NOVEL NEXT Vol. 2 – Chapter 2 – Awakening Memories
Vol. 2 – Chapter 2 – Awakening Memories
It was night when Mathias called everyone in the group he formed online, starting a conference of sorts where he wanted to discuss certain aspects. On the screens, their background and figures could be seen, with Leonor being the only girl in the group thus far.
"This is a preemptive call before the release of the game, where I want to circle some ideas that our group will have to move around. But before that, can you tell me if I am heard well?" asked Mathias in his English, and after getting the confirmation of the members, he continued.
@Leona: "You hear properly, I am even surprised a bit." said Leonor in impeccable English when she heard Mathias speak English, to which he just smiled at her.
"What I wanted to point out is that from the information I managed to gather, this time all spawning places for the game will be randomized. We might be separated in the first 20 levels of the game, but we can always regroup in Titan or any other big city of the empire according to our spawning place."
@Entire Group: "Understood"
"This means you might have to play solo, but try to group up with people because it might be even harder to level alone with the new changes added to the game after the Beta Phase. The monsters might hit harder, the exp received will most likely be less, chances for gear also lowered. This is all because Beta Phase was the playground for testing still existing bugs and contemplating the game rates."
Getting some feedback from them, such as questions and propositions, he took his time to let them discuss, while bringing the next subjects, from what path they might want to take inside the game, this one targeting especially Leonor who was new to this game.
@Leona: I want to become a hunter or paladin, but I will see what path will come in my way.
@Red: Right, we need a healer if we might group up to do some raids. What will we do with that open space? Little Louis? Are you going to take it?
@Maple Mist: Heck no! This time I want to try something different, like a close combat magic class if there's any of such things.
@Red: It is fine, we will get our hands on some priest as we grow bigger and team up with other people.
"This is a secondary problem, no need to force anyone to play anything, just go with the flow and do whatever you want. But the main problem is the guild name. We haven't picked a name for the guild."
@Malakai: That is right, we haven't done that yet. I suggest 'Shepherds of Darkness'
@Red: Bah, brother, that is a bit edgy, but I kind of like it when I call it in English, however, my suggestion is 'Blackdawn'.
@Maple Mist: My suggestion is 'Firewell'.
@Leona: Do I have a say in this, even though I joined just today? … I see, then my suggestion is 'Storm Bringers'
Getting all those suggestions, Mathias contemplated, where he asked for some more, but they just didn't click with his views, which had everyone in the conference ask for his suggestion after turning down all those mentionings.
"Ahem, I have a straightforward name which sounds nice and also domineering, telling more about our future group. Something anyone can understand without struggling too much, and also not finding it edgy, even though I had absolutely no problem with your suggestions.
I want our guild to be called 'Leviathans'.
The group turned silent when hearing Mathias's suggestion, and after they called it the name in their minds, the first one to respond was Vlad, who was entirely on board with the name.
"Good one, brother. I am on board."
It was easy for the rest to agree, turning this decision unanimously agreeing to the guild name. With the biggest part of their talk done, he did some casual talk before ending the call, returning back to his activities, preparing himself to post a new chapter on his novel.
Publishing the chapter of the story, he looked to some documentaries about the middle ages, talking about the warfare in that period in time.
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Days passed, and the expectations and the buzz created by 'Satisfy' could be felt worldwide. Celebrities, professional players of games, famous players of other games, rich people, casual people, everyone was waiting for this moment.
It was the day 'Satisfy' would be released to the world.
Not even the whines of the critics could put a break to this boiling phenomenon that was 'Satisfy' all they could do was search for the needle in the haystack, which couldn't affect anything from this river of fire.
Mathias, who cleaned his face of his full beard last night before the game's release, arrived back from work at 15:15, and after dealing with his daily needs, he entered the capsule right when the clock showed 15:55.
"Only 5 minutes before the real deal begins. Let's see if there's anything else I should do before entering the game."
Pressing the buttons to start the capsule, his mind was brought to the welcoming screen where the countdown to the release could be visible from his ghost form. He could move his ghost form in this space, and doing some casual warming up exercises to check the reactions of his brain and body, being synchronized, heard the whispers of James and Louis, who were also waiting for the game to start.
Right when the last minute on the countdown was upon them, Vlad also joined the waiting line, only Leonor missing because her program was different compared to his or Vlads.
@Mathias: You know what to select and where to go. The first target is to get adjusted with the environment instead of leveling up. As days pass, we will get to the gamers who moved to 'Satisfy'. Good luck to all of you, and never forget, have fun.
@Red / Maple / Malakai: Sure, you are worrying too much about those small details. We will just go with the flow. Good luck to you too, Mathias.
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With his destination selected, once the countdown was over, he could see his vision shifting from an abyssal plane of existence where darkness ruled, a bright light was brought to life, guiding his ascension toward what could be said to be a sun, and once his vision was blinded by the light, the atmosphere around him changed.
The sound of the wind and the warmth of the world welcomed him, along with the birds chirping and the players who spawned in the same place as himself.
"Woohoo, finally!! Let's go start the first quests and rush to higher-level ground. This place seems like a small village, not like the cities we saw the beta players enjoying."
With his green colored eyes closed, he could only hear the voices of the players and some whisperings of worried people. Opening his eyes, he could see the environment around himself, he was in a place similar to the gates of a small village made of wood.
In the distance was the view of a mountain dwarfing over this entire small village, but this didn't affect Mathias, instead, the peaks of the mountain looked rather familiar.
"Where have I landed? Right, let me check if they really cleaned me butt naked."
"Status Window."
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Name : Mathias / Class :Beginner
Level : 1 (0/400) / Title :none
Health : 175/175 / Mana: 50/50
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Strength : 11 / Stamina : 9
Agility : 8 / Intelligence: 12
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"Everything has been reset. However, it seems this time my stats are better from what I remember. Could it be because I am in top shape physically and mentally? Well, this is all good, but another worry of mine is the skills."
Saying that as he walked toward the village calmly while most of the players were rushing like rats infesting the lands of some farmers and opening his skill window, he saw it blank.
"No skills or spells. Hah, they really cleaned me of everything."
Opening other tabs such as the affinity of NPCs he knew, it was blank, a sign of the reset and also of his new start, all his reputation went down the drain.
From interface to interface, Mathias could be said to be saddened, however as he was moving past interfaces of the game, he opened his inventory which had him stop in place looking with big eyes at what was awaiting him inside.
'No way. No way. This must be a bug. Otherwise, how could you still be here? Ragnius!'
His Beta Phase partner was there hiding in his inventory, leaving him in a shocked state, using his mind to check on the stats of the spear in his inventory something looked even stranger. The description of Ragnius and the abilities also changed with this new revelation.
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[Weakened Ragnius]
Rating: Poor (Growth)
Durability: 90/90
Attack Power: 75-185 | Critical Chance: +1% Attack Speed: +1%
* 2% increase in your attack power
* 5% increase in maximum health.
A spear forgotten from the annals of history, yet it still gives off small fragments of its splendor and glory.
A spear that was once thought to be the sole weapon of a saint brought to the status of a scrap weapon ignored by everyone and looked down upon, however without the rightful master, the spear will never break off from its past.
It will be the symbol of fear to the enemy and a symbol of protection to its master.
*** Not wishing to be placed in the hands of fate and be forgotten after managing to find a suitable master which will bring forth his coming, the ego inside Ragnius used all its powers to resist. As consequences turning the weapon into what could be described as the worst quality. ***
Conditions of Use: Chosen by Ragnius' slumbering ego.
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'You bastard! There was no need for you to suffer, I would just come back to pick you up from Nelmon.' though Mathias in his mind where not long after that he could hear the voice of a being said with a weak voice, as if it was a whisper.
<I will not play with my chances of survival after finding you. Not even the creators will be able to wipe away my existence. I am too weak to communicate with you, I will shut down all my functions to recover my energy. You must not abandon this shell and keep growing it to speed my recovery.>
Hearing this weak voice in his mind, he could only shake his head, saying to himself with an assuring tone.
'When have I abandoned something? It wasn't my intent to drop you down at all. So what if the spear is in poor shape? This time I will grow it to a legendary level.'
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Still outside of the village, while doing his checks, he could see a lot of players already exiting the village, rushing toward the wilderness, trying to push ahead of the rest. It was something Mathias could only smile about it, and when he entered inside the village, he was welcomed and introduced to the starting location by the system notification.
[Welcome to Cidarian Village]
"Cidarian?" pondered Mathias whose emotions began showing up.
"Fayrene… This is the place you have lived all your childhood and adolescence. Sigh, I wonder how you are doing right now if you are fine. Don't worry, if I manage to meet your, no, our parents, I will take care of them and give them a hand with their work until I journey to Titan."
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On another hand, inside Titan, the great Capital of the Saharan Empire, the new players who were lucky to be sent here by the randomness aspect began a commotion which created an instant response from the authorities which started to punish hard any criminal acts.
The commotion spread out in all the corners of the Capital, even where a young lady with raven long hair and violet eyes seemed to exit to check on the situation.
"What happened? The outlanders foretold by the Archbishop already appeared? This is none of my concern. I'd rather go back to learning from the Ancient Tome."
Walking back home and slowly to her room, she felt weird for a reason when she looked around the salon and the shop counter.
"What is this feeling? It is like having a stomach ache but at the same time a heartache. Don't tell me I am sick or have been cursed. Could it be that event brought upon even a curse on me? Did Lord Gabrils lie to me? No, it can't be. Such a saintly person wouldn't have a reason to do such a thing."
Fayrene had no words to explain the feelings she was taken by, but she knew something wasn't right with herself. Arriving at her room, her stomach pain got worse.
"What is wrong with me?? Let me quickly read the book. Maybe I will find a cure spell." said Fayrene to herself, trying to find an answer from the Ancient Tome, which was a curse and also a blessing to her.
Turning the blank pages until she could see the ones filled with writing, she could see that the pages she was used to reading suffered a modification. Where there used to be blank spots in the Archmage notes was the writing of another person.
Reading those notes she couldn't make sense of them, until she turned the page to the spell [Arcane Awakening].
"Who could write something on the arcane book while I was away? I locked the house, the book was hidden? Who are you??"
Nevertheless, once she gazed at the correct order of the note Mathias left for her, she seemed curious in finding what the person who managed to write on her Tome had to say.
'This person could be someone akin to the Archmage, leaving a spell for me?'
With that thought in mind, she started to read. From Mathias's introduction and to how they first met, this note seemed more of a journal to her. Yet her heart started beating faster and hurt her with each moment she was reading Mathias' letter.
"Why am I feeling like this? Who are you, Mathias? How do you know me?
Turning the page and continuing reading his letter imprinted straight on the 'Arcane Tome' tears began running on her cheeks without even realizing, page after page, while reading, she also unexpectedly began crying until she grabbed her head from the pain she suffered.
"Arghhhhhhh! All these visions!! It is me and a man the same age. We seem to live happily together."
She was seeing visions that looked more like memories that resurfaced from deep in her consciousness, from the moment she met Mathias to the last night before their separation. All those memories of her life together with Mathias resurfaced, creating such a scene in her mind that she couldn't stop her crying.
Each moment of herself reliving her memories made her wail in sadness.She looked around herself, moving to the back of her bed, and raising some planks, she said to herself.
"I remember! How could I forget my love? Mathias! Mathias! What happened to me, how could I possibly forget all my memories of him?" cried out Fayrene continuing her search for something precious to herself.
"It is not here!! My precious gift from him! Where is it?" cried Fayrene looking for the pieces of art Mathias gifted her on the day they became linked by fate.
After some hysterical moments, she managed to calm herself and return to the Ancient Tome, continuing to read Mathias's letter, who later brought himself the strength to explain to her some things, but without mentioning the whole reality. He just explained to her that the Gods were about to bring upon the reset because they had been angered by the outlanders in order to balance the world and prepare for their next invasion.
<Fayrene, my love, don't panic and wait for me. I know it is hard to understand all of these, but it is not your fault, it is I to be blamed because I felt love for you and burdened you with suffering this sadness and injustice.
Sometimes I even doubt my words will be carved into the Magic Tome and I cut my heart open to write this.>
Continuing to read his letter, while shedding tears, she nodded her head with a calm mind, she didn't remember about Jeanne, but her life with Mathias was fully recovered, and when Mathias mentioned that his letter to Jeanne might have been removed by the Gods, she brought to herself to read the letter part of his message with targeted Jeanne.
However, she read what looked to be Mathias's lamenting words before the start of Jeanne's section.
<Fayrene, I am a cursed person regardless of how you look, I made you two girls suffer. I know how important the 'Ancient Tome' is and I don't ask you to show the book to her, but if you could send my message to her, even if she doesn't remember me, I will approach her again once I return to Titan.
All I want for you, my dears, is to be healthy and stay safe because the invasion that will be brought by my brethren in the future is one of a large scale. Continue training yourself, dear, and even though last time we didn't manage to gather all the ingredients for the ointment to heal your scars, this time I promise you in my heart, I will heal your scars.>
Biting her lower lip to contain her cries, she kept saying to herself, as if transmitting Mathias.
"It isn't your fault. Stop making me feel bad when reading your letter, you jerk. I will copy this letter and have Jeanne read it. I will take care of everything for you here, dear. I don't remember my interaction with Jeanne, but I trust you with my entire being."
Taking a sheet of paper and a pen, she began scribing the message Mathias had for Jeanne, and when she was done, she walked out of the shop, running toward Light's Cathedral, from outside it seemed like she was similar to the players who were running to check Titan and start their journey, only that Fayrene's name already turned into a silver-white, similar to the Players and close to the NPC's who had some small potential, but were insignificant to the plot of the game.
She could see the large number of players running alongside her and even talking with her in a friendly manner as if she was one of them.
"Beauty, do you want to join my party and guild?"
Hearing those terms, she instantly remembered them from her adventure with Mathias in Gravelmark Heights when she watched him talk with the group of players and following a calm approach, not wishing to upset and draw attention to her, she rejected him.
'What is happening? Is this something supposed to happen?' thought Fayrene to herself when seeing how the players behaved with her, compared to the other citizens who they just scoffed at, pretending they were nothing.
She could see the players look at Rebecca's Statue, with some of them even bowing down to her, but one word came from their mouth.
"Tsk, someone already took the first rewards from this statue."
"It is what it is. This is not a secret already to the community. Rebecca gives rewards to the first players to bow to her."
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Arriving at the base of the Cathedral's ground, she knew her way around this place and when she knocked on the small door of the church, not caring that it was forbidden to enter the Cathedral because it was the day the Emperor would mourn his dead wife.
Nevertheless, she had to act fast, and moments later she saw a middle-aged man with black hair and a full beard, who when seeing her, smiled at her with surprise, asking her.
"Little magician girl, how can I help you?"
"Lord Gabrils, can you help me meet Jeanne? I want to give her something."
"Ohh, you seem to be rushing. First, calm down. We are in the blessed ground of Rebecca, nothing bad will happen to you. Even though the outlanders seem to appear, they are bound to respect our world's rules and customs. Come, let me guide you to little Jeanne, but you better stay quiet because we have an important person inside the praying hall."
Nodding her head, she followed Gabrils who took her toward Jeanne's office, while the priests gave her weird looks, surprised that someone outside of the priests was inside the church on this special day.
Gabrils entered inside Jeanne's office without being bothered to knock, and once inside, having Fayrene wait, he told the person who had long silky blonde hair, wearing priest's clothes, having fair, delicate milky skin.
"Little Jeanne, there is someone who wants to meet you. I brought her with me, she seems to be having something important for you."
Jeanne, who since the moment the players appeared in 'Satisfy' world, was feeling quite saddened, with a feeling of blankness in herself wasn't bothered by what Gabrils had to say. Still, raising her hazel eyes at Gabrils, she didn't show any of her suffering outside and told him in her angelic voice.
"Sure, big brother. You can go to your station and watch over the outlanders."
Giving her a smile, before exiting the office, he told Fayrene she could enter inside, and when she entered inside seeing Jeanne looking at her calmly wearing her male clothes trying herself to look as masculine as possible.
"Good to see you are alright, Jeanne. How are you feeling?"
"Hello to you too, lady. How may I help you? Also, why do you ask me about my health? Do we know each other by chance? Arghh, why do I feel I know you?" asked Jeanne, while massaging her temple, trying to soothe her headache.
"This is because we used to be like sisters, Jeanne. I brought you an important message from someone dear to you. Please read it because it means a lot to that person."
Saying that Fayrene walked to Jeanne's table, placing the letter she copied from the 'Ancient Tome' belonging to Mathias, which entered Jeanne's attention, taking it in her hands with her delicate hands.
"Why are you saying such things? Someone important to me? Sister? Who are you?"
"Please, read the letter. I will try my best to answer your questions afterward, okay?"
"Fine, give me a moment."
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Like Fayrene, the moment she began reading the letter, something clicked in her consciousness, bringing along an arduous headache, which she tried to fight on as she was reading the letter of this man that she couldn't remember. The delicate words targeting her, full of emotions, made her tear up unconsciously, and after some moments, like Fayrene, she started crying when reliving all the lost memories.
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"You are Fayrene … Mathias is my soul mate, I remember! What happened to me, how could I possibly forget all of these important memories?"
Fayrene, following Mathias's instruction casted 'Isolation' creating a barrier which shrouded this entire office from the vision of outsiders, where she began telling about the sensible details Mathias left her, some half-truths to which Jeanne looked with saddened eyes, asking Fayrene.
"Rebecca couldn't do this. She is the Goddess of Light, Life and Creation."
"I don't know how to explain it to you, it might be Rebecca or another God with higher authority than her."
"Shhhh, we will be smitten for saying such blasphemous words."
"Don't worry, sister, my spell can protect us for about 20 minutes. But, this is in general what Mathias told me in his letter."
"I still can't believe such a thing happened to us. This means everyone except the two of us forgot about Mathias?"
"That's a sad truth, Jeanne, but we can't do anything about it. We will discuss with Mathias when he returns to Titan about our future. Until then, we should stay out of trouble and not endanger ourselves." mentioned Fayrene to Jeanne, calming her down while also pointing out some crucial aspects.
Talking for a while, the two girls made up their plan, and afterward, with Fayrene withdrawing herself, she left as if nothing important happened, trying not to draw attention to herself. The color on her nameplate shifted to a Green one, which signaled that she was just a common NPC, walking unnoticed by the players who scoffed at her, allowing her to pass, slowly returning to her home, and closing the door after her.
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[A/N: Waifus are safe, my heart wouldn't be able to process a manner to wipe their emotions and memories. Now, I hope this is a sweet/satisfying moment for the distant sisters to awaken themselves.
[There's also the old companion of Mathias, Ragnius, who while shrouded by mystery and who is lingering inside, from this sequence it seems it's a friend.]
[I hope you enjoyed how the actual Live Version started for Mathias, even though he has no clue about Fayrene and Jeanne getting their memories back, also don't call it cliche, I really tried not to make it cliche while also bringing elements of the late-game plot.]
[If you want advanced chapters, check my p@treon.] [www..patréon.com/Morpheus146]