The moment everything became quiet, Vaan jumped out of the ravine and broke off in a dead sprint, racing through the forest without looking back.

  Fortunately, the ravine wasn't very far from the edge of the forest.

  It seemed that the chase from the dragon had taken Vaan most of the way out already.

  A few more shadowy trees, scattered branches, and then open air spread out before him.

  Vaan took a moment to catch his breath, doubling over the moment he was outside. Then he took a look around.

  A blue sky slowly turning violet as the sun sank beneath the horizon. And open field of shifting green grass. And then a well-trodden path leading to a small town in the distance.

  Vaan let out a sigh, wiping the sweat off his brow. "I should have grabbed some water with me before I left..."

  His throat felt parched after the encounter with the dragon, and he still had a bit of a headache...

  "Well, I guess this happens every now and then. At least I'm alive..." Vaan sighed and brushed off his clothes... Well, what was left of his clothes. They had already been tattered from the start, but the sprint through the woods had shredded the rest of his shirt and the bottom parts of his pants. Thankfully, not the important parts.

  It was embarrassing, but not the end of the world.

  So, setting aside the thought of any future embarrassment, Vaan started walking towards the town.

  The people who ran to take care of the dragon mentioned rookie adventurers...

  'Is that me?' Vaan wondered about that. He had woken up in a strange situation... but he also didn't remember seeing any other people.

  Well, there had been that dried up skeleton. But that was old and aged. Definitely not the fresh corpse of a rookie adventurer.

  But Vaan remembered that they mentioned *adventurers.* As in, plural. Which meant...

  "Either I'm one of them, and my friends left me for dead... I'm not one of them and this is a strange coincidence... or I'm one of them and THEY'RE all dead."

  None of those three options were very good. Still, it wasn't worth dwelling on.

  Vaan was sure that there would be at least one person in the town who recognized him. And if not, they could at least point out where to go. But the first priority was to just get to town in the first pce. So... off he went.

  It was a bit of a walk along the trodden path to town. A nice walk, what with a pleasant breeze drifting past along with the warm fading sunlight. But still, a bit of a walk.

  So Vaan took the time to take a bit more inventory of his situation and organize things.

  First off... clothes and a pce to stay.

  Vaan couldn't sort anything out until he had at least those secured. Ah, but if he wanted to do that, he needed money... which he didn't have. Not to mention he didn't even know the local currency...

  Maybe he could make some gemstones to sell?

  > Desired process confirmed: Gemstone refinement.

  > Querying... Confirmed. It is possible to generate gemstones from nearby minerals. Degree of purity variable upon User's concentration.

  "That's good. So money won't be an issue." Vaan hummed and then tried making a handful of gems to stuff in his pocket.

  Another throbbing headache ced through Vaan's head.

  But he felt his pocket fill with gems. And a quick gnce showed they were definitely real and valuable gemstones... at least to his eyes.

  > The System can confirm that all products created by the [Spark of Creation] are of the highest quality.

  "Well, thanks for that, I guess." Vaan casually nodded, still thinking.

  Money was a non-issue for him. Good. But that left a few other issues.

  Like the pressing one of who Vaan even was.

  So far, bits and fshes of information had popped into his head.

  From that, Vaan had the sense that he was definitely 'an' adventurer... but he didn't know much else. The way he suddenly used the sword and shield he constructed showed a familiarity with combat... but the way he acted when he first woke up contradicted that too.

  But maybe it was the sort of situation where the more he was prompted with familiar events, the more he would recall.

  At least, Vaan hoped so-

  Oh, wait. Maybe he could-

  > Query received. Answer: User cannot utilize the system to resolve internal issues of the mind and self.

  "Darn. I suppose that makes sense..." Vaan clicked his tongue in disappointment, but he saw where it was coming from.

  Whoever made this 'System' definitely put in safeguards to make sure the User didn't do something idiotic and end their own life by accident. Allowing the System to affect the sense of self would definitely flow along those lines...

  Still, would have been nice to have a sort of 'refresh' or 'restore' function on his memories... but beggars couldn't be choosers.

  Vaan sighed and then grabbed some grass before making a small notebook and pen. Then he started writing some notes and what he knew about himself.

  ...Which wasn't much.

  Heck, Vaan STILL didn't know what he looked like. From the faint blonde strands of hair he saw drifting around earlier, it seemed that was his hair color, but everything else...

  "Hah. What a mess." Vaan sighed and kept walking.

  Then he arrived.

  The town... No, the city was huge.

  Although it seemed small from the distance, Vaan realized that was because he was looking at it from a side that hid the rest of the city.

  Giant stone walls, thicker than ten men arm-to-arm, stretched into the sky, towering over everyone. Not only that, but far in the distance, there was a proper tower that seemed to pierce the sky itself. Though it glowed orange while bathed in the light of the setting sun, it seemed to be made of a pure white material.

  Vaan paused for a moment to marvel at the sight. And then he muttered, "Just what have I gotten myself into...?"

  It wasn't familiar. The city, the tower, or this entire area.

  But Vaan could somehow sense it. That this pce... it was important. Though he didn't know why just yet.

  For now though, he had to enter.

  Vaan walked up to the gateway, tended to by a single man.

  That man was gruff and middle-aged, slight scars marring his face. His dark brown hair was framed by a steel helmet that half covered his eyes, leaving them in shadow. And wearing both full polished steel mail, as well as wielding a well-worn spear, he cut an intimidating figure.

  Vaan felt tense as the man's gaze shifted over. Would Vaan be let inside? He definitely didn't have any form of identification on him. And that man didn't seem the type to be bribed. In fact, Vaan had the sense that trying to would lead to an immediate death. Then... maybe Vaan should walk away and sneak in...?

  That was tempting. But considering that there were people around who casually talked about putting dragons back to sleep... and those people likely came from this city...

  No. Vaan just had to chance it. Stand up straight, walk forward like he belonged, and hope that nothing happened.

  The man- No, the city guard stared.

  Vaan gave the guard a nod and walked past. One step. Two. And just when Vaan thought he was free to go...

  "You there. Wait one moment."

  *Damn.*