MEMORY FRAGMENT

Nerosal, 13 Years ago

Arthurows blocked the attack, then combined his acrobatic and attack skills to go on the offensive. His opponent was incompetent when it came to tactics, sadly made up for it with the nine level difference. If it was only five levels, Arthurows would have won without breaking a sweat. At level six he already had four skills, all maxed out, and more achievements that he could remember. Abusing the system had been easier than he’d thought. To some degree it was thanks to the general. The man had turned out not to be such a snob after all. He was the only one buying Arthurows’ contraptions, that was for sure. He’d also loaned him gear, and on occasion given him practical advice regarding awakening. That was another loophole: since the general wasn’t an awakened he wasn’t restricted to sharing information, unlike everyone else who could “only talk about it if he already knew.” If what he said was to be true, upon passing the second gate, Arthurows would be able to increase his level on his own, without the need of an altar, or the Order of the seven stars for that matter.

You’re distracted, a deep voice said in Arthurows’s head.

No sooner had it done so than the attack he was doing on his opponent missed.

Combat splitting, Arthurows thought. His attack had been flawless both in strategy and execution. However, it could never stand up to anyone with combat splitting. In this instance the final strike went inches past its target and was immediately followed by a strike on Arthurows’ right arm.

MAJOR WOUND

Your health has been decreased by 50%

A red rectangle popped up, marking the end of the fight. A split second later, Arthurows was back in the tournament testing room.

“That was close,” his opponent said.

The man was a whole head taller than Arthurows all made of muscles, though when it came to awakened those weren’t much of a factor. What really annoyed Arthurows more than anything was that the man was a simple woodcutter not even born in Nerosal. There was no way he’d achieve anything in the tournament, yet through level alone he had stopped Arthurows from proceeding to the paupers’ final.

“If it wasn’t for that last attack, you’d have got me.” The man tapped Arthurows on the shoulder.

“Yeah…” Damn it!

Just one more round and Arthurows had a good chance of being noticed. He knew that nobles were always present during the finals. He had no illusions of winning there. However, he would at least have been seen. Someone his level making it all the way here was extraordinary, but only if people knew about him. As the general had said, every awakened is extraordinary in some way, it’s all a matter of having everyone else be there at the right time.

“I’ll be scared to face you next year.” The woodcutter laughed.

Arthurows did his best to hide behind a false smile. There was too much time till the next festival, and even if there wasn’t it seemed that the town was conspiring against him. For starters, the city guard had inquired more about the contraptions he built. Apparently, Countess Priscord wasn’t thrilled by the idea. That was stupid since the countess only set foot in Nerosal once per year to host her festival. For the moment, the city guard had only been doing inquiries, but the writing was on the wall. To make matters worse, the Order had refused to let him visit any awakening altar in the city, until the guards’ “inquiries” were over, effectively capping Arthurows at level six. That was the whole reason why he’d wasted his time applying for the tournament. Getting noticed by a noble there, would have forced the Order to let him level up. All he needed was one visit. After that he’d never set foot in the blasted place! Now even that was gone.

You could have made it if you weren’t daydreaming, the voice in his head said. You’ve got yourself to blame on this one.

“Against combat splitting?” Arthurows whispered as he left the room. “Give me a break.”

Combat splitting isn’t magic. It only means the attack wasn’t perfect. If it was, all the splitting in the world wouldn’t have helped.

“That’s crap!”

The streets were packed with people. The festival was one of those things that attracted everyone from the province and quite a few from the neighboring ones as well. It wasn’t a huge event in terms of the overall empire, but it made the city hell. Interestingly enough, during that time crime was to a minimal. The lord mayor had made sure to let it known that any disruptions during the countess’ festival would be dealt with harshly. Only after it was over could crime and pick-pocketing go back to their standard levels.

“Hello, mister Arthurows,” a female voice said nearby.

Arthurows didn’t need to look to know who it was. For one thing, it wouldn’t have helped if he had. The person who had spoken to him could be a hundred feet away. Being a fury, let her manipulate air, which also meant affecting sound to some degree.

“What does the general want?” he snapped, shoving his way forward.

“He’d like to remind you that you’re behind on your weapons’ rent. Should he expect another delay?”

“I’ll have something for him by the end of the week, as promised.”

“Yes, he’s quite aware of that. Unfortunately, the novelty of your devices has worn off. Money would be preferable.”

Worn off my ass! Arthurows shouted mentally. He knew perfectly well what this was about. The general didn’t dare go against the countess. The device Arthurows was building—a water pump—was specifically demanded by the general not too long ago. Not only had they agreed that it would cover his debts, but he was going to make a pretty penny in the process. One word from a high noble and everything had come crashing down.

“I’ll see to it.” He hissed. It was a lie, of course. While the festival was over, he couldn’t even steal the money he needed to repay his debt.

“Very well,” the unseen fury replied. “And congratulations on making it so far in the tournament. For someone of your level, that’s nothing short of a miracle.”

“Thanks.” If it’s so miraculous, how about the general forgive my loan?! Arthurows wanted to yell.

This place was so much worse than Earth! Politics were just as bad, and by the looks of it, there was no way around it. Back home he could have used connections, money, or at least bullshitting to overcome his current issue. Here, there was no going round the rules of the Moons—rules that Arthurows found too useless and arbitrary.

“Luddite peasants,” he said to himself, making his way to Drunkard’s End. During the festival, that was one of the few city areas that remained empty. The lord mayor was determined to hide the “flaws” of the city from the visiting crowd by having it effectively sealed off. Walls were quickly built, trees planted, and as for everyone within, they were given some food to remain quiet and at home. The sad thing was that the unfortunate people looked forward to the practice since, for most, it would mean they’d get to eat some good stuff for a change.

As he approached the quarter, the crowds thinned to a trickle. The trees were planted in such fashion that they almost created the illusion of a forest spreading behind. Of course, anyone venturing would soon find a tall wall preventing any further exploration. Arthurows was just about to leap over it when he noticed someone leaning on a tree. The man was clearly a foreigner. Tall and unassuming, he was carving a piece of wood into what appeared to be a letter opener. The skill and speed with which he was doing it clearly indicated that the man was awakened.

“Good show at the tournament today,” the man said directly. “Pity you weren’t in your double digits. A bit more and you’d have made it to the arena, maybe even to the third day of the fights.”

“Thank you.” Arthurows said with the largest smile he could muster. “I’m still lacking. Hopefully next year—”

“You’re not lacking,” the man said. “You’re restricted.”

Arthurows paused. It wasn’t so much what the man had said, but how he said it. That was the voice of someone who understood, possibly someone who had been through the same.

“As long as you follow your current path, you’ll have nothing but hardship and sorrow,” the man continued. “If you think things are bad now, wait till the festival is over.”

“What do you mean?” Arthurows’s instincts told him to get away as fast as possible. At the same time, though, he also wanted to stay.

“You think the countess is keeping you down, don’t you? That she’s afraid of what your contraptions could do to the city, and that’s why she told the Order to prevent you from leveling up further?”

“Isn’t she?”

“You’re looking at it the wrong way. It’s the Order that dislike your devices. They were the ones who pressed the countess to act, and she promptly did. Nobles are nearly all powerful in their domains, but the Order can take those domains away from them with a snap of their fingers. They are the true power in the world. Or at least one of them.”

The Order did this? For a moment Arthurows didn’t know what to think. He had always prided himself on seeing things that others couldn’t. He’d abused the logic of awakening achievements to get his traits to a value greater than people triple his level. And yet he had been completely blind sighted by the Order of the Seven Moons. All this time he’d viewed them as something so distant that he never gave them any thought. The only time he had interacted was upon paying his fee to visit an awakening altar, like thousands did every day. What reason could they have to target him?

“Why?” he asked. “I’m a nobody.”

“They don’t approve of the devices you made. In fact, they don’t approve of most things related to Earth.”

“You’re from Earth?” Arthurows gasped. This was unexpected. One of the first things he had done after leaving the guard fort was try to find others like him. Apparently otherworlders were rare, the vast majority of them living in the imperial capital.

“No, but I work for someone who knows a lot about it. A higher power, if you will. Tell me, have you heard of the Crippled Star?”

The memories of Arthurows before awakening in this world made him tremble. The Crippled was seen as the local bogeyman—a demon that caused wars, chaos, and all the evil in the world. Of course, from what Arthurows had seen, people didn’t need such an entity to do evil on their own.

“Sure.” At his current level, even if he ran, there would be no point.

“There was a time when the Star ruled over the world. Before the races were banished, there was a time when the world was different. The Star was beloved, bringing advancements that even the Moons hadn’t seen, advancements very similar to the things you’ve been doing. Any guesses what happened?”

Arthurows could guess, but he shook his head.

“The Moons didn’t approve and destroyed everything. The world had to start from scratch and all the good the Star did was swept away. You’ll be lucky to find artifacts from that age.” The man tossed the thing he was carving to the ground, then moved away from the tree. “It’s your fault, by the way. You tipped your hand too early, so now you have two choices. Once the festival is over, you’ll probably be visited by the city guard, then taken to the Order. In the best-case scenario, you’ll have a limiting echo introduced to your realm. In the worst—your awakening powers will be sealed, returning you to what you were before.”

Damn it! All because of technology!

“Alternatively, you can join me. Rather,” his clothes transformed into a mass of blackness, then shifted back to a guard’s outfit, “join the Star. The Moons only have power because you let them. They may have covered the world with rules, but there are ways around them, and the Star can show you what those are.”