Kael pushed open the creaking wooden door of the small house he called home. It was a modest dwelling at the edge of the village, tucked away near the forest's border. The roof sagged slightly, and the stone foundation bore the wear of years, but it was enough a place to rest and collect his thoughts. Inside, the faint smell of old wood and damp earth greeted him, accompanied by the quiet stillness that always seemed to fill the space.
He placed his pack by the door and leaned his spear against the wall. A single wooden table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by mismatched chairs. A narrow cot lay pushed against the far wall, its simple blanket neatly folded. Though the house was small and unassuming, it had become his sanctuary a place to retreat from the weight of the system and the eyes of the villagers.
Kael sank into one of the chairs, his mind drifting. The villagers had taken pity on him when they found him, a half-drowned boy with no memory of how he had come to be there. He could still remember waking up in the elder's hut, the faint smell of herbs in the air and the sound of murmured voices.
It had been an old fisherman, Harn, who had pulled him from the river. Harn was a wiry man with a weathered face, and Kael could still picture the man's sharp blue eyes as he recounted the story. "Found you floating near the shallows," Harn had said, his voice gruff but kind. "Thought you were dead, to be honest. But you were breathing barely."
The villagers had been wary at first. A stranger with no name, no past, and an unusual energy surrounding him wasn't exactly a comforting presence. But the elder had vouched for him. Kael could still hear the elder's words: "He has a place here, just as all who are lost do. The river brought him to us for a reason."
The villagers had given him this small house, along with enough food and supplies to survive. Over time, Kael had earned their cautious trust. He helped with chores, tended the fields, and even joined the hunting parties when needed. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't truly belong. He was a stranger in this body, in this world.
Kael leaned back in his chair, staring at the faint cracks in the wooden ceiling. The body he now inhabited felt foreign, as if it wasn't truly his own. His hands, calloused from weeks of training and work, didn't feel like hands he'd lived with for years. His reflection in the small, cracked mirror on the wall was equally unfamiliar a young man with dark, unruly hair and eyes that seemed to hold more questions than answers.
The villagers had told him that when Harn found him, he wore strange clothes, soaked and torn beyond recognition. There had been no clues as to where he'd come from or how he'd ended up in the river. Even the elder had seemed puzzled by his arrival, though Kael suspected the old man knew more than he let on.
"Who was I before this?" Kael murmured to the empty room. The question lingered in the air, unanswered.
He closed his eyes, trying once again to recall anything any fragment of memory from the life he might have lived before. But his mind was a blank slate, devoid of any personal history. All he had were scattered images and sensations, fleeting and fragmented. A flash of light. The sound of rushing water. A voice, faint and distorted, speaking words he couldn't quite make out.
It was as if the person he had been was locked away, separated from him by an impenetrable barrier. The only thing that felt real was the moment he had awoken in this world, greeted by the system's interface hovering before his eyes.
Kael rose from the chair and walked to the window, gazing out at the village. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the dirt paths and wooden huts. Children ran through the streets, their laughter carrying on the wind. For a moment, Kael allowed himself to envy their innocence. They knew who they were, where they belonged. He, on the other hand, was adrift caught between a forgotten past and an uncertain future.
His thoughts turned to the Scared Realm, the mysterious trial that awaited him and the other initiates. He had heard the villagers speak of it in hushed tones, their voices tinged with both reverence and fear. It was a place where destinies were forged and lives often lost. Kael didn't know what awaited him there, but he was certain it held answers about the system, the Abyssal Affinity that marked him, and perhaps even his missing past.
But the thought of the Abyssal Affinity filled him with unease. It was a power he barely understood, yet it had been with him from the moment he woke in this world. The elder had warned him of its dangers, but Kael couldn't ignore the strange pull it exerted on him. It felt like a part of him, as natural as the air he breathed.
"Who am I?" Kael whispered again, his voice barely audible.
The sound of footsteps outside drew his attention. He turned to see Harn standing at the door, a weathered sack slung over one shoulder. The old fisherman gave a small nod before stepping inside.
"Thought you might need some supplies," Harn said, setting the sack on the table. "Dried meat, bread, a few herbs. Should last you a while."
Kael managed a faint smile. "Thanks, Harn. I appreciate it."
Harn studied him for a moment, his sharp eyes seeming to see straight through him. "You've got that look again," the fisherman said, pulling out a chair and sitting across from Kael. "Like you're trying to solve some puzzle with no pieces."
Kael hesitated, then sighed. "I just... I don't know who I was before. And I don't know who I'm supposed to be now."
Harn nodded slowly. "A lot of folks spend their whole lives asking those questions, Kael. You're not alone in that. But maybe you're looking at it wrong. Maybe it's not about who you were, but who you're going to become."
Kael frowned, turning Harn's words over in his mind. "But how do I know which path to take?"
The old fisherman chuckled softly. "You don't. You just walk it. One step at a time."
For a moment, the two sat in silence, the fading light of the setting sun casting a warm glow over the room. Harn eventually rose, giving Kael a firm pat on the shoulder before heading for the door.
"Get some rest, boy. You've got a long journey ahead."
As the door closed behind him, Kael returned to the window, watching as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains. Harn's words echoed in his mind, mingling with the elder's: Every choice we make, every path we walk, shapes us.
Kael didn't have all the answers not yet. But he was beginning to understand that his journey wasn't about reclaiming who he had been. It was about discovering who he could become. And with the Scared Realm looming on the horizon, that discovery would begin sooner than he was ready for.
Kael turned from the window and lay down on the narrow cot, staring up at the cracked ceiling.