《Immortalis》


 Chapter 1 : To Me, From Me

    Death. This is the end of every living being, an obligatory passage. An unchangeable fate. And this is probably one of the biggest fears humanity has felt uniformly since the beginning of society. Even me, who thought little of death, feared it.


    I feared death a little before. Since I had to imagine myself no longer thinking. I did not have to think about anything anymore, that''s what characterizes death. Thinking about "something", no matter how weird it is, is not that difficult at the end to materialize something in your mind, but thinking about nothing is fundamentally impossible.


    I feared that, an impossible outcome that I could not think of. In the same time, I was attracted by death. The unknown always attracted me, and death was the unknown. It was also a source of liberty. Being able to free myself from my past was the greatest pleasure I could think of.


    So death was what I feared because I couldn''t think beyond that, but also because I would be unable to think, was what made me attracted to it. Yeah, I''m contradictory.


    But right now, I''m lying on the ground, bathed in my own blood. It''s dark and cold, I can''t move but at least, I can see the stars.


    My injury are bit too sever this time, I won''t make it. What a beautiful night. But what a pathetic death I am suffering. Alone in the dark, without someone to assist me in my last breath. No friends or family anymore. It''s a proper death for someone like me.


    I don''t deserve to be liked or loved during my last breath. I don''t deserve someone to cry for me. I just deserve to die alone, crying in my own blood and agony. The fact that I was gonna die wasn''t that hard to swallow, but the pain, the darkness and the loneliness made me frightened of death.


    Something that can be felt only by living it. Damn, it''s horrible.


    At a certain point, I stopped crying. I was too tired to cry anymore, but I felt something that I didn''t expected, happiness.


    All of my worries, my sadness, my story, everything that made what I am today would be irrelevant in front of death. Knowing that I could escape from my past, made me forget everything that I feared about death.


    You might be thinking that my story is a tragic one from what you''re hearing, but believe me it''s more of a comedy than anything else.


    If your life was a repetition of sadness, losses and tragedy, at some point even you would be thinking "what a fucking joke of a life I''m living". Repeat grievance again and again, and it won''t be tragedy no, it will be pure comedy, and "comedy" is a word that could depict perfectly my whole life.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    A pretty damn comedy yeah, a funny one, one that may makes the Joker even laugh, sadly there''s no one apart from myself to tell my story, how comical.


    ... Now, I can''t hear anything. I could hear before the wind rubbing in my ears, and the noises coming from my car, but now, I can''t hear anything. Ah, and I can''t feel my own wound anymore.


    In fact, I can''t feel any part of my body. I can only see what is in front of me, the stars. Hmm, not bad at all.


    I wonder what I will become after my death. Will I truly stop thinking for eternity ? If heaven and hell exist, I wonder at which point hell is terrifying. I won''t have a chance to go to heaven with what I''ve done in my life, and probably not the purgatory either, so hell seems to be the only place possible.


    But knowing how many religions there is in this world, and the many variations of heaven and hell each of it has, it became meaningless to think where I will be going and how it''s gonna be.


    After all, I could also think about the heaven of the vikings, Valhalla or the legendary Olympus for the Greeks. Right now, peoples are laughing at the absurdity of those beliefs, but maybe in a few hundred or thousands years, our current beliefs will be meaningless too.


    What am I thinking ? I''m agnostic... I think ? So why am I thinking about something I don''t give a crap about ? Yeah, I do feel interested by those subjects, but only on a sociological and psychological point, not beyond that.


    I thought I could better understand humans and their ways of thinking if I studied theirs oldest beliefs. Well, I was able to understand them better, but it has also raised his lot of question, like in science, when a question is answered, ten more are raised.


    If I had not succumbed to my desires, I could have lived a proper life. I could have a caring wife, trues friends that I could relies on, kids that would''ve called me "daddy" with care and love, and finally dying in peace with my family beside me, and a smile on my face.


    Don''t blame me for what I''ve become, blame my parent and the society for that. I thought that if I became the strongest, I could live a proper life. Everything that I sought would automatically add up in my life if I was strong enough. Even now, I still think it wasn''t unreasonable to think like that, but the process behind that outcome is beyond the capacity of every men. How naive I was. I could become one the strongest, but not the strongest.


    Ah, I should stop thinking about that. Thinking about my own naivety annoys me... Now that I think about it, where is my dear companion ? He''s the source of my nightmares, but also my oldest "friend". Well, at least, even though I hated him, I know he can''t betray me at least, unlike the others... Whatever, I don''t care anymore.


    I can''t see now, how great. There is still a few seconds before my official death I think. I feel sleepy. If god exist, I hope he can answer a few of my questions, or I will show him how beautiful my middle finger is... Yeah, maybe not that, I don''t want to suffer for eternity for such a thing, haha. Thinking about the fact that I''m not going to think anymore make me happy, that''s odd.


    ... I''m dead now I guess. I can''t hear something beside myself, nor can I see, sense or move.


    How weird, I couldn''t see something but now, I can see a light above me. It doesn''t seems to be a star. What the is going on ? I can feel my feel my arms and legs, but it''s hurt ! I can hear but very badly.


    Heaven or hell, I don''t care but please, tell me what''s above me will make me forget about my past. This is the only thing I wish. God, this is the first time I''m praying for you but if you''re here, relieve me from my past please. No matter what it is, please make sure that it is the light of my liberation...

 Chapter 2 : A New Chance on a New World

    The light became more and more dazzling, and after that, my eyesight became dark again, but I could hear what was around me, pretty much. I heard voices, but I couldn''t understand what they were saying. I felt someone taking me in their hands. Was I saved in the last minute ?


    The fact that someone was taking me in his hands didn''t shocked me that much, but the fact that his body was much larger than mine terrified me. "What the f*ck? Am I being taken by a monster or something?" I shouted in my mind. I tried to speak but I could only cry and shout. I had trouble to move my body. In a state of shock, I started to lose my consciousness...


    From now on, everything is fuzzy. I think I wake up for a few minutes a day before losing consciousness and regain it again, and so on. Time seems to pass very quickly, and the more time passes, the more I''m aware about my surrounding. I heard more and more voices and I''m able to identify them individually. I can''t understand what they''re saying, I''m fluent on a few languages such as english, spanish, and french I can recognize a few language from Africa, but I''ve never heard the language the people around me are speaking.


    Now, I can see everything in front of me in a radius of 60 centimeters. I can see, but the only colors that I can perceive are red, blue and green. Before that, I could barely see in black and white, like on those ancient T.V. I can also perceive and feel more clearly my limbs, and it was at this point that I understood what was going on. I had two explication for what was happening.


    The most simplest explanation was that I was reincarnated in a new body, and from the language they spoke, maybe another world.


    The second explanation was that I became crazy, I was saved at the last moment and that everything here is a product of my imagination. Maybe I''m dreaming, like those guys who are able to dream in a deep coma. But the pain, and everything I''m feeling around seems to prove the contrary. I''m sure at 90% percent that I''m not dreaming, but the fact that I''m in a new body, maybe in a new world, seems less likely than me dreaming in a hospital.


    I thought deeply about it, and I came to the conclusion that I was reincarnated in a new world. The reasons for why am I thinking about that is simple. First my surrounding. It seems I''m living in a little house. there is no glass window, but just wooden shutters. Much of what surrounds me is made of wood, not properly made though. The walls are made of brick, and I sleep in a small bed, which looks like an infant bed, but with shorter bars.


    The outlines of the furniture in my room are rough and it is honestly a bit cold here. If I wasn''t covered with several bed sheets, I would soon be dead from cold. I can tell that I''m not living in a luxurious place, but also not on a desolate one, a common place seems to be the good words to describe the current place I''m living in I think.


    There is no way to warm up by any futuristic means such as a heater too. I could have just blamed that by the fact that I live in a remote territory of without any futuristic means, but it''s the second fact that made me understand that I was reincarnated, my body.


    I''m clearly in the body of a baby, but more importantly, it''s the growth I made that made me understood that I''m not dreaming. First, I could see barely what is in front of me in a radius of 20 centimeters, and only in black and white. I couldn''t differentiate clearly what is in front of me, but after some time, I was able to see some object roughly of 20 millimeters that are 60 centimeters ahead of me.


    I was only able to see in white and black, and my vision was bad for an unknown reason, but then, I was able to see what was in red, green, blue and yellows, which corresponds to the evolution of the sight of a baby. My listening was perfect since the beginning too, the hearing a baby has is the sharpest sense he have when he is born. There is also the fact that I''m collapsing a lot.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    A baby sleep a lot on a day, but that does not justify the fact that I remember so little of what happens every day. My brain is probably unable to remember and process everything I''m sensing in a day, adding the fact that each times that I''m waking up, I''m thinking of a lot of things a baby would be incapable to think of too.


    The human memory is not linear, it jump across time and with the brain of a baby, it''s probably on a much larger scales than an adult, that''s why I''m feeling that time flies so fast.


    It''s already a miracle that I''m able to think that much with a brain of a baby, in my current state, my thought are probably slower than when I was an adult too I suppose...


    If I was in a dream, my mind wouldn''t be able to put me in this situation, since I can''t remember in what state I was when I was a baby, and even if I know the state a baby should be, what would have been logical then, would be thinking of myself of being a baby, while retaining all my current senses as an adult since dreaming is perceiving without being restrained by the senses, but here I am restrained by my own senses.


    Well, let''s stop thinking if what I''m seeing is real or not, since it''s technically impossible to prove at 100% that everything around me is real, let''s just assume the most convenient choice, me in an another world. With all of those information, I could deduce that I am actually a baby around five months.


    Having realized that I was reincarnated, I only felt one emotion, despair. I can''t clearly see everything around me nor of my global state, but I can clearly remember my past, the only thing that followed me in this life, and the only thing I wished to disappear is still here. I''m in a new world, with a new setting, but still with the same things that haunt me.


    Think about it, if you''re reincarnated in a new world and in a new body, how would you feel ? The fact that everything in your life, every person you''ve encountered, every happy and sad moment you lived, and every actions you made became meaningless is more terrifying than it seems.


    It''s not the fact that everything became meaningless, it''s the fact that I''m aware of that.


    Unless you saw in that a new chance to start a new and exciting life, no one should be perfectly happy in that situation. Only the most delusional, naive and the most hopeless ones would truly wish of a new beginning, detached to their world.


    What if everything in my life is gonna be the same, like in my old life ? Sins can''t be washed on a man, you either let them kill you, or you grow bigger to support them. Obviously, I seemed to be in the first case, but I revived with a new setting, but my sins are still weighing me, and now they are supposedly irrelevant since I started a new life? Bullshit.


    Peoples can''t forget their regret that easily... The environment is different indeed, but my personality doesn''t seems to have changed. Humans have the capacity to adapt on a new environment... but my case is strange enough for that rule to not apply correctly.


    No matter what you did or how you lived in your life, you will feel regret and pain at some point if you reincarnated in an another world since you''ve lost your "home" forever. And for your parents and your friends?


    How would you feel about them?


    Well, that question does not completely concern me, but I find it difficult to accept my new "parents" and simply forget my precedents. No matter how horrible they were, they loved me, but in their own way. I feel like I''m betraying them by accepting my new "parents", and betraying what is dear to me is one of the things I can''t do, it''s one of my absolute rules.


    Never betray those who are dear to you, and never be betrayed by those you trust. Trust is what really defines a family, a friend and a foe, that''s the importance they place on it.


    I can''t clearly understand what my "parents" are saying when they are talking even now. I can identify the word "mom" and "dad". I can also identify their faces, but not completely their bodies.


    My father is around 1.80 meters, he has red hair and a robust body but not enough muscular to identify him as intimidating. My mother is around 1.60 meters, with black hair and a cute face without wrinkles in contrary to my father, who has slight wrinkles on his forehead and near his eyes.


    Her faces also shines with kindness. They are white skinned too., they look like Europeans. I also could identify their names, my dad name''s is Freyley Guaris, and my mother name''s is Freyley Celia. And finally, what seems to be my name, Freyley Varos...


    I''m gonna try to identify more clearly where am I, and if I''m truly in another world or not...


    If I am truly in another world, maybe this time I will be able to change and free myself from my fate...

 Chapter 3: A Mystical World

    <div>


    A year and a few months passed quickly, I''m finally able now to move my limbs. I''m 1 year and 9 months old. I can walk, not properly but still enough to feel myself a little bit more free.


    "Varos ! Come, we''re going to the market !" My mom shouted from the living room.


    I walked quickly to my mother. Fortunately, there are no stairway between my room and the living room, I can walk but descending stairways might have been a big problem.


    Today, we''re going to the market of the village to buy vegetables.


    During the year, I learned more and more thing from the place I''m in. Now, I can confirm with certainty that I''m in a new world. I was born in the village of Kapi which is populated by approximately 150 peoples, in Ekaloda''s nation, in the continent of Magna. There are two others continents in this world, Akarlite, and Caidralle. It''s said that those names comes from the messengers of the gods.


    I quickly joined my mother, I held her hand and we went out together to the market. The village market is not huge, but is quite diversified. Today''s vegetables will be used for the meals of this week. We only eat meat once a week, meat is a luxury food in this world.


    The market isn''t far from home, in fact, the most furthest place from home while walking take around 1 hour to get there. It takes around 15 minutes to get to the market too.


    Along the way, I analyzed as always the architecture of the houses and the streets. The town look like a village of Europe from the Middle Age. We arrived quickly at the market.


    "What would you like to eat today darling?" My mother asked me tenderly.


    "Anything" I answered as always. I am not picky with food and there are only few meals that my mother can do with what we have. Or it would be more accurate to say that we can not afford to buy other seasoning for more varied dish here. We can barely eat meat once a week and on a small portion, which is almost tasteless, mixed with a breads.


    I would have liked to eat meat but meat is a luxury in this world.


    I''m still nor really aware of the environment, if the animals are similar like my old world or not or if there are magical beasts or something.


    The only animals my parents told me about is the "polam", which is the most common meat eaten here and look like chicken, and the "preglin", which is some sort of a giant rat that leave his home at night and stay near the town, and according to them, like to eat kids too... I doubt of the validity of their words, I guess they told me that to scare me and, to not make me want to leave the house.


    As always, my mother seemed a little disappointed with my response, always monotonous. A child of my age should be more daring and more active, but I always seemed to be silent and gloomy, not the shy type of kid, but rather the strange type of kid.


    While my mother bought the vegetables, my eyes were fixed on a stall where there were items. From what I''ve learned, these items are called medeis items. Medeis items, or medeis relics are objects that are built with specific materials that interact with Ki and give a unique use to the object. Ki is one of the peculiarities of this world, it resides in every humans and is present in the air. It allows to increase the senses and the strength of an individual according to what I understood.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Those who can master Ki are feared and respected in this world. I first thought of trying to learn Ki, this thing would have allowed me to reach the stage I had dreamed of all my life, an absolute strength, but I quickly gave up this idea because of a factor, my environment.


    My parents hardly know how to use Ki, and have learned to naturally use it, without external learning, which has led them to not be able to use their Ki properly. They are unable to teach me properly. In fact, they can barely use it and they can only enhance their strength a little.


    Knowing this, they do not want to teach me, since it is dangerous to teach it knowing the subject properly.


    My mother noticed that I was staring at the varian items intensively, and asked me, "Varos, again I can not buy you one of these relics, but if you want, I can buy you something else, okay ?"


    My parents are not really wealthy, they can buy me a few little goods but not beyond that. My father is an itinerant merchant and my mother don''t work and only care after me all days. She was cultivating vegetables before, but her body weakened after I was born, so she stopped.


    "No, I''ll be fine, but I want to stay out a little longer" I replied clearly.


    I am not able to speak properly, but I can clearly formulate my thoughts and express them to others with ease. I am not yet at the level of an adult in term of vocabulary, but I already exceed those having more than 4 years on it. My parents take pride knowing that I''m more intelligent than the others kids, but they are sad to see that I am interacting so little with them, and with the other kids of the village.


    Helpless, my mom decided to give up on her attempt to make me more open to my desire like a normal kid and accepted my simple request. "Fine, but you need to get home before the sun goes down, alright ?" The village is little, and my mom know nearly everyone here, if I have an issue, a villager can bring me home so she wasn''t too worried that something would happen to me. In addition, she know I''m more mature and intelligent than the other kids, so she trust me on that regard.


    I nodded and left her company. I intended, as always, to go for walk in the village. It was still the afternoon, and the sun was hanging high in the sky, without a cloud to hide it. It''s usually cold in Kapi, but today the weather is relatively pleasant.


    There is not so much to do here, so usually, I either contemplate the varian relic, or I''m posing in a quiet place, watching the interactions of the peoples around me. I always founded that interesting, even in my previous life.


    I asked before to my father if there was any library, or something similar here, but his answer was negative. The only book that I found is in my home, which is an old book who show the dynasty of our country, and praises the merits of the royal family and his achievements. Well in short, a propaganda book. I can''t read properly, so I can''t really understand the content of this book beyond it''s global message for now.


    With how well my parents are treating me, I couldn''t just brushed off their good intent. I can''t love them like my old parents, but I learned to appreciate them. That''s the best I can do for them. My goal right now is to learn more in this world, It''s the only thing that appease my sorrow and my past. The unknown in this world might be able to change me.


    As I was lost in my thought, a group of kids that I recognized came closer to me...

 Chapter 4 : A New Goal

    A group composed of children between 3 and 6 years old approached me.


    "Varos, come with us. We''re going to join the grown up and Astris, he said we should take the most peoples we can take with us" said the leader of the group, Kolt.


    "No thanks" I quickly replied, and I continued my walk


    "Stop for a second with your cold attitude, I know, you''re just intimidated by Astris right ?" said Kolt.


    Astris is the son of the leader of the village, he is 11 and receive a privileged treatment in the village. His dad is a powerful Ki master, at the realm of an Expert from what I heard. I don''t know how powerful an Expert is, but the villagers always talk about him with respect and fear.


    Without slowing down, I continued my walk.


    Kolt and his group hurriedly followed me "Hey wait ! Don''t you hear me ? Do you know why Astris is calling us ? A Knight will be coming to teach us about Ki. Astris''s father said that. He want to gather all the kids of the village".


    I stopped my steps and my interest increased. From what I understood, a Knight is a higher being than an Expert, and all the heroic tales that I''ve heard on this village mainly come from those Knight.


    If what he said is true, then it may be interesting to follow him. I know Kolt, he is only six years old, and even though he know how to lie, with his mindset, he''s unable to fool in that regard. What he said was probably true.


    "Fine, I''m following you" I said to Kolt.


    "Finally, you''re listening to me ! Come." I followed his group until I arrived to a little yard.


    The yard was near the home of Astris. It was his own territory.


    There was around thirteen kids here. They were between 4 and 15 years old. Ahead of that little crowd, was Astris. He was standing on little wooden box to stand out more on that crowd. He was 11, with curly black hair, a handsome face and a posed look.


    At his right was Favel, his best friend aged of 12. And at his left was Sana, aged of 12 and who was his girlfriend.


    The kids here were waiting for a long time I guess, from all the noises they''re making, and also from their annoyed look.


    "Astris, I brought Varos with us, can we start now ?" Kolt shouted to Astris.


    "Hm ? Yeah, we can start now" Astris gazed lazily at me before looking down again to the crowd.


    "Silence ! Astris is going to talk now" shouted Favel with all his strength.


    The crowd quickly quiet down.


    "Everyone, I have brought all of you here to announce a great news. A Knight will come to the village for the national recruitment. He will come to teach us about Ki, and the most talented of us will be able to be recruited by the nation, and serve the King in person!"


    The crowd exclaimed with surprise and joy. Knowing that a hero, a Knight will be coming to the village to teach them about Ki, which is the mean they used to become what they are, made them hysterical.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Silence !" Favel calmed down the crowd again.


    "The Knight will be coming in three years, since he is actually on a mission by the nobility, so the royality. My dad know his identity, it will the Foldrak Alex, the Green Fox. When a Knight acquire enough accomplishment or when he is highly talented, the king give him a title instead of the number he was affiliated, so the Green Fox has already his own legend !"


    The crowd was ecstatic after hearing that.


    Favel step out again, and Astris continued his speech "There are two conditions to be qualified to join the selection Knight. The first is to join the daily training that my father will implement in order to get us the best chances to impress that Knight My father only wanted to train me first, but I convinced him to train all of us, not only because it may bring us better result, but also because I want to give a chance to everyone here. The second is your absolute loyalty in me, since I will be one day the leader of this village, who are chosen by the nobility of this country. In other words, pledging your loyalty toward me is to accept the choice the nobility, who I remind you, protects us from the external and internal threats in this country. Being grateful to me is being grateful to the nobility, never forget that!"


    This kid is interesting. From what he says, his father only wanted to train a little portion of them for the arrival of the knight huh? It''s more likely that his father planned from the beginning to train every kids here, but Astris choose to say an advantageous "truth" for him, in order to sensitize the crowd.


    He''s also a pit of information. I''ve learned a few things thanks to him. So the chief of the village is not chosen by heredity as I thought, but by the orders of the nobility. But they doesn''t seems to care about who will be the chief of this village. Astris said that he will become the chief with such certainty, that he doesn''t doubt that he may not be chosen for that.


    Either his family is quite powerful, either the nobility doesn''t give a crap about the current situation of this village, and as long there''s nothing abnormal, they will just choose the next chief by heredity, and won''t considerate from an impartial point of view who might be the best to lead this village.


    I suppose that his family are the servants of a noble family, I thought that he may have been a part of the nobility, but from his speech, it''s probably not the case.


    Hmm, I need to learn more about the current hierarchical system of this country.


    The crowd listened with care to what Astris said, as if they''re watching their savior. "My duty here is to guide you with the grown up to train all of you until the coming of the Knight. I''ll do my best to lead all of you toward a better path! Because at the end of it, glory and fame will be here to greet us my friend!" Astris spoked normally at the beginning before raising his voice until the end of his speech.


    The crowd began to cheer and shout his name with awe. It''s like I''m coming out of a Beatles concert with their crazy fans ...


    Hmm, this kid is an interesting fellow. He''s already born to be a leader. The way he adjust his words to the crowd is not bad, it could be better but at his age, it''s truly a decent. If he''s not too dumb, he may be able to control someone who will become a Expert or a Knight in this crowd. And for the others, he can simply use them to live a superior life compared to others. The fact that his father is leading this village surely play a role on his personality too. He probably gave this task to his son to train him for the future, when he will be leading this town.


    I also need to know more about those "Knight". Even though I''ve heard about Ki since my birth, I''ve never truly saw a strong individual using Ki who correspond to the depiction of those legends. I know a few men in the village who possesses strength beyond the average, but not really that extraordinary too. I never saw the chief of the village using his Ki too.


    I want to participate in the training, but with my body, it''s impossible right now to train correctly my muscle. I can work on my endurance and my flexibility, but at a lesser degree for my strength.


    Now, the only question in my head is why Astris invited me with the other kids ? I''m obviously the youngest here, so why did he invite a toddle such as myself ?


    Speaking of which, his gaze was directed at me and a faint smile could been seen on his face.


    Boy, I don''t know what you''re thinking about, but it is to your interest that it is for my benefit, if you do not want to see the kind of thing that I did in my life before...

 Chapter 5 : The Dream of a Leader

    After the end of his speech, everyone started to leave in little group according to their age.


    "Guys, a Knight will really come to the village!"


    "I will train until every bones break to become a Knight in the future!"


    "Do you think he''s handsome? Maybe he''ll fall for me..."


    "Hey guys, wanna follow up a future Knight such as me?"


    ....


    As the crowd was dispatching on little groups, Astris approached me.


    "Varos, do you know why I called you today ?" He said with a gentle voice.


    "No"


    "It''s because you''re the most smartest kids I''ve saw in my life. I can see that you''ll be very talented in the future. I want to train you personally with my dad. If you follow me, I promise you glory and fame, Varos!" he said with a certain sense of duty.


    Oh, so that''s how it is. This kid saw that I was more intelligent from the other kids. He saw that I didn''t interact with them, not because of shyness, but simply because of my disinterest in them. But I can''t completly salute his intention since in the end, I might just be anunusual toddler.


    "I''ll think about it" I calmly stated.


    He probably expected me to agree without a refusal, or such a dubious answer , even though I''m more intelligent than the others, I''m still a little toddler in the end. A realistic answer coming from a kid of my age would be "yes" without hesitation. He would just need to make my eyes shine with dreams to make me accept his proposition.


    In fact, in a normal situation, I would''ve accepted his agreement. I''ve nothing to loose here. I can easily manipulate a kid of his age, and trick him to think that I''m loyal to him. But in my current state, I didn''t want to start scheming against others like in my old life, I was just too tired of it.


    I don''t want to hurt him unless it''s necessary too. Knowing more about this world make me forget about my pains, if I start again to manipulate others, my life will probably be the same as my precedent.


    Becoming a scholar, learning about the world and living a normal life might not be too bad. I want to become stronger, but from a realistic point of view, it''s better for me to live a mundane life. I still want to learn more about Ki but given my social status, I''ll probably never attain the state I''ve dreamed off.


    Astris was a bit startled after hearing my answer, but he quickly regained his composure "No problem, I can wait Varos. Call me if you need something". After that, he leaved with his two others companions.


    Well, that day was full of events. I need to think about that on a more convenient place, in other words, my home...


    ...


    At the midnight, next to a little hut, a campfire could be seen, with three kids around the fire.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    A cute little girl with silky black hair was putting her head on the shoulder of a handsome kid. That girl was Sana and in front of her was the best friend of Astris, Favel who was gazing quietly at the fire.


    "Astris, why did you say that to that brat Varos? You know that he''s creeping me out, he''s always alone, mumbling in his corner" Sana said coquettishly to Astris.


    "Don''t underestimate that kid Sana, he''s more talented that you think. He doesn''t behave like the others kids. I''ve never heard him saying something useless, if he want something that he can grasp, he say it otherwise, he refrain himself."


    "Are you sure about that? He just seems retarded for me".


    "Don''t worry, believe in me, he could be useful to us in the future".


    Favel who was quiet from the beginning began to talk "But that''s because he''s that smart that you need to be careful. He could be dangerous to us in the future, Astris".


    "I know Favel, one the most qualities that a leader needs is to be able to see what might be advantageous and disadvantageous to him and his group. If I see that he become dangerous, I''ll cut any possibilities of growth in him..."


    Astris gazed at the stars for a moment, and looked at his lover next to him, and finally at Favel and said "Doing that is not pleasant at all, but if it means to protect all of you, I''m ready to dirty my hands. Favel, Sana, we won''t stay in this village all our life, it''s just our first step. I will let you taste you how glory and fame is, in exchange, promise me to follow me forever."


    "You don''t need to say that Astris, it''s obvious that I will follow you until the end, we''re friends"


    "Astris, you''re the first and the last man I will have in my life, I''ll follow you even in death"


    Astris looked with emotions at his friends, and felt his heart becoming heavy. He smiled before saying only one word "Thanks".


    "Don''t start to cry Astris, don''t be like that crybaby Sana"


    "Hey, why did you said about me?! I stopped crying after...huh..."


    "Yeah, you''re still crying when you''re falling on the ground. It remind that time when you cried all the day because Astris leaved with his father for three days to train him in the forest..."


    "Y-Y-You! You promised to never say that in front of Astris! You big jerk!"


    As the two friends was arguing, Astris looked quietly at them, with care and joy on his face...


    ...


    "Good night Varos"


    My mother covered me with my blanket and kissed my forehead before leaving my room. My room is very basic, with only my bed, a wardrobe and a few picture books for kids. There was also a few toys in my room. When I''m bored, I play with them, beside it also help in the growth of my brain, if I keep doing nothing all the day, my intellect might lower itself.


    I need to start a few flexibility exercises from now, and I also need to learn how to run correctly too.


    I know the perfect exercises for this, I just need to adapt them to the corpulence of a toddle.


    I have to think more seriously to Astris''s proposition too. I know that I will start to scheme for my own benefit if I accept. Scheming for unimportant things doesn''t matter, but for the access of the teaching of a Knight, I will surely put more means for this.


    And those means will surely affect others in a bad way. I don''t care about what happens to them, but "you harvest what you sow", and I know that from my own experience that the setback will be painful to me...


    I became very lazy overtime since I didn''t have the opportunity to move when I was a baby, and my mother only gave me the permission to leave the home recently. Before that, I could only leave with her and rest at home.


    There are no school in this village, so things such as the basics of this world and the language are done by the parents. From time to time, the elders come to demonstrate their knowledge to the children, but it''s only for the children older than three years old, and unfortunately I have only one year and nine months at the moment.


    The calendar of this world is similar to earth, a year is a bit shorter than earth though, it last between 360 days and 361 days. The leap year happens every two year. A year has 12 month, each month last 30 days and a days goes for 24 hours.


    The names of the months are also the same from Earth.


    The seasons are also named the same here, with just a difference of what they call the Everlasting seasons. Those seasons last way more than normal, and it''s said that they can last for years


    There are two strange fact with the calendar of this world. The first is that it is too much similar to my old world, the second is that instead of adding a day in the month when it''s a leap year, they''re adding a whole new month, who only last a day,which is named Kaliveran''s December, how weird...


    I''m excited and confused in the same time on what kind of world I''m in. It''s in those moment that I would like to see that fellow, even if he''s despicable, at least, he was always with me in my most difficult times...

 Chapter 6 : Training is Starting

    Three days after Astris''s speech, the training planned by him and his father started.


    Those concerned by that are children ahead of 5 years old, and less than 17 years old. From what I understood, the reason for that choice is beyond that age, it become more harder to make progress since it require to have a good foundation at from youngest age.


    The establishment of the foundation for a Ki practitioner come more quickly if one train at the youngest age. It''s not impossible to cultivate beyond youth but it become more difficult to make progress, and has for consequences to be unable to move beyond it''s current realm.


    It''s currently the afternoon, 14 clock. We are outside of an old farm field, which has been specially designed for training. A few bench could be seen on the side of the field, and in front of the field, was the door that led inside the farm and ahead of it, was a podium made of wood and painted in white, specially made for today.


    A dozen of adult were talking near the podium, their constitutions are robust, and in that group could be seen the chief of the village, Fernandez Kozal, the only Expert of the village.


    "I''m so excited ! The chief of the village will make us Ki practitioner!"


    "If I work well, I could become a Knight and protect my mom and my sister of any problem !"


    "Guys do you know what kind of exercises we will be doing?"


    "No idea"


    The children near me are talking. They are actually a few dozens of them. They are quite excited to know that they will be trained by the chief of the village, and most importantly, that they may have a chance to be recognized and supervised by a Knight.


    They also all came in practical outfits for sport, which are simply loose clothes made of resistant fabric since they know the training will start today.


    Even though I''m near those kids, I''m not training with them since I''m too young. I''m out of the field, on the side with my mother. My father is an itinerant merchant, so he''s usually not in home. Hence, it''s my mother that fill most of my needs. Beside my mother, there is also the parents of each kids here.


    I''m actually in my mother''s arms. That act should be a bit embarrassing but in her arm, I''ve a better vision that when I''m standing up alone. Also, my appearance is that of a kid, so I don''t feel that much embarrassed in her arms.


    A few minutes later, the chief of the village climb up to the podium accompanied by a few busty adult and elders.


    "Varos, do you see that? It''s the chief of the village. I think you already saw him but not that clearly before right?" my mother whispered near my ear.


    The chief of the village is quite tall, over 1.95 at least. His body is full of power too. He''s seems to be over 40, with sharp brown eyes as well as his hair, which are very short. He wears a white shirt, with a black pant and long boot.


    Overall, I would say that the quality of his clothe are cheap, but they portray perfectly his personality, straightforward and confident of himself, with a smart side.


    He looked at the kids and then at their parents and said He looked at the kids and then at their parents and said "Welcome everyone, I''m Kozal, chief of this town. As you all know thanks to my son and assistants, a Knight will be coming in a few years train a few of your kids, but the primary reason beyond that is for the the selection of the most talented juniors of this nation. As a Knight, he will have the right to recommend and acknowledged a few children here that will have the chance to study in one of the official academies of the country, and could even become in the future a National Knight which will serve the nation.


    To prepare ourselves for his coming, we decided to train the younger generation in order to unveil their potentials. Those concerned are kids beyond 3 years old and younger than 17 years old. The goal behind it is not to find the strongest kids here, but the most talented ones. Those who are talented enough may have the chance to serve the king in person, do no forget that."


    The villagers and the kids listened with attention to his speech. Not even a fly could be heard.


    Kozal gazed carefully at them, took a long breath and began to talk again with a stronger voice "For now, the field will be divided on three part, according your ages. We will start today, the first part of the training will only be about physical and stamina enhancement."


    "Physical enhancement? But shouldn''t it be better to train the kids directly how to feel or manifest their Ki, or make them learn a few techniques?"


    "That''s right, we don''t have enough time for regular exercises chief!"


    "Chief, couldn''t you simply skip that part?"


    The parents seems to be confused and slightly disappointed by how Kozal is handling the training, and seeing the confusion of their parents, the children began at their turn to complain.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Silence!" He shouted with a powerful voice. All the noises and complains were shut. "Indeed, we will need at a moment to make them manifest their Ki but before that, we need to enhance their body first. If the body is correctly trained, then manifesting their Ki will be easier, and using it will be more proficient than if their were not trained before that. Ki is a fabulous asset that can be used by us humans, but if used incorrectly, it will be a double edged knife. If the body can''t handle it''s own Ki, it will only result of self injury".


    The crowd seemed a bit awkward and appease after hearing that.


    Seeing the crowd a bit ashamed of themselves, Kozal resumed his speech "I understand your disappointment, but we can''t precipitate the process, it''s vital for your children. I won''t be the only one to the supervise the training too, as you see, near me are a few envoys of the nobility. They are Regulars, they have great knowledge about Ki and they are here to help me to supervise this training" Kolvac said while looking at his right side and then at his left side.


    Regular? Is it a new realm? From the way Kozal is speaking about them, they doesn''t seems to be stronger than him, in fact, from their build, the way they are standing and their presences, they seems to be only a bit stronger in term of raw strength than the strongest villagers if we forget Kozal.


    The envoys nodded slightly to the crowd and smiled, letting the mass be honored by their presences.


    There is 9 of them, and they seems to be over 20 years old. Their looks are overall better than Kozal but there''s not a big differences between him and them on that point. How weird, they are supposed to have a "great knowledge" about Ki yet they seems to be only around 20, and from the way they look and they act, they look more like servants of a noble house.


    If my guess is correct, then it tells a lot about the current situation of this village...


    After presenting them, Kozal said "Well, that''s all I had to say for now. I need to deal with a few matters, so please leave all your questions to the elders of the village." After saying that, he left quickly with one of the envoys.


    The envoys and elders left the podium too then started to arrange the setting, and divided the kids depending to their ages and split them in two groups, boys and girls.


    After that, a few parents came to the elders to ask a few questions about the training. I wasn''t really interested on their answers since I''ve already Astris to help me on that. He probably know as mush as the elders.


    Near the podium, something caught my attention. I saw a few boxes, and I could see the handles of something that could be a wooden sword. I wonder how they''re gonna introduce them...


    After roughly 20 minutes, one the envoys came to the podium again and said "Hello everyone, I am Dave, I am one of the trainers and supervisors and I will introduce you what you will be doing for this month. For this month, you will be doing wrestling and racing for 10 hours in total in a day for all the month. You will also be doing a few minor exercises, that''s all." he said with a smile on his face.


    Confusion could be seen on the faces of everyone. The planning seems to be a bit "light" compared to what they expected I think. They probably expected more detailed exercise, not only those two. But knowing that the supervisor come from a noble house, they didn''t asked questions or complained about that.


    Quickly, the supervisors put in place the stage for the wrestling. They made the kids do stretching before starting the wrestling. Dave who was still on the podium explained the details.


    "Today, we will be doing only wrestling exceptionally for about 6 hours. Here are the rules. The winners is the one who end up lying in the ground. You can''t attack with your fist our your legs, you can only grab your opponent and try to make him fall. Any questions?."


    No one dared to ask a question, and beside, there was no need for one since his explanation was clear enough.


    The wrestling started slowly, with awkward moves from the kids. The instructors were only watching the fights, and said no words toward the children.


    As time goes on, more and more bruises could be seen on their faces and body. Nothing serious but still enough to make a few of them cry.


    Their moves started to be more and more slow, with more tiredness in them. Four hours passed at least, but the supervisors only said to continue.


    My mother decided to leave after an hour, she wanted to come with her at home but I refused. I wanted to see what would be the outcome of today''s training, and beside, I was bored and it was a good pastime for now, but my mother was firmly convinced to come with her at home today.


    She probably feared that I would try to come to the training ground, and be wounded accidentally in the process. But in our argument, Astris came and said to my mother that everything was fine and that he would watch.


    Relived, my mother decided to let it go and left the field. Well, Astris seems to be resolute to convince me to follow him. Whatever, I''ll think about it later.


    I''m more intrigued by the way Kozal is handling the training session, I got a clear idea on what''s going on. It''s quite simple.


    Kozal decided to make them do wrestling first to get them used to fight. Having a trained body is fine, but without experiences and courage, it''s useless. He probably want to see who will put more spirit at the end of the day than the others. After all, the whole point of his plan is a selection, where the best will have the privilege to be trained by a Knight. And the daily racing is simply here to improve their stamina.


    I thought that they will be doing first swords training, but it''s a bit dangerous for now. They''re too inexperienced, and their body are not strong enough to receive a hit from a sword, even if it''s made of wood, it''s still hard enough to break bones and even kill.


    I need to find a way to be included in the selection. I thought that living a mundane life was the best since I''m not born in the best conditions to practice ki, it would be useless in my current situation. I''m not some kind of shonen protagonist who can learn and overclass everything with his willpower, no.


    After 42 years of living, I know that everything can''t be obtained with hard work and perseverance. Social status, cultural, economic and social heritage are much stronger than what we can thought.


    They bind us to a fate almost unbreakable, success largely does not come from skills in my world, but mainly from pure luck that we assimilate for talent. And it seems to be almost the same case in this word too.


    I have a chance to break my current fate, only kids trained under the supervising of Kozal and older than 5 years will be able to get in the selection. I''m only 1 year and 9 months old and the Knight will be coming in three years, that''s not good. It''s the only opportunity for me to cultivate effectively ki, and maybe becoming what I dreamed about. And for that, the only way is to agree to Astris''s proposition...