Though Richard wished everything could go positively, he was going through the worst days of his life. A week passed by in the blink of an eye and Richard slugged through it like a zombie.

He was extremely lethargic and could barely finish half of his routine during the day. His mind would get distracted all the time and his body continued to feel heavy.

The only reason he even tried to do anything was for the new family, or he would have sat around until something happened.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

Richard found himself tied to a chair as he woke up and came face to face with Noah and Lala looking at him with anger.

It was clear that they had found out.

It was quite obvious that Richard was different as a depressed man couldn’t really act like a curious child.

It was especially clear when the world wasn’t normal.

“Who are you? Where is my boy?” Noah pointed his tomahawk at him and hit him in the head.

Noah and Lala had been observing Richard throughout the week. They had checked with others as well before taking the current step.

Richard was totally different since that day. It wasn’t hard to see that there was something wrong with him.

Noah was extremely worried and lost, but decided to handle it alone as he didn’t want mistakes to take place.

He was unsure.

Richard could have been taken over by a ghost. He could have been hit with a curse. He could have his mind scrambled or taken over by a mental specialist.

He could have been preyed upon by a parasitic plant or bug.

There were just too many things that could have happened and it was causing him stress.

For the sake of his wife and pride, he hadn’t shown any weakness.

Lala was also very much down in the dumps as Richard was her only child. She was holding her hands together and hoping for the best, as her child’s death might kill her soul.

Richard had been lost in his own world to notice the changes in the couple. He could read them easily and could understand their worries.

He could hide everything or tell them the truth. Regardless, all choices had an unknown result.

“I am Richard. I am acting different because I awakened memories of my previous life. I am sorry that you have to experience such an ordeal. But, I have no power over it or I would have returned everything to normal.” Richard replied with a calm tone as he looked at their faces.

Richard’s honest words didn’t help the situation and only solidified their doubts. It was clear from their expression.

Noah’s hand was grasping the weapon too tight, and it looked like he was deciding on ending Richard.

“Can we get our son?” Noah asked in a cold tone. He didn’t understand what Richard meant and even if he did, he would assume that it was a lie.

“Killing me would only hurt you, Father. I am your son and not someone taking over your son’s body. Let me explain…” Richard thought he wouldn’t feel scared, but being in the position really gave him a new perspective. He was nervous and scared. He felt suffocation from having his limbs tied up and fear from the axe.

He wanted a painless death, and this was not it.

Lala felt terrible seeing her son looking helpless. She couldn’t help but cry out and hold onto Noah, “Let him…please.”

She continued to pray in her heart that everything was alright and her son was fine. Richard was her only child and she had high level of attachment to him.

To make matters worse, she had failed to conceive another child.

Noah nodded as he gritted his teeth. He was hoping from the bottom of his heart as well. But, he was mostly worried that the thing would end up killing them.

The world was a dangerous place, and villages could disappear if people were careless. He was being selfish and decided things on his own.

His father would have definitely killed Richard and the Village head would have ordered it.

“Please listen carefully before deciding. I am Richard Harrison and I am 30 years old. I am a simple businessmen dealing with medicine, education, food and beverages. I have a family and a child that I was unable to meet. I was trying to get to my wife on a rainy night and died by crashing into a tree.

I am a normal person without any powers.

I died and my soul was reborn as your son, but without my memories. Even so, the soul remembered the instincts that led to an exceptional child….” Richard stopped and he could see that they were starting to see.

“On days, my memories would even come as dreams and nightmares. Don’t you think they were too bizarre?” Richard questioned

Noah gulped as he remembered his son talking about something called a plane, a thing made of metal flying in the skies. There were the tall buildings that surpassed mountains.

There were also all kinds of advanced equipment that he couldn’t understand, and Richard would have knowledge about.

“How can we be sure? Richard could be the chosen one that would change the world. Those dreams could be the future of the world.”

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Richard shook his head, “I woke up completely when the body awakened the energy within. I don’t know why I was asleep for 12 years or why I am here, but I mean no harm. I never wished for such a thing. I feel terrible seeing you in pain.

I care for you like my parent’s. I can’t undo anything, so I decided to live properly for your sake.”

Richard stopped and let them decide while he tried to control his wildly beating heart. He might end up getting hacked soon, and just the thought was terrifying.

Noah and Lala listened carefully. Everything they heard made them see the irregularities in their son and made the claims look real.

There was fear, nervousness and pain in Richard’s voice that touched Lala’s heart.

Noah also knew that being the chosen one was just denial.

Regardless, the situation was intense and none of them knew what to do. There was no way to truly confirm anything.

Everything had to be left to fate.

Lala couldn’t help herself and she got closer to Richard. He was a piece of her heart, more precious than anything.

“I should feel awkward calling you mother, but it would be unfair to take that away from you. I know things can’t go back to normal, so just assume that I matured faster and keep the truth in the dark.” Richard spoke up as he saw Lala trying to speak but not knowing what to say. She untied his hands.

“I feel lost, but I can’t endure seeing you in pain. I don’t mind dying, if I can see you back to normal.” Lala cried as she touched his cheek lovingly and hugged him.

Noah observed and saw raw emotions on Richard that stopped him from dragging Lala to his side.

“Even if the truth has been spoken, it will be impossible to go back. But, I expect you to stop mopping around and act normal. If you expect us to accept you, then that’s the least you can do for us.” Noah shook his head and went through several emotions before deciding to believe.

Richard understood and felt terrible about it. He felt extremely guilty about the situation.

“I promise to make your life better.”

Lala covered his mouth, “No, we want you to live better.”

Richard felt touched and he could see the parallel between his parents of both worlds. He silently nodded and wished to rest after the ordeal.

It had been nerve wrecking and emotionally scarring.

“We will let you rest for awhile, so join us once you are ready. I want to see you at full power today.” Noah muttered as he took Lala away while feeling restless and powerless at the hand destiny had dealt him.

He still couldn’t come to terms with the reality.

Was it still his Richard?

Was it really the truth?

The memories made a man, so that person would never be the same as his child. If he had the power to cut out memories or even completely erase them, Noah would have done it.

He cared naught for the adult Richard.

In the Empire to the east, there were specialists of the mind that could manipulate memories with utter ease. But, Noah was just too poor and insignificant to meet such figures.

He was forced to compromise and live with it. Seeing his wife, he knew she couldn’t take the loss.

Noah hugged her close, “Everything will be alright. He is our son.”

Richard sat there staring at the entrance of the room. He wished things could have been different, but reality would never change to his whims.

He had to live in the new world. He had to endure the pain of loss and guilt.

The child within had wanted to give the best for his parent’s like he wished for his parent’s back home, so he had to live up to those expectations.

It would be cruel otherwise.

“It seems you have collected yourself and decided to move forward, Richard.”

The voice returned again and it was clear it had been observing him.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Richard was clearly agitated and felt anger rushing forth within him.

“You are not qualified to know. I am just helping others from the kindness of my heart. I gave you a second chance while I gave them a son. Noah is infertile and would never have a child, if I hadn’t given him a blessing.”

“Are you…” a demon was unsaid as Richard felt some fear. He definitely didn’t take the being as a force of good.

“No, and you better hope you don’t come across them with this level of strength. Don’t think about pointless issues and focus on your life. Live freely and shine brightly. There is no limit in this world. This is the last time I will give my assistance, so treasure it. I have given you a low level storage seal that contains your items. Keep it hidden, it isn’t something a poor hunter would posses.

In this world everyone has an affinity to an element and you have great compatibility with earth. This is my final gift.”

With that the voice vanished and Richard could finally relax. He had been given a technique called Earth Hand.

It was an D-ranked technique that could control the earth and create hands large enough to crush a person.

Techniques were divided into ranks from E to S depending on their uses, power and range.

The higher the rank, the more energy it needed.

In the world of Pandora, everyone had the capacity to grow. But, it was limited by wealth, talent and luck.

Everyone could work hard and train their bodies to awaken their Ki. It was the life energy of a person that was formed from the cells of the body that allowed miracles.

Once Ki was unlocked, a person would step into the path of cultivation.

Without KI, one was just a warrior and once Ki was unlocked they would enter the Ki refining stage.

In this stage the user would unlock Ki and have to further increase it while increasing its quality. The quality of Ki would decide the level of the user and his foundation.

Low quality Ki would limit the rank of a technique and even weaken them.

Unfortunately, it was also the stage where majority of humanity would be stuck at. Talent was needed to go higher. Though, medicine and mystical fruits or treasures could also help him in circumventing the problem.

There was also the need of a good Ki Cultivation technique that would help the user properly refine Ki and build a foundation.

People could cultivate on their own, but that would open them up to risks better avoided. The techniques were made after centuries of research, so they made it easier for the people to grow.

Regrettably, these techniques were limited by people in power and not shared openly. People like Noah were stuck at the Ki refining stage and couldn’t risk going higher for fear of losing all their powers.

Only low level E-rank and ungraded techniques could be learnt by such people.

Richard knew Body strengthening, an E rank skill that increased the power of the body. It was limited by the amount and quality of Ki.

There were higher versions of the technique and it provided better benefits at those ranks.

Other than that, he also knew Powerful Roar. It was an ungraded skill that helped in shattering the ear drums of weak beings.

The final skill he knew was Sharp Eyes. It allowed him to focus his sight.

Getting back, Richard was silent for a while as he thought about the ranks and cultivation. He would need a good technique to actually grow stronger.

Noah had finally risen to the foundation stage only because of the village leader, Charles Harrison. The man was a Knight under the service of Baron Jacob, who lived in Aurora Town and owned 10 villages around it.

Getting it from the Knight meant that Noah was serving under Charles and didn’t really have the freedom to leave.

Noah had also talked to Richard about it and planned to get him to serve the baron by becoming his knight.

The Baron recruited people from these villages if they were talented enough. Richard didn’t have a memory of the guy but from his understanding of medieval world, he had very low expectations.

His morals would clash with them without a doubt and he disliked working under other people.

‘I will have to find my way.’ Richard thought as he checked the storage seal drawn on his chest.

It looked like a tattoo of the world tree and had a small space that was the size of a single bed. Inside it, he found his items from the normal world.

Richard was a weapon and bike enthusiast.

Smith and Wesson 686 Revolver

Desert Eagle

Mossberg 590 Shockwave JIC

Stun Gun

Police baton

Army Knife

Tactical Tomahawk

Pepper spray

Red Metal Spear

Long Sword

Round metallic shield

That was all of it at the moment or there would have been a lot more. Richard had planned to get so much more once he had free time.

He wanted to even get custom made armors and such.

Weapons of all kinds had made his heart beat, and only after finding his way did Richard decide to actually collect them.