Exactly a month later, Den dragged me out of the hut and took me to the outskirts of the forest. I hadn’t yet seen this part.

Just endless fields of grass and grass… no, wait, I had. Mom found me around here. Brought back memories. Back then I couldn’t even stand up on my own feet. Mom took me in, fed me, kept me safe and taught me everything I knew about the world. If she hadn’t… maybe I wouldn’t have made it. Maybe some stray monster would have just eaten me. Come to think of it, what was this body doing before I came to this world? I didn’t bother thinking about this before because well… I didn’t want to think about having killed the previous owner and take over the body. ‘But isn’t that the same thing as the ‘possessed’ mother spoke about.’ yeah, just worrying about all this wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Besides, if it was really alive and all that, it wouldn’t have been just randomly abandoned in a field, right?

I looked up at Den, his head blocked the sun and it was kind of blinding; he looked down and then without a word, he kept on walking. Was this dude going to take me to the site where he found me and explain how I wasn’t a real Southerner and stuff? Too bad I already understood that crap.

Actually, Den took a few steps and stopped, turned and grinned. Not the gentle kind. ‘I’m gonna eat you up’ kind. He was probably going to beat the shit out of me.

“How’s the arm,” he said.

“Better than before. Still can’t move it well though,” I said.

I had mostly recovered. Moving my arm wasn’t painful anymore and I didn’t need herbs layered on top. I was hoping we’d have some wild healing potion or maybe some healing magic at least… but neither seemed likely. I didn’t even get to see a doctor, assuming there was one. Instead, Mom just used some herbs on my arm and that seemed to be enough.

I was glad we were over that messy pus-filled gross phase. However, I never really grew the meat back, and the whole boney look on some places didn’t look the least appealing; the scarred look didn’t suit my juvenile body either. If the Southerners didn’t like me before, they were definitely not going to like me now. Speaking of Southerners, these folk were mostly tall, white people. I did see some variation of color, but that was oddly rare.

Den threw a wooden knife at my feet. “Pick it up and try attacking me. You know what we’re doing out here, right?” He had his bow on his back, and sword stuck to his waist. He didn’t draw either.

“Yes?”

“Good.” He clapped once, as if to signify he was ready.

I picked up the wooden knife, grabbed it firm and ran ahead swinging awkwardly with my left hand, only to be dodged and then slapped on the back. Yeah, he definitely just wanted to spank me. “Again!” He screamed.

Moving this lazy body drained more stamina than I’d anticipated, so I was a little out of breath; it only got worse. The whole thing repeated a couple of times before my frail body finally gave up.

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On the grass, amidst the bugs I panted, staring at that beautiful blue sky. Some white fluffy clouds. Since when was the last time, I saw a sky to calm and peaceful?

During my two years here, I never once saw the sky growing dark. Sometimes it grew grey and rained but… never dark. I never saw any storms or lighting. It was surprisingly peaceful here. And even out here, there were no monsters.

“She said you were below average and she was not kidding, no,” Den sat down, sighing.

Mom was a pretty versatile warrior, or so I’d heard. But she never really attempted to teach me anything related to fighting. Maybe she didn’t want me to pursue fighting. Or maybe she didn’t want to bother since I wasn’t worth it? No, that didn’t seem likely. She actually cared. So, there was another reason….

“Yeah,” I said. “The priest said I was worthless or something, but Mom beat him up. So be careful.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re a waste,” he didn’t look at me. He just stared at the distance. It was too damn peaceful to not watch.

Grass swaying with the wind, a peaceful calm breeze. Some trees and huts in the distance. This world… this place, was amazing. Those weird large two headed husky dogs were also pretty amazing. I could admire them all day! As long as they maintained their distance of course.

“Then why are we out here, when you know-”

“To assess you so I can properly build a regimen for you to train,” he shrugged. “Normal training won’t suit you.”

“Wait, you’re building a regimen, just for me?”

“Yeah. You clearly lack stamina, even for a three-year-old, you’re….” He grimaced. “Let’s just say, you’re going to have to run a lot from now on.”

“I can do that!” Yeah, I’d been thinking the same. I was growing pretty lazy thanks to Mom babying me all the time; ever since the incident, she was hellbent on monitoring my every activity. “But do you think… do you think I can actually… grow strong?”

He flashed his teeth in a triumphant grin. “Practice diligently and you’ll turn out stronger than typical Southerners.”

Better than nothing. As long as I was better than average, that was enough to flash a middle finger to the bastard priests and move on.

“Say Den,” I said. “How come the church has so much power? Why do people not do anything about them?”

“Well, they control everything, from the nobility to even typical villages like ours.” He stood up, walked towards the forest and judging by that look, I was to follow him back.

Wait, we lived in a village? I could have sworn, every house was its own village considering the next house was at least half a kilometer away. Or maybe that was just our huts.

“But think about it, they’re just guys in robes. And Mom was clearly stronger-” I followed him.

Den leaned closer. “Such words would be seen as heretical and you’d be branded as a Heathen.”

“Noted,” I said. “But aren’t there any other religions?”

“Religions? Yes, I believe there are some in the western world. But the Askavan church controls everything, so every minor religion is just snuffed out of existence. Besides, why would people even be interested in minor religions when everyone knows Askavan is the only true religion?”

To be fair, I’d asked the same question to Mom who vehemently answered- “Don’t bother wasting your efforts thinking about the church. They can’t hurt you.” Obviously, she mistook my curiosity as fear instead.

“What is Askavan anyway?”

“God. Lin doesn’t believe, so she didn’t tell you but, but Askavan is the Dragon god of Lunara and he is the god everyone worships; allegedly all powerful.”

“You mean, there are other gods?” I tread carefully.

“I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t know if this dragon exists either.”

“Careful now, you don’t want to be branded as a Heathen, do you?”

He snickered and ruffled my hair. “Wise words, kid.” He then picked me up and we were more or less done for the day.

However.

I did learn some very important things. One of which was the existence of this village. And if there was a village and a church, there had bound to be a library, right? I felt stupid for not thinking about that sooner.