Heroes of Nexus (Chapter 7) (Patreon)

Once again, Al experienced that same strange sensation. He felt an immense pressure on himself, like he was being stretched and squeezed through a tiny hole. Everything twisted around him, the countless stars and galaxies revolving and streaking across the black expanse of infinity.

Like a stone from a slingshot, the portal shot him into the void. He flew at tremendous speed, so fast is seemed his body would come apart at the seams. He tried clinging onto consciousness, but it was impossible. Blackness crept in around the corners of his vision.

Soon, he knew nothing at all.

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It was unsurprising, given the amount of punishment he’d taken, but Al slept like a log. Not only his body, but his mind needed to recover from his ordeals.

Though, he wasn’t entirely insensate. Like someone dozing, his awareness came in fits and starts. Perhaps some part of him was still on guard, unable to relax entirely.

He knew it was still night-time. It was raining softly, the droplets soaking through his hair and clothes. Now and then, the wind would gust, showering him in water and wet leaves. He could feel the surface under him. It was hard and uneven, like a bed of stones.

Oblivious to the cold, he felt like he could stay like that for an eternity, letting time pass him by. However, something disturbed his sleep. It was a sound, somewhere at the edge of his hearing. He couldn’t make sense of it at first, but it kept repeating, drilling into his head like an ear-worm.

Someone was crying.

Dragged into wakefulness, an irritable feeling rose in Al’s chest. Whoever it was, he was too tired to deal with them right now. Couldn’t they go somewhere else?

“…please don’t die. Wake up. Don’t leave me here alone!”

He noticed a hand on his shoulder, weakly pulling on him, trying to turn him over. A childish voice was whispering near his ear, the tone weak and pleading.

Initially, Al didn’t understand what was going on, bleary from sleep. It took a while for his mind to reboot, recalling where he’d ended up and who the person was.

Groaning tiredly, he pulled his shoulder away, turning on his side. Rainwater splashed into his face, and a cold wind buffeted him, but he couldn’t care less. He felt like he could sleep through a thunderstorm.

“Just five more minutes.”

There was a moment’s stunned silence before the person spoke again, sounding relieved.

“You’re alive. Thank goodness. I t-thought-…!”

Al’s eyebrows twitched. After what happened, he wouldn’t be surprised if the child was rendered mute from trauma, or at least showed some caution toward him—a stranger. It seemed that wasn’t the case.

“That’s right, I’m not dead. Now leave me alone. I’m going back to sleep.”

“…”

Uncaring of his wishes, the kid redoubled their efforts, attempting to pull him upright.

“No! If you sleep, you won’t wake up again! This place is no good. Let’s leave here first before. Before-…”

Sighing, Al slowly opened his eyes. He knew the child was worried about monsters showing up, but there was no need.

With a grunt, he pushed himself into a sitting position, crossing his legs under him. He got a good look at the environment for the first time.

He was in the middle of what appeared to be a town square, a place where cobblestone roads joined. Around him where medieval-looking buildings, built from wood, stone and clay. They were clearly abandoned.

In the poor lighting, and seen through a haze of wind, mist and rain, it made for a rather spooky sight. However, he wasn’t afraid.

Turning his gaze to the child, he was about to reassure them when he realized something surprising.

“I thought you were a boy. Seems I was mistaken.”

The girl—and she definitely was one—shook her head, her short brown hair dripping with water.

“Nuh-uh.”

Al stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze travelling from her features—brown-eyed with freckles and a pale face—to her right arm. Nothing remained but a stump. Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t a bloody mess of flesh, muscle and bone. The wound was gone, replaced by smooth skin.

“You didn’t use the last potion, right?”

The girl’s brown eyes widened in surprise, but then she shook her head again.

“No, I didn’t know you had something like that…!”

Al nodded slowly.

“I’m guessing it was already healed when you woke up.”

“Yes. It-… it got better.”

She unconsciously clutched at her stump, looking down at the ground.

Al pursed his lips. There was only one way to confirm for sure.

Bringing his hand to his mouth, he bit hard into the pad of his thumb. He’d have preferred to use a knife, but he’d abandoned his during the struggle.

When he felt the skin break, he removed his finger, holding it in front of his eyes. Something astonishing happened. Motes of blue light appeared out of thin air, settling on the puncture wound.

Amazed, Al turned his hand, examining it from all angles. It was perfectly healed.

The girl glanced from his thumb to her own arm, realization slowly dawning on her face.

“Magic-…!”

Al sat there, thinking it over. It was as he expected.

In the game, no matter how injured a hero was, they would be automatically healed upon returning to the nexus. He wasn’t sure about the girl’s arm, though. Maybe because she was technically an ‘NPC’—a character that hadn’t been summoned—it was only partially effective.

Eventually he got to his feet, pulling at the hem of the coat. Underneath, he was only wearing his underwear—something that mortified him greatly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to heal your arm. There should be a way…”

The haze disappeared from the girl’s eyes. Looking at him, awe and admiration were plain on her face.

“Are you a wizard, mister?”

Al drew his head back in surprise. Well, she would think that, wouldn’t she?

He shook his head.

“No. I just know a little about... all of this. There aren’t any monsters here, by the way. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“No monsters-…?”

Al nodded, gesturing with his hand.

“Why don’t I show you? These buildings are all empty. Right now, there’s nobody on this island but us.”

Coming up behind him, the girl grabbed the hem of his coat.

“How did we get here?”

Al pointed a thumb over his shoulder. In the middle of the square, a nexus point stood, though it was now inert.

“We came through that. Don’t you remember?”

The girl’s face changed, a strange emotion flickering in her eyes. Her breathing suddenly sped up.

Chastising himself inwardly, Al laid a hand on her head. Of course, she hadn’t gotten over what happened. Most likely, she was trying not to think about it.

“Never mind. Why don’t you tell me your name? We haven’t introduced ourselves yet.”

He pointed at his face, covered in a mix of mud and dried blood.

“I’m Alistair, but people call me Al.”

Holding onto his wrist, the girl’s anxiety faded from her eyes. The question seemed to have distracted her.

“‘Al’? That’s dumb. Alistair sounds better. Like a noble person.”

Al shrugged.

“Suit yourself, kid.”

“I’m not a kid. I already turned twelve. And my name is Jesse. It sounds like a boy’s name, but I’m not one. Got it?”

Meeting her brown eyes, he snorted in amusement. What a cheeky kid. She reminded him of his niece, his older sister’s child.

“Yeah, I got it. Nice to meet you, Jesse. Now, since we’re introduced, let’s take a look around.”

Breaking eye-contact, he took in the sight of the abandoned town.

“If I’m right, well be stuck here for-… well, a while. Might as well get the lay of the land.”

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A while later, after exploring for a bit, the two of them stumbled across an old stone fountain, hidden in the woods outside the town. As Al suspected, aside from the vegetation, the place was entirely devoid of life. There weren’t even any birds or insects.

He’d asked Jesse to look away for a moment, wanting to clean himself up. The water was ice-cold, and the rain still hadn’t stopped, but he couldn’t tolerate the grimy feeling any longer. Besides, he wanted to get out of the dead man’s coat and into his own clothes. They were torn and covered in blood, but being stowed in the satchel, they were still dry.

Standing naked in the fountain like a hobo, he ran his hands through his hair, considering his situation. This place was, of course, the Nexus—the summoner’s home base in the game. In the beginning, it was like this: old and run down. Over time, it would be rebuilt and populated, growing from a small town to a sprawling city.

‘But it’s weird. I haven’t received any of the introductory missions yet. Since waking up, I haven’t gotten any notifications at all.’

Al rattled of a bunch of mental commands in an attempt to access the system, but nothing worked. Eventually, he gave up, returning to his washing. He’d figure it out at some point. Probably.

It was only when he was done—using his blazer to dry himself and wearing the rest of his school uniform—that a message suddenly appeared.

[User ‘Little_Miss_Pretty’ has disconnected.]

[Playtime logged: 00:12:39]

“…”

To Al, the revelation was like a pick of ice shoved into his brain. He felt his legs growing weak under him, all but dropping butt-first onto the fountain’s edge.

He… wasn’t the player. Instead, he was just a summoned hero in someone else’s game.

This was bad. Really bad. If he wasn’t in control, then what was the use of his game-knowledge? How was he supposed to survive? No matter if the player was new or a veteran, his goose was cooked either way!

As much as he’d like to deny the truth, he was well aware of what he was. He didn’t need to see his information to know he was just a plain, powerless mortal. A common. A one-star. A piece of trash fodder, food hero.

That was the identity of the player’s first summon—a character destined to die during the tutorial mission. It was only a matter of time before he was carelessly sent to his death, or used to feed a high-rarity hero.

Chewing on his bloodless lips, he thought desperately. Was their no way to avoid a tragic fate?

He felt himself starting to panic, but forcibly shoved it down. He couldn’t lose his cool. He needed to consider everything he knew—from end-game content back through the years, to when he’d first started-…

Suddenly, his back straightened, hope igniting in his eyes. Right, there was that! Not having used the mechanic much, he’d almost forgotten about it.

In Heroes of Nexus, the heroes were aware of the summoner, and often communicated with them. It was pretty shallow though, mainly for conveying basic tips. In fact, the constant pop-up dialogues got annoying fast, so most players turned them off after their first few hours.

Hopefully, this was a new player, and not a veteran’s alt. If they were a newbie, he might be able to guide them down a more favorable path.

After sitting in silence for a while, Al let out a slow breath. There was no use in driving himself crazy, worrying about something he couldn’t change. Right now, he had no choice but to wait until ‘Little_Miss_Pretty’ logged in again.

He got up, slinging his satchel across his shoulder. It held the dead man’s coat, his sodden blazer, a waterskin an a single health potion—the extent of his belongings.

He’d lingered here long enough. Jesse was probably getting worried, waiting for him.

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