When I woke, the world was still swaying.
My head throbbed with every heartbeat, a dull ache pulsing where the bandit's hilt had struck. The faint smell of smoke and damp wood filled my nose. I blinked groggily, trying to sit up.
Rough wooden walls. A narrow table. A half-broken chair. I was lying on a mat made of straw, my wrists loosely bound with rope. The air was cold, the light dim filtering through a cracked window where the wind moaned softly.
I wasn't dead. But I wasn't free, either.
The hawk man's voice came from somewhere behind me."Finally awake, are we?"
I stiffened. He stood by the doorway, arms crossed, a crude grin plastered on his face. His armor was scratched and half-burnt, probably from the battle. The massive hawk perched outside, its amber eyes unblinking as it preened its feathers.
"Wh… where am I?" I asked, voice trembling despite myself.
He shrugged. "Middle of nowhere. My hideout. Don't bother shouting no one's coming."
He turned away for a moment, rummaging through a wooden chest.That was my chance.
I twisted my wrists hard, the ropes scraping my skin, and in one desperate jerk, they loosened. My heart pounded as I quietly rose to my feet. The hawk tilted its head, but the man's back was still turned.
I bolted.
The chair toppled behind me as I dashed through the narrow doorway, sunlight stabbing my eyes. My legs carried me before thought could catch up. I ran past the hawk's screech, past the smell of smoke and dust, past the echoes of my own gasping breath.
"Hey! You little brat!" the man's voice roared from behind. "Get back here!"
The forest trembled with the sound of pursuit. Leaves rustled violently as a young boy sprinted through the trees, breath ragged, heart hammering against his ribs. His small boots splashed through puddles of mud, each step echoing desperation.
Behind him, the ground quaked with heavy thuds and guttural growls. The scent of blood and damp earth filled the air.
"Not again!" the boy gasped, looking back just in time to see the monstrous shapes breaking through the underbrush.
Their bodies were covered in dark, jagged fur that shimmered faintly with crimson light. Their eyes glowed like molten embers. They looked like wolves if wolves had twice the size, six legs, and jaws strong enough to crush stone.
The boy darted between two thick trees, panting, mind racing.He could feel their hot breath on his neck. One of the beasts lunged, its massive shadow blotting out the moonlight above him.
He twisted to the side at the last second.
The monster's claws shredded through a tree trunk instead, sending splinters flying.
"Now!" he shouted.
His feet slammed against a patch of grass and a faint click echoed beneath it.
The ground gave way.The creature roared as it plummeted into the hidden pit below, impaling itself on the sharpened wooden stakes inside. The other beasts skidded to a halt, snarling, their red eyes flicking toward the fallen one.
The boy stumbled back, chest heaving, and dropped onto one knee.
Sweat ran down his dirty cheek as he exhaled slowly, forcing his breathing to steady.
"I knew that trap would work," he muttered under his breath, smirking faintly. "Good thing I set it last night."
He wiped his forehead and looked at the remaining monsters watching him from afar. They growled but did not advance. The air was tense he could feel their hunger and rage yet for some reason, they backed away, retreating into the shadows of the forest.
The boy stayed still until their growls disappeared completely. Only then did he allow himself to breathe again.
His name was Virel Ludin.
He looked down at his small hands. They were still trembling from adrenaline, but his grip was steady. His body was that of a boy, barely six, yet his movements, instincts, and calmness were that of a warrior.
A faint sigh escaped his lips. "So this is my new life, huh?"
He leaned against a tree, exhaustion washing over him as his eyes lifted toward the fading sunlight. The sky between the canopy was painted gold and red, streaked with drifting clouds. Somewhere above, birds sang a strange contrast to the blood and chaos moments ago.
It had been two weeks since he'd escape from the hawk man.He remembered the final moments of his past life vividly: the clash of blades, the cries of soldiers, the smell of iron and smoke. He had been known as a Swordmaster, one of the youngest in his kingdom a man whose sword could cut through stone and air alike.
He had died in battle, surrounded by enemies, standing to the end.There was no regret in that death… but when he woke again, it wasn't in heaven or hell. It was here in the middle of a monster-infested forest, in the fragile body of a child.
"If not for my instincts," he murmured, brushing dirt from his torn clothes, "I'd have died a hundred times by now."
His lips curved into a tired smile. "Guess some habits never fade."
He turned, ready to head back toward the small camp he had built near a river a safe spot he'd reinforced with traps and sharpened branches. His body ached, but he had food to cook and wounds to clean.
As he started walking, a faint wind swept through the forest.
It was quiet at first too quiet.
Virel Ludin froze.
His instincts screamed.
He dropped to a crouch instantly, hand brushing against a small knife he'd tied to his leg.
A heartbeat later, the ground behind him exploded.
"What?!"
A massive clawed hand burst from the earth, slamming into his side before he could dodge. The impact sent him flying backward, crashing through bushes and into a tree. Pain rippled through his body like lightning.
He coughed, tasting blood. "Another one…?! I didn't sense it!"
The creature that emerged from the ground was unlike the others.
It was taller than any beast he had seen so far a humanoid monster, its body made of blackened bark and pulsing veins of red light. Its face was a cracked wooden mask with a hole where its mouth should be. Steam hissed from its shoulders as it growled, low and guttural.
Virel forced himself up, staggering slightly. "You're not just some wild beast…"
The monster roared, shaking the air around them. Its claws slammed against the ground, and in an instant, it lunged.
Virel dodged to the side, barely avoiding the swipe that split the earth open where he'd stood. He grabbed a fallen branch, holding it like a sword.
His eyes narrowed, his breathing slowed calm, measured. Even without a real blade, his stance was flawless. His aura shifted; his killing intent leaked unconsciously.
Old habits die hard.
The monster growled and attacked again, faster this time. Virel sidestepped and swung his makeshift weapon. The wood cracked against the creature's arm doing almost nothing, but it bought him a second. He stepped in, twisting his body to drive a kick into its chest.
The impact made the beast stumble, but only barely.
"Damn… this body's still too weak."
The monster's hand shot forward like lightning, grabbing his arm. Before Virel could react, it swung him with brute force, slamming him into the ground. The breath was knocked out of him as pain exploded across his ribs.
He rolled, coughing, forcing himself to move before the next strike came.
But the next strike never came because the ground beneath him crumbled.
Virel's eyes widened. "You've got to be!"
The cliff edge gave way.
He fell.
Wind roared past his ears, trees flashing by as the world spun. He reached out, trying to grab anything a branch, a rock but the surface was slick with moss and dirt. His body slammed against the cliff wall, scraping his arm, before he plunged into darkness below.
The world became nothing but blinding light.I felt weightless, as though I were being stretched across the sky itself. The glow from my mother's crystal, the mana crackling around my father, the screams of bandits they all dissolved into a deafening silence.
Then came the drop.
Gravity slammed into me like a freight train.
"AAHHH!" I screamed, flailing uselessly as I plummeted from what must have been hundreds of meters in the air. My tiny body a five-year-old shellstruggled against the wind, arms flailing, wooden sword discarded and useless. The air rushed past me with a shrill whistle, tugging at my clothes, my hair, even the skin of my face.
The first trees tore through me. Branches ripped at my jacket and hair, scraping raw scratches across my arms and legs. My vision blurred from blood and adrenaline, but I twisted midair, letting the momentum carry me through the branches instead of against them.
CRUNCH!
My left shoulder slammed into a thick branch, snapping it like a twig. Pain shot down my arm, white-hot and searing. I gritted my teeth, tasting copper in my mouth. Another tree barked at me, knocking me sideways. Leaves and debris stung my eyes.
Finally, the ground rushed up to meet me. I braced as best as I couldbut there was no saving it.
THUD!
I hit with a bone-shaking crash, rolling over once and sliding a few meters along the dirt. Rocks dug into my back, roots twisted painfully under my knees, and my head felt like it had been struck by a hammer. I coughed, spat dirt from my mouth, and tried to pull myself upright. Every muscle screamed in agony, every joint protested with fire, but… I was alive.
The forest around me was dense. Towering trees blocked the sunlight, their leaves whispering in the wind. My body ached with every movement. Branches tore my clothes further, leaving my tiny limbs scratched and bleeding. My breathing was ragged, lungs burning. I felt disoriented where am I?
A faint glow from the sky flickered through the canopy above. It wasn't the crystal's warm light anymore. The teleportation had failed or rather, it had succeeded too violently, scattering us across the world. I wasn't with my family. I wasn't with my friends. I was… alone.
I collapsed against a tree trunk, knees pulled to my chest. My mind raced. My father's voice. My mother's glowing hands. Lyra and Ronan fighting. The bandit leader screaming orders… and then the flash, the surge of light, and the fall.
Pain radiated through every part of me, but the more I tried to stand, the more I realized something else the world itself seemed strange. The forest wasn't like any I had studied on our route. The air was heavier, colder. A faint, pungent scent of moss and decay lingered, something almost… unnatural.
I had only a moment to catch my breath before the memories came.
The world of Kael.
The life I had once lived, before becoming Virel, before this reincarnation into a five-year-old shell. The memories surged like a tide, sharp and unrelenting. I saw the battlefield where I had a battle, steel clashing against steel, fire burning through villages, screams of allies and enemies alike. I remembered the fear, the loss, the desperation that had filled every waking moment of my final life.
I remembered his hands the hands of Kael coated in blood, clutching the hilt of a sword that felt heavier than life itself. I remembered the betrayal, the faces of friends turned foes, and the taste of ashes in my mouth as the world crumbled around me.
And then… I remembered dying.
The darkness swallowing me, the pain fading into nothing, and the strange serenity that followed. I had thought it was the end. But somehow, that death had been only a door… a transition into this life. Into this fragile, broken body called Virel Ludin.
The forest seemed to echo the memories. The branches scraped my face, the dirt under my fingers, the smell of wet earth it all blended with the past, twisting Kael's world with this one. I felt an odd kinship with the wilderness. It didn't care about age or strength or even life itself. It simply existed. And in it, I realized… I could survive.
A low groan escaped me as I tried to move again. My arms trembled from the fall, every joint aching. My head throbbed painfully. Yet, deep inside, Kael's memories reminded me of one lesson: pain is temporary, but will is eternal.
I forced myself to push off the tree, legs shaking as I staggered forward. Broken branches and gnarled roots tore at my feet, but I forced each step, each gasp, reminding myself that I wasn't Kael anymore not entirely. I was Virel. Small, fragile, but armed with knowledge that few children could ever hope to hold.
"Think… think," I muttered to myself through clenched teeth. "The fall… the magic… if I can understand this forest, I can survive. I can find them."
The memory of my father's voice thundered in my ears again. "Protect your mother. Protect the baby. You'll catch up after this." That echo strengthened me. Even though I was far from them, lost in a forest that might as well have been another world, I carried that trust with me.
My body finally collapsed onto the ground once more, exhausted, limbs trembling, but my mind was sharper than it had been in years. I remembered Kael's strategy, Kael's training, Kael's resolve and I combined it with Virel's knowledge of mana manipulation, side steps, and the small spells I could already manage.
Slowly, painfully, I opened my eyes fully. The forest stretched endlessly, shadows twisting in the corners of my vision. The smell of wet soil filled my nose, the faint rustle of leaves whispering secrets I could not yet understand.
And in that moment of pain, confusion, and newfound awareness… I knew one thing.
I was alive.
And I would survive.
I forced a shaky breath, wiping blood and dirt from my face. My hand brushed against the hilt of my broken wooden sword, the remnant of a weapon that had once been useless but now symbolized something. A beginning. A chance. A fight yet to be fought.
Kael's memories faded slowly, leaving only the echo of lessons learned. But I could feel them inside me, fused with Virel's young body. And though my body hurt, my mind was clear.
I opened my eyes again, focusing on the forest before me. It was strange, dangerous, and alien… but it was mine now.
I had fallen from the sky, slammed into trees, and crushed into the ground. But I had survived.
And this time, I wasn't just Kael.
I was Virel Ludin.