《An Awakening》


 Book 01: Chapter 01 - A cold winters morning

    In a small village deep within the mountains in the Trest county of the kingdom of Streta.


    *Sha Sha*


    I often compared myself to the 4 seasons and the more I compared, the more depressed I felt. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter. 4 seasons, of which each season was unique in its own way.


    Comparison was truly the demise of joy. All 4 seasons had their purpose to exist. Love it or hate it, everyone would know about the 4 seasons. Theywere necessaryfor the world torunproperly. If any of them were to disappear, countless living creatures would be affected.


    Compared to the 4 seasons, my life truly seems to have less¡­ ¡°Life¡± than they do.


    A young boy who seemed to have the whole world on his shoulders pondered as he slowly trudged along a snowy path. Passing by the only park in the village, the sound of children playing in the snow could be heard.


    ¡°Hah, our snowman is bigger than yours. We win.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying! Our snowman is obviously bigger than your one.¡±


    ¡°Not anymore.¡± screamed one of the children as he started throwing snowballs at the snowmantrying todestroy it. However, probably because the child didn¡¯t have enough strength, the snowballs fell at the base of the snowman creating the illusion that it was growing bigger and bigger.


    Different people greet the 4 seasons in different ways. Taking for example¡­ the current season in the village, the heavy snow covering the village was a clear sign of winter. Children, such as the ones playing in the park, would find this snow-filled worldto bea very fun and exciting environment. To them, snow is something very soft to the touch and is just something pleasant in general. They get to make snowmen and spend time having snowball fights. It¡¯s something they can¡¯t do in the other seasons, so they welcome thewinterwith open arms.


    A perspective of the world which only lets you see the good in everything. It¡¯s a nice way to look at the world around oneself. Unfortunately, only a young child whose mind has yet to become impure is truly capable of looking at the world using such a perspective.


    As they grow up, children get exposed to the cruel reality of this world and this in turn molds that pure and innocent child into a mature grownup. Of course, there are always exceptions. The reason children¡¯s eyes can only see the good in the world is because of their ignorance regarding the true nature of the world outside of their small fairytale. But, if a child were to be brought out of their protective greenhouse and exposed to reality earlier on in their life, one of two different possibilities could take place.


    For one, the child¡¯s mind would be unable to cope up with the sudden changes and would cause the child to experience a huge change in their personality. Many would fall into varying levels of depression and be scarred for life while others would just lose all hope and give up on life.


    The other possibility is that the child manages to keep up with all the changes that happen around them. This strips them of their childlike mindset and forces them to mature earlier than they should. It would give them the ability to look at the world through the eyes of an adult. The latter possibility is not necessarily better than the former one. It steals away a very important phase of their life from people. Unfortunately, most people never really get to choose which path they follow. Their fate was set in stone the moment they were born. I am also such a person. I fall into it¡­ rather¡­ fell into the latter category. If you asked me what I thought about the winter I would simply reply,If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°------ I hate everything about it¡±.


    After all, what is there to truly like about snow? It transforms the entire world around us into a dull andmonotoneplace. It steals away all possible forms of warmth and leaves you helpless. It makes it impossible to grow crops. Most trees shed and lose all their leaves as they crawl underground and patiently wait for the next season, similar to how bears sleep through the winter.


    ¡°It feels like I¡¯m trapped in an endless field of white, like a prisoner. It¡¯s suffocating.¡±


    The penetrating cold which threatens to freeze a person from the inside out only kept getting worse. This environment only makes a person feel isolated. As if they were the only thing that existed.


    Although I¡¯ve grown numb to it after so many years, I hate this sort of feeling the most. The feeling of solitude.


    I stopped walking across the park and stared blankly at my ¡°peers¡± who still saw the world through the ¡®eyes of a child¡¯.


    ¡°Why are we so different, even though we¡¯re both children¡­?¡± I find myself asking this question very frequently.


    ¡°Hey, hey Fuuko. Guess what? Yesterday the village chief asked my dadto becomehis personal bodyguard¡±.


    ¡°Huh? For real? That¡¯s so cool. Doesn¡¯t that mean that your family now serves the village chief? That¡¯s so cool.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s all thanks to my dad. He just broke through to the third stage of the Mortal realm yesterday. As soon as the news traveled to the village chief¡¯s manor, he visited our house andasked my dadto becomehis bodyguard. Isn¡¯t that awesome? I also want to grow up and be like my dad¡±.


    ¡°Of course. Itsuki will grow up to be someone greater than his dad.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool. I wish my dad was like that as well¡±.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be counting on you in the future, Itsuki¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. No problem. If you guys ever need something, just come and tell me and I¡¯ll ask my dad to help you out¡±.


    ¡°Really!!? Then I¡¯ll be in your care Itsuki-nii.¡±


    ¡°Itsuki!!! It¡¯s time to go home now¡± shouted a robust man as he approached the park.


    ¡°Ah! My dad¡¯s already here, I need to go back home now. I¡¯ll see you guys later¡± shouted the child named Itsuki as he waved his hand to the rest of the children while running towards his father.


    Standing there silently, I watched the father-son duo leave the park together. Their backs grew smaller and smaller as time passed. Every time a similar situation occurred, I would feel a sense of loss and a weird feeling of tightness in my chest. It seemed as if, the warmer the other party was, the colder my heart became. It wasn¡¯t jealousy or anything of the sort, just¡­


    ¡°I feel empty¡­¡±


    The strongest bond in the world was said to be the bond of family. To love and care for your closest kin is something that gives life meaning. It¡¯s a parent¡¯s duty to ensure that their children don¡¯t get exposed to the trials of life too early.


    ¡°That¡¯s what it is in the end.¡±


    The difference between me and them. They had a family to shelter them from the dangers of the world. In my case, I was never fortunate enough to experience the feeling of having a family to call my own.


    Ever since I could remember, I was taken care of by an old man. We lived in a rundown shack near the borders of the village. Although going to school is something normal for children my age, I was never sent to school. Everything I knew was taught to me by the old man. He seemed to know about a lot of things which other people didn¡¯t know about.


    The stories he told me opened my eyes to the outside world and taught me about things outside the village. He taught me how to speak and write. He was the only person I could call family even though we weren¡¯t related. However, shortly after becoming 7 years old I lost him as well. It¡¯s not like he passed away or anything. He just¡­ disappeared.


    After the father-son duo had completely faded away from sight, I finally woke up from my thoughts and continued on my original journey.


    Devoid of emotion, I continue to tread on this dull path that God had chosen for me.

 Book 01: Chapter 02 - Skyfall forest

    After walking for a few more minutes I finally reached my target, the Skyfall forest.


    It was given that name by the local people because the forest extended from the back of the village, all the way down the mountain, creating the illusion that the forest was ¡°falling¡± from the sky. It covered a vast expanse of land and although the forest was home to many wild animals, there had never been signs of any demonic beasts living in the forest.


    Therefore I could safely enter the forest without having to worry about being attacked by a demonic beast. Any normal person would easily choose to face off against a lion on a daily basis over having to ever meet a demonic beast in their lifetime.


    Unlike humans, demonic beasts are gifted with an extremely strong physique from birth. A casual swipe from them could easily take a human life. However, the most terrifying aspect of a demonic beast is their extremely strong bloodlust. Their desire to kill other creatures is so strong that it makes them lose control of their minds. There are stories of some demonic beasts that grow so strong that they become capable of controlling their bloodlust, thereby gaining intelligence.


    I started to walk through the forest searching for firewood. The target was to find at least 50 pieces of firewood to make a stack of firewood that could be sold in the village. The snow makes it a lot harder to carry out the task since not only does it hide the firewood it also makes them soggy. Thus most of the firewood which I find lying around on the snow has to be thrown away because stores don¡¯t accept the bundle if the wood seems soggy. So there¡¯s another reason to hate winter.


    ¡°If I manage to find enough wood, then I¡¯ll be able to eat tonight. Else, I¡¯ll have to starve again.¡±


    As an orphan, this sort of isolated village is the worst kind of place one could live in.


    It¡¯s far away from any major cities so it has no proper economy on which it runs on. Everyone works on a self-serving system and have neither the resources to waste nor the need to take care of anyone who isn¡¯t part of their family or circle of close friends. As such, if one doesn¡¯t have any sort of value, it doesn¡¯t matter how old you are, you¡¯re on your own.


    ¡°Having lived alone for so long, I¡¯ve gotten used to it by now.¡±


    ¡°After all, it¡¯s been like this forever.¡±


    In this sort of world¡­ only the strong have the right to demand what they want. The weak can only shut their mouths and work to fulfill those demands.


    Take for example that kids¡¯ father from before. In the past, the Village Chief wouldn¡¯t have even taken a second glance at the man if they met on the road. Even if the man were to have passed away the village chief would just utter a few insincere words of condolence to the family of the departed soul. But because he advanced his cultivation to a new level, the village chief personally visited his house to ask the child¡¯s father to work for him and strengthen their relationship. If one wants to get anything in this world, one must have a strong fist. That is the ironclad rule of this world, no different from the law of the jungle used by wild beasts. Otherwise, it doesn¡¯t matter how loud your voice is, it won¡¯t get you anywhere.


    ¡°The sun¡¯s up quite high now. I should take a rest.¡±


    Looking for a tree to sit underneath and rest, I started to wander around the forest. Over the span of 5 hours, I had found over 70 pieces of wood but only 23 of them qualified as firewood which could be used. Not good but¡­ not bad either. After finally finding a comfortable place under a tree which had not withered, I sat down. Heaving a sigh of exhaustion, I took out my lunch and began to eat. Of course, this ¡°lunch¡± was nothing more than a few pieces of dry bread and water. After eating, I rested for a few minutes and immediately got back to looking for firewood.


    Finding a place with less snow would make things easier but it would be very hard to find such a place. Under the unlikely situation where one was discovered, it would be gone the next day thanks to the snowstorms that raged throughout the night. So it was basically useless to go looking around for one. It¡¯s better to just wander around the forest aimlessly searching for firewood than looking for a place without snow. Maybe in the future, if any of the villagers manage to learn some magic, they could change that situation.


    Unfortunately, there had never been anyone with any talent in magic born in the village. Even the village chief was only a warrior, not a mage. A mage is respected and envied by everyone around them. They have the right to fight for whatever they want whether it be power, beauties or riches. Unfortunately one¡¯s talent for magic is decided upon birth and can¡¯t be changed. There are various ways to test for magic talent but most of them require advanced pieces of technology. The village uses one of the crudest methods to test for magic talent.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The village chief was fortunate enough to have found a manual with a few basic spells on the corpse of a mage.


    ¡°He¡¯d been floating on cloud nine after finding it and announced it to the whole village. Of course, his whole world started to crumble when he realized that he had no talent for magic.¡±


    Ever since that day, he made everyone test their magic talent during their coming of age ceremony in hopes of finding someone with magic talent. So far all his attempts have been in vain.


    The coming of age ceremony is something held on the last day of every year. All the children who are to become 16 years of age in the following year participate in it. By doing that, all those children start the New Year as adults.


    Even though it is called a coming of age ceremony, barely anything happens. They just gather all the children into a field where the village chief gives them a short speech and then checks their magic talent by calling them onto the stage one by one.


    After another 6 hours or so, I finally finished collecting 50 pieces of wood completing a full bundle of firewood. Tying the bundle of wood together into a stack, I started to head back towards the village. The sun had already started to set turning the sky into a field of crimson red. After finally reaching the village, I headed towards the market area of the village and go into old Yohki¡¯s shop.


    ¡°Ah! Lad. It seems you managed to find a full stack. Hahaha, your luck seems to be pretty good today. Here you go¡± said the shop owner as he took the bundle of sticks and threw 5 copper coins towards me.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the market price 6 coppers per stack of firewood?¡±


    ¡°Ah yeah, about that. The village chief announced a few changes in the prices during yesterday¡¯s village meeting. A stack of wood is now only worth 5 coppers according to the market price.¡±


    I had neither the desire nor ability to question this matter any further, so I just nodded my head and pocketed the 5 coppers as I dragged my weary body out of the shop. I started to slowly make my way towards the bakery to buy some bread.


    ¡°Yarume-san, I¡¯d like to buy a loaf of bread¡±, I said as I gave her 3 coppers.


    ¡°Ah¡­ A loaf of bread now costs 4 coppers, boy¡±, said the shop owner as she looked at me pitifully.


    ¡°The village chief?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. It¡¯s not like you had any say on the matter¡± I said as I pay the money, take the bread and leave the shop.


    Earnings reducing and living costs increasing¡­ the situation was becoming direr now that the snowstorms were becoming more intense.


    How was one meant to survive in such a situation? I would usually earn 6 coppers at most per day by selling a stack of wood. 3 of those coppers would be spent on bread. The 3 remaining coppers would be left in case I didn¡¯t manage to find enough firewood to sell the next day.


    But now, with a stack selling for only 5 coppers and a loaf of bread costing 4 coppers, I could only save 1 copper every day. The worst part is, if this were to happen again, then I might as well starve to death. It was frustrating that I could only watch on as other people decided how my life was supposed to be lived.


    Begrudgingly walking back home while grumbling about how unfair the world is, my house finally came into view.


    The sight of it alone reminded me of how serious my situation was. I couldn¡¯t even get mad about it. Calling it a rundown shack would be praising it.


    ¡°As uncomfortable as it may be¡­ at least it provides me with a roof to sleep under. Not a very steady one but a roof nonetheless¡­¡±


    The sun had already set a long time ago. The moon was now shining high up in the sky. For some reason, the longer I looked at the moon the more uneased I felt. It gave me a feeling of dread. I had no reason to believe this other than my instincts. However my instincts were one of the few things I could rely on in my life, so I trusted it very much. My eyes were glued to the moon for a long time, unable to move them away.


    ¡°It has a... red glow?¡± I asked myself as I tilted my head sideways.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s probably just my eyes playing tricks on me. Whatever it is, it shouldn¡¯t concern me anyway¡±, I thought as I threw all thoughts regarding the moon to the back of my head.


    Even though I had just returned to my so-called ¡®home¡¯. I didn¡¯t really have anything to do. All that was left to be done was to eat some bread and go to sleep.


    Lying down on the bed, I closed my eyes. My mind began recounting the events that happened today. Nothing special or worth remembering happened. My memories of today would overlap with those of the previous years with seemingly nothing to tell them apart. Other children my age would be going to school to learn how to read, write and do basic math so that they could find a job after becoming adults. But for me, all I could do was try to barely earn enough money to get past the day. School seemed like a luxury that I was never meant to enjoy.


    It¡¯s not like I needed to go to school to learn. I probably knew about more things than anyone else in the village after having been taught by the old man. I just wanted to go to school so that I could know what it felt like to live a normal life. But, having repeatedly lived like this for 5 years, I¡¯d already gotten used to this life which was duller than the snow that enclosed me.


    ¡°Will I ever be able to change my future? Or is this how my life is meant to be, fated to waste away in this unknown corner of the world?¡± I murmured as my consciousness started to fade away.


    ¡°¡­¡­. I ¡­ still feel¡­ uneasy¡­¡±

 Book 01: Chapter 03 - Another world

    *Chirp chirp*


    The sun had started to rise up into the sky as birds chirped on top of trees. Yawning lazily, I opened my sleepy eyes. Like many others, I hated the morning. However, unlike them, I didn¡¯t dislike it because of having to force myself to wake up from bed to go to school or work. I hated the morning because I always woke up to find myself alone in this world.


    *sigh*


    ¡°I should get going now.¡±


    I shoved a few pieces of bread in my mouth, grabbed a small bag and started making my way towards a lake outside the village. The remaining bread, a half-empty bottle of water and some other things were in the bag which I always carried around with me.


    After reaching the lake I placed my clothes on a rock and dove into the lake.


    ¡°Brrr¡­¡­ it¡¯s freezing cold as usual.¡±


    I still remembered the first time I had to take a wash in the lake. It was winter when the old man disappeared. In the past, he would always provide me with warm water to take a wash. He never told me where he got it from and would always avoid the question every time I asked him about it. I even suspected him of being a mage, but because of how careful the old fox was, I was never able to confirm my suspicions.


    I finished cleaning myself and left the lake while shivering and dried myself using a cloth I had kept in my bag. After dressing up, I started to make my way to the forest. The forest and lake were on complete opposite sides of the village, so I had to make a full journey across the village.


    As I walked across the village, I could see some people preparing for the day. Even some of the children had woken up and were playing with each other.


    ¡°Such carefree lives¡± I said as I bitterly smiled to myself.


    ~10 hours later~


    After searching the forest for a long time, I had only managed to find 27 pieces of firewood. It was almost the end of the day and I was nowhere near the daily goal of 50 pieces of firewood.


    ¡°This is bad. It seems like I¡¯ll have to use some of the money I saved up if I want to eat tonight. Let¡¯s search for a little while longer.¡±


    I kept advancing deeper and deeper into the forest as I looked for firewood.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ what are these?¡±


    I stop in front of some imprints on the snow.


    ¡°Footprints¡­ But why are they so large? Do any animals here have such large feet? Maybe a bear. No, even a bear¡¯s footprint is smaller than that.¡±


    I had come across some animal tracks. They were bigger than normal so I couldn¡¯t really identify what the animal was.


    ¡°I should be more careful so I don¡¯t run into any dangerous animals in the forest¡± I muttered as I continued on my search for firewood.


    I had never gone too deep into the forest in fear of losing my way. But today I had kept walking and before I knew it, I¡¯d penetrated into the depths of the woods.


    ¡°It¡¯s already quite late. If I don¡¯t start returning now, I won¡¯t make it back to the village before the shops close down. Besides, who knows what sort of dangerous animals come out at night searching for food?¡± I said as an image of the footprints I saw earlier flashed through my mind.


    I made up my mind to give up on finding any more firewood and began to leave.


    *rustle*


    Just as I was about to turn around, I saw something flash past me from the corner of my eyes and heard a small sound. I turned my head towards the source of the sound and saw nothing other than a few bushes covered in snow.


    ¡°It came from behind the bushes¡­¡±


    My curiosity getting the better of me, I slowly approach the bushes and peer over them.


    ¡°A rabbit!!!¡± I whispered to myself under my breath.


    There was a small rabbit hopping around on the snow a little distance away from the bushes. Its fur was pure white in color and blended very well with the snow around it.


    Rabbits were rare creatures in this area and it was very hard to come across one. I had heard that rabbit meat was treated as a delicacy. Of course, I had no intention of eating the rabbit. If I sold it, it would definitely fetch me over a silver coin. A single silver coin was worth 100 copper coins. I¡¯d have to be a moron to eat it? I didn¡¯t even have the skills required to cook the rabbit and would probably just end up ruining it.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting very late now, but¡­ ¡±


    I pondered over the risks of staying in the forest at night and finally came to the conclusion that it was worth missing one day¡¯s worth of meals if I could capture the rabbit.


    ¡°That¡¯s IF I can catch it. Otherwise, all my efforts would have been for naught.¡±


    I calmed myself down and patiently waited until the rabbit came closer to me. As time went on, the rabbit moved around the area and finally came near the bush I was hiding behind. I slowed down my breathing in fear of the rabbit noticing my presence.


    NOW!!!!!!


    I pounced on the rabbit as fast as I could, but¡­


    ¡°Tch¡­ missed¡± I mumbled as I hurriedly started to chase after the fleeing rabbit.


    It had managed to slip away through the gaps in my fingers at the last moment. It was running away quite fast and the snow acted as a perfect cover for it. I had almost lost it many times because of that. Fortunately, walking around the forest for many hours every day had built up my stamina, so I was able to keep chasing the rabbit for a long time.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    *huff huff*


    My breathing started to get disoriented and my vision was getting slightly hazy due to exhaustion. I had no idea how long I had been chasing the rabbit. At one point I threw all other thoughts to the wind and put all my effort into catching up with it. Yet, no matter how much I chased the rabbit, I could never catch up to it. But it never went out of sight either. It almost felt as if the rabbit was leading me somewhere.


    *fwip*


    As I was running, my foot slipped on a rock and I fell headfirst onto the snow, rolling along the slope I had been running down. Due to having been running for so long, I was exhausted and didn¡¯t even have any strength in my arms to grab onto anything. I continued to roll for so long that I thought it would never end but suddenly¡­


    *SPLASH!!!!!!!!!!!......*


    I felt my entire body get lighter as I lost my ability to breathe. It seemed like a lake had become the final stop in my rolling tour. The momentum I had when I arrived at the lake was so great that I sunk pretty deep into the water. Regaining control of my body, I started to swim back to the top of the lake. It was difficult to do because my whole body was feeling numb thanks to all the running and rolling.


    ¡°I need to quickly get to the top. Otherwise, the water will freeze m--¡­ ¡±


    My train of thought suddenly froze as I noticed something. The water was¡­ warm. This new discovery shocked me.


    ¡°It feels very comfortable.¡±


    It felt as if my numb muscles were regaining their strength. I made one final kick with my newfound strength and made it to the surface of the lake.


    *splash!*


    *huff huff*


    I took in quick breaths of air as I wiped the drenched hair away from my eyes and took a look at where I was.


    *gasp*


    My eyes widened as my entire body paralyzed from shock. I almost even forgot to breathe.


    ¡°So beautiful¡­¡±


    The moonlight escaping through the trees showered itself onto the lake surface. The sight before me was truly a feast for the eyes. There was no snow anywhere near the lake and the trees were all full of leaves, fruits, and flowers. A very tranquil and harmonious feeling was present within this region which made anyone in it feel very comfortable and relaxed.


    It was as if the area surrounding the lake belonged to a world of its own. The sharp contrast between the shimmering lake and the frozen world outside was truly picturesque. It was truly a breathtaking scene. One which I had never even imagined could exist.


    I slowly made my way out of the lake as I took in the world around me. Exiting the lake I realized that my body was no longer soaked. It was as if the water had completely slipped off my body and clothes and returned to the lake.


    ¡°To think such a place existed so deep in the forest.¡±


    ¡°But I still don¡¯t understand. How can two completely different environments co-exist together like this?¡±


    ¡°Could a mage have once lived here? That should be the only possible explanation. Even so, to be able to manipulate the environment to such great lengths¡­ he must have been very strong.¡±


    Even though mages were capable of moving the natural energy around them in order to cast spells, to bend the rules of the world around them and impose their own rules over an area would require a person to reach such a high level of understanding towards the natural elements that most people would consider them gods.


    ¡°Could it have been an elf?!!!¡±


    That would make more sense. After all, elves were a race very close to nature and have even been discussed to be the most powerful race in existence. Not only are all of them gifted enviable talent in magic since birth, but they also have a very long life span. Any elf could live a minimum of 400 years without being affected by any outside factors. For a human to surpass elves in magic would be near impossible. Of course, near impossible doesn¡¯t mean it had never been done before.


    According to what the old man told me, there used to be a time period long ago where the title of being the strongest race had belonged to the humans. This was when the Ancient Royal family had been at the helm of the human race. They had acted as the sword and shield of the human race and were respected by everyone, irrespective of race. The founder of the Ancient Royal family was said to have been the strongest existence in his time period.


    I walked around the lake as I looked at all the flora and fauna around me.


    *grrraaa*


    As a fragrant scent entered my nose, my empty stomach started to grumble in protest to not being fed. The smell alone was making my mouth water so I plucked a random fruit which I assumed was edible and took a bite from it.


    ¡°----!!!!!!!!!!!¡±


    A sudden gush of flavor rushed into my mouth. Unfamiliar tastes that I had never known of started invading my mind.


    ¡°So good.¡±


    To me, whose whole taste palate had consisted of nothing more than water, dry bread and a few other things, the incredible flavor of the fruit was so overwhelming that my mind blanked out.


    As I looked at the moon which hung high up in the sky, I realized that it was already nearing midnight and I had no way of returning to the village.


    ¡°Do I even¡­ want to go back to the village? This place is much more comfortable, has food, water and for some reason¡­ It feels like home to me.¡±


    Due to the extremely pleasant and comfortable environment combined with my own exhaustion, I slowly fell asleep on a patch of grass underneath a tree without even realizing it.


    *sigh*


    ¡°It is still too early for you, young one¡­¡±