When Hektor opened his eyes, he realized he was submerged in frigid water. Selena was nowhere in sight despite having fallen with him. Fearing the worst, Hektor swam around looking for her body but made little ground before he needed to breathe. He ascended and broke through the surface, gasping for breaths of fresh air.

Fresh air? Impossible.

As far as he remembered, he was still in the Venom Mist Forest and probably—no, most certainly—died. The last thing he expected was to breathe fresh air. With many questions running through his mind, Hektor swam to the shore and pulled himself out of the water.

“This place…I know this place.”

After observing his surroundings, Hektor concluded that he drifted onto the forested lakeside near Leios Village, his hometown. So not only was he alive and well, but also back home?

Something else felt off about the situation. Hektor turned to his reflection in the water, and his jaw dropped. He was shorter by a few feet and wore neither his armor nor the academy uniform. Instead, he wore his father’s worn old hand-me-down tunic robes. His black hair, which he had cut short, was long and scraggy.

“How long have I been out?”

Hektor then noticed his left hand had been glowing. He raised it to his face. To his surprise, he found his ring finger fitted with a ring made of silver scales.

“No way.”

The ring was one of a pair and part of an engagement gift he spent three months’ worth of his savings from academy quests on. He bartered them from a shady seller who claimed someone crafted the rings from the scales of a Chrono Ouroboros. Chrono Ouroboros was a divine beast that could manipulate time. Combined with its power and speed, it constantly escaped confrontation and confinement. Hektor initially laughed at the idea that someone managed to peel off a bit of its skin. Yet, he bought the rings anyway since an appraisal proved they were made from incredibly high-quality material. But if the seller was telling the truth, then perhaps it was possible for Selena to have been affected by the ring as well. If that were the case, then she’d be in the city as of this time.

Hektor’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Eventually, he found himself face to face with three familiar boys.

The boy in front smirked once he spotted Hektor. “Hah! Looks like that brat managed to swim out! Maybe we should throw him in again!”

Hektor narrowed his eyes. This pretentious brat was Peter Tavros, son of the local magistrate. Although Magistrate Tavros was a kind man, his son was a problem child. Peter would always cause problems throughout his father’s territories and could get away with it by threatening them with his father’s status. The magistrate tried his best to discipline the child through various means, and Peter seemed to have redeemed himself, at least in public. Rumors amongst the other kids said he occasionally vented his anger on anything he could get his hands on in the forest.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Stop, Peter. He’s had enough,” said a pretty-faced boy who ran up to Hektor. “Are you okay?”

Hektor flashed a sad smile while watching the boy examine his body. This boy was Nikolae Tavros, Peter’s cousin. Hektor never understood how such a good kid could be caught hanging around someone like Peter. Nikolae mostly followed his cousin to diffuse situations or even clean up after Peter’s actions. Last he heard in his previous life, Nikolae eventually fell out with Peter and left to serve under another magistrate’s medical corps, never heard from again.

After a few minutes, Nikolae finished his examination of Hektor’s body. “Fortunately, you don’t seem to have any injuries. But it’s still dangerous to have you soaking wet in the cold. We must get you to a fire as soon as possible, or you’ll get sick.”

“Back off, Nik!” Peter waved his hand. “I’m going to shove him in again.”

“Stop it!”

The third boy shoved Nikolae aside with his meaty hands. “He said to back off!”

The all-brawn, no brains boy was Jason. Admittedly, Hektor didn’t remember much about Jason besides parroting Peter or doing most of the dirty work. From what he could remember, Jason eventually got arrested by the local authorities for one of Peter’s misdemeanors. It seemed like Peter grew tired of Jason and sacrificed his lackey as a scapegoat.

But Hektor had no time to pity Jason’s future since his own was at risk.

Thanks to their arrival, Hektor could finally figure out when he had arrived, the day of his tenth birthday. Being dunked into the cold water several times would cause him to develop a cold and a fever, rendering him unable to see Selena and celebrate their birthdays together. When his parents found out what had happened, they confronted the magistrate to complain and received compensation for the trouble. However, someone murdered his parents a few days later, resulting in Hektor becoming an orphan. Jason was most likely involved but had no way to prove it. This injustice led him to become a soldier in the first place, to grovel and fight for the social status and wealth needed to bring Jason to justice.

He scowled at the thought of what was to come.

“Hey, look at his face,” Jason said. “Looks like this little squirt’s angry.”

Hektor couldn’t control his emotions. The fear and anger of having to live through these events again, that he would lose everything all over again, was unbearable. Peter walked up to Hektor with a smug grin on his face.

“What? Little baker’s boy want to fight?”

“Sorry,” Hektor spoke with sarcasm and pretended to wipe his face. “I was just thinking how simple-minded and disgusting you can be. I think I need another bath to wash off your spit.”

Peter took a step back with an astonished expression.

“What? How dare a lowly peasant talk to me like that!”

“You’re not that high and mighty, yourself.”

Hektor exchanged glares with Peter until the latter walked away.

“Very well, Nikolae. I won’t do anything to him anymore. Jason, hit him a couple of times, and then we’ll let him go.”

“Hah! Yes, master!” Jason cracked his knuckles.

“I can’t allow you to do this, Peter. If your father hears this—eep!”

Peter grabbed Nikolae in a neck lock. “Oh, shut up already, Nik. Think about it like this. I—or rather, Jason’s giving you a body to practice on.”

“I’m a physician’s apprentice, not a surgeon’s!”

Hektor had no time to worry about Nikolae, with Jason getting closer to him. Hektor got into a low combat stance ingrained in his memory. Of course, he didn’t have the strength and skills he would have when he turned 18, but his younger body had undergone basic training under the village guard as all boys had to do. All he needed to do was to beat Jason.

Mustering all his strength, he charged at Jason to deliver the strongest punch he could.