Reputation

Feeling it like a blink, Lucian's eyes saw a red orb, one which he carefully approached with nothing more in his mind than that, being focused entirely on it, enchanted and drawn in by it.

Step after step in the darkness, he was closer to it until eventually he stood right in front of it, being presented by a red swirling orb colored with the shades of fire itself.

Staring at it mindlessly, something appeared in front of him, it was text.

[Do you want to live?]

He looked at it carefully yet mindlessly as his blinks increased in speed and his eyes began to open up from being half shut.

Looking around, he could but wonder where he is and what's going on as he reverted his sight to it and looked at it like he recognized it, yet was unbeknownst to it.

"Yes." his voice echoed in the giant hall of darkness as the orb remained the same but the text changed.

[Do you accept the conditions?]

He looked at it as he raised his eyebrow, wondering what conditions. Lucian couldn't move his legs, he can not do anything else so he turned back towards the floating text in a frame.

"Yes." he said once more.

[Conditions will be fulfilled.]

[Are you sure you want to proceed?]

He looked at it, wondering just what he he is proceeding with, not even recalling his last memories and the ones that he did, they were when the vampire sent him flying in the cage hall, stabbing him in the shoulder.

Quickly looking, he was injury free and sighed, not risking it, not knowing what's even happening as if his memory had gigantic holes in it.

"...Yes."

The orb began to swirl quicker, rotating as it began to expand around him in a circle.

[Welcome to 'The System', user #2 - Lucian... Of Valoria.]

The fire moved onto him instantly before he could even blink.

Following the blink of his eye, he opened his eyes and saw an actual ceiling, unable to move at first as his eyes analyzed the area. It looked familiar, yet different. Way too different.

His head ached quite a bit as he heard someone walking in the room, taking steps. A woman? Yes, a woman. The footsteps weren't heavy so it was either that or a very scrawny man.

"You're awake." he heard a woman's voice to his right as his eyes widened, using his arm as a support as he got up and noticed he was shirtless, but covered up in multiple rags, bandages of a sort.

It was not Anika, not even her house. But yes, he still found himself in this reality. It didn't bother him one bith.

"Woah, careful there, you're still healing.." she moved up closer to him. His vision was a little blurry now, blinking quicker to attempt to see, barely sharpening his eyesight.

"Aeliana? Where am I?" he tried to move to stand up but she stopped him.

"My house.. Be careful there, witcher, you're still not recovered." she spoke as she sat back on the chair and gazed at him.

Thoughts went through his head, especially what she called him "Wait, what do you mean 'witcher'? I'm no witcher."

She was quick to reply in a way of confidence "That's not what Perin and Isolde said when you killed that vampire after going 1 on 1 against it. The entire village is in your favor for that."

More thoughts went through his head, unable to remember much but bits and pieces of the fight. "I'm alive? How... Richard-"

Interrupting his words, she spoke "He's fine, he's fine. Hurt, but alive. You don't have to worry about him, he's tough and may not look like it, but a formidable fighter. Says 'beer mitigates damage'... You don't seem to remember much do you? I can tell you what happened, from all our perspectives combined if you wish. Just don't move a lot, I don't need Anika scolding me for not watching her patient."

Lucian sighed as he laid down and looked at the ceiling "I'm listening."

Aeliana nodded her head as she began to speak.

"Perin and Isolde saw most of your fight, seeing glances of you dodging, getting hurt and striking the vampire through the cracks as Richard laid unconscious, from the beer no doubt.. Eventually, we all stopped to hear the fighting and the screeches from it. After a couple of minutes of silence, Richard walked out with the key in his hand and unlocked the cells one by one with the help of Perin. All of them came to get you and thought you were dead, even your pulse went away for minutes at a time.. Eventually, after hours, we all returned to the village as all of the men carried you in turns and Anika took you to treat you, but there was no room in her house so my brother volunteered first, without hesitation for us to take you in. It's been 3 days since we've returned and you've been given the nickname of witcher."

Processing all of that through his head, Lucian remained to ponder and notice he was unconscious for 3 days and was somehow alive, remembering something from his childhood, from his past, from the world he originates from, being in silence for a few moments.

The silence was disturbed by Aeliana's question of curiousity. "How did you defeat a vampire? The way Richard spoke, you couldn't even hit a wolf and yet you accomplished something a witcher can? I'd like to know more, if you do not mind."

He was in silence, knowing the answer, a version of the answer and a derivation of it. Something that her words manage to tell him, his subconscious and locked away memory.

"I'll tell you. The short answer is that I barely know, the long answer is something much in detail. I know barely anyone here, my 'stories' are very boring, so do you still wish to know?"

"Well, you are the most famous one in the town right now and have a reputation so yeah. And besides, not like I have much friends with interesting tales, so listening from the 'hero' would and might be entertaining."

Lucian gathered his thoughts, intending to begin elaborating it as he pictured it, no.. Rather, he saw it vividly in the ceiling where there is nothing.

"When I was 12, me and 3 other friends went camping to a safe place in the woods as our parents gave us permission. We were large fans of the franchise of wi- Of something... We brought fake swords except for one friend who took it to the next level and amazed us by having a real sword he borrowed from his grandpa.."

He took a moment of pause before continuation. 

"His name was Elias and he took it always seriously.. Anyway, nothing major happened until later down the night when this one friend Sean went to the forest and his screaming was heard. Before me Adam got out of our tents, Elias had already been there. We ran yelling out for Sean's name but when we came across him it was too late.. Elias, using his sword, effortlessly killed a bear. Probably the largest bear I've seen in my life. He was moving like what we all saw and grew up with, like a witcher. Even the look in his eyes when he turned around gave me shivers..."

Lucian was quiet for a few moments. "What happened then?" Aeliana asked.

"Then... After reporting it to our parents, we were never allowed to see each other ever again. Sean's family was devastated but the authorities involved were fascinated by Elias and his capability and skill to slay a bear at just that age. Of course, it wasn't immediately that we couldn't see each other, but after a week when Elias' family moved and Adam never talked to any of us again."

Picturing it all, reliving it all, Lucian continued to speak calmly as he stared up at the ceiling. 

"I asked Elias about it, over and over again.. On how he did it, how he was capable of doing it. And he said that it's not just an imagination, our imaginations... But instead that it was 'locking in' which I tried to understand and ask him further yet not a word of it later. Locking in means to literally lock onto something, to focus on it.. So I picked up a sword afterwards, not for a joke and not for fun at all. I wanted to see what he saw, what he could do so that I could do..."

Listening to him talking, she was more intrigued about him, knowing nothing except that he's allegedly from Valoria which obviously isn't true, so without asking to pry she awaited for a few seconds before he continued.

"I took up classes of swordsmanship, basic classes, just a couple. I meditated, lifted weights, became stronger, built more endurance, stamina, agility... Rolls, evasive maneuvers, strikes... I practiced all in case I was missing something, all like a witcher but still nothing. I have no idea how Elias did it, effortlessly without a scratch too.."

Aeliana noticed that that was the end of the story and had a question, a big one as well as a revelation.