Shoba POV

The shards of memories finally stopped falling. And a delirious Shoba struggled to keep his sanity in check, forced to simply sit there, frozen in the gentle breaths of this strange agonizing, and yet airily blissful feeling. In time the graceful sounds of his gentle breaths became somewhat of a comfort. Until he steadily found clarity.

With time, he managed to suppress the overwhelming sadness swelling within his heart, he forcefully shut his two eyes and scrunched the clothes against his torso tightly in response to the weighted anxiety sitting against his chest. Shoba remembered his Dad's voice, guiding him through breathing exercises during times he felt overwhelmed by stress. What Shoba felt difficult to understand was whether or not these anxieties were from himself or because of this boy he now inhabited, Raito Suta. This anxiousness was uneasy but he found his centerpiece after remembering the face of his Dad, he was calm and buried the weight of emotions deep into a bottomless pit of darkness.

Shoba had long ago discovered the best way to cope with his tumultuous emotions was to conceal them. If it were possible, he would have torn them completely from his chest and cast them far away. However, he recognized the impracticality of such actions, given he grew to understand emotions were far from simple. What he needed was to regain mental stability and concentrate on the immediate situation. Wiping the unsteady warm tears away from his eyes again. He attempted to piece together a rational and stable thought.

"M-Mom always told me to face my fears, not to be overwhelmed by my emotions. She was right. Now is not the time to succumb to despair. I need to...* Sniffle * to figure out what to do next.' Shoba

But first, where am I?"

He surveyed his surroundings with renewed clarity, the sudden bout of nausea which had unleashed a flood of voices and memories also brought a sounding voice back to his mind. The fragmented visions of that mysterious figure shrouded in enigma and dark promises began to coalesce into his consciousness.

'That fishbowl head wasn't lying then… I...I have really...awoken in an entirely new world.'

The sheer thought of that was heavy enough to ruin his entire day, Shoba took a deep breath whilst closing his eyes again. He needed a little more time to steady what this all meant.

Once he finally opened his eyelids he carefully observed his surroundings a little more, finding himself seated on a solitary hill. Where a majestic oak tree loomed behind him, its cooling shade was a welcome relief to the blazing warmth, the tree itself towered mightily into the air, adorned with sleek silvery leaves gathered at the top.

Within that moment, he remembered the most crucial aspect of this transmigration.

He began to examine his new body—had he become a child? His skin was a dark brown, and his body was slight and bony. Raising his hands, Shoba touched his features, feeling the weight of his head and the coarse twisted dreadlocks that fell from his scalp like a wild mane.

Pulling at one of the locks, he lightly gasped upon seeing its electric pink color.

"Well... this is certainly different," he muttered with surprise beneath his breath.

Aside from his youthful appearance and unique hairstyle, Shoba was still discerning the differences between the two worlds. Fortunately, he remained human, devoid of any sort of horns, weird scales, or worst case a tail. A gentle sigh of relief exhaled away in response.

He finally allowed his small frame to relax back onto the warm prickly grass layered beneath him, his thoughts swirling with an endless gambit of memories and nightmares. And only one pressing question lingered on the tip of his thoughts.

'Have I died?'

He traced the outline of his nose with his fingers, gazing into the vast expanse of azure above, the clouds had melted away leaving behind a sea of blue covering the entire skyward as far as he could see. Despite the beautiful ambiance, he couldn't dispel the sensation clinging to him from beforehand, when he felt life ebbing away from his body, whilst he desperately choked on his blood.

'Yeah...that was death alright. But...it also wasn't?'

According to what Helvetios had told him, this was an entirely new world, incredibly different from Earth. Along with this world and earth, there were supposedly many other worlds once connected v via some kind of divine road of gold. Until...

'Some so-called guardian was killed, what was he called again...the fish...yeah the fisherman?'

"Tsk! This is crazy talk, what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

A cold shiver ran through his body again, reliving those memories of both his Mom and Ringo. Pain and sadness, and then fear. Shoba winced and was forced into caressing the side of his head throbbing in slight pain.

"I should listen to his advice, learn about this world quickly, get stronger, and then begin my search for my family.' He arrived at that probable thought. He understood there was so much he didn't understand right now. And the worst outcome would be to dwell on these matters.

Unconsciously, he clenched his small fists tightly, his knuckles whitening with the force.

'Strength...I need strength...I...I have to become stronger, I need to find my family and leave this god-forsaken place.'

A chilly wind swept through his childlike body and he shuddered involuntarily because of it. Shoba heard a cluster of leaves being forcefully carried away from the jade hills. He turned towards the area of disturbance beside the tall oak in haste. His brow lifted noticing a delicate-looking shadow moving around the tree in a failed attempt to hide herself away.

He narrowed his eyes a little, there was no use still hiding since he had already seen her he thought to himself.

Just when his mouth was poised to open, a memory filled his mind as though a droplet from a forgotten past had fallen into the sea of his consciousness. Shoba's brows arched before his brows loosened.

"D-d-demoria…" a name crept away from his lips.

The figure behind the tree seemed to respond to his voice and swiftly jumped away from the shadows of the towering oak. She stood with her bony arms placed against her hips.

"Ahaha took you long enough Suta!" A childish voice erupted out from a slim olive-faced little girl. She carried strikingly long dark blue silk-like hair reaching her hips. She was clothed in a pretty summer dress, with knee-high socks and a fashionable belt tied around her waist. She waltzed across the space between her and the speechless Shoba, still reeling from the strange feeling of remembering a memory he held no idea remembrance of ever living.

He made a soft ah sound before he slapped his forehead.

'I almost forgot…I'm no longer Shoba from Earth I guess…but this new body...Raito Suta I recall.'

Recalling his earlier interaction with those fellows back on the carriage. He held out his hand and focused intently as he called upon that badge again. For some reason, Suta felt less worried about performing those actions to conjure his badge.

{ Name : Raito Suta}

{ Age : 16 }

‎ { Race : Human }

‎ { Rank : E }

‎ { Skillset : ????? }

‎ { Affinity : ??? ? }

‎ { Status : Partial Memory lock by divine grace, *Dispelling Ward Currently Active* }

'Alright- alright, conjuring this badge feels kinda cool I'd admit. Ra-i-to S-u-t-a, and he's only a few years younger than I am. Also...something's changed

Whilst basking in the sight of the floating dark badge, he noticed a slight change in the status section. 'Partial lock? a-and what's this thing about a Dispelling ward?' He made a frown as he spoke inwardly to himself. Now that he thought about it deeply, weren't his memories returned the moment he took a foot over that strange blueish slime? Almost as though the illusionary fog had been lifted the moment he stepped foot onto these pastures.

'Dispelling ward? dispelling Ward...maybe some kind of strange spatial effect? Similar to those RPG games almost.'

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Suta didn't think his assumption was too far off the truth. Especially when there was an active method for summoning his stats and powers. There was certainly a strange trend of roleplaying game elements from this world

'There's something strange about this place, that just confirms it.'

"Ah! Suta! Y-your badge's gone strange!" The little girl voiced loud enough to shake him free from his thoughts.

"Why's it turned that color for?" He jumped slightly away from her, only now realizing the cute little girl had brought her face dangerously close to his own.

'She smells...nice. W-wait what the hell am I thinking about.'

Shoba shook his head from side to side in a bid to cast away the improper thoughts. Meanwhile, the girl continued.

"Hmmm, tell me what happened once you underwent that poxy wakening ceremony? They didn't do anything strange to you, did they? You better tell me if they did and we can get Granny Baba to deal with them"

Shoba remained seated on the grass, observing this little girl scrutinizing her eyes across every visible inch of his body with her little fists tightly clenched.

'So I was right, my badge color is quite ominous compared to what everyone else should look like. This meant either something happened to me after the transmigration, or... this S-suta fellow was more strange than I first thought.'

Already his almost uniquely gifted mind was structuring and deciphering the mysteries with the little information he was given. One thing Shoba would always do in the face of disaster or difficulty was to think, to think deeply in order to unveil the hidden truths.

'I should start getting into the habit of accepting my name though. Hmm, that reminds me.'

"H-hey...Demoria, c-can you show me your badge please?" his voice shyly croaked out much to his slight dismay. His voice was different, a little more childish with a strange accent to it. Unconsciously Shoba ended up touching his lips with an empty wonder glazed across his stare.

'Even my voice sounds different.'

Demoria tilted her head to one side with slightly vacant eyes as though she was looking at an idiot. Her uncomfortable gaze left Shoba unsure where to place his gaze next, wondering if he had said something wrong.

"W-what's the matter?" He cleared his throat still slightly subconscious that somehow his voice followed him into this new world.

'Was I not supposed to ask? is it rude? or is that not what Suta would've done? Damn! I don't know if I'm overthinking it or not thinking enough.'

"I mean sure... but this is the first time you've asked to see it Suta. Hmmm, You usually don't care about all that stuff." Her eyes carried a small hint of curiosity, Shoba tensed up a little, sensing she was pondering things.

'Crap! crap! Crap! I messed up, if its not what suta would usually do then she'll become suspicious. I need be mindful of all of this. Who knows what could happen if im discovered to be the fake Suta. '

"Don't feel too down though, Granny said my talent is one in a million heh-eh-heh but here, take a look." The little girl held out her dainty palm, and after a few blinks a surge of glittering white particles converged into existence. After the dazzling display ceased, Shoba watched intently that all too familiar badge being conjured into existence again.

However...

'Wait! Why does her badge look so...gold?' He thought to himself

Once the badge had finally materialized. Shoba was given yet another surprise with his eyes scanning across the contents.

[ Name : Hirulga Demoria

{ Age: 17}

‎ { Race: Human }

‎ { Rank : S }

‎ { Skillset: Rihoara Hand to Hand style, Blur, Serpentine Style: Air Walk, Ogre's Berserker Form: First phase Great Punch}

‎ { Affinity : Water & Ice}

‎ { Status : * Dispelling Ward Currently Active *}

'No-no way...she's an S rank!'

***

Shoba couldn't quite believe it. So far, he had seen two individuals with S-ranked capabilities.

"First, there was that cocky kid Estran, and now Demoria. She must possess extraordinary talent, judging by her skillset, which already seems quite advanced for someone so young.' Judging by the amount of skills, Suta knew she wasn't so simple. He was still trying to grasp the intricacies of the power system in this new world, yet he found it puzzling why the old man had seemed the most threatening to him.

"Could it be related to their skills? The more skills you possess and the greater your experience, the stronger you become. But if that's true, why have a ranking system at all? There seems to be more to it than meets the eye."

Shoba had a feeling that there was something deeper concerning the badges. The ranking system had noticeable flaws to it, meeting those three individuals on the carriage was proof. If he hadn't seen it first hand just how strong they were. He might've believed that anyone below A rank would be weak.

'But that was far from the truth. Those fellows were strong, very strong I might add. Which could only mean the awakening process and selection by that so-called Goddess has a clause to it. Or something else they are looking for within people. It can't be just age, since why would they need to summon everyone to take it then?

His thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the voice of the loud girl jumping around him

"Granny was right. Your sensory skills are laughable. I was observing you for a good two hours before you even noticed," Demoria remarked with a brusque tone, yet Shoba could sense a certain warmth toward him in her striking, oval-shaped amber eyes. Despite her being 17, there was a youthful and slightly mature look about her, a trait Shoba found he shared in his current form.

"Perhaps everyone here just looks younger, this strangely reminds me of some famous webtoons and RPG games I once played. The similarities are too frightening to ignore.'

"Why are you gazing at me like that? Still, lost in a dream? Or have you finally acknowledged my beauty? Ara! Suta don't fall in love now, a formidable woman such as myself requires an even stronger companion. And since I'm the strongest in the world, I'm fated to be all alone," she declared, her brazen confidence snapping Shoba out of his reverie.

'What a boastful kid.' He thought as he stared at her blankly.

Shoba's gaze dropped once more, scrutinizing his new form with greater attention. There was no doubt about it; he had taken on someone else's body. This realization led him to wonder about the soul that had previously resided within this youthful vessel.

'Did he die beforehand? or did my transmigration k-kill him...'

The mere thought induced a wave of nausea. Shoba briskly shook his head, attempting to clear away the unsettling ideas beginning to take root. He decided it was best not to dwell on the uncertainties for now, especially considering the extraordinary circumstances he found himself in, circumstances beyond the realm of what most of humanity could ever fathom.

'First things first, I need to piece together the memories of my old world and the subtly broken fragments that belonged to the Suta of the past.'

He quickly recognized the need to reconcile the memories from his previous life with the fragmented remnants of Suta's past life, the child whose body he now inhabited. The final words from the alien with the fishbowl head remained in his mind like a persistent thorn.

"Just before I died, that fishbowl head mentioned that I would need to get stronger, along with a list of things I can't quite wrap my head around right now that he wants me to do.'

Shoba sensed that there was danger awaiting him, he couldn't know when or how that danger would appear. But he was very certain that it would come. What spurred him on was the glimmer of hope he held onto, from what the fishbowl-headed being had explained to him, there was a strong possibility his parents and Ringo could still be alive, albeit scattered across these strange worlds.

This made the alien with the fishbowl head his most viable point of contact. If this enigmatic figure truly possessed the divine abilities he claimed, fulfilling his tasks could potentially lead Shoba to the information and assistance he desperately needed.

'Only, I've forgotten all those weird things he wanted from me.'

With a deep sigh, Shoba couldn't help but note how much his situation resembled the plot of a role-playing game. And he wasn't quite sure whether to be glad or deeply concerned about the sort of world he was forced into.

Amid his daydreaming, an arm as pure white as porcelain stretched forth towards him. Shoba glanced at the dainty hand before his gaze trailed it up to the wide, grinning girl.

"Come on, let's go back home." She said softly

For some reason, her cute smile was infectious, sweeping the dark, grey away from his mind.

;Right, I'm Suta. And Demoria is important to Suta.'

He stood up straight and dusted off his light clothes.

"Sure... let's go home...Demoria."