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Reality One: The Noble Hero’s Rise to Fame

Chapter Three: How to Retrace Your Steps When You Already Forgot Where You Came

I slowly wake up in a dimly-lit room, one that I do not recognize. My body aches, my limbs are in pain, and it hurts to move. I slowly try to get up out of the bed I was in only to trip to the ground. I hear footsteps above me. Walking down the stairs was Drae and Tess.

“NEO! YOU’RE AWAKE!” Drae screamed. He runs towards me and helps me off the floor. I grunt from the pain. “We helped get you back to health. You were in horrible condition when you got here.”

“”Yeah, you were bleeding everywhere and many of your bones were broken. I have no clue how you survived to even engage displium,”” said Tess. ‘To be honest, I don’t know either. I could barely see or hear and was on the brink of passing out.’

“We should stay here for a few days to help your body heal. I can tell you’re still in a lot of pain, even after 2 days of being unconscious…” Drae sa- TWO DAYS? ‘I WAS UNCONSCIOUS FOR TWO DAYS?’ “Yeah. We kept applying constant healing magic but it still took a while for you to wake up.”

Guess I should take some time to recover.

Over the course of 3 days, I layed low and healed. Drae and Tess took care of me the whole way through, using more healing magic and helping me stay in good spirits. I studied how to use magic better while being bed-ritten, honing my skills for the fight I have ahead of me. The three of us have become pretty good friends with this situation, me being the optimistic one, Drae being the person to fall back on, and Tess being the logic of the group. I think we have a great shot at beating this.

The fourth day, I feel ready to move on. I’m ready to tackle the hardship we have ahead. ‘Drae, Tess, let’s get going. I don’t want to let fate be delayed any longer.’

‘It should be around here somewhere…’ I say. The leaves under our feet crunch as we walk through the dense forest, searching for the very cave that set me on this expedition. My memory from that day is still fuzzy.

“Are you sure it was around here? You might just be misremembering due to a concussion,” Drae explained. “Maybe we should split up to cover a wider surface area and find it faster.”

“”No, that’s too risky. We don’t know if that ‘great evil’ is lurking around us,”” said Tess.

‘Actually, I don’t really feel like I’m being watched right now. I think that it was what was making me feel like that. Not to say that it’s a good idea to split, just that I don’t think we’re in immediate danger,’ I added.

We kept walking forward, looking all around us for the cave. “Stop. Is that it?” Drae points at an opening in the side of a mountain. I don’t recognize it, but it still could be due to the concussion. ‘I guess let’s go up and see.’

Approaching the cave, I start to feel a sense of deja vu. The feeling that I have been here before but being unable to recognize why. ‘I think this might be it. Are you guys ready?’ “Yeah.” “”Mhm.””

We descended into the cave, it going deeper and deeper, darker and darker, yet were held steadfast and kept going. We cast a simple Lumium spell to light our way through the dark passage.

Eventually we came into a room, with an open chest in the middle and scriptures on the walls. Walking up to the chest, nothing was held inside. ‘This is the place. Let’s look for an entrance to the next part of the dungeon.’

After a few minutes of searching, with me near the chest, Drae inspecting the walls, and Tess trying to understand the scriptures, Tess finally finds something. “”Guys, I think I found the answer. The walls not only tell of the prophecy but also how to progress. Neo, stand in front of the chest and face the wall furthest from you.”” I do as he instructs. “”Now, get down, lift and look under the chest. There should be a recess under it that has a button. Hold it until it clicks.”” After prying the chest off the ground, I reach for the button and press it. After about 5 seconds, it clicks and I let go.

A door opens in the front of the room, revealing a hallway that leads deeper into the dungeon. ‘Nice find, Tess. Let’s go.’ We continue down the cave.

After making it through several rooms of enemies, we make it to a grand door. Opening it reveals a large room, with a mountain of rocks in the middle. A sword is poking out the top of it. I look over to both Tess and Drae, and they beckon me to go forward. Walking up the mountain, I start to hear a low humming noise coming from the sword. Reaching the top, I look down at my friends, seeing their faces plastered with curiosity. I grab at the handle and pull. It feels like it doesn’t want to budge, but I keep trying harder and harder. Eventually, I feel the rock’s grip on it slipping.

I pull the sword out, it making a large booming noise, making the mountain shift a little. The sword glows in my hands, sending power into my body. After a bit, it dissipates into a cloud of glowing dust. The dust then flows into my mouth, giving me the power it was holding, at the same time feeling something manifesting on my wrist. The dust completely enters my body and I look down at my hands, seeing a gemstone inlay into my skin. It’s not a tattoo, rather it’s a part of me now. I make my way down the mountain.

“WOAH! THAT WAS AWESOME! Uhh… what happened to the sword?”

“”Yeah, I second that. Can you bring it back?””

‘I think it fused with my body. I feel a lot stronger now, like it gave me a boost to my abilities. Let me try to bring it back…’

I make an unsheathing motion with my hand, and the sword appears out of thin air in my hands. It glows a nice white color just like the gemstone on my hand, which is now completely unlit.

I guess I’ll have to see what this sword has truly done to me, and what I can do with it.

END REALITY ONE, CHAPTER THREE

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