Awakening in Aetheris-
Adam suddenly opened his eyes, his throat and mouth dry, with dust caked on his lips.
He grimaced, spitting out the dirt that clung to his tongue. Squinting against the blinding sunlight, he realized he was in a place entirely unfamiliar to him.
Lining the street were medieval-style buildings, each worn and weathered, and beneath him lay cold stone, rough against his skin.
Struggling to make sense of his surroundings, everything seemed a blur at first. After a few blinks, his vision cleared, and he took in the strange scene.
A sharp pain flared through his body as he slowly pushed himself up, hands scraping against the gritty stone.
He noticed with a jolt that his hands were thin, pale, and skeletal, not at all like the hands he remembered.
"Whose hand is this?" he murmured, staring in confusion.
Before he could puzzle out an answer, his stomach rumbled violently, and he doubled over, clutching it with weak, trembling hands.
His ribs were nearly visible beneath his torn clothes, which hung loosely on his frail frame, evidence of a long hunger that seemed embedded in his bones.
"Ahh… my whole body hurts," Adam whispered weakly. His head spun, a wave of dizziness hitting him hard as he looked around.
People passed by, glancing briefly before looking away as if he were no more than trash littering the alleyway.
Confusion clouded his mind as he tried to grasp what was happening.
Suddenly, a sharp, searing pain struck his head, and he gasped, clutching it tightly as memories he didn't recognize poured in, flashing through his mind like a fast-forwarded movie.
None of it made sense, yet a single fact became clear: he was no longer in his own world.
Images of his former life drifted past—days spent on Earth, living an ordinary life. But now, he was here, in a new world, in a new body. He had no idea where he was or what he was called here.
The thought sparked a distant memory. "If you're ever stranded somewhere unfamiliar, the first thing you should do is check your surroundings," Adam mumbled, recalling something he'd seen on TV, where survival expert Bear Grylls had offered similar advice.
A smile briefly flickered across his face at the thought, and he started scanning his surroundings.
Looking around, he muttered to himself, "Alright, I'm in an alley, lying on the ground, my clothes are in tatters, and I'm starving. This body isn't mine, and I'm aching all over." He sighed, shaking his head.
From the glances of passersby, he could tell they wanted nothing to do with him. "It's like I've got the plague or something," he thought with a faint, rueful chuckle.
Slowly, Adam felt himself gaining control over his limbs.
He extended a hand and watched it move, albeit weakly, and rotated it experimentally, testing how much strength he had regained.
The thought dawned on him: 'Have I been… transmigrated?'
Excitement stirred within him. "If I've truly arrived in another world, then I get a fresh start, maybe even a new purpose. Who knows what I could discover here?"
But his stomach interrupted his fantasies with another sharp pang of hunger, a reminder of his immediate need. "Ugh… couldn't I have had a smoother start?" he grumbled softly.
A darker thought crossed his mind. If he had taken over this body, what had happened to its previous owner? Did he somehow… replace them?
"That's a problem for later," he murmured. "Right now, I need to eat." Wincing, Adam used the wall to help himself up. He staggered slightly, unsteady, and his whole body protested with each movement.
Looking down at himself, Adam noted the body's pitiful condition: thin, pale, and clearly malnourished.
Despite the pain, he took a few wobbly steps, only to fall to the ground again, dizzy and breathless from the effort.
He sat there panting, as if he'd just run a marathon.
Another wave of pain surged through his head, and he let out a hoarse scream, clutching his temples as the memories surfaced once more, this time slower, as if someone had pressed play on a reel of someone else's life.
Images of a small village appeared, of a simpler, happier time—parents who had cared for this body, a childhood spent in the countryside.
Then tragedy. Bandits raided the village, and this body's parents sacrificed themselves to save him, leaving him orphaned and alone. With no one left, he had fled to the city, eventually ending up here, starving and neglected, until Adam's spirit somehow took his place.
Through the memories, Adam learned the basics of his new world.
He was now in Baltik City, the capital of the Zeo Kingdom, located in the White Snow Continent. And there was magic—real, powerful magic. Despite the pain and disorientation, the realization brought a spark of hope.
"Magic… so I might be able to learn it?" Adam's heart raced as he imagined the possibilities.
As the memories faded, Adam realized he had little useful knowledge about the city, thanks to his predecessor's limited experience.
This boy had never traveled, had no skills, and when he arrived here, there was no work, no shelter. In the end, he had perished in this alley, alone and starving.
"What a tragic life you had, brother," Adam said softly, feeling a pang of sorrow. "Don't worry. I'll take care of your body from now on."
The headache subsiding, Adam slowly stood up again, steadying himself against the wall, inching forward on shaky legs.
At one point, he saw a puddle on the ground and caught a glimpse of his reflection. His hair was white and curly, and his blue eyes, despite their dimness from hunger, still sparkled like gemstones.
His skin was yellowed, a sure sign of his malnutrition.
"Damn… I wasn't supposed to look this good," he joked to himself, trying to keep his spirits up.
From the memories, he recalled the name of this new world: Aetheris. It felt strange on his tongue but thrilling all the same.
Driven by a flicker of hope, he forced himself to move forward, step by step.
In the distance, he noticed a few figures moving down the alleyway. With luck, perhaps he could find someone kind enough to help him survive this harsh beginning in a brand-new world.