"Damn it! 12 years! I go to sleep for 12 years, and all this shit happens! Why the hell did she allow an outside god to descend? What was she thinking?"
"My nice dinner in the capital! But now…! Now I have to catch my own food… damn this world… damn this sky!"
Following the angered voice, the boy looked up, and on top of the bird's corpse was a handsome, young-looking man with silver hair and eyes.
The silver then dissipated, turning into motes of light, and it was replaced by pitch black hair and ocean blue eyes.
The glow of silver mana was also gathered into the kitchen knife in the man's hand.
"Just after waking up, too! Agh… useless useless!"
As the man shouted towards the heavens in anger, he looked down, locking eyes with the boy's.
"Now then… Who are you?"
The boy opened his mouth, but with the soreness from inhaling too much mana stone dust and the exhaustion of his body, all that came out was a hoarse gasp.
"Tsk, I'm an oldman boy, so speak up! Agh… no….he's just a kid, he's just a kid."
The man jumped down from the bird and landed in front of the boy.
He was about 195 centimetres in height and very fit, his muscles bulging.
The Ren, watching from his past's mind, understood that it was the perfect body, yet the boy sitting in the mud knew none of that.
He wore a simple tunic and pants comfortable for everyday use, but very off putting in the pouring rain.
Yet there wasn't a single drop of water on it.
"So speak up. What's your name?"
The boy's exhausted body also had an exhausted mind, so he couldn't think of anything, not even a simple name to give.
Still in the muddy puddle, the boy looked up at the man before spotting something in the sky.
It was another bird similar to the one seen earlier, but much, much larger, seemingly blocking the sky.
It was then that words appeared in his mind, ones that the older miners always said when monsters attacked, words that were the last he ever heard from his parents.
"R-run."
The bird dived, seemingly sensing the man's presence; it seemed so much stronger than the last one, yet even then it froze.
The man tilted his kitchen knife slightly, causing the bird to change trajectory, crashing into the forest trees around them.
"Ren, is it? Simple…. Neat… I like it!"
Could the man have misheard, or maybe Ren's hoarse voice at the time caused the wrong sound to come out?
The man continued seemingly uncaring of what he thought.
"This body… tsk weak so very weak.. Yet I'm not looking for someone talented anyway… hmm."
The man stared deeply into Ren's lifeless eyes before chuckling.
"You're nothing, boy… with the world like this, you will die and return to the damn earth as some monster's shit or some monster's puke."
"Yet nothing is just what I'm looking for, who cares if this world is going to shit? Do you?"
Ren didn't reply, staring at the man and tilting his head, his lifeless eyes all the answer he needed.
The man laughed as if Ren replied,
"I thought so! So, become my student, and I'll help you! I'll make you the strongest! I'll make you a god! If you want to fix this world or save it, it will be up to you to decide!"
"So take it, take my hand."
The man put his hand in front of the boy, asking him to take it, yet the boy didn't move.
He frowned, surprised that the boy didn't want the opportunity.
To become strong!
To become a god!
He was starting to think the boy really was worthless.
It was then that a growling was heard, causing the man to chuckle.
"I have food."
Despite the boy's limited vocabulary, he knew what the word meant, grasping the hand without hesitation.
The Ren watching the dream chuckled internally.
'Damnit, I thought I wasn't going to feel nostalgic.'
The boy weakly stood up, his hand holding onto the man's.
The man, Ren's master, the Sword God, smiled.
As everything turned black.
…
Ren awoke on a bed inside what seemed to be a tent.
But in front of his face was.
"This Reckless fool, I can't believe I actually lik-"
"Aria?"
Ren spotted Aria, up close, her eyes flickered in surprise, as she smiled calmly.
"You're awake"
"What are you doing? And what's this about being reckless?"
Aria quickly stepped back, turning her face away, unwilling to show her expression.
"It was… nothing. And you are reckless, a reckless idiot."
Ren frowned, sure what he did was reckless, but didn't he also gain something?
Better mana control, which would help him reach rank 2!
He had to stand up for himself!
"I'm alive, aren't I? My mana control improved as well. Isn't that good?"
"Alive? Alive isn't enough! Isn't it also good to be healthy as well!?"
Her voice started to turn into anger, her grip on the towel so hard that drops of water started pouring on the tent's floor.
Ren, realising he had made a mistake, quickly tried to change the topic, spotting the damp towel in her hand.
"A towel? Were you wiping me just now?"
Aria pouted in annoyance.
"I was going to... But you woke up, so wash yourself."
She threw the towel at his face, blinding him,
"Agh! I'm a patient! A patient! Be more gentle!"
Aria spoke back,
"A patient whose injuries are solely his fault!"
Aria turned away with a humph, then a sigh.
Her eyes glimmered with immense disappointment that Ren, who was focusing on wiping himself, couldn't see.
'Why did he wake up just as I was about to wipe him! Damn Fate!'
Although she blamed her fate, she knew deep down that wasn't the reason; she was just unlucky.
'Every possible detail of his body… now gone! No, I can't give up yet. Should I take a peek?'
Aria shook her head violently, removing the thoughts.
'But he was cool, I'll admit that.'
The confidence he had, though it was towards something reckless, she couldn't help but admire it.
'It's the same as back then, isn't it?'
Aria had quite a low self esteem in her past life; it wasn't caused by her life on Earth, but the ups and downs in Solaris,
Yet every time she brought it up, Ren would always give her advice that was both helpful and, quite frankly, ridiculous at times.
[Mr Night: Ms Star, why should you care what he thinks? What's stopping you from dropping a meteor as you did on that monster? I mean, it's the least he deserves, trying to force a marriage with you.]
[Ms Star: Mr Night, what's stopping me is getting chased by the royal knights and being charged with treason! Why would I drop a meteor on the royal prince? He is royalty!]
[Mr Night: Tsk Tsk! Class? Royalty? Just imaginary constructs! Once you move past that, you'll reach enlightenment!]
[Ms Star: Enlightenment isn't going to save the world, is it?]
[Mr Night: Geez, you're really asking a lot out of me, friend. Hmmm, tell him you like girls then.]
[Ms Star: How the hell with that wor- actually it really might…]
The memories flowed happily, causing her to smile and chuckle. Thankfully, Ren was humming a tune while whipping his body, so he didn't hear.
He was fun to talk to…
'But that's all I'll admit!'
Aria liked him, but she was far from the confrontational type, until she found out if he felt the same way or if her feelings were greater than those inhibitions, their relationship would probably remain the same.
It was quite reasonable, as despite knowing each other for years, they only met in person recently.
'I need to learn more before I strike!'
'Ah, this towel is nice and cool.'
Their thoughts were completely different, and outside the tent, two different people also had separate thoughts.
'H-how cute!~ So that's their relationship, it makes sense!'
Relia smiled while her mind jumped; she was under the impression that they had gone through the worst of the worst under an evil mage.
Although not much in her life on Earth due to studies, she read many novels here, especially of the romance kind.
With so many cliches and stories under her belt, Relia's mind couldn't help but wander.
'A love between people that went through thick and thin, her worry for him may move his heart, yet he retains his strength so he can look strong in front of her, isn't that just adorable?!'
Relia completely misunderstood, thinking that Ren was trying to become strong and do reckless things to look cool in front of Aria and that Aria whispered sweet worries quietly, unwilling to force him out of his passion for strength!
But as a noble, her face was calm, and a benevolent smile appeared,
The man next to her, though, showed his expressions quite clearly.
Hale stood tall, covering his face with a single palm,
'Why… why do I have to listen to this cheesy love story? Tsk, they're young, it's normal, yeah, normal.'
Outside the tent, Hale lamented, yet little did he know that if the pair combined the ages of their past lives, they were even older than he was.
'Damn it, I miss Emma, I miss Helen and Evan as well.'
Thoughts of his wife and children occupied his mind as they both went into the tent.