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Lightbringer

Chapter 2

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Fortunately, Lucifer was aware that he still had a passive [Charm] ability thanks to his angelic racial class that seemed to take effect as he spoke, because the burly man relaxed slowly, hesitantly lowering his ax to a non-threatening position. Lucifer didn't think the man would let down his guard so quickly like that after one simple explanation from a stranger such as himself, so it must have been at least partially because of the effect of this passive.

Unless this man was just far too trusting for his own good, which was a distinct possibility.

He also surmised that his passive didn't work on the girl because she was in such a serious state of panic and fear already before he even said a word that the passive [Charm] had no effect on her at all. The passive was certainly useful, but it was definitely nowhere near as potent as an actively cast [Charm] spell after all, or any of the other mind soothing or altering spells.

"Lucifer Morningstar?" the bearded man's deep voice rumbled, as if testing the name out for himself. "Hmm," he added thoughtfully as he walked purposefully over to his daughter and knelt beside her, putting the ax down next to him and gathering her up gently in his arms. He wiped away the tears from her face with the back of his thick fingers and made a few gentle shushing noises in an attempt to calm her. It didn't really work.

Still holding the young woman in his arms, the man returned his gaze to Lucifer. "Well, ya don't seem to be a monster."

Lucifer chuckled. "That's because I'm not."

"And that's what a monster pretendin' not to be a monster would say!" growled the man, though it wasn't entirely clear if he was serious or joking.

Fascinating! Lucifer applauded the developer who coded that line of reasoning into the NPC. These new NPCs were almost like real people. They seemed capable of having not only complex emotions but thoughts too. Was this some kind of true AI programming? Perhaps some neural-network self-learning program that mimicked human behavior or something?

He thought that true AI research and development had been banned by the governments of the world after the 2077 incident, but it seemed to him to be the only way to create such realistic NPCs. Maybe it was something close to a true AI, but still not? Either that, or they really did spend thousands of lines of code to answer a vast array of potential conversations. Plausible, but not exactly efficient.

Returning to the conversation at hand, Lucifer thought the man did have a point.

"Well, yes that does make sense..." he had to agree, "But I swear to you that I'm not a monster, and I'm terribly sorry for what happened with your daughter just now," said Lucifer as he raised his free hand to scratch the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "My sudden arrival startled her nearly to death it seems. Perhaps it was a bit much for me to fly into the middle of the village so abruptly, but I didn't expect anyone to be out on the streets so late at night in the first place. If you want, I can help to calm her with a simple spell."

"Flying..." the man mumbled almost inaudibly and then glanced at him, eyes narrowing again ever so slightly, "Spells? So yer a magic caster eh?"

Lucifer tilted his head to the side and responded with a smile and a simple, "Yes." Judging from the man's reaction to his admission that he could use magic, he wondered if magicians in this world were considered suspicious characters. Or perhaps it was simply him being overly cautious that there was a stranger in front of him who could wield powerful magic.

"Yer no Adventurer," the man stated simply, looking down at his chest area before meeting his eyes, "I take it ya studied magic at that Academy then? Ya don't seem to be from the Imperial Army though."

Lucifer had no idea why he looked him up and down like that, as if searching for something, but decided not to ask. Perhaps he fancied men? He didn't mind that at all, not that he was interested in men himself. To each his own when it came to love and attraction, he thought.

He was definitely curious about this academy the man spoke of. What kinds of magic did they teach there? And he was also curious about the Empire with an army that he mentioned.

"Yes, you could say that. Though most of the magic I know I learned on my own outside of a classroom, I did begin my magical studies at an academy, yes." His thoughts went to studying a vast array of forums about spell builds and the like, as well as some of the quests to become a wizard and summoner involved some level of classroom and academic studies role playing at the Institute of Magic in Asgard.

"Ya studied magic... but not at tha Imperial Magic Academy?" the man picked up his ax after he secured the still-whimpering girl in his arms. She appeared to not burden him at all, a testament to his physical strength, or proof that the girl weighed very little. There was no implication in the man's tone, which meant it was simple curiosity that he asked him this question specifically.

"No. Now, do you want me to calm her down with a spell or not?" Lucifer asked, raising an outstretched hand in a nonthreatening manner towards the two of them, palm facing the sky.

The poor thing was still in such a terrible state and he felt bad about how scared the girl was, though he was still at a loss of how scary he really could be to have pushed her into this state. Even with his wings, he looked every bit a human, especially now that he had his helm off and they could see his face.

All manner of other questions popped into his head then: was flying uncommon in this land? besides this Empire, what other countries were there? and how widespread was magic? The few lights that he could see appeared to be some form of static magic light spell instead of oil or other mundane means, so magic must be pretty common.

The man grunted, "Alrighty then. Let's see this magic of yers." He adjusted the girl in his arms but made no move to get closer to the armored mage.

Lucifer noticed that the man's grip on his ax tightened somewhat, but he pretended not to notice that as he walked a little closer and turned his outstretched palm to face the girl.

Reaching for his magic, again subconsciously knowing what to do, he cast [Tranquility]. His palm glowed and a soft blue light enveloped the girl's head for a few seconds before fading away.

The reaction was immediate. As the glow was only beginning to fade after the successful casting of the spell, the redhead's sobs died down and her breathing returned to normal. Her tears no longer flowed and she seemed to have actually fallen asleep in her father's arms.

"There, all better now," said Lucifer with a small measure of pride at having successfully cast his first active spell in this new world. Turning a little, he bent down and gathered the scattered firewood that the girl had been carrying before his abrupt arrival scared her half to death. He spoke in an explanatory manner, "The emotional energy she expended must have drained her, since it appears she's fallen fast asleep. However, I can promise you that all I did was to calm her mind and clear away the dark clouds of fear."

When Lucifer returned to his feet, the bundle of firewood was tucked under his other arm.

The burly, bearded man was regarding him with quiet interest. He was definitely even more relaxed now than he was earlier.

Finally, before Lucifer could say anything more, the man broke the silence. "Name's Svar Ingolde. This here is my daughter Cheshire. We live jus' down tha road. Please join me fer a drink, Ser Morningstar. We can talk some once we're settled."

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Svar's home was a few sparsely furnished rooms surrounded by crude stone and wood, and Lucifer briefly pondered what the man did for a living.

"Her mother was killed by a stray wyvern many winters ago, before we came to live in this village," explained Svar somberly as he grabbed two beat up mugs and filled them with ale from a modestly sized barrel in one corner of the small kitchen. He walked over to the tiny dining table, one that seemed almost too small for a man of Svar's size, let alone Lucifer, who stood taller than Svar though was not as wide around.

The wood of the table was worn smooth from use and had numerous blotches from years of stains from food and drink.

"Ever since then, tha poor girl's been so afraid of most anythin' that can fly." Svar took a long swig of his ale as soon as he set down the mugs on the table. "She was only nine winters old when it happened." He shook his head slowly in regret.

"Ah," Lucifer grimaced as he accepted the mug of ale, though he refrained from drinking just yet. That explained why she was so terrified when she saw him appear from the sky. He turned his head to look into the living room next to the kitchen where the redhead slept peacefully on an old wooden bench covered with tattered cushions that looked rather thin. A rough wool blanket was draped over her to keep her warm as the cool evening air wafted in from the open windows.

She looked rather adorable right now, Lucifer thought, and he wondered what she was like when she wasn't so scared to death.

His mind turning once more to the conversation at hand, he wondered if this could be the beginnings of a quest. There was a chance that this was all a set up for some quest that would most likely involve slaying the wyvern that killed Svar's could barely contain his rising excitement. There was no need to get ahead of himself though. Better to enjoy the immersion to the fullest, the writers and developers had worked so hard to put this together after all.

Realizing that the silence had lasted a bit too long, and wondering if he needed to provide a response or put out some input for the NPC to get going again, he finally spoke up. "Is flying considered normal here, Master Svar?"

Svar looked at him curiously, then realizing it was a serious question, he frowned and shook his head. "No, 'tis not, Ser Morningstar. Some magic casters can do it, aye, but as far as I can understand 'tis not an easy spell that jus' anyone can master. Though I'm no expert on such matters, so ya should seek out someone who knows more. And trust me, there be plenty!"

"Huh." Lucifer stroked his chin absently. This really does feel like he's talking to a real person. How are they doing this? "And is all the flying done by magic or do people have wings too?"

"People... with wings? Well, there be... demi-humans with wings, I s'pose," Svar said the word demi-human with some hostility and did not elaborate further. "Where did ya say ya were from again?"

"I see, I see," Lucifer continued to stroke his chin, nodding all the while and ignoring Svar's question for now. He had to remember to be more careful while flying around then, especially when picking landing spots. Demi-humans were apparently not well-liked in this world, judging from the way Svar mentioned them.

He found it rather curious that the NPC thought [Fly] was a difficult spell. It was only a Third Tier spell, which while not the easiest, should not be that difficult for those dedicated to learning and wielding magic. Wizards, sages, and the like. Especially for players.

This warranted further investigation - how adept at magic were the NPC's of this world? He was likely the first player to arrive in this town and interact with the NPC's here. Even though the servers were probably nearly empty by the time the clock struck midnight, surely there were at least a handful of remaining players that were also transferred to this new world like him, right?

If the NPC's had issues with Third Tier spells like flying magic, then perhaps he didn't need to worry so much about PvE when it came to them. Though PvE did include monsters of course, and it would only make sense for the monsters to be stronger than most NPC's.

Still, it was too early for him to let his guard down about them. He needed to know more about the NPC's and the world at large to make a better assessment. There was certain to be a wide variety of them across this world, from weak ones to strong, as with any game.

Unfortunately, to find out about all of that he needed a better source of information, and Svar was obviously not such a source. Still, right now all he could do was draw on this well until it was dry. Most NPCs were probably asleep at this hour anyways, and might not even be responsive if he were to try and interact now. Besides, he was actually kind of enjoying this interaction.

The fireplace nearby burned bright with fresh wood from the bundle that they had brought in. Though the magic lamps provided most of the light in each of the rooms, the fire did cast some orange and red hues across the living room, shadows dancing in the light, some of which entered entered the kitchen as well. When the fire crackled and hissed loudly, it shook Lucifer out of his thoughts.

"Well, I'm truly sorry for your loss, Master Svar." He frowned, thinking for a moment about his own life.

Lucifer had never really known true loss, unless you counted losing something that you never really had in the first place. He had been raised in a struggling orphanage and grew up as solitary as he continued to be in his adult life, therefore he had no strong connections to potentially lose. Sure, he played with the other kids at times and he did appreciate the workers at the orphanage, and yes he spent some time with a few people here and there in adulthood, but video games were what he spent the majority of his free time with.

When he was not studying or working, he was playing video games. His real-world self was neither outgoing or confident, even though he was a moderately successful banker and therefore led a fairly comfortable life, which meant that he had little to no real friends outside the precious few that he had made in YGGDRASIL. And by few he meant that he could count them all on his fingers, the last of whom he spoke to almost a year ago before they "retired" from the game.

While he would interact with the dwindling players that he would sometimes run across in one of the nine realms, they were brief and not very deep conversations. It was only while talking to NPC's and role-playing as his character that he truly was able to become a different person, a better and cooler version of himself, and the main reason he loved to play the game in the first place. In here, he could be someone totally different from who he was in the real world. He could be brave, charismatic, and any other ideal trait that he wanted.

Oh, and blowing things up and kicking butt was certainly a very enjoyable bonus. Sometimes, if he allowed himself to get carried away, he could even be a bit mischievous, to put it mildly. He was just remembering some of those moments with a smile when Svar's deep voice rumbled, calling his attention.

"It's fine, tha woman was quite a raging bitch sometimes," the man said almost too casually, chuckling, causing Lucifer's eyes to widen slightly while raising an eyebrow. "Though bitch or not, she was my wife and I loved her, course. Still love her actually. Not much I coulda done ta save her though. It ain't like I can fight a wyvern on my own, I'm jus' a simple woodsman and I know my place in tha world. I've made peace with that." He paused, his lips forming into a frown as the memory of the incident came back to him.

Svar's voice dropped even lower, "We didn't even realize the beast was there 'til it had already swooped down and... and..." he shuddered, "Well anyways, we're lucky ta be alive..." he trailed off, eyes looking at something distant.

Lucifer studied the man's face, noting all the emotions that crossed over him. What an amazing level of detail indeed.

The big man shifted in his seat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under Lucifer's steady gaze, "Oh, and please just call me Svar, by tha way. I ain't anybody's master, least of all a gifted magic caster such as yourself."

Lucifer inclined his head, his hair moving a fraction, "Very well then, Svar. In return, I ask that you refer to me as Lucifer."

Lucifer was surprised that Svar had called him gifted with magic after having only seen him cast [Tranquility], which was an easy First Tier spell that most anyone with some magic affinity could learn. Not that he wanted to change the man's opinion of him.

Granted, the magical strength of the spellcaster did affect the overall power and effectiveness of the spells being cast, but this was hardly a display to be called "gifted" over. This man had clearly not seen much real magic in his life so far. Lucifer imagined it would not be a stretch if Svar's head literally exploded if he were to see the higher tier magic that he could do. Though it was probably best to not let that happen at this point.

That made him wonder again how much real memory these NPC's really had. What if it was all purged after each encounter with a player or party? That would explain why he had little to no information on seeing such displays of magic before. Then again, if any players who were still logged on to YGGDRASIL when the servers were scheduled to close were brought here like him to be unwitting beta testers, there was a very low probability that such players had come by this village since this world appeared to be quite vast.

Lucifer groaned inwardly. There were too many unknowns for him to make good conclusions, and Svar's simple answers only served to increase the number of questions that swarmed his already buzzing mind. He could almost feel a headache coming on.

Svar grunted his acknowledgement at their agreement to address each other more informally.

"So how did you survive?" Lucifer asked, curious.

"I jus said 'twas luck, didn't I?" the man grumbled, taking another swig as his eyes stared down at the quickly dwindling amount of ale in his mug. He let out a long breath. "We were travelin' on the road at tha time and as fate would have it there were some adventurers nearby who had accepted a quest just a few days prior to deal with a rampaging wyvern. Tha very same damned wyvern that attacked us."

He paused, then continued again, "Tha adventurers didn't manage ta kill tha beast right then and there unfortunately, but at least they drove it away. Unfortunately, my dear Olga was already... well, she was too far gone ta be saved. And I can't afford ta have her resurrected, ya know. Assuming we can even find someone who can perform such a feat," the man said sadly and took another big gulp of his ale.

Again, Lucifer's brow went up. To his knowledge, resurrection wasn't that big of a deal. In fact, it was a normal part of life in YGGDRASIL, between PKers and strong monster encounters, death was fairly common all around. There were several types of resurrection spells that could be cast, each with varying levels of penalties on the target being resurrected.

A normal resurrection, that is one in which the player accepts their death and is returned to a save point, usually either a Guild Hall or a major city, had the highest penalty in that it resulted in a significant loss of experience and the loss of one mid or high-tier item in the player's inventory, usually dropped by your corpse upon your death.

The various resurrection spells, whether it was through an item or straight magic casting, reduced those penalties. Some almost completely nullified the penalties. Almost. There was always a price to pay for death.

For NPC's however, if they died they would normally respawn after a certain amount of time around where they were originally stationed or created. But if the NPC was a custom one created by a guild in their Guild Hall, they could only be resurrected in the Guild Hall in exchange for a sum of gold, the cost of which depended on the level of the NPC. So a level 50 NPC would cost significantly less gold to bring back to life than a level 100 NPC.

Lucifer wondered if this was simply a backstory for the NPC sitting here talking to him, or if it was a real event that happened and the NPC's somehow didn't respawn in this world. That mechanic would make sense with the whole hyperrealism that the developers were going for here. He filed it away in his mind as something to test out at a later date. He was finding out more and more just how much this world was different from how YGGDRASIL originally worked.

He didn't think the realism of this game could get any more incredible, but giving all the NPC's only one life to live was definitely mimicking reality if it were true. Though it would definitely complicate things in terms of quest availability and world building if there were players and events out there that started killing off too many of them. Nobody wanted to play in a server without any people, NPC or player, not even a solo player like him.

Unless, they added... but no, surely they didn't... definitely not. It was best not to think of such improbable things.

In any event, resurrection did at least exist in this new world and he would need to learn more about the whole process before he got into any serious fights, and the sooner he found out the better. He didn't want to lose any of his precious EXP or items if he could have avoided it by being more knowledgeable. While he could cast resurrection spells himself, since he had access to such divine spells, he couldn't very well cast it on himself after dying. He was a solo after all.

"May she rest in peace," said Lucifer and he raised his mug for a toast.

Svar's eyes rested on the mug extended towards him then at Lucifer before letting out a small chuckle and smacking his own mug against his guest's, the clacking of the wood and the sloshing of the ale echoing briefly around the room. "May she rest in peace!" he said with a grin.

Lucifer then tipped the mug to his mouth and took a gulp of ale for the first time. It didn't taste so bad. Not bad at all. In fact, it reminded him of some of the beer he had tasted in the real world, on one of those extremely rare occasions that he had gone out with his coworkers for a drink at a local bar or something. How long had it been since he had done that?

Suddenly, he stumbled backwards and toppled his chair over, the flimsy seat tumbling loudly across the floor as his wide-eyed gaze stayed focused on his mug of ale that sat on the table. His hands went up to either side of his head, elbows flaring out while his face took on a look of complete and utter astonishment.

WAAAAIT. WHAAAAT?

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AN: I'm not the best at plot or naming characters, but I do hope this continues to entertain. Any constructive feedback is welcome! As for any questions you all may have regarding this story, well... you'll just have to read to find out more. :p

PLEASE NOTE: this is an Alternate Universe story so there will be many things that don't follow canon and there will be things that do follow it.