"Where am I? ...I can't feel anything. So this is what death feels like," Aryoso muttered. He tried to look around, but he couldn't move or speak. The only thing he could do was speak to himself in his mind.
"I can't move, I can't speak... The only thing I can do right now is talk in my mind. It's like my limbs have been taken over; I have no control."
While Aryoso was lost in his thoughts, something suddenly caught his attention.
"Why am I so calm? It's as if my emotions have been ripped away from my soul. No fear, no hopelessness, no excitement."
He had fallen into his usual distant expression, but suddenly, he felt an overwhelming force. This power took over him completely, and in just a few seconds, all his emotions and control over his limbs returned.
Aryoso stopped thinking and, feeling his body moving again, he managed to open his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a planet entirely green in color. All around him were thousands, maybe millions, of trees in different colors and auras. But the most striking thing was the towering tree at the center of it all. It was thousands of kilometers high, and its presence was so immense that its aura pressed down on Aryoso with crushing weight. If he were still alive, he would have died a million times from the pressure alone.
"What kind of place is this? This situation is bad... worse than death," Aryoso muttered under his breath, cursing, but before he could even think of escaping, he suddenly found himself at the foot of the massive tree.
He tried to examine his surroundings, but failed; his vision was blocked by millions of trees, each one larger than him, with different auras.
At that moment, his vision began to blur. As his eyes closed, he dropped to his knees. The deepening darkness started to pull him into unconsciousness...
Aryoso's mind was dragged into the depths of the past, to a time when he was still a teenager. Back then, everything seemed simpler, more hopeful. But when hope is lost in the most painful way, it becomes terrifying.
He was sitting alone in the backyard of a school, reading a book. However, the surrounding silence was soon shattered by the sounds of mocking laughter and jeering cries. Aryoso could feel it before he even looked up. They were coming closer.
"Hey, Aryoso! You think reading a book will change the fact that you're a worthless, pathetic kid?" said a voice mockingly.
Without raising his head, Aryoso couldn't suppress the growing fear inside him.
Suddenly, someone came from behind and shoved him hard. His book fell from his hands, and the pages got covered in mud. Before he could understand what was happening, he felt four people dragging him to the ground. As he tried to scream, one of them covered his mouth with their hand.
"You're so weak," said another voice. Aryoso's eyes widened. His heart was pounding wildly. He knew what they were going to do. He struggled, but nothing worked. The weight on his back kept him completely still.
Minutes passed like hours. His struggles slowed. The silence was replaced by mocking laughter and dark whispers. Every movement he made seemed to tear another piece from his soul. He was helpless. The only thing he could do was grit his teeth and close his eyes.
When it was over, Aryoso was lying on the ground, curled up. No one was around, but the laughter still echoed in his ears. "No one will believe you. Everyone will blame you," one of them had said as they left. And from that day, Aryoso remained silent. He told no one. No one ever knew.
When the vision ended, Aryoso found himself breathless under the massive tree. He knelt on the ground, hands pressed to the earth. His body was trembling, but not a single tear fell from his eyes. There was only one feeling consuming him: hatred.
Aryoso slowly stood up and began looking around. No matter which direction he looked, he saw different trees with different auras and appearances. But one tree caught his attention. It was about ten meters tall, with lightning constantly forming and disappearing around it, creating an eerie, never-ending display.
Aryoso's eyes involuntarily began to close, and he felt as if an unknown force was pulling his soul somewhere.
While this continued, he suddenly found himself in the arms of a woman.
The woman had green eyes and yellow hair, and appeared to be in her thirties. Her gaze was fixed entirely on Aryoso, looking at him with an expression full of trust and love, as if she were boundlessly devoted to him.
Aryoso tried to speak, but before he could, he realized he couldn't escape the woman's arms. It was as if he had turned into a baby.
"What's happening here?! I've turned into a damn baby! Let me go... Why am I in these clothes? They look so different from the modern world," Aryoso thought, still staring at the woman.
Moreover, he couldn't understand what they were saying. The language was completely different from that of the modern world. There was also a man with the woman. He looked at both Aryoso and the woman with eyes full of trust and affection.
A month had passed since that day, and Aryoso had become certain of one thing: he had been transported to another world. However, what he knew about most isekai manga and anime was that power systems in those worlds were usually similar, but this world's power system was entirely different.
Aryoso had learned two things in the past month. The first was that he had been transported to a different world. The second was that the man and woman were now his parents.
"This world doesn't resemble anything from the modern world. There's no television, nothing familiar... but there's something strange, a feeling in my soul. It's like something is growing deep within me, like an unending storm is brewing," Aryoso thought as he lay in the crib.
Years passed, and Aryoso began to understand the structure of this world. According to the books he read, people in this world form a bond with a "magical tree." Each person draws their power from the roots and branches of a specific tree. The tree symbolizes the person's potential, past, chosen path, and future. As a person's tree grows, their power increases, but with that growth, so do the dangers.
He also learned about his family. It consisted of four people: his mother, father, older sister, and himself. His father was a retired knight, usually training with his sword in the garden. His mother had no special abilities and was simply a housewife. His older sister was calm and quiet, and they lived a peaceful life as a family.
"I'm the only one who's different," Aryoso thought as he lay on the lush green fields, playing with the grass.