When Aldr awoke, he was sitting in a tent, his body tied to a roughly carven wooden chair.
'My head...'
He could see the sparks shining in front of him, formed into carefully woven words, but his vision was blurry, he simply couldn't view them right.
'I succumbed to that thing...and now, I'm just...here.'
He couldn't summon any more willpower, but his gaze began to steady, and he looked at the sparks taking shape.
[You have slain a minor plague lord, the Absent Echo.]
[You have been rewarded the "Legacy", "Indomitable", and "Soul Devourer" attributes for your feat.]
His eyes widened slightly in surprise, he had achieved a feat.
The sparks were not just a communication system between the world tree to bestow him gifts and such, they were also sorts of acknowledgment. As well as his guide. A feat could be recognized in many ways, minors feats, great feats, heroic feats, and many more, they went hand in hand with the reputation of a person. Though, he had never achieved such a feat so early on.
'I change my mind about being unlucky…this is incredible!'
He immediately viewed the descriptions of each attribute, eager to read through thoroughly as his bright jade green eyes gleamed with curiosity.
[Attribute name: Legacy
Description: The Eikons once left a key behind, the key could only wait until it could be embraced.]
Aldr stared carefully at the bright vermilion letters floating in the air and sighed.
'Cryptic.'
He stared at the description for a bit longer before dismissing the sparks.
'A key created by gods. It wouldn't just give me that description for no reason…'
He took a deep breath and summoned the next set of descriptions.
[Attribute name: Indomitable
Description: Your will is impenetrable, your mind and soul bear great strength, but that strength is not all your own. For even the Eikons had to depart with their humanity.]
'Again? This is the most I've even heard about Eikons from my attributes...'
Usually in his cycles of destruction, Aldr never heard much about Eikons. They were sacred knowledge kept only to few, though everyone knew of their existence, very few knew of their secrets.
'...something must be different this time.'
Although his curiosity lingered, he decided to move on.
[Attribute name: Soul Devourer
Description: The black robed followers of death once discovered a grueling plague under the mountains. And yet they were compelled to unseal this plague, and sealed the fate of their very world. And for their punishment, the plague lords devoured their souls, stealing part of the very essence of death.]
'I can...what?'
He stared at the description of the attribute, the words lingered for a while like a blasphemous scripture.
'Devouring souls...'
The very concept was rather unheard of, at least in a human. Soul devouring was the trait of a monster, or a spirit. The simple essence of humanity usually rejected it, even though it has always been possible for them.
He was going to finish his thought, but he heard the entrance of the gate flap open as a beautiful woman walked in, carrying the confidence of a noble. Her hair was pale white, shining in any light, and her eyes gold, carrying an ethereal beauty to them. Her armor carried the same color as her hair, white, and also beautiful, with a gold cape running down her back.
She looked towards him and sighed as her rapier dashed across the room with a mind of it's own, stopping itself at his face.
"You will answer all the questions I ask, understand?"
He stared at the blade of the rapier before looking back at her.
"...very well."
She summoned a more glamorous chair out of nothing and sat on it, her eyes ran up and down Aldr's body, making him rather uncomfortable.
"Show me your willpower."
"May I ask why?"
"No."
"Very well then."
He sighed and let a small amount of vermilion sparks fly from his body. He was still incredibly exhausted, and carefully measured the concentration of willpower he released.
"Is that it?"
She looked at him almost disappointedly as her soft lips curved into a slight frown.
"Well...I'm rather exhausted of my willpower at the moment, so yes, that is all."
The rapier drew back and instead slashed his ropes, although very reluctantly it seemed.
"So be it. Next question then..."
Aldr relaxed his limbs, letting his body recover.
"...how did you get to this world?"
Aldr paused for a moment, his jade eyes widening slightly as the words rang across the tent. He suddenly felt the urge to get up and run.
'It's her...'
She quickly noticed the look in his eyes.
"My suspicions were correct then."
Her rapier drew back into her palm as she sighed.
"I have no need for a partner."
He looked at her, and then smiled slightly, more of a sinister grin than any.
"I was thinking the same thing."
She paused, as if she didn't expect agreement with her. It had come to her mind that she had never met Aldr before. For all she knows, he could be some kind of warmongering beast that enjoys stirring up trouble.
"...I'll have...proper clothing, brought to you."
He suddenly realized his almost stark nakedness, his undergarments now covered in mud standing out against her regal armor.
She scurried out of the tent.
'What's she in a rush for?'
He looked down at his body and then sighed, before promptly exiting the tent, being greeted by what resembled a war camp, golden tents covering a small expanse of the muddy plain.
'Where is it...'
He stomped across the grounds, the water lingering in the mud splashing beneath his bare feet as he searched. Until his eyes landed upon two corpses stacked together, laying in a large wagon.
One was a massive raven mutated by the plague, a few of its wings had been torn from its gargantuan body as a giant hole laid in its chest.
'Is this...?'
His mind recalled back to the raven that had escaped from the nest on the first night of his stay. And then chuckled a bit.