Kale's eyes snapped open, gasping for breath repeatedly. Blood came out of his nose, as if his brain was overloaded. A wave of numbing dizziness filled him. His back hit the soft grass.
After a few more minutes of gasping, he was finally able to wipe the blood from his face; unknown to him, he was back in the forest where he used to train with the wild animals, the place where he had tested the limits of his special ability.
The sun hung high in the middle of the sky. With a grunt, he barely neared a pond with fresh water, properly cleaning himself of the dirt and blood.
His head still ached like someone had smashed a hammer on his skull. It was only when his mind had calmed down enough that he could think properly and ask himself, Where am I?
Why is the sun up? No, wait? Why was he even alive? In the last moments when he killed the Dragon, he was able to feel it clearly, that unmistakable sensation of death, the pain of having your soul ripped from your body.
He looked around one more time, a trace of panic in his eyes. As more and more questions popped up in his head.
Why was the forest still intact?
Why didn't he have severe injuries on him?
Apart from the headache, he still felt mostly fine.
Selene and Darius? The villagers, The Twins, his little sister? They were all dead, weren't they? Just as he was about to spiral down into the pitfall of negative thoughts, a sweet sound reached his ears, "Big brotha...."
His entire body jolted at that cute voice. He froze, unable to even turn his head, not daring to believe even his own ears.
The toddler's cute scream reached him like a siren blaring in his ears. With no warning whatsoever, she crashed onto his chest, like a rhino hitting a stone wall, and she fell to his lap. Then punched him again and again, barely able to make fists.
She spoke again, "Bad brotha bad… You play with the animals and not.. not me…"
He moved his head to the sides, looking at her, his own little sister, Iria Ardentis, the same words she once whispered the day before he went to attend the awakening ritual. She continued to blabber, while Kale could only remain silent, his mind and soul in utter turmoil.
He questioned the reality around him. As he finally came to terms with what he was seeing and feeling, he offered a broken smile, tears falling from his eyes, as he hugged the little toddler tightly.
Not letting her go, even when she shouted at him to let go. He did not let his little sister see his shattered expression or tears falling unceasingly from his eyes. Kale gritted his teeth and forcefully calmed himself. He looked around for a moment and realized that, unlike usual, the wild animals, small and large, were all keeping a certain distance from him.
Directing a hostile intent towards him unanimously. Kale sensed further inside him, and he realized, as expected, that he was still awakened. Though the very thought of what just happened here sent a chill down his spine, there was no other explanation.
He pacified little Iria for a few moments, then, picking her up, he started to walk towards the village grounds in shaky steps. All while keeping a vigilant eye towards the hostile animals and insects. It seems the curse remained. If he wasn't wrong, it was the system's feature that kept the wild animals at bay; it was the world's function, the dragon's curse.
All of them should have tried to kill him, instead of just keeping a distance or gazing at him threateningly. He asked the system in his mind, his tone filled with rage, 'System, you better fucking come clean, what the hell is happening?'
Though this damn thing had protected him, he didn't have much of a good feeling towards it, because it could have protected his family, but it did not. Besides, Kale was extremely suspicious of it as he knew practically nothing about it. And the very inconceivable thing happening now made his vigilance increase even further.
A glitching sound reached his ears; the system was barely able to function, and it projected the flickering texts in front of him.
[Issuing emergency quest…. ]
[Quest(Urgent): Kill the Red dragon and collect its heart.]
[Reward: System reactivation…]
[System temporarily going into inactive mode…]
Kale's expression hardened as he shouted in his mind, 'Don't you fucking go quiet, give me the answers, you bastard.'
'How did you do this?'
'Is this some kind of illusion that I am in?'
'Is this even real?'
Countless more questions he threw at the system, but there was no response; he was only met with a deafening silence, his face turning black. But he had to adjust his expression quickly, or Iria might be scared.
As the grounds of the ever-so-familiar village entered his sight, his legs shook, his heart trembled, and his eyes became moist once more. The old, young people of Dagan, the ones that. treated him like family, and were walking around.
They glanced towards him one by one, giving a smile and a nod, going about their work. Kale was in a daze, still unable to believe what he was seeing was even real. He knocked on the door of his own house, seeing the green-eyed woman alive and smiling, the very one who was melted down into a puddle of liquid by the Dragons' sundering flames.
It wasn't until then that he truly believed the miracle he was experiencing; he was back, he was truly back in time. As impossible as it may sound, as inconceivable it may sound. That was the very truth staring down at him, all this while.
Both of his parents noticed his absent-mindedness, especially his father, who noticed his strange, lingering gaze, filled with an array of overwhelming emotions. Darius wanted to say something, but in the end, he did not.
Sitting on that same table, the family ate together, chatted happily about the next day, of his awakening. His little sister, as always, was most excited about it, thinking that her older brother would actually learn to do magic.
Kale could only act like his usual self to make sure his family wouldn't worry about him or think he was going to do something extreme. More than that, he was happy. For the first time in a long, long time, he felt in bliss.
As the saying goes, you don't truly learn to value something unless you lose it.
Kale was someone who had no one in his first life, no family, no loved ones, nothing. So, when he lost the family that cared for him with everything, even in the face of certain death, it became an anchor for him, a new purpose, forgoing his old dreams.
He was like a snake that shed its old skin, a butterfly that broke out of its chrysalis.
In the middle of the night, such thoughts stormed his mind when everyone else was asleep, but he remained wide awake.
Thinking of the System Quest, he was assured even more that the Red Dragon would attack him again; it would come for him.
Kale clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, his eyes filled with boundless hatred towards the dragons, his mind resolute about what he needed to do. The monumental, near-impossible tasks he needed to accomplish.
He would do it, he would do it all...