Burden

Black. There was just an unending blackness no a void. Nothing around, nothing near, nothing far, just nothing.

" Where am I?"

Just then a small voice broke the unending silence in the void. But was that voice real? Where did it come from?

" What was that?"

The voice sounded again this closer.

Wait, that's me. it all came together to that voice, it was the one that broke the silence and at the same time only it exists or did it?

A small shimmer came from an unknowable far away distance. So far away and small that the only way to notice it was by being in the unending black nothingness.

But that shimmer brought hope. It gave the entity a direction to head towards. It didn't matter to it if it never reached it. What was important was having something.

As the entity grew closer to the shimmer it grew bigger and bigger. But at the same time the entity's thoughts were clearing up.

It couldn't help but wonder and question everything around it or the nothingness around it. Even if there was nobody or nothing to explain it to.

Soon the shimmer grew wider and took over everything just like the sun rising up from the horizon.

" How do I know what a sun is? Wait, what is the sun?"

The entity questioned itself once more before the light engulfed the entity's entire being.

....

Waking up from his peaceful slumber was a young child looking around the age of 12 at most. The first thing that entered the young boy's vision was a thatched roof that looked so weak that a small gust of wind seemed to be able to blow it away.

...

Where am I?

Who am I?

What am I doing here?

Suddenly, my head throbbed as pieces of information appeared in my head. The memories were of a young child named Vellomao.

The child lived in a small size tribe where everyone regardless of gender or age. As long as they could walk and hold a weapon they had to hunt.

The world was dangerous with wild animals and monsters lurking. This was a world where everyone and everything could and would kill you if you gave it the chance.

While I was looking through his memories some strange memories popped up and didn't connect with any of Vellomao's memories and yet they didn't seem to connect with each other as well.

The wooden door that appeared hastily built creaked as it opened, letting in a middle aged man. The middle aged man had a strong build and had an imposing aura. The man had been in a position of power before to have that kind of presence.

Vellomao, seeing the middle age man didn't know who that man was.

" Vellomao, it's good to see you awake."

The middle aged man spoke with steadiness and calmly addressed Vellomao. Hearing his voice the memories of the man appeared in my head.

He was the tribe Chief and the strongest person in the tribe Manu Gowum. While the man appeared to be in his middle age he was however in his late 60's.

" If you're feeling fine then we can continue our journey to the ceremonial cliff. Your accident has caused us to be a bit behind schedule so we need to hurry."

" Accident?"

The accident, how could I not remember it, was one of the most prominent memories that Vellomao had.

The tribe was heading towards the ceremonial cliff where all the tribes in the nearby area would gather and worship the blood sea and ask for its blessings before undergoing the awakening.

The journey towards the cliff was uneventful as all the monsters that blocked the tribe's way were easily killed by the warriors.

The sun was blazing and it was so hot that the temperature reached over 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius.

That type of heat wouldn't have been too much for the other members of the tribe as they were trained since birth and had powerful bodies.

However this was where the problem laid as Vellomao was different from the other children, while they were fit and strong he was weak and thin. Eventually it grew too much that Vellomao suffered from a sun stroke and passed out.

Vellomao was already an outcast in the tribe for his physical strength but this incident has only made it worse.

" If you feel that you can't continue anymore and need a break during the journey just tell me."

The Chief didn't continue to speak as he just took a glance at Vellomao's weak body and turned around and left the hatchet.

While those were kind words that the Chief said, those same words turned Vellomao pale as he clenched his tiny fists.

" Damn everyone in the tribe already sees me as a burden."

Being weak in the tribe while shameful it was nothing to worry about as the world is filled with both the strong and weak. But being a burden in the tribe is a sin that only has two outcomes: the first is exile and the other is death.

I only just woke up and I already can't ask anyone for help because once I ask my fate would be sealed.

Calming down, I took a deep breath as I tried to organize all of my memories and look through them thoroughly to not make a mistake that could end me.

While looking through his memories he noticed several strange sciences. They were mostly the tribe's warriors going against the wilderness monsters.

One of the scenes depicted the Chief battling a giant two-headed snake as they fought the aura around the Chief solidified and became the image of an armored soldier.

Each time the snake would bite him sparks would fly and set fire to anything flammable that the sparks landed on.

What is this? Is this a world where cultivation to become stronger exists?

Though Vellomao didn't quite understand the word cultivation that appeared in his mind he knew that it was something to be excited about.

" My first goal after waking up is to no longer be the tribe's burden and survive the ceremony of the blood sea."