The dust swept by the breezy wind has settled to the ground, the once burning rubble is nothing but smoke and ashes, crackled and broken apart by the slight pressure from the wind blowing. Bright yellowish light shines all through the dark blue and purple clear sky.
Nothing but carnage, and the howling of wind passing through the thrashed site, and the stench of rotting bits and pieces of flesh on the ground, remains. The boy that was passed out, awoken by the foul stench as it takes his breath short. His body felt as though he had been paralyzed for a long period of time, struggling to get himself up in a sitting position. He started breathing heavily, taking in all of the oxygen he could get, while his brain was processing the situation he was in.
“What the hell happened… where am I even… these sequence of events happening… I was supposed to be dead… in my room… but what is all of this!” The little boy muttered to himself, looking frantically around him.
With little strength he had left, he managed to stand himself up even though he’s still wombling around. The little boy expands his view further, beyond his surroundings. He trips and falls on his back once more, the feeling of exhaustion was too overwhelming for him, even though he had been unconscious for quite some time. Sitting down facing the sun, the little boy closed his eyes and relaxed his body so that he could calm his mind, and grasp the situation he is in better.
His meditation didn’t last long, as the stench from the corpses around him began to sway around with the wind, blowing into him.
“They are strangers to me… but my body is compelling me to do something about the body parts. Just as I thought… my soul somehow had transferred into this little boy’s body. As for the memories… The emotion that flowed into me, had merged with my own. But this uneasiness, of the bodies… sitting here doing nothing, doesn’t feel right…” the little boy muttered to himself.
The little boy groaned as he put all of his strength to stand up. He walks around the rubble, searching for anything that he could use, and seems to give up a few minutes later and picks up a stick that was lying on the ground. He noticed a big tree that seemed to have died, leaving nothing but a husk of a tree, not far away from him, where he remembered seeing the glowing figure from when he first arrived at the place.
His gut told him that it’s a perfect place to bury the bits and pieces of body parts. Using the stick he found as a cane, he slowly slipped his way. A short walk, but he was already out of breath, his exhaustion hadn't eased out, but he is determined to go through with the burial. Not a second wasted, he started digging, as he knew he needed to dig a significantly sizable hole to fit the body parts.
His breathing was still heavy, making him stop every few minutes to catch his breath. The sun that was warming his cold worn out body, has shifted above his head as the heat feels like it’s cooking him alive.
“The hell am I even doing right now…” the little boy sighs, taking a break from digging the hole.
He continued nevertheless, and before he knew it, the hole that was no smaller than a peanut, was already twice his size, he’d noticed that his breaks gap took longer and longer, until he no longer felt tired. The boy was surprised that instead of feeling extremely depleted, he’d only feel slightly tired, and was instead focusing on the heat of the sun.
Feeling better than before, he searched for a large piece of cloth to gather the body parts on. Bloodied piles of cloth stuck together in a basket of what seemed to be laundry that were to be dried by the sun, the boy pulled as hard as he could and managed to get one. Lying the piece of cloth on the ground, he begins to pick the body parts one by one.
His body started to shake, and his face turned pale, as he tried to pick up a severed limb, he began to realize that it was a human body part. He can’t shake the feeling of familiarity coming from the severed limb, an image of a person emerging from his memory at every body part he looked at.
He grit his teeth, and endure the nausea as he’s collecting them. Closing his eyes, and using another piece of cloth to hold on the limbs, slowly he progressed, and he had picked every piece that he could see, clutching the end of the cloth and dragged it to the hole he dug.
A particular piece of limb caught his attention, a burly male right arm gripping tightly on a sword. He was hesitant to pick it up, but he had to, if he wanted to give them proper burial.
The moment his finger touches the arm, an immense emotion pops out, forcing its way into his mind. Extreme adrenaline, desperation for survival, anger, hatred, and the regrets of watching the people he loved, died one by one.
The little boy was physically pushed back by what he felt, and his body started to revolt by what he felt. His body is pushing him to vomit as a reaction, though the only thing that came out of his mouth, is his own spit.
Taken aback by what had happened, the boy took a short break to calm his mind, trying to not lose his sanity.
“I… I-I… have to finish this quickly… I want to leave. But my body just won’t listen to me. God fucking damn it!” the little boy shouted in anger, as his body was still shaking from the experience.
He finally got up after muttering a curse word to himself. Using his stick, he managed to push the hand, along with the sword on the piece of cloth, and drag it along. He slowly pushed everything down the hole, including the cloth, burying it all together.
Finally done with the task, the little boy sat down, as his brain had started to process the situation he was in, once again.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!! Where am I! What am I! Is this hell! Is this the punishment God has given to me… What am I supposed to do now... I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be dead… or alive!? I don’t know why I’m in this body, and I don’t even have full control of it! The memories, the emotions, the bonds that I’m feeling are surreal, everyone is a stranger to me, but I can’t help feeling like I’ve lost someone really dear to me, and that I will never be able to see them again… Please make it stop! I didn’t ask to be in this world, I didn’t ask to be in this body! So please… make this dreadful feeling stop… I’ve had enough of this…” said the boy, holding his tears.
“What… am I supposed to do…” the boy started crying.
“Live.” a voice of a young boy mixed with an older woman whispered.
“Live..!?” replied the boy, shocked, and confused.
“Everyone… save everyone… I know that you could do it…” another whisper from the mixed voice.
A small whisper can be heard from only the older woman's voice “Save him.”
“Save… What! I’m not some hero from another world that could save the day. I'm nobody! Please don’t say things like that… Please don’t make me go through these experiences again.” The little boy refused to listen to the voices.
He waited for an answer, but the voices had stopped, leaving him in the cold. He sat down under the shady part of the dead tree, avoiding the heat. A rumbling of his stomach bothered his silence, as he started to feel hungry.
Looking at himself, bloody and covered in soot and dirt, the little boy got up to wash himself near a small well near the collapsed church. Searching through the rubble pile, he finds himself a cleaner set of clothing, a little bit bigger than his size, but considering the situation he is in, he doesn't think twice. From another piece of cloth, the boy tore a thinner but longer piece to tie up his shoulder length hair.
He was hesitant of the path laid down for him, but his option was null, and his survival instinct refused to sit quietly, waiting to be saved. It might have been the body's own instinct, but the little boy couldn’t resist.
Flashing memories of a city ease into his mind, as if the body is telling the little boy to go there. Nowhere to go, and nothing that he could have done, had led the little boy to set a journey to the city, with nothing but the clothes on his body, and a cloth sack he used to carry a pouch of water. Guided by nothing but memories of the path through the forest that the body previously took, the little boy marches into the forest.
Moving forward, deeper into the forest, more memories flow through the boy’s head, memories that were made along the path, the good time that he had, the hardship that he went through, and the things that he had learned. Stumbling upon the herbs plant from his memory, he instinctively started to gather them, without a second of thought, as it is the only natural thing to do. From edibles, fruits and berries, to herbs that can help with ailments of any sort, he started filling it in the cloth sack he was carrying. Dusk is nearing, after hours of walking while munching on fruits and berries along the way. Night approaches soon after, and the little boy decides to set up a campfire deeper into the forest, away from the walk path.
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Piling a bunch of sticks and leaves, he tried to use the chant that he had learned in the battle. Imagining a small spark of fire, burning as hot as a simple lighter, he chanted. “FaRe.”, a small ball of fire appeared not far from his hand, near the dried leaves, lighting up the campfire.
“I feel sleepy… but it doesn’t feel like the sleepiness I had before… I…” Using dried leaves as his bedding and pillow, the boy falls dead asleep with the campfire helps keep him warm.
A crackle of a broken branch awoke the boy from his sleep, the sun already shone down its light through the forest. The campfire already burned down its fuel and left nothing but ashes.
Snapping sound of a dried branch and leaves intensified, a large shadow cast from the boy’s back, leaving out a large darkened area, almost as if a storm cloud was passing by. Curious by event, the boy turned his head to his back. A giant mutilated deer-like creature, with one of its back legs half torn off, while a different vegetation grew on top of the wound, as of its body. What seems like multiple horns from its head have been destroyed, leaving only one standing tall, but alas, crumbling by the minutes as it walks away. Terrified by the sight, and the thought of it attacking, the boy quickly turned his head back to his front, shriveling himself up to avoid being seen. His body stood still like a rock, fearing for his life, heavily breathing in panic. What felt like hours, the giant deer-like creature had finally walked quite a distance from him.
The boy quickly grabs his sack of resources and bolts away from his location, the opposite of where the monster walked, which is the pathway that he had been using. He’d spent most of the time walking the path, alert, and paranoid. With no breaks nor the time to gather anything else near the path.
A few more hours pass, the blazing hot sun is standing still perfectly on top of his head, marking the time as afternoon. The path has appeared to reach its end, with the trees and bushes thinned out, and the land seems to open up even more ahead. Fastening his pace, the boy quickly ran towards the opening in joy, his relief and anticipation having finally reached its peak.
Reaching the end of the forest, the boy finally gets a clear picture of the surroundings.
“It might have been exhaustion, but the sky looks a bit weird…” the boy thought to himself as he set his eyes upon the vast sky, dead tired from the journey.
A huge wall can be seen standing tall, enclosing what can only be assumed a town in the distance, but the outside is covered by small makeshift houses, scattering everywhere, blocking even the path to the city. The boy continued his journey, walking past multiple of the small makeshift houses, but those at the outer side of the city, seems to have been abandoned and broken. The more he walks, the thicker the population is, concentrated mostly to the tall walls.
Various types of people can be seen living in the slum, but the most apparent is the lack of younger adults. Some of the childrens are playing in the mud, or with a stick as sword, while some including the teenagers are working on a simple arts and craft for daily uses. He couldn’t help but feeling anxious in a stranger's land, speechless, he continued his way to the front gate, where two guards were standing steadily, scolding, and kicking those who tried to enter with no cause.
The boy stopped, and greeted one of the guards. “Hello, there…”
“You need anything, kid!?” the guards replied, raising their weapon slightly.
“May I have permission to enter?...” the boy asked softly.
“Huh?” the guard grunted.
“Get lost kid. You’re not allowed to enter without a permission of a permitted cause.” the guard continued.
“Hold on. Do you have a permit, or are you new? If you want entry, you have to complete a simple task, so that we know you’re here to work, not to laze around and do nothing!” says the other guards firmly, pushing his friend slightly away.
“I-I’m new! I-I have never been here before. So I don’t really understand anything, so please forgive my ignorance!” the boy nervously replied.
“I don’t know from bum fuck where you came from. But in this city, you either work, or you won’t set your foot in the town. We no longer need workers for laborious work, we already have plenty. The only position opened is those that require special skills or talents. Since you’re a kid, the only way you can be useful to the city is to be their meatshield. The hunters guild had a vacancy weekly. I’d bet you can apply there easily.” the guard answered thoroughly.
“I-I can use magic!” the boy spouted out, nervous by the guards' intimidating aura.
“If your magic is half decent, then you might be able to pass the entry test. But the hunter guild is desperate enough that they’d take any suicidal idiots in.” says the guard, with a slight chuckle.
Lowering their weapons, the guard leads the boy to another door beside the gate.
“This way…” the guards sigh as they lead the boy.
On the other side of the door, is a relatively open space, separated by a bunch of tables and chairs, while the other side is a few practice targets a couple of meters at the end of the range. They had the boy sit on a small desk, with a small piece of paper and quill pen.
“Fill this in…” said one of the guards as he pointed out the blanks that are to be filled.
“Has anyone called one of the guild field examiners yet?!” one of the guards shouted out.
“Already did, he said he’d come by when he’s free.” replied another guard that had just walked in from a door on the other side.
“I swear to god, if they’re gonna take hours again, and this end up in a rouse, I’ll fucking quit my job and live in the slums!” muttered the guard standing next to the boy.
The boy started sweating profusely and snapped his focus onto the paper.
“I don’t know if I can read these scribbles… but on the other hand, I know what these scribbles mean. Is it because of the memories of the body I’m in!?” the boy thought to himself.
“Name?!” the boy thought out loud.
The guard that was standing beside the boy slammed his hand on the paper.
“Your name boy! Don’t you even know your own name!? Or don’t tell me you can’t read!? This city is doom, if it’s filled with people like you, for god sake.” the guard shouted in disappointment.
“U-Understood sir!” the boy answered nervously, and his anxiety increased even more.
“Shit! Should I put my name, or the boy’s name!” the boy thought to himself.
The boy turns his gaze, trying to make a decision, and suddenly locks eyes with the guard who was still looking at him from the side, furiously.
“Illumi.” the boy wrote down on the paper.
“Illumi!? See, it’s not that hard!” the guard sighs and leaves the boy’s side to sit on another table beside his guard's mate.
The boy took his time to fill in the other blanks.
“Name: Illumi
Occupation: None
Expertise Skills: Not sure
Magic Level:
Type of work applied: Guild Adventurer
Tell us your goals in life:
“
The boy struggled to answer some of the questions, but having the most trouble with the last question, and took his time to gather up his thoughts. An hour passed, some of the guards left, while the 2 remaining were dead asleep, sitting on their chairs.
A few more hours pass, and the sky is getting dark, so is the room. The boy sat down in the dark room in silence, waiting to be called upon, doing nothing but looking at his paper over and over, and finally came up with an answer to the last question.
“Tell us your goals in life: To make money.”
A loud thud startled the boy, and awoke the sleeping guards.
“Sorry I’m late, it’s been a busy day.” remarks the person who’s wearing lightweight leather armor with a badge on his right chest.
The guards quickly set up candles to light up the room. As the guild field examiner introduced himself.
“My name is Phil. I’m your field examiner for today’s test. As I’m a busy man with no time to waste, I will give you only one chance. Either fart out some magic, or get out.” Phil rushes his introduction in a hurry.
“U-Understood!” the boy replied nervously.
They had the boy stand behind a line, focusing on the target a few meters away from them. The boy calmed himself down, slowed down his breathing, and collected his thoughts.
“I have to bring out all that I can to impress them, otherwise I won’t be able to enter the city. I can do the one I did, that blew a hole in that damn monster. But the fire is too hot and burnt my hands, so I have to find a way to get the fireball far enough so as to not burn my hands. I should have worn something as a glove, but I didn’t think things would have come to this…” the boy thoroughly went over his plan.
The boy reached out both of his hands, putting all of his thoughts in the moment.
“If there’s fire, there should be water, and if I can cover my other hands with water, while the other is using the fireball, I can avoid burning my hands, and not look like an idiot!” the boy put his left hand on his right hand wrist.
“As for water magic… come on, memory, do your thing!” the boy continued his thoughts.
A quick flash of memory flows to his brain, “MiRe” a phrase that comes to his mind as the image of water.
“Now I have to imagine the water covering my whole right hand perfectly like a glove. I think I might pull this one through!” the boy finally comes to his final thoughts.
“Any day now…” Phil’s impatience grew.
The boy closed his eyes and slowly breathed in.
“MiRe” the boy softly chanted, as water slowly engulfed his right hand.
A small light formed a few centimeters away from the boy’s right hand, from a coin size light, expanded to a baseball sized ball of fire. The boy opened his eyes and focused on the target, and breathed out.
“FaRe!” he shouted.
The fireball shoots out from his palm, accurately hitting the center of the target, and explodes loudly, burning all of the surroundings.
Phil was astonished by the result, and started to clap his hands.
“That was an impressive little boy, what is your name!?” Phil asked the boy.
“It’s-It’s Illumi.” the boy panting in exhaustion. Phil put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Well, it’s a weird method that you used. But I don’t expect you to master it all at your age.” claim Phil as he patted the boy’s back.
“Haha… thank you…” the boy laughed nervously.
“Welcome to the guild, son. You’d make a great addition to the guild’s fire power. Who knows, maybe you might be one of the top hunters or adventurers in this city!” Phil joyfully said as he picked up the boy’s registration paper.
“I’m super tired, and I’d assume so are you. The guards will show you your accommodation. You can head to the guild to complete your registration later tomorrow. See you later. Illumi.” Phil waved his goodbye as he walked out of the door.
“He’s starting to talk nonsense again… he must have been really tired this time. The guild will only leave him alone when he’s dead I’d bet.”
The guards chatted to each other.
They lead Illumi to the door that was facing the city. His vision of the city only came from the memories he was able to recollect. But seeing the real thing had taken his breath away. Something that he would only see from pictures from the internet.
“Impressive isn’t it. One of the only standing cities in this country.” said one of the guards, smirking.
“Enough gawking. We don’t have the luxury to idling around anyway.” says the guard, signaling to Illumi to follow him.
The guards take Illumi for a walk, quite far away from the tall walls. Deeper into the city, they finally arrived at a tall building, fitted with many windows side by side, top to bottom.
They greeted one of the keepers of the inn, and went up. A few stories later, they pointed to a door and said.
“That one over there is yours. Good luck kid. You really need them.” the guards left immediately after, yawning widely.
Arriving at the door, Illumi opened up, and saw that the room was fit with only a sheet bed on the ground, and a small window where the moonlight shines the small room.
Illumi lay his small sack next to his bedding, and lay down. He’d stare at the dark ceiling for a few minutes with an empty expression, and finally fall asleep, as the exhaustion finally creeps in.