PH1RE'S P. O. V
Players of Raize were divided into two groups: those who played for fun and competition, and those who were more focused on uncovering lore.
The game was set in a post-apocalyptic world devoid of life, where the monsters and characters fought were referred to as "Memories," signifying the presence of former inhabitants rather than being real entities.
The lore enthusiasts were referred to as "Scholars" by the rest of the fanbase, and they spent all their time trying to piece together the story of Raize by reading every item, location, and artifact description they could find.
These were the type of people who talked to Memories rather than fought them, and with the vastness of the video game world, they eventually came together to form the "Scholar's Union." Some of the global top 10 players were actually part of the union, although the exact number was unknown.
Unfortunately for the scholars, several factors made gathering the entire timeline difficult. Firstly, the calendar system in the world of Raize was... strange.
The date in Raize is denoted by what day of the month it is, but there are 11 days in a week, each day named after one of the 11 gods: Kosmos, Vitra, Cyra, Mortia, Erthris, Astria, Liora, Oesterius, Atheia, Vysinni, and Castellio.
Annoyingly enough, the 11 months are also named after each god in the same order, ending on the third week whenever the day and the month aligned.
The year, however, is denoted by the number of years of the reign of the Emperor, which is reset at the ascension the next Emperor.
It's annoyingly complex, and I honestly don't understand how they were able to piece all this together; but basically, today is Mortia in the month of Kosmos during the 17th year of Emperor Lucius's rule, which is denoted as 4/1/17.
This made the task of arranging each era according to which Emporer ruled first a real challenge, and that was only for this continent.It's unknown how things ended up the way the world was in the game, but apparently, the rule of Emporer Aldrich was the last before the world ended up in the state it was in the game.
Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't for the small fact that I was reading a book right now which contained information on the current Emperor, Lucius Fallyn, and his son and heir to the throne, Aldrich.
I visibly facepalmed and rubbed my head. "Of course, this happens."'Well, this confirms one thing. There's no way I ended up being sent here by accident, whatever the reason.
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'I was walking through the hallway headed for breakfast, or at least trying to.
Said hallway was currently crowded with children of different ages as they all ran in the same direction. Unfortunately for me, who was headed in a different direction, I ended up being dragged along.
'How many kids live here anyway?'
"Morning, Loid," said Aiden, walking towards me.
"Oh! Morning," I responded back sluggishly.
"Is there a reason why it's so noisy today?" I asked while yawning.
I had woken up early to head to the library—yes, this place had a library. So I expected most people to be asleep, but they seemed to be dead set on trampling me as they ran somewhere.
"The big kids are back from the ritual," said Aiden behind me.
"Wait! If you didn't know that, why are you here?"
"I pretty much went with the flow. So, what's this about a ritual?"
"Oh! Yeah, you have amnesia. Everyone knows about Revelation. At the start of each year, anyone 15 years or older undergoes the ritual. It's how you discover your spell series."
"Sounds familiar," I remarked, remembering the tutorial phase from the game.
"Anyway, it's a pretty big deal."
The gate to the orphanage opened, and some Sisters I didn't recognize followed by some 15-year-olds came in.
The crowd surged forward, and I could barely make out the new arrivals through the throng of excited kids.
"Come on, let's get closer," Aiden said, grabbing my arm and pulling me through the crowd.
Eventually we made our way to the front after a lot of pushing, I looked towards Aiden but he appeared to be distraught for some reason.
I followed him and he appeared to head towards one of the new arrivals,this one appeared to be an Elf.
"Willow! Hey" he shouted as we arrived in front of her, her surprise causing her ears to twitch.
"Aiden! Whose this?" she asked referring to me.
"This is Loid. He's the new kid" said Aiden introducing us.
"Nice to meet you," I said with a small wave.
"Same," she replied, a hint of amusement dancing in her eyes. "So, how much did Claire pay to dump him on you?"
"Wait, seriously?" I sputtered, turning towards Aiden.
"Hehe!" he said as he starting laughing nervously.
"Can I at least get a cut"
"Sorry, I already gave Maya my cut. And she does not play with money"
'Now I feel even worse'
"Don't take to heart, it happens to all of us" said Willow.
"Willow! Where's Adrian, I can't find him" he inquired looking around before his eyes settled on Willow.
"Aiden, your brother. Well he, kind of-"
"Abandoned you" said someone behind Willow.
"Shut up Ethan, that's not what happened" growled Willow.
"Might as well be" said the boy who I recorded as Ethan.
"Don't you have someone else you need to bother"
"You're right, I haven't had any cookies in three days" he said before suddenly vanishing.
"Why did he have to get the stealth series" she grumbled.
"Anyway, your brother. He was chosen by cross and swords, can you believe it. Unfortunately it meant he couldn't come back home, but don't worry he says he'll be waiting for you in the capital when you do your Revelation. So, you don't have to feel bad. Please"
I took a look at Aiden's face not sure what to expect but I was still surprised at how big the smile that slowly formed on his face was.
"Why didn't you just say so, I'm so proud of him. He really did it huh! I can't wait for my turn, just 6 more years"
"Of course" said Willow under her breath as a soft smile appeared on her face.
"Hey, why don't I show you both what my spell series can do"
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We were all in watching Willow and Ethan in the courtyard, even the headmistress was there.
"Is there a particular reason why I got dragged into this" Asked Ethan while stretching.
"Not really, I just feel like beating you up" claimed Willow with her arms crossed.
"Careful what you wish for"
The two of them stood in the center of the ring, this one was different from the indoor ring. This one might as well have been a field with how large it was and had had a white circle around the two of them.
After completing three rotations around the circle and each other they both jumped towards the other. They were extremely fast but Willow was faster and threw a punch towards Ethan which he successfully dodged, unfortunately he couldn't dodge the kick she sent towards his midsection.
The kick sent him reeling back which left him open for a follow up punch to the face but putting up his arm he successfully blocking.
Due to her positioning however he simply moved his knee towards her abdomen as she jumped back, he then extended his leg successfully kicking her away.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed holding his side.
"I can't believe you were going for my face, have you no shame" he complained pointing at his face.
"No, not really" she deadpanned.
"Well, good. Neither do I" he said before vanishing in a white mist.
'He's severely abusing that presence concealment'
Thanks to the sound being emitted by his footsteps Willow was able to track him. However, she wasn't able to tell what movements he was making which was why the sudden kick caught her off guard as well as the punch to the face, luckily she was able to recover and jump away.
"You bastard"
"I mean, it's only fair I hit you. It's your fault you didn't dodge" said Ethan as he made himself visible again.
Getting into a running stance Willow took a deep breath with Ethan in her sights, her body seemed to be building up an abundance of white mist which I recognized as mana.
"An elf with the brawler series?" I accidentally blurted out in shock but then decided to calm down when I realized this wasn't the game and things might be different here.
With one step she took off towards Ethan, 'shit' exclaimed Ethan jumping out of the way but not fast enough as she made contact with him.
Thankfully, she seemed to be having difficulty controlling her new speed as she went past him even after grabbing him. However even this slight contact pushed him back and as he tried to get balanced again she came at him again landing a punch on his face and sending him flying.
Landing next to the border of the circle he layed there on the floor before slowly crawling out of the circle.
"No more" he said breathing heavily.
An applause was started by the headmistress which was imitated by everyone else unti the entire room was clapping.
"Wonderful, you both will make excellent adventurers or soldiers in the future. This calls for a celebration, everyone to the dining hall" said the headmistress as everyone slowly began to leave the courtyard.
"Aren't you coming" Asked Willow
"I'm hurt right now"
"I didn't hit you that hard"
"I meant my pride" he complained
"I'm surprised you had any" she remarked as she left him on the floor.
"Come on Loid, aren't you coming"
"Yeah!" I said, leaving while watching Ethan.
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We made our way to the dining hall, the excitement from the sparring match still buzzing in the air. The dining hall was filled with long tables and benches, and soon the aroma of food began to fill the space. It looked like the celebration was going to be a feast.
The headmistress began a speech about how proud she was of the children and looked forward to seeing what we could achieve in the future.
Orphanages like this are all around the world from the information I gathered, their job is to train orphaned children into future soldiers, adventurers or government officials. It's why they teach both combat and regular studies which makes a lot of sense but apparently the orphanage is extra successful and therefore extra special because of the headmistress.
She eventually finished her speech and we were allowed to start eating, which the children didn't need to be told twice to listen to.
"So, what happens after Revelation" I asked Aiden while he was in the middle of stuffing his face.
"Mmm, yeah, so like, if you're really lucky, and you, you know, pull a super rare or munch crazy powerful spell series, then boom! You'll probably get snatched up by one of those big-shot guilds back in the capital. Can you imagine that, huh?" he said while eating.
"If you aren't you'll be able to stay here till you're 16 and then you're given the choice of working with a guild or joining the military" added Maya beside him.
"Then there's also going into politics or diplomacy. So there's no shortage of options" she finished.
"Interesting"
"You're going to aim for a guild too right Loid" asked Aiden.
"I almost died like a few days ago and I have amnesia, gimme some time"
"Aww!"
"What about you Maya" I asked
"I go wherever there's money, I haven't made up my mind"
"Well, I have. I'm joining my brother at cross and swords"
"Is it that big a big deal, the headmistress kept talking about it"
"Yep! Cross and Swords are the best guild in the country. Being chosen means he must have gotten something incredible. Well, I shouldn't be surprised; it's Aidran."
"Yeah! He's the best"
I decided to remain quiet for the rest of dinner and simply work out my thoughts.
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My stomach ached from overeating causing me to experience a brief moment of self hatred for to my lack of self control.
I however didn't expect someone to be inside my room and looking through my stuff, I couldn't see who they were without light though.
"Um! Hello, what are you doing here" I asked as polite as I could make it in my current situation.
"Cookies" the person said.
"Excuse me"
"Where are the cookies" the voice said as they stepped back from my stuff.
As the moonlight illuminated his face I finally recognized him as Ethan.
"What are you doing in my room!" I shouted.
"Where are the cookies new kid" he asked again as it finally clicked to me.
"Oh! Those. Their gone"
"You ate them ALL" he screamed.
"No, I didn't eat a single one. They finished it all and left me to clean the crumbs"
"Just great" he signed, trying to leave.
"Hey, before you go," I said, blocking his path. "Would you mind emptying your pockets?"
"Why" he asked with a tone that made it seem like I had said a word he had never heard before.
"Just a feeling" I said smiling back at him.
He smiled while removing a pouch from his pocket. It was filled with coins. He also showed the other pocket, which was empty.
"There, can I leave now"
"Shoes next" I told him to which he gave me a blank stare which I returned with a smile.
He emptied his shoes and coins fell from those as well. 'I'll have to wash those later,' I thought.
"There, are you happy now"
"Your hairs pretty full" I told him to which he simply deadpanned.
"Are you sure, you're nine years old" he asked.
""As far as I remember, although I have amnesia, so don't take my word for it."
He ruffled his hair as coins fell to the ground for a good number of seconds until they finally stopped.
"There, now can I leave"
"Yes, you can leave" I said as I left his path.
"You know what, I like you. You're smart" he said as he left.
I closed the door behind him before heading to my bed and bringing out a picture from my desk, it was of a 3 year old boy and his parents.
Heading outside I found my way to a tree and dug for a while under the ground before putting the picture and covering it. I did a short prayer and then left the tree.
"Rest in peace"