Avalon Miller – 1
(Avalon's POV)
I yawn as I close my game in my notebook. At the moment, I am on a plane to japan and Hokkaido, more specifically, Asahikawa. The reason for that is that I can start my new life in a new school in a different country! After all, I, Avalon Miller, chose Japan for a new start.
The reason I'm moving away from my father's wing is that I am a problem child, and he has a public image. The headlines "son of a billionaire sends six men to the hospital" isn't good for his public image. I wasn't sad about being away from him, but I am quite bummed from being away from mom and my sister.
Well, my sister will move to japan next year to attend high school as well, and my mother IS Japanese, and the house that I'll be living is hers… and she spends part of the year there, so I'm fine with it.
Because of her, I can speak perfect Japanese and I'm also familiar with the culture. Even the city that I'm moving in, Asahikawa, is one that I'm familiar with and even have some friends, since I spent most of my school breaks of my life here. I also spent a full year here two years ago, and now I'm returning to live for myself.
With the game closed in my notebook, I take a look at the most recent news. Oh, it's that disease again. The mass narcolepsy that has been affecting several people. People just randomly fall asleep at mass at the same time, mostly around the world. It took some time for them to figure out what was happening two years ago, but now they managed to get around things.
The reason why people pass out is unknow, but there are no set criteria but the age of the affected. The only people affected are people that are above 15 and people that are below 40. I'm relieved that my mom just made 41, so she's technically free from the narcolepsy. I am in the range now, however, since I just completed 15.
I'm also worried for my sister, since she's one year younger than me. I access some other sites about the narcolepsy out of curiosity, although I already know what they say in the general, the strange, supernatural even, symptoms. Firstly, aside that several people fall asleep at the same time any time independent of location, they can't be harmed form exactly one hour.
No matter what, they can't be harmed in any way after falling asleep, but after an hour, they can be harmed, and even killed, normally. And even after two years, the people that first fell asleep never woke up till this day, and nobody has any idea of what happened to them.
There are some weird rumors in the internet about people that woke up. But nothing concrete at all till this day. I close my notebook, reclining and takin a sip from my cola. I just hope my sister stays safe for the rest of her life and finds herself a good husband. Of course, he'll only date her over dead cold corpse.
As I put the cola back, I feel a sudden drowsiness. It's so strong that I barely have time to think about what is happening and despair as I realize that I became a victim of the mass narcolepsy.
(a few minutes later)
I wake up with a jump and realize immediately that I am in an unfamiliar place. The reason? I'm definitely not in a plane anymore. I look around the simple room without windows, yet strangely illuminated even without a source of light.
There is a door where I am looking at and a staff resting on the side of the window. It looks like one of those of the staffs that cosplayers use, but more real than the fake looking stuff that they use. The body looks like genuine brown wood, and the purple crystal on the top looks genuine.
I notice now that instead of sitting in a first-class seat, I'm laying down in a bed that looks… more than simple? Primitive even. Not that I have a prejudice, but a simple wooden bed with instead of a cushion, straw and an animal pelt, is fairly primitive. I don't think people even use this kind of bed anymore.
I also notice my new clothes. It's some kind of fantasy cosplay thing of a robe mixed with an armor. It looks fairly unpractical too, since I have only a basic protection of a chest plate under my robes, only one pauldrons over my right shoulder, greaves and forearm protection. I also have a pair of black gloves.
I can feel a hood on my back and some leftover cloth on my neck, and after checking, it's one of those masks that covers the lower half of the face, part of the robes. The armor is the standard color of polished steel, and the robes are mainly blue with golden details.
As I wonder what the fuck is happening, a voice sounds on my head. It's feminine and delicate, but the tone is completely neutral.
[Welcome to the Valley of Fallen Heroes. The match will start shortly, please, arm yourself and exit the room. You have two minutes, if not, you will be automatically eliminated.]
That sent a shudder down my spine. The automatically eliminated part didn't sound good at all. Even the name of this place, Valley of Fallen Heroes, sounds fairly ominous. I'm not scared of a fight, and risking my life is commonplace for me, so I'm fine with it. the thing is, I don't really want to die without leaving something for my little sister.
So I can't die here if that is the case. But first, exit the room. I guess my weapon is the staff? I get up from the bed and take it, since it's the only thing on this room beside the bed. I don't think beds can be used as a weapon. As soon as I touch it, however, I feel a strange sensation running through my body.
Umm… I feel… somewhat energized. I don't know why I have these clothes, but I suppose wearing the hood and the mask is what I should do since it was provided for me. After putting that on, I open the door and walk out. What I see outside is surprising, to say the least.
A large yard surrounded by a tall wall with three gates to my left, and to my right, a large crystal surrounded by a blue aura, as well three huge humanoid statues. I also notice something, a lot of people dressed in armor. All of them are dressed in heavy armor and shields, as well swords. Apparently, from the… 500? That I can see right now, I am the only one with a staff and robe/armor.
I look around for a bit, noticing that everybody seems to be of different nationalities, ranging from languages that I can recognize to some that I can't, and it seems, from what I can see, there are roughly the same amount of man and women.
Most of them are wearing the helmets, while some aren't, and as I look around, I notice someone approaching. Firstly, he's tall. Like, really tall, at least two meters and something tall. Even if I'm 1,70, he's really, really tall. He's also dressed in armor, although different from the ones that we are using.
His armor is light, and he has as saber in one of the sides of his waist, as well a curved dagger in the other side. He is handsome, with blonde hair and blue eyes, as well extremely pale skin. When he gets close enough, he screams to all of us, his cold voice resonating impossibly loud.
(Sudra): "I'm Sudra! I'll cut the useless chat and go straight to the point! You were all summoned here as minions! Your job is to obey us, heroes and not die! How to know if someone is a hero? It's obvious! We're not like you minions, and that's it! if you disobey, you die! I'll personally see to it!"
He said. I can see that this guy is serious, he has the same eyes of some of the gangsters and dangerous people on the night streets of Liverpool or anywhere late night in Ireland. When he said that he'll kill the ones that don't obey, I believe him. One of us, however, don't have the same sense as I have.
It's an older men, with his helmet off. He looks okay, and certainly has an arrogant, defiant look on his face. He approaches Sudra with a frown, and immediately yells:
(man): "Who the fuck you think you are, kid?! You know who I am?! I'm a-!"
He couldn't finish his sentence, because Sudra drew his sword and slashed at the throat of the man. He looked at him with wide open eyes, visible for me since I'm closer to them and watching from close distance. With his face full of shock, he clutches his throat and falls to the ground, obviously dead.
I barely have time to recover from the shock when his body shines and disappears, leaving behind a pool of blood. Sudra bends down, taking a golden coin that suddenly appeared next the pool of blood.
As he flips the coin, he finally notices me among the crowd. He immediately widens his eyes, surprised. With a frown, he points at me and says:
(Sudra): "You, mage. Come here. Now."