Yotsuya's Arrival

"Hey, Yotsuya, cheer up, we're almost there," Arthur's voice whispered, just audible enough for Yotsuya, who sat beside him, to hear.

"You don't have to tell me. I'm actually content today," Yotsuya replied, as if deflecting attention away from himself. He spoke in his usual monotone voice with the same stoic, emotionless expression.

Externally, he appeared like any seasoned warrior, with a stare always fixed forward, seemingly without a clear goal. But internally, every day for the past six months had been a struggle for him. What would Velios think about this? What would he think about me in my current state? Would he hate me for not being strong enough? Would he resent me? Would he forgive me? Would he ignore me? Would he think I was weak? Worthless, maybe? If he were alive, would he be happy to see me in the state I'm in right now? I can hear it... "Be a little bit more cheerful, Yotsuya. I gave you a second chance at life for a reason; don't waste it." That's exactly what he would have said. And look at me... I'm sorry, Velios... I'm sorry...

"That reminds me, you've been training a lot lately. Has your manaheart changed color?" Arthur's tone remained cheerful despite the weight of responsibility he held. He was the most carefree person Yotsuya knew, but it stung him. It reminded him too much of Velios. "Yeah, it has." Yotsuya didn't feel like conversing further, slowly fading into his inner thoughts, memories replaying. It was too much for Yotsuya. "Hey, Yotsuya, are you okay?" Arthur tapped him on the shoulder, sending an electric shock through Yotsuya's body, causing him to jump as if waking from a nightmare. "You know you can tell me about it, right?" Arthur continued tapping Yotsuya's shoulder, wearing a slight smile before withdrawing his hand, letting it rest by his side. "Nothing you have to worry about, I've just been remembering more stuff lately. I'll try to smile more, okay?" Yotsuya attempted a smile, but it felt forced and oddly unnatural. Despite that, Arthur didn't mind.

"Welcome to the city of Alexandria!" Cheers from the crowd outside grew louder as they continued further into the city. The people were overjoyed to see someone as renowned as Yotsuya appear in the city. Even though he did not hold the same importance to the city as someone like the knight captain, Yotsuya was still a world-famous player, celebrated for his achievements, one being that he was among the few who unlocked magic the fastest, although the details of how had been lost through time. "It seems like you're quite the attraction around here, Yotsuya." Arthur nudged him lightly, going back and forth. "Please, why would they be cheering for me? You're the guild leader, not me." He couldn't help but smile at the unexpected praise. He's not the type of person to actively observe what's happening around the world. "You don't know what they call you?" Arthur spoke casually, as if it was something Yotsuya should have known. "I have a nickname...?" It was unexpected, but Yotsuya hoped it wasn't anything derogatory. "They've begun calling you 'the god of the blades' due to your prowess in swordsmanship. You didn't know?"

Yotsuya had remained quiet for a solid minute. It was unexpected, and Yotsuya didn't even believe it was true. Despite his hesitance, Arthur nodded multiple times while keeping a straight face, assuring him over and over that it was true. "A-a-a god?! They're calling me a god?! Why?!" Yotsuya couldn't even articulate his words properly, most of it sounding like gibberish. Even so, Arthur could still understand what he had said. "Yep, that's right. You might not know it, but your achievements tend to get quite famous. Because of your excellence with the swords, people have begun calling you a 'god' of them." Arthur continued speaking casually, as if Yotsuya should have known about it. "B-but why a god?! Why the high title?!" Yotsuya was becoming increasingly flustered and embarrassed because of the nickname. Instead of it sounding belittling, he felt like it gave him too much praise, the undeserved kind. "Well, it's not like there's any other player that could even hope to come close to matching your level of sword skill. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that you'd win in a tournament where everybody had the same strengths as they did when they were human and the only weapon allowed was the sword. Or would you say that you'd lose?" Arthur continued teasing him just for the sake of it.

"What's all this ruckus? I finally come back to the city, and the people are yet again lined up against the sides of the street. Did that knight order come back or something?" Velios returned, watching the carriages come into the city, having cleared the way forwards. I wonder if they are important. One blonde guy, maybe Scandinavian? The other one has black hair and looks Japanese. Well, they don't look like any person I've met. Let's see, is there anything to do...? Velios had completely disregarded the people sitting inside the carriage he was looking at. The reason he didn't recognize either was that he had never seen or met Arthur before, and regarding Yotsuya, Velios had hammered the idea of Yotsuya being dead so much to the point where even if they looked identical, Velios would just think it was a coincidence. The idea that it might have been Yotsuya didn't even cross his mind, and before giving it further thought, he disappeared, thinking nothing of it.

Yotsuya was sitting by the window of the carriage, looking out at all the people cheering for him. He was turned away from Arthur, annoyed by the teasing as he continued zoning out, returning to the memories he never wanted to forget, even for a moment. He still remembered everything he felt that day. The pain, the hunger, the thirst—he remembered every single sensation from the day when Velios had decided to free him. Everything was crystal clear to him, as if he were reliving those memories but from Velios' perspective, looking down upon himself, it felt weird yet completely natural at the same time. Suddenly, Yotsuya caught sight of something familiar in the corner of his eye. His eyes widened, his focus redirected to what was in front of him. A familiar face, turning around, followed by thick black hair that extended well below shoulder height swaying around as the person turned and slowly disappeared into the dark alleyways. "Veli-" Yotsuya cut his own sentence short. He had accidentally shattered the glass on the carriage by applying pressure onto it. When he looked in the same direction, the figure was gone, leaving no trace of ever being there. 

"Yotsuya! Get yourself together, what are you doing?!" Arthur had grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him backwards towards him. Yotsuya snapped out of his trance-like state to find himself with a face full of shock, not knowing what he had done. As his eyesight focused further, he could see the worried and scared faces of the people on the street just outside the carriage. Yotsuya had been staring out the window before suddenly breaking it, causing the people to jump up in fear, having seen Yotsuya's face from a closer point of view. "Huh?" Even Yotsuya himself was confused over what had happened. His confusion blinded him, making Yotsuya unsure of what he had seen and what he was seeing. Who was that? No, what was that? Has it always been this severe? Was that a hallucination? But it looked so real! No, stop it... There's no way that could have been him. Even if it was him, it was just a hallucination, he died months ago... But, why is this happening more frequently as of now? Augh! This is so infuriating...

Velios continued walking through the narrow streets, built upon layers of stone, with bricks visible from literally anywhere in the city. What did I expect? It's just a city. Compared to the dragon city, there are no monsters here. The humans aren't even that strong here anyways. Isn't there anything to do? I need to get stronger, but at this rate, if I don't continue training, I'll grow weak... I'll lose even more people. I need to- An overwhelming feeling suddenly rushed over Velios. It wasn't the same kind of feeling that he would get from a monster stronger than him; no, it was something completely different. It was an overwhelming amount of stimulation to his sensitive senses. All of the sounds he started hearing were different screams and conversations, yet it sounded like white noise. Velios could feel a scent making its way through his entire body. The smell was similar, and it eventually transferred over to the rest of his body, sending chills throughout. The scent was that of blood, and a lot of it. 

Velios had teleported to what he thought was his destination, but it appeared that he wasn't even remotely close. There was so much of it—the smell, the sensation, the sounds—with Velios' senses heightened to their utmost, it sounded like they could be coming from anywhere around him. But he remembered the place. He had never been there before, but it looked eerily similar to something from his old world. He had only heard the phrase a few times, and his understanding of it was still extremely narrow, considering that the stimulation from all of his senses got in his way of being able to think properly. Even as he tried to dull them, his senses were still many times higher than those of normal, regular humans. The place in which Velios found himself was another part of the underground city spanning across the whole city of Alexandria, the place where he had been kidnapped. It wasn't close to the place, but he knew that he was in the same underground city at least. "This is..." His voice was cold, holding a slight amount of anger but being controlled. The place in which Velios had found himself at was nothing less than an underground red-light district.