Pictures of his parents flashed before Iain's eyes.
Them taking care of him during his childhood.
His father as he praised his talent.
His mother making the most delicious food for him and Lilly.
His mother as she thought Lilly how to heal his own injured knee.
But sadly those memories soon turned darker.
Their parents had felt their death approaching.
Only later did he realize that they prepared Iain and Lilly for this day.
Until they suddenly passed away.
From then on Iain and Lilly had to live by themselves.
They didn't lead a bad life, but a grey veil would always shroud their house.
Everything seemed normal until this fateful day.
When death and monsters haunted their village, their parents miraculously returned. The pair of siblings weren't even given time to question the strange happenings when their minds turned dark.
As he remembered the last look on his father's face, Iain suddenly woke up with a jolt.
"Mom, Dad!"
The young man panted heavily as his gaze inspected the unfamiliar surroundings. Also waking up from Iain's shout Lilly instinctively reached for her satchel only to realize that she had dropped it.
The redheaded woman's intelligent eyes scrutinized the room they were in. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind as she grew increasingly confused by the unknown items decorating the shelves.
"Any idea what happened to us?"
Lilly's didn't really expect an answer to her question. She only tried to get Iain's mind on track. Having done this a few times before, it naturally worked.
Iain and Lilly looked each other in their eyes before they carefully stood up.
Since Lilly already had some experience with magic, her gaze was soon caught by the platform they stood on. She recognized the dense lines mysteriously covering the metal to be runes.
Unfortunately, she quickly grew dizzy when she tried to analyze their purpose.
Suddenly both siblings' bodies turned stiff. Voices had miraculously appeared directly in their minds.
[You are awake Lilly/Iain.]
Happiness shone from the children's eyes. Lilly naturally recognized her mother's voice while Iain was delighted to hear his father's.
"Mom?"
"Dad? Where are you? What is happening?"
Identical words answered their questions.
[Communication is hard. Your soul is too weak. Grow stronger. We will help you.]
As if to prove those statements, Lilly and Iain already felt exhaustion clouding their minds.
Ignoring their state however, they naturally tried to get more information:
"But… how do we get stronger? How do we know if our soul is growing?"
[We prepared all you need. For now, think of your status.]
As soon as the siblings followed their parents' instructions, a wave of information assaulted their brain as a peculiar energy traveled through their body.
[Vault connection:
Name: Iain
LVL: tbd
Attributes:
STR: 12 VIT: 12 END:14 DEF:12 PER:10
AGI: 7 INT: 6 MCT:10 MGP:15 MND:15
Skills:
Basic:
Basic Smithing Lv. 8; (Ex)Hammer wielding Lv. 6 ]
[Vault connection:
Name: Lilly
LVL: tbd
Attributes:
STR: 8 VIT: 10 END:12 DEF:7 PER:12
AGI: 9 INT: 18 MCT:14 MGP:16 MND:17
Skills:
Basic:
(Ex)Healing Magic Lv. 5]
Those strange words overwhelmed the pair of siblings. This information about themselves was seemingly displayed for them by their parents.
Not giving the siblings any respite to wrap their head around the happenings, extremely pure energy suddenly spread throughout their bodies.
Iain and Lilly felt like a mysterious connection to somewhere in the universe was established without their doing, filling them with a warm and comfortable feeling. Before they could analyze the information, they had just received, it already changed again as their entire beings felt elevated.
[Vault connection:
Name: Iain
LVL: 8
Attributes:
STR: 57 VIT: 29 END:53 DEF:13 PER:27
AGI: 11 INT: 7 MCT:11 MGP:16 MND:16
Skills:
Basic:
Basic Smithing Lv. 8; (Ex)Hammer wielding Lv. 6 ]
[Vault connection:
Name: Lilly
LVL: 5
Attributes:
STR: 9 VIT: 21 END:13 DEF:8 PER:23
AGI: 10 INT: 30 MCT:25 MGP:37 MND:20
Skills:
Basic:
(Ex)Healing Magic Lv. 5]
After a few minutes Iain and Lilly regained their clarity. However, their confusion only kept growing.
Now that they realized they were led to this place by their parents, Lilly's curiosity overtook her vigilance.
"Mom? What just happened? Was this magic? It felt so much stronger than everything we were doing on Earth. And the mana is so dense here, I can almost taste it."
Instead of receiving an answer from the voice in her head, some noise reached her ears from a device on the desk.
Iain vigilantly observed the metal disk from which a coughing could be heard.
"Hmph. Greetings to you, Iain and Lilly.
I am the former owner of this home. If you listen to this message, I will already be gone.
Your parents thus instructed me to give you some basic information you will need.
Welcome to planet Hex.
This planet belongs to the Luminous Empire, which is protected by the God of Light. Your highest priority to keep yourself safe will be to never disrespect the God of Light.
However, to ensure your safety in this universe on the long run, you should try to build up your strength.
By now you should already have established your vault connection. The vault is a miraculous artifact which connects itself to every being with a suitable bloodline. Its use is to fasten your training and reward the diligent with a faster growth speed.
Different skills will be rewarded with different growth directions. Iain's smithing for example should lead him on a physical path, while Lilly's healing magic will allow her to improve her mana control.
I have arranged a few trustworthy adventurers who will take you to train for the next two months from tomorrow on. I hope this time will help you get used to your new circumstances.
Additionally, I have done my best to let your neighbors think you lived here since a young age. So, just nod along if they talk about something in the past.
Now grab those two identity tokens on the desk. Those will make you an official citizen of the Luminous Empire.
Next to those are two small marbles. If you place a drop of your blood on them, you can put them in the statue over there to get out of this room.
For more information you can read the old books I prepared on the first shelf.
I hope I could clear some of your confusion. I wish you well.
Goodbye!"
Iain and Lilly stared blankly at the desk. Too much had happened in a single day. They both worried about their future.
For the people in their small village the world might not even be bigger than the road to Regensburg. They however suddenly found themselves stranded on a whole other planet and confronted with many foreign concepts.
Lilly's face crumped slightly as she felt her stomach turning. Iain didn't know how to do proceed from here either. However, as he felt his sister's distress, he realized he had to stay strong now.
When they were still children, Iain had always supported his little sister. In his mind this was his responsibility as a big brother.
Especially after their parent's death, Iain tried to shoulder as much pressure as he could.
As he remembered the harshest days in their lives, Iain did what he often did to encourage his sister:
He straightened his back, puffed up his chest and proudly declared: "Don't worry. As long as your big brother is here, you will always have someone to rely on!"
Silence reigned for a few seconds before Lilly let out a small snicker. She tried to hold back, but it only took a few seconds for the snicker to turn into full blown laughter.
When Iain last used this sentence the pair of siblings were still children. Listening to this cheesy line now coming form a big man simply had a whole different vibe.
Iain stared at his sister's reaction in confusion. A moment later he dryly laughed along, not sure why his statement suddenly seemed so funny.
A short while later the pair of siblings calmed down again. Her eyes slightly wet from laughing, Lilly thanked her brother visibly relieved:
"Thank you, Iain. I know I can count on you. And you can also count on me!"
[Count on us!]
A smile appeared on Iain's and Lilly's faces when their parent's voices sounded in their minds.
"Right. We are reunited as a family. What could possibly stop us?!"
"That's the spirit brother. Let's get stronger so we can communicate with mom and dad! Let's start right here by reading those books!"
With those words Lilly turned towards the leftmost bookshelf, the only one containing some books. The young woman now exuded much confidence as she reached out. Iain naturally followed her suggestion as he searched for a book to his liking.
Thus, the pair of siblings began their path towards power in this secret room somewhere on the planet Hex.