The wind carried the scent of dust, markets, and blood.
A pale sun watched over the lands of the Kingdom of Sahel, the economic capital of the western continent.
Ishi emerged from the portal in a secluded corner, hidden between the ruins of an ancient sanctuary.
The light assaulted him all at once, after months... or perhaps years... spent in the darkness of the Sepulcher.
He blinked. His breath was heavy. The breeze caressed his skin, a luxury he had almost forgotten.
— So this... is the real world.
No one noticed the man dressed in ragged dark clothes, his hood masking his half-dead gaze. His face bore the scars of another world.
He melted into the crowd, silent.
Sahel, the city of gold.
The streets vibrated with commerce. Stalls overflowed with fruits, spices, and enchanted blades.
Children laughed, soldiers passed singing hymns of victory.
And everywhere... happy faces.
Happy... to have forgotten.
Ishi watched it all.
He had no immediate goal. Just one necessity: to understand what the world had become.
He stole a cloak. Changed his sandals. Found a dirty mirror in an alley.
The reflection... shocked him.
His left eye had turned black, nearly shattered. His hair, once the color of earth brown, had taken on an ashen hue. His gaze... no longer held innocence.
But he was alive.
And that was enough.
For two days, he wandered through the working-class districts, feeding on scraps, listening to people, the rumors, the new songs.
He entered an inn called "The Silver Whisper." Inside, a bard was singing a song he knew all too well:
"Three Heroes, Three Blades. Three Hearts united to defeat the abyss.
Calwyn the Just, Edran the Strategist, Irisa the Flame.
Their glory saved the empire,
And today, they reign."
Ishi said nothing.
He paid for a glass of wine, the smell making him nauseous.
He drank it in one gulp.
— "They say it was them who destroyed the cursed general. The traitor. The one who wanted to overthrow the King."
— "Yeah, the story goes that he betrayed them in the middle of a battle. The three of them had to stop him themselves. It's in the books, you know."
Ishi clenched his teeth.
— They dared...
He left without a sound, his gaze empty, his heart heavy.
It wasn't the truth that was winning… it was the story they dared to tell.
The next day, he found what he was looking for.
An ancient royal library, open to scholars. Protected by magic, but he had more than the permission of fate: he had raw willpower.