Rebirth

'Not again' 

Soon, Rio opened his eye to see his surroundings, he realized that he is in a small dark wooden room with a small window on the side. 

Looking out the window, he saw the blue moon shining brightly, its ethereal glow casting a frosty white sheen across the cold, shabby wooden floor. As he gazed at the unfamiliar moon, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, filling him with a deep, wistful longing for a time and place he could scarcely remember.

Rio shivered a little bit because of the atmosphere and the cold weather. 

'how poetic'

'I think someone could make a poem out of that.' 

Shaking off the nostalgic feeling, he inspected his current body. 

'huh... Around 4 years old, skinny, malnourished, black hair, pale skin, broken bones and underdeveloped muscle... .' 

'So that's the backstory... a commoner family's kid who died of sickness, but ended up being possessed by an spirit from another world. How tragic'

'Thrown into a foreign world to be the direct nemesis of the princess. Unable to live quietly and search for ways to longevity...' 

'Huh. He thrown me into this world expecting me to entertain him? He only made me his blessed, didn't take away my free will, nor did he give me any direction ?'

'Did he just expect me to make it entertaining ? What am I ? A clown ? What if I just kill myself out of spite right now ?' 

'Heh, of course I won't do that... But seriously, what am I suppose to do here ? Just aim to be stronger ?' 

[ So you're the next variable that he has found. ] 

Startled by the sound, Rio looked around the small room, but there don't seem to be anyone near him. 

[ Huh... Interesting memories. Some are blocked by him, but that's to be expected.]

[So what's your deal? Cultist ? Terrorist ? Sadist ? or a mad scientist ?]

'What the f*ck are you talking about ?'

[None of them ? That's surprising.] 

After pausing for a short while, the voiced continued. 

[So this is the big one huh ? No wonder he told me to keep an eye out... ]

[Well, as you suspected, I'm Zephiron. I am here to perform a divine miracle to heal you of all ailments ! Tremble, under my divine might !]

Rio sat on his bed without saying anything. 

[ You're a boring one aren't you. tsk] The disembodied voice scuffed.

Soon enough, Rio immediately felt better, he could feel his muscles and bones began to fill with vitality. He moved around in his 4 years old body and was satisfied with the result. 

"Tha..."

[ Well, don't be thankful. I'm not doing this of my own volition.] 

[ I'm not allowed to talk to you except for special occasions. So if you're really thankful and want to pay me back .... DON'T TALK TO MY BLESSED.] 

Immediately after the voice shouted to not talk to its blessed, Rio could feel a presence leaving the room. 

'Don't talk to its blessed? What's that about? Why would I do that? Isn't the very fact that I'm told not to talk to them just going to make me more curious and inclined to seek them out?'

'Zephiron is his creation ... So I guess that explains why it also seems unhinged' 

Digesting what had just happen, Rio lied in his bed again and looked up to the shabby ceiling. 

The ceiling slanted upward from the window on the left to the door on the right, giving the room an oddly uncomfortable feel. Several spider webs filled the corners, turning each one into a little habitat of its own.

'Well, I've already done this before in the past. I can do it again.'

'With my seasoned battle experience and my prodigious talent in sword, I should be able to rise to at least a tier 6 before long. And the rest of the way to tier 10 would be based purely on luck...' 

'But considering that I'm 'his' blessed, with divine concept : self-preservation, according to him I should be able to exert much more power than my peers.'

'Then again, that also puts a target on my back if I change things too much.... 65% is it ? I should have some leeway to make a break for it for my advancement.'

'The first in order should be light training and develop an athletic build, along with my mana control' 

'I'm not too tired, so I guess I could go out and explore the surrounding a bit.' 

So, after draping the ragged bed sheet over his shoulders to make a robe, he climbed out the window and landed knee deep onto a pit of cold wet mud. 

'You got to be kidding' 

Unable to lift his leg, he lay down and rolled to the side to escape the pit.

After escaping, he realized that he is covered in mud from head to toe. After silently sighing, he decided to find a water source nearby and clean himself of the mess he have gotten himself into. 

'This looks like the outskirts of a small town.' 

'The surrounding area should be somewhat safe for a toddler like me' 

After looking at his surrounding, he decided to head to the small grove to the east of his house. 

'Small grove, there should be a good chance that there are water source near by' 

Soon, he reached the small grove, and it did not take long for him to find the water source. 

In the heart of the grove, a small pond glistened like a liquid jewel, cradled by the embrace of towering pine trees. Their slender trunks rose from the bushy floor, and their dark green needles rustled in the cold and cloudless night. Each pine stood around the pond, their branches arching gracefully as if to protect the serene water below. The pond itself was fed by a gentle, bubbling spring coming out from crevices of a small pile of rocks. The immediate surroundings of the pond were populated with a delicate field of small white balls of dandelions, their blooms forming a soft circle around the water's edge. The beauty of the scene is further accentuated by the numerous blinking luminous insects flying gracefully between the grass and occasionally above the small pond. 

After glancing around making sure there are no other people, Rio immediately took off the robe and jumped into the shallow pond of water. 

While dipping his entire head into the small pond, he began to scrubbed himself thoroughly. After feeling satisfied, he raised his head out of the water and slicked his long uncut black hair back and sat near the edge of the pond to enjoy the atmosphere a little bit more. 

Looking down on his own reflection, he saw an unfamiliar face looking back at him. 

'Red eyes, sharp feature, hmmm. not exactly outrageously handsome, not bad either' 

'I really am just somewhat handsome' 

After checking out his own face he interlocked both his hand and stretched back from where he was sitting. 

But immediately after yawning and opening his eyes, he realized there is pair of purple eye staring at him through the bushes.