Thirst, heat, fatigue...
Under the influence of these intense discomforts, Lynn slowly opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a ceiling covered in cobwebs, and the unfamiliar surroundings left Lynn's mind momentarily in disarray.
The room, scarcely thirty square meters, appeared to be in a state of disrepair, with its wooden walls looking dilapidated due to years of neglect. The gray, dusty frames bore the marks of insect and decay.
The interior was a chaotic mess, with various odds and ends haphazardly piled in corners. Dozens of unbound pages lay scattered across the floor, leaving only a narrow path to navigate through.
Where am I? Could it be that I've been kidnapped?
Lynn rubbed his foggy head and struggled to sit up, his heart racing with anxiety.
He was certain that this was not a place he recognized, and he had to brace himself for the worst—most likely, he had been kidnapped!
"071, show me my current location!" Lynn instinctively inquired in his mind, but after several seconds, there was no response.
Have even the auxiliary systems been disabled?
Lynn's heart sank, and he instinctively rolled off the bed to search for an escape route, only to discover a sharp dagger lying at his bedside and a crumpled parchment clutched in his right hand.
Lynn grasped the dagger with relief, feeling a bit safer. After a moment's hesitation, he unrolled the crumpled parchment. The paper was covered in intricate symbols and cryptic markings, yet to his bewilderment, he was able to read the text!
"Time is running short. The Court of Judgment's priests have discovered our trail. We are to meet at the designated location in Ur Town before the Moonlight Festival, bringing seventeen Sekas copper coins. Follow the markers... Be extremely cautious—Jonny."
The moment he deciphered the message, an inexplicable wave of fear surged through him, and a fragment of memory began to surface in his mind.
"In a vast plaza, a crowd of people gathered, their expressions fervent and ecstatic, shouting incessantly.
In the center of the plaza stood a massive platform, where a bishop in a white silk robe stood before it, raising a staff high amidst the crowd's frenzied cheers.
The next moment, crimson flames surged high, and several figures could be seen writhing in the inferno, their agonized screams echoing…"
What is this? A film scene?
The brutal images flashing through his mind sent a shiver down Lynn's spine.
But why do these bizarre memories reside in my mind, and who exactly is Jonny mentioned at the end of the letter?
Suddenly, as if struck by a revelation, Lynn rushed to a large water barrel in the room, peering into its surface. His pupils contracted involuntarily.
His trembling fingers created ripples in the water, but Lynn clearly saw his reflection.
It was a youth of about eighteen or nineteen, clad in a patched burlap robe. His figure was slightly slender, his pale face covered in dust, his unkempt brown hair a mess, and his dark eyes full of terror…
Have I traveled to another world?
Lynn gasped, the absurd thought flashing through his mind, unable to find any other plausible explanation.
Although before his travel, the Federation had made significant strides in brain domain development and neuron research, with advanced brain chip transplantation technology, the notion of transplanting consciousness into another body for rebirth was pure fantasy.
He didn't believe he was worth such elaborate deceit by anyone.
Realizing this, Lynn abandoned any illusions, sitting down heavily on the floor, and as the shock subsided, a torrent of complex memories surged in his mind.
After half an hour of sorting through the sudden influx of memories, Lynn barely managed to grasp his current situation.
He had traveled to a place reminiscent of medieval Europe, a realm of numerous warring nations, with the most powerful being the Sekaas Empire, where he now found himself.
Above the mundane imperial authority was an entity known as the Holy See, worshipping a deity named "Ayla"—a clear monotheistic religion with doctrines of divine creation.
Besides spreading faith and deceiving people, the Holy See's other major agenda was the hunting of witches!
What troubled Lynn most was that the youth he now inhabited seemed to be a witch.
No, more precisely, a wanted wizard apprentice!
Lynn gazed with frustration at the crumpled parchment in his hand. What a situation—unwittingly transported here and faced with a hostile environment right from the start, likely to be burned at the stake one day.
To make matters worse, his predecessor had lived recklessly.
He was a bastard son of a certain viscount within the Sekaas Empire, named Karl Sterling.
Although often overlooked, he had at least his basic needs met. In this chaotic world of ceaseless warfare among nations, having food and clothing was already a blessing!
With such an identity and relatively stable environment, coupled with his knowledge of the other world, he could have thrived within a few years, perhaps even instigated an industrial revolution to topple the Holy See.
But unfortunately, this youth had been deceived by a wizard named Korlu, abandoning a stable life to become his apprentice, constantly on the move and often going hungry.
Just four days ago, his mentor Korlu had attempted to abduct a duke's daughter. Unfortunately, the scheme failed, and the next day, the Court of Judgment received the news and captured Korlu, who had not yet managed to flee.
After hearing this, Karl had hidden in this secret hideout, living in constant fear.
During the past six months of following Korlu, Karl had witnessed apprentices being burned at the stake, fearing that the priests of the Court of Judgment might burst in and arrest him. He had been so terrified that he hadn't dared to sleep for days, eventually losing consciousness in despair and fear, and then—he had transported to this world.
"This is quite troublesome..." Lynn murmured with a headache, even contemplating whether to turn traitor.
Besides himself, Korlu had six other disciples, who had likely not been captured yet, and he knew their names and appearances. Perhaps becoming a witness could be a way out.
At worst, feign conversion and later repent...
However, after consideration, Lynn decisively dismissed this dark thought. He could not trust those who preached doctrines with such fervor, eager to burn all witches, even if he willingly surrendered, the chances of being tortured and interrogated were still high.
Betraying comrades was not an option…
He was not that kind of person!
Casting aside these impractical fantasies, Lynn, regaining his composure, focused on devising a plan to escape the pursuit of the Court of Judgment.
In an ancient world reliant on hand-drawn and impression-based criminal identification without cameras, disguising oneself could be an effective strategy. Once he left the duke's domain, capturing him again would become exceedingly difficult.
Fortunately, the original self had some swordsmanship training and had previously attracted the viscount father's attention by single-handedly dealing with bandits troubling the territory.
Of course, this depended on staying low-key and not revealing any learned magic, to avoid attracting the Court of Judgment's pursuit…
Wait... Magic?
Lynn suddenly froze, then concentrated on sifting through memories, his expression growing increasingly peculiar.
For he discovered that the person he had become seemed to possess magical abilities!
This was not mere ancient sleight of hand or deceptive tricks...
But true magic!