Crossing into the woods his thoughts ran wild and like lightning from a clear sky he heard the sound of music ringing in his head that emphasized the question he ignored.

‘Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who are you?” as he said this to himself he imagined wild things from his past which was inaccessible to him.

‘Who were you Mr. Roberts that you can kill another human being and stay so cool about it?’ he thought as the leaves of the forest were rustling under his feet.

‘Was I a murderer, an assassin, perhaps, a doctor?’ his neurons sparked looking for answers in his damaged database.

He would be sorely disappointed if he ever found out in the future that the only reason he became so used to killing was the virtual reality environment which blurred the difference between fiction and reality.

The technology has progressed so much that there was full visual immersion but there was still a way to go for all the senses to be influenced. The amount of gore in the most popular genres he played was more than most warriors in this plane of existence see in a lifetime.

Being desensitized to the blood and gore was after all a prerequisite to be successful in those games. If you started to retch there after seeing gore of someone being splattered by a grenade would surely mean you are next to die. Quick reaction and a cool head was a prerequisite of being successful in virtual reality combat sport games and he was very successful. He would have reached the apex of success if given enough time.

‘So now I am a murderer? Well it was in self-defence, somewhat...’ he tried to rationalize his decision to strike preventively at the robber.

‘Ah damn it. This is so confusing. I need to get some better potions and heal my body in the other world as soon as possible. Find out who I am. Find the person who did me in. Survive this place. Get stronger.’ The thoughts ran wildly through his head as he continued further into the forest finding himself by the creek and following it to the waterfall.

He looked at the beautiful scenery and sighed. The birds were chirping, the water making a rumbling sound. The breeze caressed his face as he was looking for a guiding light towards his way forward.

‘Whatever I did in the past doesn’t matter… ‘Cos I have become conmforatbly numb…’ he shook his head and wondered where this came from.

He wondered how much of his memories were permanently gone. The music he heard every now and then, the vocabulary of his former language and recognition of objects told him they were not completely gone. They were just scrambled like a giant jigsaw puzzle someone broke up and threw all over the place. Some pieces will surely be gone forever but he should be able to find a lot of them or fit the missing pieces with new similar ones by deduction.

‘I need to get out of that hospital first. If there is a herbology skill there must be a potioniering skill. I can probably learn that. Or I can at least buy some potions. As low as the level of technology is here the effects of that shitty potion already seem remarkable.’

Looking at the water falling over the cliff he made and revised his plans. He sat by the pond and stared at the water and started to meditate. His thoughts from chaos turned to unity, breathing in and out the essence of this world.

‘The past is a teacher. The lessons are gone. The echoes remain.’

He completely lost track of time and by the time he finished meditating the sun was already starting to set.

“I better go back or Sheina will be worried again. At least I am not alone here.” he said out loud before setting out towards the exit of the forest.

------------------------------------------------------------

In the woods a couple of kilometers away from Harrison a tall man dressed in leather armor wearing a cloak was waiting by a particularly big tree. He was already waiting for a couple of hours anticipating to see a figure emerge from the direction of Torm.

His expression was a mix of anger and expectation as he kept looking in that direction.

As the sun was already beginning to set he silently turned around and left.

------------------------------------------------------------

Harrison came back to the manor and went around the main building to the backyard entrance to the kitchen and took out a marrakech from the three he had left in his inventory. Using his hands he carried the beast inside startling the two cooks who were already cleaning up after dinner.

“Sorry I am late and if I startled you...” he said with a smile.

They both smiled back when they saw what he was carrying.

“Another one? Your friend is a great hunter.” Gordo replied while helping carry the thing to a cold

place.

Gordo frowned as he touched the body.

‘It is still tender and warm. It’s a fresh kill. Only a few minutes must have passed.’ he looked at Harrison with bewilderment but didn’t say anything.

“Fergun. Go clean and butcher this beast. Are you hungry? Let me find something for you to eat. There is some leftover barbecued ormash and potatoes.” Gordo quickly said.

“Thank you. Just serve it here, no need to mess up the dining room.” Harrison responded with a smile.

As he began eating Gordo started pumping him for information as he still had not gotten the state of the carcass out of his head.

“Does your hunter friend catch the marakash and ormash alive?” Gordo asked.

Harrison looked at Gordo and thought about why he would ask that.

‘Damn. I forgot the things in the inventory don’t cool off or degrade.’

Luckily he stuffed a big piece of meat in his mouth so the change in his facial expression and the long pause was not obvious.

“Yes. He trapps them. He kills them when he needs them. He says it’s easier to preserve the meat that way.” Harrison lied and Gordo was eating it up with amazement.

“Wah. That is too dangerous. I never heard of someone doing that. It does make sense though. The meat would be fresher that way.” Gordo nodded in understanding.

“I hope your friend stays safe and gets us more of these fine beasts.” He said after a while.

“Mhm,” nodded Harrison, while stuffing himself.

Sheina barged in the kitchen at that moment, startling Gordo and Harrison who almost choked on the food.

“You are back. Rogun has been looking for you. The guards have just informed him you came.” She said with a smile, explaining her intrusion.

“What does he want?” Harrison asked, after getting some water to calm his throat.

“He wants to give you the rest of the books on spearmanship? I think.” Sheina replied.

“He is quite eager now to make you his student.”

“Where did you run off to today?” She asked looking with expectation at Harrison, totally ignoring Gordo.

“The young master got us some good ingredients again.” Gordo said, before Harrison could answer.

“Oh. what did you get?”

“Another marakash.” Harrison replied before he continued to stuff himself. His food consumption apparently rose with the amount of energy he expended so he was particularly hungry today.

“That is great since we will be having guests tomorrow. Maybe you can help the cooks do it like last time?” Sheina asked with anticipation.

“Yeah. Sure.” He finally had a good look at her. She was wearing a red dress in the afternoon which made her look like a red rose ripe for plucking.

Gordo left at that moment as he saw he was not needed and even ignored like a piece of furniture. He didn’t mind it as this was part of life for a servant. Harrison was an exception to the rule.

“So how was your meeting?” He asked.

“It was great. My friend and family will be joining us for lunch tomorrow. I told them we would be having an ormash but marakash is even better. ” She replied in joy. It was obvious the quality of food improving played a significant impact on that.

‘I guess she never dared to invite her friends over as lunch guests before as it would be embarrassing to serve them what I ate here the first time.’

“So who is your friend?” Harrison asked.

“Her name is Rabena. She is the daughter of the apothecary shop owner. Her father is a rank three official alchemist. I will introduce you tomorrow so don’t run off again.” Sheian said while looking at him with expectation for a positive answer.

‘An alchemist. That sure is convenient. If I can get him to teach me or sell me some good potions cheaply… “

“How much do potions cost?” Harison asked.

“It depends on the potion. If you are asking about the healing potions… Hmm I think the cheapest ones are 10 silver but those have some nasty side effects. The better ones are from one gold upwards. Why? Do you need potions?” Sheina explained.

“They might come in handy. Would it be possible to learn from your friend’s father how to make them?” Harrison asked.

“You want to learn how to make potions?” Seeing Harrison nodding she continued, “I will ask my friend to convince her father to give it a try. I know he takes in some apprentices every now and then.”

“Thank you in advance.” Harrison said as he finished his dinner.

“Just be sure to be there at lunch to make a good impression on him. I am off to bed now. It has been a long day. Let Englin know if you need anything. Good night” She said before rushing off.

“Good night!” Harrison yelled after her shaking his head.