A Legend in the Leage

Ragnar Awakening

"Look at him, there's the weirdo! Even his own family doesn't want him! Cry, come on, cry a little more!"

On the ground, cornered against a worn brick wall, was a young boy. His clothes were covered in dirt, his knees scraped, and his eyes fixed on the ground, flooded with tears he desperately tried to hold back. He was a shy kid, the kind who carried the weight of family problems like a suit of lead armor. To his aggressors, his silence was an invitation for a***e. The group closed in on him, ready to move from words to fists.

But the circle of cruelty was broken. Ragnar appeared out of nowhere, pushing through the crowd with clenched fists and eyes burning with fury. He stepped right in front of the wounded boy, using his own body as a human shield.

"Pick on someone your own size... or deal with me! Let's see if you have the guts!"

A tense silence fell over the place. The bullies looked at Ragnar. There was something in his posture, a savage determination and an undeniable respect radiating from his presence, that made them hesitate. Group courage fades quickly when a real danger appears. One by one, lowering their eyes and muttering curses under their breath, the group began to scatter and walk away.

Ragnar waited until the last one was gone. Then, he relaxed his shoulders, turned around, and knelt in front of the little boy. With extreme gentleness, he reached out his hand.

"Come on... get up. Don't let their words hurt you. Stand up to them. They're only brave when they're in a group, but alone... alone they are nothing."

Ragnar's words hung in the air. The ground began to tremble beneath their feet. It was no ordinary earthquake; the air itself grew thick, and a suffocating heat struck their faces. In the distance, the murmur of the city instantly transformed into a chorus of absolute panic.

"Look at the sky! What is that?! A meteorite! It's coming right at us! We're all going to die!"

Ragnar looked up. Piercing through the clouds, a gigantic ball of fire and rock, the size of a mountain, was descending at a terrifying speed. The light of the imminent impact blinded the world. Ragnar only had time to cover the boy with his body before a wave of absolute heat erased everything. The apocalypse had arrived. And after that... nothingness.

The silence following the great explosion was deafening. There was no city, no children, no pain. Ragnar opened his eyes, dazed, trying to cling to a reality that was vanishing among the smoke and floating ashes. As he stood up, he discovered that the devastation had left him completely alone in the middle of a grey wasteland.

In front of him, defying all logic and floating in the ashen air, an anomaly flickered: an indecipherable portal of light, its edges vibrating with lines of code and pure energy.

With his pulse racing and doubt burning in his chest, Ragnar stepped forward. Was he dead? Was this the afterlife? He reached out his hand. The moment he brushed the portal's shifting surface, gravity vanished and the void sucked him in completely.

A synthetic voice, with a neutral and digital echo, resonated directly in his mind.

"Welcome to the League of Legends. Compatible soul for the survival protocol detected. To begin your journey, choose a weapon."

The grey environment disappeared, replaced by a platform of pure white light. In front of Ragnar, four floating holograms materialized, spinning slowly: a carved wooden bow that unleashed bursts of wind, a heavy tempered steel sword that reflected the light, a shield reinforced with stone runes, and an ancient bound book that vibrated with an arcane glow.

Ragnar did not hesitate. In his past life, he had always protected others with his body, but now, drawn by the mystery of magic and the promise of a power capable of changing the rules, he stretched out his fingers and touched the spellbook. In that instant, the other three weapons dissolved into a shower of golden pixels.

"Class selected: Conjurer Mage. Advance forward. Initiating basic combat tutorial."

The ground beneath his feet transformed into a digital plain, an infinite chessboard in shades of green and blue. In the center of his vision, a red holographic crosshair lit up, pointing at his first target: a small practice dummy made of wood and straw that materialized with a flash.

"Lock onto the target. Select command: Basic Attack."

Ragnar focused on the dummy. The book in his left hand opened on its own, flipping through pages at incredible speed. As he executed the command mentally, a spark of pure energy erupted from the palm of his right hand and struck the dummy's chest directly, releasing digital sparks.

"Congratulations! Basic hit registered. Advancing to the next practice. Select target and execute: Blindness Spell."

Suddenly, words in an ancient language appeared floating in Ragnar's mind. He whispered them with a firm voice. A flash of blinding white light erupted from the grimoire, covering the automaton's head, which began to stagger erratically.

"Success. Target has temporarily lost vision. Next phase: execute Frost Orb Spell on the target."

The air around Ragnar froze instinctively, causing his own breath to turn to mist. With a swift movement of his right hand, he molded the frost and launched an icy projectile. The impact covered the dummy's legs with a layer of bluish frost.

"Target successfully slowed. Alert: Incoming enemy counterattack. Execute: Block Spell."

The practice dummy came to life for a second, stabilized, and shot a beam of red energy straight at Ragnar's chest. The protective instinct he used to have on the streets kicked in. He raised the spellbook. A translucent magical barrier appeared just in time, absorbing the impact with a blast that forced him back a step.

"Perfect block. Damage mitigation at one hundred percent. Final phase initiated. Select target and unleash your Ultimate Ability."

Ragnar felt the power accumulated in the book vibrating so violently that it numbed his arm. This was no game; the energy was real. He extended both arms toward the dummy, channeling all his will. The tutorial's fictional sky darkened, and a violent storm of razor-sharp ice fell furiously from above, freezing and shattering the automaton into a thousand data pieces that quickly evaporated.

"Beginner practice completed with honors. Absolute Protector Bonus unlocked. Saving data log."

The remains of wood and straw from the dummy turned into a swirl of golden pixels. Suddenly, the digital plain faded away, and Ragnar found himself floating in a dark space. In front of him, suspended in the air, appeared a row of holographic pedestals, identical to the character selection screen from the fighting games of his old world.

On the first pedestal, a figure identical to the Frost Mage he had just used in the tutorial lit up in a brilliant blue color. The other pedestals were completely empty, showing dark and blurry silhouettes of warriors, archers, and mystical creatures.

"Synchronization successful. Your first combat identity has been indexed. Please select your Champion to start the match."

Ragnar immediately understood the rules. He wasn't going to control an avatar from a distance. He was going to become the weapon. Connecting his mind to the interface, he locked his gaze onto the Frost Mage and executed the selection command.

In that instant, the holographic figure exploded into threads of cold light that wrapped around Ragnar's body. The sensation was overwhelming. He felt his own physical structure mutate in seconds: his body became more agile and light, his worn clothes from the street were replaced by a midnight blue robe, and the Grimoire of the Frost Wind materialized, floating within reach of his new, magic-filled fingers. Ragnar was still Ragnar in his mind, but now he inhabited the body and absolute power of a mage.

A half-smile formed on his new face. If he mastered the League, he could possess the strength of an entire army. He could be an implacable warrior, an assassin in the shadows, or the ultimate protector. Today, his body channeled ice; tomorrow, he would wear whatever identity destiny demanded of him.

"Champion deployment imminent. Initiating transmission to the main map in five... four... three... two... one..."

The darkness shattered. Ragnar landed lightly on real grass, damp and fresh. The scent of pine and wet earth filled his new and improved lungs. In front of him, a thick forest stretched beneath a sky with two moons.

He clenched his fists, feeling the frost course through his veins as the first objective blinked in his vision. The tutorial was over. The race to collect and embody the most powerful champions of the League had just begun.