5 The eagle of Florence

Chip*

Chip*

The song of the morning birds resounded throughout Mondstadt. The cold morning breeze went by the city of freedom as its citizens slowly woke up from the realm of slumber.

In a special ward in the Favonius Cathedral, rows of beds were present. Some of them had patients that looked to be injured.

Albert, who was one of them, was laying down on a bed by the window.

The sun's sunlight shined down from the window and hit his face.

"Ugh..." He slightly groaned as he slowly opened his heavy eyelids.

Slowly but surely, his eyes opened, revealing his purple eyes.

"Where... Am I?" He mumbled to himself.

He then slowly sat up from his position and sat on the edge of the bed.

'I remember training...' He thought as he tried to remember what happened. 'Then I entered the synchronization zone...'

'Ah...' The realization hit him. 'That's right... A hologram version of Ezio taught me...'

Having thought of this, he decided to open his system. 'System, open status.'

Soon, the system's status window appeared in front of him.

•~•

[Status Window]

Name: Albert Derichs

Current active template: Ezio Auditore

Titles: None

Fame Points(FP): 100

STR: E

DEF: F-

STA: E-

INT: E-

CHA: F-

AGI: E

[Skills: Stealth(Active Skill), Assassination(Passive Skill)]

[Current template progress: 36%]

[System note: At least now, you don't need to die by a single blow.]

•~•

Seeing his status, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth. 'I guess training with Ezio was worth it.'

'Hmm... Looking at my stats, it seems to be focused more on speed and strength...' Albert noticed. 'I guess that's to be expected of Assassins.'

'Fast at dealing with the problems and disappearing in the shadow...' He gently nodded

Just then, the door opened a person entered.

Albert looked who it was, and for a brief moment, it felt like the world stopped. However, he soon cleared his mind.

'This must be Albert's first reaction when seeing her...' He thought

Yes, the person that entered was none other than the Deaconess of Favonius Chuch, Barbara.

Barbara has a rather small build with ash blonde hair tied in pigtails and blue eyes.

She wears a white frock that is open at the shoulders and a large white and blue bow in the front along with white tights, white ankle boots, and a blue and white cap.

"Are you doing fine now, Albert?" She asked as she carefully approached him.

She knows Albert very well. He was one of her fans that are a little too... dedicated.

She would oftentimes avoid him due to his persistence.

"Geez, what have you been doing? Why did you get hurt again?" She said as she stood beside him.

She then started using her hydro vision and began healing him.

She expected him to say something like it doesn't hurt or thank her for healing him like always, however, this time, he was quiet.

An awkward situation soon descended upon them.

Intending to break such an awkward atmosphere, Barbara spoke with a wry smile. "So, Albert, what did you do to pass out in the forest?"

"If not for the Captain of the Reconnaissance Company, Eula, who knows how long you'll be there..."

Hearing the name of Eula, Albert understood the situation. 'I see... She must've been in the Stormbearers Mountain at that time...'

"I see." Albert said with an understanding expression.

Hearing his reply, a sense of relief went to Barbara. "Alright, once I'm done healing you, you should be okay."

Thinking of something, Barbara added something. "After the healing, please promise me that you won't go outside on your own again. In the first place, what were you even doing there?"

"..." Albert's mind was in a state of thinking right now. 'This is it...'

'The decision that would allow me to separate myself from the previous Albert...' He thought.

Making up his mind, he decided to do what he had been planning since Barba showed up.

It was a decision he made on the spot.

Opening his mouth, a calm voice came out. "I appreciate your concern, but..."

He then looked at Barbara's eyes. "Who are you?"

"...Eh?" Barbara replied.

Shaking her head, she quickly added: "What do you mean? Didn't you used to wait for me outside the cathedral every day?"

"It's me, Barbara." She said.

"Barbara..." Albert muttered as he grasped his head. "I... I'm sorry but... I don't remember anything about you."

"Heh?!" Barbara exclaimed. "How can that be? Did you lose your memories?"

"I... I don't know." Albert said with a difficult expression. Obviously, he was acting. "I remember my life... But you? I don't remember anything at all."

"But... How could that be?" Barbara said in disbelief. "Then, do you feel anything else? Like a pain in hour body?"

"No." Albert shook his head. "I actually feel fine, more than ever. Well, add the fact that you healed me."

"I see..." Barbara said with a worried expression.

Looking at Albert one more time, Barbara noticed something. 'Did something... changed?'

Barbara saw that he no longer looked skinny and had a different vibe in him. It was as if he was a completely different person.

Soon, silence descended upon them. Neither of them decided to speak anything.

After about a few minutes of healing, Barbara finally finished. "There, all done."

"Thank you." Albert thanked her.

"It's fine." Barbara said with a wry smile. "After this, there's no need for you to pay anything. Your insurance covers it all."

Albert nodded. "Okay."

"Well then," Barbara said. "Stay here for another hour before going out, alright? Who knows, maybe amnesia is not the only thing you got..."

Albert didn't say anything and just nodded with confirmation.

Barbara nodded with a smile and left, leaving Albert in the ward.

'This is for the better.' Albert thought to himself. 'But why... Does my heart ache so much?'

'It must be the original Albert's will...' He concluded. 'Don't worry.'

'This is the best for us.' He thought with closed eyes as he touched his chest. 'Simping is not worth it.'

With this thought, Albert felt his head clearing. It was as if a massive block in his head had finally been removed.

It was... The sense of freedom.

'System.' Albert called out.

[Yes, host?]

'...Give me my next quest.' He thought.

He needs to get stronger. Dvalin has still not woken up and thus, the stormterror incident has still not happened.

Meaning, the traveler too has still not woken up.

Once the traveler wakes up, then the gears of fate shall start turning.

The traveler's existence is an important piece for the fate of this world. He or she would set off events that would shake the very essence of the world of Teyvat.

"But until then..." Albert mumbled to himself. "I must take on their spotlight."

He then stood up and commanded the system. He used the appearance change card, and soon, a box appeared in front of him.

He opened it and saw a white robe with a hood on it. Other than that, there was also a white mask inside.

[Mask of Illusion]

Woosh*

Albert wore the clothes inside and wore the white mask. Soon, his face changed to that of a younger version of Ezio.

It was a good thing that the other people in the room he was in were asleep, or else they would start questioning what was happening.

Opening the window, he looked at the city of Mondstadt.

Appearing beside him was the system's notification window.

[Quest name: Leap of Faith]

[Description: Every Assassin underwent this tradition.]

[Objective: Climb the top of the cathedral and perform a leap of faith]

[Rewards: Hidden Blades(Improved Version)]

[System note: Don't worry, host. There is already something below that will catch your fall safely.]

'Alright.' Albert thought before climbing outside the window.

He then started using the skills he learned from Ezio and stealthily climbed the cathedral.

After a few minutes of jumping and climbing, he had arrived at the top of the Favonius cathedral.

"This is it." He mumbled to himself.

"Who're you?" Suddenly, a voice appeared behind him.

Looking behind, he saw a person. It was a tall adult female with ghostly pale grey skin.

'Rosaria.' Albert recognized her. She was the odd one out of the nuns in the church.

Not only does she look nothing like a proper nun, but she also has a rather peculiar personality.

Turning over, he spoke to her with a confident smile. "My, a beautiful lady you are!"

"Spare me the nonsense." Rosaria said with a serious tone. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Rosaria looked at the man in front of her. He wore bizarre clothing and had a confident smile.

The most mysterious thing about him is his face. For some reason, no matter how she looked, she can only see half of his face. Everything else like his eyes can't be seen.

Hearing this a small chuckle escaped Albert's mouth. "Ah, no need for such attitude..."

"As for who I am..." He said before turning around and starting walking towards the edge. "I am but a hidden one."

"Ezio, the Eagle of Florence." He bowed with his arm before jumping backward with his arms wide open as if embracing the skies.

Whirr—*

It was at this moment that an eagle passed by, producing sounds of a cry. It then circled Albert's body as he fell down.

"You—!" Rosaria shouted as she ran after where he jumped off.

She looked downwards where she was expecting his dead body.

However, to her surprise, a wooden carriage full of hay was present below.

The man named Ezio then leaped out of the hay and looked upwards.

With a smile, he waved at her. "May we meet again, Mio Amore!"

After shouting that, he ran and escaped the cathedral.

From this day forth, Albert and his fake identities shall be known throughout the seven nations.

* * *

A/N: Vol.1 Prologue: Complete.

Don't ask how he was able to survive that fall. It's Assassin's Creed logic that if you jumped high and landed in a pile of hay, you're all fine.