An average looking young man with pale skin and traces of some cuts from past battles was sleeping on a bed inside a medical care facility.
But his body wasn't at rest, with uneven breathing from time to time and the whole body soaked in sweat. He was spasming.
Ruel was dreaming of horrors of his past, the Demon Lord of infernal fire being just one of those horrors that he had witnessed.
He hoped for that world to be just a dream, but it wasn't. It was his reality and his truth.
A fact that couldn't be changed or altered.
Opening his eyes frantically, Ruel suddenly got up from his bed, looking at his shaking hand. Realizing it was all just a dream of the past, he calmed himself down while looking out the window.
It was a serene atmosphere with greenery all over, a peace he had not experienced in a long time. The birds were chirping at certain intervals while blades of grass moved with the ongoing wind.
Feeling the sweet wind on his sweaty body, a refreshing feeling of euphoria took over his body.
A certain amount of time passed when his eyes opened, examining his body.
His body was in better condition than when he was on the field.
While his realm had already solidified at the peak of Qi cultivation, he hadn't awoken his spiritual roots to actually advance to the next realm, the Foundation establishment.
But even if his body was in a better condition, his mind wasn't.
It was a disarray of emotions. Now that he was in a safe environment, all the questions he had suppressed before bombarded his mind. His brain couldn't comprehend how his regression to the past came to be.
How could one man make him go back to the past?
The old man could change the fabric of reality and send a person back to the past.
His powers were beyond what Ruel could dream of, yet he gave Ruel a chance at changing the outcome of his world.
Why was his world important to the keeper? Or was he just playing with Ruel for his entertainment?
Maybe his past life was a lie, and this one was real. Maybe they both were a lie, and he was playing right into the old man's hands.
Would a person of extreme power give a lower being even a slim chance of rising?
But all these questions didn't end there; they extended like a snake, slithering across his mind. Binding themselves to his mind.
Even if one of them was true, what was his purpose then?
What could he do to save the world from that destruction the keeper had told him, and what were the side effects of him coming back in the future?
One thing was certain: until Ruel figures out the situation, he has to give it his all until then, no matter the outcome.
Standing up, he looked towards a mirror that was fitted to the wall. Slowly taking some steps forward, he looked at his reflection.
Chuckling at himself, only these words could come out of his mouth, "Ah, I looked so amateurish back then..."
He had a height of around 5'7, with a lean and muscular body.
He was currently wearing a full white dress that covered him from top to bottom, which was adorned with a sword symbol on the chest area.
His face had sharp and defined features, with high cheekbones and some baby fat surrounding his face.
His almond-shaped eyes were a deep green color, and his eyebrows were thin and arched, framing his eyes perfectly.
His nose was straight and slightly upturned, and his lips were thin and well-defined. His black hair sleeked past his neck just some inches away from reaching his waist.
He was around above average in terms of looks.
This was what Ruel looked like at sixteen years of age.
"But seriously, did I really look like this in the past?" Ruel asked himself when a voice came from behind him.
"What do you mean you look like that, you brat!"
With a loud noise, the gates slammed open, and a girl entered the room.
She had delicate features that radiated a natural beauty. Her large, round-shaped eyes also had a green color, with thick lashes that framed them perfectly.
Her nose was small and straight, while her lips were full and rosy. Her hair was black as night, cascading down her back in luscious waves.
She had a slim, yet toned body. Her skin was a light, creamy complexion, with a hint of a blush on her cheeks that gave her a youthful appearance.
She had an air of confidence and mischievousness that exuded from her, with a proud stance and a smile that lit up the room.
A bright smile appeared on Ruel's face while masking away his sorrow. Jumping up from the bed, he hugged her directly.
A somewhat surprised expression found its way onto the face of the girl "Why are you suddenly acting like this huh?"
"Hey hey! Why are you crying? Did I say something bad?" in a panicked tone, she frantically asked while looking toward Ruel.
"It is nothing, I-" With an assuring smile on his face Ruel followed his words."I just missed you, Sia."
It could have been mere days or just weeks since Sia saw him, but for Ruel, it had been decades since he had seen her. He couldn't hold his tears back when he finally met his own sister.
Ruffling his hair, she said in a sweet affectionate tone"Aww, you really are a kid."
Pushing her hand away from his head in a gentle manner, pausing for a moment, Ruel asked in a serious tone, "How come you are here?"
She flicked his forehead, making him flinch and look at her with wide eyes.
Sia put her hand on her waist and showed an aggressive stance, a pout forming on her face.
"You are asking me why am I here? I am here to see my brother!"
Sigh
When he looked at her, he could only sigh internally.
She was older than him, yet she acted like this.
"I am sorry for that but....would you mind telling me your real reason now?"
Suddenly, turning around, she had a weird expression on her face.
Her brother seemed somewhat different from before.
Ruel knew that his sister should have been far away from the twilight forest zone, and the sect only had a branch near this area, yet here she was, so far away from the sect's grounds.
The distance between those places wasn't small by any means and could take up to a month for even a cultivator in the Foundation realm.
Not to mention her who was- huh
'I can't see through her realm…'
"Have you even seen how much trouble you have created this time?" Speaking in an annoyed yet worrying tone, she added.
"You have done some extraordinary achievements this time, some people may dislike it and many of your batch have died in the exploration."
Thinking about it, it made quite a sense to Ruel as he indeed had created trouble, but what of it? He had survived and didn't have any complications.
He had altered his and many other people's fates.
"I am here to take an alibi from you and others, and you are the only one left who hasn't given one."
"That makes sense." Ruel walked towards his bed and sat there, while Sia found a chair nearby that was reserved for visiting guests.
She asked him about it from start to finish while checking it with the information given by others.
The talk continued for half an hour when she said in a mischievous tone at the end.
"This concludes it, but we still have one thing left."