I awoke in bed as usual.
I sat straight up and felt an odd sensation in my head...and in my chest.
"Wh-what the hell was that...!?" I said while panting heavily.
For some reason, it felt like something important was missing from me...like I had gone on a long journey but could no longer remember it.
My body felt unusually weak as I looked at my hands.
"I could have sworn...that I had the strangest dream..." I mumbled.
I looked out the window as I slowly felt something fading away and saw the city streets where I grew up.
For some reason, seeing Lorelei right now filled me with a slight anger...and a deep sense of panic...
I felt another surge of pain in my head...
"Ah...what was I...doing? Or...thinking about? I need to find... Who do I need to find? Or what...what am I thinking?"
That's right... I woke up later than normal... Why didn't dad wake me for morning exercises?
I usually trained with my father. Since I was only thirteen years old, I had to become strong like him.
I quickly got out of bed and dressed myself. Then I almost left the room without making my bed.
I froze...feeling like I had done this so many times before...
For some reason, I kept getting a sense of deja vu...and every time I felt it, I had pain in my head.
Eh...if I get scolded, who cares? Everyone will die anyways.
I clutched my chest as I tried to remember what just went through my head. It, too, had disappeared.
My head hurt...so I decided to skip making my bed today.
I mean...what was the point? I would just mess it up later when I came home.
"Yeah...when I get back from the mines, it won't matter... Dad won't be here, anyway..." I said.
I stopped myself.
"What...? Why won't he...be here? Ugh..."
I clutched my head as I felt a piercing pain shoot through it.
I shook my head and decided to go downstairs.
Once I had gotten down, I saw my father sitting on the couch in the living room as usual, polishing his helmet.
"Oh, good morning, Mizik. Sleep well?" My father said.
"No...I had a really bad dream..." I said.
"Hm... What was it about?" He asked.
"I...can't say. I don't remember any of it... I think..."
"That's a bit weird. Well, I hope you feel better soon. I'm planning to take a trip down to the mines and I wanted you to join me. It would be good for you to get a bit of exp if we run into trouble. Although, if you're not doing okay, I can just leave you here," My Father said.
Suddenly, at the mere mention of the mines, my status menu started glitching... It flickered rapidly and turned as red as blood.
...and it scared the shit out of me.
Strange messages appeared.
{StOp It! DoN't LeT hIm Go!!}
{No...MaKe It StOp... I...i CaN't WaTcH iT aGaIn...}
{DaD! dOn'T dIe On Me AgAiN...}
"Umm...Dad?" I said.
"Hmm...yes? Need something?" He asked.
"I don't know why, but my status menu might be broken..."
"Broken? I don't think I've ever heard something like that before..."
"I...don't know... I'm getting-"
Just then, another message appeared.
{STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!}
I immediately froze as I read the message. It felt different, somehow.
{Good...Listen to mE. You dOn'T hAVe a loT of TIME...}
"Umm..."
{Do noT let hIM go To the mInes. He wILl DIE if hE DOes. STOP HIM nO mATTer What!!! and LAStlY, Don't LeT HiM knoW aBout The mESSAges. HE woULDN'T UnderStaNd rIGHt NOw.}
"Ah...nevermind. Looks like it...cleared up..."
I felt a bit guilty about lying to him, but...that last message was ominous.
Things like that didn't just appear on the status menu.
And with the morning I was having, I wasn't sure where my head was at.
"Oh? Well that's good. Do you feel well enough to join me at the mines?" He asked.
"Why...umm... Why do you need to go there?" I asked.
"I thought you knew. Well, Duke Oswald has me doing detective work around Lorelei. There have been strange reports of things happening down there. Tunnels appearing and disappearing, miners going missing...and some people claim to have seen monsters. It's just like what's been going on all over the place for a while."
I suddenly had a horrible feeling of impending doom...
Like I was being crushed alive by terror at the mention of those things...
"Dad. Don't go to the mines," I said.
"Mizik, I'm sorry, but I have a job to do. The Duke only-"
"TO HELL WITH THE DAMN DUKE!!!" I shouted.
My father looked at me in shock.
"Sorry... But just trust me, okay? Please don't go... I have a really bad feeling in my gut...like something horrible is going to happen... Don't make me fight to stop you. I will. I swear I will!" I said as I felt tears in my eyes.
"Okay. Relax, Mizik. I won't go to the mines, okay? I'll just say that something came up. Maybe I could go tomorrow?" He said.
I shook my head.
I didn't even want him to go near the place.
For some reason, I felt like I had seen it all before. Like I could almost picture him dying in my head...
If these messages were trying to tell me something, I needed to listen.
"Then I'll just avoid the mines. But I do need to work, you know. I could always try to take a job from the guild, I suppose... I heard the sewers might have a few goblins living in them..." My Father said.
Then I saw another message.
{The seWerS are ofF LImiTS tOO. Don't go dOWn tHERe!}
"No...we should just stay home..." I said.
"Geez, Mizik... You worry almost as much as your mother did when I went out to do work..."
I felt somewhat guilty at the mention of mom...
Dad seemed to notice and sighed.
"I don't blame you for what happened. I never did. Now stop being upset over it. Also, if I have to stay home today, I don't really know what to do..." My Father said.
"I don't know, either... Maybe you could just read a book or something?" I said.
"Eh...thats a bit...boring. I was hoping to see some action today."
Then I had another message appear. This one was a bit specific.
{Ask aBOUt MaSOn ArguS.}
"Hey, dad... Do you know a guy named Mason Argus?" I asked.
Suddenly, he looked at me strangely and I decided to finally sit down on the chair across from the coffee table.
"Where did you hear that name?" He asked.
"I just..."
"Where?" He said sternly.
"I can't say... It just popped into my head..."
He sighed.
{ASk aBOUt tHe SWord. YoU NEed THe sWoRd.}
Sword? What the hell...? I have a sword!
{no. Ask AbouT VeNgEaNcE...}
"I...want to know about Vengeance," I said.
My father's eyes went wide as soon as I said the name.
"Mizik. What are you talking about?"
I waited for another message. Mainly because I couldn't give him a proper answer.
{ASk HiM tO taKE yoU TO gET tHe swoRd. Do IT.}
"I need you...to take me to get the sword..." I said.
My Father stood up.
"I'm at a loss for words. I have no idea how you know these things. And Mizik, I'm not going to do anything until you tell me how you know about this stuff!"
{TeLL hIm ONly whAT is iMPorTanT.}
"Okay. If you promise to help me, then I'll tell you," I said.
"I don't like entering into agreements like that, but...you are my son. I trust you Mizik. You've always had a good head on your shoulders."
"Please believe me... My status menu is still acting up. I'm getting these weird messages. They said you would die if you went to the mines! And now they're telling me to ask about a sword or something..." I said.
"I see..." My Father said.
He thought for a moment.
"Can I...test something...?" He asked.
{Yes. HE maY.}
"Umm...yes?" I said.
"Okay. Let's see... I want to know if this thing knows about the sword. Tell me about it."
Then a message appeared.
{We gET it FROm MaSoN ArgUS. IT iS the tHIRteentH LeGeNDary SwOrD. veNgEaNCE.}
Now I was even more confused. What was going on here...?
I looked hesitantly at my father.
"I...think it said it was a thirteenth...umm...legendary sword? But aren't there only twelve? It said we get it from Mason Argus. Dad...who is Mason?" I asked.
"A friend. But I guess that confirms something at least. I have one more question before I say anything," my Father said.
"Okay. What is it?" I asked.
"What are you trying to do with my son?" He asked.
{...}
"Umm...hello?" I said aloud.
Then I got a message.
{SAVE EVERYONE.}
"Save...everyone..." I said.
"Very well. I'll trust you. Mizik, listen here. Vengeance is a legendary magic sword that was lost hundreds of years ago. It is the thirteenth and most powerful of them all. Somehow, it fell into the hands of a pawnshop owner in Lorelei. He's an odd one, but a good friend of mine. He collects paperweights. He wanted my personal one in exchange for a large sum of money and that sword he had. He didn't even know what it was, much less its real value, but I told him to hold it," he said.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted you to have it. I thought that if something bad happened to me, you might benefit from at least holding it. Anyway, let's go get Vengeance."
With that, I stood up and we left the house.
* * *
After walking with my Dad for a while, we came to a couple of shops with an alleyway in between them. I followed my father into the back and we entered a small store.
It was filled with strange objects and dimly lit.
Ulysses walked straight up to the counter and rang the bell.
A man walked out from behind the curtains and gave a wide smile.
"Ulysses! It's so good to see you! Have you come to finally give me that wonderful treasure you have!?" The man said.
"Yes, Mason. I need that sword. Please," Ulysses said.
He reached into his satchel and fished around for a bit until he found what he was looking for.
A small emerald paperweight and a folded letter.
Although...
The paperweight looked like it might actually have been made of green glass.
"Excellent! SHEILA!! THE SWORD!" Mason shouted.
Moments later, a huge woman with more muscles than my father walked out from behind the curtain holding a tray with a pouch of gold and a sword.
The sword was in a sheath and was black and blue.
I waited for a bit and suddenly, Mason seemed to notice me.
"Oh? What do we have here?" He said.
"Ah, right... This is my son, Mizik," Ulysses said.
"Wow. He looks just like Karia. Seems like a nice lad," Mason said.
"Y-yeah... Just like Karia," Ulysses said.
"Sorry for mentioning it... Say, have you talked to her family? I still think they deserve to hear from you, Ulysses," Mason said.
Ulysses closed his eyes for a moment and quietly slid the items across the counter.
"Just give me the sword, Mason..." Ulysses said.
"Understood."
Mason passed the sword to Ulysses along with the pouch of gold. Then Ulysses placed the items in his inventory and waved me to follow him.
Mason didn't say a word and simply examined the items he had just received.
* * *
We walked in silence until we got home and both sat down on the couch together.
"Hey, Dad...did mom have family here?" I asked.
He simply nodded.
"Does that thing in your status menu know about them too?" He asked.
{SlEEPing dRAgoN iNn.}
The message suddenly appeared and I repeated it to him.
"Sleeping Dragon Inn...is what it said..."
"Hmm... Maybe we'll visit sometime... If I feel up to it. But for now, I want to check something," he said.
He handed me the sword and I looked at it.
It didn't do anything at all, but...
{VeNgEaNcE!!!}
{My sWoRd!!!}
{OlD fRiEnD...}
{GOod. NOw wE haVe it. TeLl iT To awAKen.}
"Vengeance...awaken," I said.
Then I felt something like a haze wash over my mind.
[You dare order me to awaken? Why?]
I didn't know how to respond...but...
I saw another message.
{I AM hE tHAt slaYS thIne eNemieS. I Am thE vEnGeFuL one. GrANt mE yOUR POWER AnD leT Me haVE VENGEANCE!}
"I am...he that slays thine enemies. I am the vengeful one. Grant me your power and let me have Vengeance," I said.
[Hm. I see. We have work to do.]
I...don't follow...
[In time, you will.]
After hearing the voice in my head, I saw another message appear on my menu.
{LEGENDARY SWORD 'VENGEANCE' WOULD LIKE TO BIND TO YOU. CONTINUE?}
{Y/N}
I quickly selected yes and suddenly the sword felt lighter in my hands.
Then I grabbed the hilt and unsheathed it.
I felt incredible power coursing through me as I held this sword.
Ulysses stared at me in utter amazement.
"By the gods... My son can wield Vengeance!?" He said.
For some strange reason, I felt like I had held this sword before...
It felt so familiar. I was comforted by the curved blade and it was like looking at an old friend.
I was truly at a loss for words...
Then my father smiled.
"Dad?" I said.
"Sorry, Mizik. I was just thinking of something related to home... Don't worry about it..."
"Alright."
I took a moment to look at the sword I held.
It was a black scimitar with blue runes on it. Although I felt like I knew what the runes said.
Regardless, I couldn't actually read them.
And as I examined Vengeance...I heard a piercing screech in my head. It caused me extreme pain and I immediately passed out...