Immortal Soldier

[WP] As an immortal, one of the things you hate is visiting museums as almost everything people guess about history is wrong and you can't correct them. You have resorted to online forums and recently found a 'conspiracy theory' thread that seems suspiciously accurate.

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I spent my morning browsing the history discussion forum, as I always do. Going post by post, checking out what people are trying to piece together today.

>M1ndth0k writes: "The Pyramids were actually built by the Romans as a gift."

>KILL_BILLIAM theorizes: "The Canadians are responsible for the third crusade."

>Skyrim_4_nords posts: "The Thalmor are based on a real life organization in ancient history..."

Hmm, that last one catches my eye. I click to open the whole post and check it out.

"...also run by actual elves."

Never mind. There was a time where I used to spend my days correcting these posts, offering anecdotes and pointing to any evidence that remained to prove my points. Oftentimes, my ideas were debated against by others and we'd find a middle ground where I showed them that what I wrote could be plausible.

Except everything I write is actually true. I would know as I have been around for few thousand years now.

Since the birth of the internet, I've at least had a platform to truly offer accounts from times long past. It's become something of a hobby of mine. Wake up, have breakfast, browse the forums and tell people the truth. I've grown quite fond of this activity. Plus, it is fun to see how close to the truth some can get despite major textbooks and historians claiming otherwise.

PT_ggFrat writes: "China was built by Europeans to become a super economy to rule the world and destroy Africa."

Posts like that one aren't so fun though. I've learned to ignore the crazier ones like it. People with those beliefs often did not reason themselves into those positions and I've found it quite difficult to reason them out of it.

I continue scrolling through, adding my own thoughts and points to posts that are almost accurate. Disliking the ones that just absolutely suck. I continue this for another couple hours or so, time flies when you don't care about it. Before I know it, the moon is in the sky and the posts begin winding down.

I decide to read a couple more before logging off myself to pursue other hobbies when a new post, uploaded 32 seconds ago, catches my eye:

Sh3ppy_BC posts: "The same Soldier of Fortune fought in 4 separate wars across the world in the span of 97 years in the 1100's."

Now that is an interesting theory. Purely because, based on the title alone, they could be talking about me. My curiosity is instantly piqued. I open the thread to see how they reached this conclusion.

"I'm a museum worker allowed to travel and assist other museums due to my experience and industry knowledge. As such, I'm allowed to look through the storerooms of different museums.

I've noticed that skeletons of those who perished in the first two Crusades,the Genpei War, and the Pandyan Civil War all bear marks from a type of weapon that originates in the Americas. Additionally, comparing the depth and location of the marks indicates that they were all attacked using the same swing technique and same power in each swing."

That would all make sense. I turn to the wall to my left and look at my blade on the wall. I called it Intervention since I used it in so many different places. It was made for me by an ancient Native American tribe, but made with materials I brought from Asia. It had an intricate curve that ran from the base of the hilt to the tip of the blade, making a very thin S-shape. The front edge of the blade was sharpened to a point beyond that of any sword, while the backside was thickly serrated.

Whoever this poster was had a keen eye. I continued reading their post, wanting to see what else they had to offer.

"The likelihood of multiple individuals using the same weapon, with the exact same technique and exact same strength level is extremely low. If it were multiple people, the weapon and technique being the same could make sense, but they would still have different depth and power in their strikes."

It has been some time since I have genuinely been impressed, but in this moment, reading the post, I am impressed. Not just because this historian-person discovered evidence of my involvement in different battles across the world (I was going through a phase), but also because they are taking this evidence at face value.

Usually, someone of this employ and intellect would find ways to create evidence that shows it is multiple people using the same blade, like a heirloom. Or they look for evidence that perhaps multiple people simply did have the same power in their swing. But this person didn't. They listened to their gut and they posted this saying it must have been the work of the same person.

I decided to respond to the post:

LIE_SAND_HER406 responds:

"This is truly an interesting theory. Do you know where in the Americas the blade originates? Or what technique was used and where that originates from? I love the idea of some ancient immortal soldier traveling and fighting."

I chuckled as I typed my response, I do indeed love the idea of me. I posted my reply and prepared to log off when I noticed that the number of people on the post changed from one-to-two. I decided to wait a minute and see if this was the original author reading and responding to my comment.

I refreshed the page after a bit and, sure enough, there was now a reply to my comment from the author themselves.

Sh3ppy_BC responds to LIE_SAND_HER406 :

"First of all, I never said it was a blade but your assumption is correct. As for origin, I know nothing. It must be slightly curved, which matches what Native Americans created in later centuries, but nothing at the time of these battles. As for technique, it vaguely matches strike patterns used by Spartan soldiers in the 400-300 BCE, but that's just a guess based on my knowledge."

Whoever this person was really knew their stuff. They were basically getting everything right. I decided that knowledge and inquisitiveness such as this deserved to be rewarded. I typed another response.

LIE_SAND_HER406 responds to Sh3ppy_BC :

"Interesting. You should check other battles around that same time. Maybe like Clontarf or Azaz. If you have access to such things. Because now I want to know how far back this soldier of fortune goes."

I submitted my response. I was careful to pick battles I had been in that could be found on Wikipedia, to arouse little suspicion. I wasn't actually in Azaz, but I was at Clontarf. The Vikings were some of my favorite people and I never missed an opportunity to encourage others to learn about them. Before I could log off though, I had a feeling I should refresh one more time.

There was another reply:

Sh3ppy_BC responds to LIE_SAND_HER406 :

"I had already found evidence of this blade at Clontarf... That is a wild battle to just throw out as a guess. Have you been researching this as well?"

Whoops. Too much I guess. Though her response gave me an idea.

LIE_SAND_HER406 responds to Sh3ppy_BC :

"As a matter of fact, I have been and I have had similar suspicions to yours. Though I never considered the prospect of an immortal soldier. I would love to compare notes and findings if you would be open to doing so."

There are few mortals who manage to get me this excited about reliving my past. Even fewer who manage to dig up my past on their own. Worst-case scenario, they decline my offer and move on. Best case scenario? I could make another mortal friend.

My DM notification went off. I checked it out and, sure enough, there was a message from the author themselves.

Direct Message from Sh3ppy_BC :

"Hello, where are you located? Your response and the fact that you have notes and have seen similar evidence makes me think you are also a historian. I would love to meet in person and discuss findings if this interests you."

I perked up and began typing my response. Confirming my desire to meet. After hitting send, I looked back to my blade. Looks like you're allowing me to live adventures once again. I thought to myself.

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TO BE CONTINUED