabbed this purple looking crystal about the size of a walnut. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Oh this? It¡¯s a way to get money on this planet, all monsters have this in them, if you go to a town with one of those class rocks then there should be a convertor there as well. You put these crystal things in em and they come out as copper, silver, or gold depending how much you got. This thing should be about 1 gold coin.¡± Interesting, so adventurers must be quite wealthy if they are strong. Another thing is Raven is strong¡­ A little too strong. She is definitely going further than the capabilities a human should have. Even more than me with the animal aspect and class, she¡¯s in a whole other league. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind answering¡­ How did you just do that so easily?¡± She was in thought for a moment as if she wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that question, or if she should. ¡°I¡¯ve ascended a few times, so I¡¯m extremely stronger and faster than someone like you who are what we call zero.¡± ¡°Can you clarify a bit on that?¡± ¡°So to ascend you need to get life essence. You understand that at least right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Now when you get close to ascending you¡¯ll start feeling it in your chest, like you just know if it¡¯s coming soon, maybe within a month time I¡¯d say. So a few things happens when you do ascend, you get new abilities from your animal aspect. You get one for your class one also which I say is more important since most people¡¯s aspect is useless in my opinion, the class one is really who you are, obviously you are a fighter which is I¡¯d say is the most common class, I¡¯m a thief a bit more uncommon I¡¯d say. When you ascend, you also get skills from your class, which is much more beneficial to actual combat, but on top of that if you are a fighter you will become much stronger, as in if you were a mage you¡¯d be able to cast much stronger magic. I can tell your aspect is half way decent, a flying one is very useful compared to lets say a fucking squirrel. Another thing, don¡¯t ask people about their animal aspect, it¡¯s one of those taboo questions to ask here. So we should head out soon, we don¡¯t want to be in this part of the forest at night.¡± We flew off again, it was mostly flat here and trees as far as I can see. After 30 minutes, I saw what looked like a castle in a large clearing of forest, inside the ten foot walls were stone buildings, while outside of the walls were many wooden houses and farms. Raven motioned for me to land outside the gates before we enter. Just like the other town there was a few guards out front but these ones seemed to be much stronger looking. When they saw Raven, they immediately went to attention and saluted as we walked by. The streets were crowded with tired looking people as it looks like everything was closing down for the day, Raven received a few looks from people that recognized her, it seems like she¡¯s somewhat important. We left the outer city interior and entered the inner city wall, we went through the gate and the city guards did the same thing as last time. Everything seemed to be upper class; people wore better clothing, better armor, and had a more pompous posture. It seems like a lot of the inner city people are successful adventurers and merchants. After ten minutes of walking inside the inner city, we finally got to the castle door. A few guards were here as well but in much better gear than the other guards. They moved out of the way of Raven, but one of them looked at me and even though he had a helmet on I saw that familiar look in the eyes¡­Fear. He brought his spear at me at speeds I couldn¡¯t even see, and had it at my throat, the tip slightly breaching the skin which caused me to bleed. ¡°What! What is he doing here!? We must kill him now!¡± the guard yelled with anger, even though it was shaky. ¡°Put your damn spear down Phillip, you¡¯re a royal guard act like it. Azgarth is my guest.¡± Raven said with a slight grin. The man looked hesitant, but he had enough discipline to bring his spear back, he eyed me with disbelief as I entered the castle. We walked down the hallway toward what Raven said was King Johannes war room, which is where he was most of the time apparently. ¡°Why did that guy want to kill me?¡± Raven looked at me then squinted slightly at the wound on my neck that¡¯s now healed. ¡°Believe it or not Azgarth, these people from our world know you, and you could say that you weren¡¯t very well liked. Trust me¡­¡± I shrugged at that, couldn¡¯t really blame him I guess for reacting that way. Raven opened a door up and walked in motioning me to follow. We enter and the circle room with a large table of an unfinished map. A man was moving stone pieces on it before he looked at Raven. A smile was appearing on his face until he turned to me, his smile went away and his green eyes were still, he didn¡¯t move a muscle. This went on for about ten seconds when he cleared his throat. ¡°Azgarth¡­¡± The man looked to be in his late twenties, well-groomed brown hair that was shoulder length, tall, muscular, fair skin, and his face seemed to be perfect. He¡¯s the most charismatic man I¡¯ve ever met. So this is King Johannes. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 King Johannes Windsoar: It¡¯s him, finally after 5 years I¡¯ve found Azgarth. For some reason I don¡¯t feel any hate or resentment for him putting me in this predicament that I am in now. Being stuck in this world has been quite enjoyable. Even though in our home world Runa, I was King of Kings, ruler of the known world. Here I¡¯m in a much less favorable position, but the perks of life here make it much more appealing. The aging process reverts to a much more youthful appearance after a few ascensions, even though I just turned 45 recently, I don¡¯t look a day older than 30. It makes me wonder if we stop dying from old age at a certain point in progression. With Azgarth standing there with a stupid look on his face, I knew instantly he wasn¡¯t who he once was, he must have lost his memory like a few others I have met. Raven who was my spymaster was about to explain. ¡°I understand he lost his memory, Azgarth wouldn¡¯t willingly walk into my castle without an army behind him, trust me¡­Raven step out.¡± She nodded and left the room. Azgarth had an uncomfortable look on his face as I examined him. He¡¯s so weak looking. When I last saw him, he was a middle-aged man, so he wasn¡¯t like in his prime of course like when he was in my army slashing down my foes on the front lines, but he still was a fearsome man before the wormhole. His gaunt features on his face was disturbing, he barely had any body fat, his legs were like twigs. I broke into a smile and walked toward him. ¡°Brother! So glad to have you back finally!¡± I pulled him into a hug. He was stiff, accompanied with a confused face. ¡°I¡¯m your brother?¡± ¡°Of course you are, but not in blood.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Ah, ok. So aren¡¯t we enemies or something?¡± I paused for a moment, in a way we were, but that was very recent and he doesn¡¯t need to know about it. Even if he remembered I betrayed him, Azgarth understood why. In the words of the old Azgarth, ¡®no hard feelings, it¡¯s just business¡¯ I almost let out a chuckle when I thought of how many times he has said that to people he¡¯s about to kill. ¡°No we¡¯ve never been enemies, after the ten year campaign; there was nothing left to conquer. I had issues I guess you can say with the Lords throughout much of the southern kingdoms. My solution was you, to create a boogeyman to keep those disloyal Lords up at night. They needed a reason for my protection. The reason was you and your band of rebels. When I had issues in a certain area with taxes I¡¯d pull my army from the town, they would think they¡¯ve won in a way, like they succeeded in exiting my empire, until you showed up causing chaos, which is what you do best. Once they realize that they need my support to fight you off, I get my taxes and support, then they get my protection, by then you and your band is already solving some other problem for me. I tell you these Lords were so scared of you that they begged me to send my troops; they¡¯d do anything for it. Best part about it is no one suspected that we were in on it, even our own men didn¡¯t know, it was a secret just me and you. I plan on doing something similar here if you would join me again¡­brother.¡± I held my grin doing my best to convince him, I put out a hand for him to shake. Azgarth could be my solution to these humans from other planets doing their own thing, we need to combine our efforts now if we want to compete against the other elements, most these ¡®royals¡¯ don¡¯t believe my reports of seeing them from our scouting missions. However, it is hard to cross into the other borders through the thick forests and mountains flooded with strong monsters. It¡¯s just a matter of time until a path is carved, we¡¯ll have to be ready for them. Azgarth reluctantly reached out and shook my hand. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve got no direction at the moment, if you show me how to do something I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get the hang of it.¡± He said. ¡°Before we do anything yet, you need to get stronger, I can sense someone¡¯s power and you¡¯re a zero at the moment, which is fine. I need to fast track you to ascension 2 for my plans to start working; I have the perfect squad to put you in, for dungeon crawling. It¡¯s the fastest way to progress here. Go to the barracks, Raven will show you and contact Sergeant Major Bartimus. Tell him you are the newest member of Squad 82.¡± Azgarth gave a sort of awkward nod then walked away, he was a bit odd before I suppose, but talking to this empty block felt wrong for some reason. He was once the man who made armies flee just hearing that he was on the opposing force, when they saw his masterwork gold armor on the field they would do all they can to stay away from that part. That¡¯s Azgarth the Madman of Stonehelm that I need, not this fool that couldn¡¯t scare a puppy. I sighed while walking to my desk; I sat down and stretched for a moment. I¡¯m sure if he¡¯s just a little bit like the old Azgarth then he will be good enough I suppose * That went quite well, even though I know he was lying about something. I just couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. Walking to the entrance of the Castle I went by the guards that stopped me before, they looked agitated that I was freely able to do what I want, but I didn¡¯t stick around for them to try anything. Raven was trying to watch me without me knowing again but failed, I don¡¯t know why I can spot her so easily, it¡¯s like my eyes can¡¯t stop analyzing my surrounding. She was on the fourth floor of a building looking at me through the window. She noticed that I caught her again and looked angry. She opened the window enough for her to climb out and gracefully flipped in the air landing softly on the ground, this caused a lot of attention to the people around us. A fall like that would usually break someone¡¯s legs at least. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± Raven mumbled. I followed her a short distance through the streets, the barracks wasn¡¯t very far away. I entered a gate to a large open courtyard full of people training, groups of people were in formations, others being taught where they need to stand in battle. Most of them looked quite clumsy. There was a man sitting on a chair watching all the troops training, he wore quite nice looking plate armor, it seemed he was training quite recently as well because he was sweating. Short blond hair, light skin, and a strong build. He was maybe in his early twenties, but he had a very mature look, he most likely looks young because he has ascended.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The man made eye contact with me and for a small moment he was still. I grabbed my sword on my back as he had a hand on a hilt of one of his. He¡¯s going to strike ¡°Oh stop Bart it! He¡¯s with us now.¡± Raven said casually, as if we weren¡¯t about to fight to the death. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to have this traitor in our midst. Who authorized this?¡± ¡°Oh you know just the man you think is God.¡± Raven had that devious smile she wore when she was toying with people. He glared; it was obvious he wasn¡¯t too fond of her antics. ¡°Also he will be the newest member of Squad 82. They are still tracked to go to the dungeon tomorrow, correct?¡± ¡°Yes¡­They do need a fighter for Team Bravo¡­If this is what King Johannes wants then I suppose sending him with them wouldn¡¯t be bad, they definitely need one more to complete the maximum number of ten people.¡± Bartimus was in conflict with what was transpiring, it was obvious he had ill will toward me, but he couldn¡¯t refuse an order. These type of hardheaded people are the hardest to deal with, but also good if they are receiving your orders. ¡°Squad 82 is over in the far corner of the courtyard now, might as well meet them now, the Squad Leader Polly can give you all the essentials for tomorrow¡­Dismissed.¡± Bartimus said while waving us away. I headed toward the group on the far side when Raven spoke. ¡°Hey! I got some things to do, you got stuff handled right? Well anyways good luck, see ya!¡± She gave my upper arm a punch that almost knocked me down. ¡°Oh sorry! I must not know my own strength!¡± she gave a slight wink with that smile of hers and walked off. The message was clear; she can kill me if she wanted to. A group of four of them were talking when I walked up; they slowly stopped talking when one with mail armor noticed me. ¡°Hey how¡¯s it going?¡± the man also held a spear and shield, he was an average looking man with short brown hair, he held a fake smile when talking to me. ¡°I¡¯m joining Squad 82¡­I was told you were them.¡± After I spoke they all looked at me, as if sizing me up, it wasn¡¯t long until the expressions on their faces turned sour. In a way I don¡¯t blame them, if I was going to be their comrade in battle I¡¯d be slightly upset that I had someone with my obvious physical deficiency. There was one man with a genuine smile with a bow. ¡°Right¡­So it looks like you¡¯re a fighter with that sword. Can you actually use it effectively? It looks heavy.¡± I ignored the obvious rude question. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge? I¡¯m joining Team Bravo.¡± ¡°Well that would be me since I¡¯m the Squad Leader. The name is Sergeant Polly. Who the fuck are you?¡± Polly obviously thought I should give a shit about rank structure since he mentioned his. The question put me in deep thought, I now know this body is named Azgarth, but I¡¯m not Azgarth. Azgarth to me is more like someone I just look like. I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be appropriate to take his name. I must¡¯ve been thinking about this for awhile, because when I looked at everyone they had confused faces, like ¡®does this guy not even know his own name?¡¯ So I said the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Uhh¡­Fifty-three¡­¡± This caused even more confusion. The man with the bow started laughing while Polly just closed his eyes and pinched his nose with his fingers, the other two, a man and a woman both wearing white robes just sighed. ¡°Alright Fifty-three, I don¡¯t know if they give you numbered names on your planet or something, but it¡¯s really strange. I¡¯ve had a long day and I really don¡¯t have time for this shit. Unfortunately, we need you, and without someone out front taking the brunt of the damage, then Bravo won¡¯t survive. You being here makes it so Alpha doesn¡¯t have to babysit this group. There¡¯s a bunk inside the building with a chest, in it are supplies and two bags to put it in, make sure you bring it all, the equipment was originally for a man that was the fighter of this team, but he deserted when he heard the news that we are going to the dungeon. The survival rate for a squad to come back is about 25%. The problem we had was filling the spot, we were prepared to go with nine people, but if you come¡­I¡¯d say it¡¯s better than to have no one at all¡­So welcome to the squad. I¡¯ll see you in the morning at the cave entrance.¡± Polly walked off muttering to himself, leaving me with the other three that made up Team Bravo. ¡°My name¡¯s Edward, but you can call me Ed, I¡¯m the only Ranger of our Squad and also the designated scout. I have a sharpshooting skill that lets me shoot with incredible accuracy for 10 seconds, and I can lay firetraps that explode. My animal aspect is a dog, I only have one ability from it. It¡¯s a passive that works all the time; it gives me a greater sense of smell.¡± He was the man with the genuine smile, he had dark skin and black curly hair with a tall lean body. ¡°I¡¯m Isabelle, the Cleric. Alpha has one as well, but he doesn¡¯t have the shield ability like I do.¡± Isabelle had a mace in her hand as she raised it slightly in my direction; a thin layer of energy outlined my skin. She then attacked my forearm with her mace catching me off guard, the energy on my skin shattered, evaporating in the air. ¡°It¡¯s good for one hit then leaves; people say it¡¯s quite rare to get this ability in the beginning. I even have a light heal ability. My squirrel aspect allows me to climb walls, trees, or whatever fast, and when I activate my tail I can use it to swipe people causing them to fall if they aren¡¯t paying attention, I can¡¯t use it very often though.¡± She said with a slight cockiness in her voice. She had long brown hair, fair skin, a plain face, short, and flat body. Her eyes were a surprisingly beautiful green. ¡°I¡¯m Tom and I¡¯m a Mage. I shoot fireballs and I have ability to snare stuff as well. I have the crow aspect, the ability it gives works for ten minutes; it¡¯s a bit hard to explain to someone as yourself. If I had to sum it up it increases the speed I think, and makes me really good at problem solving¡± Tom¡¯s monotone voice and expression made it clear he didn¡¯t want to be part of this conversation. He was average height with black hair and brown eyes, his skin tone was tan and he had slanted eyes. The group looked at me as if it was my turn. ¡°I have the Fighter class, I got a side step ability that allows me to quickly dodge, also a execute that allows me to kill something that is severely injured. I have a bird aspect that allows me to fly for an hour.¡± I didn¡¯t want to tell them about my regenerative ability, because an instinct told me not to show all the cards I hold to a bunch of strangers, information is power. The vagueness of my aspect seemed to bother Tom, but they all seemed to like that I can fly, it¡¯s quite rare apparently. They showed me where my bunk was, and they left to their own bunks to go to sleep, it was quite late. I asked where Alpha was and they said they left to go to the tavern, which didn¡¯t seem wise, but they must¡¯ve been real certain in their capabilities. I opened my chest to see lots of small vials of red and blue stuff, Ed said the red vial heals you instantly a little and the blue your mana which is the source for magic, he said as a Fighter I have no magic abilities, apparently the aspect abilities don¡¯t run on mana. I won¡¯t need the mana potions, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to bring it to have extras for everyone. There was rope, paper, five canteens, pen, ink, two bags, clothes, and a flint. The flint was somewhat stupid because so many of us have fire abilities. I looked at the small bags and then all the stuff I was supposed to fit in it. They really didn¡¯t think I could fit everything in this did they? I opened up one of them and to my surprise the mouth of the bag kept expanding up to four feet, even though it was only a foot long length I put my arm inside and I almost had my shoulder completely in when I touched the bottom. This must have been some sort of magical bag. I placed the vials neatly inside, closing the bag it still looked empty and weightless. I moved the bag around and then opened it, the vials were still neatly inside. The physical portion of the bag must not affect the contents inside. I then put the rest of the supplies inside; I placed my old backpack inside the chest. Where I¡¯m going I won¡¯t need it. The other small bag I didn¡¯t have anything to put in it, but it will be useful to have on me for extra space. I laid on the bunk and closed my eyes, it was quite possible the most comfortable I¡¯ve ever been, I wasn¡¯t even awake for a minute before I fell asleep.