Chương 8: Exposition Dump

King Rhoam POV

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It was over.

My daughter, Zelda, with her knight Link and the help of the four sages, finally defeated Calamity Gannon.

As Link shot a final golden arrow into the massive beast that Demon King turned into, I finally faded away, my spirit form dispersing into the land of Hyrule.

My essence mixed with the trees, rivers, and mountains of the land, and I witnessed a period of peace and prosperity as my consciousness slowly faded into Hyrule.

Just before my spirit completely faded away, I sensed something; an Ancient Evil lurking right below Hyrule castle.

I had to come back, but I was so weak that the only way I could return was to send myself to the most Triforce-rich place in Hyrule: The Sealed Canyon in Gerudo Desert.

There I used the ambient triforce to manifest a body, but I ran into another problem: I could only go a short distance from the Sacred Canyon, and I could not reach anyone to warn them of the approaching danger.

After years of solitude, one morning, I felt a life force approaching the outer edge of my territory.

I found a passed-out child about to die, so I took him back to my cabin in the canyon.

While the little boy was in a coma, I realized he was a sage. The power of the triforce filled his body in his recovery.

After a month of deep slumber, Arjon awoke. He was like a radiant star, reinvigorating my hope that the growing Evil could be defeated.

His head is overflowing with ideas; he makes beautiful music with instruments unlike anything I have ever seen before and comes up with all types of otherworldly inventions.

Through our talks, I learned that after being abandoned by his mother, he spent two years surviving in the wilderness before being forced out by monsters.

He reminds me of the Royal Knight, Link, with his incredible resolve, but his worldview is a bit more grounded. Arjon isn't afraid to play tricks on me, or fight in a way that others would consider 'dishonoerable.'

His morals are a bit more in the gray area than what I was used to, but I believe it is this worldview that will allow him to get things done that I never could have.

The child is full of surprises, when I went to test if he had any affinity with weapons, I was shocked to find out that he had exceptional talent with every weapon I gave him.

Arjon ended up with the Saber, gauntlet, and crossbow, a martial path that I have never seen before in my centuries of combat experience.

I was even more surprised to find out is that he had control of THREE elements, perhaps due to the multicolored glowing of what I assumed to be white tattoos when he used magic.

Arjon's talent was further shown by his rapidly growing combat prowess over the course of our spar; he is able to react and formulate plans at an exceptional speed.

Now I think it is time to cover a topic I have been avoiding, the approaching calamity and my identity.

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Uncle Rhoam and I settle in by the fireplace. We sit atop animal furs on the ground and start a round of chess, a game the King and I started playing nightly after I carved a wooden chess set while bedridden.

Moving his pawn forward, the king starts talking, "I should start with who I am. I am not a living being. I am a spirit living inside a body constructed of purely of the ambient triforce in this place."

"I am the spirit of King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, the last king of Hyrule. I came back because I sensed a festering darkness that I believe will awaken within the next thirty years."

"I hope to use the remaining three years of my lifespan to train you, in hopes that you will defeat the evil, and save Hyrule."

As we continue with the game, Rhoam gives me a lot of useful information about where I am in the Zelda timeline and I figure out some differences between the Zelda games and the world we are in.

Basically, it is currently a time of peace; Link, with the help of the four older generation sages defeated Calamity Gannon and saved Zelda.

The Sage of Fire Daruk from the Goron, The Sage of Wind Revali from the Rito, the Sage of Water Mipha from the Zora, and the Sage of Lighting Urbosa from the Gerudo (¬_¬) all returned to their own respective kingdoms, .

The younger generation is also active. Characters like Riju, Tulin, and Yunobo are all around.

Monsters still plague the land, but instead of being summoned by Gannon's power, they reproduce like other races and form tribes across the land.

The shrines that gave Link power are no longer in Hyrule, but there are Sky Islands. The monsters, technology, and resources seem to be a mix from both the most recent Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, and an older game, Breath of the Wild.

I am very excited about this new information, as it seems like I can develop in a time of peace, meet all of my favorite characters, research Sheikah and Zonai technology, and then beat the shit out of 'The Ancient Evil' Rhoam is refiring too, which I know is the true form of Ganondorf.

Uncle Rhoam seems surprised about my nonchalance about the whole situation, but then returns to normal.

We finish our chess game, and I have lost once again, but I go to bed happy, my head full of ideas and plans with this new information.