The monsters looked like goblins, small, green, and with pointy ears. There was a group of them, around 20 I'd say. "Woah! This really is like a video game," I murmured with a slight excitement in my voice.
Alric was fighting them with his sword, slicing them all one by one. On the other hand, Dinec was creating some kind of magic with his staff and killed the ones who managed to slip through Alric.
"This world is amazing!" My eyes sparkled with a surprised look.
"I thought Dinec was gonna be weak considering his looks, but now I see that he can hold his ground. Don't judge a book by its cover, as they say."
During the commotion, their father woke up. I explained the situation to him, but he didn't react much.
"Goblins, huh," he said. "They are easy to beat, my sons can take care of them in no time. No need to worry, young lady."
"So they really are goblins as I thought."
The fight ended quickly. You could tell Alric and Dinec have been fighting together for a long time; they were a good duo.
"Sorry for the commotion, Dad," said Dinec.
"Yea, we didn't mean to wake you up," continued Alric.
Their father looked at them and smiled. "Don't worry, boys, how could anyone stay awake during a monster attack? What I'd like to know is, who is this young lady here?"
"Right, we need to explain the situation to Dad as to why we decided to help her," thought Alric.
They explained to their father. They told him I was wandering through the dark forest alone and that I had lost my memory. So they decided to lend me a hand.
"Oh, I see, so that's what happened. May I ask your name, young lady?"
"She doesn't remember," said Dinec. "We were just thinking what to call her when the monsters attacked."
"What did you come up with?" asked the father. "Oh wait, I still haven't told you my name. I'm Lemier; it's a pleasure to meet you, miss."
"The pleasure is all mine."
"I was thinking of the name Anna," said Alric.
"It is a good name, but I don't really like it. It's way too common," I thought.
"It's not that I'm against that name, but I have a better idea," said Lemier. "It'd be better to choose a name that describes her looks, personality, and vibe."
"Yea, I'd like that too," I said.
They thought for a while and started suggesting some names, but I didn't like them.
"Let's see," Lemier was thinking out loud. "Dark, brown, wavy hair which looks light brown in the light, deep brown eyes, a face with neither too soft features nor too sharp features, and a calm look and vibe. Hmm… how about Evelis?"
"Evelis?" I thought. "That's actually a pretty good name. I like it."
The two brothers looked at each other and said:
"Yea, that name suits her."
"I quite like it too," Evelis smiled.
Lemier looked at her and smiled back.
"Since I don't remember anything, could you tell me what is this world I'm in? Earlier, those weird creatures appeared, what were they? Dinec was using that weird-looking staff and making some sort of magic with it. That was amazing."
"Ah right, you don't remember," said Alric.
Evelis asked them more about this world, and the brothers and their father answered them all.
This world wasn't exactly like video games and the isekai anime she used to watch. This world was normal—no magic, no monsters, no superpowers—but that changed about 700 years ago. People started getting strange powers like being able to control flames, moving objects, super strength; some even started getting talented in things they were terrible at. After that day, even kids got powers, but they didn't get them the moment they were born—they got them after reaching the age of 10.
Every person had a different power, but some people had the same, like for example four people could have the ability to fly. It's rare to find people with similar or the same power but not impossible. There are also people with no powers at all. Though they have no powers, they can obtain them; all they need to do is find an object with powers. There are said to be an infinite number of objects which possess powers. Just like humans got superpowers, objects—and even monsters—got them, but for some unknown reason, animals didn't. It's not like objects started flying or coming to life; they just held powers.
If you find one of the objects, they won't give you powers; it's the object that has the power, after all. This is the case for Dinec as well. He has no powers, but he found the staff he holds in his hands, which allows him to use wind-type spells. The object is the one who summons the power, but it can't do that without a wielder. Meanwhile, Alric got talented in using swords. He was never good with it, but once he got his power, he became the best swordsman of his village. He tried using other weapons like bows and spears, but he couldn't. The same rules apply to the monsters—those weird creatures that came upon this world together with the powers.
After I got all my questions answered, we went to sleep while one of the brothers stayed on watch.
"Their father, Lemier, didn't have any powers, is what they told me, but…"
There is another thing about people without powers: they usually end up with diseases and die before reaching the age of 40, but Lemier is much older than that and he is still alive. The most common desire is amnesia. There is a way to stop this though; if you get an item with powers, it would be the same as the person who owns it having powers themselves.
"But they told me that Lemier has never had either any powers, neither a magical item, as they call the power items nowadays in this world. They also were curious as to how I got the amnesia sickness when I have powers. I'm faking amnesia, but I told them I might have bumped my head or something. Although rare, it's not said that you can't have an accident and get a sickness; it's not said that you have to not have powers to get one."
Alric, who was staying watch, noticed Evelis was awake.
"You're still awake? Got a lot of things on your mind, heh?" he laughed. "Don't overthink it; you will probably get your memory back quickly," he said while glaring at me.
"Let's hope so," Evelis replied, looking back at him with a soft smile, but something felt off.
"I'll think about it in the morning."
After that, Evelis cleared her mind and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, the small breeze of air and voices of people talking woke her up. Evelis opened her eyes slowly. It seemed Lemier was talking with his sons.
"Okay, Dad, let's go with that then. We'll…" Alric stopped talking as soon as he saw me awake.
"Ah, it seems miss Evelis has finally woken up."
The others turned towards Evelis and said with a smile:
"Good morning, Evelis!"
"Good morning to you all as well. What were you talking about?" Evelis asked as she stood up.
"Well, we were thinking of what to do after you woke up. As you know, we were returning from the capital city to our home in a village which is 3 days away. We can't take you there with us; I'm sure you wouldn't want to come either, so we thought about helping you go to the capital city."
"It would be good to have company; I was thinking of going there to learn more about this world anyway," Evelis thought to herself.
"You woke up somewhere around this forest, right? That might be because you live in a nearby village or city, and the nearest one to this forest is the capital. You may be able to remember more if you go there," continued Lemier.
"Ohh right, I told them I lost my memory. I forgot about it and was only focused on learning about this world."
"Right, I was thinking the same thing," replied Evelis.
They set off to the capital with the carriage; it would take them half a day to reach it. On the way there, Evelis couldn't help but have this odd feeling she felt yesterday. She didn't ignore it, but she didn't know what it was. She was also thinking about herself and her powers.
"It seems as if I have flame powers. Every time I want them to appear, I just need to think about it in my mind and it will appear anywhere and anytime as long as I'm able to see it. What's weird is that when Alric and the others were telling me about the powers, they said when people use their powers they feel the power within them, but I don't understand what they mean."
"That is all I know of this world so far."