He was kept warm under a thick blanket, the room was small, with few wooden furniture, it looked like a regular house bedroom.
There was a window slightly open, and a gentle breeze was moving the curtains projecting some nice shadows on the bed.
Aren looked around and checked his conditions. He was wearing some sort of pyjama in cotton while his whole body seemed to be fine, he could move his arms and legs, and there were no signs of blood or any kind of injuries. He checked his wrist and the SENTINEL was still there.
"Val? Can you hear me?"
[Your Majesty! Glad to hear your voice.]
"How long have I been out? And where am I?"
[It has been one day since you passed out. And this is the house of Mrs Clara.]
"Who?"
[Mrs Clara is the name of the woman who drove us here to the city and this is her house. While I was in standby waiting for Your Majesty to wake up, I was both monitoring your vitals and the surroundings to learn more about the place.]
"Tell me more about what happened after I passed out. I need to get back to my mission."
[Sure. After the fight, your body was already injured and tired by the poison. Not counting that you probably took a toll by the amount of energy consumed.]
"Alma. The energy is called Alma, I have to tell you what I learned", and so Aren started to explain to Val about the second meeting with the Dark Dragon and all the things that he learned, including the room with the emblems and his new abilities. The light on Val was pulsating, which meant that she was listening carefully.
[It seems like the Dark Dragon is starting to trust you more, Your Majesty. Having the power to use other emblems is amazing, but at the same time I think that you were really lucky to have your kind of genetics. It wasn't long ago since you woke up, and the data are showing incredible progress. Even now while you are asleep, the poison's effect seems to be all gone, while your body structure is getting sturdier, probably due the fast muscle regeneration.]
Aren looked at his arms and chest, it was true, he definitely felt that he was getting used to it, for him it was a mix of doing something for the first time while knowing already how to do it.
He saw some clothes folded on a chair and below there were his boots.
"I guess I can wear those".
They were simple clothes but they fit better than the things he took from the lumberjack's wardrobe. His bag was also in the corner.
[Mrs Clara brought your bag here. She was very respectful and she did not open it. You can find the knife wrapped on a cloth, next to it].
He unrolled the fabric and revealed his knife. It was clean, he could smell some alcohol from it.
She cleaned this as well.
There was no need to keep the knife in this house so he decided to leave it and head out from the room and show himself.
The door was unlocked and the house revealed that he was on the upper floor, so he went down carefully, without trying to not make any noise while he was hearing her humming a song.
She was cooking some sort of soup, while stirring the pot.
"Ahem…", as he said that she turned her head and saw him.
"Ohhhhh! Finally, come here!" She ran to him and gave him a strong hug. Aren didn't know how to react properly so he just hugged back.
I guess it's fine. I am still a kid in her eyes.
"I need a few minutes before the food is ready. In the meantime feel free to browse around, I have a garden as well if you need some fresh hair", she said pointing out the door behind her.
He walks into what seemed to be the living room, spacious with a couch next to a chimney, there were few photos displayed and he could recognise a younger Clara, along with a kid and an adult man.
Probably her family, a son and a partner I guess.
There was a photo of the young man with a uniform, it was a military uniform, probably on graduation. That was the kid that probably grew up to be a soldier.
There weren't any other photos, but Aren didn't want to invade further her privacy, so he headed towards the door to check the garden.
The garden was small but full of plants and vegetables, he could recognise some of the veggies that she was selling, the whole garden seemed pretty well maintained.
"Val, before we go in. I would like to try to learn the language while I am speaking as well, can you show me a transcription of what I am saying as well?"
[Good idea. The instant translation will show a comparison of what you say and how it translated, along with my audio emulating your voice coming out].
"Thanks, I will try to explain to her also about this ability. I don't want to shock her."
He sat down on the grass and started to meditate, projecting in his mind memories of the last fights. It was always an old habit of his, to review everything and see what he could have done better.
His body would stay still but his mind and muscles felt like they were against the bear or against the bandits. Focusing on alternative ways that he could have used to overcome the opponents, a feint in the right moment, aiming for another spot with the knives, and so on. He also could feel all the possible outcomes of wrong choices, the wrong step, a parry went wrong, making his mind branch into multiple alternative scenarios.
And so a few minutes passed until the food was ready. It wasn't a long time but for him it was a long training, that made him sweat too much.
⁂
"So you're telling me that this bracelet is translating for you, right now?" She was really surprised as they were sitting at the table while eating the food.
"Yes, this sounds like my voice but is a translator, I am still learning the language so it might take some time for me to speak naturally, I am sorry"
"Not a problem at all, Aren. I understand your situation, and it is actually pretty admirable that despite having Val you still want to learn."
"I believe that knowing a language will come handy anyway", the food was really good, and he could smell that the bread had been freshly baked.
He did not reveal completely his story, it felt like it was safer to not involve her in the real meaning of his journey, but he simply told her that he came from far, and that is why he didn't know much about anything happening in these lands. She didn't seem fully convinced, his combat skills were something out of the ordinary and having a technology like that makes it hard to believe that she never heard of anything like that. But in the end she gave up, thinking that the boy had his own reasons to not open completely.
"So how do you feel now?"
"All good, thank you Mrs Clara. My body seems to have recovered and the food is exquisite, I really appreciate it."
"You have such really nice manners for a young person. Your family must have taught you pretty well."
"Well, I grew up with my grandfather, I practically speak a lot like him."
"I see, by the way, the people at the village send you their regards. Because of you they managed to get the remedies for the toxins in time. That was a nice catch. Did your grandfather teach you how to take care of bandits as well?"
"He was a… person with a lot of experience. But yeah he always told me that whoever carries poison must also carry the cure. By the way, who were they?"
"Oh… they call themselves the Sand Reapers. They are simply bandits that started to raid various villages. Especially now that the knights are not around to protect the cities", there was a certain expression of sadness in her eyes.
"I am pretty new to this land, but where are we right now? And who is the ruler in charge?"
Mrs Clara looked at him pretty surprised, hitchhiking without knowing where you are, or this basic information seemed to suspect but she did not have any reason to doubt him.
"Where we are now is the south of Verdantia, and we are under the rule of House Sylvaris."
I don't know any of these names. I need to dig deeper and get as much information as I can.
And in that moment Aren's memory went towards what the villagers said before the fight started.
"Those bandits, they mentioned the knights. Can you tell me more about them? "
"Where do I start? Let's see, the knights are a group of special forces who are sworn to protect the country. They are usually assigned on different areas of the country to protect the people and establish security. Being a knight is a very honourable job and it requires dedication, and sometimes sacrifices, but is all for the greater good of Verdantia." As she said that, her eyes went to the wall with the family photo and Aren understood.
"Was your husband a knight? Is that him in the photos?"
"His name was Dave, and no, he wasn't a knight, he always wanted to be but he never got selected, and that's why he started this farm. Destiny wanted our son, Mike, he got selected, he had it all, the brain, the physique and a very big heart. Me and Dave weren't surprised at all when he gave us the news", a bitter smile appeared on her face once she started to talk about them.
"Is the sword that you passed to me…"
"Yes, it was Mike's. He always took care of it so I decided to honour him by keeping it clean and sharp, always with me, in case things like what happened yesterday would come…"
"Pardon me if I insist on the topic, but what happened to him, and in general to the knights?"
Her expression became slightly angered, but he could feel that it wasn't towards him, but something else.
"House Sylvaris, that's their fault. When the new king ascended the throne, King Jarvis Sylvaris, he started a campaign to concentrate all the funds on the capital, leaving nothing but crumbles to small regions like this. At the beginning it was bearable but then he started to fear an attack from the other reigns, so he decided to call all of his knights to protect himself."
"So your son was called back to the capital as well?"
"He had to, a part of me wished that he did. But he decided to stay a little more, he delayed his departure with the other soldiers, he wanted to stay more with me and Dave. So one day while he was travelling with his father to the market, apparently they stopped to help someone in the middle of the street but they were thieves, they weren't even bandits but the new taxes that the capital imposed made everyone go crazy. It escalated so quickly that…"
Tears slowly ran down her face, the wound was still open for her and Aren held her hand gently, understanding what happened after.
"Someone came to my door, they saw what happened and that sword was the only thing left. There wasn't blood on it. He didn't fight back, I know my boy, he could have but he believed in the people and he left his back open, trusting them."
The silence mixed with her sobbing filled the room for a while. He looked at her and started to think of what King Aren would say.
"If you ask me. Your family died doing what they believed was right. They had their priorities in the right place. I am not saying that the criminals were innocent, but I think that a king should be held accountable for those repercussions. His choices started everything, and he should be aware of that."
The sword was in the corner, shining as when he held it, she probably cleaned it while he was unconscious. The dinner went smoothly after that, a few happy memories of her family to be shared and good food.
Oh I almost forgot to ask.
"Another silly question. But can you tell me date., please?"
"Uh, not much sense of time, I see. Today is Geoday, which is the tenth of Volthera."
So the calendar system is still the same, but…
"And what year if I may ask?"
"Oh Aren, that's funny. But yes we are in the year three thousand eighty-seven."
His mind suddenly got struck with surprise, that number did not make any sense to him, he knew something was off but not this much. He put down the bread and started to slowly sip water.
"Are you ok darling?"
"Yes… I think I have to ask you for more general information if you don't mind Mrs Clara."
Three thousand eighty-seven, this is almost two thousand years from my year… How long did I sleep?
He excused himself and went back to the bedroom to get his thoughts together.
⁂
Aren was sitting on the bed putting together all the pieces in his head.
The amount of information that Aren had to accept was probably too much, he managed to be composed at the table but it was obvious even for Mrs Clara that he was very worried.
Apart from discovering the huge time gap from his era and the present, he had also to understand that in this time the houses were different royal houses at the top and no mention of his house. Apparently he was now in the territory of the House Sylvaris, which is the current Verdant dragon.
"I wonder what happened to the House Thornwynd. Val, can you please show me the map again?"
The floating map appeared in front of his eyes, with a bigger size than the physical version.
"Look, we are here I guess, if my memory is correct, than this is what they used to call the Emerald Wilds" his eyes could recognise the lands and he started to look for his Gilded Expanse, his former territory, his index stopped where it was supposed to be, but that area of the map was empty, as if the land got erased from the map.
"Val, do you have any idea on what happened to the Gilded Expanse? My territory? It was supposed to be here" said, pointing at the empty spot.
[I have no information about geography or political history. But I can guess that in that time some kind of land shifting could have happened. Natural phenomenons that can alter the shape of some lands.]
In that moment the memory of the rocks falling from the sky became very vivid.
"There must be a reason why I have been put asleep in the pod for this whole time. I need to find it."
[Yes Your Majesty, so what is your plan?] Aren smiled thinking of the long journey that this was going to be.
"We definitely need more information about the current king of this territory. Royal families tend to have a lot of historical information kept in their libraries. So we are going to give a visit to their royal palace"