A crystal clear water surface reflected the beautiful starry sky. Yet underneath that dreamlike starlight floated a motionless body, tainting the picturesque landscape.

  The still body stared emotionlessly into the sky.

  He was not absorbing the vibrant radiancy of the stars. But a giant floating notification.

  _ _ _

  

  

  <00:10 / 10:00>

  _ _ _

  Soon, something appeared near the floating body.

  The body owner didn’t turn to look. He simply said, “Is it finally over? Can I finally rest, brother?”

  Yet the little human that materialised on a raft ignored his cries.

  “Oh! Don’t be a poor sod now!”

  Chibi Cillian raised his hands wide.

  “Aren’t you excited for the battles to come? The adventures of a lifetime.”

  He controlled his raft to arrive closer to Alexander.

  “Just think of them as the explorations you took when you were young. After all, you were always so curious. Always running around doing god knows what.”

  “Really? Because I don't recall battling a skeleton to death during one of those youthful explorations.” Alexander sarcastically retorted.

  “How could we possibly remember everything. Our life is long, and many things are lost to the river of time.”

  Alexander rolled his eye at Chibi Cillian’s disregard of his points.

  “So should I forget that you just sent me to battle an ever-increasing monster in the tutorial.”

  “Maybe!” Chibi Cillian said with a cheeky smile.

  “What is next? Me fighting a 20 stories tall hydra that can fart acid and spit cruses like a rapper whilst only using a sharped stick?”

  Chibi Cillian materialised a notepad to note down that idea. He pointed his pen towards Alexander.

  “I will note that down for your futures battles,” Chibi Cillian smiled. “However, what’s next is a training montage.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “A training montage? Shouldn’t I have that before fighting that bastard skeleton?”

  Yet Chibi Cillian, immersed in his writing, changed the topic.

  “You know metalwork, right?”

  “Yeh, what does it have to do with this conversation, though?” Annoyed by Chibi Cillian's constant dismissal of his points, Alexander brought the topic back.

  “We believed that, like metalworks, you must be forged in fires before you could be tempered.”

  Alexander turned his head and glared at him, “You bastard! You were supposed to do that figuratively, not literally.”

  “Just think of it as your redemption arc,” Chibi Cillian moved his hand, illustrating their united vision. “Like after being defeated by Anlaf, you went into training. Vowing that one day you will get your revenge.”

  Alexander rolled his eye, “But I did defeat him.”

  “Well! You did beat the chained version, but you never beat the main version,” Chibi Cillian pointed twice toward Alexander using his pen. “Think of it as only passing through the first phrase.”

  At this point, Alexander honestly didn’t want to deal with Chibi Cillian bullocks anymore.

  However, he did end up chatting with Chibi Cillian for the remaining 10 minutes.

  ***

  As the timer ran out, the notification in the sky glided down towards Alexander.

  _ _ _

  

  

  _ _ _

  Alexander took a long sigh before clicking the button.

  His mind slipped.

  ***

  Alexander’s mind returned to his elven body once more. Moving his joints around, he could feel that he had fully healed. However, he could also feel something was constricting his movement.

  Glancing down, a bony hand held him by the waist.

  “Ahhhh!” Alexander reflectively yelled as he tried to reach out for his weapon.

  However, another boney hand shut his mouth immediately before attracting unnecessary attention.

  His capturer turned its head towards him. Radiant blue fiery eyes dancing within an empty skull greeted him.

  “An hmphm laf?” Alexander uttered in surprise.

  However, this Anlaf was different. Initial traces of blue within his eyes had fully taken over. Although, its dark crystal ore heart still radiated with blood lust. This blood lust was different. Before, it was exuding chaotic blood lust filled with madness. Now, what remained was a calm and focused aura.

  Wrapped in golden chains by its pelvis, Anlaf carried Alexander around in swift movement.

  Alexander decided to inspect his previous opponent.

  _ _ _

  [Name]: Anlaf the Defiant

  [Description]: Anlaf the Defiant or Anlaf the Silent. He stood against the burning tide. He never set aside his honour nor his conviction to the cause. However, often in wars, heroes were the first to be sacrificed. Chained to ???, he remained silent, and with that silence as his company, he endured. Now, freed from the corruption of ???, the hero returned once more. However, his soul was long gone. Only a husk carrying his will remains.

  [Species]: ???-Undead [Culture]: ???-Lich

  [Class]: Death Scout

  [Level]: ??(???)

  [Stats]: ??(??) Strength, ??(??) Agility, 0(??) Charm, ??(??) Endurance, ??(??) Intelligence, ??(??) Mana, ??(??) Mental

  [Traits]: March of the Eternal Legion, Regeneration, Last Stand, …

  [Affinity]: Death, Fire, Shadow

  [Attainment]: Umbramancy, Pyromancy, ???, …

  _ _ _

  ‘Damn, it’s tragic, innit.’

  However, Alexander didn't delve into that thought for long as he was too busy observing the scenery.

  He was clearly no longer on the dilapidated battlefield.

  A vast expanse of overgrown alien bioluminescent fauna and flora greeted his eyes. Alexander guessed that he was in an underground cavern as these unknown greeneries also claimed their spot on and amongst stalactites within the cave ceiling.

  Strange tribalistic music played in the background by the soundtrack, deepening his distant feeling about this place.

  *bum*

  The soft sound of skin bongos beat to Anlaf's movement.

  *rattle*

  Bone instrument rattled as Anlaf navigated through the alien tall grass.

  Regardless, he was safe under Anlaf's protection. Hence, Alexander believed that this was a cutscene between missions, so he happily checked his progress.

  _ _ _

  

  

  

  

  

  _ _ _

  ‘Hopefully, after this cutscene, I can finally upgrade these garbage weapons.’