Light couldn't move freely.
No matter how much he struggled, his body remained suspended in an endless sensation of weightlessness, as though he were constantly falling through empty air.
Yet despite that strange state, there was one thing he knew with absolute certainty.
This was the Forest of Ruined.
How did he know?
For one, he had spent years staring at the damned forest from afar.
But more importantly, his blessing still worked.
Even within this strange dreamlike state, Soul Gaze reacted to the surrounding vegetation. Every towering tree, every twisted vine, every poisonous flower gave off faint streams of information the moment he focused on them.
They matched perfectly with the plants he had scanned earlier that very morning while traveling toward the City of Ruined.
There was no mistake.
'So this really is the Forest of Ruined…'
Not that knowing helped his current situation.
Days passed. Or at least, he assumed they did. Time felt distorted here.
At first, Light believed he would eventually wake up. Instead, he found himself trapped observing the lives of the woman and child.
And after spending enough time with them, he realized something important.
He was connected to the baby girl somehow. Bound to her by an invisible force.
Whenever the mother left the cave to search for food, Light couldn't follow her. No matter how hard he tried, he remained beside the sleeping infant as though chained to her existence itself.
At first, the realization frustrated him.
But eventually, he simply accepted it.
The woman had managed to find shelter deep within the forest. A small cave hidden behind dense vegetation and tangled roots. Surprisingly, no Fallen beasts approached the area.
For a place within the Forest of Ruined, it was unnaturally peaceful.
Safe. But painfully lonely.
Day after day, the woman repeated the same routine.
Feed the child. Leave to gather food. Return before nightfall. Then repeat it all again. She never deviated from it even once.
Watching the two of them slowly became Light's entire world.
"You won't be able to find me this time, sister."
Light still remembered those words clearly. At the time, he hadn't understood them.
But now—
'So this is what she meant.'
Hiding inside the Forest of Ruined. The most dangerous region on the continent.
A place even armies avoided.
'But for how long?'
That question lingered constantly in his mind. The woman couldn't possibly survive here forever.
Light had many questions. Too many.
But he understood one thing clearly now. The red-haired baby girl with dull crimson eyes— Was the blind girl from the auction house.
This wasn't the mother's past. It was hers. That was also why he couldn't stray far from the child.
This memory revolved around her existence. Not the mothers.
Time flowed strangely afterward. Whenever the baby slept, Light would lose consciousness as well.
And each time he awoke—
Days had passed. Sometimes weeks.
The tiny infant slowly grew larger before his eyes. Eventually, she learned how to crawl. Watching it happen brought Light an odd sense of joy.
The little girl moved clumsily across the cave floor, relying entirely on touch and sound to understand the world around her.
She had never once seen sunlight.
Never seen her mother's face. Never even seen the cave she lived in.
Yet despite that, she adapted surprisingly quickly.
"Ah, are we hungry again?"
The red-haired woman smiled warmly as the baby began crying loudly.
"Come here. Mama will feed you."
Even after all this time, Light could still feel it clearly.
The love that woman held for her daughter. It filled the cave with warmth.
A warmth Light hadn't realized he missed until now.
"Now, now, ******… Mama's here. There's no need to cry."
The woman scooped the crying child into her arms with practiced ease before gently rocking her back and forth.
The baby immediately calmed down.
Light watched silently from above.
'…This is how it should've been.'
A mother. A daughter. A quiet life together.
So how…
How did that girl end up chained inside a slave cage?
The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. But he knew the answer would eventually come. All he could do was continue watching old memories unfold.
Years passed.
Two. Then four. Then six.
The once tiny baby had now become an energetic young girl.
And unlike the emotionless child from the auction house—
This girl laughed often.
Very often.
"Hehe! Mama, can I come with you today?"
The young red-haired girl bounced excitedly in place atop the wooden platform of their home.
"You promised! Remember? Remember?!"
Each jump caused the entire treehouse to shake slightly.
After a few years, the mother had abandoned the cave entirely and built a proper home high within the giant oak trees hidden deep inside the forest.
The structure was simple but surprisingly sturdy.
Bridges made of woven vines connected nearby branches, while wooden platforms formed small rooms suspended high above the ground.
Honestly, Light hadn't even known trees this massive existed inside the forest.
But considering the Forest of Ruined stretched across nearly the entire continent—
Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised.
The forest was less a forest and more an unexplored world of its own.
Crossing it from north to south supposedly took several months.
Assuming someone survived long enough to attempt it.
Traveling west to east was shorter—
Only five days.
Though even that was considered suicidal for most people.
"******, only if you stop jumping first."
The woman laughed softly while steadying a basket filled with herbs.
"You're making the whole house shake."
The young girl immediately froze. Then she puffed out her cheeks.
"But I'm excited!"
"That much is obvious."
The mother chuckled before kneeling slightly to fix the girl's messy red hair.
Light stared quietly at the scene.
At once, the little girl froze.
Though even after stopping, her body continued squirming with excitement, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.
Light almost laughed seeing it.
It was hard to believe this energetic child was the same emotionless girl sitting silently at the inn earlier.
The woman crouched down and pulled out a thin green vine rope.
"Now remember," she said seriously while tying one end around her own wrist, "you must hold onto this rope at all times."
She gently handed the other end to the little girl.
"And if you ever lose your grip, call my name immediately. Understood?"
The girl puffed out her cheeks.
"Yes, Mama. I know the rules already. You've told me a hundred times."
Even so, she obediently tied the vine around her wrist.
The rope itself was only a few feet long.
Still, to a blind child who had spent most of her life confined to caves and treehouses, Light imagined it probably felt like freedom.
The woman smiled softly before lifting the girl into her arms.
Then—
She jumped.
BOOM.
The massive branch beneath them bent violently as the woman leapt from the towering tree. Wind roared past them. More than fifteen meters separated the treehouse from the forest floor below. A fall like that would instantly kill a normal person.
Yet the woman landed effortlessly. Not even her breathing changed.
Leaves scattered around her feet as she touched the ground with impossible grace.
Light had long since accepted it. She was definitely a Blessed. And not a weak one either.
The woman carefully placed the little girl onto the ground.
The child immediately tightened her grip on the vine rope before listening carefully to her surroundings.
Then slowly, She began following after her mother.
"******," the woman began while walking through the forest, "now that you're older, your real training has to begin."
Her gaze slowly lifted toward the massive canopy covering the sky above.
For a brief moment, sadness crossed her face.
"There will come a day when I won't be there to protect you anymore."
The little girl tilted her head immediately.
"What are you talking about, Mama?"
The woman forced a smile.
"It just means you need to become stronger."
She lightly squeezed the vine rope connecting them.
"So, it's important that you properly learn everything I teach you. Okay?"
The little girl lowered her head slightly.
"But… how can I protect myself if I can't even see?"
Hearing that question, the woman stopped walking.
Then she gently knelt beside her daughter.
"There are many ways to see the world besides using your eyes, silly girl."
Her voice was warm.
"I'll teach you."
The moment those words left her mouth—
Light's vision shifted again.
And again.
And again.
Fragments of time passed before him like scattered memories.
He watched the girl train relentlessly. Morning after morning. Year after year.
Sit-ups until her small arms trembled. Endless laps around makeshift forest trails. Balancing exercises atop narrow branches high above the ground. Meditation beneath a freezing waterfall. Learning to distinguish movement through sound alone.
The woman trained her mercilessly. Far beyond what any normal child should have endured.
Sometimes she fell. Sometimes she cried quietly when her mother wasn't looking.
But every single time, she stood back up again.
Her seventh birthday passed. Then ninth. Then eleventh.
The once tiny child had grown into a slender young girl.
And now—
She looked almost exactly like the girl Light had met inside the auction house.
Long crimson hair. Pale skin. Those empty ruby eyes devoid of light.
Only now, there was still life within them.
"Focus."
The sharp voice echoed through the forest.
The girl sitting cross-legged atop a stone immediately lost concentration.
"Wah—?!"
Her body tilted sideways before tumbling off the rock entirely.
Thud.
"Ow…"
The girl rubbed her head before pouting angrily.
"What was that for?!"
Nearby, the older woman burst into laughter. Years had passed visibly over her. Faint exhaustion lingered beneath her eyes now.
And though she still looked beautiful—
There was a weakness in her body that hadn't existed before.
"It was just a joke," the woman said while sitting beside the fallen girl. "You don't need to get so angry."
The younger girl crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Hmph."
The woman chuckled softly.
Then suddenly—
coughcoughCOUGH
Her body jerked violently. The coughing grew harsher by the second.
Light's expression changed immediately.
It wasn't normal.
Even the girl panicked.
"M-Mama?!"
She quickly grabbed the older woman's arm before fumbling around nearby until she found a small water pouch woven from leaves and rope.
"H-Here!"
The woman accepted it with trembling hands and took several slow sips.
Eventually, the coughing subsided.
"…Thank you, dear."
She exhaled heavily before leaning back against the rock in exhaustion.
The young girl immediately moved closer.
"Mama…"
Concern filled her expression.
Even with those sightless crimson eyes, the fear on her face was obvious.
"Are you going to be okay?"
The woman smiled gently.
"Yes. I'll be fine."
But beneath her breath—
So quietly even the girl almost missed it—
She whispered:
"Soon…"
Her tired eyes drifted toward the distant sky hidden beyond the trees.
"It'll be time soon."
The moment those words left her lips—
Light's vision distorted once more.