A week had past from the time the old man realized he had been reborn. By this point, the old man had already come to accept the fact that he did not die like he expected.

“My wife, although I haven’t followed you to other side, that time will definitely come. But right now, I’ve been given another chance to pursue my dreams and this time I will absolutely succeed!”

The old man was currently lying down with a scruffy grey robe around his body on a bed that could hardly be considered a bed at all. It was a simple plank of wood that had dried leaves and grass spread on top of it to add a bit of cushion. Currently, aside from the metal pail situated beside the entrance to the shack, which was occasionally used in place of a chair, the bed was the most luxurious thing the old man had.

The old man had his eyes fixed on the cloth ceiling as he fell into deep thought. During the past week, the old man had been able to connect everything that happened and found out a bit about himself thanks to the memories he obtained.

“According to my memories, at the time I died, this body’s original owner also died from blood loss, and when my body became transparent, the same thing also happened to this body. If I’m correct, then when my body turned transparent, then I was probably in some sort of soul form and travelled through a mysterious space before I eventually merged with this body’s original owner’s soul, causing our memories and personalities to fuse.”

The old man had realized that after he was reborn, due to the merging of his soul with the other person’s, some conflicting personalities had arisen which caused him to feel as if something foreign was controlling his body. So before going out, he spent the time to recuperate from the self inflicted wound on his body and to familiarise himself with his new self. Going out with a wound that would open from the slightest force or with a body that he was unfamiliar with, would only result in unwanted accidents. It was also due to the conflicting personalities that the old man had realized that he was now a totally different person from his previous life.

“It seems that from now on, my life will be drastically different than before. This world I’ve been reborn into is called the Hundred Sky World and currently I’m living in a town called ‘Vale Town’ within the Flowing Cloud Continent. Furthermore, I no longer have the same name. From now, I go by the name ‘Kyril Reyva’ and I am no longer the person I was before… but this is fine. Since I was reborn into this body, then naturally I am a completely new person. Starting from now on, I live as Kyril Reyva.”

Kyril made sure to set in stone his identity. Being reborn, he considered his biggest secret. If someone were to find out that he was leading two lives then who knows what sort of trouble would come looking for him. Thus, before he did anything in this world, he had to make sure that he wouldn’t confuse his past self with who he was now.

“However, the previous Kyril has suffered quite a bit. He’s been shunned by the other townsfolk and has been living alone all his life. The only person he appears to have relations with is a young girl called Airyn who’s apparently left for an academy a year ago. But what’s even worse, is that the previous Kyril was actually born a cripple at cultivation…”

As Kyril contemplated this, his brows furrowed and slightly shook his head as he sighed.

After being reborn, Kyril learnt that power was everything in this world. There is only one law in this world, and that law is absolute.

This law is survival of the fittest.

Only those with power can survive in this world and the only way to attain power is through cultivation.

Kyril had learnt various things about this new world and out of all the things he learnt, what excited him was the concept of cultivation. When Kyril learnt of cultivation, flames could be seen burning from within his eyes.

By searching through his memories, Kyril understood the basics of cultivation. Cultivation was a way of life in which everyone in this world followed. Those who cultivated were called Practitioners.

Cultivation is essentially the strengthening of one’s body, mind, and soul through the absorption and refining of an energy called Martial Essence. By absorbing and refining Martial Essence, Practitioners are able to crush rocks with their bare hands, while the more powerful Practitioners are able to uproot trees with a single punch from their fist! To Kyril, this would be a power that belonged to only the Gods in his previous life, but in his new life, it was actually as common as clouds!

But alas, some things just are not meant to be. With his body crippled, Kyril’s hopes of cultivation was shattered.

While some people cultivated for power, Kyril did not have such a thing in mind. Kyril believed that cultivation was an opportunity that was able to allow Kyril to grasp an understanding of the Universe more thoroughly. This belief was due to the fact that this world seemed entirely magical. Through cultivation, Practitioners in the Hundred Sky World were able to achieve things that were deemed impossible on Earth.

Although this seemed like naive thinking, to the point where people would scoff at it, to Kyril who has the experience of two lives, this idea was completely plausible. After all, if one cultivated themselves to a level where breaking rocks became possible with a mere hand, then should it not be possible to cultivate to the point where one could create rocks with their hands instead? If one could destroy then one should also be able to create. But the process of creating required an understanding of what it is that is going to be made. After all, one cannot cook food without understanding how to cook food. It was this idea that sparked his desire to cultivate.

“This probably means that I, too, am a cripple…”

Kyril descended into silence.

Previously, when Kyril went through his memories, he became aware of how essential cultivation was. Science and technology was non-existent in the Hundred Sky World since all the benefits science and technology brought to people could be achieved through cultivation. Practitioners could even surpass the limitations that science and technology could not achieve. Thus the importance of cultivation grew more.

The Hundred Sky World is a very hostile place, comparing Earth to the Hundred Sky World is like comparing a cat to a dragon. The Hundred Sky World is a place filled with dangers. As far as the previous Kyril’s memories go, the current Kyril was able to find out that aside from humans, there were a lot of other existences. But the most terrifying existence were said to be the Magical Beasts.

From what Kyril found out, Magical Beasts were beasts that could cultivate and had bodies that were exceedingly tough. In addition to this, they also had senses that were superior to those of humans, giving Magical Beasts’ an overall advantage.

Thus, Kyril knew how disadvantageous his situation was. But what could he do? Since he was reborn like this, all he could do was accept it.

Kyril sighed, “...It does no good to want things that I can never have. Although with cultivation I may be able to speed up my understanding of the Universe, some things are just not meant to be… Perhaps this is the price I have to pay for being reborn.”

Perhaps it was because of his past life, but Kyril was not a person who would drown himself in regret or depression if he could not get what he wanted. After accepting that cultivation was something he was not able to do, he chose to forget about it and move on.

…

Like this, a week passed by once more and the situation about Kyril’s body had long gone. Instead it was replaced by a determination and curiosity, like a young child exploring their new home, to live his new life and to achieve his ultimate goal of understanding the Universe.

Right now it was early morning and Kyril was left with food that was not enough to feed even a mouse. The pail of water the previous Kyril collected had also already been emptied in Kyril's body.

In reality, the food that Kyril ate couldn't be considered food at all. The food that had been left behind consisted of long thin pieces of grass called ‘yellow grass’ which were dried and then crushed and mixed with water to form a thick soup. There were also several potato shaped foods called ‘earth nut’ that did not taste like potato at all. It was dried to preserve it for longer, but it was this that caused the earth nuts to become dry and hard. Eating it was like feeding on stones.

“...I can't believe the previous Kyril actually ate something like this. It’s no different to eating stones! After I recover, I'm definitely going to get better food.”

While Kyril was never too picky about food, but he was still accustomed to the food he ate back on earth. The sudden switch to food that appeared to have been picked off the streets made Kyril reluctant to eat it. However what could he do when there was nothing else to eat?

Kyril knew that the Kyril before him scraped by by doing small jobs such as picking herbs from the nearby mountains or cleaning the houses of the nobler families around town. Luckily, the amount of food that was stockpiled was enough to last until Kyril had recovered to the point at which he can move.

“Well, I guess it’s about time I explore this place.”

Kyril got up from his bed and made his way to the upside-down pail by the side of the door. From it, Kyril picked up a grey length of cloth about the size of two arms and began wrapping it tightly around the wound on his lower abdomen. With that set and the pail handle in his hand, he opened the door of his shack for the very first time ever since being reborn.

shua…

When the door opened, cool air that carried a fresh scent drifted into Kyril’s nose and entered his body. As it entered his body, it seemed like the air was cleansing every part of his body.

“Such fresh air! Air of this quality could never be found on Earth!”

Taking a few steps forward, a scenery that could never be found on Earth presented itself in front of Kyril. To the sides of his shack, trees and grasses with flowers bloomed and on the front, a slightly obscure path wide enough to fit the height of an adult man was carved out of the ground which led to a wider street that connected other houses. There were several trees that exceeded the fifty metre mark which stood over him. Its leaves swayed gently by the wind. The grass and flowers that covered the ground danced along with the leaves of the trees, emitting a calming fragrance as its scent was carried by the wind.

Before going anywhere, he first inspected the area around his shack. Like the sides, the back was also adorned with plants. As he inspected further, Kyril found out that his shack was located relatively near to the edge of a cliff, about ten metres. And below the cliff, there was a drop of about ten metres to a ground that was similarly covered in grass and flowers. But to this, Kyril paid no attention to. In fact Kyril liked it. With this, Kyril would be able to gaze out into the Universe at night without having any trees blocking his field of view.

- END -

Website