“Who are you?” Jonathan stammered as he read the new quest.

[It is too early for me to know who I am, boy.]

“What, why?”

[It is too early in the narrative for me to contact any of the [Chosen] existences, much less you. The only reason I was able to contact you was because you reached the entrance to my temple. Names are powerful things, boy. Simply knowing mine can change the narrative too quickly. Do not be dismayed. This restriction is due to my actions and not you.]

“So what can you tell me?”

[Not much. I am restricted from revealing certain truths. I have used a lot of the strength I had on giving you my quest. This means I cannot overcome some restrictions for now. I will not be able to give you answers on some matters for some time.]

“When can I get answers?”

[That depends on your progress in the quest. The only way to advance in the quest is to make this story your own. One way is to could remove some of my restrictions would be to enter my temple. The only way to enter is by gaining authority over this forest.]

“How?”

[By killing the current authority of the forest and usurping its authority.]

“Do I have to do the quest?”

[No, but one of the consequences of you receiving it would be that all figures with any sort of authority will see you as a threat. If you intend to stay in this forest, this would eventually include the authority of the forest.]

Damn, Morton’s Fork again.

“How long will that take?”

[If you survive that long, around one year.]

“Jesus. What happens in a year that is so damn important?”

[The [Chosen] will attempt to overthrow the current Octavian Empire by causing a slave revolt.]

Taken aback by the revelation, Jonathan almost stood up from the bush he was hiding in. He shook his head.

“Whoa…wait, what do you mean by ‘attempt’?”

[They will fail. The Empire will receive help from countries with interests in its survival. This partnership will make them more formidable then they are now. That is when I am supposed to contact them, to offer them power. They accept and I give them a similar quest to the one that you have.]

“You said ’supposed to’. Why?”

[Survival. That is all I can tell you about the matter. For now.]

“So, I have to wait for more?”

[Yes.]

“Jeez, ok. Can I ask you a few things?”

[Given the number of questions I have answered and my abilities at this point of the narrative, I will only be able to answer 3 more.]

Jonathan watched the imps fight over the bloodied scrap of the big green creature they killed as he thought of a question.

“You keep talking about story this and narrative that, what does that mean? Am I stuck in some sort of story?”

[I do not have the ability to answer that question yet. You have two questions left.]

The voice was becoming unstable, shifting between load thundering and soft rumbling in Jonathans head.

“Damn, how can I get home?”

[The method I know is long and arduous. I cannot tell it to you, yet. Tellling you now would be useless. You do not have the required resources nor do you have the means to acquire them.]

“So when will you tell me?”

[I have already answered this question. When you progress in your quest. So you don’t need to worry, boy. You still have one question left.]

“Ugh, so it looks like I have to stay here for at least a year. Shit.”

Jonathan was getting more and more suspicious. The voice said it wanted to ‘change the formula’. It talked about changing the ‘narrative’. What it had already said sounded like a continuation of the narrative if everything still only happened after a year.

“So by becoming the authority, do I ‘change the formula’?”

The image of the man in his mind looked amused.

[Finally, boy. Becoming the authority is not a requisite. You can change the formula by getting stronger, roaming the world and gaining allies or staying alone. The choice is yours. As long as you are able to gather enough power, and are able to be present at events that are important in the narrative, you will be able to change their results. I only recommended that you become the authority of this forest so that you can contact me in my temple.]

Events important in the ‘narrative’, huh? Jonathan thought. It looked like he was being forced to become the authority. Jonathan had no way of knowing which events were important and his only source of information right now was the voice.

Shitshitshit

[I have to leave you. I have overstayed my time. Good luck, boy.]

The image of the man on a throne disappeared and the thundering stopped. In its place was a smooth machine like voice. It sounded disdainful.

[The quest: [Usurper] has begun. You are not a main character. The quest has become more difficult. When you die, the quest will be transferred to the [Chosen].]

“When I die? Shouldn’t that be if I die?”

Jonathan looked up at the imps. They were no longer ripping up the corpse; they were looking directly at him.

“Well, shit.”

The imps were getting closer, brandishing their claws at him, all the while making a low constant growl that sounded like a moan to Jonathan. There were two of them.

“What happened to the third?”

Jonathan then heard another growl to the left of him. It sounded like it was a meter or two away.

Hoping that his agility stat was high enough, Jonathan ran out the bush straight at the two imps in front of him and swung at them with his short sword. The imps tried to separate from each other to dodge. Jonathan threw the leaf and feather bundle under his left arm at the imp that was now to his left, while he swung at the hip of the imp on his right. The imp jumped over his short sword at his face. Jonathan felt time slow and felt his heart beat in his chest. The imp in the air would probably be able to kill him if he tried to back away. It was too close to dodge left or right too. Jonathan took a risk and pushed forward, to head-butt the imp, using its own momentum against it. He felt its claws just miss him before feeling the impact of his head meeting the imps’, sending the imp reeling.

The imp that was behind him was getting closer. Jonathan ran at the imp who had been hit with the bundle of leaf and feather. It had clawed at the bundle, splitting the leaves and the feather temporarily distracting it. Right now it was recovering from is confusion. Jonathan swung at the imp, removing its head from its body-most of it anyway. The short sword became stuck in the imps’ neck. Jonathan had to waste time removing it allowing the third imp to reach him.

Jonathan panicked and swung wildly. He missed. The imp ducked down instead of jumping, aiming at Jonathans legs. Jonathan jumped up, causing the imp to fall due to its momentum and brought his body down haphazardly on the Imp. He rolled away and brought his short sword down into its belly and twisted. While the imp bled to death, the third one recovered and ran at him. Its moan-like growl had turned into a scream. It charged at Jonathan no longer using any kind of strategy.

It swung widely. Jonathan couldn’t get close; he couldn’t risk those claws hitting him. The imp kept pushing forward and Jonathan kept moving backward, cursing his luck. He kept moving backward until he stumbled on a tree root. The imp swung down into his shoulder, leaving three shallow gashes in Jonathan’s right shoulder. Jonathan brought up the short sword into the imps’ chin into its brain, killing it.

Jonathan sat there after moving the imp off of him, thinking about how much he hated Arda. He felt less tired than when he fought the crows, maybe because he levelled up in the meantime or maybe because the imps were weaker. Either way, he was stronger.

He looked around, not much to see admittedly besides the rock formation the voice called the ‘entrance’ to its temple. Jonathan picked himself up and walked to it all the while staring at the markings on the rocks, trying to distract himself from the fact that he had almost died. He couldn’t read Octavian standard and even if he could he realized it was possible that they were in a totally different language. He tried touching the markings. Nothing happened. The rocks were too big to push or pick up making any effort to move them futile.

Behind one of the rocks Jonathan found the small green creature. It was bleeding from its head and its hands and looked weak but was still alive. He noticed that it had small beady black eyes and an under bite showing small sharp yellow teeth. It widened its eyes when it saw him and tried to run but could barely stand up. He saw fear in its eyes. He briefly thought about ending its life but decided not to.

Jonathan left it there and moved to the corpse of the big green creature, hoping that its poncho and boots were still intact. The creature had red eyes and an overbite, giving the impression that it was a different type of creature than the small one.

His clothes and shoes had become ragged and he needed to change them soon if he didn’t want to be naked. The poncho was bloodied and had a large portion missing from the back but was still usable. He couldn’t find the fur boots. He briefly considered looking for the lean creature but decided not to. He didn’t know if he still had the energy to fight any more blue imps.

After salvaging the poncho he looked back at the imps and found that one corpse was being pulled away by the small green creature. It looked more desperate than before. It stumbled when it saw Jonathan but didn’t let go of the blue imp. Jonathan walked over to it in curiosity. The creature let go of the imp and tried to go hide behind the rock again, whimpering as it ran. Jonathan sighed and picked up the corpse before leaving it in front of the green creature. The green creatures’ eyes widened and pointed to the corpse. Jonathan nodded. The green creature had tears in its eyes and put its hand towards Jonathan, palm side up. Its head was bowed down.

Jonathan was confused. He had no idea what it was trying to do. Suddenly a notification popped up in front of his eyes.

[The ogre ‘Runt’ wishes to be your subordinate.]

[Do you accept?]

“Runt? That’s your name?” Jonathan asked in Octavian, hoping that the creature would understand him.

The creature, no, the ogre, nodded.

“Jesus.” Jonathan looked at the small ogre, he had no reason to agree or refuse. The ogre reminded him of himself after reaching this world it reminded him of his desperation and his pain. The ogre made a sound like whimpering. Its hand was shaking.

Jonathan accepted. When he did, another notification popped up:

[You cannot accept subordinates while under the effects of the slave collar.]

Jonathan felt anger immediately well up inside him. He remembered the pain it gave him. After all he went through he had forgotten it even existed. He had to get rid of it.

This damn collar.

He took brandished the short sword in his hand; Runt stumbled back in fear and confusion. Jonathan grabbed at his collar with his left hand, using the short sword to cut through the collar. Each cut sent a shockwave of pain exploding down his spine. Jonathan kept cutting. The pain was getting worse. Jonathan kept cutting. Finally he cut through though the collar.

[Congratulations. You are free from the Slave collars’ curse.]

[You have accepted the ogre ‘Runt’ as your subordinate.]

[You have obtained the skill: [Lead].

As part of the ability: [Lead] you have obtained the ability to understand the emotions of your subordinates.]

[The ogre, ‘Runt’ fears and respects you, but does not trust you.]

[Due to the effect of the quest [Usurper], you have usurped the authority of the Ogre King in Viridi Forest over the ogre ‘Runt’.]

[The Ogre King is alerted to your presence.]