New Identity: Celebrating A Strange Hero

Uravis stood in front of the mirror, in the bathroom for what felt like hours, staring at his reflection with a mix of confusion, curiosity and worry. Drakonis' emerald green eyes stared back at him, blazing with intensity like a flame.

Then a thought came to him, "As Drakonis, I could move around and even leave this village without telling anyone who I really was," he said as he pushed his fingers into Drakonis' light brown hair, that one would have mistaken for blonde.

He grinned, different scenarios playing in his head as he thought of the powers Drakonis had, he knew he was not the strongest avatar he owned, but Drakonis had potential.

He was proud of himself, his skills in the gaming world was not wasted after all. With a skill like his, there was a thousand possibilities to choose from. But he made a mental note to stay away from avatars of the opposite gender.

Uravis sighed, looking deeper into his own eyes, he knew he could not share his secret with Claire. Not yet, at least. She was kind to him and still remained kind, took him in when he had nowhere else to go, but he could not bring himself to trust her. Especially after what happened with Arkeia.

He thought about his situation, about how he and Drakonis were both strangers in the world he found himself. He had no idea of what dangers lay ahead, or who might be searching for him.

Then he thought of exploring the village, knowing a little about the place he found himself in, could be of some help, and he could be fortunate enough to find someone who knew magic.

Uravis transformed back to his human form, after taking a deep breath. He stared at his face and raised his hands to his chest.

"I might not have a way to go back home yet, but at least if I could learn a thing or two about magic and how to use some weapons, it would help me around here. At least this is a break off gaming for a while," he assured himself, giving him another reason not to give up.

Not like he was one to give up anyways.

He left the room, trying to act normal, but his heart was beating fast. He was overly excited, he had access to game characters and if they were actually as strong as they were in the game, he could be unstoppable.

He found Claire in the kitchen cooking, the aroma of roasting vegetables and meat filled the air, making him salivate, but he quickly pushed his hunger aside. 'Food can wait,' he told himself, referring to his stomach.

"Hey Claire," he said, trying to sound casual and not make anything weird. "When did you get back?"

She looked up, beads of sweat on her forehead, "Some minutes ago, I thought you were asleep?" she asked as she off the sweat with the back of her hand.

"I..I was but I didn't actually sleep that deep,"he replied, scolding himself internally for loosing track of time. "I think I am going to head out for a bit."

Her brows curved, curiosity replacing her exhaustion. "Where are you going, Uravis?"

He shrugged, "Just for a walk, I need some fresh air and also to get familiar with the village."

Claire nodded, but her eyes narrowed slightly. "Please be careful, It's getting dark. And don't forget to wear a cloak. It is really chilling outside."

He smiled and moved closer to her, he helped her take off the apron, then he put it in the sink. "I will, but you need to rest, You still have hours of time before dinner and you are exhausted."

She chuckled softly and mirrored his smile, "I will, just take care of yourself out there," she said repeating the same thing again.

Uravis could see the worry in her eyes, like that of a mother about to loose her child to the arms of college or another woman. He felt guilty for lying to her, but he knew he had to protect himself and maybe protect her as well.

He left the house, strolling into the cold night, luckily he took her advice and wore a sweater and cloak. The village was quiet, the only sound he heard was the distant howling of wolves, birds chirping and the crackling of burning wood from the houses.

Unfortunately, Uravis' leisurely stroll through the village was shattered by the sound of shattering glass and panicked screams. He rushed towards the commotion, knowing the dangers attached to the direction he was heading to.

He approached an inn. There he saw a group of bandits, their swords drawn as they threatened innocent people and collected their belongings.

Without hesitation, he slipped into a corner where no one would see him and transformed into Drakonis', his body changing from the bottom to the top gradually.

His sword materialized in his hand, its blade having a faint green glow. His mind was racing with a plan, even though he had no idea what he would do when the plan worked.

He just felt that he had to help the innocent people.

He made his way to the entrance of the Inn, he kept the number of the bandits in his head..about seven of them, and raised his sword, drawing attention to him.

"You bastards better stop and give these innocent people back what you took from them," he said, his voice raised with a challenging tone. His eyes focused mainly on the man who sat on the counter, playing with a bag of jewels.

"And who might you be?" The man inquired as he placed the bag beside him, he drew out his sword as well, expecting Uravis to show fear. But as Drakonis and trusting his intuition, he was unstoppable.

'It's just a game, Beat them and leave,' he took in a deep breath and smiled, "I am just a passer-by here, Leave now or I will drive you out by force."

The man frowned deeply, his grip around his sword tightening. No one in the village dared challenge him, he had always done as he wanted, without anything happening.

But the day he decides to search every home, a stranger picks that day to arrive and ruin his plans.

The bandits paused what they were doing and turned to Uravis, their eyes visible with anger, especially their leader.

Without hesitating, he charged into battle, his sword flashing in the warm light the bulbs, at the corners of the Inn,produced. The villagers watched in awe as he fought, effortlessly and swiftly. It was something they had never seen.

They found it hard to keep up with his movements, the speed at which he attached was unmatchable, even Uravis was also surprised by how easy he moved as Drakonis.

With each strike, Uravis felt him power grow, exactly the way his avatar's stats grew.

But thee battle ended quicker than he anticipated, the bandits all layed on the ground half dead and beaten up, Uravis even doubted if he was the one who caused them so much damage. 'Weaklings,' He thought when the last of them dropped to the ground.

The only one left was their leader, his eyes filled with anger, he was no match for Drakonis, no one needed to tell him that. But he did not want to leave his loot.

As he reached for the bag of gold and silver jewels, Drakonis sword was held against his throat, the cold metal sending a shiver down his spine. The feel of death knocking at his door.

"Relax Old man," Uravis began, still keeping a safe distance between the man and his sword because anything could happen. "I will let you off this once. But the next time you return here, I don't think you will be returning home with your fingers or your limbs at all. Understand?"

The man nodded frantically and pushed the bags away from him. He stepped away from Drakonis, then he kicked one of his men in the side, "Get up you failures, we are done with this village," He uttered angrily and scampered out of the Inn through the back.

His men followed, dragging their beaten up bodies away, with regrets and anger.

Uravis sighed, it was all over and he was famished. He knew Claire would be worried about him and he wanted to avoid anything else.

Unfortunately as he turned around, he was met with a crowd staring at him with joy in their eyes.

Without warning, Uravis was lifted in the air and taken out of the Inn, the villagers began jubilating. Causing those who were in their houses to come out

They celebrated their new hero, even if he was a stranger, singing in a native language he didn't understand. But he was uncomfortable with the attention he was attracting. He had to switch back fast.

Then an old man stepped out of the crowd, his back hunched over with a staff in his hands that he used to support himself, wrinkled skin, with hazel eyes and grey hair that held years of wisdom and experience.

"For over a year now those bandits took from us and treated our women like slaves to satisfy their lust and neverending hunger for our valuables. But today, the universe decided to bless us with a new hero, Our saviour!"

He announced and the villagers rejoiced, holding up a surprise Uravis but proud Drakonis, their new hero.

'This skill is amazing.'