The fire roared around him.
Screams echoed from every corner of the white space around him.
At the center was little Rashin, his childlike form shivering in fear.
He cried.
"I don't want to be a hero. Why do I have to? I just want to stay here with you." His tears streamed down his cheeks.
Right in front of him was a womanly figure. Her entire skin was covered with bright white light, and yet, one could still tell she was extremely pretty.
She cupped his cheeks with her hands, a small smile forming on her lips.
"Dear son of mine..." she continued, "inasmuch as you want to refuse this gift, the world has already chosen you. Your father and I want nothing but the best for you."
Rashin cried even more, this time gripping his mother's shirt.
"You might not understand it now, but I promise you will later on. This power you own, this power you wield—use it to save the world from them."
She smiled. "We will be watching over you, my dear son."
Not even a second after those words, Rashin opened his eyes.
It was a dream.
Taking a bit of time to pull himself together, Rashin began to take in his surroundings.
"W..here am I?" he asked out loud.
From how everything seemed closed up and small, Rashin was able to guess he was in some kind of tent. With the same observation, he realized he was in a forest.
He sat upright.
'How did I end up here? I was sure I was with that girl in the church. No, wait...'
He remembered the weird energy Eri had released into the air that made the whole place explode into ruins.
And additionally, Rashin remembered being stabbed in the chest with a blade.
'I'm still alive...'
He rubbed his fingers on his shirtless chest. There was not even a single mark to prove a blade had gone through his chest.
If anything, he was confused. There was no doubt he lacked the ability to heal himself.
'Perhaps that girl healed me? I guess that's one more thing I should be grateful for,' Rashin said to himself before standing up from the stack of leaves he was lying on.
With labored steps, he walked out of the tent, allowing the morning sun to greet him as he squinted his eyes.
His eyes followed every single tree around him, yet there was no sign of Eri.
There was a burning piece of wood in front of Rashin, freshly used.
Eri had used it a while back—Rashin could tell.
"Priestess!" he called out and began to walk forward.
For a couple of minutes, he went around the forest, screaming her name to see if he would get some kind of response.
Since he was new to the world, he knew nothing of where to go or how to get there. Eri was his only hope—that, or testing his luck by traveling alone.
Suddenly, Rashin found himself standing close to a running river.
There, he could see Eri, fetching water inside a wooden cup, and beside her was an individual dressed in a brown cloak covering their face.
"There she is..."
Rashin slid down the small hill and began to move toward her the moment his foot touched the ground.
"Priestess," he called out again.
This time, she heard him.
Eri immediately turned around to look at him, a smile forming on her face.
"Rashin! You're awake!" She dropped the wooden pot and moved closer to him.
The first thing she did was rub her hands on his muscular chest.
"I didn't think you'd wake up again. Hah, I was so lonely—you have no idea." Eri laughed a bit, her sadness buried underneath.
For a couple of days, she had been trying to heal him with her magic, but it didn't seem like anything was working.
She was able to heal the external injury, but the internal one was untouched.
Hence why she was surprised he actually woke up without her having to do anything.
"I'm glad to see that you're alright. Although, I'm confused as to how you were able to get us out of that situation. I did believe you wanted us to commit some kind of suicide," Rashin said to her.
Cleaning the tears that wanted to drip from her eyes, Eri laughed a bit. "You really do know how to say the weirdest things."
Rashin, still maintaining the calm look on his face, shifted his gaze to the cloaked individual.
Eri noticed this and turned around to do the introduction.
"Oh, I met him here when I came to get water for cooking. He said he's going to the capital and that he's lost. I thought I'd direct him there when I'm gone."
'Capital? There was nothing like that back in my time. I guess time does fly with developments,' Rashin thought to himself.
Without any warning, the cloaked individual moved closer to Rashin and Eri, his hand stretched out for a handshake.
"Is this the friend you were talking about? He seems rather capable. And quite good-looking," the individual spoke.
Rashin shook the man's hand.
"Uhm... thank you."
But something weird happened at that moment.
A spark ran through them.
Their eyes widened in alarm.
Rashin grabbed Eri and pushed her behind him, while the individual took a huge leap back.
"Oh? Now that's unexpected... even for me..." The individual stared at his hand, noticing the dark streaks forming on his palm.
Meanwhile, Eri was lost behind Rashin.
"Why did you push me like that?" she asked, trying to step forward.
Then, Rashin spoke, his voice laced with seriousness.
"Priestess... listen to me carefully... run away from here."
"Uhm? Why? What are you talking about? Why would I—"
"The man standing before you is no ordinary man... This man... is a Fallen one."
Eri's eyes widened in shock.
A Fallen one in human form? That was impossible and unheard of.
Thus, she didn't believe him.
Despite this, the sadistic look on the man's face made her question everything she had known all her life.