I stand alone in a village. The village is only ash and ruins by now. Not a single soul in sight. The only signs of people ever being here are dry blood stains and various items strewn about.
I walk down the empty road seeing it all through the slits of my mask. I spot a wagon with furniture and clothes in it. I can imagine it in my head, a family packing their things to leave. Only to die in the maws of monsters.
I continue to walk, now taking off my mask. I can still smell the ash and blood.
I spot this village's warehouse. Its lock is broken and doors are wide open. I can still remember me and my brothers taking everything within it.
A little boy tried to stop us when we were loading it onto our cart. He threw stones at me. They merely bounced off me without even leaving a scratch. But now, I can't even remember his face.
After we left I can only imagine what happened. First, the weaker brigands came by taking anything of value and killing the mayor. Then eventually a group of monsters came in. The villagers probably tried to fight off the monsters, but they never stood a chance.
I walk out of the town looking at it from afar on top of a hill. I counted and found there were about 50 houses. That could mean 50 families.
The worst thing of all is that this village is merely one of many that I have destroyed in my wake. Countless innocent people have died. All because of me.
— 13 years ago —
I don't remember much when I was younger. The farthest back I can remember was when my village was raided in the night. Our sentinel was killed by some form of magic and the brigands were having a field day doing whatever they wanted.
The most vivid thing I remember was when I was in my little family's cottage. Our cottage only had 3 rooms a living room/kitchen and two bedrooms. I was in the living room then which was mostly in disarray with my family's lifeless bodies splayed across the place. At that point, it was only me and the brigand.
I was about 9 years old back then and barely level 6. In contrast, the brigand was a grown man probably at level 25. Of course, going by my luck the brigand was also a sadist.
He grabbed me by the back of my head. With a vice grip, he dragged me over to the fireplace. He then inched my face closer and closer to the fire. The embers flickered off and burned my cheeks. I tried all I could to pull away and flail, but it was futile.
Eventually, he must have gotten bored since he just shoved my whole head into the fire. I'll never forget the feeling of the fire burning and melting away at my face. I kicked and flailed while I heard him laughing.
I was in that fire for a good 15 seconds before I grabbed a burning log. It burned through my hand, but I didn't have a choice. I tried swinging it into his face.
He raised his other arm and blocked it. Although when the log hit his arm some embers sprayed off and into his eyes. He staggered back releasing his grip on my head. The embers burned his eyes blinding him temporarily. He roared out in pain and charged in my general direction.
I dived to the side causing him to barge into the stone mantle of the fireplace instead. After that, he began swinging his fists around aimlessly. All the while my head was still on fire.
Even in this weakened state, it was unlikely I could kill him so instead I sprinted out the door. I could smell my own flesh being roasted and the pain was unbearable. The only thing on my mind was to find water and put out that damn fire!
I ran toward the river close to the village. Once there I plunged in. It was icy cold, but compared to my face it felt like heaven. The fire was finally extinguished, but I would forever be scarred. The log that I picked up also burnt my hand slightly, but it was nothing compared to my face. I just drifted within the water. I was appreciating the relief. Only once I felt myself begin to drown did I swim back up.
The village was now mostly on fire. To me, the brigands drinking, killing, and laughing looked like demons in the night.
I paddled my way over to the side of the river opposite the village and towards the forest. Getting onto land a brigand spotted me. He yelled over "Hey!" Before he ran over until he could see my face.
He stopped and just stared at my now scarred face. He made a disgusted expression and slowly backed away while saying "Uh never mind. you can go." He then walked over to the bridge connecting each side of the river going back to the village.
Back then I never understood why he just let me go. Once I reached another village though I finally realized why.
After that, I ran into the woods running in a direction away from the village. I ran and ran until I stopped by a tree. I sat down and started to catch my breath. No matter how much I panted and wheezed I could not seem to catch my breath.
I spotted a hole in the base of the tree. I was beyond tired and just felt like sleeping. I crawled within it hoping that I would wake up and it would all be a dream. The next day when I woke up I knew for a fact it was not a dream.
In the days that followed I wandered through that forest aimlessly. The forest seemed endless with each tree looking exactly the same.
Every now and then I ran into an animal or small monster. I either bludgeoned it with a rock or ran away.
The hunger was beginning to kick in. I even got desperate enough to eat the raw meat of the animals I killed. It only caused me to throw up, becoming even more hungry and thirsty.
On the third day, I finally found another village. By then I was starving and extremely dehydrated. In my status screen, it stated I had less than 30% of my HP left.
The village itself was small only about 20 houses and I could only spot 3 wheat fields from the forest. I was still a distance away, but there was one house closer to the forest with a fence. It was disconnected and far away from the main village. When I shuffled towards the fence line I spotted a man with a half-eaten loaf of bread in his hand.
When he saw me he flinched and said "Dear god! Is that leprosy or a curse?" The man was mistaking my burn scars for a curse or disease.
He picked up a thick stick and pointed it at me. "Either way don't come closer. Better yet stay on that side of the fence."
I pleaded with him "Please I'm starving. could I just have that piece of bread?" He answered me with "Uh sorry kid I'm hungry too." He then took another bite.
The sight of the only bit of food I had seen in days being eaten sent me into a frenzy. I jumped over the fence and picked up a rock. I then charged at him.
The man yelled out "You crazy bastard!" He then swung the stick at me. Luckily the man did not have a combat class and was not a fighter since he missed with the swing.
I, on the other hand, did not miss. I struck him upside the head with the rock. It made a cracking noise as it collided with his skull. He went down and his head bounced off the ground.
I pounced at the bread that he dropped. As I was digging in I heard a ding in my head, but ignored it as the bread was the only thing that mattered to me at the moment.
[ slain - human - farmer - lvl 19 ]
[ 250 exp ]
Only when I finished eating the bread did I really understand what I did. I just murdered someone.
I began to panic. Many thoughts went through my head 'Now I'm just as bad as those brigands. What if the sentinel finds out? What if the man had a family?'
I was only broken out of my mad rant by the sound of a shriek. I turned to my right to see an older woman holding a hand over her mouth and tears forming in her eyes.
She then turned around and ran towards the village.
'She's going to tell the sentinel!' I yelled in my head.
I quickly jumped back over the fence and ran back into the forest. I decided to hide as I didn't want to run away from the only village I had found in days.
When I got far enough away I climbed up into a tall tree. I was about 7 meters high in the tree, well above eye level. From there I waited and tried to stay still. I waited and waited. I got so bored that I started bird-watching. I then considered coming down, but the thought of being caught and hanged made me stop.
I began to doze off when I heard a twig snap. I held my breath and stayed perfectly still. My eyes darted around looking for what caused the sound.
My eyes settled on the sight of an armored man marching through the woods. He was wearing a full suit of armor, helmet, and all. He was taller than average and had a large frame. The thing that scared me the most was the sword at his side.
He looked side to side as he marched in my direction. So far it didn't seem like he spotted me.
I held my breath while keeping my eyes glued to the man. Eventually, he walked directly below my tree. He stopped for a moment, Looked around, then continued marching until he left my line of sight.
Then 2 dings occurred in my head that nearly made me fall out of the tree.
[ skill - Basic Stealth - skill learned ]
[ class - Sneak Thief - class acquired ]
Staring at the messages I felt conflicted. While I was happy I gained a new skill and my first somewhat combat-oriented class. I was unhappy that my First class was in the thief category.
Once I started thinking about it though, maybe being a thief in my current situation was for the best. Plus there were certainly worse classes out there. I then opened up my status and read through my new class and skill.
[ skill - Basic Stealth - passive - lvl 1 ]
[ Description: Allows the user to blend in better and hide within an environment ]
[ class - Sneak Thief - lvl 0 - (0/100) ]
[ Description: A stealthy thief who specializes in not being found and quick getaways ]
I waited about another 10 minutes before I got down from the tree. I remembered the way the sentinel went. Then I went in the opposite direction. Back towards the village.
I now had a plan in my head about how to move forward. This time I circled around the village using the forest as cover. Then I found a house no one was currently in. I sneaked my way to it and then entered through the open window. From the house, I took some food, a water canteen, and a kitchen knife. Then I sneaked my way back towards the forest.
It somehow went without a hitch. I was ecstatic as I looked at my new items. But then I thought 'That was probably a house for a family. What if they needed this food?' I looked down at the food, but this time in regret and guilt.
'No, I need this food to survive. This was necessary.'
After reassuring myself I went on with the next part of my plan. I continued around the forest until I got to a road connecting to the village. I went down that road to find another village.
From then on I would go from village to village stealing a little here and there while leveling up slowly.
I did that for 5 years, living on the run. I went from level 6 to level 25. I fought small monsters that I came across and ran away from large groups of brigands. Every once in a while though I had to kill innocent people. I never liked doing it, but I thought it was necessary for my survival.
Nothing major happened at that time until I met the two guys that I would consider to be my brothers.