Eldred Arnold jolted awake, his head pounding with a sharp, unrelenting pain.
Once he recovered slightly, he looked around and found himself in a dim stone cave, roughly the size of a basketball court. Piles of bones littered the floor, and a dozen corpses in strange, vibrant clothing lay beside him. The clothes looked new and bright, suggesting these people had died recently.
"Where am I? Is this still the dark forest?" As his eyes roamed around the dim stone cave, Eldred had a few conclusions in his head, one of them being that this place was a special dimension created by the beast to trap its prey and slowly wear them down before it attacked and devoured them.
"Did everyone before me die like this?" His gaze fell on the scattered bones and freshly fallen bodies. For a moment, his body froze, his eyes widening in shock, but just as quickly, his composure returned. It was only a fleeting reaction before he regained calm and focused again.
Sigh!
Eldred sighed as he took a closer look at his old friend's dead bodies scattered between the other dead bodies with strange clothes.
Now that his vision was clear and the pain subsided, he could clearly see the faces of those recently dead, and some of them resembled his old friends, the friends he once cherished and ventured with into the dark forest, later becoming the sole grandmaster of his era.
Eldred lay collapsed on the cold, hard rock, staring blankly at his surroundings as a dim light flickered from the cave walls. His mind began to drift, bringing forth fragmented memories of his time with his old friends.
Though the memories were faint, he could still recall the days when they ventured together, exploring the deeper parts of the Dark Forest. They had faced wave after wave of beasts, growing stronger with each battle.
However, as time passed on, and Eldred's friends grew satisfied with their martial arts master level after achieving it, a rift slowly formed between him and his friends.
As a young man, Eldred had always dreamed of becoming a legendary figure, a martial arts grandmaster who would protect his city and rid the Dark Forest of the dangerous beasts that threatened its people. This unwavering ambition gradually distanced him from his friends.
To be more precise, Eldred's goals and dreams no longer align with theirs.
While he yearned to delve deeper into the path of martial arts, always pushing beyond his limits, his friends were content with the strength they had gained. Their differences grew until they no longer saw eye to eye, and eventually, they stopped speaking and interacting altogether.
Eldred didn't know what to think as he took the image of his old friend's dead body," I have countless times told you that our strengths are still too weak and we have to go beyond the master level to be at least safe in the dark forest, yet you didn't believe me. Now look at you, dead in a god-forsaken place."
As Eldred tried to refocus on the urgent matter at hand, a sudden wave of dizziness overwhelmed him. His mind was flooded with countless images, flashing through his eyes rapidly. It felt like he was witnessing an entire lifetime—one that wasn't his—rushing past him, foreign memories unraveling before him.
This is the memory of a young man...
A boy named Eldred whose life was taken away after he stepped into this place in hopes of befriending one of the otherworldly figures and being taught how to use magic from them.
As Eldred processed the flood of memories he had just received, a deep frown settled on his face as the truth of the situation finally dawned on him.
He looked down at the lifeless bodies of his old friends, a deep sigh escaping his lips, the weight of it all pressing heavily on his soul.
Sigh...
"Who would have thought your weakness would cost you such an opportunity? You truly missed your chance this time, old friends," Eldred muttered, taking a deep breath as he absorbed the fragments of information he had just processed.
Despite the cave being filled with dead bodies, the air was surprisingly fresh, devoid of any stench or decay. It felt as though he were standing amidst ancient trees, with clean and crisp air that he doubted he'd ever find its equal in any city.
"Magic huh?" Eldred said as a look of disbelief was still attached to his face.
Feeling a surge of strength coursing through his body, Eldred took a step forward, wanting to confirm something. To his surprise, the uneasy feeling that had always lingered behind him had completely vanished, replaced by a refreshing sensation.
A look of astonishment flickered across his eyes as he glanced down and realized that his aged body had transformed into a youthful one. Even more shocking, it was the exact body he had when he was 14 years old.
Eldred was momentarily dumbfounded but quickly calmed himself and accepted the reality. "I must have taken over this boy's body after that crack swallowed me. And it just so happens he looks exactly like I did at 14, or it could also be fate."
Having witnessed all manner of strange and magical things in his lifetime, Eldred knew that nothing was truly impossible.
If he, as a grandmaster, could leap from a hundred-meter building without fear and suppress an entire dark forest filled with bloodthirsty beasts, then concepts like reincarnation and transmigration were certainly within the realm of possibility.
Thankfully, Eldred had read plenty of web novels in his youth and was familiar with all sorts of clichés and scenarios. So, despite how surreal the situation seemed, he was able to control his emotions and accept reality rather quickly.
With a calm demeanor, Eldred began walking toward the cave's exit, sifting through the memories of the person whose body he had taken over. A hint of amusement crossed his face, his lips curling into a smile.
From the other Eldred's memories, he learned that this place was called the Hidden Continent, a world where neither technology nor science existed.
At least, that's how it seemed at first—until Eldred discovered the more amusing details hidden within those memories.