Overwhelming Firepower

Lucen woke up three days after the end of the Styrhord. He was back in his room in Ironhold. The first hurdle to the survival of the North was over. He finally felt like he could truly have a long rest. Still, he was a little worried about that unknown monster that felt like a mid-game entity.

Aerok was a very long game that spanned multiple discs. Actually, with all the routes, it was considered the longest single-player role-playing game of all time.

So it was entirely possible that even he who had played the game numerous times would forget a few things, especially from routes he only repeated once or twice.

’I guess I’ll either make the memory potion myself or ask Robert to do it for me... I guess, I’ll just ask Robert.’

Lucen let out a slow breath and shifted slightly in his bed. There was still a slight pain here and there, but it was not as unbearable as it was before. There was also a certain stiffness that one would get from lying down too long.

’I guess I won’t be able to move out of this bed for a while... Well, since I can’t move anyway, better check my status window. It was going off like crazy during those battles.’

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Lucen Thornehart

Age: 17

Class: Gun Mage

Level: 25

Health: 4830 / 4830

Mana: 630 / 630

AP: 400 / 400

Aura: Awakened (2nd Mantle)

Mana Core: Second Circle

SKILLS

+ Bullet Creation – Active (Intermediate)

+ Gun Creation – Active (Intermediate)

+ Gun Knowledge – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Marksmanship – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Gun Kata – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Alchemy – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Battle Instinct – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Regeneration – Passive (Novice)

+ Flame Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Poison Resistance – Passive (Advanced)

+ RELEASE – Active (Intermediate)

+ Ricochet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Blacksmithing – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Ice Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Elemental Bullet – Active (Intermediate)

+ Killing Zone – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Woodworking – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Fear Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Unarmed Combat – Passive (Novice)

+ Bullet Parry – Active (Novice)

+ Suppressive Presence – Passive (Novice)

+ Explosive Bullet – Active (Novice)

+ Mental Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

+ Fear Resistance – Passive (Intermediate)

TRAITS

Thornehart Lineage (Dormant) Foreign Soul (Unique)

+ Training Adept (Rare)

+ Grit (Normal)

+ Acting Adept (Rare)

+ Dragonkiller’s Resolve (Epic)

+ To the one who had been given to (Legendary)

+ Battle-Crazed (Rare)

BLESSINGS

+ Unyielding

+ The Blessing of Greater Flames

Lucen was not that surprised that he had leveled up quite a bit since it was a monster wave, but what did surprise him was the fact that he had gained two more skills, and they were resistance skills, both of which had jumped to intermediate.

’I would have wanted to get pain resistance as well, but I guess this is good enough. To think that just fighting that monster would grant me both mental and fear resistance. Not only that, but the greatest gain is that RELEASE has skilled up.’

It wasn’t just RELEASE that had a skill up; even Killing Zone skilled up, but that wasn’t as hard as RELEASE having a skill up.

While Lucen was thinking, he heard the steady rhythm of the heart of embers in the chest with many seals placed on it.

’Now that I think about it, I haven’t figured out what to do with the heart of the young fire dragon... Well, whatever, surely being near something like that is giving me some sort of benefit that I can’t understand at the moment.’

Lucen decided not to think too deeply about the Dragon he had heard about, hidden, since he did not know what to do with it; thinking about it too much would only stress him out.

Besides, it’s not like the dragon heart will expire. Based on Robert’s findings, the Dragon heart will continue beating even after he dies, and will continue beating even after several generations.

’Yeah, just thinking about it is going to stress me out. I’d better go back to sleep instead.’ Lucen closed his eyes and went back to dreaming whatever dreams he could.

***

A few days after Lucen woke up, unexpected guests arrived in Ironhold. It was the third prince, Elion Viron Vaelgard, and his older sister, the second princess Elena Vaelgard.

The last time Lucen had spoken to the siblings was three years ago. At the time, Elion was still a little guy, but it would seem he had not skipped his training.

Even now, Lucen could see that he was different from the Elion in the game. The blisters in his fingers, the bruises on his face, had shown enough of his growth as a person.

As for Elena, she became quite the beauty. Still, as expected of a princess of a warrior kingdom, her body looks well-defined.

Lucen also noticed the ring on Elena’s finger was the one given to the third prince by the tower master of the black tower.

’I guess that would be enough to save her from her fated assassination.’ Lucen thought to himself.

The reason the siblings came to visit him was to congratulate him on winning the Styrhord. They also wanted to hear more details on how the Styrhord unfolded.

Seeing that there were many stories going around, become more exaggerated than the other.

The bards sing praises for the Iron Duke and his son, the ever-victorious, who not only won against Marquis Valeire’s twenty thousand-strong army, with nothing more than five thousand men, but they also successfully defended Norvaegard once more from a monster wave.

Unfortunately, due to the way the Styrhord was, they could not mention things about the Marquis ever again; his name, his family, and his achievements were gone now.

When the bards sing the story, it is mostly glossed over as an army of twenty thousand; the reason the name of the leader of the army was never mentioned in the stories.

The only thing that was mentioned was basically that the Thorneharts defeated an army of twenty thousand with only five thousand on their side.

Lucen, who was still in bed rest, had nothing else to do. So he told the royal siblings his version of what happened during the Styrhord.

***

After listening to Lucen recount the tale, the siblings decided to look around Ironhold before heading back to the Capital. As they were about to leave Lucen’s room, Lucen said something to the two.

”... If either of you ever feels… that something is off, even slightly, even if there is no proof, do not ignore it.”

If it were anyone else, the siblings might have ignored the warning as something an overzealous noble would say to make himself be noticed. But this was Lucen Thornehart, a person many started to think could peer into the future.

Elion stopped at the doorway. Elena turned slightly, her hand resting on the frame.

”... Something off?” she asked softly.

”Yes.” He paused for a second or two. ”Trust your instincts, even if others laugh at you, even if your father dismisses it, even if it feels unreasonable. Just do your best and prepare.”

Elion’s brows furrowed. ”You think something will happen?”

Lucen smiled faintly. ”In this world, something is always happening.”

Elena studied him carefully. Three years ago, she would have dismissed such words as cryptic dramatics. Now, after seeing the many things Lucen has done, she would be a fool not to listen.

”I understand,” Elena said quietly. Elion looked between the two of them before nodding as well.

”... I’ll remember.” The siblings left soon after.

***

A day after the royal siblings left Ironhold, Lucen had received the memory potion from Robert, who did not stay too long as he was now very focused on his various research as well as his long-term project of the airships.

”Okay, time to see what those things are. Let’s hope this won’t be as bad as I remember.”

Lucen took the memory potion and drank it.

The liquid burned as it slid down his throat. Lucen closed his eyes and focused. The next part was going to be rather intense.

Almost immediately, the world sharpened. Sounds became clearer from the wind outside, to the distant clang of metal from the forge yards.

The faint, steady thump, thud, thud, coming from the heart of embers. Then the memories came flooding in.

Lucen needed to focus, or he wouldn’t be able to get the memory he wanted and might fall into nostalgia.

As he focused a little on the game Aerok and why he seemed to know those shadow monsters, he was surprised to learn that he was actually once again playing the game years later, after its release.

The reason he was doing this was because of an announcement he received. The game developers of Aerok were planning on releasing a sort of sequel to the game.

They said that it was going to be about a new route. The new route would be a sort of prequel to the world of the original game, and the new game plus would be about Alexander regressing and entering the world of the original game instead of the world he knew of.

The twist was this new timeline, this new world, was neither the one the players knew of, nor the one that the original Alexander knew of; it was a brand new timeline that had a few changes in it.

It was up to the player, basically Alexander, to figure out what these changes were and why they were happening.

Back then, Lucen was so excited to see the familiar characters he grew up loving, coming back with a brand new game. So he started replaying the old routes to get a feel of the story again.

Lucen now remembered that those monsters he saw were part of the promotional images of the new game.

’So this world, this timeline, might be the one in the new game plus, or the one before that? The only way to find out which it is would be based on what state Alexander is in at the beginning of the game’s story.’

When Lucen thought about that, he started thinking about Cael’s age and when he was going to start going to the Royal Academy.

’So the main story will begin in about four to five years. No matter if this is the timeline of the new game plus or the timeline of the sequel game, it means most of what I know about Alexander needs to be altered. This Alexander is a completely different one from the ones I have seen before.’

Lucen slowly exhaled. The headache was getting worse. The memory potion was doing its work too well.

Four to five years, that was the window, before the start.

The Royal Academy, the tournament, the invasion, the first assassination, the forbidden drug. Those were the early flags in the original timeline. But if this was a completely different timeline from all the routes he knew.

’... Whatever, I was already under the presumption that my knowledge about the game is just a guideline, and I can’t really use it for anything else. I just need to do my best and continue strengthening my forces for whatever is to come. Also, to make sure that Alexander grows up properly. As long as Alexander is around, surely this world won’t be doomed.’