Two small human forms make their way down a cobbled path. One of them noticeably nervous and on edge. The second calm and collected, having placed both hands behind its neck.

"Come on Kenki, why are you so calm! We have to be really careful so we aren't caught you know!"

Ken raises an eyebrow.

"Are you stupid?"

"Wha-?" Ginta turns around. "I'm not stupid, you're stupid. If we get caught it would be your fault, because you wanted to break in while it's still bright out."

Ken sighs. "Listen, Gin. You live here don't you?"

"...Yes I do?"

"Then act like it! So what if they see us? They don't know that we're here for the farming equipment, if we run into one of your siblings and they ask what we're doing, just say that we were chatting. "

"Uuhh…"

"With the way you're acting the moment they lay their eyes on you they'll know that something's off. Come on." Kenki pushes his friend's body into the appropriate form. The boy is still tense but at least it's not as noticeable as he had been moments prior.

'Eh. Good enough' Ken looks up at the massive red sun. The sun here, unlike its counterpart back on earth, does not move in the skies, it is stationary. When night approaches instead of moving over the horizon, It dims. Progressively it releases weaker and weaker light until it becomes completely black and night begins. Allegedly it lights up the entirety of the empire he lives in along with the surrounding nations.

'We have about thirty minutes before I have to run back home.'

"Anyways, are you sure about this? Cutting away all that grass by yourself is going to be a lot of work and I'm definitely not going to help with it." They begin walking again.

"Mhm" the boy nods his head. "It's going to be great! Just think about how much fun its going to be."

'I don't think that the work is worth the fun you'll receive, not to mention that it'll all grow back in a month.'

The two of them see the shed where all the farming equipment is stored.

"Just remain calm Gin, nothing's going to happen." Ken takes the time to survey the surroundings as they approach.

'I don't see anyone, this should be a piece of cake.'

"Gin, keep watch. Tell me if you see anyone coming."

"Oh, okay!" The boys eyes dark around cautiously as Kenki puts his pinky finger inside the triangle shaped lock and feels around. The lock is exactly at eye level with him so he takes a look inside.

'Good, its not one of the evil locks. Just a simple lock to keep kids like me and Ginta out.' Ken puts a hand in his pocket, pulling out two tools. The first one having the shape of an L while the second has a harder to describe complex shape, its what Ken uses as a tension wrench. Both of them are made from sheep bone.

'Each side of the triangle has a notch at differing depths that needs to be pushed in.'

Hastily, he places the tension wrench inside the triangle and twists, applying pressure on the lock.

With his other hand, the one holding the L shaped tool, he pushes the three notches in succession.

*click*

The door creaks open.

Ginta flips around in surprise, a gasp coming out of him.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"You're done already!?"

"Keep on keeping watch, stupid." Ken admonishes his friend as he enters the shed. Inside the wooden walls of the small structure he locates where the sickles are kept.

'Oh, oops. I didn't think this one through did I? Where am I supposed to hide the sickle?' He surveys the inside once more in an attempt to find an old rag or something of the sort that will help him hide the tool.

'Nothing' he stops himself.

'It's summer right now so it shouldn't be weird if someone sees me without my tunic on, right? It is blistering hot outside.'

After a moment of thought he removes the tunic. He wraps the sickle with it, carefully keeping it away from the edge of the blade so the clothing isn't cut.

"Hey Gin, is it safe to come out?"

"Y-yeah it is!" The boy stutters out a response.

Ken locks the door back after he exits, tunic held in the palm of his hand as nonchalantly as possible

He locks the shed door and they're off.

The two of them leave the farm without encountering any of Ginta's siblings. They walk to the abandoned farm at a sedate pace, neither one of them uttering a word.

As soon as they are deep enough in that nobody else could see them Ken tosses his tunic on the grass and unfurls it, revealing the tool hidden within.

"Here, tak-" Ken is intrrupted midway through his sentence

"Thanks for the help Ken!" Ginta feels it necessary to hug Ken as a thank you gesture for his assistance.

"Yeah, yeah! Now get off me." A tad bit annoyed, Ken pushes the boy away. "Be careful not to cut yourself. If you get caught don't mention my name."

The Boy earnestly nods at Ken's words.

'Wait what was that?' Kenki spots something in Ginta's eyes. An unnatural shadow moving through the sclera.

"Are your eyes alright Gin?" He suddenly asks.

"I think they are?" The boy blinks "I can see alright."

"Come here" Ken urges him "I think I saw something in your left eye."

"Okay?"

Despite further examination Kenki doesn't manage to find anything else that is suspicious. "His eyes are bit bloodshot but that's normal. We've been playing in the dirt all day so maybe some dust got in."

"Nevermind '' Ken finally relents. He assesses the time by looking at the sun again - it has dimmed significantly, having gained a red blood-like color.

"Right, I gotta go Gin. If I don't run back I'm going to get into trouble with dad." Ken dresses himself back up.

"Okay, see you! I'm gonna go hide the sickle in the house and run to home too!"

The two friends wave each other off as they go their separate ways.

Upon returning home Ken finds that his mother, father and younger brother had already had dinner without him while his big brother is nowhere to be seen. He grabs some of the still-warm bread and some plums from the kitchen before moving to the kids room.

He lights a crude candle to light up the room. The candle itself consisting of a cup filled with lard. A candle wick is dipped into the lard, absorbing it and using it as fuel.

It lights up the place quite well but smells atrocious under normal circumstances. After much trial and error Ken had managed to add a couple of nice smelling flowers to the mix that masks most of the foul odor.

Kenki leans back into the bed as he bites down on a plum. The straw underneath pleasantly crunches down as it takes his weight.

He stares at the roof unblinkingly as he eats. Thinking.

He thinks of his family, thinks of the village and the people, he thinks about the wide and impossibly large world he's found awaits him at his doorstep.

Most importantly for him - he thinks about his future.

Damn… this is a really bad time to be feeling anxious about my future prospects'

'Oh, im sorry. When else would be a good time? When you're out in that rundown farm playing with your useless friends?' Ken feels his subconscious thoughts bite back at him.

"Fuuuuuuck." Moodily He turns on his side

'What am I supposed to do. I'm not the eldest son so no way in hell am I going to inherit this place. And even if I did, what the hell am I going to do? Get married to an average woman, bang her and have average children, go to the field and farm the wheat before going to have a drink with my average friends.'

'I already lived through that. And you know what? It was an alright life… back then.'

'Here? In Xianxia land? There are no computers, there are no TVs, there are no video games. I've been spoiled rotten when it comes to entertainment.'

'Hell, there aren't even any books, all we got is some religious scroll written a million years ago by 'The First Emperor' and that's it. As ancient and powerful as this civilization is, it doesn't change the fact that parchment costs an arm and a leg. That scroll is easily the most valuable thing in this house. We're shepherds and despite that fact we'd still need about a decade to get enough parchment to make a book.'

The village cultivator buys it all off anyways.

Actually…

'I wonder if I can invent paper? I have some basic knowledge on how paper is supposed to work from my previous life, even if the fundamental forces are different it should be an easy enough process to figure out. I can sell the method for its creation to the cultivator and secure a good amount of cash that way. It would be enough for me to leave this village.'

'It's one way out. I know already that this place is not where I desire to spend the rest of my life.'

The door to the room is opened. Ken idly notes that both of his brothers enter.

"Hey Ken, we're going to sleep, do you need the light?" His big brother, Daiki, asks him as he points at the candle.

"Not really, just give me a moment and I'll extinguish it." Kenki replies as he shoves the last piece of bread into his mouth.

'I should get some sleep now. I can think about life changing decisions …tomorrow.'

Gripping the clay cup in his hand, he blows out the flame.

He does his best not to chuckle as he's reminded of a silly incident from two years ago. An incident that he caused.

'Back then I'd assumed that you could extinguish the flame by placing a larger cup over the candle. You know, the flame burns out the oxygen and puts itself out? I failed to account for the fact that I live in Xianxia land. As it turns out, fire doesn't work that way here. Mother got first degree burns when she grabbed it. Also the cup broke when it fell.' Ken shakes his head.

'At least mom isn't one for collective punishment, she didn't manage to figure out who did it.'

Ken lays down again after placing the candle next to the bed.

He sighs.

I can think about life changing decisions…tomorrow.