AURORA BOREALIS:

I gazed at my inventory in joy. I moved my hand in a scrolling motion and saw countless items. Spears, shields, swords, maces, axes, daggers, staves, flails, and weapons of all varieties and sizes. I scrolled again and saw dozens of armor sets. Metal plates, leather bodysuits, and elaborate robes. Another scroll revealed assorted potions. A massive pile of YGGDRASIL coins. Another window of YGGDRASIL coins. And another. Two more. Then consumables items. Preserved foods. Miscellaneous armors. I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, my excitement rising, getting giddier and giddier. I hadn't felt this joyous since my ninth Christmas. Thousands of items, all mine.

And then I scrolled to another section. And my joy climaxed. My gear. Of all the items, these were the ones I was most excited to see. My guild's guild weapon, the spear by the name of Gungir. A powerful item tailored to my build, the spear could never be stolen, disarmed, or otherwise lost. I could throw it as far as possible and it would teleport back to me. In truth, I rarely used it. If it was taken from a corpse or broken, our guild would be annulled. Thus, it languished in the depths of our guild treasury, used very rarely. When YGGDRASIL's termination was announced, I decided to start using it a bit. Why not give it a chance to shine before erasure?

I'm very glad I did so. And even more glad that I kept it on my person. But it was not my primary weapon. I once used a power divine class spear, which I noticed was in this window, but that item was replaced when I got my hands on one of the twenty. The primary weapon I wielded was the spear Longinus. As one of the twenty, it had a one-time use ability. After that ability was used, it would despawn from the user's inventory and respawn elsewhere after an indeterminable amount of time. Longinus could, when activated, erase whoever it struck. Not kill. It would erase their character from the game. Among all of the twenty, it was perhaps the most fearsome. But it had a caveat. The wielder would also get erased. Very few people would ever consider using Longinus. There were at least three famous occasions where people decided to go out in a blaze of glory before retiring from YGGDRASIL. They would equip Longinus, enter into a guild war, and erase one of the most powerful opponents on the enemy team. Many complaints were leveled towards the shitty devs as a result of these wars.

It was unknown whether or not holding a world item in addition to Longinus would make the user immune to its erasure. No one has experimented with it before. I had personally asked a dev about it once and the shitty bastard was extremely coy with his answers. Regardless of its erasure power, it also had numerous other powers. It ignored forty percent of a foe's damage negation and armor. This was an absurd ability, that was slept on by all previous users. It also increased the power of any attacks imbued into it. And it could take on the form of a spear, bident, or trident. As a world item, it had excellent stats, surpassing even a guild item's offensive stats. It was also completely unbreakable with infinite durability. Having no upkeep on it allowed me to wield it with impunity. Even without its erasure, it was powerful enough of a weapon to be my primary spear. And the fear factor my foes faced when they saw me pull it out was enough to keep them frightened.

The other item that lifted my heart was my World Guardian item. While the World Champion was far more popular, World Guardian was a powerful defensive job class earned by prevailing in a massive tournament once every year. As the reigning World Guardian, I had to compete in a match with the annual victor within a week of their victory, or the Devs would forcibly take the job class from me. When I won the World Guardian tournament of Midgard, I was granted the opportunity to request a powerful item directly from the shitty devs themselves. I took a bit to consider what I wanted before settling on a shield. They created Archon Aegis specifically for me. It was designed to match my build perfectly. It took the form of a bracelet on my left wrist. At a single command, it would activate into a large heater shield.

When held in front of me, it covered from my shin to my shoulder. It wasn't exactly a tower shield, but it was pretty damn close. It was an elaborate gold shield with the guild crest engraved on the front. The crest depicted six wings emerging from a single point. At the center of this point was a deep blue sapphire, about the size of a fist. The six wings were also decorated with sapphires. The Archon Aegis can emit shockwaves that stun foes, absorb incoming attacks to either heal or buff me, or reflect projectiles. It could also emit an energy shield over a large area.

The final item I saw was a crystal ball, about the size of a volleyball. This was the unique class item, Ichos sphere. Unique class items were items that could not be crafted or purchased. It was impossible to alter or customize them in any way. They were only obtainable through certain events. Like staying logged in over Christmas Eve, one may receive the Mask of Envy. Numerous unique items were useless, gimmicks, or mere jokes. Very rare was a unique item that could be truly useful to a dedicated player. The Ichos Sphere was one such item. It was an extremely rare drop obtained through an annual event World Boss that could only be challenged once a day over the course of the week it was available. The World Boss was extremely annoying, as it could "predict the future" and effortlessly dodge most attacks. My guild fought it for six years.

During one of the battles during the fifth year, the Ichos Sphere dropped. Many of the guild members wanted it. A massive argument took place over who had deserved it. Debates lasting almost an hour occurred, and players remained logged in long past their self-imposed bedtimes to get it. In the end, I decided that it would be decided by chance in three days. Over three dozen members eagerly waited for the chance to get the item, myself included.

When the time came, chance dictated that one of our best casters, Harahel, received it. I was pretty relieved she was the winner. Out of everyone in the guild, only eight would use the item for themselves, and only four would use it efficiently. Harahel was among the four. I personally wanted it to use as a bargaining chip in guild or personal trades, as did most other members, but I couldn't complain about this outcome.

The Ichos sphere was powerful due to its innate divination buffs, powerful daily-use spells, and a once-per-day get-out-of-jail-free card from offensive counter-divination spells. Eventually, Harahel played less and less until she formally retired and auctioned most of her gear to the rest of the guild members, with the gold received going directly into the guild coffers. It dented the personal wallets of a few guild members, but they wouldn't complain about their gold going to the betterment of the guild. I won the Ichos Sphere. By that point in time I had obtained Omnipotent Endeavour, so I had gained wizard abilities specializing in divination, so I put the Ichos Sphere to use myself. Harahel would log and mingle a few times a year, but she never actually committed to any activities. I missed her.

The relief that flowed through me due to my inventory was incredible. It felt like a massive weight was taken off my shoulders. I wandered through Carne Village without a care in the world. It felt great. In the corner of my eye, I caught the girl, Enri Emmot, talking to an older man. Her father, perhaps? Upon noticing me staring at them, the older man waved me over. As I neared, he spoke to me.

"Well I'll be damned," He said. "You really were an angel."

He stuck his hand out.

"Richard Emmot. I'm Enri's father"

"Aurora Borealis," I said, shaking his hand. "You were part of the scouting party that found my crash site."

"Aye, I was the leader of the little expectation."

"It would seem as though both father and daughter possess great kindness then," I replied. It couldn't hurt to throw in a compliment or two. I then bowed my head "You have my gratitude."

"Ahhh it was nothing. We couldn't leave ya there now could we? Say, I can't help but notice you look a little different than when we first found ya."

"Dad! Don't be rude!" Enri said, eyes wide and pulling on his sleeve. It would seem as though she's still nervous of me. Richard however was completely at ease around me despite having just been introduced.

"No offense taken, Enri. It's a natural question to ask." I said. Turning to Richard, I answered, "I'm capable of making slight alterations to my form. I chose to do so because my true form seems to put people on edge."

With a thought, My wings emerged from my back, my skin shifted, and my eyes awoke. Richard sharply inhaled as he beheld my transformation. I held his gaze for a few seconds before shifting back.

"Well, I'll be damned." He said for the second time.

We began having a discussion about the work they do here. I inquired about his duties, the chores of his children, his family in general, and the community present in Carne. Enri chimed in a few times, answering questions related to herself and her younger sister, Nemu Emmot. She seemed to gain some confidence around me after seeing her father and me act casually. The conversation was pleasant. I bid them farewell before wandering off again.

Sundown was coming soon, which meant that the village would all fall asleep, save a handful of night watches. The village chief Amon invited me to stop by for supper with himself and his wife. While I didn't feel hungry in the sense that I used to, I was curious as to the food culture in this New World. I cast Greater Teleportation to arrive in front of his house. I knocked on the door. His wife, Mabel, greeted me and welcomed me inside. She ushered me to the table where Amon was. Not too long after, the meal was set.

A vegetable soup with small amounts of meat was the main course, served with some bread. While it wasn't anything compared to the high-class food I've dined on back on Earth, it held a certain spirit that I enjoyed. It felt cliche, but I could feel the heart and soul put into preparing the meal. We made small talk over the meal before Mabel asked what my next plans were.

I didn't know how to answer her. While I had made vague plans for the future, I wasn't prepared to put them into action. She offered for me to stay the night, but I chose to decline the offer. I imposed too much already. She didn't seem to understand that I would be awake flying for the entire night, but she's not an angel. I didn't expect her to understand. As the meal was finished and the conversation died down, I took my leave. Moments after bidding them farewell and stepping off their porch, I shifted to my true form, spread my wings, and launched myself into the sky.

Flying was easy. It felt as natural as walking, as though I've been doing it my whole life. I examined the ground as I rose. At first Carne Village and the immediate surroundings, then the forest, and then the mountains. With my innate dark vision, it was as clear as day. As I flew hundreds of meters into the sky, I turned my gaze to the moon and stars. I felt small compared to them.

"What's my purpose?" I asked them. "For what reason have I been brought to this world?"

They didn't answer.