Xiveall was standing in the middle of nowhere.
He shifted his dim amber eyes about in the rather dense black fog.
The floor was a jagged mirror, and it cracked with every step he took.
Not knowing where to go, he decided to keep on walking forward.
Crack... Crack... Crack...
A few long minutes had passed in the nothing but empty realm as he kept walking forward.
Grasping his chest as the air became harder to breathe, he staggered down to one knee.
Then, he noticed that he was suddenly bleeding like when he was stabbed earlier.
A desperate look was seen on his face as he glanced into the nothingness.
It soon became a clear fact that he was alone in this place devoid of hope.
Alone.
Die.
ALONE.
DIE.
Coughing up blood, he collapsed onto the floor and glanced at the jagged reflection.
"So this is..." Xiveall squinted his eyes, "What passing on feels like...? It sure is horrible..."
Grabbing onto what's left of his vivid consciousness, he forcefully attempted to string open his eyes for the last time.
There was but one thing left to confirm... It was his reflection in the jagged mirror... No, it... It wasn't a reflection---?
But... On the other side... That... Who is that person glaring at him...?
Out of curiosity, he raised his hand with the last ounce of his strength-
And with a weakly formed fist, smashed apart the glass.
Xiveall's vision went abruptly dark at that moment.
Something didn't allow him to perceive it any further.
He then lost himself to the feeling of falling into nothingness.
...
Expressionless and cold, there’s a girl locked away.
In the dark all alone, her form floated the pitch black.
A CENTURY LATER
(Void Sounds Transition)
A weathered chunk of mossy stone stood tall by the slightly sunken but drained forest clearing.
This stele, the 'Farewell Monument', had been long forgotten by most sentient beings, if not all, as time mercilessly passed.
There were, however, still traces of visits hence the withered flowers that were left beneath by the monument's foundation.
Perhaps due to old age, the monument had begun to fall loose as chunks of stone could be seen crumbling to its foundation.
The piece that had just fallen off revealed the monument to in fact be a hollowed enclosure, much akin to a large sarcophagus.
A greenish magic circle suddenly appeared on the monument's front, forming whirls of winds into a spherical shape.
It then burst, erupting the airspace, blowing apart the monument, and sending a vivid humanoid figure tumbling away.
Landing with their feet plowing through the soft forest floor... This reckless person was no other than Xiveall Drofganl-
WHAM! An apple tree shook as its apples fell onto the ground and rolled about beneath it.
The birds in their nest whished through the leaves as they made their way into the skies afar.
"Slamming into this tree saved me the effort."
Xiveall mumbled to himself before smiling.
Then, he caught an apple that came for his head and took a juicy bite.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
A slight flashback of how the area was ripped apart a long time ago flashed through his vision.
How long would it have taken for the trees here to grow to such a size and mention new ones?
"Hey, you... You're finally awake...!"
"A-Are you okay-!? You came flying out of that monument-!!!"
Xiveall looked up to see two people in front of him... Peasants, if going by their patchwork farm outfits.
Still a bit disoriented, he nodded slightly while checking if they had any so-called ill intent towards him.
"I wasn't looking but-" the man turned to face the woman, "You said she came flying out of the monument?"
Xiveall smiled bitterly upon realizing the fact that they mistook him for a 'she' which was not uncommon.
Fortunately, his soul-bonded tunic, pants, belt, and boot artifacts remained intact so he wasn't buck naked.
Back then, when delving into ruins to find relics and artifacts to fight the demons, Xiveall found those.
They were able to be summoned and recalled at will... It was a rather convenient function for clothes.
And if they were to be destroyed, he can rebuild them with magic... Still, they were very plain clothes.
After all, when fighting demons, most people would have their beloved clothes torn to shreds... Ack.
Especially if it came to women, they just had to get used to having their skin exposed once in a while!
Thus, Xiveall shed a slight tear as he cherished and remembered the times he wasn't naked, unlike the others!
"H-Hey, w-why is she crying-!?"
"I think... She's the Saint of Hope's reincarnation-! Wait, was the Saint, not a dude-!? Well, he did look a bit girly...?"
Right then, Xiveall held back his urge to pummel the male villager into oblivion but simply smiled at the remark.
"Does that matter-!? Let's go back and tell this to the others... Maybe we'll finally get an excuse to visit the capital cities-"
BZZZT!
The two unsuspecting villagers convulsed down to the ground after receiving the unstable lightning magic extruding from Xiveall.
Casually lifting the paralyzed two onto his shoulders, Xiveall walked over to the crumbled monument to rest them down.
Shortly after, a large chunk of rubble Xiveall lifted above his head had overshadowed the villagers' despaired faces.
SPLAT.
"Sorry... I..." he clenched his fists, "I just want to try and lead a peaceful life from now on."
Xiveall gave a slight glance at the bloodied 'offerings' squashed beneath the monument's rubble before walking away from it.
He proceeded to extrude his mana and bounce it back, scanning the nearby surroundings to check for any possible snoopers.
The magical force which expanded a rather wide radius pinged multiple times onto various creatures before warping back.
There were only indiscriminate animals and non-intelligent magical beasts roaming in the nearby area where he was.
It was easy to determine this because less intelligent beings extrude their magical power on whims via animal instinct.
To simplify, a sentient being attempting to remain hidden would keep its presence in check and give off a different vibe.
Anyways, let us visualize the situation for a bit.
Freshly summoned, filled with naive and visionary goals.
A brave new world...? Let's make those dreams real!
A capable someone who was suddenly betrayed.
What did I 'personally' do to deserve this-!? Aaaaaa-!?
Will they walk the noble path for the greater good?
As if one has that kind of time in their life-
Then... Why not just forsake it all for revenge?
What? Torment whose grandchildren? Nah.
How about an attempt to settle down peacefully?
This is... Yes, the ultimate common sense, no?
"Listen, why not take a bath before all of that?"
Xiveall interrupted those ridiculous thoughts and let out a sigh before continuing to walk ahead.
He strayed off into the forest before finding a small waterway to follow upstream. It led him to a source deep within the shrouded forest.
After cautiously checking the nearby vicinity once again, he approached the beautiful pond-like area with a calm waterfall running outback.
The rugged magical pants and belts that had been worn through many occasions and bloody battles were thrown off and dissipated.
He then kicked off his magical boots, which also shimmered away, and lifted the oversized tunic whilst preparing to recall it, but paused-
"Wait, oversized tunic?" he raised an eyebrow and looked downwards.
...
...
...
"Ah... So, is this the price of avoiding death...?"