“The only thing I have left in this world is to live, and I’m going to protect it as much as I can from the pain and suffering.”

- Candor Funchess in Just One Life

Delton opened his eyes to see dark clouds whizzing past him, but he does not feel as if he’s falling. Falling further and further down, he saw a flock of birds flying in his way. Bracing for impact, Delton tensed, but in the next instant he had already passed through the birds, without feeling anything.

He zoomed beyond a cloud barrier to see an endless forest. The sun’s rays sundered night and shone through the horizon. Several crows were heard in the middle of a dense forest, filled with trees that have trunks the size of Delton’s room. In the middle, housed a village surrounded by a wall created by stacking cut tree trunks to the size of ten meters.

As if moved by an unstoppable force, Delton’s view moved inward, past the walls, revealing dozens of mud and stone houses. A hill stood alone in the center of the village with what looks to be the largest house on top of it. This house was made entirely out of stone. Though smoothed out, Delton could see markings made from carving the stone into this shape, as his view zoomed into this house.

In there, he saw several rooms with simple entrances. The main furniture that populated the room were furs of various creatures, creatures that he could have never imagined to exist. Inside one of the rooms, he saw a man wearing furs and skins. His glossy black hair fell down to the middle of his back in a neat manner. Delton could easily tell that underneath the all the furs and skins was a body that could explode with physicality. He sat on a stone stool, whilst reading a tattered book on a simple wooden table. Delton looked up behind the man to see on the wall one shelf, filled with only a handful of books, some about to fall apart.

A boy, wearing a woven tunic held together by a rope at his waist, walked up to the entrance of the room with his arms outstretched. Curls and knots filled the boy’s black shoulder-length hair. Dirt, cuts, and bruises sprawled over his overly tanned skin. The only thing that can be considered clean is a bone necklace made of multiple beads and teeth wrapped on his shoulder. Yawning, he spoke, “Dad, I’m heading out to go training with the older kids.”

After speaking this, he started to walk away from the entrance. The man slammed his hand on the table, immediately breaking it in two, “Damn it, kid! I know you have been training outside again last night! Clean yourself up first before heading out, or else you’ll embarrass this old man!”

The boy shouted out, “I’ll wash my face!” To which, the man sighed and continued to read the book.

Washing his face in the basin at the other room, the water cleansed the dirt and caked blood from the boy’s face to show a chubby face. The boy then walked to the middle of the house and faced a wall with a bone necklace hung on it, surrounded by candles and crude painted pictures. He bowed for a complete minute before leaving the house.

Delton’s view followed the boy, as the boy went down the hill and to the village. Several of the villagers, who wore simpler and shoddier tunics, some filled with stitches and holes, bowed to the boy as he walked through as soon as they caught sight of the necklace on his shoulder.

A juvenile voice called out to him “Cael! Wait! Caelus!” Caelus turned around and saw another boy, with short brown hair tied up to a small pony tail in the middle of his head, running towards him and gasping for air.

Caelus smiled and spoke, “Marcus? You’re up?”

“Of course. I’m now five, too!” Marcus raised his five fingers with a wide smile, “Dad said I can train with you and the other boys! I’ll beat you up soon!” Marcus, then stuck his tongue out, and started dashing ahead of Caelus, yelling, “Race you to training!” Caelus smirked then started to run after Marcus with almost thrice the speed, easily surpassing Marcus.

Having reached a clearing filled with a dozen kids first, Caelus looked to the back of the group and saw a middle aged man wearing beast skins above his tunic. The man had several scars, deep and light, mark his body. However, what was most striking is his missing left arm, cleanly cut all the way to the shoulder, leaving only a small stump in its place.

Caelus walked up to the front and sat down in meditation, while the other kids ignored him and began to stretch. More and more kids started to gather at the training ground. Marcus arrived as well, murmuring, “Unfair. Unfair. Unfair…” then collapsing to the ground, falling asleep.

The middle-aged man shook his head at Marcus. He glanced at the sun, which had now fully risen above the horizon, and yelled, “Boys! Training is starting soon! Take your positions!” Caelus stood up and took a stance, along with the other kids who stood in several columns, equally spaced apart.

The training leader then began to do multiple sets of exercises, and the kids followed, except for Marcus, who did not even get up and sound asleep.

As the training continued, some of the younger kids had started to sit down to rest or collapse. By the end of it, the only ones left standing were Caelus and a dozen or so older kids, at least twice Caelus’ age. Several of the villagers watched on with shock, “He truly is the Village Head’s son!”

After the morning training session, the kids moved to an open patio sitting on benches and tables eating a hearty breakfast of freshly cooked beast meat and grown vegetables. “Hey, Marcus! You didn’t even practice!” Caelus with a full mouth teased Marcus and poked his filled cheeks.

Gulping down a mouthful of food, Marcus wiped the grease off his mouth and said, “Heh. My practice was the race!”

A loud horn sounded from outside the village walls, as several people began to move to the village entrance. Curious, most of the kids ignored their food and followed the other villagers.

The tall and imposing village gate opened and welcomed in a group of fifty or so men, each armed with a spear, a sword, and a bow. They all wore leather armor that were filled with scratches and bite marks. All of them were dragging several creatures the size of several humans behind them.

The villagers walked up to welcome them. The mothers hugged the men, while the kids started to climb them and the dead beasts. After the last man entered the village, the gates closed behind them.

Light steps could be heard behind them, as Caelus’ father’s wooden sandals echoed out. All the villagers, seeing him, bowed down speaking, “We greet the Village Head!”

Caelus’ father greeted them, “Welcome back! Get some rest and we shall have a banquet tonight to celebrate another successful hunting journey and reward these brave men. The second hunting group, prepare to set out in two days!” He then pointed to some women and older villagers, “Take the food and prepare them for storage.”

As the dead beasts were moved away, the villagers started to disperse, explosions broke the celebratory atmosphere. Some of the women and kids screamed. Caelus’ father commanded, “Mothers take your children into your houses. Elderly go back too! Hunters stand guard with me!” The villagers, no longer panicking did as they were told.

Caelus ran to his father’s side. Marcus, seeing Caelus, decided to stay and watch, hiding behind a house. The explosions started to get louder and louder, as they saw from above the wall that several trees were falling, causing these loud explosions.

The hunters left behind, about more than a hundred men, brandished their weapons as they waited patiently at the gate. At the back was Caelus and his father. At the front were the hunting leaders, who were donning furs above their armors and wearing a bone necklace.

The trees around them started to get toppled to, causing explosions and rumbling to surround the entire village. Shouts from several voices were heard, but Delton could not understand them. The village head grew pale and commanded, “Get behind me now!” The hunters ran back, as he rushed to the front of the group, shouting, “Stay behind me! No one make a move without my command!”

The explosions stopped for a moment. A voice right outside the village gate spoke in a human language, “Humans?”

“Humans?”

“Humans?”

“Humans.”

“Humans!”

“HUMANS!”

Several other voices said the same. Asking at first, then after confirming it, grew more and more excited. This eventually led to what sounded like hundreds of voices roaring, causing some of the hunters to drop their weapons and fall down, covering their ears, which have started bleeding. Some of the hunters have begun to shiver, but they all stood back up and raised their weapons looking towards the back of their leader.

Caelus watched on, with his knees getting soft and feeling blood drip down from his ears. Marcus fell down to the ground as tears and snot started to trickle down his face. Delton, clutching his head, screamed out and cursed. Tears started to well up, but no one seemed to have heard him, as his view was superposed with Caelus’.

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The village gates in front of them rumbled several times, as those from the other sides rammed it. After a couple more times, the wooden gates burst open, splinters and dirt flying everywhere.

Several figures walked in. However, the only thing that resembled humans, was how they walked. These figures did not wear clothes or armor, showing off a scaly skin, most of them being red in color, from their head down to their toes. Some even had tails. They were at least twice as tall and big as the village head. Their hands and feet had claws, each at least the size of an arrow head. However, what horrified Delton the most was their heads. They have a protruding mouth, and some of those that had their mouths open and licking their lips, brandished a row of sharp and large teeth. Past their mouths were their flat noses, curving upwards to their reptilian yellow eyes that scanned the hunters. These terrifying heads were finished off by large thick horns, the size of a fist, on the sides of their head.

Upon this sight, some of the hunters began to fall down, to the laughter of these creatures. Caelus stood his ground, but he started to shiver, as he grew paler. The head waited in front of his men as the creatures approached him. The head then spoke in the language of these creatures, “What can my, Fortissimus’, village do for you, draconians?”

On these words, some of the draconians were startled, but they all laughed in the end. The one leading them had yellow scales and wore a golden armband with a dragon engraved on it. Even among the other draconians, his body easily overshadowed most of them. He spoke with a deep and grating voice, “To know of us and speak our language makes you not a simple human. So I’ll give you one chance to give me a reason as to why my soldiers should not eat all of you right now.”

The ones who had been salivating behind him shouted out, “Commander! Don’t let him! We’re hungry!”

“To have all of these soldiers means you’re probably preparing for war. Eating us now will placate your hunger for now, but my villagers can hunt and grow food to last you for months on end,” the head spoke staring into the draconian commander’s yellow probing eyes.

“Can your village even handle to feed all of my soldiers?” The commander made a gesture, causing a loud roar to be heard, not just behind him, but also around the entire village. Most of the hunters had already fallen down and passed out with their ears bleeding. Caelus stood still and looked on, while Marcus had already passed out at this point.

“My village is strong enough to hunt large beasts! There are plenty of them in this area.” The elder, then commanded, “You two, bring out one of them!”

The hunter leaders sheathed their weapons went away and came back in a minute dragging out a wooly pig that was many times as big as a human. Some of the draconians nodded their heads, while others shook their heads, shouting out, “You are humans!”

“Human’s can’t possibly defeat those beasts, no matter how many they have!”

Fortissimus spoke, “My village has just come back from a hunting trip. We have many more beasts out back.”

The draconian commander smiled and gave a signal. The draconians behind him made way for a larger than average red draconian to come out. “Beat him and I shall acknowledge your strength and make a deal.”

“Village head! I shall go!” After shouting this to Fortissimus, one of the two hunter leaders rushed towards the draconian, before Fortissimus, who had reached out his hand, could stop him. The hunter thrusted the spear forward, but the draconian side stepped with a speed so fast that Delton only saw afterimages, then punched the hunter in the chest, sending him several meters away. The hunter laid there with his chest caved in and breathed his last. The draconians laughed at the spectacle, some even shouting, “Is that it?”

Fortissimus picked up the spear and dashed towards the draconian. Several of the others laughed, as the soldier just stood there. Fortissimus had already aimed the spear at the neck and struck. However, as the spear hit the draconian, the spear’s shaft broke, splintering into multiple pieces.

Without delay, Fortissimus threw the remnants of the spear on the ground and circled behind the draconian, letting out several punches on the red scaly back. The draconian contracted his muscles as several spikes from his back protruded, but Fortissimus continued punching, breaking several of the spikes and cracking the scales at the cost of maiming his hands. The draconian turned around and punched at him, but his fist was met with a bloodied one.

The shockwave from the clash caused some of the draconians to gasp with shock. Some whispered, “How powerful is this human?”

“He met the captain’s punch that could have easily broken my fist.”

Hearing the words spoken behind him, the commander frowned and shouted out, “Stop playing around!” At the command, the captain unleashed a flurry of blows, but Fortissimus met all of them. Fist for fist. Kick for kick. His furs and skins torn, bloodied, and ruined. Suddenly, the captain struck with its barbed-like tail, stabbing Fortissimus on the shoulder. Caelus almost let out a scream, but he held it in.

However, before he could retract his tail, Fortissimus had grabbed hold of it, using his left hand, with enough force to even crack the scales on it. Continuing to pull his tail back, he kicked back using the ground. Right as he kicked, Fortissimus made a chopping motion with his right hand and cut the tail off, causing blue blood to spray all over.

The draconian captain let out several low-pitched roars and rushed towards Fortissimus. With a mangled right hand, Fortissimus pulled the tail out of his shoulder, holding in his screams of pain, then held the tail like a short knife. He then punched out with his left hand, but the captain had opened his mouth and bit down on the hand. Some of the hunters had started to yell out and scream.

Flashing of his blood bathed teeth, the captain tried to move his head back, but Fortissimus had grabbed onto his tongue. Nerves bulged out of his left hand, holding on tightly, as he stabbed the captain’s neck with his own tail.

The captain’s mouth relaxed shortly after, and his body fell to the ground, limp, causing Fortissimus to crouch down with him. Without a word, Fortissimus used his foot and right hand to pry open the mouth, revealing a bloody sight. He then ripped a piece from his furs to cover his hands.

Some of the hunters cried tears of joy. Even Caelus knelt down and started to cry. Delton wanted to throw up, retching even, but could not get himself to do so.

The draconians were speechless, but the one right behind the commander uttered with dry lips, “This is a human, right commander?”

The draconian commander spoke in their tongue, staring back at Fortissimus, “He is a human. But he is no mortal.” He smiled, revealing his fangs, and spoke to Fortissimus, “I shall honor our deal. We will not kill you. In exchange, every month, my soldiers will return and take back ten tons of meat.”

He, then, looked to a draconian next to him, who was much slimmer compared to the soldiers, “Bring word to the general.” At the nod of his head, this lithe draconian disappeared from view, afterimages not even seen by Delton.

The commander motioned to his soldiers to get the captain’s body, but the draconians quivered at the look of Fortissimus’ eyes. Shaking his head, the commander then made another motion. A blur jumped up from the back of the group and stopped right next to Fortissimus, as a fountain of blood burst out, since his left hand was sliced cleanly off. The rest of the humans screamed out. Caelus even started running to his father, but was grabbed by the middle-aged trainer. Caelus squeezed the arms of the trainer stopping him as he watched on.

Fortissimus stood there as if nothing had happened and continued to stare back at the commander. The blur landed next to the leader and revealed itself to be another smaller draconian with scale-like wings. This draconian presented the severed arm to the commander, which the commander took then dropped to the ground.

The commander then motioned again. This time, the soldiers jeered and sneered at the hunters, while taking the body of their captain back. The commander then led his soldiers out of the village, leaving behind a bloody sight in front of the broken gate. Loud explosions echoed out behind the village, as they departed.

The trainer released Caelus and watched as the father and son reunite. He looked down at his arm and winced in pain, as he saw red imprints of Caelus’ hands on it. Wide-eyed, he looked at the child.

Fortissimus ruffled his son’s hair, then glanced at the hunters and villagers. He spoke with a loud voice and bowed, “Forgive me for being too weak!” He then told the hunters to hold a funeral for the hunter that died.

As most of the villagers left to hold a funeral, Caelus stayed behind and looked at the path created by the draconians. Fortissimus picked up his hand and reattached it to his arm, making several stitches.

During the funeral, not many people spoke, but the ones that did whispered to one another, “Ten tons of meat a month?”

“The forest would be wiped clean come the sixth month!”

“This is an impossible. What did we do to deserve this”

“Believe in the village head. Did you not see what he was capable of?”

The village head also came to the funeral procession, and some of the villagers were shocked that his arm was back on him. He told the hunters to start rebuilding the gates, so the village is safe from wild beasts.

As night came, Fortissimus and Caelus looked at one another at the study in their house. Fortissimus said with a low voice, “In the Savage Lands, only with strength can you live freely. You are my son. One day you will have the strength to even overturn the heavens.”

Caelus ran up to him and hugged him, looking at his father’s covered hands with tears welling up on his eyes. His father sighed, then unwrapped the bandages, revealing healed arms. Caelus yelped and Delton smacked his head, yelling, “Impossible! Not even medicine today can allow this crazy motherfucker to heal his hands that fast!”

His father laughed and, as he left the room, he said to Caelus, “Starting tomorrow, you will no longer train with the other children. I shall personally teach you from now on. But not like how I did in the past to give you the strength you have now. I will show you what it means to have strength and surpass the limits of humanity. Come on, join me. Marcus will have a little brother soon.” Caelus wiped his tears, then nodded his head.

They left their house and looking up, a familiar meteor lit the sky. They entered a simple house, with several people still up and alert.

Caelus saw Marcus guarding the entrance into a room. He asked Marcus what he was doing, to which Marcus replied, “My father told me that I have grown stronger for seeing those savage creatures, so he gave me the duty to guard this entrance, during this time.” Caelus’ father chuckled and patted Marcus’ head.

Suddenly Delton’s view switched to darkness. He can hear the sound of a heart beating and feel a slimy liquid covering everything including his mouth. He tried to gasp for air, but was unable to. A small bright light appeared above him, then he could feel his body move closer to that light. Closing his eyes tightly, he took a gasp of air and let out a cry.

Instead of hearing his voice, he heard the sound of a baby’s cry. He was wrapped up by a woman wearing the tribe’s clothing, as he continued to involuntarily cry. Gazing at an—his exhausted mother, Delton thought, “Transmigration!?”

He was then handed over to a man, who resembled Marcus. He was raised up by the window, upon the starry sky. He nodded to the presence of Caelus and the village head and spoke with a proud voice, “You were born when the night sky is bright. You have brought light into these dark times. Hence, I shall call you Lucius.”

The village head nodded and stretched his arms and spoke with a majestic voice, “Let Those Above bear witness to this ritual. Lucius, the Lightbringer, is born.”

Delton can feel himself going crazy as myriad thoughts raced in his head.

“Wake up Delton. Your next appointment is in one hour.”

A familiar voice echoed in his brain as he opened his eyes to a familiar room and a clear blue sky.