My mind was wandering, not understanding much about where I was or what was happening.
"Was I kidnapped?" -I thought with my eyes closed, afraid that my captor would notice I was awake, while I analyzed the situation with a brutal clarity I'd never had before.
Something was wrong; I wasn't this smart. I tried to open one eye cautiously, but I saw no one, just a open field surrounded by the rubble of collapsed structures.
The taste of metal in my mouth and a dull ache in my neck, are the only sensations anchoring me to a reality I didn't recognize.
I opened my eyes completely.
A vast black sky stretched above me, uninterrupted by stars, lit only by the radiant glow of the moon.
The silver sphere cast long, distorted shadows. It was the moon, I knew, but it wasn't my moon.
A shiver ran down my spine, one that had nothing to do with the night's chill.
Something in the air, in the silence, told me this place was real, even though my mind refused to accept it.
I sat up, feeling the hard ground beneath my hands and the coarse, tattered cloth of my clothes against my skin.
This was not the comfortable pajamas of my apartment.
I felt my face and body, sensing a toughness and musculature I couldn't remember having. Although my mind was a mess, details of a magical world flowed into my head.
Images of smiling adults reaching out to me as if to hug me, their faces full of happiness as if I were the most loved person in the world.
I tried to stand, my mind in complete chaos, with memories of Earth and a country I couldn't recall, mixing with details of a world called Aeloria.
A flood of memories that didn't belong to me began to swirl together in my mind.
-Crack!
A sound like breaking glass echoed inside me.
Something was different; it was as if I had two minds operating in unison.
I could feel two streams of thought, analyzing both sets of memories at once.
Something inside me snapped, something disappeared, but at the same time, something incredible, something I couldn't comprehend, took its place.
It was as if my mind was processing every memory with the efficiency of an artificial intelligence—something inhuman.
My mind sped up until it came to a halt.
My vision shifted. My smile vanished.
There I stood, with the memories of both worlds, but something was wrong. In neither set of memories could I feel happiness, friendship, or joy.
Something was wrong; it was as if I had been stripped of my emotions.
This feeling was not human; it was more like that of a machine. Becoming a being without emotions in my memories scared me.
I didn't want to be like this.
Something… something was different about me, and it terrified me.
I closed my eyes and try to inhale...
Something rushed back into me, and it was like falling from a roller coaster.
Constant emotions cascaded over me: love, happiness, pain, hatred.
All these feelings overwhelmed me, yet at the same time, I felt happy.
I haven't stopped being human, I thought to myself.
The distant howl of a beast echoed in the air, raw and full of a real threat that chilled me to the bone.
Trembling, not knowing what to do, my mind reactivated that anomaly—that machine-like mind. The fear and emotions disappeared.
Only the purest survival instinct remained.
I analyzed the situation: it was a black wolf, my memories told me it was a Tier 2 beast, and the course of action I should take was to activate that machine mind.
I looked at my surroundings, at the debris.
The village offered no place to hide.
The scent on my body would draw the beasts directly to me.
The only option was to fight, but not with empty hands.
My eyes, now cold and analytical, scanned the area.
The "machine" mind filtered out all useless information, focusing on a single objective.
Just beneath some charred wooden planks, I saw a flash of metal. It was a sword.
My memories told me it was a steel sword, the weapon of father. It was heavy and covered in ash, but it was better than nothing.
A few meters away, half-buried in the dirt, was a staff, a simple staff.
It likely belonged to the mother.
I ignored the pain and approached the hand holding the sword. As I walked, I heard the crunch of debris, and the howls grew louder, closer.
They were surrounding me, their footsteps light on the grass. I knew they had the advantage of surprise, but I had the intelligence and knowledge of their weakness.
I gripped the hilt of the sword, feeling the cold metal in my hand.
It was a weapon, an object meant to kill.
I didn't feel the weight of loss, only its utility my mind remembering videos of people fighting and their movements in my mind in an instant...
With the weapon in hand, my mind calculated their movements. They would come from different directions to flank me.
My best chance was to eliminate them one by one.
Three wolves charged. Two from the sides, and the leader sat back and watched, like if I was a easy prey...
As its companions lunged, my mind analyzed their speed and trajectory.
"I can do this."
In an almost instinctive move, I took a step back, raised the sword to my shoulder, and swung it in a 180-degree arc. The wolf on the left lunged right into my path. The heaviness in my hands, the cutting metal. Blood spattered on me.
My machine mind didn't process the emotion, but a flicker of consciousness made me shudder.
The wolf on the right was on me again.
Without a second thought, I crossed the sword to block its attack.
I felt a dull thud on my wrists that sent me reeling.
I saw the leader, now on its feet, growling.
Unable to stay upright, I rolled toward the dead wolf's body.
The remaining two wolves lunged again. The pain in my wrists was a dry thud in the bones, but I didn't let go of the sword.
I moved a foot to the left and held the sword at 90 degrees, pushing hard, piercing the leader's head. The wolf on the right bit my arm, causing me to drop the sword. My hand was free. Without a second thought, I kneed it in the snout. I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I didn't stop. Hugging the wolf's neck with both hands, I tried to choke it. It struggled, and so did I. I felt myself losing my grip, but I held on, biting its ear hard. I tasted blood. The wolf's struggle slowed, and so did mine. It was a life-or-death struggle.
My mind analyzed the blood flow and I applied more pressure. The wolf weakened until its body went still.
I let go of the wolf, staggering to my feet and breathing with difficulty.
"Completed." My machine mind stated, as if I had done nothing incredible.