Chapter 3 - Simplicity and Complexity

"Zemshee, I'm so glad you're alright!" Said the lady with sincere emotion in her voice. Though he couldn't see her directly as they were hugging, if he could, he would see tears welling up on the sides of her eyes. Not tears of sorrow or sadness, but happiness.

While hugging back, he realized he could now understand her, he knew this was a possibility, but wasn't sure until now, a surprise to say the least. He also realized whether or not he liked it, to an extent, he cared about this lady as if she was family. He couldn't find it within himself to tell her that he wasn't the Zemshee she once knew.

He always knew memory transfers were a thing, but he never did one to this extent until now. He could feel every emotion within every memory he gained. He could truly understand them and the thought behind them. He also felt strange to an extent too, why was he sent here, to this specific body. Isn't this a little too coincidental? He thought 'Our fates coincide and our lives intertwined, even our names are the same.' His thoughts couldn't help but wander back to the strange lady in the white light.

Even though he couldn't remember what they talked about or how she appeared, he felt a strange connection to her. He couldn't quite put his hands on why though. The new memories he's gained, the body he's in, just what did they talk about?

He pondered on just that thought for a little while, then put it in the back of his mind as he had not even a clue to what happened in there besides the first few words.

Before he knew it, the hug was over. She glanced at him meaningfully for a few seconds before saying sincerely, "Nephew, please never do something like that again, I was worrying forever!"

"Aunty Shelee…" He couldn't help but be a bit touched by his aunties' words.

The last part of her sentence then registered in his head a second time. He continued in a concerned tone, "Forever? How long was I out for?"

She went silent for a few more seconds before responding, "You really exhausted your body, you're lucky you didn't die. You were in a coma for two months or so. You're lucky the village chief was there, or even we don't know what would have happened."

'Out for two months?' He couldn't help but inwardly frown, trying his best to not have a depressing expression on his face outward, but it showed to an extent.

She didn't comment on his expression, she knew it was a lot to take in and just continued to let him sort his thoughts.

'The village chief?' Looking back on the memories that he gained, a middle-aged man came to mind. Thinking about it, that did seem to be the most likely scenario. He was guessing that if this magical blanket was anybody's it would be his, even if he didn't lend him this, he already had a favorable impression the guy from the fact that he helped him and his memories of him.

"So, is this his blanket?" He asked.

She knew he probably had a lot of questions, so she prepared herself and tried to put on a strong facial expression.

"Yes" She said.

"What happened after the village chief did his best to heal me?" He asked again.

"He brought you to me, I took care of you." She said once again.

"You… you… you let me eat some of your food? What about you?"

"Do not worry about me, I'm not starving." She said in a calming voice.

She couldn't help but inwardly sigh, his parents told no one that they were starving and needed help, she guessed that they didn't want to intrude and take others food considering food here is so scarce right now. She just wished that they would have asked for help, this way, they could have both tried to figure out a solution.

"Are you sure?" He couldn't help but have his doubts, considering this is what this body's previous owner's parents said.

She proceeded to take out a bag of food from a box on the table to the right of him, it had a bunch of different food, diverse and not.

"Where did you get this?" He asked again doubtfully.

"The chief, he went to one of the main cities and pulled some strings. I feel to an extent, he feels somewhat responsible. I, him, everyone, we all didn't see that your parents were starving themselves."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He couldn't help but be touched again by this in his heart, something like this food was nothing to him in his past life, but right now, it was everything.

She continued, "Even if we all look haggard, we're all a tight-knit group. We all care for each other and that's how we've survived as long as we have. We're all family. If you ever need anything, don't feel scared to come to me for help."

It was at this point that he could see the sad and sorrowfulness in his aunties' eyes even if she didn't show it on her face. He knew that inside, she was also hurting, a lot. He couldn't help but think of all the things he took for granted in his past life. These people were humans like him, sharing in emotions and intelligence and yet, they could barely make ends meet, this made him mad inside. He tried not to show it on his face though.

He didn't want to see her sad, so he tried to liven the atmosphere by chuckling a little bit before saying, "Through thick and thin, hardships and sorrows, just as you are there for me, I will be there for you. Together, we will all reinforce each other to make it through to the end."

She couldn't help but laugh at the comment considering how cheesy it sounded coming from a 10-year-old boy. Still, surprised inwardly, she couldn't help but wonder was this always the mischievous brat that she always knew?

She stared at him deeply with a loving face for a little while after laughing before saying, "I'm glad that you are so smart, one day, you will make it to big places, don't let us hold you back, just always remember your origin and remember to visit!" She said in a caring/loving tone.

They continued to talk for a long time. After talking for around an hour, she proceeded to say, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the village chief asked to speak with you once you are healed. Perhaps in a day or two, you should go talk to him"

"Did he? Any idea on what he wanted to speak about?" He asked.

"No, he just said that he wanted to talk to you"

The proceeded to talk a little bit more before wrapping the conversation up. He decided to go rest again to let his wounds heal more.

*****

One week later after the coma on an early morning…

"Aunty, bye now, I'm going to go look for food for a bit"

"Ok, be safe out there! Also, didn't you say you were going to visit the village chief days ago?"

"I will, at some point." He said as he was already outside the door walking.

He knew his aunt still had food from the village chief, but he didn't want to just eat it all, if it was all gone, then what? Currently, the harvests were bad and he didn't want to take food from the other villagers who were nearly starving as well. He knew someone probably did something to the crops, but he didn't know exactly why or who. He neither had the strength or a constant food source to investigate the matter himself.

The previous body owner used to look for food, so nobody found this weird at all. But being a new him, and with all his other memories, he had a wealth of knowledge in many fields. Coincidentally, he knew a lot about forests. So the only thing that changed in him looking for food is the fact that he usually is able to find and get a lot more compared to before. Not too far away from the village, there was a relatively small forest, that's where the previous body owner went to before and that's where he'll be going too now.

'Judging by the memories I obtained, this forest should be relatively safe.' He thought to himself and proceeded toward the forest. He knew that there would probably be spirit beasts here, but he didn't think that there would be many or that they would attack him. The village was not too far away, and he knew that it wasn't just himself that has traveled here in the past, and currently, no one has been hurt. Not that he knew of at least, so he didn’t expect much.

The village was located on a massive plain. These small forests were scattered randomly among this plain, this being one of them.

Even if he didn't expect danger and thought that he would be relatively safe, he was still on guard. If something unexpected happened, he was just a weak boy so what could he do? He was to be cautious and calculative, the best defense, in this case, was to prevent something from happening. He was going to use his memories to find berries among other food sources while consciously trying to avoid angering any wildlife. He also didn't plan to go too far into the forest just in case something did happen.

If he did have any fear at all, it would be not being able to control his own fate or protect the ones he loves. He wasn't going to lock himself or the ones he loves up to do that though. He wanted to be free and to do that you need power. In this world, power is everything. The one question he couldn't help but ask himself since he died was, "What if I was stronger? What if I was one realm higher?"

Arriving at the forest, he had his thoughts clear on what exactly he was going to do and how. He didn't over worry himself with the anxiousness of what could happen. He was perfectly calm and collected.

Wondering through the outer edges, he proceeded to look for berries among a few other food sources. He wasn't fast nor slow. He made sure to be careful around any holes in the ground and trees or nests. After a while, he eventually found some non-poisonous berries. After he found the first set of berries he couldn't help but admire the simplicity of this all in all. In the past, everything was so complicated, everything he did, everyone he trusted. 'This is so simple and calming, the pleasant atmosphere in the forest and the nice stroll to get here. It's been a long time since I've felt like this.' He sighed. In a sense, this was nice, but he knew this wouldn't last long in his heart.

Basking in the sunlight that shown through the trees, he stayed and felt the warmth for a few seconds while sorting his thoughts. He continued to search for food for a while afterward. Overall, he found a variety of foods, mainly berries though as they were the easiest to find. Having completed what he went there to do, he couldn't help but feel relieved inwardly that nothing dangerous happened. Breathing in, he could smell the fresh air. It was simple, it was nice. He proceeded to look in the direction of his village and started walking.