A World Beyond Regret

LLOYD'S POV

Opening my eyes again, I was met with an unfamiliar wooden ceiling.

"Ouch ouch.. What happened?" I glanced around the strange room as my memory started flooding back into me. "Wait.. where's Janey?"

I began panicking as I fell down from my bed, forcing myself back up and opening the door just to see Aiden on the other side.

"Lloyd? What's wrong?" He asked, while holding a tray of food. 

"Huh? Aiden? What are you doing here? No, more importantly what happened? Where's Janey?"

"Well, take it easy first. Your body is still injured, you know."

I sat back on the bed as Aiden sat on the chair next to my bed, the food tray is on the counter next to me. The room overall was quite empty, with a door to the further end of the room and a few pieces of equipment that I never saw before.

"So, explain." I asked.

"Alright. When we were talking you suddenly collapsed." He explained. "After taking care of the village, I called for help and they brought you here to the capital."

"The Capital?"

"Yeah, Ashel, the capital of Ashelot." He answered. "Oh and Janey is in the other room. I requested some doctors to check up on her condition."

"I see." I glanced back at the tray of food. "Why are you going out of your way to help us? I don't have anything to give you, you know."

"Haha of course. I don't expect anything in return."

"Then why?"

"Isn't that what friends do?"

"Friends? I don't recall us being that close."

"Haha really? I'm hurt~"

"So, what's your real reason?"

"My real reason.. I just honestly think highly of you. If luck wasn't on your side, it would have bitten you and put you in a coma yet you still stood up against a horde of them, doing your best to protect your friend. This is for my own satisfaction as well so don't feel like you are in-debt to me."

"I see. If you ask me, I think you are overestimating me too much. I'm… not that amazing."

 He simply let out a low sigh.

"So, are you gonna eat the food or not?" He asked, glancing at the tray.

"Yeah. How's Janey?"

"Sadly, there has been no sign of her waking up anytime soon. You'll get discharged in a few days so stay put till then."

He bid me farewell afterward. I took the next few days to rest and rebuild my strength. After I was discharged, I immediately went to visit Janey. Her expression was plain as she laid flat down on the bed. I took a seat next to her, observing her face for a moment, holding back my tears. 

"I'll come visit occasionally, Janey. I will find a cure for you no matter what."

Afterwards, I exited the hospital as I saw the bustling city, street vendors were bargaining with a customer, kids were playing catch all around. The buildings were built high up, the sky looking clear with two suns shining brightly. I took a look around the city, checking out a couple of stalls and it seems they use a different currency than the one I was used to.

"I could get used to this peacefulness." I chuckled.

Then suddenly, the area around me had turned dark, the atmosphere shifted and the ground turned muddy, trapping my feet within. 

"What is this?" I said out loud, turning around and seeing nothing but emptiness. "Is somebody there?"

Then I felt a slight tug at my feet. Looking down, I saw Bob. His eyes were pit black with half of his body coming from the muddy ground.

"How could you leave me to die like that..." He said in a creepy voice. "Why didn't you save me?"

"I.." I tried to reply but suddenly, two more figures formed around my feet, tugging it also. 

"You abandon us.." Jay spoke out.

"You didn't call for help.. You didn't even think about helping us at all." Brody said.

I got goosebumps all over me, my whole body was numb and my legs couldn't even budge. Sweats were flowing down, their sorrow and grief continued to weaken me.

"You abandon us. You left us to die. You kill us." their voices said in coordinance. "Are you saying you deserve to live and we don't?"

"No.. Stop it.. They wouldn't say things like this.." I exclaimed, doubting it. 

"Now you want to live a happy life? Deciding to forget all about us and go on with your life?" 

"No.. Stop it.. Please."

"Are you truly happy with yourself? Huh?" 

"No.. Please stop it."

"Are you going to live your life without regrets, after we had done so much for you?"

"Stop it!" I shouted out. The voices were echoing in my head, constantly reminding me and soon everything had gotten quiet and the muddy area around me disappeared along with my friends.

I found myself clutching my chest as sweat ran through my body, my eyes were staring intensely at the old man in front of me. Huh?

The old man fell down, his eyes were fearful. "What did this old man ever do to you?"

"W-wait.. No, I didn't mean to."

People were staring at me, their eyes were judging me carefully as they looked at me with disgust for shouting and lashing out at an old man.

"N-no.. I really didn't mean to-" Then, I saw a silhouette of the doctor who I saw back then, looming behind the old man as he smiled devilishly at me. 

I decided to run for it as I covered my ears, refusing to listen and soon I found myself panting in front of a library. A clock was hung in the middle, ticking slowly as the day passed. It was around 12pm. The building overall was smooth, made out of different types of woods and a big entrance lies in the middle. 

Walking in, I saw rows and rows of bookcases, with a reception to my left.

"What brings you here?" The librarian asked. Her figure was slim, with green for her long hair and eyes. She was sitting down at a desk, her eyes scanning me through and through. "Well?"

"Ah, Uhm. Sorry, I came here to.." My mind began scanning for reasons because it would be embarrassing to just walk out now. "To find a good book to read."

"Oh? I thought you were just a pervert here to lewd at me." She replied. "Well, what book are you interested in?" 

"That was quite a speculation there.." I pointed out. To be fair, I need to know more about the world to survive here. For all I know, if it continues like this, I mind as well end up dead. "What book is the most popular?"

"Hm. There are lots of different genres. Pick one." She continued, her feet were tapping against the floor. 

"Uhm.."

"It seems you are very indecisive. I could recommend one related to magic. You interested?"

Magic.. The same one that I saw Aiden used. So I've really been transported into a world full of magic, huh?

"Yeah. Sure."

"Follow me."

I followed her through the bookcase, some actually caught my interest especially when we went past the history section.

She tiptoed up and carefully picked out a book, handing it over to me. "You can read this. If you need me I'll be up front."

She left afterward, leaving me to my own accord. I quickly found a seat for myself. I could still feel my heart beating from seeing them again. I took a deep breath as I opened the book, carefully looking through the pages.

Magic, a fundamental element in this world's combat system and some even for your daily uses. Every person's mana capacity can vary and is usually determined by the number of rings or circles around your mana core, located on the right side of your chest. 

"Let's see here.." I began reading it. "One's mana capacity can be raised through intense training and it is even more difficult to raise the number of rings your mana core has. If you become strong enough, you can even manifest your own personal magic."

"I see. Magic.. Huh? This still feels unreal but after what happened, there is nothing that would surprise me now." I murmured. "Now begs the question, Do I even have a mana core?"

I spend most of my day looking through multiple books, trying to figure out the whole magic thing. It seems magic isn't something you can just memorize and do it. You have to engrave into your mana core, practise and breakdown each and every step that involves it. This all seems too complicated. Maybe I have to just forget about using magic all together. I'm not even sure I have a mana core.

I put the book back into its place and walked out of the library. The sun was beginning to set as I started walking back.

"Wait.. Aren't I discharged? Where do I even sleep tonight? I don't have any money at all." I sighed, scratching my head as I bump into a broad man. I was knocked back as he stayed unfazed, his figure looming over mine.

"Watch where you are going, kiddo." He said as he walked past me. "I need to make some quick bucks."

Well that was rude. Wait.

"Uhm, may I ask what you are doing?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"What? I'm doing a D-rank quest right now."

"D-rank quest?"

He sighed as he turned around and faced me. "A quest from the adventurer guild. Look here, I'm a D-rank adventurer."

He showed me a card, made of bronze, his face was plastered on it along with his name and rank.

"Darren Laugen." I read it out loud.

"Huh? Yeah that's my name."

Now that I look closer, he has a gigantic axe on his back! How did I not notice? He donned a silver-armor that shone brightly. He has green hair with a thick beard running across his face.

A quest huh? This could be interesting.

"Can you bring me with you? I promise I won't be a bother!" I begged, my hand together as I closed my eyes.

"Huh? Why would I take on a dead weight?"

"Please?" I opened one eye.

"Fine." He let out a loud sigh. "You don't seem to be that knowledgeable. Sign up with the adventurer guild first. Follow me."

My eyes brightened up as I followed him, going into a mid-sized building, with a sign of two swords crossing each other plastered in front of the building. When I stepped into it, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

There were multiple tables all around the place with a register at the end of it. Some were drinking and some were even doing an arm wrestling competition. This is like a fantasy world. Darren brought me to the front desk as he began asking some questions before the lady turned towards me.

She had short blonde hair with bright green eyes and a friendly smile that makes you feel at ease. 

The front desk overall was quite rundown, built by wood. There were stacks of paper and multiple pens lying there. What caught my attention was a big glowing transparent ball of crystal. Even though I barely know anything about this world, I could feel a slight sense of magic leaking out of it.

"Are you here to register as an adventurer?"

"Yeah."

"May I have your name and age? I'll conduct a test for you soon."

"Alright. I'm Lloyd, and I'm 17 years old."

"Hm. Alright, can you place your hand on his magic crystal? It will calculate the rings around your mana core."

"This? Alright." I answered and gently wrapped my hand around the ball of crystal. 

Weird patterns began forming on the crystal as they appeared and reappeared again as a new pattern instead. My eyes were locked on this mesmerizing object as I could feel something in my body reacting to it, making it quite tingly. This went on for quite a while before it glowed bright white, almost blinding me and suddenly, it shattered.

"Huh?" A look of confusion ran across the front desk lady and even Darren. The other adventure looked over to me and the sight of the broken crystal.

"... What?" I said out loud, puzzled.