Surviving as a Broken Hero

Chapter 2 – Awakening (2)

‘Archetype’ was a selection that was unheard of before that moment…

I wasn’t even sure what ‘Archetype’ selection was referring to.

{{Mind, Spirit, World, Body}}

‘I thought that the Fighter class would be my last chance, but… What is this?’

I glanced over the descriptions, all too aware of the creeping fire.

‘If this is going to get me out of this situation, I need it now.’

{{Mind

Encompasses mastery of the mind and all things related to it.

When this archetype is selected, the user gains their choice of focus as well as continued rewards.

When this archetype is selected, the user’s physical stats are penalized for a better Mind. The user’s knowledge expands, granting them a photographic and instant memory and the ability to learn movements and reproduce sounds/images with perfect accuracy.}}

{{Spirit

Encompasses mastery of the spirit and all things related to it.

When this archetype is selected, the user gains their choice of focus as well as continued rewards.

When this archetype is, the user is locked out of learning magics that overtly manifest in the outside world. The user becomes aware of their spirit and can use it to manifest spiritual abilities.}}

{{World

Encompasses mastery of the World and all things related to it.

When this archetype is selected, the user gains their choice of focus as well as continued rewards.

When this archetype is selected, the user is locked out of most Body abilities. The user gains a perfect sense of direction, can commune with nature, and can tap into the energy of nature to fuel special abilities.}}

{{Body

Encompasses mastery of the Body and all things related to it.

When this archetype is selected, the user gains their choice of focus as well as continued rewards.

When this archetype is selected, the user is locked out of utilizing mana for external purposes and spells. The user gains an extraordinary physique, superior bodily control, and can instinctually move their body how they wish.}}

‘What…?’

‘I’ve never even heard of abilities like this before… Isn’t the Mind ability the equivalent to that of a Mythic-level Mage ability?’

If that was the case…

Then were each of the starting archetypes roughly equivalent to a corresponding mythic ability?

‘Then… what will later rewards be?’

My mind drew a blank just considering it.

My eyes hovered over each description for a moment before they came to a rest on Body.

‘An extraordinary physique… Does that mean it’ll allow me to walk again?’

It was what I had spent the past six years hoping for.

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My chance to start over.

“Select ‘Body’ Archetype.”

The golden window froze for a moment before switching to a new set of options.

{{Please select your focus:

《Power-Fire》

《Concentration-Water》

《Endurance-Earth》

《Speed-Air》}}

That decision didn’t take as much time.

My life had been a constant struggle of endurance since I arrived. What good was speed or power if you couldn’t outlast your opponent? The victor is the last one standing.

“Select ‘Earth’ focus.”

The golden window displayed a brief message…

{{Initial Body Archetype, Earth, selected. Stand by for initialization.}}

‘Initialization?’

Suddenly, my body erupted into searing pain. It was a burn worse than any fire could have produced.

* * *

Reaper Scans

[Author – Farlight]

[Proofreader – Harley]

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* * *

My bones grew denser as my muscles ruptured and thickened. I was blinded as my eyes reshaped themselves. Something in my chest popped, my bones audibly cracking as they broke and expanded. Finally, I felt something I hadn’t in six long years…

Snap! Crackle!

I felt pain in the lower half of my right leg.

Pain though it was, it was more welcome than the previous absence of sensation. The deep numbness and dead weight were gone.

The pain transformed further.

Eventually, it subsided and I was left limp against the side of the tree.

“Ugh…”

In the midst of my pain-wracked transformation, the fire had reached me.

A pain dull in comparison to what I had just undergone reached me through my addled haze.

The heat of the fire was close enough to hurt.

Clumsily, I half-rolled, half-flopped away as I tried to regain my footing.

Unused to the feeling of walking unhindered, I tripped almost immediately after taking a few steps away from the fire and found myself with a mouth full of dirt.

I continued to crawl my way forward, away from the heat.

The fire licked at my feet as I crashed through the forest, half-crawling, half-stumbling—but mostly falling the entire way.

I recalled the first time that I had been in that forest.

I vividly remember the day of the Merge. It was a sudden and catastrophic event, one that changed life as humanity knew it.

One moment, I was out on an afternoon jog; the next, I’d been whisked away to an alien land.

There hadn’t been any system messages or introductions to get us started in those days, and a good portion of those who had been transported had been killed in mere moments.

Though we didn’t discover it until later, the System had—for whatever reason—placed people in small groups within range of low-ranked monster threats… Those who were lucky, anyway.

As for me, I had been placed with a few others in the initial Merge. We hardly had even a few minutes to ponder our sudden change of scenery before the attack came.

That attack was the most shameful moment of my life.

I had always considered myself a ‘good person’, and believed that I would step in to save others.

I had seen videos online of people under duress or threat, and I had ridiculed those who stood by and watched while I sat behind the safety of my screen.

‘Cowards’, I had called them, believing myself to be better.

I had told myself that I would act differently than those people, the ones who just stood aside or ran away.

Instead, when faced with such an unprecedented event? Where what I could only describe as goblins had assaulted us with their flimsy spears and broken shields, weaponry that could have easily been broken with a single kick?

I ran.

Indeed, all of us had.

We scattered, running in different directions in our panic. Each of us had only been looking out for ourselves, leaving behind the screams of those who were less fortunate.

I didn’t run for long before I tripped over a stray log in the forest. It was nothing insidious or malicious, just a log.

That log was partially to blame for the state I had suffered through for six long years.

A single goblin-trained tracking beast, a ‘Warg’, had found me there not long after.

The Warg had grabbed onto my leg, shredding the muscle and delicate tissue as it shook its head and tore its way up through the delicate fibers and cartilage beneath the surface.

I had screamed for help, for anyone to turn around and come to my aid—aid that I had failed to provide others.

Nobody came.

Beating on the thing’s snout and flailing around in the dirt, I had latched onto a stone, bringing it to bear in my efforts.

It had yelped and run off after a few frantic smashes, injured but alive.

And there I had lain until the Orcs found me.

Previously, I had always pictured fantasy Orcs as bestial and crude beings of war.

Reality was pretty far from the truth.

They had taken me in, along with the others that they could find, and healed me as best as they could with their nature magic. I was left with a useless leg but with my life intact.

Not long after, humanity began to set up its first villages. They were often aided by the denizens of the Merged world that had been there longer—beings like Elves, Orcs, and Dwarves.

Out of all of the races, humanity was the last to arrive.

Since then, I had desperately sought my missing family and friends. I was alone in the new world.

Along the way, I had also sought a way to heal my crippling injury.

Adventurers were the standard in the world, with most who left the cities and towns having a class and level of some degree after killing their first monster.

I hadn’t seen them myself, but I had heard tales of miraculous feats performed by adventurers. Feats such as taking on entire encampments of enemies, conjuring fireballs that could raze cities to the ground, and outings into unknown territory where the dragons and beings even more fearsome resided.

Finally, I saw the end of the forest and made a last, desperate, tumble.

Before I could fully appreciate having escaped the fire—

Splash!

A wave of water slammed into me.

“Someone just came out of there!”

I heard a woman’s panicked cry as I went tumbling backwards, head-over-heels. I ended up prone in the dirt while the water washed over me.

“Drag him out before the next wave! The fire will overtake the road if we let it!”

A man’s voice. I propped myself up on my forearms, still lying in the dirt, and took a few shallow breaths as I regained my bearings. Rough hands grabbed me.

“Urgh… You’re heavy as hell! Help me out a bit here, bud!”

I let myself be pulled up and stumbled to my feet, reaching out for my cane for support before I realized…

‘Did I just run through the forest unassisted?’

My eyes glossed over and I was filled with a sense of bewilderment.

The man waved my hands in front of my face.

“Oi! Hey! Snap out of it!”

I came back to reality and looked at the man.

He was the kind-faced sort with short brown hair. He wore a basic chainmail shirt and protective gear.

From the large sword on his back, I guessed he was a fighter class of some type.

Not far away from us stood a woman in the middle of the road channeling a spell, probably another one of the water waves, to douse the fire.

“I don’t know what you were doing in there, but you’re lucky that we came by when we did. What’s your name?”

I looked back at the man, catching sight of a small, floating carriage on the road nearby.

“Aizen…”

Whoosh!

Another wave of water was sent forward, made of water particles from the sky that had been condensed into a wall-like formation in front of the woman.

“That’s all I have the mana for right now, Bernard! We should get moving!”

The man—Bernard?—nodded at her and pointed to the carriage.

“Hop inside. We’ll get this figured out somewhere safer.”

A golden window appeared before me.

Ding!

{{New Quest!

Reach safety with the friendly travelers!

Reward: 300 XP}}

‘What a strangely personal way for a System message to be formatted…’

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