In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Vlad's reincarnation.
This world turned out to be smaller than he expected, being located on the only piece of land surrounded by endless seas. The place he was in, was called Heathgrove. An immense city that spanned for hundreds of kilometers in all directions from the Rift.
The name represented imperfection of people who had potential for growth.
Growing downwards though... didn't suit it.
Elizabeth who became Vlad's guard, aswell as personal trainer of sorts. Taught him the principles behind everything this world had, atleast most of the thing's that he was required to know.
His body felt like that of a puppet, controling every movement he made with a pull of the strings. That's why after seeing his condition. Elizabeth decided to make him train every single day in order to adapt and get used to his new body, it went awfully well from her perspective but Vlad thought otherwise.
He never actually exercised except the PE lessons in school, resulting in his weak will, passing out almost every fifteen or so minutes. "A HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE HOUSE OR ELSE!"
She screamed her lungs out each time he was dragged outside and showed a hint of hesitation. The soreness of his muscless and ringing in his eardrums, was actually a good boost for motivation which didn't go unnoticed by Elizabeth as she doubled down the next few days, adding other exercises into the mix.
If it was his old body... he would have been lying deep beneath his toombstone already.
Thanks to the new muscular body of his though, he could manage to keep up with the ridiculous demands of this woman.
He even memorized the hours when she would storm into his room and drag him by the collar of his shirt, right outside.
'Such ridiculous strenght.' He thought.
This monster in the body of a gorgeous woman, was something he had accepted already with both his body and mind.
On day fifteen of his stay, he asked her about how she became so strong, what could have possibly happened to turn someone into such superhuman being.
"It's the Rift that made me stronger, not me."
She denied it somewhat, but Vlad got the answer he wanted and when he tried to go back to running, she continued.
"We have a hierarchy of sorts.." She leaned on the house's walls.
"People are split into two major groups, Delvers and Settlers. Aswell as Drifters who branched off Delvers."
"Settlers are people who, just like you, never entered the Rift." Her gaze falling over the city in the distance. "They spend their lifes, well.. living. Going to schools, making friends, working for their families. Those are people who decided to hide away on the surface, living off the meager pay that they deserve."
"Delvers on the other hand, are those who ventured inside the Rift. They are ranked based on their accomplishments and prowess. I for example, am a Tier 3 Delver."
"Tier 3, being the 4th highest tier you can achieve. There are ten overall going down from 9 to 0.
The higher rank you attain, the better your life is, but so is the danger that it brings with it. With rank, you obtain powers similar to my strings that can hold souls such as yours. Something that people desire but start to get bored with. That's the way that wretched place works." Her tone shifted into that of a sneer.
"You know, when i was working as a delver i had a team. They were just like everyone else, pridefull talentless losers who didn't know when to stop.
There was a mission assigned to us once, a big one. I backed out since i knew that it wasn't something we could do ourself but they didn't listen, they just left me behind, 'coward' that's what they called me after leaving me alone up here.
It wasn't even a week before i got the news of their death, pretty cowardly of me to not die for someone so foolish, right? So tell me Vlad." It seemed as if it wasn't about just explaining things to him.
He started to get shiver's from her gaze alone, like she was angry at something, someone. The people she worked with seemed to be truly foolish if they knew how hopeless it was.
She started to walk over to him, slowly... her feet barely leaving the ground as she got closer to Vlad who was frozen solid.
"Would you preffer to be a Dead fool or a Living coward."
Her voice was as cold as the snow he had felt in his dreams, cutting into him like a needle. His mouth opened, then closed and opened again before he whispered.
"i-"
"Louder." She cut him off, demanding he raised his voice.
He didn't dare to meet her eyes, staring down at his feet, he mumbled.
"I'd want to live."
"..."
"Go back to running."
"yes ma'am..."
.
.
.
.
Vlad laid in his room, his mind somewhere else as he commented on how pretty the ceiling seemed today.
The way she spoke to him.. it reminded him of a certain person or rather entity he had met.
'She's just like them'
The person who had put a knife between his ribs, spewing the word's of pure hatred over his dying body. Why was it that everyone was so similar to each other lately? What made it seem that they had so many things in similar.
"Ah.."
He realized what it was after some thought. It was obvious if he was right about the person.
"They both had lost something."
He didn't know what they lost, there was no reason to find out either. It was all he needed to know about them that made him feel no emotion towards them. They we're people who had everything, and lost it right after. Unlike him who never held anything dear to his heart, they we're alien to him.
Just like the screen that was above his head.
[Vlad Mircea]
[Threat Level: Grade 9]
[Strenght: Grade 8-]
[Agility: Grade 8-]
[Endurance: Grade 8]
[Willpower: Grade 9]
[Mana: Grade 9-]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
He laid on his bed, tracing the silver outline of the glowing blue screen that popped out of nowhere.
'System'
It closed immediately, dissapearing into a cluster of miniscule sparks that melted in the air.
'So that's something they get too huh?'
This wasn't the first time he was reading it's contents, rather it had been too many times that he forgot to count it.
On the 6th day of his stay, a piece of information settled inside his head, it was about the special 'System' that he recieved after fusing with this Vessel. It wasn't anything special, just a glass screen that was visible only to him, or he thought. He never tried to summon it in front of Elizabeth which didn't seem to be a good idea, for him to hide it meant that she wouldn't be able to explain how it worked, what it's benefit's were and etc. But it was a sort of cheat that he got from the god, so he didn't want it to come to light, especially after what happened recently.
'Was that what he meant by it?'
To trust the System.
Vlad was unsure about the trusting part. Since it only showed the information about him, aswell as hiding some sort of information under the Locked line of text.
'Whatever'
He would figure it out on his own eventually, and if he didn't, then too bad. It's something that was his, so it was obvious he needed to be the only one to learn. Just like Mana that he couldn't use..
- Knock
Someone knocked on his door, it was obvious who that person was. After all, there was no one else in the area besides him and Elizabeth.
Few seconds passed, the door opened and she walked inside, looking at Vlad who was faking being asleep.
With a sigh, she spoke to him, this time more tame than before.
"Vlad, turns out we need to speed up your training. Get dressed properly and meet me at the hill behind the house." Leaving those words, he was left there with his eyes closed.
'Dammit'
He thought after she finally left the house, was it dissapointment he felt when she didn't grab him by the collar like always? Vlad was unsure of that.
Jumping off the bed, he put on the closest clothes he could find. A dark t-shirt and sweatpants. Fitting for someone who had nothing in his possesion except these clothes that weren't his own.
Walking out of the house, he spotted a glimpse of her silky white hair being pulled by the wind.
She stood on top of the hill, watching him from above like a hawk.
The tall oak tree that grew on its top, produced a gigantic shadow that swallowed the entire area. It was less empty here thanks to it, the grass fields that surrounded him were bland in contrast to this tree.
He made his way up, the steep hill making him already lose breath after going halfway. He hunched down, trying to regain his breath under the sharp gaze of Elizabeth.
"Have you ever used a sword?" Her voice rang out all over the hill.
"Nope."
Vlad answered without hesitation. She furrowed her brows upon hearing his eager tone.
"It's not something to be proud of."
"Sorry."
To his surprise, she didn't criticize him as much as usual. She seemed.. calm.
"Here you go." She threw something to him, which he barely caught thanks to his newly refined reflexes.
'A sword?'
"Today, you're going to learn how to use a sword. I will teach you the basics of swordsmanship while you will listen and do as i say."
She crouched down and asked him a question
"Do you know what is the most important aspect of swordmanship?"
He thought for a moment, hesitantly answering.
"Being strong?"
"Wrong." She denied bluntly.
"It's the mastery over your weapon.
The way you handle your sword during a fight will influence it's outcome no matter what opponent you face. Everyone master's it in their own different ways, some focus on shaping it around their nibleness, sometimes it's strenght, rarely appear those who merge it with spellcasting. But it all comes down to their experience and the basics."
She pulled out her own wooden sword, raising it in Vlad's direction and pointing it's sharp tip at his chest.
"Mastering your weapon is the only way you can survive in this world. So i will guide you, even if just slightly."
.
.
.
.
Vlad stood at the edge of the hill. The tree swayed from side to side, it's leaves rustling through the calm wind. The weight of the wooden sword he held wasn't light at all, the sharpness of it seemed to have cut his finger after he caught it.
His calm eyes never leaving the sword that was aimed at him.
'This..'
He thought briefly.
'She's going to kill me, right?'
A tear almost escaped his eyes, raising his sword up, he marveled at how big and well polished it was.
He heard her the first time, she would teach him how to use a sword? How funny. There was no way he would be able to learn something so complicated when he was being rushed too.
But he wanted to try it, for the little fantasy that bloomed in his mind. This.. a world of magic and steel. It was the exact thing he wished for in his previous boring life yet it was always just a fantasy. For the previously empty world that he had nothing to long for, he wanted to bring something as simple as this.
That is why he didn't refuse, he wouldn't be able to even if he wanted in all honesty. So that's why he agreed to 'Try'.
Like he always did.