《Lost Hero》 Prologue Prologue Another boring day. The teacher keeps saying the same things from the past hour, nobody seems to understand, nobody seems to care. And i¡¯m no exception. I would rather go out and enjoy the sun while it¡¯s still bright, fall is coming. I¡¯m not cut out for school I think, I daydream almost all day about the things I could do if I wasn¡¯t stuck in this classroom. Like talking to Sarah. I¡¯m watching her right now and it¡¯s still a wonder to me how she can follow the lesson with a smile on her face. Maybe that¡¯s why i fell in love with her. ¡°Hey Arawn, what¡¯s happening buddy? You¡¯re kind of¡­ glowing?¡± That was Lloyd, he sits next to me in class and may be my only friend. But what¡¯s with him? I¡¯m glowing? Has he lost his mind? As a reflex I still check myself and indeed there is some sort of light coming out of me. It¡¯s very strange and i¡¯m starting to panic a little. I¡¯m watching around me and I notice I¡¯m not the only one. Sarah begins to glow too, then Naelys, the beauty of the class, and someone i don¡¯t really know. When I think we are the only ones, light starts to come out of Lloyd too. I stand up nervously, and start to realise that I¡¯m fading. Now i¡¯m scared for real. I¡¯m really disappearing and it¡¯s going faster by the second. I take a last glance at Sarah who is in the same state. ¡°Sarah!¡± And then nothing. *** A flash of light, cheers of joy, hope is here again. Appearing in the middle of the temple is a human, nude, red hair, dumb face: Lloyd. ¡°Where am I? Who are you? Why am I nude?¡± Lloyd is almost crying as he¡¯s questioning the priest next to him. But the priest is calm and offers him a warm smile as well as a blanket to cover himself. He starts to answer him with a reassuring tone.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°You came to us as we asked the Gods for help. You are an answer to our prayers and hope. Now your destiny is to become the hero of our people and vanquish for eternity the demons spreading in our world. May I ask for your name?¡± ¡°L¡­ Lloyd¡­¡± ¡°Ladies, Gentlemen, I present to you Lloyd our hero!¡± A big clamor spread in the crowd that was waiting for them outside the temple. Lloyd is feeling very small in front of all these people with only a blanket on him and a title of hero which came out of nowhere. ¡°W-What the hell are you saying?¡± ¡°What i¡¯m saying Sir Lloyd, is that you came from another world to save ours!¡± The information is too much to handle and Lloyd faints. *** ¡°And then Lady Sarah, you just have to say ¡®Status¡¯ and you can see your own characteristics.¡± ¡°Okay then here goes nothing! Status!¡± A window appears. ¡°Sooo I¡¯m a healer? Is that it?¡± ¡°It seems so my lady. There are five heroes : the Warrior, the Archer, the Mage, the Outlaw, and the Healer. You, my lady, are the Healer. Though we could only summon 4 heroes, the Exiled, who owned the fifth temple, have been exterminated by the demons along with their temple a few years ago.¡± ¡°Alright, I think I understand the whole situation better now. I thought I would be more of a warrior though, I¡¯m kind of disappointed.¡± ¡°Every class has its own value, you¡¯ll find yours in time¡± ¡°If you say so¡± *** ¡°So I have to kill the demons and their king, and then I can go back to my world?¡± ¡°Yes Sister Naelys, though you can stay if you want.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t sorry. Well then, I have to do it fast if I want to go back home soon, can you lead me to the demons?¡± ¡°Not yet, everything has an order. For now you should meet the other heroes and team up with them, an archer alone can¡¯t do much. We prepared everything for you to go to the city of humans where they will all come, someone will lead you there.¡± ¡°Very well, then let¡¯s do it fast.¡± ¡°Your wishes are orders.¡± Chapter 1 Chapter 1 I have such a headache, what happened? I remember I was bored in class and¡­ oh yeah there was this strange light¡­ wait, didn¡¯t I disappear? Am I dead? I mean, I feel weird but I think I¡¯m still alive. I have this very strange sensation everywhere on my body, and especially around my lower back. But let¡¯s not worry about that for now, I have to open my eyes and see what happened. At first, my vision is blurry but after a few seconds it¡¯s clear again. I¡¯m in the middle of some ruins it seems. I don¡¯t recognize anything. Did the classroom blow up? Is everyone else dead? No, it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s my classroom. But then where am I? I think I¡¯m starting to have a panic attack. My breathing becomes heavy, I close my eyes and take my head in my hands. It feels kind of¡­ fluffy? I reopen my eyes slowly to notice that my hands are covered in black fur! And not just my hands, my whole body! It made me realise that I¡¯m also nude. It¡¯s too much information at the same time. I try to calm myself by breathing slowly. ¡°Everything is alright¡­ Everything is alright¡­.¡± I talk to myself like this a bit and try to apprehend the situation better. Let¡¯s take a look at me, calmly. First, my hands, even if the black fur on the back make them looks like paws. The palms have some fur too, but you can see the skin, i guess i¡¯m not completely like a beast, if you forget the claws¡­ Though when I look at myself, I think someone far away could think that i am one, there¡¯s fur everywhere ! Now that i am accustomed to my new body, i think that taking a look around is the next priority. The only sound i can hear is the chirping of birds so I guess that i¡¯m in the wild or at least, not far from it. When I move around to see better, the strange sensation i felt on my lower back intensify. So I check to be sure it¡¯s nothing wrong, and the answer is no. Or Yes. Or No. Or¡­ I don¡¯t know, anyway, I have a tail. I guess I should have seen it coming. The tail isn¡¯t the most important part. Behind me, someone is lying in the rubble. I run to him to see if he¡¯s alright. He seems to be the same kind as me: a sort of man-beast. I try to wake him up by shaking him a little. ¡°Sir, are you alright? Sir! Hey! Wake up!¡± He doesn¡¯t move an inch. I try to feel if he¡¯s breathing. He¡¯s not. HE¡¯S NOT! What the hell? I just woke up next to a corpse! What is happening? I need answers! Calm down Arawn, calm down. Maybe there is something on him that could help me. I move the body a bit, searching for anything that could explain to me how deep in shit I am. And I also try to keep myself from throwing up while I do that. Mission: success! The man (should I call him a man?) is holding a piece of paper in his hand. I take it from him and start to readUnauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. To the Hero, I should be dead by the time you wake up. You will feel lost and alone, and I¡¯m sorry for that. I used all my remaining life force to summon you to this world. I can only leave you this note to help you in your future adventures, should you survive the jungle out there. My people, and your people now, lost a war against demons and got wiped out as a result. Only a few of us remains, or maybe i¡¯m the only one, I don¡¯t know. We are doomed and you cannot save us. But you can avenge us. Please Hero, I beg you to taint the ground of the demon king¡¯s blood and show the world that one does not kill the Exiled without paying a hefty price. I know you are new to this world and thus, I will try my best to explain the basic knowledge in the few remaining lines I have left. Your current state can be shown simply by saying ¡®Status¡¯. You will then see your race and your class. Your race will be the same as mine, Exiled, and your class should one of the five great Hero: Warrior, Archer, Mage, Outlaw or Healer. Whatever class you have, just know that it can evolved, should you fill some specific conditions. To show the reachable classes from the current one just say ¡®Show Progression¡¯. Every classes have their own specialities so chose wisely before progressing. Also, you will surely learn some skills but I can¡¯t explain all of them so you will have to discover them by yourself. Just say ¡®Skills¡¯ to check what¡¯s available. I know I put you in a very difficult situation and I hope one day you will forgive me. Solomon Ertas Uh? Is this for real? I mean, isn¡¯t that just like a video game? Well it doesn¡¯t hurt to try anyway, I have nothing better to do right now. ¡°Status¡± So it really works. Wow. Honestly I really thought it would do nothing. Well I guess I just have to try the other functions. Wait a minute¡­ I¡¯m an outlaw! What? Am I wanted by the police or something? God I hope not. Let¡¯s not waste time on that, I already know I¡¯m screwed anyway. ¡°Skills¡± Okay so I¡¯m definitely something like a thief or an assassin. Let¡¯s see the possible classes I can progress to now. ¡°Show Progression¡± Okay¡­ Well I think I won¡¯t be able to have a ¡°honest¡± class anyway. And there is a rank system? I didn¡¯t find anything about that in Solomon¡¯s letter. Great. Well then, I think I should go and see if I can find a village or something. And find some clothes, I know I¡¯m furry but I still don¡¯t like being naked. I start to walk toward what seems to be the entrance of the ruins and I shoot into something while not paying attention to my surroundings. It¡¯s a dagger. Well, seems like I got myself my first weapon. I¡¯m finally outside and the only thing I can see all around me is a jungle. Great. Just Great.