2 Sigurd's Badge of Honor
The sky is pitch black as the night. Dark clouds hovers over Gondraw Capital, whereas lighting strikes and a rain of small meteors crashes down onto its walls and over it.
Shouts of angry men can be heard. Their swords clash against the weapons of their invaders. Sauron's Dark Army, the enemy of every race has come to crush the people's last hopes.
The Gondraw Base Camp is located at the eastern city gates. The men there, humans, elves, orcs, dwarves, and goblins alike, are preparing their gear before joining their brothers outside of the city to face the Dark Army.
The wind howls, flapping the half-burnt tattered flags of the Alliance, and it carries all the ashes and blood of dead corpses directly into Blue's nose. Even the air is filled with stench.
His eyes, expressing fear, but composes a glance on the stone brick walls that crumbles helplessly against the enemies' attacks. Then his gaze travels everywhere.
The base camp is filled with soldiers, some healthy while most are injured gravely. A few wounded soldiers, patched with old torn cloths around their bleeding gashes, are brought back safely from the outside walls by the rescue team, taking them to the infirmary where they needed to be tended immediately. The healthy ones, already in their armor and armed with weapons, a big squad of various races marches together. Side by side, they move pass Blue, leaving the city gates for the battle at the other side.
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Name: Alliance Human Knight
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
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Name: Alliance Orc Berserker
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
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Name: Alliance Elf Archer
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
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Name: Alliance Dwarf Warrior
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
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Name: Alliance Goblin Bommer
HP: 100/100
MP:50/50
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If it hadn't been the system interfaces popping out in his view while he stared, he could've mistook those people for players. Even those non-humans appear exactly what he saw from fantasy movies. They look so life-like as if they are actual actors in disguise wearing makeups!
He couldn't differentiate anything between this game and reality.
"Rookie!"
A stern voice shouted from his back. Blue turns around, and sees a tall man in dark blue armor. He has a scar across his right eye, and another one from the left side of his chin. His face looks sharp, and strikes a firm aura like a proud lion looking down to its adversary. There is a golden round badge hanging on his upper right chest.
"Commander Sigurd!" Blue replied with a military salute.
He didn't know why but he had to do it after he saw the man's expectant gaze.
He used to attend military programs back then, but he was merely a high schooler around that time. The training the programs provided was a necessity for his life.
And how did he know his name? Well, the game interface told him so.
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Name: Elite Commander Sigurd
Level: 100
HP: ???/???
MP: ???/???
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A Rank Legend NPC in the 100th level. This guy before him is definitely not someone to be trifled with. First entering the game, and Blue already met a giant powerhouse this early!
"Your race?" Sigurd asked.
"Human, Sir!" Blue replied, he didn't put down his salutation.
*Ding!*
A second later, a ding is heard followed by a voice ringing in his head.
[You have chosen Human as your Race.]
"Class?"
"Warrior, Sir!"
*Ding!*
[You have chosen Warrior as your Class.]
So this is how you choose, Blue thought. He only needed to clarify a specific name from each category. Although he didn't think much about it, he is alright with these choices. Back when he used to play Honor, his character was also chose warrior.
"Really..." The expression on Sigurd's face looks somewhat satisfied, his eyes inspecting him from head to toe. Each of his response held calmness and he had a steadfast attitude. Even the salute looks proper and stiff. However...
"You can stop with the acknowledgements."
Blue respectfully obeys.
Sigurd places his hand into his bag, and takes out a parchment made of goat skin. It appears to be recently fresh because there are no dark wrinkles on it. He skims through it, reading out loud,
"Player Name: Perseus
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class: Warrior, but only temporary..."
Blue didn't think that parchment contained his player information. Just after he heard the last sentence, did he frown only in the inside.
Why temporary?
"I was reported that one of the new recruits has an illness of some sorts. They even said he is useless in a fight, especially in a war. It's you, isn't it?" As if there is telepathy, Sigurd gives him the obvious answer.
The realization had yet to befall on him once again. His hands. The system didn't take care of them? Blue grits his teeth, his fists clench weakly.
Sigurd's face is nonchalantly blank, and continues, "Holding a sword is easy as pie. But with those hands of yours, it's just a walk in the park."
"We're in a war, and you're still a rookie-- no, you're way worse than a rookie. Do you know that you can kill yourself with a sword, just by simply making a mistake? Would you make an excuse for that? No! Excuses are just for amateurs, and amateurs are the first to die in a battle! Whether you deny it or not, you're also an amateur. Even when there's no war, you can only be a burden to the army! Joining the squad with useless hands, I can imagine you die out there shamefully!" Sigurd speaks coldly as if he is throwing sharp knives.
"If you want to save yourself from embarrassment, then you can leave this base and join with the fugitives. After this war, I'm sure there's a place for you to go, better than this hell."
Blue didn't seem to catch him voicing out of pity. But he didn't care. Neither he wants to be pitied. Every word he heard, carries salt that adds to the wound. Even the last statement has vinegar in it.
What is there to go? None! He has nowhere to go. There is no place for him in his own reality.
"Commander, you don't know what living hell looks like," Blue says lowly.
How ignorant, Sigurd thought, frowning. "Then indulge me, what is hell to you?"
What's hell to me? Blue thought it over as sudden flashbacks from his childhood and his life came to mind.
"Hell is not death itself. Death is a place where your life has reached the end. If you think that's not it, but the bloody gores of battle then let me tell you this, that's not hell. The real hell is when you're weighing down by fate!"
What is hell exactly? Is war hell? Then what about living? His whole life was fu*** hell, ever since he was born into that shi**** world!
He is an orphan. An abandoned child that could do nothing but cry. His parents left him at the streets since he was a baby! No one picked him up. Not an adult took him under their wings. The orphanage he lived in was too cruel, even the other children around him didn't dare to approach, nor befriend him. Instead he would often get bullied. The caretakers did nothing about it. He could only help himself by replying on himself. So he worked harder than anyone in order to survive and leave that building.
Growing up to his teens, he was able to graduate in highschool. But he came as a lone wolf amongst his peers. Like in his orphanage, none of them paid attention to him. One time, some gang tried to bully him until a second later, he taught them a cruel lesson that engraved deeply into their souls. So whenever they saw him, they would simply turn and run. Everyone heard of the incident, and it forced them to stay away from him instead, as if he was a monster in their eyes.
Although he is smarter than anyone, and despite his hard work, nothing good was given to him. He have been isolated throughout his whole life, and couldn't handle the pressure of everything around him. Until one day, he found the world of games. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo-- minigames, mobile games, rpgs-- everything Blue saw was beautiful. When he tried playing a few games, he wasn't only fascinated by the designs, or those crazy landscapes, or those animatic characters wielding stunning skills, everything he did in the gameplay he can do anything as he wishes.
That was when he finally found freedom, an escape route from this reality.
Before college, Blue has already entered the gaming career. Not only did he become a gaming fanatic, he became a king out of all players in each game. He broke millions of game records, making the highest peaks where none could possibly reach. It was the same with him playing Honor Online. He is a player that none of the people from Honor Online would expect to appear. He is akin to a frightening beast, shamelessly clever as a trickster, and moreover, he was a war god! Not even a huge army was able to compress this figure with their numbers, because Blue isn't afraid of such thing. He believed in quality and so with it, he can wipe them out with the tips of his blades in ease, without moving from his spot.
But then, the accident happened. He can vividly remember that truck running straight for him, toppling over him as everything went south. His achievements, fame and title have gone to the drain. The worst part, however, is when he was told that he could no longer play again. He lost his prized hand speed. He can't even press the damn keyboards like he used to, nor he can hold the mouse again where his index finger would often click. It is the same with him trying to hold the joysticks, but his efforts are utterly useless. Reality have came for him.
"Then what can you do about this fate you speak of?" Sigurd is surprised at his resolve, nevertheless he stays doubtful and asks.
"There is this beauty I want to go to. A place where I can find peace but it's farther away from my reach. Fate has its way to prevent us from getting there, so is this war. But since we are fighting for it, not only we are fighting our greatest enemy, we are also fighting this fate as well. Then I too fight because I don't accept fate!" Blue gives him a calm smile. Fire burning in his eyes, he speaks with not his mind, but his heart.
"Although I am weak and battered. Although my hands are crushed, I will still stubbornly hold my head high and proud! For these hands can still be used, then I shall use them until my very last breath!"
"If I live, then I shall live on to find my peace. If I die, then so be it. I don't believe I died shamefully just because I was pierced by my two swords! This is better than just doing nothing, I will gladly die with honor!"
He can't care less about being kicked out by his club mates, nor how his fame diminished, what he truly cared is being able to play again. The tragic predictament left him devastated, and he longed to go back to the world he calls a sanctuary.
Just when Blue is about to fall into the bottomless pit of despair, his so-called friend gave him the chance to play again.
So what if this game is too real? Fu*** 100% realism! Fu*** that Rated R+! This is still a game! As long as he can still play one game, then he will play to his heart's content. He will never go back down from such an opportunity, just because of seeing a real-life corpse!
He will neither care less about getting killed by monsters, or by himself. He can just go all over again, as long as he can still play!
Sigurd is silent, his face remains the same. But in the inside, his speech left a big impact on him. This rookie doesn't care he would die by his own hand; he would gladly die honorably for the one thing he truly fights for!
What a passionate man, Sigurd feels moved by his revelation.
"Commander Sigurd!"
An NPC came into their view and salutes to the Legend powerhouse. It was an Elite Human Scout. Although his level is much higher than Blue's, he is less than ten levels from Sigurd's.
"Report!" Sigurd orders.
"Dark Necromancer Niadamar has made his move, Sir! What shall we do?" The Scout responded, his grim expression is telling them that the topic is serious.
"So he finally showed up, eh." Sigurd laughed nonchalantly, his face becomes cold.
"Go get our men and tell them this; we're going to end that shi***less necromancer's life once and for all. His necromancy must be stopped! Understood?"
"Yes, Sir!"
With another salute, the scout left to gather his brothers.
Sigurd turns back to Blue. He unpins the golden badge from his armor, handing it to him. "Here."
Blue dazes there for a moment but quickly recovered. Calmly taking the badge, he examines it with a glance. On the golden badge, there is an image of a Griffin carrying a sword in its mouth. A system interface appeared beside it.
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Quest Item: [Sigurd's Badge of Honor] (Silver):
???
[Note: This badge was bestowed to Elite Commander Sigurd by King Talion as a gift for succeeding to Knighthood.]
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Blue is surprised when he saw it. Although the stats are unknown, this item is a Silver ranked item.
