Xianzhou Loufu
The language barrier between the soldier and me was unexpected. But it would make sense, not every place would speak the same language.
But the fact that he spoke what seemed to be either Chinese or Japanese made me think that I might be somewhere in Asia, but even if I was, how would that explain the massive ship in the sky? Or the things that I saw?
The soldier begins to talk to the archer who assisted them, with a tone of concern.
"他看起来流血严重,把他带回星船并包扎他的手臂."
The archer nods at his words, puts away his bow, and puts me over her shoulder. Too weak to resist, I decided to just go along with the flow of the situation. If they wanted to harm me, they wouldn't have saved me from that ape.
While being carried, a monotone voice rings out from within my mind.
[First Combat Scenario Passed]
[Reward: Memories]
"What the"
A flood of information forcibly inserts itself into my mind, giving the sensation of a pressure wrapping around my head and constricting it.
Blood begins to flow from my nose, as my ears rung and my vision fades to black.
---
"Seems like he passed out. He must have been in a lot of pain from his injuries. How did he even end up on this abundance-ridden planet?"
The archer speaks to her fellow soldier, with an expression of pity on her face under her helmet.
Seeing the boy like this, in his current condition reminded her why she became a star knight in the first place. To prevent what happened to him from happening all across the universe. The abundance is a cancer to the stars.
A small sneer grows on her face on the topic of the abundance.
"That's what I was thinking too. Thought he was an abomination too until I saw that his wounds weren't closing up. He seemed to be speaking an unknown language too. I say we take a trip back to the loft and inform the general, that this is just too abnormal to go unreported."
Although survivors on planets like these weren't impossible, it was much more likely to find people dead or in abundance taken than alive, especially considering that this planet has been infected with the blight of the abundance long enough for more elite creatures of the abundance like Malefic Apes to form.
"I agree. Pass me the salve and gauze, this is the best I can do for him out here."
A green salve within a clear jar and a bundle of gauze are given to the archer.
She applies the salve to the boy's arm, which lightly sizzles, and wraps it in gauze after. A subtle expression of pain forms on the boy's face, but nothing else.
"Let's just hope we have a translator that can decipher what exactly happened to him, otherwise this is going to be a headache."
---
'Urgh, my head.'
As I open my eyes, instead of being greeted by the landscape of towering trees and bloodthirsty apes, I lie in a white space. Not dissimilar to the white space I was previously within before being sent somewhere else.
But I can inherently tell that this is not the same place, because instead of nothing within the white void, there instead lies a maelstrom of what seems to be memories swirling around like a tempest.
Wind whips against my face, as I try to steady my footing to stop myself from being flung away by the violent gusts.
What could this place be, other than my mindscape? The fact that I'm suddenly healed makes me believe that I'm not somewhere physical, or else I probably would have retained my injuries. The memories that I had recently received from that weird notification that made me pass out must have been sent here.
Speaking of my mindscape, why is it so empty? Normally, a mindscape would be personalized to each person, and have notable features, but mine is just a white void.
I push through the winds and reach out toward a memory swirling within the tempest
The moment I grab it, images fill my mind.
"His name is Jean."
A faceless figure holds a child in her arms, lying in a hospital bed.
Was the faceless figure supposed to be my mother? Would that mean that my name was Jean? I never really had the time to think about what my name was, but the fact that I was nameless for a period was surprising. What else lies within these memories?
As the images stop appearing, I notice that the memory has disappeared from my hands, and my mindscape feels a little bit less artificial so to speak. The winds also seem to have slowed a bit too.
I move to grasp another memory, with notably less effort needed than the memory before. This one of a child taking his first steps, with 2 faceless figures, one male and one female, watching from behind.
"Those were my first steps, and my mother and father in the back?"
I continue to go through the memories, with all of them having the faces of all others aside from my own blurred beyond recognition.
The sheer amount of information that I learn about myself that previously wasn't there is astounding. My favorite colors, my likes and dislikes, my favorite food.
The type of people I love, the type of people I hate. My humor, my hate. My hobbies, my bad habits. My love of literature and video games, my dream to become an engineer. My goal of improve myself physically.
My first love.
After learning- No. Regaining these traits, my mindscape seems to have gone through a complete renovation.
From a white void to a small room. With a cozy bed, and a desk with a computer on it. On every inch of the wall are photos with friends that I don't know the names of, and parents I never knew.
After absorbing almost all of the memories, the maelstrom has slower to a light breeze,
1 final memory remains, this one seems to be the one that's putting out the wind, as each step closer seems to multiply the force of the wind pushing against me exponentially. The 1st step was easy, but the 2nd output had much more resistance than the 1st.
5 more steps. I instinctively knew that this memory was important, it was the center of the storm after all.
As I take another step, it feels as if the weight of a car is chained to me, trying to pull me back.
But I somehow persevere.
Another step. The wind is cold enough for my skin to turn blue, and my teeth to chatter with such fervor that they threaten to Shatter.
But I persevere.
Another step. The wind changes from cold to blazing hot in an instant. My skin begins to char, as the smell of burnt hair and cooked flesh fills my nose.
But I persevere.
Another step. The wind goes from a blunt force to a piercing gale that leaves deep cuts along every part of my body, almost making me scream in pain and agony.
But I persevere.
In the final step, I take the last step needed, but instead of feeling another attribute of wind, I feel nothing.
I've entered the eye of the storm.
I reach out for the memory, hungry for what information forced me to go through such trials and tribulations to reach it.
Instead of me viewing the memory, like all the previous ones, it seems to burst, giving me all the experiences within it at once.
"This is!?"
Within this memory lies a game called Honkai Star Rail, although the story is hidden from me, various characters' terms and locations appear before me, one of them being the massive ship I saw in the sky.
It was referred to as the Xianzhou Loufu and its inhabitants were pathstriders of the eon Lan, hunting down abominations of the abundance. The very same abominations that I narrowly escaped from.
The people who saved me were referred to as cloud knights, under the command of the 7 Arbiter Generals.
As I come to learn this information, a feeling of revelation rises within me, and I begin to stir awake.
---
As I regain consciousness, physically, I feel whole, I'm not sure how to describe it. But what I do know is that before I learned these memories, I was merely a husk, acting on instinct.
I open my eyes and suppress the urge to jolt up from my position, observing my surroundings first.
I seem to be within a ship of sorts. I'm most likely inside a star skiff, being taken back to the Xianzhou. If I didn't encounter those cloud knights, I'd probably be either dead or lost on that planet.
I notice that my arm is covered in gauze, restricting the mobility of my right arm. Seems like I won't be able to write for a while. Or do anything physically straining either. I'm going to lose like 2 pounds of muscle in my right arm.
The archer that was previously carrying me seems to notice that I'm awake, and begins to call over the other cloud knight.
"Seems like they're awake. How close are we?"
"Around 5 minutes. Check on his arm while I contact the Jade Gate."
'Hold on, I can understand them now? Does this mean that I can understand the Asian language from regaining my memories? Does that mean that I can speak it too?'
My thoughts are interrupted as I lay my eyes upon the jade gate. A gate is so grand that it makes you wonder if it was built by giants instead of man. Within the jade gate, I see hundreds of other star-skiffs entering and leaving, like a swarm of bees, moving swiftly towards their locations.
We pass through the jade gate and dock at what I recognize to be the Central Starskiff Haven. The sheer amount of people baffles me until I remember the fact that the Xianzhou is just space China, and has a similarly massive population. But the mobile game failed to capture just how Large the Xianzhou Loufu felt.
After docking, the archer picks me up from the table that I was lying on previously, effortlessly putting me over her shoulder once again. Was I light, or was she just abnormally strong?
"Should I take him to the general, or a proper healer first?"
She mutters to herself lightly, a contemplative look on her face.
I deadpan. Wouldn't you bring an injured person to a doctor first? Although now that I mention it, I don't feel any discomfort or pain at all. I could probably walk on my own, to be honest.
She absent-mindedly shouts toward the dock, asking people to move from the landing zone, causing the crowd to make an opening for her to leave the dock, with me in tow.
Now away from the public eye, would be a good time to ask to be put down and ask about my current situation. I'll explain how I learned space Chinese later.
"Excuse me, can you please put me down?"
Startled, she follows my request, dropping me onto the ground, and knocking the wind out of me.