The New Life

Two Days. That was how long the person had spent in this new world. Although, those two days were days they had spent unconscious. So it didn't count. It wouldn't count until they woke up. Speaking about waking up, when they woke up, they had thought the previous experience was just a dream his old brain had created for him. After all, who in their right mind would believe that they were reborn into a new world. Especially reborn inside the body of a child who was burnt and crushed to death.

But, he had to accept it as the truth. For he did not see the hospital's white ceiling or hear the beeping of machines. Instead he saw the white cloud covered sky and could hear the crunching of snow under the march of people. He looked around and saw men marching on foot, axes or swords on the waist, with rug sacks on their back. They wore a cloak made out of an animal pelt and wore clothing he had seen before. It resembled something you would see in European clothing, but at the same time it seemed to... barbaric and rugged. They looked like nobles you would see in the past but at the same time, like wild hunters or warriors. He remembered an image in a book he read once, of a group of people who would travel the waters to attack nearby towns and cities, they were called Vikings?

He did not try to think too hard on the topic since he felt body suddenly shake and suddenly a voice "oh, you're awake."

The person looked at whoever spoke and when they looked down, their eyes widened as a sudden surge of rage coursed through their body. They saw the purple eyes and golden iris. The scar on the left eye. The long, rough hair. It was the man! The man who burned down their house and killed everyone they cared about!

"You!" The person shouted as they tried to move their arms but stopped when he suddenly felt some resistance in his arms. When he looked down at his arms, he could see his charr colored skin bound by a long sheet of rope. The person tried to force his arms out, but each time he tried to pull it apart he just felt the rope get tighter.

"Don't try, the rope you have is a rope use to capture enemy soldiers who are proficient in Prana and since you're a kid who doesn't have the slightest inch of Prana released, well you can probably guess the rest" the man said as he grabbed two pairs of rope from his lap and whipped them. Suddenly the person felt whatever he was sitting on rise up for a bit before the motion speeding up. When the person looked down to see what had happened, he could only see that he was on the back of a very large wolf.

But calling it a wolf would be an understatement. This creature resembled a wolf, from its fur and its physic, but it definitely wasn't a wolf. For starters, this creature was much bigger than any average wolf, probably as big as a car and as long as a kitchen table. It had four front legs and two back legs. Instead of two eyes like any regular wolf or canine, this thing had four, two on each side and the two extras on the bottom left of where the eyes usually are. But most of all, this creature seemed to have some sort of level of intelligence, since when the person was staring at it, the creature looked back at the person's gaze before huffing and looking away.

"First time seeing a Dire Wolf?" The man said with a smile on his face as Dire Wolf began to pick up speed. The person looked at wonder at the creature the man called a Dire Wolf and shook their head no. "Well it's good that you haven't seen much of these bad boys roaming the lands, since if they did then most of the herbivores that live on this land would have gone extinct" the man said with a smile on his face.

"So, what's your name my charred skin friend" the man said as took out a leather flask and began to drink out of it. The person looked at the man with a bit of anger to remind him of the current situation, but the anger disappeared as it was replaced with confusion.

Name? He had a name, yes, but that was in his old life and in the memories he had of this body, he didn't remember a single instance of the boy ever saying or hearing his name. That was quite sad to be honest. But he had to ignore that for a moment since he now had to come up with a name for himself. He could use his old name, but it didn't feel right.

"I don't have one," the person said as he gave up trying to come up with a name. The man stared at the boy for a bit before he shook his head, "so you're going to abandon the name your parents gave you. I guess that is a fair reaction, considering what you just went through. How about I make you a name?"

The man pondered a bit before slamming his right hand onto his left palm, "how about Lucon?"

"Lucon" the person said confused, "why Lucon?"

"Well for starters when you first stared at me with fear in your eyes, your eyes never budged from mine and when I met you a second time your eyes locked on with mine. So Lucon matches the way your eye never leaves your target, of course there are other names you could pick, such as Cinder or Ash" the man said as he drank once again.

The person looked at the man with displeasure before clicking their tongue, "alright, I'll take Lucon as my name... what is your name, sir."

The man looked at Lucon with a look of surprise before smiling, "well wasn't expecting that, but it's a welcomed surprise. My name is Vallen, Vallen Skarfold, the head of the Skarfold Family!"

"???" Lucon looked at Vallen with confusion. Seeing this, Vallen grinned at Lucon "right, you're just a kid so you probably don't know about the eleven families, or I guess twelve now. Would you like me to explain it or do you want to discover it on your own?"

Lucon just nodded his head as he just stared at the path they were taking, he noted how the more they walked forward, the more the smell of salt grew.

"Alright, where to start? Ah! Let me explain to you about this land! You probably were told by your parents but we live on the Southern Lands, a land filled with nothing but endless snow and beasts that will try to hunt you down. Finding clean water is low, finding good resources to create tools is almost impossible, and trying to create and manage towns or villages is near impossible with threats like the Blizzard Maw or those dang Ice Tooths roaming the lands and acting like a natural disaster to those weak to not be able to defend themselves. To combat this, several groups began to band together and form a small form of... sovereignty? Well these groups formed up together and began to declare themselves leaders of the land. As more groups banded together and their numbers rose, they were able to get rid of every threat that got in their way, from low resources to attacks by nature. Almost every threat was taken care of, almost every threat. With the growing numbers of groups and the increase of strength, some of them became bold and declared war on the other groups. This forced the entirety of the Southern Lands to declare war on one another. The people of the Winter Hollow, a continent apart from the Southern Lands, launched guerilla warfare on those who lived on the land and those who sailed on boats that came to claim their land as theirs. Then there were people in a part of the mainland, called Aurora Heights, who launched full on sieges and raids on each other. And then there were those that didn't want conflict fled to a small continent called the Frozen Tundras."

Vallen took another sip of his leather flask before continuing, "the war was so severe that those outside our lands were slowly being dragged in, increasing the amount of blood spilled on these lands. Many did not see the war ending anytime soon and thought that this would be the end of the Southern Lands. That was until he appeared, the first family head of the Vinterdóttir Family. Of course no one outside of the Vinterdóttir knows the man's first name, only the name of his family that he would slowly rise from the flames of war. This single man, who at the time, was nothing more than a wandering soldier who was leading a small group of soldiers, slowly brought the massive groups down to their knees. He launched attacks, sacked their lands, showed mercy to his enemies and asked those he deemed strong to join his family. His actions slowly built up the system until he defeated the final group and brought them to their knees, forcing them to follow his rules."

Vallen took a sip from his leather flask once again, "The First head of the Vinterdóttir family would soon implement the eleven family system, or the five family since out of the surviving groups who pledged loyalty to the man they only had enough members to form five families. He forced each family member to follow a set of rules, the first rule was that they could never launch a frontal assault on the other families unless it was within reason. The second rule, never show your enemy dishonor, even if they use poison or strike your back, you must never stoop to their level and must always give them a honorable death. The third rule was that each family is limited to a five hundred members each. Then the final and most important rule was that, every twenty years each family must create a tournament to decide who will become their king and lead their land to prosperity. The categories for who can be a king varies with each family, but no matter what one thing remains the same. They must be strong and cruel to even the people of the land. For if they were to show anyone, even their own family, then it proves that they have no right to govern a land full of bloodthirsty warriors. With these rules implemented, the family head would act as king for several decades before dying to age and passing on the title to the winner of the tournament and continuing the cycle."

The Dire Wolf soon stopped walking as Vallen soon hopped off and walked on foot with the rest of his men. Seeing this Lucon also got off and walked on foot, his hands and arms still binded to one another.

"Of course, there were times in which we had civil wars with one another even with the eleven families system implemented. Either over resources or out of petty deeds. But when the king ordered these wars to end, the families would listen or have the entire Southern Land as their enemy. As time passed the five families would rise in numbers as more and more families would soon be created and join their ranks creating the Eleven Families. But because of the increase of families they had set up rules on how to join the Eleven Families such as having more than 100 members and having enough territory to govern a city. That was how the Eleven Families kept the people of the land in check and made sure that no one could surpass the Eleven Families. Or I guess they would now call it the Twelve Families due to the creation of my family not so long ago."

Lucon looked at Vallen curiously, "how did you create your family? Didn't you need members and land, and seeing how many people you have here it doesn't seem like it fits the category."

"Hm? Oh, you know how I told you that during the civil war there were those who fled to a land in the Southern Lands called the Frozen Tundra. Well you see, the people who fled there kept themselves hidden from the outside lands for decades and when it was decided that it was time to check on the progress of the never ending war, well they were shocked by the news of a family system being created. Of course they tried to join the system and become a part of the family, but due to them fleeing to a land during the civil war, many of the families refused them unless they could prove themselves. That is where I come in. When I heard we had to prove ourselves to the families that we deserved to join their system as a family, I united our lands and formed a single city. Surpassing a member count of about 200 and since we had the entire lands to ourselves, that checked off two things needed to become a part of the families. The only thing left to do was to prove ourselves. So I got a couple men and took us by boat all the way to the main continent of the Southern Lands and did several amazing things there. From attacking and wiping out bandits, to my infamous attack against the three Blizzard Maws, all the way to me challenging a family head to a duel and beating them."

"I would then ask an audience with the eleven families and proclaim to them the creation of a twelve family. Some were doubtful and were against the creation of my family, but they had to lower their heads to my achievements and accept my request. Creating the Twelfth Family and making me the first family head of the Skarvold family. Which then brings us to years of working to maintain my family's power, protecting the lands from the North, West, and Eastern lands, and stopping the constant assassination attempts from the families and said outside forces. All of those actions and choices soon brought us to me attacking your village and then to here."

Vallen then pointed forward and Lucon just stared wide eyed. For what Vallen was pointing at were rows upon rows of boats all being stocked up by about a hundred soldiers, all working and moving like professionals. But that wasn't the most significant thing, for out in the distance Lucon could see a distant land covered by the ocean's fog.

"So, Lucon" Vallen looked at Lucon, who just looked up at Vallen, "I know you want your revenge on me for attacking and pillaging your village, which by the way I have no regrets doing. But we both know you won't survive out there all alone, and so I'm going to make you a deal. You can join my family as one of its many members and train to take my life and position, or I can let you go out into the wild to be eaten by the many beasts of the land. What will you choose?"

Lucon just looked from Vallen, then to the distant land, then back to Vallen. "You wont try to stop me from getting strong just so I can get revenge on you" Lucon said cautiously as he stared at Vallen.

Vallen just laughed "Hahaha, have you not listened to my story? Our land and culture is built on the strong beating the strong and being internalized by the people for beating and killing the strong. So, no, I won't stop you from getting strong, even if you do use it to get revenge on me. As long as you use the strength you gained to aid our land and our family, then I won't stop you."

Lucon looked at the distant land before nodding his head, "I'm in."

Vallen just smiled before patting Lucon charcoal colored head, "welcome to the family Lucon Skarvold."