"Uhh... where... is this?"
A splitting headache welcomed me into consciousness. I laid down there, clutching my forehead in pain as sweat continuously rolled down my face. Luckily, a short while later, the throbbing pain subsided. Only then did I notice the blue sky above, and instinctively used my hands to shield myself from the blinding sun. Once some strength returned to my body, I sat up and took in the surroundings. I was in the middle of a wide clearing in the middle of a lush emerald-green forest. No wonder the sun was that bright! Thankfully, though the trees were really tall, they didn't grow very densely and it was easy to see as far as a hundred meter away.
"Why am I here...?" I couldn't help but mutter out loud. Not knowing what to do, I slowly stood up from the pile of grass that I was initially lying on, and started to wander aimlessly around the forest.
"This forest... is beautiful. It's not like I haven't been to a forest before, but even the air smells different here. It's... clean. And the animals are so abundant." In just the past 10 minutes or so, I've already caught sight of several rabbits of many colours - ground brown, fluffy white and even spotted ones - running around without a care in the world. "Wait, before...? When was before?"
Just as I felt like I missed something important, in front appeared a trail that cut through the trees. It seemed to stretch on for many hundres of metres ahead. 'Doesn't look like it was created by animals... means there are people nearby?' A little absentmindedly, I started to follow it, wherever it may lead.
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"Hey Borso, whatcha doing after work?" A man wearing a set of leather armor, holding a spear even taller than himself said to the other walking slowly beside him.
"Mm? Well... probably get a cup of something at The Tavern... and that should be it. Why?" The man called Borso, wearing a similar set of gear, replied nonchalantly while scanning his environment.
"Wanna head over to Tracia's place? Heard she's celebrating her twelfth birthday today. Her parents invited me to go cuz we're neighbors, but... you know."
"Lang, I knowwww?" Borso couldn't help but grin widely at his friend. Obviously, he was aware of the reason. 'Friends, you just gotta make fun of them at each opportunity.'
"Oh come on.... oi oi oi. What's that boy doing??"
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'Wonder if this is edible?' The trail led me past a cluster of orange-leaved trees, and on each of them a large number of fruits could be seen hanging irresistibly on their branches. At that moment, a loud growl came out from my stomach.
"Well, why not?" Thankfully these trees were only 3-4 metres in height, and in less than a minute I was happily kidnapping the fruits from their parents. Upon closer inspection, the fruit resembled the snow pears I used to eat, just orange instead of yellow. 'Used to? When was that?' Ah, who cares for now.
I prayed, (dear God, thank for meeting my needs and wants each day. I love you, and I love Your food!) and began munching heartily - it was really sweet and tasty, with a floral scent to it that made me want to eat even more. However, after ravaging the 5th one down my throat, I suddenly felt like a blanket of snooze fell over me and....
Thud!
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For the second time that day (or was it still the same day?), I was greeted to consciousness by a terrible headache, but this time also with a stinging pain in my stomach. I felt like puking, but had no energy to even get up to do that.
"Oh, you're awake? Hold on, let me call Lang. HEY! LANG! HE'S AWAKE!" Footsteps sounded, and soon the man named Lang was looking over me. Greyish-white hair, with bright green eyes and a lanky built of about 1.8 metres.
"Hey kid, how're you feeling?"
'Kid? How old is this guy for calling me a kid? I'm 25; he looks at most 20.' But I kept those thoughts to myself. "What happened to me?" I didn't expect my question to come out so hoarsely. It sounded like I was on my deathbed.
With a wry grin, Lang answered, "Almost died on an overdose of those Chibirus! You ate 5 of them like it was nothing, and you expected to feel alright?"
When I gave him a look that said I didn't understand what he meant, Lang exasperatedly said: "Kid, this thing is used to make poisons. Do you know what sort of poison? Even tigers would die in seconds, if the poison was concentrated enough! Luckily we made you puke them all out, well hopefully all. Else who knows what would have happened?"
"... Thanks." In gratitude, I weakly looked up at this man who saved me. It would be bad if I died.
Lang's expression softened. "Well, with your black hair and light brown eyes, and the fact that you didn't know about Chibirus, that means you're not from here, or the neighbouring villages. What's your name .... purpose.... ?"
I couldn't hear the rest of Lang's question. At those 2 words, it felt like a large tome of information came surging into my mind but in pieces, like a broken movie record:
A man in a white robe (white like snow, shining radiantly) and a red cloak (dull red, like the colour of dried blood) draped over one of his shoulders was speaking to me: "...ke... Find... question... one... sent... answer them. .... pieces... script .... Tahao ...risha. Collect .... return."Next, I saw myself, kneeling before that man, whose face I could not see but felt overwhelmingly familiar. I was screaming wordlessly, madly at him with words that I could not hear, tears of unacceptance rolling down my cheeks. The man, however, squatted down before me and smiled kindly, wiping the tears from my eyes with his robe."Ri.. man... impossible... God... sible." With that, he gently touched my chest and a dazzling golden light emerged from it. Then, he gave me a hug that lasted like an eternity. At this, the me that was looking at myself couldn't help but tear as well, comforted.
"W-well, why don't you get some rest first and we'll talk again?" Lang didn't expect that a simple question about name and purpose would actually cause tears in a 16-year-old. "Just call for me for anything!" His voice had an unnatural high pitch to it, and soon he bolted out of the room.
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"So your name is Rike?" "Yes."
This time, the Village Elder came with Lang. After 2 days of sleeping and resting, I recovered enough to make conversations. "You really could not remember anything besides your name?"
Inside, I was getting impatient. This was the 4th time the Elder asked the same question. "Yes. I woke up finding myself in the Emerald Forest and was saved by Lang and Borso from Chibiru poisoning."
For the last 2 days, Lang and Borso would visit me during mealtimes, and besides asking about my origin, also chat about the village and its surrounding. As of now, aside from the several random moments where I unknowingly let slip something that I just couldn't recall no matter what, I didn't know anything. But one thing I was very certain was that I was 25 years old. Yet this body looked and felt like a 16-year-olds'. No wonder Lang would call me kid.
"I see. Hmph. In that case, you can stay here as long as you like. It's been sometime since we had outsiders anyway. Lang, Borso, since you guys found him, he's your responsibility. Let Rafaera check him daily." My gut feeling tells me that this stern-looking Elder was actually a softie in the inside.
"Mm!" "Okay! I'll go call her now." Borso mentioned this person name Rafaera to me before. She was a village Healer who provided the antidote to the Chibiru poison, and who told Lang and Borso to beat the Chibirus out of me and convinced the Elder to let me recuperate in the village medical hall. She's definitely a kind person and I really wanted to express my gratitude.
A few minutes later, Rafaera walked into the room.
A few minutes later, Rafaera walked into the room.
