I was born twenty years ago.

I don’t know where exactly, but I know it was somewhere in the ruins, full of sand and emptiness.

We were wandering. Always, everywhere. Not like it mattered: everything was just sand and nothing else.

I remember learning magic. Being amazed by it. My first crystal was gifted to me by my father on one of my birthdays… He told me that it was powerful. I was hoping that I would be able to make something to replace my leg… But it did not. I only managed to learn elemental spells, and that wouldn’t restore my mobility…

I remembered stories… about the old world, where something like my disability would not even be considered a minor problem… I couldn’t wrap my head around it at that time. Like, how would something like this be “minor”?

But that was my parents' life's work. Our whole groups’. To find signs of the old world. Old artifacts. Anything. That’s why we were scouring those ruins.

We were never lucky.

That is… until we met him.

He was waiting for us in some random ruined building. We never expected to see anyone besides us, yet there he was. Hidden behind a veil, wrapped in some strange-looking clothing…

-Would you like some help?

Those simple words are the only thing I remember of him from that day. I don’t even know what he did, but before I knew it, he was our leader. Sharing magic with us. Teaching us how to use it.

I was enthralled. His magic was so strange, yet so powerful that I felt like he was the only way for me to…

To do what?

Stand on my own two feet for the first time?

Yeah, something like this.

And I was right. Maybe not in a way I expected but still.

I still remember that day. The day that my parents left me alone, to join him and “talk about some old and new developments”.

I didn’t know back then, but I remembered that my parents were… different.

Wore different clothes, talked in a strange language sometimes. I even caught them using portal magic.

Why, if they were able to use it, why wouldn’t they just teleport us away from this awful place, to somewhere else, better?

Was there really nothing out there? If that was the case, where were we getting all the supplies?

As a child, I just thought that we were powerful enough to get everything with magic, but later I realized that not everything was possible to get like that. So where…?

I knew that something was going on, so I wanted to eavesdrop. But got caught.

I didn’t get punished… at least not instantly. Instead I thought I got rewarded!

I remember my father coming back from the meeting and telling me that both of them, he and my mother, were going to scout a few things for him. And he, in exchange, agreed on healing my leg.

Was that possible? I would walk? By myself?

I was both excited and scared. I never thought I would have to be separated from them. I wanted to go with them, but, of course, I was told that where they are going I would only be in a way. He didn’t even try to say it gently, yet I understood instantly: he was scared as well.

The next day, both of them were gone.

Week passed. Then a month.

I kept asking, when are they coming back. And where were they gone?

No one was able to answer me.

That is, until he finally called for me one day.

He looked the same way as before. I’ve seen those clothes everywhere by now, since he became our guide, we started copying him in this regard as well. We used similar magic. Everything was in his image.

I asked him directly: where were they gone?

-They went back to check up on their old stomping grounds. Any day they should be back.

-Stomping grounds?

-Ah… the place where they were born, and where they spent their childhood.

-Is that far?

-Yes… and no…

I didn’t get any straight answers from him. Not until next week.

He called on me again. Saying that there’s been a development.

Apparently, he received a message from them.

Yes, that they found what they were looking for. What was it though? That I never learned.

Instead he told me that meant that I will finally be getting my payment. Of course, I had no idea what he meant exactly, so I was stunned, seeing that the next day I was summoned again. And this time, I saw both of them.

Both of my parents were back. But then… something was wrong. I couldn’t tell what, but the atmosphere was tense the moment I entered the tent.

Of course, I was happy to see them again, but I was worried nonetheless. One look at their faces was enough. Both tense and trying to hide that behind a smile.

Only person that was actually smiling was him. Still being the same as usual, calm, collected and brimming with confidence.

He told me that it was time for our reward. That he was going to heal my leg. And presented me with this… thing.

I am unsure what it was exactly: a weird piece of metal… and something else. I’ve not seen anything like it. But I knew.

It came from beyond… from the times of old.

And I was correct.

It was what they were looking for that whole time. At least in his version of events.

He told me to lie down.

Unsure, I obeyed. Prepared for pain. Who knows what exactly was he planning, but if I was to be healed, I wouldn’t complain. I wouldn’t be ungrateful, seeing as my parents did that much for me…

So you can imagine my terror when the next thing I saw was both of their heads being decapitated right in front of me.

-You think I didn’t know about your plans?

-...!

I tried to move. I tried to scream. But I couldn’t. I was bound with magic to that table of his, mouth covered and gagged with some invisible force. Unable to even look away from the bloodied bodies.

-The three of you… I never thought I would’ve caught someone back then… still alive and kicking. How did you even get here?

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t even know how, but he was not waiting for an answer. He instead put his hand on my head and I felt a flow of memories go through me.

My own memories.

I saw my father open the portal, to go to whenever he sent them. Along with mother, who was right next to him touching his arm, looking like she was in pain.

-Ah. You used each other. One to be a caster, other to be an anchor. Clever.

I did not understand.

-And what about this one? Ah. He doesn’t remember?

I felt some unfamiliar sights. A strange building. Similar to the ruins we were always searching. A large city. And an earthquake…? A magical earthquake… ground cracking open from the magic flowing within…

-Ha. So he has no idea. Let’s see…

I felt a sharp pain in my leg.

In my leg? I didn’t have a leg.

I looked down. There was a sharp piece of crystal stuck inside my thigh. After seeing that, I promptly fainted.

I only remember a few things after that.

I remember waking up to pain every now and again, to see him tinkering with my leg. With the thing he had them bring back.

The next thing I knew was that I was lying on my own bed, with a few people from the group before keeping watch over me.

They told me that he gave them to me. That they were now my property. That I was now their leader.

I didn’t understand at all what they meant.

Only thing on my mind was to get him. He killed them. Right in front of my face.

Revenge.

But that wouldn’t be easy. I knew he was powerful. I was scared of him.

But why did he leave me with those people?

Why did he fix my leg? Why did all of that happen? It made no sense to me.

I had a lot of unanswered questions.

That is until I started getting visions.

I started having glimpses of memories in my sleep. At first short ones, then progressing to full on dreams of whole days. Sometimes it even was catching me when I was fully awake.

I was sure that they belonged to him. That he did something to me with that crystal…

Soon I understood.

Remnants.

Old world.

Calamity.

Revenge.

Hired killers.

Yes. It made sense.

I now knew what he was. A monster.

No wonder.

His “help” being only to propagate himself.

Wanting or not, I now had a piece of him with me all the time.

I remember trying to… get rid of it. But I couldn’t.

And I don’t mean just I wasn’t able to force myself to go through with it, no. I was literally unable to hurt it with anything. Magic, conventional weapons, anything. The best I was able to do is to scratch its surface a bit, but even that healed by itself in a span of a few moments.

But, there were some good things coming from that. Besides, of course, the ability to walk, I was able to cast more powerful spells than ever. I was stronger. Faster.

If that came from any other source, I would’ve called it a blessing and be indebted to it forever. But from him?

I lived for a long time. “Leading” our group.

Sure, it helped us. I helped as much as I could, creating somewhat better living for us, in this harsh place. But I still had my limits.

Or did I?

Twenty years have passed.

Then another ten.

And another.

And another…

And nothing changed.

I meant it. Neither my body, nor our situation.

Still stuck in this deserted place, going from ruin to ruin, finding scraps that barely were even considered loot.

Thanks to my enhanced abilities I was able to find them, be it close or far, helping us survive.

Yet, the thing I was most waiting for was nowhere close.

I was not aging. Not changing. I watched people from my group pass away.

Don’t get me wrong, with the help of my crystal, we managed to live longer than we should in those circumstances, but no one was even close to being able to reach my longevity.

Hell, I was not even sure how it even worked. I was certain that it was tied to the crystal, however. I could constantly feel it under my skin… under this strange prosthetic that he left me…

Years passed.

I’ve seen whole generations pass away.

Our team was getting smaller and smaller. Even with my help, trying to raise children was hard. I am not even mentioning having children in the first place. That had its own issues…

So no wonder we finally were at the brink of extinction.

“Elves” they were calling us. Yeah right.

The few times we met other people, they thought we were some kind of abominations.

The only one being an abomination was me. Last remaining one.

“The first arrival”, “The last arrival”...

Yeah, who fucking cares.

My home was destroyed. My parents were destroyed. And all that because one weird person decided it would be fun to experiment on me. What the hell was he thinking?! That he’s some kind of god?!

But thanks to the crystal he left me, I knew that he was not alone. Maybe I would be able to track him. Know his moves. And wait for him to…

To what?

Make some kind of mistake?

I am not sure. I always wanted to make him pay, but how? Fuck if I know. It would be hard to reach him, not to mention even get to him.

But, to my surprise, he reached to me.

I guess he got curious about me?

I don’t know. He just appeared out of nowhere, some hundred years later. Like nothing, he just was waiting for us in a ruin, just like we met him in the first place.

My group, none the wiser, of course greeted him with open arms.

Just like the first time. Damn his charisma.

But I knew.

Did he though?

I was cautious. I was unsure if he was there for me, or was just scheming something else.

But as soon as I got even remotely close, he realized who I was.

I was ready for anything. Attack? Spell? Something!

But he just…

Greeted me, like I was his friend.

What was wrong with him?!

I had to attack! That was the murderer, the one whose fault…!

Yet, was it really that bad?

Of course it was!

But…

He was messing with my mind.

“Mixed feelings” was an understatement. The man that was responsible for both me being fully mobile again, not to mention boosting my magical power AND murdering my own parents, was sitting right in front of me.

What was I supposed to do?

On one hand, I wanted to thank him for what he’s done to me.

I would’ve never thought it possible for me to be a leader, not even to walk on my own, and yet here I was.

The thought alone was making me mad.

On the other hand, I wanted to toss a spell right at his face. To wipe that smirk off his face. Permanently, if possible.

But that was not a good idea either.

Thanks to me being more attuned with mana, I could tell that he was powerful.

Immensely powerful.

Well, even before, I knew my parents weren’t just some pushovers. They were more than competent with magic and other knowledge as well. And yet, he managed to murder them without an even hint of difficulty.

In the back of my mind, I was hoping that it was just because he caught them unaware, by surprise attacking them from behind like a coward, but now, face to face with the man himself, I knew that it did not matter. If he wanted to, he would be able to kill anyone if he put his mind to it.

That is why I did nothing.

And he, why was he even there?

It’s not like we had anything useful. Was he there for me?

But no, apparently I was wrong.

He indeed came to us just to “check up on things”, as he explained.

And to… warn us…?

When I first heard that, I thought he was trying to intimidate us. That people were coming for us, from “the old world”, as he said.

Like that explained anything to us.

With that ominous message, he just left. Portaled away.

Unbelievable.

Yet, his warning was indeed correct.

Few months later, we had another visit. Just as he predicted. But the guests… were a bit eccentric.

First off, I’ve never seen that many people in one spot my whole life.

They came, of course, out of the portal.

When we were camping one day, they just appeared out of nowhere right in front of my face and started interrogating me.

In comparison to that guy, well, to all of us, they were… different.

It’s like they had less than a quarter of an average person’s mana. And I was not including myself in that calculation.

Yet, I could feel… a presence from them. Choking and heavy presence that was hard to put up with.

Hell, it even worked on my own magic, making it hard for me to cast simple spells.

At first, they were a bit hostile.

But only to me.

After a few minutes of talk thought, they flipped right around, turning into the best allies I could’ve hoped for,

And they presented me with their own quest: to capture and execute a certain person. Or rather a creature.

The same one that warned me about their arrival a while ago.