*Clang*

*Thump*

Screams off in the distance reverberate throughout my mind. Sunlight reflects off the metal armor before me.

A middle-aged man leaps at me with a blade, slashing at my neck.

I kick backward, trying to escape this man without taking my eyes off him. I stumble backward after I trip on some large object that lay on the ground. I fall and sit right on top of it.

My hands that lay on top of this strange object now become wet. With a quick glance, I discern what was beneath me. It was a body, the body of a woman, a woman that I killed on a lake long ago. Despite the years that passed, I remembered her face as if I had just seen her yesterday.

I scream.

I throw myself forward to get away from it, only to find myself lying at the feet of the swordsman… I am scared, I close my eyes and flinch, but the cut never comes.

When I open my eyes once more, I see that very swordsman held high into the air with one arm by a man… a man who I never wished to see again.

*Snap*

The swordsman went limp and was thrown off to the side. With cold and disinterested eyes, Ozias turned to me.

“You thought you killed me, did you?”

With his typical calm demeanor, he approached me. His leisurely stride ended with him standing over me and staring down into my eyes.

He stomped on my neck and didn’t let up the pressure after that. The pressure on my neck increased until I couldn’t breathe anymore. I grabbed his foot and tried to push it off, but it wouldn’t budge. My feet kicked into the air and I squirmed around with desperation.

“You will never escape me, Cassius.” Ozias spoke to me in his monotone voice, “And you will never escape what you really are.”

In my final moments of consciousness, the face of Ozias blurred and faded away. The face that replaced it was my own.

With a gasp, I awake inside the inn.

It was all a dream.

With a deep breath, I sit up and leave my bed.

There is a pond just a few minutes walk from the inn. I walk there with Olivia to wash my face. I feel fear for what I see inside the reflection.

My eye bags had likely reached half an inch in thickness and contrasted my skin to an extreme degree. Despite all my time in the sun, my skin was sickly pale. The appearance contrasted my body to a comical degree, my frame was short, but my build was beyond muscular.

I quit staring at the reflection and finally washed my face. The taste of the water is a mix of muddy and refreshing. I at least made sure to go upstream from where feces are dumped in this village.

We sit down at a tavern for breakfast. I overhear a disturbing rumor while eating.

“Apparently, Florin's son wandered into Epizelus’ cave overnight.”

“Really… and he was such a good kid too, for him to pass at such a young age…”

“It’s a real shame, those three were so happy until now.”

“We’ll have to come together as a village to pay respects and help them get through this… I don’t see Florin as the type of guy that can just get over something like this.”

A child got trapped in a cave?

This is bad.

I get up and approach the men.

“Where is that cave?” I ask bluntly.

“Hm? It is south of the village, you will see an abandoned wooden shack if you follow the creek that the temple rests on… you aren’t thinking of entering that cave, are you kid?”

I don’t bother answering.

With haste, I walk out of the tavern and in the direction they described.

“Wait! Let’s at least talk about it!” Olivia shouts while following after me.

“Is there anything to talk about?” I return.

“Just this morning you were screaming in your sleep! You can barely function on your own! And now you wish to enter a cave of all things!”

She was right. Monsters on the surface can be tough, fighting inside of a cave is completely different. Cave monsters are on average overwhelmingly stronger than a typical surface monster. There is very little room for maneuvering. Alongside this, there is zero light. Caves are not something you simply enter on a whim.

“Cassius… when it is most necessary, will you swing your blade?”

“...”

I know the answer, but I don’t want to admit it. We ran into monsters on the road, and I ran every time. Nothing has changed since then, if I get backed into a corner, I won’t be able to fight back.

“Even so, I will try to save that boy.”

“...alright, I will be waiting for you.”

She knows she won’t be able to stop me. The look on her face becomes one of worry. I suppose I should try to ease this a little.

“Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself.” I take a pause, “After all, among all the soldiers in the Kingdom’s army… I was the strongest.”

Even though I was making such a bold statement, it was said without any confidence. Despite the sound of my voice, the look on her face changed to one of surprise. It would seem that she realized I wasn’t lying.

…

The cave was exactly where the man in the tavern described. The cave entrance was a site that alone could send shivers down a man's spine. I know that within that darkness, there are frighteningly strong monsters.

It takes a few minutes, but I build up the courage to move forward.

I start a small fire with magic just above my upward-facing palm. The temperature takes a steep drop as I enter. My thick robe is still being repaired, I have to manage this chill with just a short-sleeved tunic and my pants.

Within the first few minutes of walking, any light from the surface is lost. I can see a few meters ahead of me from my makeshift torch, but beyond that is darkness.

In all likelihood, that boy died in here. But there still exists a chance that he is alive.

I shout out the word “hello” over and over again. It is the easiest word for me to shout and I’m not used to speaking so loudly.

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For the next 30 minutes, I wander through the cave just like this, examining every nook and cranny. I leave behind a trail of magically produced water which I can recognize among all the other water in the cave.

Every once in a while I sense movement around me. As the frequency of this increases it becomes painfully clear that the monsters are aware of my presence.

While im in the middle of shouting for the boy I sense a flurry of movement.

From behind, a dozen human-sized bats fly towards me. I only have a few milliseconds to duck before they pass my head. They fly a few meters past me before making a sharp turn and returning back towards me.

This time, there are some flying close to the ground, creating a solid wall of bats that crash toward me. I examine this wall for any openings, I find one.

I leap toward the ceiling and kick off a thick stalactite through a narrow gap in the bats. There is a narrow opening beyond the bats which I block off behind me with earth magic.

I can feel the bats crashing into the wall I created, but they don’t break through. I mark the wall with a large ‘X’ which I will easily recognize when I leave.

I take a deep breath, and as I’m about to continue moving forward, I hear something faint. It sounds like a groan from a human, particularly a young human.

I rush forward towards it, not caring to mark my way back. Just around a bend in the cave was a tiny opening. Within that opening, a child curled up into a ball with both of his hands wrapped around his stomach.

Within the damp smell of the cave was the scent of blood. Once I reilluminate my surroundings with fire magic I notice the long gash from his chest to his lower abdomen. The wound seems to be relatively fresh, maybe an hour or so ago he was injured.

“You are going to be ok,” I reassure him as I cast a basic healing spell.

This wound is bad, really bad. Even with my first aid, it is a given that without a doctor, he will die soon. I pick him up to start moving towards the surface. He is light, probably only 5-6 years old.

He looks me in the eyes, he relaxes a little as the pain eases slightly. With the strength given to him by my healing magic, he speaks the word,

“Bear.”

Just then I sensed a massive creature behind me. It is much larger than the passages in the cave should allow.

A Blind-Bear, the strongest monster you will find in a non-labyrinth cave. They are quick, can navigate in the dark, and are powerful.

It charges at me with a swing of its claw.

I duck under the attack and front roll behind the bear. My fire magic cuts out and I am left in the dark.

While holding the boy with both arms, I can’t cast fire magic. Still, I know where the exit is. The problem is the bear.

In the pitch black, I can’t rely on my vision. So I open up every sense within my body and focus.

I hear it.

Bear claws scrape the stone floor and move toward me. My feet move a bit too fast as I try to escape and I slip on some moss. I regain my footing and narrowly dodge a hug-like attack.

I kick the magically formed wall as hard as I can and front-flip due to momentum as I enter the next section of the cave. On the other side, as expected, bats are waiting for me. The bear catches up behind me soon after.

This situation is far from ideal, but I have a plan. While healing the boy I remembered a weakness bats had in my old world.

I adjust the way I’m holding the boy to free up one hand. As I closed upon on both sides, I cast an old spell.

I form magnesium in the air just above me, and with a spark, the cave is lit up with enough brightness to blind a normal human. Obviously I cover the boy's eyes with my chest.

I leap like a high jumper, with my back to the ground while I’m in the air. The bats fall out of the air underneath me and crash into the bear that is in their path.

Once my feet return to the ground, I continue to sprint. Ducking under tight passageways and through narrow corridors at high speeds. The bear follows close behind. It can compress its body as tight as mine somehow.

I am much faster than the bear, but moving in the dark within unfamiliar territory slows me down.

By the time I reach the cave exit, I obtain a few meters of distance between us. I Leap into the air and turn 180 degrees. With my face toward the bear, I cast an earth spell using all the mana I could muster within a tiny period. With a deep breath of the fresh outside air, I fire a house-sized boulder toward the cave.

With a crash, the boulder filled in the gap that allowed entry and exit of the cave. The walls beside the bolder cracked, but it seems that I didn’t cause a cave-in. The bear shook the boulder, but it wouldn’t move

I have no time for a sigh of relief, the boy can die any minute now.

With the same urgency as I had in the cave, I run toward the village. I go through the creek in order to avoid trees that could block the path.

Covered in the boy's blood and water from the creek I sprint into the village and toward the doctor's building. Luckily, he is there when I kick the door in. I put him on the table immediately and got the doctor to work.

The patient he was seeing at the moment left the room with no problem, it was a routine check-up I imagine. I leave too, I don’t want to be in his way at an important time like this.

Word around town spreads and the people I assume to be his parents arrive. They try to enter the building, but a lock stops them. After a few pushes against the door, they give up and sit down next to me to wait.

Eventually, Olivia arrives as well. All my attention is on the door in front of me. I hope that the next moment will be the one when we receive an open door followed by good news. She doesn’t break my focus, opting for a subtle hand on the shoulder followed by,

“You did good.”

The four of us wait together for a few hours.

When the doctor opens the door, there is a grim look on his face. He approaches the boy's parents and speaks the words,

“I’m sorry, he didn’t make it.”

With these words, my mind goes numb. I know there is nothing left for me to do there, so I get up and sluggishly walk back to the inn.

Some people try talking to me on the way back, but it all sounds muffled together and I don’t make out the individual words.

Without washing the blood or creek water off me, I lie down in bed. It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep and find myself in another place.

…

“Hello, Arthur.”

I was back in my old body once more.

“Why am I here?”

My mind isn’t in the right place. I ask him a simple question with my monotone and dead voice.

“I wanted to speak to you.”

“About what?”

“What happened today.”

What is there to talk about? I failed, I let that boy die.

“You did the best you could.”

“That wasn’t my best. If I didn’t ignore healing magic, if I could fight, if I discovered the boy’s situation earlier, things could have gone differently.”

“True, but with what you have right now, you did the best you could. It is up to you to obtain those things you didn't have today, so you may use them in the future.”

I let these words linger in my mind. Alongside another feeling that is bubbling up within me.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, Arthur.”

“I’m wondering why… if I am just going to fail, if the people I want to save are just going to die in the end, if my effort will be in vain, then what's the point in trying in the first place? Why did I have to fight so hard today, why do I have to experience the pain of watching a child die, if it was just going to be in vain…”

Cassius knew what I was thinking, we have a shared mind after all, but he still wanted me to be the one to say it. He paused for a while, presumably to think.

“For the future, because one day, it won’t be in vain.” He continued, “If the chance that you save someone is one in one hundred, what will happen if you enter that cave one hundred times?”

“I will save one person.”

“Exactly, no matter the pain it brings you, as long as you enter the cave 100 times, then you will be able to save at least one person. Then, it will be worth it.”

I pause to think on this, then reach my own conclusion.

“I understand, I will protect every person I can and take every possible opportunity to save someone, no matter how much suffering it may bring me. In fact, I will accept all the suffering I must… because I deserve it, and no one else does.”

Something about that response drew displeasure, but he got over it with a sigh and continued.

“If that gets you standing on your own two feet once more, then so be it. But I am sure, that someday you will discover a greater truth and better reason to fight.” He started to fade. “Anyways, I am proud of you Arthur. If you accomplished nothing else today, you have brought me pride.”

…

At an estate in the Carthigus Republic

“So Bacchus has chosen to form an alliance with Sextus? He isn’t even hiding his intention to seize control of the republic at this point. When father dies, it is almost certain we will have a civil war. He should have taken the opportunity to serve me.”

“Do you not fear the threat of an army led by him? He is quite popular with your father's soldiers. He also has allies in the provinces.”

“No matter what army he can muster, it will still lose so long as its leader is a brute.”

“It is true that Bacchus’ mind is no match for yours, my lord. What of your sister?”

“Seraphina? She is inconsequential now. Not only has she transgressed against our father, but she chose to ride the coattails of geezer Cicero. If father’s assassins don’t take care of her by the time I become king, then proscriptions will. I am not like my father, I will not leave alive any man or woman who would turn a blade against me.”

“Cicero will not idle while you kill his pupil. He has the Senate on his side. I would recommend you take the threat of him seriously. If nothing else, he is respected by your father.”

“Let the Senate talk, armies win wars, not debates. His greatest weapon will crumble before my armies. If he truly intends to oppose me, he will share my sister's fate.”