Moving on from Idroa’s geography, the next topic I must discuss is naturally our initial placement in the new world. After rigorous surveying, it is my understanding that our initial placement on Idroa depended on our original positions on Earth and a random variable x.

While the value of x is different for every person (and every other living organism, I imagine) I am certain the minimum value of x attainable is 0 and the maximum value attainable something around 0.2. This means while you may have awoken on Idroa in your house, or your city, or your country, or a neighbouring country, you are unlikely to have awoken any further than that.

However, there is a caveat to the above statement in that the majority, if not all, of known landmass on Idroa exists on the central supercontinent. This expansive stretch of land shares similarities with Pangea of prehistoric times, which in turn means your new neighbouring countries may be different from those which you grew up with.

Giada Marino - Scholar - Intricacies of the System

____

Waking in a bed, an actual bed with a comfy mattress and a soft pillow, Silas pulled himself out and scrupulously scanned his room, making sure everything was as he had left it. The door was locked and blocked with a chair, but old habits died hard.

Satisfied that no one had entered while he slept, he crossed the room to the bathroom and washed his face. His reflection stared back, an odd face that looked so familiar yet novel. Yesterday, after Lazzaro had handed him this house, he had dug out a razor and shaved his scruff off. He had also found scissors which he had used to trim his brown hair, leaving it shorter and more manageable if still messy. As such, the man in the mirror looked dapper and clean, a major improvement from the months before.

Undressing, his body was scarred in several areas, lines of red and pink against his pale skin, and he washed himself using a bucket of cool water as the water pumps were still inactive. He came out smelling like lavender and feeling somewhat decadent. Lazzaro had also fetched him a new kit of armour and spear yesterday - taken from a man who didn’t want to fight - so Silas promptly equipped himself. He also picked up his axe from the bedside table where it lay just in case he needed it in the night.

Silas Wycliffe

Level 24

Level 1 Duellist

Mana:12/159 (recovery rate: 0.55 per minute)

Strength: 25

Agility: 36

Constitution: 23

Arcana: 11

Perception: 52

Abilities: Weakness Vision

Feeling ready to face the day, he took a second to sort through his thoughts and figure out what he wanted done. Firstly, and most importantly, he wanted to find his siblings, Ethan and Chloe. Even if they hated him for what he had done, he wanted to see them and protect them like he should have done earlier. Secondly, he wanted to find Aengus and Mia, the only two he could call his friends in this cruel world. Lastly, he wanted to help Lazzaro - he felt compelled to after listening to the man’s cause and besides, he needed Riverside to be safe if he was to bring Ethan and Chloe back to the village.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much about his first two wants as he had no idea how to track people down and wandering aimlessly in this new world didn’t appeal to him. The System had said some classes had the ability to track people down, so he was hoping he would come upon one such a person sooner rather than later. For the time being, however, it meant he could only act on his last want.

Taking the chair away and unlocking the door, he went downstairs and made himself breakfast with what food remained. He ate in front of a picture frame displaying the people who had used to live here: it was a Scandinavian family of three, all smiling happily. He wondered where they were now, if they were still alive, and whether they would ever return here to find him living in their home. If they did, he resolved to give it up without a fight. Although the text pasted on the frame was in a language he couldn’t identify, he could still understand it: 2017 - Larsen family - the love of a family is life’s greatest blessing. The System was useful for translation if nothing else.

Soon after, he left and strolled through the village, quickly finding Lazzaro’s large country house. Knocking on the door, he was answered some seconds later not by Lazzaro but by Iris. Dressed as before in her newsboy cap and business-like clothes, the short Arabian girl squinted at him like an oddly short and overdressed bouncer judging whether he was sober enough to enter. Clearing his throat, he was about to question her when she tipped her cap and moved aside.

Wondering what her deal was, he walked past and followed the noise to the living room. It was cosy inside with several plush chairs and a thick woollen rug. Lazzaro, Josh, and Sabine turned to him as he entered and Iris followed after.

“Good morning, Silas,” Lazzaro greeted. “Just on time.”

Silas nodded and seated himself. “About what you were saying yesterday.”

“Straight to business, I see,” Lazzaro said with a warm smile. “Well, quite a few people volunteered after I spread the news, and I’ve split them into five groups of four. I’ve sent the other groups to scout already, but I want you four to go where the ratkin ambushed me. I believe their base is in the area. Iris will lead you there.”

Josh baulked slightly at the suggestion - Silas figured he had heard what had happened to the rest of Lazzaro’s party when they had encountered the ratkin. “Why just the four of us, though? Shouldn’t we have everyone go together at once?”

“I’m sending you out to scout, not fight those vile beasts,” Lazzaro said with a knitted brow. “Too large a force and you would be detected. I pray to God that it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, remember your lives are far more important than anything else.”

Iris took a notepad out and scribbled on it, turning it around after a moment. When do we leave?

“Right now if you’re all ready. I’ve prepared supplies for you just in case, but I doubt you’ll be out there for so long,” Lazzaro replied.

“Should we go then?” Silas asked his new teammates. Although it hadn’t been explicitly stated, given his level, it was only natural he took on a more leading role. His question was answered by a collection of nods and they were soon on their way out of the village.

Silas felt differently about each of his new companions. He liked Josh, who tried to keep casual conversation flowing between the group despite struggling under his nerves.

Iris was peculiar in general, and Silas was certain she was mute as he hadn’t heard a word come out her lips so far. She had tried to lead them weaponless and armourless, and it was only after his insistence that she had adequately armed herself, giving him an exasperated expression all the while. He supposed she had some kind of offensive magic alongside her healing, but even Mia had always been well-equipped and he couldn’t imagine Iris being as strong as her.

Sabine, however, was the worst of the three as she gave him a bad feeling. She seemed menacing because of her shaved head and ripped muscles, and she wore her manic smile almost as tightly as her bloody armour. Although she didn’t carry any weapons, he knew she didn’t need them considering how devastating her fists could be.

“—like, I get that,” Josh said with a click of his tongue, “What I don’t get is why you’re with us, Sabine. I heard Dom is leading his own team, and you’ve got to be at least as strong as him, right?”

Sabine smirked. “When Lazzaro told me you—” she said, cocking her head at Silas, “—were going to tango with the rats, I knew I couldn’t let you hog all the fun. Besides, I wasn’t keen on boring myself to death yet by patrolling the area with some rookies.” He perfectly understood her German thanks to the System. Although her playful tone gave the impression she was joking, there was a glint of cold, sharp steel in her eyes.

A familiar sense of trepidation washed over Silas. Something told him their scouting mission wasn’t going to be as easy as Lazzaro had intended.

____

Harper Wilcher, the Cyclops, was an early prominent figure originally from Australia. She came out of the extreme tutorial with incredible strength and yet lagged behind her peers because of an encounter with Kuraim Jaffer, the Necromancer. While she survived the ordeal, it took a toll on her such that she vowed to chase down the Necromancer to the ends of Idroa.

She was willing to risk everything to this end and thus found herself surrounded by death, day and night. Eventually, she became one with death itself as Kuraim ambushed her and raised her body for his own army.

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age