“Make yourself comfortable one for my tale is a long one. My name is Arthur, To some, I am the greatest hero to walk the earth, To others, I am the Devil made manifest. Some call my race The Immortals, some call my race The Scourge. I walked the earth during Ragnarök. I have burned worlds, destroyed continents, and slew gods. I am the last of my kind.” I said, the girl just sat there staring at me as I began my story.

“I know this is hard to believe, but I come from another world. In that world, there was a war, the final war, the apocalypse. Gods fell, and nations burned, the world was reduced to ash. The world was a beautiful one, the landscapes the forest’s that would leave you breathless. But the world was a hard one, others inhabited it, monsters, orcs, goblins, demons and a thousand other threats. But the gods gave the people hope, they gave them the system. The system gave the people the ability to fight back to push themselves and gain power, but it came with a cost in order to gain power you had to fight, to fight monsters. Many died but eventually, a new class of people have formed. The Adventure's a group of men, women, children. Made up of every race man, elves, dwarfs, gnomes. They fought the monsters at great personal risk pushing the tide back, and for a time there was a balance. Then a new god came Nevermore the god of death and with him, he brought my people. My people are immortals able to revive after death. For a time, there was peace. The immortals took over the role of adventures fighting against the monsters using the system to gain power. But they were too effective, they wiped entire species out, eventually, tensions grew and a war began. An entire planet of people against a race of immortals. It was a massacre, the war was a long one, the forest burnt, the plant life died. Some of us tried to save the world’s inhabitance of that world but we failed. On the last day of the war the world was burning, all life bar the immortals were wiped out. The gods descended that day raging against our atrocities. In that final day, my people’s god descended Nevermore the source of our immortality. Mortal for the first time in years, they died like flies. At the end of the battle, the gods were dead, all of them. I was the only survivor the only living soul in an entire world. As I lay there dying, I was content. The people that had destroyed that world died with me, the atrocities we had committed died with me. Then I woke up in this tunnel a world away, under a sky I did not recognise. I saw a young girl chased by men, and well you know the rest.”

As I finished my story, I looked up towards the girl she just looked at me staring at me before opening her mouth to speak.

“So mad, then got it” her voice rang out

I opened my mouth to speak about to defend my self before her voice cut me off.

“you seriously don’t believe that anyone would buy that crap. Do you?” she said.

I sat there for a minute. Yes, it was unlikely she would believe me without proof. In that case, I would show her. Standing up I turned around looking around me. To my high there was a large stone, it was a piece of rubble obviously from when part of the wall had deteriorated. It had it had to weight almost six hundred kilograms. Walking over towards it I bent over lifting it with a single hand.

“This is the benefit of the system, it allowed our bodies to grow to become stronger to surpass the human limit,” I said.

I put the rock down, stepping back as I did so. As I looked over at the girl, she stood up walking towards the stone, I watched as she grabbed it with both hands attempting to lift it. As she strained the stone didn’t even budge an inch. The girl looked at the rock then back at me.

“So you have some weird magic that makes you strong it still doesn’t prove your from another world thought,” she said.

Sighing I put my head in my hands rubbing my eyes.

“If you don’t, believe me, there is little, I can do to prove my story to you,” I said.

“Anyhow I never asked your name,” I said.

“Alexis, my name is Alexis” the girl responded.

“Anyhow Alexis I suppose we should get to more immediate matters, you said your town was attacked by bandits. Care to elaborate?” I said

As I mentioned the bandit attack, I saw as the girl flinched. Her face grew tired and a small tear formed at the edge of her eye.

“You ok?” I asked.

“I’m fine” Alexis responded.

“Our towns a frontier town were on the edge of the settled kingdom. The kingdoms large growing every month. Our town was settled for the logs something about this mountain makes them grow faster.” The Alexis said

“Or was a frontier town I should say,” she said with a slight quiver in her voice.

“It was a small town, we were a weeks ride from the nearest town, every month a trader caravan arrives to ship our wood and bring us food. But we were far away from the kingdom’s authority. Every so often bandits came to trade selling their ill-gotten gains, normally we don’t allow them in the walls but yesterday was different. They let the bandits in the walls and the bandits struck, they took the town in a matter of minutes. They were dragging the women away and slaughtering every man. There was nothing I could do so I ran, I left the bodies behind, I left my mother’s body behind” Alexis said

As the last sentence left her mouth the water gates opened, she broke down then collapsing into tears. I just stood there, I had no idea what to do what to say. Where once I would have consoled the weeping girl, now I just stood there, where previously words like “it will be all right” “they’re in a better place now” had meaning now they sounded hollow and broken to me.

I came to a decision then earlier I had wondered what I could do in a new world with new challenges now I had an answer. It there was one thing I was good at it was killing. I also had a need I needed a guide, I needed someone to help me navigate the intricacies of this new world. Sure, it was exploitative, sure it a dam right questionably morally but this girl could be useful, she was decent with a bow and had an understanding of the culture. I could use her. Looking up towards the weeping girl I opened my mouth.

“How would you like revenge? I asked

The girl looked at me then.

“What do you mean revenge?” Alexis said between sobs.

“Simple, I will help you hunt down the men that sacked your town, and then I will destroy them,” I said.

She seized her crying then dabbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She looked up at me.

“Do you want the men to go free, those that sacked your town killed your mother. Do you want them to roam free for their actions never suffering the consequences?” I asked

“NO, I don’t want them to go free but what can I do about it there is one of me and more than a hundred of them” her voice shouted out.

Good, she was getting angry, I could use angry. I had learnt long ago that anger was a weapon, a very potent weapon if focused right.

“I’m a mage remember and a powerful one at that a, a hundred men is an easy number for me” I responded

“And what do you want in return?” She responded

“I have nothing the bandits took everything all I have is the clothes on my back and even those are in bad shape,” Alexis said

“You, I want you” I answered.

As I said that I looked her up and down she stepped back then her face going aghast.

“NO! I will no sell you my body, nor will I be your plaything” her voice shouted out.

“Not like that, no I need a guide, someone, to assist me in this world,” I said with a gentle voice not quite a whisper but loud enough to be heard forcing her to listen to me.

“I need someone to guide me through this land to teach me its culture, to help me fit in,” I said.

“My offer to you is simple, I will wipe out those bandits to a man, I will find every last one of them and put them to the sword. And in return you will swear to me, you will give me your oath that you will guide me to your the best of your abilities to show me this world” I said

“And if I break my oath?” she said.

“You will not be able to, I will reinforce our oaths with magic binding us hearth body and soul. To even think about breaking the oath will lead to great pain, to break the oath its self will lead to death. Of course, this also applies to me as well. Do we have a deal?” I responded.

The girl looked up to me, then looking me in the eye.

“Deal” she simply responded.

I began pushing at my mana reaching for it, I pulled at the mana pulling it out of my chest towards Alexis, as the mana struck her chest I began my chant

O̶͉͔̒ḧ̸̘͠ ̸̈́ͅẖ̵͕̽o̸̥͆̋l̷͈̏͑ý̴͎̝ ̸͓͓̓l̵͍̇̕i̵͉̓g̵͔͊ḫ̷̪̉ṱ̵̍͌

̵͙͝B̸̲͉̿i̴͔̐n̸͓̻̉d̴̪̈́ ̷̯́̏ọ̶̳̿u̵͎̗͑͝r̸̥̳̕ ̷̙̆́ẇ̸̙̳ó̶̭́r̴͖̹̃͝d̵̢̒s̶̛̖̩̀

̸͓́L̶͍̍é̵̤͍͝t̸̺̂̃ ̷̜̐̊o̶͐ͅu̶̖͊̔r̴̎̽͜ ̴̡̣͘o̶̡̬̍a̵͜͝t̷̙͇̿h̴͖̋̚s̶̟̗̽̔ ̸̟̱̋t̵͚͛̑h̷̢̩̃͌ḭ̴̭̎̊s̶̘̈́̇ ̸͇́͜d̷̪̉a̵͍̫͛͘ÿ̵̮́̚

̶̣̊͝F̷͉̚o̷͓̜̚r̵͇͑ẹ̶̟͗̎v̵̯̈̾ë̶̦́r̷̨̪̀ ̶͖͉̀̉h̵̲̤̅ö̷̱̙́ḽ̷̮̈͑d̸͚́ ̴̫̤͆ỏ̵͎̗u̵̖̐r̴̰͊̊ ̶̖͆s̵̫̹͐o̵̧̤͐ṵ̶́l̷̠̠̎s̴̝̄

̵̈́͋ͅB̶͈̆̄i̶̧̧̚n̷͔̾͆d̴̗̓͘í̶̱̺̃n̶̹̿͂g̶̩̝̈́ ̶̞̾̓ö̵̦́ḁ̸͂̄t̶̮̍h̷͎̮͛

“By my oath let my oath hold true. I shall to the best of my abilities as sensibilities would reasonably allow, seek to endeavour, to aid this women’s quest, I shall seek to strike down those that wronged her, to slay those that slew her kin. And in return she shall swear to me, she shall guide me, she shall show me this world and to the best of her ability assist me in my endeavours.” I said in floorless elfish.

“So, I swear” I followed up in continental.

I looked towards the girl, she looked at me confused.

“You have to say, ‘So I swear’ as well for the spell to finish,” I said

“So, I swear” her voice echoed my own.

As she made her oath the mana connecting us lit up sending a sudden shock into our chests, ready for it I took it wincing, but the girl shrieked collapsing to the ground.

The binding oath spell is a rarely used one, and when used strictly monitored if I had made the same oath back in Novae Terrae Online, I would be dragged to the streets had the spell broken and had my mana veins burnt out. The oath was an unfair one, my side was that I had to help with her quest, and that quest was to help kill whoever killed her kin. Aka I only had to kill whoever killed her mother. she, however, was essentially bound by my will completely. She had to guide me around the world, the entire world I had placed no limiter on that. Also, she had to assist me in my endeavour’s plural as in multiple meaning that the time scope of the magic was essentially unlimited. She also had to the best of her abilities help me with no limitation, this meant that I could give her orders to assist me and she would be compelled to complete them. I, however, had the reasonable sensibilities cause included which meant that I could argue against most orders. The only reason she had agreed was I had spoken in elfish, so she won’t understand. Sure, it was a scummy thing to do considering her complete lack of understanding of magic, but over the years I had learnt not to take chances I had lost too many friends during to war trusting those I shouldn’t have trusted.

Moving over to the girl I stuck out my hand helping her up.

“Now we have a deal,” I said.

“Does it always hurt that much?” she asked.

“Did you think a spell affecting your very soul would be painless?” I asked.

“Anyway, if you want to see those bandit’s dead we should be moving,” I said as I walked towards the door.

“Oh, right I forgot,” I said as I reached into my bag drawing out the pair of boots.

Handing them to Alexis I waited there standing by the door.

“Come on we haven’t got all day,” I said.

She quickly pulled on the pairs of boots running to stand beside me. I grabbed her then griping her tightly around the waist. As I did so I leaned backwards leaning against the door pushing it open and toppling out.

“ARRRRRRRRRRRR” she screened as we began our long plummet towards the ground below.