Special Shoutout to:
Amelia: The Level Zero [Hero] by MelasD
Ten years ago, Amelia woke up alone and lost in a broken world where she had to fight for her survival.
Now, after reaching the pinnacle of power, defeating the Void itself, and escaping the abyss, she has finally found her way back into the real world. But instead of finding herself on Earth, she is in the land of Vacuos. A fantasy world with magic, monsters, Classes, and Levels. A world that is governed by a System like it were a video game.
And when rewarded with a Class befitting her accomplishments— to become a powerful [Hero] that will forever dedicate her life to protecting this world that is not her own— she only has one response.
“Absolutely not. I’m going to live a normal life now, thank you very much.”
After all, who needs a Class when you're already the strongest anyways?
Seriously check it out, MelasDelta has helped make this fiction possible, and he is also my best friend! Do give it a read!
Elei gasped for air, blood flowed down her body, trickling to the stone ground. The uneven torch light passed like waves over the nicks and crimson stains on the coarse ground. She held the two whip blades close to her body, the edges grazed her white skin, and her green hair had been stained an ugly brown. She could only hear her own heartbeat and labored breaths, she had grown familiar with the process.
Rest. Stand still. Wait. Parry, deflect, attack— training. It was all so-called training. Except the person training her had gone senile and was insane. She regretted it. She regretted agreeing to the notification a second time. Soon, the dreaded voice came.
“Not bad, little one.” It was ancient. “But you must get stronger, must be faster, must be better.”
Elei rolled her eyes. “Look, I just want to be strong enough to fight with him… Strong enough to do that.”
“To fight side by side with someone?” The voice asked. “Then you must be even stronger.”
The cave rumbled, the cave walls shook and small protrusions of plants formed, in no time, they shone in a pale green light. Elei let out a deep breath, she was unsure about whether she hated her patron, or hated her decisions, either way she felt rage over her circumstances.
The plants attacked and she swung her blades— they pierced through her arms, neck, shoulders— took her heart and then she remembered. At the border of death, a person appeared before her. He had white long hair, and a golden helmet with no slits or patterns. Two ears protruded to the sides of that person as they extended their hand with a potion. And as soon as she chugged it, more plants came.
It was an endless cycle.
◇ ◇ ◇
Elei woke up in a cold sweat. The ex-Woodland princess gasped as she looked around her, only to find herself in some type of wooden shack. And to her side, her guard, Vallos rested. He opened his eyes and spoke softly to her.
“Elei, is something the matter?”
She took a deep breath, as she remembered what had actually happened in the past day. They had fought through the forest only to claim a small space to live in… The person of the dream, a so-called Primordial Elf was just the person that tried to be her patron, ultimately she ended up refusing but still. For some reason that person clung onto her like some sort of tree sap, she hated it. Ah how she remembered, she was blinded by his high level and agreed to be trained by him.
“No…” She gnashed her teeth.
Elei was sure of it. That person just enjoyed her suffering.
“Is it about that elf again?” Vallos whispered, wrapping his hand around her. “You won’t be seeing him ever again, you know this…”
She nodded. “I know, it’s just…”
Her hands trailed off and felt along her arms, what was once perfectly smooth skin was now full of injuries and scars. For some reason, all the injuries inflicted from the training remained on her body. It was a permanent mark to her mistakes that she frankly hated.
A deep sigh left her as Vallos hugged her. There were a few minutes of silence before Elei finally opened her mouth.
“It sucks.”
“It does…” Vallos agreed. “But, I feel like we have no options.”
“Everything sucks. I remember that rageful expression from the dark elf. Perhaps I should’ve died there? Perhaps she would’ve felt at peace knowing I died?” Elei shook her head. “I’m tired, Vallos. I don’t see the point in things anymore.”
“I’m tired too, but well I have duties to carry such as protecting you.”
“You’re just keeping me company at this point,” she said softly. “Well, certainly not protecting me at least. You’re like my partner which I’m fine with… It’s just. I wish we had something? We can build a town, but well, we are alone. Rather— I can build a town because I’m the leader of the Woodland. But there are no inhabitants nearby, what’s the point?”
“I don’t know…” Vallos admitted with a whisper. “I just want to stay alive, it’s the gift of life.”
Elei thought for a few moments before she agreed. “I suppose so. I just find it hard to live knowing that I was left with such a heavy burden. At the same time, the faces of the people are so distant to me that they might as well have never existed.”
“Don’t say that…”
She closed her eyes. “Sorry. I got carried away. I dislike fighting to the death just to be able to eat. All the plants around seem to be poisonous, meanwhile eating monsters makes me feel sickly. All I, all we can do is fight and kill things, for things to eventually be normal. You saw the Continental Challenge, yeah?”
“You mean killing the dragon?”
“Creature of myth, alive and breathing. It’s as if it was some sort of game. Survive seven days of torture only to move to the next round…”
Elei looked at the ceiling, as Vallos stayed in silence. She could see the pale morning light, soon they would need to get up and kill some things. At least, that was the routine they had agreed on.
“We’ll get over things…” Vallos said after a long pause. “Things just take time, that’s all.”
“Maybe.”
She didn’t want to disagree. She knew she was being simply pessimistic and a downer. Maybe just the torture had changed her character too much. She went from being scared of things and unsure, to simply just bitterness. The uncomfortable stillness of silence simply made her take another long breath.
Things were bad.
And ultimately, she just had to live with it—
[A new Herald type Monster appears.]
[Half the continent enters the mantle of night.]
The light that came from the cracks in the wood vanished.
What? Elei paused as did Vallos. She shared looks with him only for both of them to scramble out of bed and hurriedly leave the hut. The outside was cold and the ground was moist, but the sky— it was night, stars twinkled overhead with colorful clouds that painted the sky as if it was a piece of art. Dust of starlight, glittering in a myriad of colors.
She registered The System notification once more. A new Herald type Monster?
They decided to sit down together to look and wonder about things. But in the end, a long time passed and things didn’t seem to change. All Elei knew was that a new Herald type monster emerged, and that was about it. Not like anything could be done about it.
Just as she was dozing off, a roar shook the air, one that rebounded and echoed across the land. The trees shook, the birds flew into the night sky, and the animals let out cries of fear. It became hard to breathe, as if the very air had come to a still, but even then— the wind blew sending powerful waves throughout the forest. Leaves and grime billowed forth as a powerful air gust trembled on her ears.
Elei looked up only to see a monster, one that was as big as the tree of her home. It was like a small cloud in the night sky, with a pair of long ashen wings. It flew forward but it stopped, looking down on a mountain, its neck began to glow with a warm orange light, and then, it opened its gaping maw.
Death.
A beam of pure white descended on the mountain, a torrent of fire sprouted as the stone from the outside melted before her very eyes. The gigantic mound of rock in the distance became nothing but an incandescent light for just a few moments, and then, it stopped.
The dragon closed its maw and flew away.
Elei froze as the night became day again.
Someone was supposed to kill that thing?
She began to chuckle, and then broke into laughter. Maybe she was being insane, but her situation was laughable. She worried so much about surviving in her little hut, when something like the dragon could just show up and erase her from existence. It was funny, all her problems now seemed a bit trivial and pointless. It was either to be strong or to be killed.
Vallos looked at her with a bitter expression but she didn’t care.
She laughed for a while before she finally stopped. She felt lost and empty, everything seemed pitiful in comparison. She spent about a minute thinking as the sun began to rise.
“I’ll go back to sleep.”
Vallos gave her a weird look but nonetheless followed after her.
“Elei, you can’t just let that dragon decide what you do.”
“It’s not deciding what I do. I simply think that I’d rather sleep than pretend I can get as strong as that any time soon. Might as well take things easy.”
He sighed. “Yeah, but look at you, you’re different.”
Elei paused. “Maybe, but what else can I do?”
There was no reply.
She shook her head and simply went to bed.
◇ ◇ ◇
A notification awoke her.
A Matriarch has finished Continental Challenge #4 and can now pass through the Central Wall. Due to unexpected circumstances a Herald Monster still lurks. A Crystal remains to be claimed.
Elei shook her head. In the end, she just didn’t care. The new Herald had died just like that. In the end, she couldn’t be bothered to grasp onto every opportunity to get stronger. When she did, she ended up injured. Perhaps it was just better to try to go along with things, and see where she ended up.
She was just a princess. Even if The System affirmed her to be a ruler, she just didn’t know any better. She couldn’t help it.
She had tried her best after all.
◇ ◇ ◇
There was peace for some time. That was until explosions began to occur nearby. In the end, all she wanted to do was sleep, but instead she had to worry for her safety.
In the end, it seemed she’d have to defend her territory she had fought tooth and nail to claim.
Special Shoutout to:
Amelia: The Level Zero [Hero] by MelasD
Ten years ago, Amelia woke up alone and lost in a broken world where she had to fight for her survival.
Now, after reaching the pinnacle of power, defeating the Void itself, and escaping the abyss, she has finally found her way back into the real world. But instead of finding herself on Earth, she is in the land of Vacuos. A fantasy world with magic, monsters, Classes, and Levels. A world that is governed by a System like it were a video game.
And when rewarded with a Class befitting her accomplishments— to become a powerful [Hero] that will forever dedicate her life to protecting this world that is not her own— she only has one response.
“Absolutely not. I’m going to live a normal life now, thank you very much.”
After all, who needs a Class when you're already the strongest anyways?
Seriously check it out, MelasDelta has helped make this fiction possible, and he is also my best friend! Do give it a read!
Elei gasped for air, blood flowed down her body, trickling to the stone ground. The uneven torch light passed like waves over the nicks and crimson stains on the coarse ground. She held the two whip blades close to her body, the edges grazed her white skin, and her green hair had been stained an ugly brown. She could only hear her own heartbeat and labored breaths, she had grown familiar with the process.
Rest. Stand still. Wait. Parry, deflect, attack— training. It was all so-called training. Except the person training her had gone senile and was insane. She regretted it. She regretted agreeing to the notification a second time. Soon, the dreaded voice came.
“Not bad, little one.” It was ancient. “But you must get stronger, must be faster, must be better.”
Elei rolled her eyes. “Look, I just want to be strong enough to fight with him… Strong enough to do that.”
“To fight side by side with someone?” The voice asked. “Then you must be even stronger.”
The cave rumbled, the cave walls shook and small protrusions of plants formed, in no time, they shone in a pale green light. Elei let out a deep breath, she was unsure about whether she hated her patron, or hated her decisions, either way she felt rage over her circumstances.
The plants attacked and she swung her blades— they pierced through her arms, neck, shoulders— took her heart and then she remembered. At the border of death, a person appeared before her. He had white long hair, and a golden helmet with no slits or patterns. Two ears protruded to the sides of that person as they extended their hand with a potion. And as soon as she chugged it, more plants came.
It was an endless cycle.
◇ ◇ ◇
Elei woke up in a cold sweat. The ex-Woodland princess gasped as she looked around her, only to find herself in some type of wooden shack. And to her side, her guard, Vallos rested. He opened his eyes and spoke softly to her.
“Elei, is something the matter?”
She took a deep breath, as she remembered what had actually happened in the past day. They had fought through the forest only to claim a small space to live in… The person of the dream, a so-called Primordial Elf was just the person that tried to be her patron, ultimately she ended up refusing but still. For some reason that person clung onto her like some sort of tree sap, she hated it. Ah how she remembered, she was blinded by his high level and agreed to be trained by him.
“No…” She gnashed her teeth.
Elei was sure of it. That person just enjoyed her suffering.
“Is it about that elf again?” Vallos whispered, wrapping his hand around her. “You won’t be seeing him ever again, you know this…”
She nodded. “I know, it’s just…”
Her hands trailed off and felt along her arms, what was once perfectly smooth skin was now full of injuries and scars. For some reason, all the injuries inflicted from the training remained on her body. It was a permanent mark to her mistakes that she frankly hated.
A deep sigh left her as Vallos hugged her. There were a few minutes of silence before Elei finally opened her mouth.
“It sucks.”
“It does…” Vallos agreed. “But, I feel like we have no options.”
“Everything sucks. I remember that rageful expression from the dark elf. Perhaps I should’ve died there? Perhaps she would’ve felt at peace knowing I died?” Elei shook her head. “I’m tired, Vallos. I don’t see the point in things anymore.”
“I’m tired too, but well I have duties to carry such as protecting you.”
“You’re just keeping me company at this point,” she said softly. “Well, certainly not protecting me at least. You’re like my partner which I’m fine with… It’s just. I wish we had something? We can build a town, but well, we are alone. Rather— I can build a town because I’m the leader of the Woodland. But there are no inhabitants nearby, what’s the point?”
“I don’t know…” Vallos admitted with a whisper. “I just want to stay alive, it’s the gift of life.”
Elei thought for a few moments before she agreed. “I suppose so. I just find it hard to live knowing that I was left with such a heavy burden. At the same time, the faces of the people are so distant to me that they might as well have never existed.”
“Don’t say that…”
She closed her eyes. “Sorry. I got carried away. I dislike fighting to the death just to be able to eat. All the plants around seem to be poisonous, meanwhile eating monsters makes me feel sickly. All I, all we can do is fight and kill things, for things to eventually be normal. You saw the Continental Challenge, yeah?”
“You mean killing the dragon?”
“Creature of myth, alive and breathing. It’s as if it was some sort of game. Survive seven days of torture only to move to the next round…”
Elei looked at the ceiling, as Vallos stayed in silence. She could see the pale morning light, soon they would need to get up and kill some things. At least, that was the routine they had agreed on.
“We’ll get over things…” Vallos said after a long pause. “Things just take time, that’s all.”
“Maybe.”
She didn’t want to disagree. She knew she was being simply pessimistic and a downer. Maybe just the torture had changed her character too much. She went from being scared of things and unsure, to simply just bitterness. The uncomfortable stillness of silence simply made her take another long breath.
Things were bad.
And ultimately, she just had to live with it—
[A new Herald type Monster appears.]
[Half the continent enters the mantle of night.]
The light that came from the cracks in the wood vanished.
What? Elei paused as did Vallos. She shared looks with him only for both of them to scramble out of bed and hurriedly leave the hut. The outside was cold and the ground was moist, but the sky— it was night, stars twinkled overhead with colorful clouds that painted the sky as if it was a piece of art. Dust of starlight, glittering in a myriad of colors.
She registered The System notification once more. A new Herald type Monster?
They decided to sit down together to look and wonder about things. But in the end, a long time passed and things didn’t seem to change. All Elei knew was that a new Herald type monster emerged, and that was about it. Not like anything could be done about it.
Just as she was dozing off, a roar shook the air, one that rebounded and echoed across the land. The trees shook, the birds flew into the night sky, and the animals let out cries of fear. It became hard to breathe, as if the very air had come to a still, but even then— the wind blew sending powerful waves throughout the forest. Leaves and grime billowed forth as a powerful air gust trembled on her ears.
Elei looked up only to see a monster, one that was as big as the tree of her home. It was like a small cloud in the night sky, with a pair of long ashen wings. It flew forward but it stopped, looking down on a mountain, its neck began to glow with a warm orange light, and then, it opened its gaping maw.
Death.
A beam of pure white descended on the mountain, a torrent of fire sprouted as the stone from the outside melted before her very eyes. The gigantic mound of rock in the distance became nothing but an incandescent light for just a few moments, and then, it stopped.
The dragon closed its maw and flew away.
Elei froze as the night became day again.
Someone was supposed to kill that thing?
She began to chuckle, and then broke into laughter. Maybe she was being insane, but her situation was laughable. She worried so much about surviving in her little hut, when something like the dragon could just show up and erase her from existence. It was funny, all her problems now seemed a bit trivial and pointless. It was either to be strong or to be killed.
Vallos looked at her with a bitter expression but she didn’t care.
She laughed for a while before she finally stopped. She felt lost and empty, everything seemed pitiful in comparison. She spent about a minute thinking as the sun began to rise.
“I’ll go back to sleep.”
Vallos gave her a weird look but nonetheless followed after her.
“Elei, you can’t just let that dragon decide what you do.”
“It’s not deciding what I do. I simply think that I’d rather sleep than pretend I can get as strong as that any time soon. Might as well take things easy.”
He sighed. “Yeah, but look at you, you’re different.”
Elei paused. “Maybe, but what else can I do?”
There was no reply.
She shook her head and simply went to bed.
◇ ◇ ◇
A notification awoke her.
A Matriarch has finished Continental Challenge #4 and can now pass through the Central Wall. Due to unexpected circumstances a Herald Monster still lurks. A Crystal remains to be claimed.
Elei shook her head. In the end, she just didn’t care. The new Herald had died just like that. In the end, she couldn’t be bothered to grasp onto every opportunity to get stronger. When she did, she ended up injured. Perhaps it was just better to try to go along with things, and see where she ended up.
She was just a princess. Even if The System affirmed her to be a ruler, she just didn’t know any better. She couldn’t help it.
She had tried her best after all.
◇ ◇ ◇
There was peace for some time. That was until explosions began to occur nearby. In the end, all she wanted to do was sleep, but instead she had to worry for her safety.
In the end, it seemed she’d have to defend her territory she had fought tooth and nail to claim.
