Knock knock knock
Sebastian could hear the faint knocking from his door. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was already morning. The sun had risen so he surmised that it would be early morning yet. He almost forgot where he was, but seeing the table and the small book reminded him that he was in a different world now. As his mind slowly came to realise his situation and his surroundings, he quickly jumped up out of bed, rushing towards the door. He was almost sure that he kept Leo waiting and it was him outside impatiently knocking.
Flinging the door open with force, Sebastian was greeted with a frightened beastkin. She was the inn's proprietress and in charge of everything related to the rooms. Sebastian had a puzzled look and tried to make sense as to why she was in front of him. He was sure that Leo paid for the room in advance and he didn't make any noise that would disturb the other customers let alone the management yesterday.
The innkeeper was abashed by the forceful opening of the door and looked away while stammering - "S-s-sir Leo wa-wanted me to wa-wake you up around th-this time. Excuse me!" She then turned around and ran down the stairs.
Sebastian was still in a state of shock and wondered if he looked too aggressive early in the morning. He then closed the door and looked around the room before seeing his pile of clothes on the bed. It seemed that he felt too warm during the night and removed it in his sleep.
He tried to go over the book again and find if there were specific ways to apologize in this world but he simply couldn't find any.
After he had washed up and put on his clothes again, he heard a knock on his door again. Sebastian slowly got up and walked towards the door before opening it. "Leo, is that you?" He asked almost whispering.
"Yes it's me open up. Please make sure you're fully-clothed this time." It seemed that the ruckus from early morning was already reported. With his head stooped, Sebastian sheepishly opened the door.
"How can I apologize to her? I'm not a pervert or anything like that. I simply thought it was you and I jumped out of bed half asleep." Sebastian was now looking with pleading eyes at Leo. He definitely didn't want to rub people here the wrong way when the only person he knew in this world was only the cool-headed guildmaster who was staring at him intently now.
"First off, it's a good thing that it wasn't me on the other side of the door when you opened it earlier. Secondly, I explained to her on your behalf that you were flustered since it was your first time here in our city. You will still have to explain to her later on when we go down. Before we go, I just want to review anything with you here before anything else. Do you have anything you want to clarify from the book?" Leo was calm and analytical as ever, but Sebastian could sense a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Thank you for that. I promise I'll apologize to her properly. Ah yes, the book doesn't mention about half-elves, why is that?" Sebastian asked while pulling out the chair for Leo to sit down as he sat on the bed as if to indicate that there will be a lot of questions coming up.
"Hmm? Ah this book was written before half races came about. But basically a half-elf is an offspring from a human and an elf. I get some of the distinct positive and negative features from both races. The same also holds true for the other half races. I think it should include there that humans also have another marked feature: they can mate with anything under the sun and have bastards." The last line was said with certain hostility that Sebastian instinctively raised his hands as if to calm Leo down.
"Sorry, it's just that I never knew my father so I take it he ran off when my mother was pregnant and didn't want to bear the brunt of his fornication. He didn't even come back after I was born" Leo looked a bit dejected but was still tense. This was the most tense he had seen Leo in the past two days with him.
"I'm sorry to hear that. It's just that I thought the author intentionally skipped that part. So when was this written then?" Sebastian tried to calmly change the topic to hopefully a better one and get Leo's mind off the scathing topic.
"This was written over a 100 years ago, by the last Forgotten One." Leo mentioned casually as he went back to his poker face, analyzing Sebastian's reactions again.
"The last Forgotten One?" Sebastian repeated, feeling his mind going blank so early in the morning.
"Yes, the previous Forgotten One." Leo replied in a matter-of-fact tone. It was as if he expected Sebastian to know that fact already.
"So what happened to him and where is he? Why did he have to write a book for me? Am I still able to meet him?" Sebastian mouthed off question after question without restraint. As if indicating how comfortable he felt with Leo, he didn't think about holding back on his questions.
Leo sighed a suspiciously long sigh before continuing, "He came here over a hundred years ago. There were a couple of Forgotten Ones before him as well. He probably knew what you went through just yesterday and he wanted to give you something to help ease it a bit. However like I said, he wrote it over a century ago. Some of the information there will be outdated and lacking. It's just a good basic guide which is why I gave it to you. He said it was also written in a way which you would understand. Needless to say, he's already dead by now." Leo also didn't seem to hold back on the amount of information which he was presenting to Sebastian.
Sebastian had to pause and rest chin on his hand, as if to collect his thoughts. "So there were Forgotten Ones before me. Does this mean that there are others that are alive now?"
"I'm afraid not. That person was the last Forgotten One, after that is you. We didn't actually expect Forgotten Ones to come after more than a hundred years. Good thing I still had the book." Leo gestured towards the book. It made sense now that the book was tattered and in bad shape. After all, it had survived a 100 years of wear and tear before making it into his hands.
"Also, why are we called Forgotten Ones? The book doesn't mention anything about that as well." While reading the book from cover to cover last night, he wasn't able to read anything that remotely resembled the term 'Forgotten One'. "Was it also recently coined?" Sebastian was guessing that since a lot of the information was outdated, it could simply be similar to that.
"Yes and No." Leo said while looking intently at Sebastian again, studying his face. "It was recently coined but not by the Forgotten Ones. The term was created by us because the longer you stay here, the more you forget your original world. When the last Forgotten One was at his deathbed, he couldn't remember much about his world anymore. It really seemed that he was born and raised here in Kalonia instead." Leo paused this time, waiting for any reaction from Sebastian.
Sebastian looked down again and pondered for a while. "So does this mean that I will forget where I originally came from and what I used to do there?" He asked in a quiet tone, indicating how unsure he was about the information and how he didn't want to accept it.
"There will be that possibility as you live the rest of your life here. What I would suggest though is to do what the previous Forgotten One did - write your memoirs and experiences in a book and reread them when you have the time. This will preserve your identity and maybe even help serve the next Forgotten One as a guide of sorts."
"I see. You do have a point. The more I learn about this new world to survive, the more I should still keep the knowledge of my previous world recorded. I'll take that into heart, thank you" Sebastian smiled for the first time in the last two days as he looked at Leo with almost sad eyes behind the smile.
Leo heaved out a sigh as he stood up from the chair. "Let's have breakfast downstairs as you explain to the proprietress and we head out for your training afterwards."
Sebastian followed Leo meekly down the stairs and into the small dining hall for the inn. This inn was also run by a dwarf who managed the other side of the operations. He did the repairs, cooking, and general upkeep. The beastkin served quite similarly to a maid: she was in charge of cleaning the rooms, washing the linens, and tidying up the general space.
The food tasted quite unique for Sebastian's taste, he had to remind himself that he was in a new world with new meat and spices for him to appreciate the food. All he could think of was how he would need a lot of energy for the rest of the day especially that day. Leo had told him that he would bring Sebastian to a monastery for training in terms of living in Kalonia and also utilizing mana.
After profusely apologizing to the beastkin regarding the unwanted personal display early in the morning, they then set out for the monastery in the district.
While they were walking towards the monastery building, Leo took the chance to strike up a conversation.
"So can you tell me what you did previously in your word? In terms of work, I mean."
"I was working as a nurse - technically a nurse specialist. Do you know what that is?" Sebastian suddenly realised that in a world of magick, nurses might not be needed or it might mean entirely different.
"I am only familiar with a wet nurse. I genuinely assume you do not mean that." Leo still looked stoic as ever, making Sebastian wonder if that was a joke or if that was his way of saying that he didn't know anything about the topic.
Sighing, Sebastian continued, "as a nurse specialist, I am tasked with treating persons with medical issues on the frontline. I am their first approach before a doctor sees them. I am able to apply medical treatment on a basic level, to stabilise them. I was also tasked with triaging them - that is deciding which medical issues were more pressing and which ones could be placed in a queue." It was Sebastian's turn to look at Leo and observe him closely now. He was checking if Leo understood his over-simplified explanation or if he needed to reiterate certain points.
"That would certainly explain a lot about you." Leo continued to look forward as his stride remained consistent throughout the conversation. "You appear calm at situations, willing to study things first before taking action. The only time you appeared to have been flustered in this world was when you saw the fallen adventurer when you first arrived and tried to bring her back to life then seek help."
Sebastian was unable to answer as his mind wandered back to the dead adventurer he saw and tried in vain to resuscitate. He realised again how Leo was calculating to the point of being disturbing.
"It would be extremely wise then that you receive training from the monastery while you adjust to this world."
"However I would like to point out that the reason why I died in my previous world was because I was working in the field. That's where I think my skills were needed rather than in a building treating routine medical problems. Although it became my demise, I ultimately want to apply my skills in the field if possible."
"I'm sure you have your reasons and I did not have any inclinations whatsoever in trying to change that. You won't be staying there forever. I think you might have a different variation as to what a monastery is in your world. This would all be explained when we go in. We have arrived."
As they were walking and talking, Sebasian didn't realise that they already reached a huge stone building. It seemed to be smaller in height compared to the adventurer's guild, but it was definitely wider, leading him to believe that it was spacious on the inside.
With a grunt, Leo opened the double doors of the monastery as he gestured for Sebastian to come inside as well. Collecting his thoughts, Sebastian took a deep breath as he took a step inside the monastery and gasped.