A God? A Fallen Angel? An Elf? (1)

Previously

Willow woke up with a slight groan. He got up to his knees and stretched, enjoying the satisfaction of hearing his nubile bones crack. He felt great, like he had just awoken from a thousand year long sleep. . . until he opened his eyes to see that this was definitely not his room.

"Ouch!" Before he could panic however, his brain started to cramp from the influx of memories that rushed him, providing him with a recap of everything that had happened. Oh crap, he was still in the game but that wasn't his biggest worry right now.

"El-?!" He stopped himself from screaming his sister's name—stopping himself from committing what would have been a huge mistake. He checked the room that he was in and other than the pelted head of a manticore above a dead fireplace, he was alone, aka, no Demon God that would rape him as of right now. He needed to take this chance to plan his actions.

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But before that, he couldn't help but wonder where he was. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel like he had seen this room before, a room very stereotypical for one of a hunter occupation, a wooden, furnished room he had experienced multiple times when he went to visit his grandpa in the woods of Alaska. But that wasn't why he felt a sense of deja-vu to this place.

"That crossed out insignia. . .where have I seen that before?" Willow muttered, placing a hand under his chin. Right beside the rack of bones that most likely belonged to a formerly living, high-grade beast -depending on the prana output, stood a coat of arms that had been torn/crossed out straight across the middle. A coat of arms that he could identify as one that belonged to the fallen kingdom of Suria, a kingdom that had been struck down by the gods as punishment for their arrogant advancements in god-forbidden machines, or so was the lore he remembered from the game.

"Focus," Willow pinched his cheeks. From what he could gather, he was definitely not in a place that was of the Demon God's domain since there wasn't an overwhelming color of black painted in the room. No brimstones and lightning outside too.

He remembered making a deal with the Demon God in exchange for his sister's life, saying that he would go along with her before everything turned black and he was porteled away. Could it be? Did the rushed portal somehow make a mistake and separate the Demon God from him, placing them in different areas? No, that wouldn't make sense since the Demon God would simply appear beside him in another portal with her annoying [Sloth] skill.

So, why wasn't he barefoot and in a skimpy dress, sitting on the Demon God's lap as he is shown off to the many denizens of the Demon realm just as described in the game? Perhaps the game truly was going into another path? Now that he thought about it, there was no mention of the Demon God attacking the beginner town that early, not even in a limited event.

"Does that mean my knowledge of the game won't matter?" Willow bit his fingers, a habit that seemed to have been carried over to this world. "No, wait. All of the character's looks and skills are as I remembered. ." Willow scratched his head furiously. "But what does that matter if the future I remember is no longer there?!"

Then, he heard sounds of someone grunting like a boar. ". . .Outside? The Demon God?" But then, he rejected the idea as the Demon God would never make such a sound, unless she was balls deep in Willow of course. Apparently, in the game Willow's boi pussy was good enough to make the usually composed and elegant Demon God grunt like an animal. There were no windows in the room so he couldn't peek as to who was making those noises.

So now he had two choices— he goes outside or stays inside. The result would be the same either way but that heavily depended on if the one outside was his savior. In the scenario the one outside was an enemy, he would utterly and literally be screwed. Chances are the person grunting outside had simply carried him to his/her room so that he'd be awake when he was eventually raped.

Or, maybe not. His answer lied outside this cabin. If the person outside was an enemy, there was a high chance that they would be of the Demon God's faction.

Therefore, "[Purify]". A gentle glow of golden-orange light enveloped his being in a sheen so thin it might as well be invisible. With this, it should be enough to somewhat deter them if they are of evil or demonic affiliation or he'd know at the very least.

Just to be double sure, he grabbed a nearby short sword —a knife and wedged it in the back of his underwear near his tailbone. There was another insignia, a spirit tree that had been carved onto the handle of the knife, another deja vu that bugged his mind. For God's sake, he had seen all of this somewhere!

Then, he opened the door, a hand on the back of his knife, prepared to strike out at a moment's notice.

"What do you think you're doing?" Immediately, Willow took out his knife, laced with [Purify] and lashed out at the voice beside him. What should have been soft flesh had been replaced by stiff steel as their blades sparked from the contact.

"Much too weak," The rather alto, feminine voice said. The light of day finally made it to Willow's eyes as he saw who the mystery person was. His grip in his knife weakened at the revelation. That long, silver hair and eyes. That glistening, perfectly tanned skin. Those elven ears and a wooden, tree bark smell. Not to mention, the iconic dual elven chalikar or circle-blades resting on both sides of her waist.

"Ivanka?" Willow whispered.

Ivanka raised an eyebrow. "You know of me?"

Willow immediately held his tongue as he had made another grave mistake. He wasn't supposed to know who she was this early yet! "What?"

Ivanka stared at him, eyes flashing silver as Willow knew she was using her truth-seeker skill. Quickly, he calmed his heart down and thought of anything except how the Fallen Goddess Of Elves was standing before him. No wonder how he felt familiar with the crossed out insignia, hunter's room and that fireplace. So many questions arose but he set them all aside since he knew what happened to people she deemed suspicious or dangerous.

"I see," Ivanka relented, making Willow quietly sigh in relief. ". . .You still haven't answered my question."

"Yes?" Willow asked, making sure to be as respectful as possible. The person standing in front of him had single handedly changed the game's subgenre to gore and tragedy in a certain event after all.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ivanka said.

"I'm standing?" Willow said, confused. "I apologize but I don't understand your question."

Ivanka just stared at him in silence and the mood quickly became awkward. He looked up and saw that it was peak noon which meant Ivanka was in her day form right now, the quiet kuudere who practiced her swordsmanship at the training grounds.

He changed the subject quickly. "So, is this your place?" Willow took a good look at the new location he had unlocked. Ivanka's Home or otherwise known as the Witch Of The Wood's Hut. Her home had definitely been built in the 'cabin in the woods' theme, with a sprinkle of action-fantasy on top like how this entire place was actually inside Ivanka's personal space-time domain.

There were three major spots in this domain of hers, her home, the training grounds with magical, living dummies which was the cause of the noise before, and finally the little vegetable farm she was growing in front of the cabin. Of course, he knew from his experience within the game that Ivanka could modify this place and expand it however she wished, so he wasn't too confused as to the modest size of a former goddess's home. In fact, he quite liked the small size –it reminded him of his little, gaming haven down his mother's basement.