24 Hearts
Chapter 6

Serenia: City of adventurers.

‘Judas.’

This name came from Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles hand-picked from countless thousands by Jesus Christ, as referenced within the New Testament.

Then, out of base greed, this man accepted a pouch of silver from the priesthood to betray the one person he had truly loved. Through his actions, he had abandoned any semblance of honor and was branded a traitor by his faithful brethren. It all ended when he threw his reward upon the ground and hung his wretched body from a branch, the silver he had so coveted of no use to a corpse. It was this tale that had been the inspiration for my character’s name.

Judah Arche.

Judah was a nobleman, though one with little political influence upon the affairs of the world. He was a direct descendant of the Imperial family, a family that had lost their empire one hundred and fifty years ago.

His parents had attempted to restore the great fortune of the family, yet they had failed in this endeavor due to simple ineptitude. They had lived their lives as ordinary adventurers, finally settling down within a house in Serenia.

They had lived a normal life, with Judah being born within their home. This all changed when some old colleagues had snuck into their home and murdered them. The goal of these murders was to attain the family’s heritage, -Vision of the Black Claws-, which existed in its weaker form as Judah’s parents did not possess the knowledge to fully unlock its powers.

Some would say the Arche couple had died because they had trusted these friends of theirs, but the simple truth was that they had died due to weakness in the face of adversity. Had they been able to unlock the true power of their heritage, their deaths would have come at a greater cost, if at all.

In the first draft of Judah’s story arc, it had been his father who had killed the intruders. I had to change this detail and kill off his father, to facilitate a decent combat tutorial for the player. Judah’s loss of his parents was only the tip of the iceberg that was to become his rotten luck. After being orphaned, Judah was adopted by Kaseun Sabrak. This man was his grandfather. He was also the grandfather of the protagonist of my game, Kain. The adoption made Judah’s childhood relatively bearable.

As he grew into a man, he became Kain’s rival. Over time he realized that it had been the greed of humanity which had killed his parents, nothing more and nothing less. This led him to the realization that without the attainment of power, a man could accomplish nothing in life. He eventually departed from Serenia on a quest to attain the fragments of Pernen that had been seeded all across the world.

He gained strength and a comfortable, contented existence throughout his journey. This happy life shattered all around him after he suffered multiple betrayals by those closest to him.

This usurpation of his life drastically changed his motives as he sought to enact his revenge on humanity as a whole by wielding the powers of the Fourth Lord.

I knew that any character who was not Kain himself did not have a clear-cut and predictable path in terms of completing the game. Judah Arche had come very close to attaining some of the fragments and had done so multiple times. On each occasion, the powerful items had been stolen from under his nose by Kain and his comrades who had the knack of appearing at the right place and at the right time.

In the game itself, such hardships had bred sadistic tendencies within Judah’s heart and mind, as he had once thought that he had found a kindred spirit in Kain, yet multiple betrayals disabused him of this notion. Those who played my game relished it whenever Judah was betrayed, granting him the moniker of ‘Judah the Eternal Sufferer.’

In the end, Judah was a character filled with both great love and great hate. This made him interesting in so many ways.

However, I inhabited his body now, so all of his coded personality traits had become a moot point. I was a man in the body of a boy, a being with far more life experience than my appearance would suggest. I knew well enough, however, that my experiences on Earth did not count for much in this universe. Even though I was the creator of this world, I was naive and incapable when the nature of this reality was considered. Staring at a three-dimensional city on a screen was not the same as walking its bustling streets and smelling the sewage flowing through its drainage canals.

I had never been a fighter, as Earth in the 21st century was, for the most part, a peaceful place. At least I knew how to cook, so I had that going for me. If I had been an expert martial artist in my real life, I would have had some edge in this world. Alas, all I truly possessed was a vast general knowledge of another reality. In a universe that did not even have toasters or wristwatches, my book-smarts were of little help.

The child’s body that I inhabited was seven years old. My level was still in the single digits, and I knew it would not be easy to gain experience and increase it, considering the fact that I was a few years shy from being a mere toddler! My parents had died, and for a young child to lack that level of support was a harsh thing indeed.

Would I be able to survive in this brutal world without the love and wisdom of my mother and father?

At least I had a great asset in the form of my shadow magic and also possessed -Vision of the Black Claws-. I had fairly high levels of Luck, Magic, and Magic Resistance, though the latter attribute couldn’t be improved that much.

The stat of most use to me would probably be Luck. In the game, it influenced the drop rate of loot as well as the chance of landing a critical hit, yet I had no idea how it would function in this all too-real reality.

According to Xian, the only way to escape this universe was to claim my place as the heir of Pernen, Fourth Lord of the demonic realm. If I failed to accomplish this, I would be trapped here, eternally reliving the same moments in an endless loop of toil and suffering, like when Jacques had killed me. Death was not painful here, but it sure as all hell was not a pleasant experience.

A sigh escaped from my lips as I ruffled my hair with a small, pudgy hand. In that instant, I saw the doorknob slowly and silently turn as someone entered the room. I straightened my back as I studied this uninvited visitor, who had opened the door with a light kick and drawn his sword.

He was an old man with a dignified cast to his features, and he wore the black habit of a priest. He was well-muscled, which suggested that he was no ordinary type of holy man. I knew him to be Seron, a paladin who served the local temple. Soldiers followed him into the room, and I deduced that someone had seen the corpses outside and had alerted the paladin, who then mustered this squad of guards. The men did not say much as they took in the grim fact of my orphaning. Two of them dragged the bodies of my parents outside and loaded them onto a corpse-cart. I tried to talk to them, yet they had nothing to say to me. The paladin then led me out of the house by my hand and took me to his temple. I was promptly bathed, clothed, and fed. I was ravenously hungry and enjoyed my meal of bread and soup.

Once I had finished supping, Seron came to the room that had been given to me. He sat himself down on the table and regarded me in silence. I knew that this was a difficult situation for him, as he obviously wondered whether a mere child really had killed two mercenaries.

The silence stretched on between us, and I started to become restless, trying to guess what questions he was going to ask me.

I knew him to be a kind and caring man – a devout servant of Jopiel, the Second Holy Queen who represented peace and life. However, I knew that if I told him the absolute truth of who I was and what I was capable of, he would be quite perturbed and might take actions that would hinder my quest.

What was I going to tell him?

“You are a child,” he finally said, studying me intently.

“My name is Judah.”

“I see. My name is Seron, Judah. Do you… Do you remember what happened last night?” he asked me in a gentle tone.

“No Seron, I don’t know… I just… My parents…”

I could see that he had become embarrassed after my emotional response. He clearly thought that I was in shock and had suppressed any memory of the murder of my kin. He seemed ashamed by the blunt way in which he had started his inquiry and sought to change the subject.

“I see you did not leave a single crumb on your plate. Did you like the food, Judah?” he asked as he studied the dishes I had neatly stacked to one side.

“Yeah.” I bowed my head in appreciation. The soup truly had been delicious, and the bread softer than I had expected. It surprised me how closely the taste had resembled the modern fare I was used to. Spices were clearly readily available here, and I recalled something about Serenia being a trade hub

A brief silence was once more shared between the two us.

“Well Judah… I share your sorrow at the loss of you parents. Are you sure you can’t remember anything? Even the tiniest detail can help us understand what happened. I know it’s painful, but you have to be strong for the sake of your family.”

I had a total recall of the events. I did not see exactly how Judah’s parents had died, but I knew that I had killed the two mercenaries. Slowly, tears began rolling down my face as I suppressed a sob.

“I just remember that… That I dragged dead bodies outside,” I told him, almost whimpering in my show of grief. The fact that I was in the body of a child meant that emotions came more easily to me, for the tears were real.

“I am so sorry, Judah. It is all right, don’t cry now,” Seron gently said as he placed his hand upon mine, his eyes showing nothing but kindness.

“There is good news, young one. A man came to temple, saying that he would act as your guardian until you have come of age.”

I had a pretty good idea as to the identity of this guardian. In all likelihood, it would be Kaseun Sabrak, Judah’s grandfather, on his mother’s side. Judah’s father had aided the Sabraks greatly when they had settled in Serenia, and Kaseun would gladly help those of his own blood.

“This man is named Kaseun Sabrak, and he says that he is your grandfather. Do you know him?”

Hearing the priest confirm my guess gladdened me, for the simple reason that I had no idea what I would’ve done in the body of a seven-year-old boy if I did not have the protagonist around to guard me until I could fend for myself. Still, I knew that I could not show joy at hearing this, having to act like a bereaved youth.

“Yes,” was all I said with a small nod.

* * *

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Hint: There are beings who act like gods within this world.

The demonic realm is ruled by the Lords while the heavenly plane itself is watched over by the Kings and Queens. These beings are worshiped by the races of the world, though it is the Kings and Queens who have a greater number of devout worshipers and dedicated temples.

The demonic realm is infested with many fierce monstrosities. In contrast, the heavenly plane is filled with many beings of purity and compassion. Knowing this, would you rather worship a Lord, or a King?

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