18. Small Child With A Broken Dream

Back when I was still part of... well, reality, and I was not transmigrated into the world of Ancient Blades, I used to be part of a small suburban family. We were a dad who worked late shifts in the office, a mom who was almost always absent on various business trips, me, the loner, who spent most of his days staring at a computer screen, and my brother, Darien.

Darien was four years older than I and he was the coolest person I have ever known. Ever since I was four, he would invite me to play video games with him. Now that I think of it, he was the one who showed me Ancient Blades.

“The best game you’ll ever play,” he would say every time.

I loved my brother. He was my best, and possibly, my only friend. He would defend me from my bullies. Play with me when I was sad. Talk to me when I was alone. I admired him. He was my hero.

It was around when I became twelve that my parents told me Darien went off to a school abroad. I believed them at first, but when he would not return during Christmas or for any holidays, year after year, I started to understand the truth.

I never asked where Darien went or what happened. Despite the visible tears behind their smiles, I pretended to be oblivious. I did not want to break my parents.

[ Title: Fratricide ]

[ Level: 5 ]

[ Effects: ]

[ + 10 HP ]

[ + 10 STM (Stamina) ]

[ + 10 MA (Magic) ]

[ + 30% Damage against Humans ]

Fratricide was not a title in Ancient Blades. The word itself, fratricide, means killing your siblings. In Ancient Blades, you could not have a family. Maybe with mods, but I only added one mod to this world, and that had nothing to do with families.

I stood above the corpse, frozen. “I killed someone,” the words repeated endlessly in my head.

But... there was also something that left me unable to move. For that split second, when the bandit appeared in my view, and I impaled his head, I saw a glimpse of his face.

And it was... familiar?

“An ambush!” Emma turned around with her flail drawn. More bandits appeared on the road, laughing with anticipation as they charged at us. “This is not right, we have just begun ascending the mountain! How could they anticipate us? There is no way they just randomly knew we would come?”

“Emma,” I spoke quietly, “Could you turn around that corpse?”

“We will loot their corpses later! Now, prepare your blade!”

“Emma,” I repeated calmly, “Please turn around that corpse.”

“Huh?”

“The corpse, headfirst against the snow.” My voice trembled. “Please, could you turn it around?”

She raised an eyebrow but complied. With a swift kick, she turned the corpse to face the sky.

And my world broke apart. The sky and earth turned upside down, and my whole body gave up.

Before me was the corpse of a bandit, the corpse of my brother, the corpse of Darien.

“H-How,” I muttered. My legs gave up and I fell to my knees.

Emma gave me a confused look, but the bandit’s vicious battle cries quickly regained her attention.

Thugs in leather armours. Some had rusty blades, others’ swords with broken blades, while some no weapon at all. They were ugly, dirty, and all of them male.

Amidst them was a bandit larger than the rest, standing 230 centimeters tall. He was thick like a brick wall, his chosen weapon no blade, but the trunk of a tree which he carried like a club.

“Come on boys,” he rallied his men, “Looks like we got some real prime meat for us!”

Emma frowned and bit down on her lower lip. There are too many of them, she thought while observing their numbers. She glanced back at me, but I was steeling kneeling before the corpse, motionless.

“It... It doesn’t make any sense...”

Emma raised her voice. “Hey, snap out of it! I don’t know what got you so excited about that guy, but if you don’t help me, we’re both going to end up like him!”

I looked up at her. Tears swelled in my eyes. Her anger convulsed as I shouted, “There is no multiplayer in this game! There’s none! So why is he here?!”

She could not imagine what I was talking about, nor did she have the time.

As she faced forward, two bandits were already before her, both jumping into the air with daggers drawn.

“Let’s kill this hoe!”

“Die!”

Emma growled. But it was not an angry growl. It was a frustrated one.

Pulling her flail’s hilt before herself, the head of the weapon brushed through the air, and cut the two low-level enemies into four halves.

As their blood-squirting bodies fell to the ground, the snow was coated with red. A thick spree of blood drew a line from the top of Emma’s frown to her chin. She drew back her flail and shouted into the air,

“I don’t know what’s going on, how we were expected, or why my partner is having a meltdown, and you know what? It’s seriously pissing me off!”