Chapter 7: Are you lost, young man?
Waking up from the bed with some remains of the terrible headache that had rampaged inside his head, the young man muttered:
"Huh, what happened…?
Looking around, he found himself in a bed- a proper one this time- not made out of leaves. The Valkyrie was sitting on a chair beside the bed. Her beautiful facial features no longer masked by the metal helmet, and her golden hair unrestrained, she looked like a noble lady unlike the fearsome warrior he had seen earlier.
Her ears also ended in pointy tips just like the old lady's. Except that the Valkyrie's ears were longer. She wore a simple white chemise with a pale blue kirtle over it, which was a stark difference from her menacing armor. The airy dress, however, failed to hide her… uh… beautiful features which led to a stare from the young man, respectfully of course.
Noticing his admiration, the lady spoke:
"Oh, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the forest, right? Good thing you met me. Or else…"
She looked away for a second before looking at him again. A hint of melancholy appeared in her radiant blue eyes. It was clear that she had been through an ordeal like this before, only that the outcome was vastly different.
The young man was reminded of his encounter with the horned rabbit, he was pretty lucky to be stumbled upon by this noble knight and even more to be saved by her. He shuddered thinking of what would have happened if she showed up even a single second late... She then continued:
"...You fainted because of the memory stone. Don't worry, you'll be fine…"
The lady handed him a cup of water which he quickly gulped down.
'As long as it doesn't have a green color…'
Just the thought of consuming the green fluid again made his stomach churn.
'Memory stone… Must be the stone that the old lady gave me. Wait, I can understand her? Hold on.'
He focused on the Valkyrie in a hurry and a semi-transparent tablet appeared above her. This time, he could understand what it said.
[Elf]
'Elf, huh… That explains the pointy ears, I guess. Never mind that, I can understand what the words mean!'
Jubilant from the revelation, he quickly asked:
"Can you understand me?"
The Valkyrie answered his question with a nod.
"Is he awake, Serina?"
The old lady shouted and asked from outside the room. The hunchback old lady slowly came into the room, using a white bony rod as a walking stick. Instead of a normal curve for holding, the white stick had an animal skull at the top which the old lady held onto.
If she looked a bit like an alchemist before, she definitely looked like a bonafide witch doctor now.
'Serina, huh? Must be her name.'
"Yes, granny Lola. He's a little confused, but he's fine… more or less."
'Hey, what do you mean by that? More or less?'
Noticing the slight panic on the young man's face, Lola quickly calmed him down.
"Don't worry, boy. She's always like that. You are fine. Anyways, a drifter… We don't see them often in these parts. What a luck! To be found by Serina just in time. Or else you would be inside one of those beasts ' belly right now."
With a pause, she added: "So, is that a common clothing at your place? Quite daring, I have to say."
Lola pointed at the pathetic clothing that the young man was wearing. With a tattered short white tunic and a single brown loincloth, he looked like a beggar. No, even a beggar would take pity on him.
Only now noticing his attire and remembering that he had been around Serina all this while in those revealing clothes, his face became reddened with embarrassment.
"Haha. Don't be shy, boy. Every civilization has a different fashion sense after all. Anyways, what's your name?"
Trying to hold back his embarrassment, the young man replied:
"Uh… I don't know. I feel like it's Bobb, but I'm not really sure…"
Suddenly, a headache ravaged his mind. At least, it was milder than the last one. Amidst the clouds in his hazy mindfield, he remembered something from his past. A memory... He saw a beautiful woman with similar features to his.
He felt warm and safe in her embrace. It was a memory from when he was a baby... or a young child. He was not sure. Running her slender fingers through his hair, the woman called his name… Ken. His name was Ken.
Tears ran down his face as he relived the forgotten memory. He tried to remember more, but it did nothing except worsen his headache. Even trying to stay inside this memory longer was a futile attempt.
'Mom…'
He tried to call out to her but to no avail. Soon, he found himself back in reality.
"Hey, boy! What's wrong?"
Worry was painted on Lola and Serina's faces.
"I'm okay. Just remembered something. My name is… Ken. I'm sure this time."
Wiping his tears with the short sleeves of his tunic, he forced out a smile.
"Remembered? Don't tell me you have no memory of your past…"
"I recalled a memory of my name just now but yeah, I don't remember anything except that. My first memory is waking up in the forest, then wandering around searching for food and water when a horned rabbit almost killed me. And then, Serina saved me and here we are."
"..."
Awkward silence ensued, and was only broken when Lola muttered under her breath:
"Not a drifter… but a Lost one…"
'First, drifter. Now, Lost one. What the hell are those? I'm confused…'
Ken even considered that the words were not translated properly… No way, he could understand them after all. He just didn't know what they really meant.
Reverting back from her thoughtful expression to a cheerful face, Lola reassured Ken.
"Never mind that. It doesn't really matter anyway. A drifter or a Lost one, you are welcome here either way."
Lola spoke with a big smile. It was supposed to bring comfort to Ken but instead, it somehow only managed to give him the creeps.
"So, Ken. Can you open your status screen?"
"Uh… Status screen? You mean the translucent screen thingy with words on it?"
Ken asked back with a questioning look.
"Sorry, boy. I forgot that you are a Lost one. My bad. Try saying 'open status' or think it out loud in your mind. You'll see what I'm talking about."
Thinking that it would be embarrassing to say that out loud in front of Lola and Serina, Ken decided that saying it mentally was a better choice.
'Open status.'
As soon as he willed it, a semi-transparent plate appeared out of thin air in front of him. Unlike the small versions he had seen before, this one was bigger with a bunch of strange words on it. But, the words did not seem strange to him anymore. In fact, they felt familiar.
He understood what they meant.
- - - - - - - - - -
Name: Ken
Race: Human
Level: 0
Title: [Lost one], [Bobb]
Job: [None], [Hero]
Skill: [Runner's high] (level 1)
Unique skill: [Unravel] (level 1)
- - - - - - - - - -
Seeing a zero for his level made Ken feel somewhat uncomfortable. His titles were also nothing glorious.
'What the heck is Bobb? It's not even a word. A name? But, my name is Ken though.'
Ignoring that, he looked at the job section. Even though [None] made him feel a bit disheartened, the word [Hero] made him cheer up. Looking at it closely, however, [Hero] was greyed out as if it was inactive. The answer to his question shortly arrived even before he asked about it.
[Job "Hero" is currently unactivated. Please prove yourself worthy of the job to activate it.]
'A trial, huh? But, I don't know where to start. Any hints?'
But, there was no reply.
'Well, at least the skills are leveled up, even if it was just once. Must have been from all those running and inspections I did.'
While Ken was having a self monologue, Lola suddenly asked:
"So, what do you see?"
"Uh… words."
"Of course, you'd see words. Haizzz…"
Letting out a sigh, she continued:
"Never mind that. Do you see Job?"
"Uh… yeah."
"Good, what does it say?"
Thinking that it would be best to keep the information about having a [Hero] job to himself, Ken decided to tell Lola only about the [None] job.
'To be fair, "Hero" is currently inactive so I'm technically not lying.'
"Umm… it says none. What does it mean?"
Lola looked at Ken with a grin which made him feel that he was about to get scammed.
"I see, I see. It means that you can do farm work. Starting tomorrow, you will help the farmers in the morning and train with Serina in the evening. You won't survive outside with that frail body of yours. Now, go get some rest."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ha ha, you can just call me granny Lola. Didn't you hear Serina call me like that?"
"Uh… Yes, granny Lola."
"That's more like it. Serina and I need to go make a report to the village chief. We'll see you later. Have a good night."
Indeed, it was already nighttime. Today was a very eventful day… not that Ken knew of other days to compare with. After waving Serina and Granny Lola goodbyes, he found himself alone in the room. Alone with his thoughts.
'Questions, questions. So many questions… I don't even know what a Lost one is supposed to be. Why are my memories missing? What are titles for? What is a job? Really, so many questions…'
Despite the numerous questions storming inside his mind, Ken felt drowsy. After all, he had a long and harsh day. A proper rest was due. Who knew what awaited him after today? Surely, a lot of work.
Ken closed his eyes and shut down his busy thoughts, allowing his tired body to relax. That night, he slept like a baby.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Senecio_tako
Senecio_tako I better sleep like Ken, too. It's late...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone