Truths and Lies

He sat down at the foot of the statue, wanting to take his time. It was peaceful, and he could see a few curious birds daring to get closer to them. Mikkah was sitting close to him, and observed him with big, bright eyes. But his focus was turned inward, as he looked back at his status, ignoring Ki-Rai completely. She still floated in front of him, and her scowl was almost cute, if he disregarded the fact that she had tried to make him kill someone.

“My skills,” he whispered in anticipation.

He could see the little icons, and recognized many of them. [Demonic Aura], which was an absolutely useless waste of mana that only pumped his demonic mana into his surroundings, scaring off only the wildlife and low-level monsters.

[Basic Slash] was nice for the start, but didn’t work without a slicing weapon. It made him miss his old class of swordmaster. Even if he had no sword, back then he had a skill to summon a sword made of pure mana. It wasn’t his Moonshadow blade, but it was better than nothing.

[Basic Punch], which, well, worked with his fists, but was as brutal and unrefined as it sounded. Punching things to get what he wanted really wasn’t his style.

Then, there were two basic spells, [Fireball] and [Lightning Bolt] which were pretty self-explanatory. It was a colorful mix of low-level skills, fitting for someone who had just started to play the game. Which meant they were absolutely, soul-sucking boring. He would have to work on expanding them as soon as he could. But there was one he didn’t recognize, where the icon showed some kind of explosion.

[Self Destruct: After the timer elapses, the soul explodes, causing great damage to the surrounding area.]

He quickly backed out of it. No, thank you, he thought. That’s something I’ll never ever need. Why would they implement that? Just because this is a war torture machine? Probably because this is a war torture machine. Huh. Good thing I have free will.

“Hey, Berus? Are you done?”

He focused back on his surroundings. “Oh, sorry. I was just checking my skills.”

“Wait, you have skills?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“But… you’re a machine.”

“No, I’m a soul stuck inside a machine,” he corrected her. “I’m still a human.”

He had to be. Especially with Ki-Rai around, he wouldn’t entertain any other thought. As long as he was in control of this body, he was a human, just like before.

Now he just had more strength, stamina, and a body that should be very easy to modify. That was something he looked forward to. During the brief time he played as an automaton (most of which he spent grinding on the aesthetically barren, but mineral-abundant shard of Heaphane for all the different materials the stupid class needed) he enjoyed the modifications the most. Having a cool sword arm, or two sword arms, or even four sword arms was an exhilarating experience. But right now, of course, he didn’t have any modifications in his slots.

“Um, again, Berus… one question. You are going to help me, right?”

“Of course.”

Anything else would go against his nature. Even in the game he had been known to help others out. He especially enjoyed giving complete newbies to the game a few higher-end items just so they could have a head start and really enjoy the game. But this here was different. This was a new reality, not a game.

If there really was a Demon King called Vrixus that terrorized this world, it was his obligation to stop him. After all, it was his character — and as such, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for his actions. In the game, he always saw the demons as misunderstood, and wanted something better for them. But something was wrong if they actually oppressed the humans. And what about the other game races? The elves went extinct, according to Mikkah. But what about the dwarves, or the half-giants? Were only the high elves gone, or were there no dark elves, either? This world seemed much more complicated than the game.

Which brought him back to that prophecy.

“I still don’t understand why we have to pose as the heroes from the prophecy,” he said out loud. “It seems like we would be tricking the people.”
“Of course we are.” She rolled her eyes. “You already figured out I’m not a real elf, and you’re not a real holy knight, either. The prophecy is not meant for us. But there are no elves anymore, and no one has seen a holy knight in a century or more. But the humans are desperate. I’m desperate. But before I lose all hope, I want to give them something to believe in. Something to reignite their fighting spirit.”

“And for that you’re willing to lie to their face?”

She nodded. “Whatever it takes.”

Her eyes were glowing with her very own fighting spirit. And it was clear this was a deliberate choice. After all, a plan like this—involving the costumes, the backstory, even finding him—had to take time. And, if he didn’t have his extensive in-game knowledge, he might have fallen for her lie.

“Would you have continued lying to my face if I didn’t know anything about the elves?”

She stopped for a moment. But finally, she nodded. “Yes. As I said, I want to bring hope to the people, no matter the cost. I won’t rest until the demons are defeated. And I hoped that I would find a soul that shared this hope with me.”

“It’s a false hope.”

“But it is hope, regardless!”

He shook his head. “As I said before, I want to help you. Something is wrong, and the balance seems to be thrown of. I want to fix that. So if it’s needed, I can continue the lie with you. But I need you to be honest with me. Just as I am honest with you. No more lies.”

She took a breath. “Alright. No more lies, then.”