As Li and the old man traveled to town, they talked. Or, as it was, the old man – Old Thane as he was called, for it seemed that his advanced age had become part of his identity – talked and Li listened. Old Thane liked to talk.
Maybe it was because he was blind, but he talked with expression. His hands gestured wildly and his wizened brows leaped up and down, accurately conveying a vast breadth of emotions.
When Old Thane spoke of his young adventuring days, Li could see in how he raised his brows and screwed his lips the struggle of slaying an Orc Chieftain.
When he told the story of his late wife, how she had passed in a particularly bad winter when the winds were cold and sharp like knives, the sadness of times and love lost was visible, etched in the aged creases of his crow's feet and echoing in the melancholy of his voice.
Old Thane spoke of more than just himself, too. He spoke of the world, of its quarrels and events. They were right now in the duchy of Soleil ruled by the duchess Vivienne.
The duchy used to be part of the Republic, an empire to the north, but a rebellion a decade ago had made it an independent territory almost as large as a kingdom.
The Republic was a multiracial council of several different races with elves at their head. Humans used to occupy a head seat at the council as well, but their secession was what created Soleil. Now, the two territories occupied a state of tense friendship, trading goods and diplomats but always ready to have skirmishes here and there over silly disputes over land.
The place that they were headed to was a town called Riviera. A modestly sized community located in the western territory of Soleil. It was a peaceful place as far as things went, isolated from border skirmishes with the Republic to the north. The only problem were bandits and monsters, but the duchess's knights often took care of them.
Old Thane stopped the wagon when the moon shone brightest. He wiped a thin sheen of sweat off his forehead and took in a hungry breath of the cool, crisp night air. Li did the same, appreciating just how clean the air felt. Nothing like the smog of his world.
"So, young'un, or rather, I should call you by your name. Li, what's your story? Your name sounds foreign. You must have quite the adventures to your credit."
"I come from a land far away," started Li, carefully choosing his words.
"To the East, right? That's where your name comes from." Old Thane stroked his scraggly, grey-dotted beard. "A mystical place, I hear, where three great kingdoms of jade, gold, and pearl fight unending wars for dominance. Old adventurer's tales say that they have dragons as large as mountains that rain down gold and good fortune to all that pray to them. They say that their kings live in towers that reach the skies."
"To be honest, my memories of home are very faint," said Li slowly. He knew nothing of this world, but he reasoned that he would be safest if he tried pretending to be part of it. He didn't like standing out in his past life, and he sure as hell wouldn't want to stand out here where he knew nothing of the world.
"Oh, how does that come to be?"
Li remembered all the details of Elden World and its lore, but from what he could tell, this world was entirely different. In the game, there was no Soleil or Republic. It seemed that though this world took the magic system of the game, its history had diverged completely from it. But he was quick on his feet and tried to lie his way into belonging regardless.
Just the right amount of vagueness and sob story to keep the questions against him low.
"I was exiled at a young age, I'm afraid. My parents had committed crimes against the state, and, through a small mercy, I was the only one allowed to leave alive."
Li nodded to himself. This way, he could absolve himself of knowing anything about the East while at the same time having a solid excuse to not know anything about the West. It also cut all ties he could have in the world, so he didn't have to make up any family or friends.
Old Thane shook his head. "Exiled? How old are you? Judging by your voice, you don't even sound as if you've passed twenty summers."
"I'm exactly twenty, sure," said Li. His real-life age was thirty, but the younger he came off as, the better. It meant he didn't have to know much about the world. He had always had a soft-spoken voice, and he guessed that Old Thane thought he was young because of that.
"Twenty? And it must take years and years to travel from the far East to here. A boy left to the wilds, thrown to a land unknown. You must have learned to fight on the road. So much suffering all because of the sins of your parents." Old Thane bowed his head. "Tell me, do you have anything to your name? Somewhere to go? Coin to your name?"
"No," said Li simply. "I have nothing. I'll have to find my way around this place and figure out what I want to do."
Old Thane furrowed his brows as he stared at the ground. He spent a minute like that, thinking hard.
"Come with me, Li. Right outside Riviera, I have a small farm. I can't work the fields like I used to, not with my eyes dead and my arms growing thinner by the year. Sooner or later, the years shall take me and return me to the dirt.
When that happens, I want to have a spry young lad I can pass the place down to. No sons do I have to my name, so while I understand it is not very much, I offer you a roof and, when I sod off to the afterlife, a farm. Now, what do you say to that?"
"I would want nothing else in the world," said Li, overwhelmed at the sudden offer.
This was his dream. As if cosmic fate had heard his prayers, he could now be a farmer. What was impossible in his old life was now his. He could plant and grow life, real life, not just video game pixels, and watch the waxing and waning of seasons as the life around him grew.
For the first time since his parents passed, he felt happy. Truly happy, fulfilled at a deep, almost spiritual level.
Old Thane laughed. "Nothing else in the world? You've got small ambitions, my friend, but I admire that. It's no good to be weighed down by heavy dreams. Come, let's head to Riviera. My old back is looking forward taking a rest with a strong young'un like you to man the plows."
And so they went, starting the story of a peculiar young farmer whose power could rock the world.