"I DID IT!"
I scream at the very top if my lungs as I raise my hands in the cold air. It was a challenge enough to even speak in sych high altitude, but I had to congratulate myself somehow. No one else except le was up here after all.
My name is Owen Cross, and I am the first ever person to successfully map, navigate, and climb Gangkhar Puensum, the tallest previously unmapped, unnavigated, and unclimbed mountain.
This has been my dream ever since I heard the name of this legendary mountain! Ever step I took, ever injury sustained, every breath of my life has been saved up for this moment
My mouth is curved into a permanent smile as I sit down on the snow, facing the horizon.
...
So. What now?
Sure, it's nice and all, but, now that I've done it, what now? I don't have anything else I wanted to do after coming up here.
My smile began to fade as I thoughtfully stare out.
I guess I'll take a break and take in the scenery as I listen to this one novel I've had on the entire trip called The Value of a Heart of Fire. It's almost done anyways, so it should be fitting I finish it up here.
Placing my headphones in my ears, I close my eyes and lay down on the snow, the once quiet atomsphere now interrupted by the narrator reading out the rest of the book. Along with climbing this mountain, I've been reading and listening in on this novel, and it's the last chapter.
"Sitting atop the throne, Maximus Fireheart sighs. He has done everything he wanted. Become a renowned adventurer, avenge his family, and now become the monarch of a new civilization. He felt accomplished. His whole purpose has been met, but he also felt like, his adventure... was just beginning."
And that was it. Kind of a bittersweet ending, but it leaves a bit to the imagination. Maybe the author will write another novel after this one? Who knows? I'm tired though.
Really tired...
After being wife awake just a second ago, I feel myself drift off asleep.
Owen Cross. Congratulations on reaching your goal. Now transporting you to a new world.
"...!"
A feminine voice calls out to me while my eyes are shut.
"H..! ..y!"
Despite having fallen asleep on the mountain top, my surroundings felt different. I wasn't laying atop a bed of snow, but instead solid ground. It felt more grassy and rocky, rough to touch. I was wearing something different compared to my mountaineering gear. My shirt was light and thin and my pants were made out of cloth instead of fleece and snow material.
"Hey!"
My eyes shoot open. This... wasn't Gankhar Puensum.
A gorgeous elf-eared woman with green eyes and long blonde hair tied into a high ponytail kneels over my body. Is this...
...heaven?
A tear rolls out of my eye as I smiled. Mom, dad... I'm in a better place now.
"Snap out of it, human!" She slaps my face, instantly breaking me from my trance.
"Huh? Wait..." I squint at her. Gorgeous elven woman with green eyes and long blonde hair tied into a high ponytail? That's exactly how that character was described. I look her up and down. She had on light elven armor with bracers, skin tight pants, and a pair of boots with elven markings on them.
"You're..."
"Sylvaila Vyris, heir to the throne of the high elf kingdom of Vyriskine." The elf places a hand on her chest as she introduces herself.
It's her! One of the heroines of TVAHF (The Value of a Heart of Fire)! What... in the hell am I doing here?! I was just on top of a mountain and closed my eyes for a second!
I pinch myself. Nope definitely not a dream.
As I almost break my skin with how hard I pinched myself, I take a better look of my surroundings. We're in a dark forest, the sky completely grayed out and devoid of any sunlight. Everything about this place spells ok thing: death.
Rotten trees envelop the small clearing we occupy, the stench of rotting corpses filling the cold and stale air. We're in Necrohyme. The place where TVAHF starts off.
I don't see anyone else around except for her, which means...
I turn towards a dark stone, clear and glassy enough to display my reflection. This isn't my face. My previous one at least.
I had messy, dark blue hair that reached down to my earlobes, a low ponytail streaming down on to my my upper back. My face wasn't too remarkable, but it has distinctly sharp features that I honestly kind of desired. This body wasn't much taller or athletic than my original, but there was still a noticeable difference. I held my jaw. My hands were rough and thin, somewhat feminine in a way but still muscular.
I... I...
Have no idea who this is!
I've been a fan of TVAHF for over a decade and I don't know who this character is! I even reread the series in my free time while I waited for the next episode!
The only person that comes to mind at the beginning of the story in Necrohyme was... crap.
"Do you remember yours, human?" Sylvaila questions me with a stern look.
"I am..." My face fills with dread. I know exactly who I am.
"Frost Calder."
A nobody who dies off screen. Just my luck.
"What a..." She thinks for a moment. "forgettable name." Even she agrees!
From what I remember, Frost Calder was someone hired to escort Sylvaila to Prochera, a kingdom that has an alliance with all races, making it a popular ppace for adventurers to create teams and regroup. The thing is... he's a complete pushover. Sylvaila demanded she didn't need him and insisted her lead the way, resulting in the both of the taking a slightly wrong turn and ending up in Necrohyme.
Sylvaila here meets the main character of the novel some time she abandons me after I die.
"Good. You remember your name. So lead us out of here!" She yells, absolutely furious. Despite her being the reason why we're here in the first place, I'm still the one to take the blame for some reason. This is why I never liked her in the novel in the first place. Such an overrated character.
"Hold on, hold on."
"How dare you speak back to me!" I cover her mouth with my hand before she can speak even further, muffled her voice. Finally I can think.
Let's see here. Judging on how there's an abundance of tall trees, we shouldn't be at a super high altitude. Along with that, it's also not that much of a problem to breathe. Even though there's rocks scattered across the ground, nothing is purely stone. This is good. That means we don't need to worry about any problems of breathing or traversing, but most importantly, ground we need to cover.
Our biggest problem right now though is that sky is completely fogged out. No sky means no sun or stars, huge waypoints that are used to get a sense of directions. Not to mention the possibility of running into undead in this area is something that can't be overlooked.
"Sylvaila." I say, waiting for a response before realizing my hand was still over her mouth. "Oh."
"Why, the nerve!" She yells as I pull my arm back.
"Quiet. Monsters might hear you." Upon saying that, she immediately shuts up, almost looking scared at the thought of getting attacked.
"Stay on guard. You're the only one of us who has the means to defend yourself." My eyes instantly glance over at her bow and quiver if arrows hoisted on her back. Even though I never liked her, she was super useful when it came to her archery skills.
Sylvaila nods and I pull out my backpack. There's rations for a few days of food along with water inside, plus utensils and basics for eating. Inside are also some medical supplies which hopefully don't require the event of usage. I did learn a bit about medical safety, but it wasn't much. The one thing I took interest in was a retractable telescope, and a notebook and pencil. The reason for them being important were obvious.
So I can spot danger from far away and write my finals words!
Joking of course. Slightly.
Although it's true that I consider myself a great navigator, that doesn't mean our safety is guaranteed.
If only we had a... my eyes wander to the stones again. Compass!
I grab a small rock on the floor and begin chipping away at a dark, crystal-like stone.
"What are you doing?" I get asked curiously by Sylvaila. A grunt emerges from my lips as a piece of the stone chips off. This should do.
"Making a compass." Upon facing her, something instantly grabs my attention, a small charm that rests on a thin choker around her neck. Her face gets a little red for some reason as she tries to cover herself.
"That. Give it to me."