I woke up, not knowing exactly how long I had been blacked out. I looked around and realized that I had returned to the dungeon. The butler had probably carried me there while I was passed out. Remembering the look on Gerald's face as he removed the arrow from my leg made me feel even angrier. Since I woke up in this body, only bad things have happened to me. Things Garrick Stormwind would never go through but there was no point in thinking about what could happen if I were in my original body. Garrick Stormwind was dead, and Kaleb was alive. That was all that mattered at the moment.
I straightened up in the place on the floor that should have been my bed. A small space with a handful of hay organized, where I should use it to rest. As I leaned my back against the cold wall of the cell, I looked down at my injured knee so I could examine all the damage I had sustained. I noticed that there was only one scar on my leg and that all the pain I was feeling was starting to subside. I found that strange for a moment until my attention was caught by a voice next to me.
"It looks like you've finally woken up, my boy. That is great."
I looked around until I came across an elderly man sitting next to me. He had a tired look, but on his face, he displayed a serene smile. The first thing that caught my attention about this man was the chains that bound his feet and hands. A security measures to prevent him from running away.
"I took the liberty of helping you with your injury. I would have done a better job if I had had full control of my energy. The drug they are using on me is really powerful." The man continued to say this while running his hand through his beard.
While the elderly man was rambling, one of his words stuck in my mind. How does a man trapped in a dungeon understand energy control? This was a technique for controlling humans with nature, where the controller channels the energy of the world around them to connect with it. Being one with the world with proper training, the caster might be able to use skills so unique that only a few in all eight realms could use them. These abilities were known as magic.
In my past life, I tried to learn that a battlecaster would be an indispensable force for an army. This would make me stand out among everyone, making Astrea's birth imminent. But just as it was a powerful ability, it was very rare and was only passed on between family members, being a way of keeping magic alive but out of the hands of people with bad intentions.
"You must be surprised, Kaleb, to find out that your old cellmate was a channeler and energy dominant." - It was as if the old man could read my mind. - "Why else would Lord Stein leave me alive? I'm just an old man without much use."
The man got up without much effort and walked closer to me.
"I was kidnapped in an ambush orchestrated by Lord Stein himself. Everyone in my village was brutally murdered. Only I was left alive." - The man's eyes began to fill with tears, but he continued to maintain a serene smile on his face. "I saw everyone I loved die in front of me. That damn scene still haunts my mind. There isn't a single night that goes by that I don't remember that moment. From the first day I was here, I cursed the man who destroyed my life. The man who took my family from me - Tears began to run down the man's face. That memory was too painful for him.
"You've always been a good friend to me, Kaleb. And I feel like it's time to repay that friendship." - The elderly man dried his tears and looked deep into my eyes. "Kaleb, would you be willing to learn the principles of energy control?