He wanted to run. He was sure he was going to die. But when the first line of monsters began to accelerate towards him, he had no choice but to grip his greatsword.
The massive weapon was his only companion in that moment.
The trolls had reached him, their claws and sharp fangs ready to cut him to pieces.
With a pathetic battlecry, he swung the sword downward aimlessly, using all of his strength.
There was a loud zap as the sound barrier got pierced. And he could have sworn a mini-earthquake had occurred.
Dark blood spilled on the snow, viscera splatted along with the cleanly cut troll flesh.
Alsten opened his eyes and saw the dead bodies of the monsters he had just decimated.
He felt no resistance to his blade. It was as though he was cutting through butter with a hot knife. Even the monsters were now hesitating to attack.
He looked behind him and Genler, who was still not done healing the two, was watching him in shock.
'So this is not normal after all?!'
Once again, the trolls had started to advance, getting down on all fours for more speed, making them more terrifying.
But Alsten was no longer as scared. He now knew what he was capable of. Well, sort of.
Besides, he was slowly getting used to looking at these abominations.
"I have to buy some time, right?" he whispered to himself before taking a few steps forward, meeting the adversity in the middle.
The plan was to keep killing until he no longer had to.
He lifted the giant slab of metal and slashed the nearest troll in front of him. The monster got eviscerated. The next one came and met the same fate.
He was caught with a claw to the shoulder, but the armor absorbed the damage. He spun, whirling his sword around like a spinning blade. Anything within that range died.
He sliced, stabbed and smashed. The ground shook each time his sword struck it.
Alsten wasn't only strong, he was abnormally fast. Anything that got too close got sliced like ground meat. Without realizing it, Alsten was killing dozens of monsters.
The longer he stayed in battle, the more fun he found it to be. It was oddly familiar to playing swords as a kid, but this time, he was actually killing something.
The attacks were relentless, coming from all directions. But the Hero stood like a beacon of death.
As time went on, Alsten had killed more monsters that he could count. And strangely, a weird sensation welled up in his heart.
Each slice, each swing — they were satisfying. Hearing dead bodies fall to the ground because of him brought a strange sense of accomplishment.
Soon, he was bathing in dark blood. He didn't even realize when the monsters began backing away from him.
He was beginning to love it.
'More. Give me more.'
'Cry more. Fear more. Suffer more.'
'Or else I can't be satisfied.'
Just a moment ago, he was leaning on a cold pole of a streetlight.
The man he hated the most, the man who took everything he loved, killed him.
The same man who had ruined his life had taken it.
Why can't he get his revenge? That man is living his best life right now without facing justice for his crimes.
His parents who neglected and constantly degraded him were probably laughing at his coffin — if anyone even bothered setting a funeral for him.
His childhood friend who abandoned him the moment her own social status got threatened would do the same.
And all the people who took advantage of him wouldn't even notice that he had died.
The unjust world that tormented him continued to exist and there was nothing he could do about it.
'Utter bullshit. This is so fucking unfair.'
'I wanna kill them. I wanna burn them alive. If I see you again, I swear I'll fucking torture you to death and eat your fucking corpse.'
By the time a giant fist connected to his jaw, sending him flying several meters, Alsten had already killed more than two hundred trolls.
The Hero got buried under the ice walls near where Genler and the others were sitting.
"Alsten!"
Lana gasped when a gauntlet emerged from the ice. Alsten pulled himself back up, his face covered in blood.
"Alsten, wai-"
The elf watched in horror as the Hero ignored her. He prepared to dive into a free slaughter once again.
Like having an itch he couldn't scratch, Alsten couldn't feel right unless he caused more suffering. Someone had to feel the pain. Someone had to die or he would lose his mind.
He only got to his senses when he felt a soft body hugging his arm, preventing him from taking another step.
Alsten's eyes opened wide and glanced over his left shoulder. Lana was desperately holding on to his arm as the injured Genler tried to heal Yobu.
Lana was breathing heavily, probably from fear and exhaustion. He could feel her beating heart from the fabric of his suit.
The world gradually slowed down and everything became clear. He looked back at the battle field and saw the havoc he had caused.
However, he also noticed the wounds on his body. While he dealt a devastating blow to the enemy forces, they had heavily damaged him as well.
It was only then that he realized how suspicious his actions were.
Yobu spoke, gaining their attention.
"I don't know what that was all about, but we should get out of here. There's too many of them and without Alsten's magic, we're simply going to die."
Alsten didn't disagree to that. He nodded and carried Genler who had a broken leg. Yobu also seemed to have healed up, so he and Lana could run.
Right now, the enemies were hesitating about clashing with the Hero again. It was the perfect chance for them to escape.
As the four took off running, the monsters had regained the sense of dominance, and began chasing them.
The trolls were getting closer, but fortunately, a giant man riding a massive shield came crashing down from above, clearing the obstacles. The party took the snow ramp and climbed up to the top platform, with Yobu taking out any monster that stood in their way.
Soon, the Hero's Party had existed the hollow mountain.
*****
The walk back to the forest was silent and suffocating. Alsten could feel Lana's quick glances towards him, but he didn't have the courage or the energy to address it.
Pain was starting to bite into his muscles. Exhaustion was taking over. And the one thing in the Hero's mind was his uncharacteristic behavior in the cave.
That was a stupid move in so many ways. He lost control due to his own foolishness.
The sun had begun to set in the western mountains. Before nightfall, the party had managed to reach a clearing in the woods. There, Hetaphar and Yobu set up the camp.
Lana went hunting for food. Alsten told Genler to heal himself first. The old man had broken his leg and ribs and obviously needed healing more than him.
There was a river nearby, so the Hero decided to clean himself up there first.
Now, Alsten's body was submerged in the calm flowing water. His armor and clothes were drying on a tree branch after being cleaned off of bloodstains.
The night sky was adorned with three moons. Each were subtly unique. Seeing such a sight never even crossed Alsten's dreams.
The dark heavens were full of stars, and three, round moons illuminated the silent forest. Lit up by the bright moons, the river became a flowing mirror of millions of beautiful stars. It was nothing short of breathtaking.
On the water's calm surface, Alsten saw his face clearly for the first time.
The moonlight showed him a blonde young man with chiseled features and beautiful face. Such looks befitted the righteous, mighty Hero.
His new body screamed of strength and efficiency. His muscles were lean and extremely hard. With a body this strong, he had to question the need to wear armor.
Additionally, he'd never felt so tall. He was so used to being a short and frail person but now, standing at over six feet, his head was over the moon.
This feeling of this strength suddenly being under his full command felt exhilarating.
He loved being Alsten.
'I can't let this go,' the rogue soul thought, admiring his reflection on the clear water.
'I can't make that mistake again.'
After a few more moments, the Hero put his dry clothes on and returned to the camp.
Just in time, a campfire had been set up. Lana had returned and was already cooking the hunted meat.
Genler immediately performed the healing spell as soon as Alsten sat down.
A minute or so later, the whole party had gathered up. They shared the meal Lana hunted and cooked around the same fire.
Alsten sat with them with an unfamiliar warmth in his heart. He wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this before. If he did, it must have been a really long time.
Sitting with people you consider family.
And even though who they cared about and loved wasn't really him, but someone else, It was enough.
It truly was.
"So, Alsten," Yobu spoke amidst chewing his food. "What's our next move?"
Alsten swallowed the savory meat before looking at the wolfman. Now that he had rested up, he'd already forgotten about being wary. By this point, he'd grown comfortable around them.
So, he spoke honestly for once.
"I'm sorry for asking this, but why do you guys always ask me about what to do next? Aren't we a team here? So, shouldn't we all be putting our own thoughts when deciding for the next move?"
There was a brief silence before Genler broke his cold demeanor and let out a light chuckle.
"I figured you'd ask sooner or later," he remarked.
The group looked at him. They already knew the answer except for Alsten who was still curiously waiting.
The healer continued.
"It's always been this way, Alsten. We've left all the decision making to you since the beginning, and for good reasons."
He paused, looked down at the journal in his hands and then continued.
"You weren't chosen to be the Hero for your Divine Gifts or unrivaled magical talents. You were chosen because of your ability to come up with brilliant strategies."
The Hero fell silent, speechless.
Yobu spoke as well, adding:
"We've survived countless impossible situations because of your unusual tactics. And it is only because of you that we've come this far."
The giant swallowed a large chunk of meat, wiped his mouth and then joined in.
"Yeah. So having your memories wiped out like this has made us lose our spirit, to be honest. But don't worry. We'll get through this together."
The giant paused, Alsten stared at him.
"You can rely on us this time," Hetaphar added.
It was a heartwarming thing to say, and Alsten was almost touched. But he couldn't help but worry about Lana who was still refusing to talk even now.
The elf was unusually silent.
'And I think I know why.'
What he showed her back in that cave was undoubtedly extremely suspicious. Knowing that Lana had always been very observant and concerned when it came to Alsten's well being, it would be impossible for her not to pick something up from that.
Alsten regretted it deeply. But he could only make things right from here. He had to.
Still, after finding out more about the real Hero, Alsten realized that he had shoes not so easy to fill.
He realized it only now, but pretending to be someone else who had no memories wasn't easy at all.
If he would act as Alsten who had lost his memories, to what extent would his capabilities reset? How good of a fighter was he before training to be a hero? What was his natural attitude? How would Alsten react to different scenarios?
The truth was, memories were just a small part of a human's personality. He knew that, even with his memories wiped, Alsten should be able to at least act as himself to some degree. His philosophy to battles, his mannerisms, his way of walking, speaking habits, fighting instincts—he shouldn't need to remember how to do them. They were his second nature after all.
But unfortunately, he had no idea who Alsten was.
Even with all the information they were giving him, it would never be enough to replicate the real Alsten.
The thought of that had made his heart feel heavy. Deciding that this won't help him in any way, he just decided to learn more and do his best in imitating the Hero.
While finishing their meal, Alsten asked Genler to explain magic casting as simply as he could. It turned out that in this world called Saeia, only a select few people — around a sixth of the population — receive the ability to use magic.
Magic referred to the ability to use a mysterious entity called 'mana' to control certain elements.
Each mage normally received an affinity for one of the nine elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Frost, Thunder, Organelle, Darkness and Light. However, there were only three known beings in this world that controlled more than one element.
One of them was a human, Philgem's chosen Hero, Alsten who had an affinity for Wind and Light. According to Genler, that combination wasn't the best because the two elements could hardly complement each other. But even so, his mana capacity and overall magic power far surpassed anyone in this world.
On the other hand, the Elf King who had lived for thousands of years, had an affinity for four elements which were: Fire, Wind, Water and Earth, which Genler considered to be a solid combination.
The third one who could control multiple elements at once wasn't exactly a magic caster. In fact, it was unknown if this creature used mana at all... Having an affinity with all of the elements except for Light, the Demon King himself ruled half of the world. The demonic continent, Ur, lay northeast of the human continents, stretching his influence to the red sea and some rogue Islands. No creature, human and monster alike, dared to venture into those nightmarish lands.
Yet, that was exactly their main destination.
The hero gulped, feeling a growing dread in his heart. Did the real Alsten feel it as well?
The party talked a bit more and then decided to rest. Alsten wanted to ask a lot of things but he understood that he would have to wait.
Tomorrow, they will discuss their options.
After telling Alsten that lupisians required less sleep, Yobu offered to keep watch while the three entered the tent.
And with that, Alsten had fallen into a deep slumber.
When morning came, the Hero was a little disoriented when he woke up. It was like experiencing arriving to this world for the first time again.
'It wasn't a dream.'
He opened his eyes to a wooden roof, low enough to be reached by his hand when sitting up. It had a familiar wooden surface and a handle in the center.
It was Hetaphar's shield acting as a roof for their makeshift tent.
He made it through the first day in this world.
After yawning, Alsten turned to his side and his heart almost exploded.
The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen was lying asleep next to him.
The five of them sharing the same tent just proved how impressive Hetaphar's shield was in terms of size, and how strong the bond between the party members was.
When her eyes slowly opened, revealing ocean blue irises, Alsten froze in place.
How'd he managed to fall asleep with her next to him would be a mystery he wouldn't be solving anytime soon. He must have been dead tired.
Lana rubbed her eyes and spoke with a groggy voice.
"Good morning."
'So this is how it feels like...' Alsten thought.
He always used to wake up alone in his one room apartment back on Earth. It was hard to believe a lot of people got to experience this everyday.
He was missing out on a lot.
But what could he do? The only woman he'd ever loved turned out to be a... human with no self respect, to say the least...
"M-Morning."
After that, the rest of the party had woken up. They got themselves ready for the day and sat down together on log chairs.
"So what's the plan now?" Genler asked. "We won't be able to do this quest until Alsten can use magic again. For that, he would need to regain his memories."
The Hero knew where the conversation was going. Someone was sure to bring up the talk about going back to the town where some experts could look into his curse.
But there was no need to panic.
Last night, as Genler was discussing the magic system with him, Alsten realized that the weird entities residing within him were the two elements he had affinities with.
He had thoroughly examined himself and had confirmed that he could indeed control these entities to some extent. Maybe that explains why he suddenly felt extremely exhausted.
"Then we have no choice but to head back to town," Lana stated, crossing her arms.
Her expression was stiff, as though feigning composure. Alsten noticed that she had been avoiding eye contact with him all morning.
'She's actually suspecting me, isn't she?'
Still, her suspicion should be far from the truth. There's no way she would realize that the Alsten they're talking to right now is an imposter just based on one day of interaction... right?
He could still turn this around.
He would gain their trust and, maybe one day, he could convince them to forget about the curse. They would continue their adventures as it is without bringing back the real Alsten.
"There's no need for that," the Hero replied.
The members looked at him in shock, especially Lana who looked like she just heard the most horrifying news.
"I will learn magic here on my own."