"Prisoner one, step out of the carriage!"
The guard's voice was perfectly flat, monotone.
For Theo, this was both the best and the worst day of his life, depending on the angle from which he looked at it. But for his guard?
It was just another day on the job.
'Well then, off I go.'
Having no better choice, Theo took a breath and rose up from the cold bench stuck to the side of the prison coach before following the guard's orders and jumping down at the unmaintained, beaten path.
The heavy, metal chains rattled, their weight pulling him down to the ground.
The guard, Theo's lone companion on the road to oblivion, was armed like some sort of high knight, with full plate armor protecting his flesh, a fully encased helm hiding his identity, and a long halberd suggesting what fate awaited those who tried to disobey his orders.
Here, at the edge of the land of men, there were only two ways one could go.
Back the way the carriage came from, which was where this guard would soon follow… or down the narrow, winding path leading to the massive, ancient gate that separating the civilized land from the outlands.
"For the crimes of shaming the duke's family, breaching the betrothal protocol, and fratricide, you are hereby stripped of your titles, claims, and rights and are to be executed by exile into the outlands for a period of three months," the guard recited in a monotone voice. "If by divine grace you will survive your banishment, your execution order will be revoked, and your name shall be reinstated to your family registry."
Theo tried not to laugh out loud.
'So that's why I'm here,' Theo thought, almost caving in to his instincts and rolling his eyes.
This sure was one interesting way of learning what crimes his past self commited for Theo to find himself in the prisoner's coach, driven all the way over to where the civilization's reach neared its end.
When he first came to be, he was already stuck in this cold, destitue prison coach, with neither its driver nor the fully armed guard bothering to answer any of his questions. In fact, by ordering him out and then listing his crimes, the guard finally revealed he wasn't actually a mute!
"Do you pledge an oath before the gods that once freed of those chains, you shall follow the path of fate?" the guard asked, finally acknowledging Theo's presence by something as simple as asking him a question.
"I do."
Hoping to get this over with as soon as possible, Theo replied with a nod of his head.
For a moment, the guard measured him with his eyes hidden behind the visor of his helmet before lifting one of his hands from the handle of his halberd and then opening his palm over the chains locking Theo's wrists together.
"Upon my authority, I command thee, open."
For a moment, the guard's glove shone with a faint light, only for Theo's chains to suddenly click… and then slide off his wrists, their lock no longer keeping them in place.
By the time Theo merely managed to move to massage his pained wrists, the guard had already reaffirmed his hold over his halberd and leaned its blade towards Theo's chest, nudging him onto the path leading towards a gate so massive, it could easily rival the great river dams he used to tour back in his original life.
"The stone hanging off your chest shall vibrantly shine once your term concludes. If you survive until then, its light shall guide you back through the divine gate. Should you perish, its twin will break, bringing the news of your demise to your family, who shall offer incense upon your empty grave."
With that, the guard spoke all that he wanted, now resorting to just nudging Theo's chest away, as if to shoo him out of the lands inhabited by humans.
"That's so?" Theo muttered before rolling his eyes and moving down the path, away from the guard, away from the people… and towards the unknown of his fate.
Or, if he were to include the flashing message window in the corner of his eyes, towards the one and only hope he had for this weird reincarnation of his.
[Mission: To Start Within The End]
[Goal: Reach the Outlands where no human can hope to remain]
That was it.
Not a shred of information about what this mission was for, what the purpose of it was, or the potential reward.
Just the name and the goal for him to achieve.
"As if throwing me into a prison coach and then dropping me into execution grounds wasn't bad enough of a start to my reincarnated life, huh?" Theo muttered to himself.
The last two days were enough for him to come to terms with this newfound reality of his. Enough to accept that what awaited beyond this overwhelmingly massive gate was most likely an end to this short-lived reincarnation of his.
'Is it because I can't even remember how I died? Or the very fact that I can say for sure that I did, that made it so easy for me to accept it?' Theo thought as he walked down the path, nearing the massive gate with every step he made.
Yet, instead of growing more and more anxious as he approached what was likely his doom, Theo actually couldn't help but get strangely excited.
After all, what else did he have to look forward to if not what hid behind this mission notification window?
Before long, Theo found himself beyond this mountain-sized gate that stood guard at the entrance of an equally massive valley, with nothing but a narrow, dark tunnel piercing through it. And, having nothing better to do at that point, he took a deep breath and stepped right into the maw of this darkness, eager to find out what waited for him on the other side—be it some sort of cheat power or something as simple as a quick death.
'I really hope that if it's death, it won't be painful,' Theo thought as he continued ahead through the darkness. 'Who knows, if I'm really going to die, maybe I will reincarnate again?'
In the end, the gate's tunnel was nowhere near as deep as the gate was high. And in what felt like just a quick stroll, Theo suddenly emerged on the other side, with nothing but a massive, primordial forest in front of him.
'That's it?' Theo raised his eyebrow, not really sure whether to be surprised or disappointed.
After two whole days of waiting in silence and discomfort and then learning of his vile crimes, he kind of expected more from what was supposed to be his execution ground!
'Oh right, the system!'
Shaking his head, Theo focused on the message window, only to realize that… it didn't change at all. Then, as he looked down, he quickly found the reason for it.
He stepped out from the darkness of the tunnel into the light of the day on its other side… but he still stood on a paved approach to the gate. Yet, as he turned around…
"Wait, what the hell…?"
The other end of the tunnel was now nowhere to be seen, replaced with the uniform texture of the massive wall stretching up as high into the air as the sides of the ravine itself.
"Maybe that's what this necklace is for?" Theo spoke to himself, raising his hand to the crystal the guard talked about, the one piece of equipment he was left with besides his clothes. He then shook his head and lowered his hand. "Whatever, it's going to be three months until I will have to worry about it. And for now…"
Theo gulped his saliva down before clenching his hands into fists while saying a prayer in his head.
'Please, please, please, let it be some sort of a good cheat! Judging from how that guard called this place, I really need one hell of a golden finger to somehow survive now!'
Closing his eyes and gathering all his hopes… Theo took a step and walked off the paved approach to the wall, only to step down on the soft grass of the clearing that spread for quite some distance between the massive wall and the forest itself.
[Mission: To Start Within The End - Completed]
XXX
Rewards:
- 100 ability points
- Ultimate Crafting System
- Basic Player Status
- Basic Player Ability Shop
XXX
XXX
Player: Theo (Theodore Evilbane)
Status: Player (Banished Prince)
Level: 1
Abilities: N/A
XXX
The initial message window flashed and then vanished out of existence, leaving Theo with nothing but two new floating windows with text and a strange feeling in his right hand.
A feeling that compelled him to mindlessly move forth, cross the open plain, and then reach his hand out over a small stone sitting at the periphery of the forest, some distance away from the nearest trees.
[Mining - Progress: 3%]
[Mining - Progress: 17%]
[Mining - Progress: 49%]
[Mining - Progress: 81%]
[Mining - Completed!]
A progress bar appeared before Theo's eyes, filling up in a matter of just a few seconds… only for the stone to shine with the very same light as the guard's glove just a few moments ago… before vanishing out of existence, as if it was nothing but a mere illusion that had now cleared out.
[Mined: Small Stone]
[Adding to dimensional pocket: 1x Stone]
[Installation of the Ultimate Crafting System completed!]
[New mission!]
[Mission: Survive the banishment and return as the one spared by Gods]
[Goal: Don't die]
[Time Limit: 3 months]
[System Message: Good luck]