After resting for a while, I stood and put my backpack on my back, and started to ascend the peak again. I traveled for a few minutes when suddenly I heard some voices.
*Growl*
'Fuck! I need to hide ASAP' I screamed internally.
I instantly climbed a nearby tree like a monkey.
I sweat buckets when my gaze landed on a large wolf.
'Shit! This is bad. What the hell is Direwolf doing down here?' I cursed.
Dire wolves will rarely descend the mountain as their territory was up at the peak.
Still, I didn't lose my confidence and slow by slowly started to jump from one tree to another with a careful approach. With my awakened body, my sense and physical capabilities were somewhat enhanced compared to before, so I didn't face any problems yet now.
I jumped from another but this time, the branch I landed upon broke, and I fell from the tree along the broken branch.
"Arhh...Fuck!" I screamed as the branch injured my leg badly.
Direwolf instantly looked in my direction.
*Graw*
It growled while looking at me with bloodshot eyes and launched itself in my direction.
'A berserk one!' I thought as I looked at it. Berserk Dire wolf is dangerous opponents to encounter but they have a high weakness, their lack of intelligence due to their berserk state. I immediately picked up a sharp branch and pointed it toward the wolf.
*Puchi*
*Bam*
Branch penetrated the wolf from the head and went out of the backside, but the impact was so great that it sent me flying a few feet away.
My body became a mess drenched in blood and a few broken bones.
"Arhh...t-this stupid w-wolf!" I stuttered as my body started to feel numb due to immense pain.
I crawled to a nearby tree to take support.
"Huf...huff..." I breathe heavily.
At this moment, a voice entered my ears as I lost consciousness.
"Interesting"
***
"Uh..." I open my eyes only to find myself lying in a dark and creepy place filled with graves all over.
"Oh, so finally you decided to wake" someone spoke.
I looked in the direction from where the voice came to find a man sitting on a grave. The man was clad in samurai armor with an Oni mask on his face.
"Satoru Kijima?" I muttered as I remembered his appearance in the novel.
"Huh? Am I still that famous? Hah, I can't blame you guys. After all, it's my fault for being so handsome and talented that even after centuries, I am still famous." he spoke.
'Narcissist. Just like he was in the novel.' I thought.
"By the way, your soul is Tarnished, Kid?" he asked.
"Huh? What Tarnished?" I was confused.
'What the hell is he talking about.'
"So, you have no idea about it huh? Let me ask you something then, are you from a different world?" I asked with a serious tone.
"H-How did you know?" I answered and stepped back.
"Hahaha, don't worry kid. I'm just a fragment of a lingering soul. You don't have to be so cautious of me. Your soul is marked as a tarnished one, kid. You are not here by the will of the world. Instead, you have been brought to this world by some unorthodox methods. So, naturally, this world rejected you by making you tarnished. But the power behind your arrival must be more powerful so it negated the effects of the curse by granting you a powerful skill." he explained and instantly appeared in front of me.
"Your memories about your past life are fake and your current life memories had been altered."
"..." I just looked at him with a blank face. The Satoru Kijima I know will never lie so It's hard to ignore his words, but I still couldn't accept them blindly. So, I tried to recall memories of my previous life but then suddenly it was all blank except my memories about the novel.
"W-What the hell is this!" I fell on my knees as I felt myself at a loss for words.
"I just removed those fake memories from your mind. Consider it as a gift from me, the most handsome samurai, Satoru Kijima. I cannot bring all the memories of your current life, but I can let you see a fragment of your true memories of this life. So, brace yourself kid." he said and placed his glowing finger on my head.
Suddenly my vision turned dark.
***
Saturo Kijima's POV,
I was sitting on my grave when I sensed a unique presence within the dimensional palace. This presence...was unique. I don't know how to put it but one thing that I was sure of was that it does not pose any threat.
So, I took the initiative and summoned him to the graveyard. When he appeared in front of me, I was surprised. He was...a kid. His body was a complete mess, drenched in blood and broken bones. I was worried that he might die...then I noticed something.
Why was I worried?
I never felt like this in the past five hundred years. I lost count of people who came here in search of power, but I never felt sympathetic to anyone.
I ignored all these thoughts and tried to heal his body when suddenly a barrier of darkness enveloped him and pushed back my mana.
"Stay away"
I heard a feminine voice as I felt chills all over my body.
Even if I was a fragment of a soul, I was still powerful enough to fight against any Monarch-level threat but here I am, feeling threatened by a kid.
I don't know why but someone extremely powerful was looking over this kid. Maybe that's why this kid was still alive despite being injured to such an extent. Maybe, this was the same power that brought him to this world.
I don't know why but my heart told me to help him as I looked at his broken soul and... memories.
"I just want to help him," I said to that mysterious voice in hope that it will listen to me, and it did.
"F-Fine." I heard that voice again, but I also felt a sense of worry and reluctance in that voice.
At the time, this kid opened his eyes. Then I told him about his condition but looks like he was still unaware. So, I told him about his memories.
In end, I decided to show him a fragment of his memories...true memories. I could only do that much to help him. I think he deserves to know the truth.
***
"D-Darkness! I hate...darkness.' I thought I looked at the pitch-black surroundings. I felt like losing myself in this darkness. I felt like millions of insects crawling all over my body. I felt a weird and creepy sensation in my body when I looked at my surroundings. Suddenly a light shone in front of me. I went in the direction of light with cautious steps. My heart was beating crazily. Finally, as I neared the light source, I saw a door in front of me. I approached the door and opened it with a reluctant expression.
'I just want to leave this darkness.' I thought and entered the door.
Bright sunlight washed all over my body and surroundings full of greenery entered my eyes.
'Finally, I am out of that darkness' I thought and looked at my surroundings.
"T-This place...I have seen this place...but why can't I remember?" I was standing in a garden full of flowers and trees. I felt a weird connection with this place.
I walked around the garden and suddenly heard a voice a few distances away. I followed the voice and reached a specific area of the garden.
I felt a deep connection with this area.
I saw a little kid sitting in a wheelchair. That kid was none other than...me? He looked exactly like me when I was a little kid around his age.
"Mother, w-why are you leaving me?" the kid said with an expressionless face. But it couldn't hide the pain behind those words.
A woman kneeled in front of the kid. I felt like I know this woman. For some reason, I can't see her face. Her face was covered by fog.
She kissed the kid on his forehead and spoke,
"I'm sorry my little Raizel. But the mother has to leave your side, now. But I promise...that I will come to meet you soon." she said with tears in her eyes.
"Meet me soon? Father said the same words to me but...he never came." the kid said but his face showed no expression at all.
His mother stood up. She again looked at the kid and caressed him.
"Raizel, your father and I, both loved you, but we cannot stay by your side. We don't want to risk your life. We are doing this to protect you from them." she said and stood up but suddenly she looked in my direction and said something and the next moment, something forcefully pulled me out, and when I opened my eyes...reality.
"F-Fuck! Huff...huff...W-What was that? Was that kid...me?"
"Huh? looks like you had a bad dream, kid." suddenly a cheerful voice entered my ears.
"Look at me, the handsome Kijima. I never had any nightmares because I am too handsome. So, you should also become more handsome to stop these nightmares"
"I cried in the end."
I said these words to Kijima, as I recalled the kid sitting in the wheelchair. His face remained unchanged during the entire conversation, but he was...sad. Before getting pulled out of that memory, I saw him. Tears dropped from those expressionless hazel-blue eyes.
"Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel...sad and broken? Why? WHY!!!" I screamed as tears started to drop from my eyes. I don't know why but felt immense pain and sadness within me and what I felt back in those memories was just a fragment of that sadness. But soon, I found myself calming down. I felt a soothing and warm embrace over my body, and I felt no different from before. Even though I remembered the memory fragment I saw and felt a void inside me, but my mind was calm.
"Don't worry kid. I can't do much to help you retrieve your memories completely but once you become powerful enough, you will be able to look through your true memories."
"I D-Don't want to see those...memories. They are...sad. I feel like my entire existence was a lie. I can feel it, like an empty shell that can collapse at any moment. I don't want those memories. I don't care even if that was what I truly was or if my memories are altered." I said as I was scared to become the same sad and broken kid that I saw in my memories.
Kijima looked at me through his intimidating Oni mask.
"Existence of a person without knowing his true self will always take him to the path of regrets, kid. I hope you will take the right path instead of the path of regrets," he said handing me another Oni mask that appeared on his palm out of nowhere along with a book and a ring.