Five Years Later -
Inside a deep forest, the sun hung straight in the middle of the sky. Eight children stood, each with a bamboo stick in hand, their expressions solemn. All of them were facing forward, standing regally, imitating the stance of knights.
One of the children, who was called Sikkin, spoke aloud. He tried to sound serious, but only his childish voice came out—
"Here he comes, oh brave knights. We shall finally meet him."
"The child, whom the dragons revived."
"The child, whom the dragons blessed."
"The chosen one."
Sikkin's voice continued to grow louder and louder as a silhouette of another child slowly became visible, coming out of the bushes wearing a crown made of dried long leaves. His enormous strides exuded confidence, his posture akin to that of a king.
Sikkin's voice thundered as he bowed, "Pay your respects to the one and only Child of the Dragons."
The other seven children all bowed, following Sikkin's lead. Meanwhile, the one wearing the leaf crown finally became visible—an unrecognizable wooden sword in his hand.
Nile's body trembled as he looked at the antics of these damn kids. But through gritted teeth, he played along, cursing his shitty luck, "Rise, my brave knights, for today we shall slaughter the minions of the Dark salamander."
"The Evil witch who creates chimeras to spread the corruption shall finally fall before my blade imbued with the breath of the Dragons. The terror she spread for centuries shall at last......"
All the kids who were bowing felt the corners of their mouths tremble uncontrollably... until they couldn't hold it in,
"PFTTTTTTTT!!!!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"WAAAH-HA-HA-HAAA!!"
Nile, "............."
All the kids burst out laughing, rolling on the ground, tears streaming from their eyes. Nile put a hand on his face. Looking into the skies, with a lost expression, wondering where it all went wrong.
After 10 minutes, he walked out of the forest cursing under his breath. He was a goddamn 29-year-old man when he died. But for him to now play with a bunch of five-year-old children, goddamn it all.
But who was he kidding? It's not like he had a choice. If he did not spend at least 4 hours playing with the children of the village, his witch of a mother would spank his ass until it became as red as a tomato. Then he wouldn't be able to do anything for the rest of the day, for his ass would be burning like fire.
That's right, it had been five long years since he was born within this world; he could still remember the day he first opened his eyes on the body of a newborn child. Gazing at the thunderstorm and the barely recognizable silhouette of the colossal dragon, which almost dwarfed the world. Flying above the clouds.
He couldn't remember any concrete details of that moment, for the undeveloped brain of this body had been unable to store that image with much clarity. But that was beside the point. What mattered was that Nile was reborn into this mystical world—a world where the dragons actually existed in the flesh and blood.
Nile had heard the story countless times in his mother's lullaby, the tale of his birth. The very reason why the villagers always referred to him by those grandiose titles, and kids similar to his age… no, identical to the age of this body, made fun of him greatly. But a part of him actually liked those titles very much.
If his rebirth was indeed because of the Dragons, and he had some fated affinity with those mighty creatures. Did that not mean his dream, his impossible dream, could finally come true? He did not need to go through the hassle of creating dragons himself.
If only that treacherous bastard Erik Dos knew that he had actually done Nile such a big favor. The bastard might have died of a heart attack just from petty jealousy. The thought brought a dark smile to his face, a childish face, making him look rather funny.
But Nile did not have the slightest idea about how he should go about his desire to ride a dragon. He knew that this world was definitely much, much different from the original Earth. He wouldn't be surprised if magic existed in this world. However, he himself had yet to see such things.
Nor were there any books in his house explaining any of such oddities. He had tried asking his parents and the villagers as well, but they only gave vague answers, as if they were forbidden from speaking. More than that, the dragons seem to be worshipped like deities, at least in this primitive Dagan village.
He sighed, rubbing his eyelids in frustration. For now, there was nothing he could do about it; he could only wait until it was the right time when his parents would automatically reveal more of the truth to him. The nature of this world. How exactly did it work?
"whirr-tee-tee-tee!"
"twee-chirr-teeuu!"
The sounds of two birds suddenly caught his attention as he was close to exiting the forest. A smile dawned on his lips as two breathtaking birds with long and sharp beaks but small bodies landed on both of his shoulders. One was Red in color, with some blue stripes over its wings, and the other was the opposite—mostly blue but with reddish stripes.
But these birds had glisening reflective eyes that were the most attractive part. The cute birds rubbed their heads on his cheeks, chirping more happily than ever. Nile laughed aloud, "Yeah, it's good to see you, too, guys. You lovebirds are busy looking after your babies that you rarely visit me anymore."
They started to dance, chirp, and again, and do various things, "Yeah, yeah. I know, and I'll bring you guys some food to your nest tomorrow. But now I gotta run, mother will be angry otherwise."
Then Nile bid farewell to the two birds and ran with full speed. Unfortunately for him, many more of such cute birds or small land animals and butterflies blocked his path to cuddle with him. He could only curse his luck.
Soon, he reached the door of his house and, with a nervous countenance, made a knock. Sweat covered his body from running.
Knock, knock.
The doors opened without even asking, and a gorgeous woman with black hair and brown eyes came out just moments later. She was smiling vibrantly, her eyes locking onto Nile.
But Nile unconsciously stepped back out of fear; he was unable to resist, and she pulled him into her arms, and then it happened. The beautiful woman planted two large kisses on his cheeks, smearing them with some of her saliva, "Karl, my cute child. Why are you 10 minutes late? I shall give 10 more kisses as a punishment."
Nile….no, he was Karl's now. Karl Ardentis, and the woman holding him was his overly loving mother, Selene Ardentis. He shouted, "NO, Absolutely not...."
But his mother's smile turned a little dark, "Hoh??"
Karl's face changed immediately from aggrieved to smiling vibrantly, as if flipping a switch, "Oh no, of course, mother… please kiss me."
'She might give me 100 kisses if I resist too much, damn it,' he cursed again in his mind, but smiling outside.
Selene let out a chuckle and said, "Alright, wash yourself fast and eat the Lunch, your father's been waiting for you."
Karl let out a heavy internal sigh of relief. The woman was a monster. One act of defiance and she would turn on the Asian mother mode with a sandle. He had learned to be obedient the hard way by now, after many years of beating.
Entering inside, he took a hurried shower.
And in all honesty, for this makeshift, weak, wooden house to be a Baron's home was a literal joke. But it was at least better than the mud-made houses of the villagers. Dagan was less a village, more a primitive tribe. Only that they didn't…. eat people, thankfully.
Their house had three small rooms; the entire house was made of refurbished wooden planks of various sizes, which his father made by hand. At least… that is what he was told.
The roofs, the walls, all of the house were a collection of wooden planks assembled into one, like a house of Legos; it was quite marvelous, he had to admit. The man apparently had some good talent in both organized farming and… carpenting.
His father often made wooden sculptures, many of which were left to collect dust. They were quite lifelike, he had to admit. His father could probably make a better living by selling his wooden sculptures in the country's capital regions rather than living like an old farmer.
After the shower, he came to sit at the dining table. His father had already started eating because he had to go back to work again. Baron Darius asked him with a smile,
"How was your day, Karl?"
"As usual," he answered, "Sorry, I was a bit late, I did not realize the time while playing," apologized Karl.
But his father only gave out a chuckle, "That's fine. Just do not make the habit of playing in the open sunlight. It's bad for your health."
"That's right, tell the damn brat. He doesn't listen to me, no matter how many times I say it." Selene started her nagging lecture from the kitchen, and Karl rolled his eyes because his father knew why he had been late, having spent time with the birds and animals.
Right after finishing lunch, as Darius was about to leave, the older man… no, old man was the wrong word, Karl realized. His mother and father were no more than 25 years old, maybe even less. So they were pretty young.
This also reflected in their vibrant appearance, and they were both good-looking people.
He almost choked on his food. Wait a damn minute... they were even younger than he was. What the actual F..?
Just as Darius was about to leave, he paused and said something to Karl that made him snap out of his stupid thoughts, "Son, I have a new book for you. I will give it to you after I come back from work."
Karl's eyes flickered in obvious interest, hearing that. It had been almost a year since his father gave him a new book. He had already learned to read, write, and speak the language of this world by the age of three. Again, only his father knew of his full efficiency in reading and writing. His mother only knew a little of it.
Though Karl suspected the woman knew more than she let on.
But he dismissed that topic and thought about what he had read in the last book his father had given him. Unlike what he expected, that book mostly contained small details about the Ardentis family and the region they inhabited.
For example, the Ardentis Barony was nothing but an empty title as of now. Darius's grandfather had lost all of his enormous wealth and territory to gambling. Then Darius's father took another chance at luck to try and get everything back through a gamble, which only led to a greater downfall.
Now the title only existed in name, having authority over only this tiny rural village. His father has to earn money through farming like every other villager. But the man was strangely content with his current life.
Dagan village was really a minor blip compared to the enormous mountainous region of Stonehelm. It was like a primitive countryside village, with no access to electricity. However, it was doubtful whether electricity even existed in this strange world, and the only profession here was farming.
He had also read that three powerful forces operated here, in the region of Stonehelm, though their names weren't mentioned.
Slowly, the sun fell toward the horizon. By the time complete darkness covered the village, Darius came back, covered in dirt and sweat, his clean clothes riddled with mud after a good day's work. After the man was done cleaning and eating dinner.
He finally called for his son Karl, "Come here, son. See your new book."
Selene smiled as Karl rushed out of his room, his expression excited. Only on these occasions did her son seem like a genuine child. Hungry for the vast knowledge about this world. But she also knew what her adventurous son might do if he learned of those magical tales of this empire.
Which was also the reason she and her husband were keeping things secret from him. It was the selfish wishes of a mother. To keep the child in her embrace as long as possible.