AWAKENED IN ANOTHER WORLD AS AN HIGH ELF

Chapter 5: The System

The witch let out a long, irritated sigh, her shoulders dropping as though Ethan’s continued silence had finally exhausted the last of her patience.

“Fine. All of you, go downstairs,” Lyra said, turning toward the others with a sharp look. “I’ll talk to him and get him ready. If we keep standing around here, we’ll miss the ceremony before we even leave the house.”

Mira uncrossed her arms, her expression suggesting that she had been waiting for someone to say exactly that. Gruk gave a low grunt of agreement, while Adrian remained where he was, his pale face turned toward Ethan.

For a moment, the vampire simply studied him. Then Adrian turned toward the door.

“You better have his stupid ass dressed within ten minutes,” he told Lyra, his voice carrying a cold warning as he glanced back over his shoulder. “If he isn’t downstairs by then, our three-year plan is going to be sabotaged before we even leave for the ceremony.”

Mira’s eyebrows rose, and a faint smile touched her lips. “You really know how to encourage people, Adrian.”

“Encouragement clearly hasn’t worked,” Adrian replied without looking at her. “Maybe a deadline will.”

He walked out of the room, his footsteps quiet against the floor, and Mira followed after him with a small shake of her head. Gruk lingered for another moment, his massive frame filling much of the doorway as he looked at Ethan.

“Do not take too long, Logan,” the Drakon warned, his deep voice carrying through the room. “We have already spent enough time waiting.”

With that, he turned and followed the others downstairs.

The door remained open for a few seconds after they left, allowing Ethan to hear the fading sounds of their footsteps and the low murmur of voices from the hallway. Then Lyra crossed the room and pushed it shut.

The sudden quiet felt strangely heavy.

Ethan sat against the pillows, watching her as she stood near the door with one hand resting on the handle. For the first time since he had awakened, there was no one else in the room to distract him from the woman who had apparently known the original owner of this body for years.

Lyra slowly turned toward him, but she did not speak immediately.

Instead, she gazed at him for a while, her eyes moving across his face as though she were searching for something familiar.

He had no idea what she was looking for.

He only knew that she was beautiful.

He had seen beautiful women before. He had met wealthy clients with expensive tastes and attended gatherings where people dressed in clothes that cost more than his entire apartment.

But he had never seen anyone like Lyra.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

Then she walked toward the bed.

The mattress shifted slightly beneath her weight when she sat down in front of him, and the movement brought Ethan’s attention back to the situation. Lyra hesitated before reaching for his hands, as though she were giving him one last chance to tell her what was wrong. When he did not move, she gently took them in hers.

Ethan looked down at their joined hands, then back at her face.

“Logan,” she said softly, her voice carrying a concern that had not been there earlier. “Are you having the nightmares again?”

Ethan’s mind went blank.

The nightmares?

He had no idea what she was talking about.

For one terrifying moment, he wondered whether the original Logan had suffered from some kind of recurring condition that everyone around him knew about. Perhaps the man had been plagued by visions, or perhaps there was some terrible event in his past that he had never told anyone about.

Ethan had no way of knowing.

But a nightmare sounded like the perfect excuse.

He had already spent several minutes staring at his friends as though they were complete strangers. If Lyra believed he had just woken from a bad dream, perhaps she would not question his behavior too closely.

He swallowed and slowly nodded.

“Yes,” he replied, forcing his voice to sound tired rather than frightened. “It’s the nightmares again.”

Lyra’s expression softened immediately.

“Which one was it this time?” she asked, gently rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. “The one about the forest, or the one about the castle?”

Ethan’s heart skipped.

The forest?

The castle?

He had no idea what either of those nightmares meant, and the more she spoke, the more he realized how little he knew about Logan’s life.

He opened his mouth, trying to think of something that might sound believable, but nothing came.

Lyra watched him closely, and Ethan felt the pressure of her gaze growing heavier by the second. He needed to answer. He needed to say something that would make sense to her.

But what?

He had no idea what kind of nightmares Logan had suffered from.

He was about to invent something when Lyra’s voice suddenly became quieter.

“Was it the nightmare where you were killed?”

Ethan’s brain stopped working for a moment. He stared at her, his mouths slightly hanging open.

“You said what?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“I asked was the nightmare you had the one where you were killed?” she repeated, her eyes never leaving his face.

The nightmare where he was killed?

Logan had a nightmare about being killed?

Ethan’s eyes searched Lyra’s face, hoping to find some indication that she was speaking about something else. But she looked completely serious, her expression filled with the kind of concern that came from having heard the same story more than once.

Ethan’s thoughts began racing.

The original Logan was dead. He had to be dead.

There was no other explanation for Ethan occupying his body. Whatever had happened, Logan’s life had ended somewhere, and Ethan had somehow awakened in the space that remained.

But what if the nightmare had not been a nightmare at all?

What if Logan had seen his own death coming?

What if he had dreamed about something that would eventually happen, and the thing he was experiencing now was the result?

Ethan felt his stomach tighten.

He had no idea whether that was possible in this world, but after seeing a witch, a vampire, a shapeshifter, and a Drakon, he was no longer willing to assume that anything was impossible.

“Logan?”

Lyra’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He blinked and looked at her.

She was still holding his hands, her eyes fixed on his face.

“We’ll talk about this when we get back,” she said, her voice gentle but firm. “For now, you need to get out of this bed and get ready. We’re seriously running out of time.”

Ethan glanced toward the window.

The light outside had changed slightly, and he could hear the faint sounds of activity somewhere beyond the room.

“The ceremony begins in fifteen minutes,” Lyra continued, her tone becoming more serious. “If we want everything to go the way we’ve been planning for the past three years, we need to get to the castle now.”

Three years.

Ethan remembered Adrian’s words, and his confusion deepened.

Whatever this group had planned, it was not some last-minute decision. They had been preparing for this day for years.

And somehow, he was supposed to be part of it.

Ethan nodded slowly.

“Alright,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “I’ll get ready as fast as possible and join you downstairs.”

Lyra studied him for a moment, as though she were deciding whether to believe him. Then she gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

“Good,” she said quietly. “Just hurry.”

She released him and rose from the bed, her movements graceful and unhurried despite the urgency in her voice.

Ethan watched Lyra for a moment as she turned toward the door. He wanted to say something. He wanted to stop her, call her back, and tell her the truth about who he really was.

But he kept his mouth shut.

He was not ready to take that risk.

Lyra was a witch. A powerful one, judging by everything the system had shown him about her.

Ethan had watched enough movies over the years to know what witches were supposed to be capable of. Spells, curses, transformations, strange rituals, and all kinds of supernatural abilities that made ordinary people look completely helpless.

Granted, movies were hardly reliable sources of information about the supernatural. He understood that much. But he was not willing to test that theory with his life.

For all he knew, Lyra could turn him into a frog, tear his soul out of Logan's body, or burn him alive with a single spell. He had no idea what she could do, what rules governed her magic, or what she might do if she discovered that the person standing in front of her was not actually Logan.

So no, he was not about to confess everything to a witch he had known for less than an hour.

That would be the stupidest decision he could make.

Ethan slowly lowered his gaze, his mind working through the situation. He needed information first. He needed to understand where he was, how he got here, and why was he brought here. More importantly, he needed to discover what kind of person Lyra really was.

Was she someone he could trust, or was she the kind of witch who would see his secret as a threat?

He had no answer to that question yet.

And until he did, keeping his mouth shut was the safest thing he could do.

Lyra reached the door, but before opening it, she glanced back at him. “Is there something you want to say to me, Logan?” she asked, her expression becoming slightly more curious.

Ethan shook his head quickly.

“No,” he replied, forcing a small smile. “I’m just still tired.”

Lyra gazed at him for another moment.

Her eyes lingered on his face, and Ethan wondered whether she could somehow see through his lie. The silence stretched between them, making him increasingly uncomfortable.

Finally, she turned back toward the door.

“Then get dressed,” she said, her voice softening again. “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

She opened the door and walked out.

Ethan watched her disappear into the hallway, then listened as her footsteps faded away.

A moment later, the door closed by itself.

Ethan remained seated for several seconds, staring at the door. That door had just shut by itself, but he didn’t even seem surprised. Instead, he gazed around the room for a few seconds, then he let out a slow breath.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ethan muttered as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and began to lower himself to the floor.

That was when he noticed something strange.

The bed was floating.

Ethan froze halfway through the movement, his feet hovering just above the floor as he stared at the space beneath the mattress.

There was no frame, no legs, and no visible support of any kind. The entire bed was suspended several feet above the ground, held in place by something Ethan could not see.

He slowly lowered himself the rest of the way and landed on the floor.

For a normal person, that discovery would have been enough to make them question their entire understanding of reality.

Ethan simply stared at the floating bed for a few seconds before rubbing his face.

“Of course,” he muttered. “Why the hell not?”

He had already woken up inside another person’s body, discovered that witches, vampires, shapeshifters, and Drakons were real, and learned that he was apparently expected to participate in a three-year plan he knew nothing about.

A floating bed was barely worth reacting to anymore.

He turned away from it and looked around the room.

“I need that system,” he muttered as he glanced around the room, hoping the translucent screen that had appeared in front of him would appear again.

That thing had shown him more information in a few seconds than he could have discovered through days of questioning.

Perhaps it could tell him who Logan Varello was.

Perhaps it could tell him where he was.

Perhaps it could even tell him how he had ended up inside this body.

Ethan remained standing beside the bed, staring at the empty space in front of him where the panel had disappeared.

“System,” he said hesitantly, unsure whether the word alone would be enough. “Activate.”

The response was immediate.

A soft vibration passed through the air, followed by a faint blue glow that appeared directly in front of him. The translucent screen unfolded from the center outward, its edges shimmering like light beneath clear water.

“The fuck,” Ethan whispered in surprise as he instinctively stepped back.

The panel stabilized before him.

[ SYSTEM ACTIVE ]

[ HOST: ETHAN BROWN ]

[ CURRENT BODY: LOGAN VARELLO ]

[ STATUS: ALIVE ]

[ SYSTEM SOVEREIGN CLASS: ACTIVE ]

A second layer of information appeared beneath the status display.

[ HOST SYNCHRONIZATION: 100% ]

[ BODY SYNCHRONIZATION: 100% ]

[ SYSTEM ACCESS: UNRESTRICTED ]

[ AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS: 6 ]

The screen expanded slightly, and a new set of options appeared in a clean, organized layout.

[ HOME SCREEN ]

[▸INFO ] [▸STATS ] [▸SHOP ] [▸ARMORY ] [▸MAP] [▸LOG] [▸ACHIEVEMENTS] [▸QUESTS] [▸SETTINGS]

[ • QUESTS: 1 AVAILABLE ]

[ • SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONS: 3 ]

[ WORLD DATABASE: PARTIALLY LOCKED ]

[ HOST ASSISTANCE: ACTIVE ]

“This is much better,” Ethan muttered, his eyes moving slowly across the interface.

This was different from the small identification panels that had appeared earlier. The home screen felt more complete, more like an actual system designed for long-term use rather than a simple tool that displayed information.

He stared at the available functions, his mind already racing with possibilities.

If this was truly some kind of system like the ones he had watched in anime series, then perhaps it had everything he needed to survive in this world.

He raised his hand and moved it toward the [INFO] option.

The moment his finger touched the glowing button, the interface responded.

A soft vibration passed through his fingertip, and the blue screen rippled outward like the surface of a pond disturbed by a falling stone.

The home screen faded, and a new section opened.

[ INFO ]

[ SELECT THE INFORMATION YOU REQUIRE ]

[ 1. LOGAN VARELLO ]

[ OVERVIEW: HOST BODY OWNER. ACCESS TO COMPLETE PERSONAL INFORMATION RESTRICTED. ]

[ STATUS: LOCKED ]

[ REQUIREMENT: Complete 1 QUEST To Unlock]

[ 2. HOST INFO ]

[ OVERVIEW: INFORMATION REGARDING THE CURRENT HOST, INCLUDING IDENTITY, PHYSICAL CONDITION, AND SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY. ]

[STATUS: UNLOCKED]

[ 3. SYSTEM INFO ]

[ OVERVIEW: SYSTEM ORIGIN, CAPABILITIES, OPERATIONAL RULES, AND HOST ACCESS. ]

[ 4. WORLD INFO ]

[ STATUS: PARTIALLY LOCKED ]

[ OVERVIEW: INFORMATION REGARDING THE CURRENT WORLD, ITS HISTORY, RACES, KINGDOMS, AND MAJOR THREATS. ]

[ 5. PROPHECY DATABASE ]

[ STATUS: LOCKED ]

[ REQUIREMENT: UNKNOWN ]

[ OVERVIEW: INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVEN RULERS OF DARKNESS. ]

[ 6. RESTRICTED ARCHIVES ]

[ STATUS: LOCKED ]

[ REQUIREMENT: UNKNOWN ]

[ OVERVIEW: CLASSIFIED INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE SYSTEM’S PURPOSE AND THE HOST’S CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES. ]

Ethan stared at the list, his eyes lingering on the first option.

Logan Varello.

The information he wanted most was right there in front of him, yet the System had locked it behind a quest.

He clenched his jaw.

“Of course,” he muttered. “Why would anything be easy?”

If he could unlock Logan’s information, perhaps he would gain access to the man’s history, his identity, his relationships, and maybe even his memories.

That last possibility made Ethan pause.

If he could access Logan’s memories, he might finally understand what had happened to him. He might discover how Logan died, why Ethan had taken his place, and what kind of world he had been thrown into.