章 1: Chapter 1 - Arrival
"And… submit. Well, that's my schoolwork done for the week."
Quietly talking to himself in an attempt to ignore the dull buzz of the air conditioner in an otherwise silent apartment, Orion raised his arms above his head, stretching out his back as he turned to the digital clock on the corner of the desk.
"And just in time too, huh?" he said, the corner of his mouth curling down in a frown. "Well, not like I have anything better to do anyway."
Getting up off his chair, the man quickly grabbed a sweater, draping it over his shoulders before picking up his phone, wallet, and keys and heading out the door.
Greeted by the cool night air, he thought about plugging in his earphones before deciding against it, choosing to let the sounds of the city enter his ears as he walked toward the gym.
"To think. I just turned 19, and aside from living, all I do is switch from doing school and boxing. Hah," he chuckled to himself. "How boring."
Getting an odd look from a passing pedestrian, Orion quickly turned his head down in an attempt to hide his blushing face from the world.
'And now I'm talking to myself in public. I must look like a damn crazy person,' he thought.
Hearing the passing footsteps quiet into nothingness, he raised his head, staring at the night sky with glazed eyes.
'Why am I even training? It's not like it'll be any useful in real life.' His fists clenched. 'And why am I even trying so hard in school? Passing my days like a machine, finishing assignments until I'm 25 or something, only to work until I'm 60 and die?'
He stopped for a moment as his eyebrows scrunched in annoyance, and perhaps a bit of sadness.
'How… purposeless. What the hell is even the point? I know Dad said he kept going because of Mom and us, but… what about me?'
Shuffling his feet on the slightly cracked sidewalk, Orion released a sigh as he waited for the light to change.
'Fucking finally.'
As the red hand changed into a white man, Orion took a step forward, only to stumble as a sharp pain thrummed in his head.
"Ugh, shit."
Holding his head, he was once again hit with a throb of pain, this time originating from his chest, as an intense burning sensation erupted from his core.
Just as he was about to kneel down, he was interrupted by a silky-sweet voice that seemed to resound from inside his head.
"I know… you're strong… old friend," the girl's voice changed tone from familiar to pained. "Please… help my love."
Immensely confused, Orion was about to turn around to see who had just whispered into his mind, but was instead forced to close his eyes in pain as his headache thrummed once more.
Opening his eyes, he was immediately hit with a bright glare, forcing him to wince as his eyes came into focus on the world around him.
"...What?" Was all Orion could say as he stood still, stunned by what he was seeing.
First, while he was closing his eyes, night had seemingly turned to day, with the sun shining brightly overhead and a sky clear of clouds stretching into the horizon.
Two, the surroundings were completely foreign.
Not in the sense of a niche neighbourhood he had never explored, but rather that every single building looked completely different from his homeland. The usual concrete skyscrapers and brick townhouses were replaced with wooden-framed houses with white plaster marking the walls, and most importantly, the large castle that stood upon the distant hill, overlooking the city he had somehow found himself in.
And lastly, there were the people.
While Orion, having grown up in a diverse city, was used to many different faces and cultures, what he was not used to was people with the heads of animals, nor those with striking hair colours such as pink and blue.
But the world was unconcerned with his familiarities, as the busy street he had found himself in was filled with such odd appearances going about their everyday lives.
Seeing these new sights, there was only one thing Orion could say to voice his current thoughts.
"...Huh?"
—
Having investigated the new city, Orion had only come out of the experience with many more questions and only one answer as to what, where, why, and how he had arrived here.
Where was this 'here'? Well, according to one of the passing civilians, this was the Royal Capital city of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, one of the four nations of the world.
Obviously, Orion had never heard of such a nation before, and he was pretty sure there were more than four in the world.
This, coupled with his other observations, led him to one conclusion: this wasn't his world. Rather, it was a completely new one.
Reminiscing on his early teenage days, he quickly recognized that he was currently experiencing the trope where one was abruptly transported into another world.
"Don't they usually die though? Or at least get summoned by someone," Orion lamented to himself as he walked around aimlessly.
Upon recognizing his new predicament, his brain instantly went into analysis mode, and very quickly, he recognized one thing: That he was in a very bad situation.
He was in a completely foreign land, where he knew nothing of the people nor the customs, and while he was lucky enough to somehow speak the same language, he could not read anything of the symbols this place used for writing.
Oh, and he also did not have any money.
'Luckily, I doubt a place like this with a medieval setting will have anything like visas or identification, so I won't have to worry about being seen as an illegal immigrant, but what am I meant to do now? Do I sell-'
"Oomph!"
Orion was promptly broken out of his thoughts as he stumbled into another person's back.
"Oh! Sorry about that! I was just lost in thought," he said, raising his hand in apology to the man he had seemingly run into as he was daydreaming.
"Ah, it is of no worry," the man said, turning to him. "I suppose it is partly my fault for standing still in the middle of the street. For that, I humbly apologize."
Looking at the man, who had slightly bowed his head with a kind smile, Orion couldn't help but find his eyes drawn to his striking red hair, only to trail down to the fancy white cloak he was wearing before his eyes finally rested on the large sword that adorned the man's hip.
"Umm… while this may be a bit forward of me, is there perhaps something wrong?" the man then asked, looking at Orion with worry. "While I am currently off-duty, I am a member of the Royal Guards, thus, it is my duty to help those in trouble."
Initially preparing to wave off the offered help, Orion was stopped as he felt a wave of calmness run through his mind, clearing out some of the confusion that had been clouding his brain.
Somehow, for some reason, Orion felt instinctively that he could trust this man in front of him.
"That… I… you could say I'm a little… lost?" Orion said, unsure of how to explain his current situation.
'I'm not exactly sure how common people from other worlds are here, nor what their perception would be, but saying this much should be enough, right?' he thought.
"My homeland is very far from here," Orion continued, "and I have nothing to my name except for the items in my pocket and the clothes on my back. In fact, I don't even know how I got here."
The red-haired man was quite confused. The words this wayward fellow had spoken seemed ludicrous to him, as no one would randomly appear in the Royal Capital with no plans in place or assets to their name, and especially not without the memory of doing so.
But contrary to his logical thoughts, the man knew that this person was telling the truth due to his 'Divine Protection of Lie Detection'.
"I see, that is… most troubling. May I ask for your name, lost traveller? I myself am Reinhard van Astrea, though you can simply call me Reinhard," Reinhard said with a gentle smile.
"Ah, well, I'm Orion. Orion Valerius," Orion said, presenting his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Reinhard."
Momentarily shocked at the openness of this person, to be conversing so easily with the Sword Saint of this generation, Reinhard quickly shook off his shock before taking his hand.
"You as well. Now-!"
As his hand gripped Orion's, Reinhard was once again stunned into silence, though not by Orion's openness, but rather by what his divine protections had told him as soon as he made contact with the young man.
'His potential… it's… I'm sorry, Orion, but I cannot let one as potentially frightening as you pass freely.'
Apologizing in his heart, Reinhard then activated his 'Divine Protection of Empathy', allowing him to look into the inherent characteristics of someone he is touching.
And to his blissful surprise…
"Reinhard?"
"Ah! Sorry, it's just," Reinhard said, retracting his hand to instead scratch his ear. "...You seem like a very kind person, Orion."
Recoiling in confusion and embarrassment, Orion quickly voiced his thoughts. "The hell!? W-What's with you all of the sudden?"
Laughing at the man's state, Reinhard quickly narrowed his eyes.
'He says he's lost, and I completely believe him. He's here alone, with no one in his corner. And with that potential…'
Reinhard's eyes clinically went over Orion's figure, from the dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a bun, to the brown eyes that were staring at him in confusion, to the odd clothing he was wearing, barely concealing the lean muscles of the man.
'Mmm… it would be unwise to let someone like him go. Especially when considering the current state of things. Besides, it would allow me to offer him a place to stay without anyone disagreeing... Yes! Then it is decided!'
"Hey, Orion," Reinhard said.
"Uhh, yeah?" he responded.
"You said you did not have a place to go, right? Then how about coming with me?"
"Sure, but… where to?"
"Ah, the Royal Knight's barracks, of course! That is… if you want to."
"Huh? Uhh…" Momentarily stunned at how things had so quickly led to this, Orion looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings.
'Well, I don't have anything else to do, and nowhere else to go. Plus, Reinhard seems nice enough.'
"...I would greatly appreciate that, Reinhard," he said, tilting his head down in thanks.
"Wonderful," Reinhard nodded. "Now follow me, if you please."
—
"-So the Royal family just… died? Out of nowhere?" Orion asked.
"Indeed," Reinhard said solemnly. "While us Royal Knights would want nothing more than to mourn the loss of the ones we were sworn to protect, there are more pressing matters at hand."
"'More pressing matters'? Is someone trying to invade when the country is in chaos?"
"You are quick on political matters," Reinhard said, impressed. "But no, that matter has already been dealt with. Rather, it is the task of finding the five candidates who have the right to take the throne that is taking up much of our time. In such trying times, having someone like you would be immensely helpful."
"Someone like me…? Wait, are you asking me to become a knight?" Orion asked in awe.
"You could say that, though you would need to undergo some training first," Reinhard answered with a smile.
"Well yeah, obviously, but… why me?" Orion asked. "I don't know anything about this place, and my life-or-death combat experience is exactly zero. Why do you think I could be such a great help?"
Reinhard simply smiled in response, "Let's just call it a feeling of mine. A form of intuition. Ah, we're here."
As Orion walked through the gaudy gate, he was met with the sight of a large dirt patch, essentially a field, with white circles marking arenas dotting the area as various crates and barrels lined the walls.
But what was most interesting to Orion was the vast array of weaponry directly to his right, whereupon a wall rested many swords of various sizes and various shapes, as well as spears, whips, halberds, flails, and anything else someone might think of when 'medieval weaponry' was brought up. It looked straight out of a museum.
"Do you wish to start training right now? I wanted to test your abilities anyway, but I am willing to wait until tomorrow," Reinhard said, noticing Orion's awe.
"Huh? Ah, yeah… let's start today, please. I was about to train anyway before I was brought here," he explained.
"I see. Do you need to change before we get started?" Reinhard asked, walking over to the array of weaponry.
"No, I'm already in my gym clothes. But I do want to empty my pockets," he said, taking out the items that had been brought along with his teleportation.
'Wallet with useless cards and currency, keys with no lock to be used on, wired headphones, and my trusty mobile phone… quite useless. My phone has a few apps that might be helpful since they don't need internet, but it will be useless once it runs out of battery. From what I've seen, this world has yet to harness electricity, so I highly doubt they'll have a charging cord lying around,' Orion thought.
"What odd items… are they souvenirs of your homeland?" Reinhard asks, looking at the things Orion had pulled out of his pocket.
"You could say that. Though this might have some practical use as well," Orion explained, turning on his phone which caused Reinhard's eyes to widen in amazement.
"A metia… and quite an odd one at that," he said in amazement.
"A metia? What's that?" Orion asked, shutting his phone down to conserve battery.
"Magical implements, though it is a relatively new technology. Anyway, if you're ready, take this," Reinhard said, offering a sword to the man.
Orion's eyes lit up and a smile stretched across his face as he happily accepted the weapon, his hand wrapping comfortably around the handle as he balanced the weight in his grip.
It was a simple double-edged sword, though it was dulled, with a straight metal bar on top of the handle acting as the crossguard.
"You seem quite entranced… are you a swordsman, perhaps?" Reinhard asks with a smile.
"An aspiring one, you could say, as embarrassing as it is to admit," Orion explained sheepishly.
While Reinhard was confused as to why aspiring to be a swordsman would be embarrassing, he decided to shelve that question for later. "Have you used one before?"
Orion frowned a bit, "Kind of."
Reinhard raised his eyebrow, prompting the young man to continue.
"I'm self-taught, and really only know how to hold and swing one," Orion explained. "I was interested in swords, but unfortunately couldn't find a place to spar in my homeland. Swordsmanship was rare enough, and when it was offered, it was only ceremonial, really."
Reinhard was interested. A land without swordsmanship? If he was born there… then perhaps that tragedy wouldn't have happened, and he would still have his beloved grandmother.
The tragedy that his idiotic younger self caused.
"Anyway, I still liked combat, so I did boxing instead, but I'd always wanted to try actual swordsmanship," Orion said, unaware of Reinhard's inner thoughts.
"I see… May I ask what 'boxing' is?" Reinhard asked.
"Oh, combat using fists, I guess?" Orion shrugged. "There aren't too many rules except for stopping when it goes too far. That's why I liked it."
Reinhard smiled as he led the other toward an arena, "A pugilist, huh? Those are quite rare, but it's good to know how to fight without a sword."
Taking a few swings of the practice sword that he himself had taken, Reinhard turned to Orion with a smile. "Now… come show me your skills, Orion."
Orion smiled and crouched down into a combat stance before his expression changed into one of worry.
"Is something wrong?" Reinhard asked, concerned.
"Well…" he answered, a little unsure of himself.
'I hope he doesn't take this badly, but Reinhard doesn't seem like the overly prideful type.'
"Are you sure it's fine? I don't want to accidentally hurt you… Or myself, for that matter."
Reinhard's eyes widened in surprise until he broke into a laugh.
"Hey! I'm just concerned, alright!?" Orion complained.
"Ah, yes, of course," Reinhard said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Sorry, that was rude of me. But yes, Orion. It is fine. I will be able to keep both you and me safe, I promise."
Orion gulped down the spit that had gathered in his mouth, "If you're sure…"
Bending his knees, he leaped forth, nearly stumbling at the unfamiliar weight in his hand.
And so, the spar began.
—
"Oomph!" Orion groaned, crashing into the ground for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"I think we can end things here," Reinhard said calmly.
His arms shaking from exhaustion, Orion slowly pushed himself up to glare at the red-haired devil in front of him, his blue eyes shining in the torchlight as day had turned to night.
'He didn't even break a damn sweat and blocked my strikes like my sword was a pool noodle.'
"You did quite well. I'm impressed," Reinhard smiled down at him, offering his hand.
"'Did well' my ass. I just got tossed around and I didn't even land a hit on you!" Orion spat, taking the man's hand.
'He was even able to comment on how I could improve my form while he was defending against me!'
Reinhard, while mainly staying on defence for the spar, also made sure to attack every once in a while to ensure Orion could get the basics of blocking and parrying down. Orion's form on the defensive side was much worse than his offence, as it was a difficult skill to train alone, but his experience with combat due to boxing quickly made itself useful, as Orion was able to mould his past lessons into swordsmanship.
"Well, that's to be expected, as you are completely inexperienced. But from how far you progressed in one day, it won't be too long before we can have a proper spar, friend."
Orion grumbled before dusting off his dirty clothes.
"Are all knights as crazy strong as you?" he asked.
"Ah, no…" Reinhard said awkwardly. "You could say I'm stronger than most."
"Ah, the 'Sword Saint' thing you mentioned, right," Orion nodded before suddenly pressing his hand against his chest.
"Hey, Reinhard? When we were sparring… I could feel this sort of heat in my core. And sometimes it spread to my limbs when I swung my sword and sprinted forward. Do you have any idea what that was?" he asked.
Reinhard tilted his head, "Have you never felt that before? Not even when you trained in that 'boxing'?"
"No, of course not. Why, is that feeling common?" Orion asked.
Reinhard took Orion's sword and began leading them back towards the weapons as he explained.
"Somewhat. Every person has mana in their bodies. While some use this mana to perform magic, and others never use it at all, some people, especially those who fight physically, use this mana to reinforce their bodies, enhancing their natural athletic abilities." He then turned to look at Orion with an impressed smile. "You seem to have done this unconsciously. That's quite an achievement, considering this is your first day of training."
"Mana?" Orion said, confused.
"Yes, you could say it's the energy of life, but there is more to it than that," Reinhard said, shaking his head. "Anyway, books will do a much better job explaining than I would."
Reinhard then looked away sheepishly, "Speaking of, I would like to offer you a place at my manor. I understand that you do not have a place to turn to, and while I could attempt to get you a room at the barracks, it would be easier if you came with me… At least for tonight."
Orion noticed the hopeful glint in Reinhard's eye as he said this.
'Well, I was going to accept anyway, as I'm not sure how the other knights would react to me, but seeing him look so excited makes this an easy decision.'
"Of course. It would be my pleasure… friend," Orion said, smiling.
A smile that was happily matched by the red-haired knight.
"Friend…" Reinhard voiced out, slightly amazed. "No, the pleasure is all mine. Now, let us go find something to eat. I am sure that you are low on energy. I'm sure my household has enough for another plate."
Having put his otherworldly items back into his pocket, Orion followed behind Reinhard with a wide smile on his face. For the first time in a long time… he felt excited.
He felt… hopeful.
In a situation that went from a horror story to an optimistic one, Orion only had one person to thank for all of that.
"Hey, Reinhard," Orion said, causing the man to look back at him with curiosity. "I just wanted to say… for all the things you've done for me, thank-"
Suddenly, time came to a stop.
Orion frantically tried to move, tried to look around at what had happened, but found himself unable to do anything. And a moment later, he found himself standing in the middle of a familiar crowded street, with the sun shining overhead.
His mind unable to comprehend the situation, Orion absently looked around in muted shock.
"...What?"
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