Virtue.
What exactly is a virtue?
Ah, yes. A question many have most likely asked before during the flow of the endless, cruel river called time.
The first to ask may have been a philosopher, it may have been a saint, it could even be some trifling commoner with mud for brains.
Why would a mere commoner think of that abstract topic? Get back to work and feed your family!
Ahem, we've gone off topic, where was I?
Ah, right.
Virtues.
There is no simple way to describe it, what is said cannot be taken at face value, even if it is the truth. The perspective of mere mortals can never fathom the intricacies of morality and philosophical debates are almost always just crazy men yelling at each other.
Nonetheless, in this world we've found ourselves in, most humans would reply quite confidently that a virtue is...
=
...an aspect that is only seen in those who have ascended beyond the confines of the mortal realm. They who have ascended, the gods, as we call them.
Atleast, the narrator in the game said so, he shouldn't really remember all of this.
It's been years since I played that damn game...
Nonetheless, he was here now, laying lifelessly on a giant bed, not wanting to get up...Right now, he wholeheartedly wished to fall back asleep and wake up in that accursed hospital again.
Anywhere is better than here, not in this room...not in this body.
When he woke up, he hadn't exactly noticed anything amiss...Everything still hurt, his lungs still ached with every breath he took...the familiar agony of being unable to even breathe properly.
Only, the cause wasn't illness...but injuries, grievous, ridiculous gashes and cuts, broken bones, shattered ribs, and a left arm so impossibly mangled it looked like a melted pool noodle...all covered in cast and bandages where those could be applied...he resembled a mummy strapped to a bed.
Not exactly a comfortable position to wake up in, not to mention that the wounds pitched, hurt and stung at the same time...without end.
It was agonizing, yet he quickly got accustomed to it. Pain was a familiar friend to him, agony even more so.
Right now, he felt like he wanted to die even more so than usual.
This current body of mine, this room and this strange itch in the back of my head...
It did not take him long to realize.
I am currently in the body of Selios Dallet Velyern, a rarely-mentioned, obscure villain character from the first VR open world story game released in 2047, a mere seven years after the dissolution of the United States of America.
Selios could remember it clearly, clearer than he could recall his own name, which he was still grappling with.
"Thus, Fell The Virtuous."
It's launch was sudden, no teasers or trailers...one day, the entire internet was just...filled to the brim with news of this game.
He could remember it clearly, it was almost uncanny how detailed his memory was. Every single excrept and text seemed to morph behind his impassive gaze.
He was currently pondering alot of things.
How was he still alive?
Why was he in this body, this world that he thought was a game?
What is the most painless way to kill himself?
And most importantly...
What the hell is that red dot in the corner of his eye?
Selios could barely react, before the pinging red dot expanded into what appeared to be a screen...it quite resembled a hologram.
[Congratulations on your successful assimilation of the character:Selios Dallet Velyern!]
[You have recieved an encrypted message from %%@@^$$: "We have long awaited..."
[Sender:%%@@^$$
[Recipient:Oskars Nave
.
.
.
What in the actual fuck?
For a second, Selios truly believed he had been drugged with the wrong kind of anesthetic, not the good kind.
Yet, no matter how much he willed it to vanish, the glaring red windows refused to vanish, making an irritating ping every couple seconds.
Like a fire alarm with low battery.
With nobody to wake him or kill him, Selios began to spiral, before the throbbing pain of his ruined body bought him back.
The pain soothed his nerves, bringing him back to reality.
The pain was real, this was reality.
His rationality thus returned.
No, calm down.
He observed the window closely, noting the censorship of the sender's name, but didn't dwell on it.
He can't read it, and so what?
There were two points he focused on, primarily the mention of a gift package, but the name of the recipient also caught his attention.
Oskars Nave...is that me? What a tongue twister of a name.
He could not remember much about his previous life or appearance, even when confronted with his actual name, no mysterious memories were jogged up.
Only the memories of the game, and the basics of his previous world remained.
He did not dwell on it.
Selios could not recall it, he's been trying for a while now, there is simply no point in torturing himself any further.
His eyes finally focused on the message again, locking onto the words "Gift" and "Package."
Gift Package...that is familiar, it was a term that reffered to a reward given by the Ingame System after the Player overcomes a seemingly impossible trial...an avoidable one, mostly.
He could recall the exact terminology, it was crystal clear inside his head.
To put it simply, it was a reward given to players who discovered something new, killed an unkillable boss, or completed a seemingly impossible quest or challenge.
That begged the question, why was he given it? Was the assimilation of a game character considered a peerless achievement? Or was he perhaps missing something?
Irrelevant.
Selios reached that conclusion nearly instantly.
His current situation was...not good, to put it nicely...his currently mangled body notwithstanding, he has yet to understand the whys and hows of his transmigration, it drove his mind into overdrive...theorizing, thinking endlessly in a loop until...he simply moved on.
Selios didn't like thinking too much unless he absolutely had to, if he couldn't solve it, he'd shelf it for later.
Right now, he couldn't even move his body...so the only option he had was opening this gift package and see what it was all about.
Open it, how exactly?
Selios thought for a second, trying to will it with thought alone...yet nothing happened, the screen blinked and pinged with no visible changes.
Do I have to speak?
Selios paused, thinking to himself for a second before opening his mouth, his dry lips opening as he spoke.
"...C-...Claim."
That single word was all Selios could currently manage, his throat burned and his dry lips seemed to grind against each other like sandpaper against sandpaper.
Thankfully, it was enough.
The system interface changed, the blinking paused as several windows opened up.
[Gift Package Extraction Confirmed!]
[Pending...]
[Extraction completed, compiling list...]
[Status Window function unlocked, Quest Window unlocked, Relationship Window unlocked Innate Skill Selection Token granted, Presence of Entropy granted...]
[An unforeseen consequence has occured: The Host Body is damaged irreparably, proposing solution...solution found, interfering with world line to ensure continuation.]
[The system has accomplished all required tasks, proceeding with cessation of intelligence.]
[Pending...]
[Completed.]
A blur of messages swam across Selios' vision nearly instantly...He blinked, barely able to open his mouth to say...
"...Huh?"
Just then, the door to his burst open with abloud bang, startling him...If he could, he'd have jumped in fright from the sheer suddenness of the event.
What the fuck-
Selios was unable to finish his thoughts process, his eyes darting to the source if the noise, a sillhouete that seemed extremely imposing from his position.
It was however, a simple old man...a decrepit fossil who looked like he could barely hold a teaspoon, let alone slam the door open like that.
Just then, the old man walked to the foot of his bed and clicked his tongue.
"Awake now, aren't you, nephew?" The man' voice was coarse and rough, heavily impacted by his age and decrepit lungs...he sounded like a heavy smoker.
"What an unlucky brat...Just how in the hell did you manage to encounter a Elkbear during the excursion? Those things are supposed to be hibernating at this time of year."
The Excursion?
Selios shelfed that term away for later.
The old man who seemed to be his uncle, thankfully, didn't notice his brief confusion, mostly due to the fact Selios could barely hold his eyes open...The old man seemed to raise his cane slightly, before tapping Selios on the forehead.
["Onmo's Embrace"]
The old man's voice echoed as indescribable white light converged around him...Selios felt it nearly instantly, a warmth spreading throughout his mangled body as it repaired itself...this pure white energy...it was mana, and not just any mana...but the mana of a Grade 7 Sacrifant...Jehom Dallet Velyern.
It healed him, in less than a minute...all those grievous wounds, shattered bones and ripped tendons...recovered in an instant as the old man merely tapped him with his cane.
Selios, despite the otherworldly experience, remained calm...his mind focusing more on the details than the sensations...
Onmo's Embrace, a spell regulated and taught by the Church of Sacrifice, who worship Onmo, The Virtue of Sacrifice...also known by the name Sacrificial Lamb of Heaven.
It's the god the majority of the Velyern family follows and venerates...they were once a family of well respected clerics and priests.
However, the current Head of The Family, Onvillius Dallet Velyern, is completely non religious, and seems to loathe the churches who follow the Virtues...being quite an asshole about it too.
Atleast, that is what Selios could remember.
Ofcourse, he didn't have the time or patience to sift through his memories...what he needed now was information...or atleast a date.
"Uncle...what happened?"
Selios showed a confused expression, his eyes unfocused and seemingly still dazed...the old man infront of him shook his head and tapped his head again, this time harder and without any mana to heal it.
"Still dazed aren't you, boy? What we just had was your coming of age ceremony, involving hunting a Thinfang Wolf Pack in the forest bordering our territory...and you, unlucky brat, ran into a fully grown Elkbear fresh out of hibernation." *The old man spoke, tapping his cane on the floor slightly as he did, his weak frame managing surprisingly loud thuds against the wood.*
"Ofcourse, a mere Invoked Grade 2 mage could never do anything against a Corrupted Grade 4 Elkbear...you got mangled before the supervisors managed to get you out, and your coming of age ceremonial hunt ended in spectacular failure...how tragic."
Selios' Uncle spoke in a tone way too cheerful for his voice, raspy and throaty as if his lungs collapsed centuries ago.
But the grating voice wasn't what upset Selios, no no no...usually, he'd find it funny and move on.
However the Old Man was a treacherous son of a #####, keeping a teasing expression and tone...
He knew Selios was unhappy, this old foggy was trolling!
This raggedy old fossil!
Despite thinking that, Selios' expression remained outwardly impassive, piquing the old man's interest.
"I see."
Selios' calm response further intensified the old man' suspicious gaze, before the raspy, smoke tinted voice spoke again.
"Kid...did I miss a few of your birthdays ot something?Since when were you this calm?"
.
.
.
`huh?`
Selios had never been confronted so bluntly before, so he replied automatically.
"I've always been calm, jackass, you just piss me off too much!"
.
.
.
Thus, silence overtook the room, savior the hustle if fabric and the wrinkling of old bones and muscles.