Alsten's body was dead stiff. He watched as the first row of trolls slowly turned towards them. With shaking breath, he forced out a question to his allies.
"You... you okay back there?"
He heard someone shifted on the ice floor. And then, Yobu replied.
"Genler is on it."
Lana followed up by saying:
"Give us some time."
Alsten first witnessed the miraculous healing magic when Genler used it on him. It was a whole another system apart from the mainstream magic they'd talked about. Indeed, healing magic took some time depending on the injuries. In their case, even though they were considered the most capable fighters of humanity, falling from fifty meters or so was still enough to give them grave injuries except for Alsten himself. He wondered what his body was made of.
"G-Got it..." he muttered as the monsters approached. It wasn't like he had any choice. Still, Lana and Yobu sounded like there wasn't a hint of doubt in their voices that Alsten wouldn't fail them. The trust they had in the Hero seemed unbreakable.
And then, all hell broke loose.
It took some time for Alsten to get used to looking at these grotesque monsters, and now, he thought he had gotten it.
As soon as the first group of trolls got close enough, Alsten swung the massive sword so hard, it sliced clean through the furred giants simultaneously. More monsters didn't hesitate to charge. His muscle fibers twitched as fast as light itself, each slash ensued pools of dark blood spilling onto the crystallized surface.
Before he knew it, Alsten himself was covered in the dark, hot liquid. He stabbed, he slashed and sliced, the feeling of cutting through flesh quickly became familiar to him. Soon, his beating heart drowned all sounds. He had already killed countless monsters.
There were hundreds of thousands of those monstrosities left. Though, he was far from tired. In fact, he was beginning to...
...love it.
More. He needed to kill more. The Hero began to advance, abandoning the defensive position. The monsters seemed to have understood that standing in his way meant suicide, and started to back off.
Strangely, in that moment, memories of his life flashed through his mind.
They had always been there, but he pushed them to the furthest, deepest part of his consciousness.
When they did nothing as he was being abused.
When his parents ignored his suffering.
When his childhood friend changed... when she forsook him.
When the world wasn't fair. When everyone left him. When he was alone.
Alsten bathed in dark blood, and thirsted for more. His mouth produced a strange sound as he slaughtered anything that was in front of him. Whether he was laughing or crying, no one knew. But, remaining visible from all the blood, his eyes gleamed in a terrifying way.
Why couldn't he get revenge on those who wronged him? Slaughtering these mindless beasts just wasn't enough. He wanted their heads. He wanted their bloodline erased. Every last one of them. But he could no longer see that through. And that thought continuously ignited the burning rage in his heart.
It was so unfair.
Lana stared at him, terrified. Genler had just finished healing Yobu, too.
And then, suddenly, Alsten felt something hard crashing against his face. For the second time, he went flying a good distance after being hit. He quickly got up, prepared to swing his blade, but then another monster punched him in the guts, sending the hero flying a third time. Alsten went through the ice wall near where Lana and the others stood.
The archer flinched when Alsten abruptly emerged from the ice, breathing heavily. He looked like the most terrifying wild beast, hungry for blood.
When Alsten dared to go back into the fray, Lana grabbed him by the arm and then shouted.
"Alsten, wake up!!!"
The hero staggered, and then paused. As if being pulled out of a deep trance, he calmed down, and slowly turned to Lana. Seeing her alluring eyes seemed to have an effect on him.
Then, he turned towards the mess he had authored. The azure, crystalline floor was now painted in black, piles of corpses and viscera were scattered everywhere, and the stalemate between him and the army of giant trolls.
But wasn't this the goal to begin with? They were supposed to kill the Troll King.
"Let's retreat," Yobu said.
"There's too many of them. Without Alsten's magic abilities, we're simply going to die."
Alsten wasn't bold enough yet to dismiss the idea, and the others seemed to agree as well. So, while the monster's were hesitating to attack, the group decided to run. Lana had already found the stone ramp leading to the upper platform of the hall.
Regaining the sense of domination, the trolls began to chase them. The front row got on all fours and started sprinting towards the hero's party. They were begining to get surrounded.
Then, suddenly, a huge, muscular man riding a massive iron wall shield came crashing down the mobs from above, clearing their way. Hetaphar had rejoined the group and a few critical moments later, they'd ascended to the ice platform where they came from. A few guard trolls tried to stop them, but Yobu and Lana swiftly dealt with them.
They exited the cave in no time.
Finally getting far away enough from the monster's domain, the environment seemed to have magically changed. The air was once again smooth to inhale and dark clouds no longer covered the sun, though it had already started sinking down the horizon.
Several hours had passed since Alsten had arrived in this world, but each felt strangely long. He'd learned so much and he felt like that was too many information in such a short period of time.
They settled in the forest side not far from the northern mountain. From where they were, they saw the thick, thundering clouds looming over the sharp mountain peak, seeming to be separated from the main sky.
While Lana was hunting for food, Genler and Hetaphar set up the camp and Yobu created the fire. They told Alsten to clean himself in a nearby river.
As the sky began to darken, Alsten stripped the heavy, bloody pieces of armor and then cleaned them thoroughly. Next were his suit and then the long, blue cape. Being as tough as he was, he wondered what was the use of wearing all this.
Removing all of his clothes, Alsten submerged himself in the deep river. The water was calm and clear, flowing quietly in the tranquil dusk. Feeling all the dirt, dried blood, and whatever impurities on his skin being washed away lulled his tired soul. Again, this world had given him pleasures he'd never imagined possible.
Hours flew by, blind to his awareness. His mind was occupied with overflowing thoughts about the sudden changes in his life.
Everything used to be dark and lonely, with no hope in sight. Now, he had companions that trust him deeply, and he had a greater purpose.
He grabbed his blonde hair, silently thanking whoever brought him to this world. Not even in his wildest dreams did he ever think something like this could happen.
The night sky was full of stars, and three, round moons illuminated the silent forest. Lit up by the bright moons, the river became a flowing mirror of millions of beautiful stars. It was nothing short of breathtaking.
On the water's calm surface, Alsten saw his face clearly for the first time.
He was an extremely beautiful young man with sharp, brown eyes and shiny, blonde hair. His skin was fair and had a pale complexity, but it was evident that he was hardened by years of battles.
His body was perfectly lean and muscular. From his strong arms, to his huge hands and thick fingers, his wide shoulders, hard chest and a perfect set of abs, his body screamed efficiency and strength. Most models would cry in envy in front of him. He was truly beautiful.
It was hard to believe that this body belonged to him now.
After gawking at his own appearance, he finally decided to rise from the water. He put back all of his newly cleaned clothes and armor on and then headed back to the camp.
And just in time, dinner was ready. His treasured allies were already sitting on logs or a huge stone, circling the campfire in the middle. Some skewers of meat were hanging atop the fire while some were already being devoured by Hetaphar and Yobu.
Alsten sat with them with an unfamiliar warmth in his heart. He wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this before. If he did, it must have been a really long time.
Sitting with people you consider family.
It might have been just a day since meeting them, but no one looked at him with concern and care like they did. Even if what they were looking at wasn't really him, it was good enough. It truly was.
Agreeing that they should discuss their next move tomorrow, the Hero's Party called it a day and then rested.
There was a fear in Alsten's heart that he might wake up in his original body, and that almost kept him awake all night. But the exhaustion overpowered this anxiety and he ultimately fell to a deep slumber.
Alsten slept like a baby, as if he didn't just slaughter dozens of gigantic beasts. And then after hours of dreamless rest, morning came.
The sun cast its first rays into the lush forest, marking the start of a brand new day.
Alsten opened his eyes in a daze. The first thing he saw was an extremely beautiful dark-haired elf, lying on her side, still asleep. She was facing his direction.
He almost screamed. The surprising sight woke him up completely.
'What the—! Why's she sleeping next to me?!'
Then he remembered. The five of them shared one tent. Maybe he was too tired to make a deal out of it last night, but sleeping next to a woman this beautiful should have been too much for his system to handle!
His heart almost skipped a beat when Lana opened her almond-shaped eyes. The pair of dreamy sky-blue irises were unfocused as they were slowly being revealed. Then, he held his breath when she looked at him.
She blinked and then drowsily said:
"Good morning..."
He gulped. He then pushed himself up from the sleeping mat.
"G-Goodmorning..."
And then one by one, the rest of the party had awoken.
After getting themselves ready for the day, the group sat together once again to discuss their plans. This was Alsten's second day in this world and for some reason, he felt really enthusiastic and energetic. He felt like he could take on anything at the moment.
It was a good day, indeed.
"So," Genler intoned, putting a small handbook inside his leather sling bag. "We're currently between the nearest town and our quest location. What should our next move be?"
Yobu didn't seem to care about such details as he was busy cleaning his twin blades with a white piece of cloth. Meanwhile, Hetaphar turned to Alsten.
Lana leaned back and crossed her arms
The archer said:
"As much as I hate to say this, we can't complete this quest without Alsten's magic. But the nearest magic school is a couple of weeks of travel away. And add the time required to study magic, plus the time of traveling back to this place. We simply can't make it."
After a short silence, Lana added:
"I've observed the crystal egg and I can tell that it had reached almost full maturity. The Troll King will hatch soon. We can't delay this any further."
She then turned to Alsten.
"What should we do?"
'Eh?'
Dumbfounded, the hero stared silently at his allies. He'd forgotten that he was supposed to be the leader of this party. The bad thing was, he'd never led anyone or anything in his life. The first time he tried, well, it failed miserably.
He opened his mouth.
"Are you... are you sure you want to ask me? I mean... I've got no memories of this world."
Yobu chuckled.
"Fair. But we still trust you."
Alsten confusedly looked at them again.
"Why?"
Then, Lana gave him a response that everyone agreed to.
"You don't remember why you were chosen to be the Hero, do you?"
"Y-Yeah... why?"
Lana sighed.
"You became the Hero because of your brilliant mind. In all situations, you managed to create a strategy that leads you to victory. It's the reason we came this far. All of the dangers we managed to survive was because of your meticulous planning and flawless strategies."
Alsten's brown eyes opened wide. The archer added:
"It's not because of your strength or magical prowess. If that's all it took to defeat the Demon King, they would have sent an army of mages and giants instead."
Alsten was silent for a few moments. Why did the real Alsten need to be so damn cool?! Now he had to work ten times harder to fill his shoes!
Lana ultimately asked:
"So, Alsten... What should we do?"
The whole party was looking at him. They were relying on him.
There was also a time when he'd led people. Perhaps they were the wrong people to lead because they abandoned his cause and left him behind. But now, these people really trusted him and were willing to follow his words.
He knew he could have been a great leader back then.
Alsten cleared his throat, and then with fire of determination burning in his eyes, he declared:
"I'm going to learn magic."