New Directions

𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗿𝗶𝗻

I opened my eyes and saw a blurry vision, I see my parents chanting the same spell they used to revive me. When their bodies dropped, my mother turns her head to me.

"Please...." I dropped out of my bed and gasped for air then tears started to come out but after a minute, I calmed myself down.

I sat up and my head felt very dizzy.

"Ughhhhh, what happened last night?"

I tried to recollect what happened yesterday but nothing comes to mind so I decided to take a shower first. I take off my sweaty

clothes and entered the shower, I look at my young body, a body stuck in time.

I once again resolved to sacrifice everything to get my parents back before leaving the shower.

I look around my room which was already cleaned then I look at my giant backpack.

It's full of books and notes that I memorized from the heart just in case of a situation where I had to lose them.

"I will not lose those I value as, not again."

Wearing my lab coat, I open my door to eat my breakfast and to meet with my important companions.

*****

𝗛𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝘁ō

I was forced to wake up when my stomach starts to feel weird; Running to the bathroom, I vomited last night's alcohol. I spit my saliva to the side and breathe out.

I ran out of my room and got my towel and headed back to the bathroom then took a shower. Looking into the mirror and cleaned my face thoroughly leaving only small bags in my eyes.

I grabbed a handful of water and used it to fix my hair. "Good enough, not like I know how to look decent."

I walk out of the bathroom with still a bit of dizziness and quickly made my bed since we were going to be leaving today. I then put the rest of my items such as extra clothes and other essentials into my new bag then I grab it before leaving the room.

I met up with Freya and Alice who were eating their breakfast then joined them by sitting at the next table. Freya as always drags my chair to their table before speaking up.

"So, Himura, you uh, wanna tell us what happened last night?" Freya said calmly.

"When we were drinking or back at the inn?"

Her face twitches when I mentioned it back in the inn and after a moment she asks about it both.

"Well, in the adventurers guild, you guys were just crying loudly while Astoria was fucking around with the bards then when we were going back to the inn, I met Jin, you know the gold-ranked adventurer, yeah so we talk for a bit then he gave me his sword." As I said that I tap at the hilt of the finely made sword before continuing. They seem to be surprised for a moment before I speak again.

"After a while, I managed to get you all back at the inn but putting you guys in your rooms was the problem, Astoria was easy enough since I just threw her inside then locked the door so she couldn't go outside, though I did hear a few crashes as I left, as for Alice, you refused to let go of me so I had to tie you using your lab coat and thankfully, you were stupid enough or should I say drunk enough, that you didn't know how to untie yourself and as for Freya, you were really strong so shaking you off was quite a challenge." I gulp down my glass of water and finish my breakfast before speaking again.

"Long story short, I just sat in your bed and waited for you to fall asleep before slipping out."

"Hey, Himura is that really all that happened?" Freya questioned.

"Yes," I say clearly without changing my expression, of course, it was a clear lie but I found it unnecessary to tell them those other things.

We hear Astoria's carriage bell ring.

"Oh, would you look at that, Astoria is here."

Freya said that a bit embarrassed before they both left the inn. I felt weird having such conversations with them probably because I wasn't used to it plus the fact that they were getting embarrassed at such an age also made it a bit weird but I remind myself again that the standards of my world are nothing like this one.

I grab my backpack before also leaving the inn.

With the help of Alice, I tied my smaller pack where I keep all of my art supplies to the backpack then left it on the corner of the carriage along with my katana which has been fixed mysteriously, and their bags.

I hop right in with Alice to the back and as always, Freya and Astoria take the front of the carriage.

"You guys ready?" She asked.

"""Yep.""" With our collective agreement to Astoria's question, she uses reins to guide the horses outside of this town.

We were going to the considered center of the world, known simply as "The Tree Of The Sun And Moon"

It has a metropolis around it that shared the culture of all of the continents around it since this city did not have a border but instead shared custody between all continents which is why it is considered the middle of the world even if 55% of this world's surface has still hasn't been discovered yet.

Alice seemingly still drunk, took the sleeping bag and used it as a pillow, and fell asleep while I grab my art supplies to draw.

The breeze of the forest passes me and I couldn't help but smile again and then I look at my companions. Astoria while looking at the map, recounted a more detailed story of what happened last night, and Freya sat there silently probably embarrassed.

No matter how much I keep stating how different this world is from mine, I still know nothing about this world but all I know was this was a new life for me, and all I want from it is to redeem myself not for anyone but myself and myself only then maybe, I could finally die peacefully.

I shook my head and tried to forget about the darkness that still lurks in my heart and instead tried to think positively but of course, old habits die hard so I couldn't think of something.

I breathe in and breathe out but my heart does not change, it still has the darkness surrounding it. 'I knew that changing myself will take years to do by my expectations so I should...just not think about it.'

I stop my sketch and look at the forest around me then I distracted myself and tried to forget about my thoughts once again but after a while, I became bored so I opened my character board.

ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ʙᴏᴀʀᴅ ↓

Name: Himura Satō

Age: 17

Religion: None

Race: Homunculus

Status -

Stamina: 2970/2970

Mana: 1/1

ꜱᴛᴀᴛꜱ:

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 32

Constitution: 19

Wisdom: 24

Intelligence: 17

Charisma: 28

ʙᴜꜰꜰ:

[None]

ᴅᴇʙᴜꜰꜰ:

Weak

Duration: 7 Days

ʙʟᴇꜱꜱɪɴɢꜱ:

Anti-aging

Duration:Forever

ᴄᴜʀꜱᴇꜱ:

Curse of reincarnating

Duration: Forever

Anti-aging

Duration:Forever

ᴘᴀꜱꜱɪᴠᴇ ꜱᴋɪʟʟꜱ:

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝘃.𝟵 - A skill to draw anything on paper with great details.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝘃.𝟱 - Ability to keep calm in any type of situation.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗦𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗟𝘃.𝟯 - Your general knowledge and skill with the sword.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗞𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝘃.𝟮 - Your ability to stab and cut anything with a knife or short blade.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝘃.𝟮 - Ability and knowledge of how to cook meat and vegetables.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝘃.𝟴 -

You do not value lives as high as other individuals, making you less likely to hesitate when taking a life

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝘃.𝟮 - Sense when something is about or will kill you.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗦𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗟𝘃.𝟱 - You manipulate your words to get what you want from people without anyone noticing.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗣𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝘃.𝟳 - Most things cannot destroy your expression unless you choose to.

[𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲] 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗿 𝗟𝘃.𝟭𝟬 - You lie as naturally as you breathe.

ꜱᴋɪʟʟꜱ:

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝘃.𝟭 - Gain [Focus( ? )] for 5 minutes.

While it is active, any damages will only decrease the effectiveness of [Focus( ? )] instead of destroying the effect completely.

ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ:

[None]

ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ ʟᴏɢ ↓

ʜᴇʟᴘ ↓

I fiddled with the character board for hours hoping for some change as if I was waiting for the god of entertainment to update his blessing but there was however one change that I noticed. "Hey Astoria, I thought you said that the way to the sun and moon tree doesn't include a haunted forest?"

"It shouldn't be but....ohhhhhh." I looked at Astoria flipped over the map and immediately knew what the problem was.

We hear the growling of a horrible creature no not just a single creature but multiple of them as I sense death from behind.

It was getting quite dark and our retreat was blocked off by something. Freya gave me lit torches which we place on the front and back then I shook Alice awake.

My senses became clouded about death and shouted out of my instincts.

"They're approaching us from behind and fast!" Without warning, Astoria cracks the reins and made the horses which made me and Alice fall but I manage to catch Alice.

"Than-" I cut Alice off when my senses tingled and then a wolf-like creature with tentacles coming out from its left eye and tail entered the carriage, it had a foul smell and its body seemed to have broken down already yet it was right here in front of me, standing.

"Help Astoria and Freya!" I commanded Alice and she immediately turned around, leaving her back exposed with me to protect it.

'I will not fail this.' I said as a flash of an image of my companions being killed by this wolf goes in my head and I immediately shook it off.

The wolf then charges at me.