Alsten opened his eyes wide, the sudden burst of wind towards his face startled him. The world blurred, and his heart that was already racing went haywire.
'What the actual fuck?!'
He was so fast. Too fast. In one kick, he'd launched himself several meters forward in less than a second. He was too shocked that he had forgotten the part about hitting Yobu.
But as he had realized, it wouldn't have made a difference. Because in that quick instance, Yobu had also already disappeared from where he stood. Almost stumbling to the ground from skidding to a stop, the hero frantically turned around, trying to spot his opponent. Meanwhile, Hetaphar was dying of laughter in the background.
'Can someone tell me what's going on?!'
In his previous life, Alsten had his fair share of Anime and Webtoon. Like everyone else, he'd always found the intense fight scenes, characters moving in the blink of an eye, and the relentless clash of blades riveting. They looked good on screen but he never once imagined what those characters' points of view felt like.
"I'm right here, dummy."
In the corner of his eye, just behind where his shoulder was, Yobu was crouching, stealthily avoiding Alsten's line of sight.
Alsten raised his hand and then swung his sword downward. The massive chunk of metal burned the air in its path, producing a loud zap as it broke the sound barrier. It sliced the ground instead of the snow wolf, shattering the earth beneath his feet for a few meters forward.
Yobu appeared in a good distance, successfully avoiding being obliterated by that attack just now.
"It's even worse than I've expected. You move like an absolute moron," Yobu remarked.
Alsten almost didn't hear him due to his attention being on something else. He might have looked like a fool in front of these warriors, but to him, this whole ordeal was nothing short of electrifying.
The hero gripped his blade and then chased his target once again.
Dashing that fast, the world around him seemed to stretch back as the light travelling to his eyes gets delayed. He was able to get an almost 360° view of his surroundings in that small amount of time. Also, he'd expected air resistance to murder his eyes, but maybe due to Alsten's inhuman toughness, he barely felt a thing.
He slashed his enemy, only for his blade to be parried by the wolf's light daggers. From there on, Alsten kept trying to attack Yobu, his greatsword shaking the earth and piercing the air. But each attempt to land a hit ended in spectacular failure.
However, despite their relentless movements, neither of them were tired.
'Still, this wolf is too good!'
Yobu wasn't faster or stronger. For some reason, Alsten could tell that he could outspeed and overpower the beast. What made him look like a complete fool was Yobu's precise and skillful movements. Before Alsten could start his attack, it looked like Yobu had already read his next ten moves and prepared countermeasures for them ahead of time.
"This is bad," the beast stated. He seemed to lower his guard as he was submerged into a deep thought, so Alsten lowered his blade and eased up his stance. The wolf continued, slightly shivering.
"I've never seen someone have their memories erased like in your case. Who knew the effects of such a condition was this terrifying?"
Yobu grimaced.
"I can't imagine having all of my skills and instincts being stripped away from me just like that... I would instantly die."
The hero gulped, something about his statement made him think.
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 was 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.
The wolf sighed.
"Looks like we're gonna have to train you from scratch."
Alsten stared at him, unsure about what to feel. Yobu seemed to be taking the skill issue harder than the rest of the group. Maybe he was just that kind of guy.
From behind, heavy footsteps sent light tremors to the dry soil where they stood. Hetaphar's massive hand landed on Alsten's shoulder plate before his loud laughter echoed through the tranquil forest, startling the birds in their nests.
"You have to say, though. Seeing Alsten act like this is kind of hilarious. HA, HA, HA!!!"
It seemed that even Alsten's incredibly tough eardrums weren't safe from this guy's loud voice. He wanted to cover his ears but could only endure it in silence. The bald giant continued.
"I'll help you train him. Oh, this is gonna be interesting."
Yobu stomped his feet... or paws. Whatever were inside those dark leather boots. And then he smashed his fists together.
"Then, let's strike the iron while it's hot! We will start now."
The wolf straightened his posture like a real military sargeant or a martial arts mentor, even his tail stopped from swaying every few seconds and behaved right behind him.
"So, first, the fundamentals. As a fighter, it's very important to—"
"We don't have time for that!"
Lana's voice cut Yobu's words short. They turned to the archer who was already walking towards them, Genler tailing closely behind her.
She continued.
"Did you guys also forget what we're doing here in the first place? Is this memory wipe curse contagious?"
For a few moments, silence filled the air until a realization struck the group. Then, Hetaphar said:
"Oh... the quest."
Alsten looked at them one by one, confused. Yobu was sighing, Hetaphar was scratching the back of his bald head, while Lana was looking at them furiously. Genler stepped forward and then cleared his throat. As usual, he raised his hand before speaking.
"Let me explain."
Alsten turned to him and listened quietly.
"A few days ago, we accepted a quest from the town northward. We stayed there for a few nights to rest and resupply, and during our time there, we've found out that this town is suffering from monster attacks often. When the chieftain discovered that the hero is currently in their town, they came to us and pleaded to accept this quest, promising handsome rewards."
He paused and then pointed at the general direction of a cold, massive mountain.
"... According to the information they gave us, they've sent scouts to investigate the reason for this abnormal surge of monster attacks. And they found out that a new troll king had hatched — hence, the monster's sense of urgency to stockpile resources which are... human flesh."
Genler sighed.
"Of course, we could slay every monster that sets foot into the town. But that wouldn't solve the problem. What we need to do is to go to the troll's lair and destroy the newborn king. That would cause the monsters to go back to their regular behavior which is far less threatening for humans in their towns. Unless if they choose to venture into the wild."
Alsten felt his jaw almost gaping, but then stopped himself. He was dumbfounded by the sudden flood of new information about this world. He wanted to ask questions, but decided to just remain silent for now. After all, his words could be the one to cause his soul's banishment from the hero's body.
"I see..." he muttered.
Yobu butted in.
"We were on our way to the northern mountain just now. Until you suddenly decided to rest. Then, you ran off, and the next thing is you've lost your memories. Crazy, right?"
***
After discussing a few more key information, the hero's party set off to the northern mountain. The metal roof of the simple tent they had set up turned out to be Hetaphar's massive shield. No wonder it looked too robust and out of place! After tidying up their belongings, they'd left the spot of their camp exactly how they found it. Not a single trace of their presence remained. And the giant shield rode on Hetaphar's back.
On their way, Alsten couldn't help but ask one single question. Though, he had to word it carefully as to not sound like a complete alien.
According to his judgement, Genler was the safest person to ask. Maybe it was because of his gentle demeanor or meek personality, but the old man just made him feel... comfortable?
The hero matched the healer's pace, letting the three walk in front of them. He then asked in a weak voice:
"So... what do you think about magic?"
Ever since confirming that this was a different world than his own—or where he came from, at least, he had been dying to know if magic existed here and he desperately wanted to witness it in action. However, he had to restrain himself for a certain reason.
But with all of the introduction out of the way, and the group seemed to have established what the situation was, it felt like the right moment to ask.
He did hear Genler and the others mention terms like "curse" and "spell". Lana even said something about mages and witches. But still, the only way to truly confirm things was to ask. Indeed, he could have chosen a better timing, but the nerd inside of him just couldn't wait any longer.
He worded the question the way he did because asking something like "does magic exist here?" sounded like a fast way to be exorcised. Asking a passive, vague question provided him more escape routes in case the word "magic" didn't even have a meaning in this world. If that were to be the case, he could just say "Magic" was a hot woman he'd met inside the town and he was just asking for his honest opinion.
Alsten gulped when Genler began to talk.
"That's quite a weird question. What do I think about magic? Hmmm, let's see."
It seemed like there was no need to overthink.
"Magic is a powerful ability to have. Those who are able to use it are certainly blessed, controlling the elements to their advantage. Why do you ask?"
'So it does exist!'
Alsten cleared his throat, doing his best to hide the excitement rising in his body.
"Well, you know... I was just wondering. Anyway, why do we not have a mage in our party?"
If Lana was the archer, Hetaphar was the tank, Genler was the healer, and Yobu and Alsten were the melee warriors, then a mage was certainly missing from their party.
"What are you talking about?"
Alsten froze when Genler stopped walking, staring at him like he'd just said the most atrocious false information.
"We do have a mage."
The hero stared at him, half confused and half nervous.
"Wh—Where?"
The hero's gaze fell on Genler's finger, pointing directly at... Alsten.
"You. You are the magic caster in this party," the healer said, bewildered and astonished.
"Alsten, when it comes to mana and magic, you are the strongest in this entire world."