Chương 2: Chapter 1 - The Boy Without a Blessing

Ren decided that today hadn't been a complete loss. He still had both of his boots after all. One was nearly falling apart, the leather cracking and the sole threatening to peel away, but they still held. And if he could still walk, then he could try again tomorrow. That was what he needed to keep doing right now. He turned the single copper coin over in his palm as a gust of wind swept through his unkept auburn hair.

The winter wind picked up even more, rustling the grass in the rolling fields around him and tugging at the white cloth that hung off his shepherd's staff. Behind him, the lead sheep's bell tinkled softly, letting him know the flock was still following him loyally.

"I can't believe that stingy old man only paid us one coin each!" his friend Zorn complained as he walked next to him.

"I mean, I heard some of the other boys were getting paid two to three coins to do the same thing! Isn't that crazy?"

"Could be worse," Ren said positively, flipping the copper coin up one last time before catching it mid-air.

"There could have been no jobs available for me at all."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that changed tomorrow," Zorn replied with a scoff.

"Seems like every day there's less and less jobs in that damn Adventurers Guild." Their village stood in the distance behind them, and it was there the Adventurers Guild could be found, a modest building where a job board hung with all manner of listings tacked across it. Yet for almost every single job posted there, Ren couldn't so much as consider it. Because he wasn't a Blessed.

Ren wasn't weak by any means, his stamina and body had been tempered for nearly a decade since he'd begun learning to shepherd sheep at seven, but Blessed were simply better. Physically and mentally, they excelled in every way compared to an unawakened person, and that wasn't even mentioning the miraculous abilities they gained thanks to their strong souls. Ranging anywhere from teleportation to control over elements, gravity, or space itself, no two Soul Powers were the same.

Ren slowly found himself daydreaming again, recalling the stories of Xantris' heroes he would read over and over again when he was little. In those tales, as Blessed grew and climbed the Ladder of Ascension, their soul's overall quality improved and purged the body of its impurities, making them grow faster and stronger. Granted he didn't know as much as he wanted to though, stories were where most of his information on Blessed came from as there was none of them in his village.

Zorn sighed, and as if hearing his fantasies, said, "If only we were Blessed. Things would be so much easier!"

"But we're not," Ren replied, briefly checking to make sure the sheep were still following him.

"We both missed our chances." Most people awakened at sixteen. That was the same for all four races—Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Beastfolk—it didn't matter. Ren clenched the coin in his hand.' Maybe I'm just late...' He wanted to believe that he was part of the twenty percent that awakened as Blessed. He needed to believe that. Because time was just another thing he didn't have. A cabin came into view as they crested a small ridge.

"Did you want to come inside?" Ren asked, turning to Zorn.

"Uh, no thanks," the village boy said, shaking his head quickly.

"It's nothing personal, I just don't want to risk catching anything, y'know?" Ren sighed and handed Zorn his shepherd's staff.

"It's alright. At least you're willing to come this close." The boy stood around for a moment after receiving the stick, seemingly wanting to say something more but ultimately deciding against it. Ren watched as his friend walked back the way they'd came, the leading sheep's bell tinkling growing more and more distant until he couldn't hear it any longer. He turned and started towards the cabin amid the afternoon sun.

As he moved to tuck his coin into his satchel, it slipped from his fingers and dropped into an icy puddle left over from last night's rain. Ren sighed and knelt down to retrieve it, the reflection of his unremarkable figure rippling in the water as he did. At seventeen, he looked exactly like what he was. Just another hopeful youth chasing a future that didn't care how badly he needed it. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about him was his golden eyes, but he didn't think they were all that impressive.

After the short walk, he reached the cabin and creaked open the gate into the garden. It was a small building, one with only four rooms, that Ren had spent his entire life in and now shared with his younger sister. His eyes were drawn to a small and destitute vegetable patch, which hadn't been watered yet.' She didn't do it today either?

'Ren thought before his gaze softened.' I'll do it later. Spring is just around the corner anyway, so we can clean it up together then. Just like old times.' He left the sorry vegetable patch and pushed open the cabin's front door.' I hope she's alright.'

"Yumè, I'm back!" he called out, only to be met with silence. The house was cold too, telling Ren the fireplace hadn't been kept alight with the wood he'd prepared early this morning, and worry began to bubble up into his chest.

"Yumè?" he repeated, not even bothering to take his boots off as he sprinted into the kitchen.

"Yumè!" Relief flooded him when he saw hair the same colour as his own tied back into a long plait, his sister facing away from him as she worked at something. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Yumè…" Ren muttered thankfully.

"Why are you yelling so much?" she asked, still preoccupied with whatever she was doing.

"It's not like I would be going anywhere anyway, even if I wanted to." Yumè turned around and presented a leather bracelet wrapped around something, though Ren didn't get a good look at it.

"Are you alright?" he checked sternly, ignoring the gift.

"You must be cold. Why didn't you keep adding wood to the fire? You'll get sick if you stay cold for so long." He raised his hand to touch her cheek, finding it ice-cold. The golden eyes she had, which mirrored his, were also noticeably red around the edges. Yumè frowned.

"Just take the bracelet," she said sombrely, taking his hand off her cheek and pushing the woven leather cord into his palm.

"You need to take care of yourself," Ren reiterated, keeping his voice firm.

"You know what the apothecary said just as well as I do." After retrieving his trusty dagger from his satchel, Ren moved towards the dead fireplace.

"Here. You go get twigs from where I prepared them, and I'll start the fire." He paused.

"Oh, and don't worry about the vegetable patch, I'll water it once you're comfortable."

"Dammit, Ren…" His sister's words and tone made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Would you just stop babying me?! Ever since Mum and Dad died, you've been doing it!" Yumè's voice got louder.

"Then I got Soul Rot and you started acting like I can't do anything!"

"But—" Ren tried to start, but his sister wasn't done.

"I don't even know why you're trying so hard! You said it yourself just before, you know what the apothecary said! I've got eight months left." Yumè's voice broke and she held her head, doing her best not to cry.

"And then I'm dead." Ren felt as if an anvil had been thrown onto his head, and his brain struggled to think up a response.

"You didn't even look at what I made you," Yumè said softly before taking in a shaky breath.

"Forget about it. Just leave me alone." Ren watched his sister walk towards what used to be their parents' room, his mind still reeling. He wanted to say something, to stop her and comfort her.' But am I even allowed to?

'he thought, clenching his fists.' I can't make enough coin to help her, and I'm not a Blessed so I can't change that.' His fists clenched even tighter as he remembered the day when Yumè got Soul Rot. The village apothecary had said it was a rare sickness, one that slowly deteriorated the soul itself, breaking it down piece by piece until it eventually disintegrated entirely. There was nothing anyone could do. The apothecary said there wasn't even a cure, but Ren refused to believe that.

With so many amazing and powerful people and houses in the capital, like House Aelcryth or House Lawfou with their potent Bloodlines, there was bound to be someone out there who could heal Yumè.

"Earning coin in this village isn't going fast enough," Ren muttered, glancing at his satchel as his mind drifted to the inherited stash of coins he'd been slowly adding to, tucked safely away under his parents' old bed. After thinking for a moment, he groaned and collapsed into a squat, grabbing at his hair with his hands.

"What am I supposed to do?" he whispered tiredly to himself. Feeling the bracelet press against his head and hearing his sister's words echo through his mind, Ren stopped to take a proper look at it. Three pieces of thin, rough-cut leather carefully woven around each other and around a small charm, one that symbolised guidance on a long journey and lasting health.' Oh, Yumè…' he thought briefly, before resolve flooded him.' That's it.

If staying in this village won't let me make the coin I need, we'll just head to the capital. All the important houses and Blessed are there as well,'Ren thought, growing excited as he began to pace around the cold room.' We can use the coin Mother and Father left us, plus the coin I've saved up. I might even be able to borrow money off Zorn if I ask! Yes, this is going to work!'

They would need a mode of transportation rather than walking to cut down on the time it would take to reach the capital, but that would be easy enough to sort out at the Adventurers Guild. Ren quickly put away his knife and made his way through the small cabin to the room his sister had disappeared into and rapped on the door.

"Yumè. Can we talk?" he said, a wave of tiredness suddenly washing over him.

"I thought of something we can do, but I need your opinion on it." Only silence was his answer, and he was about to knock again when he decided against it.' She's probably sleeping,'he mused, blinking heavily a couple of times.' I'll go light the fire, water the garden, then gather more wood…' He stumbled before lowering himself to the wooden floorboards.' I'll just rest my eyes a bit,' Ren thought.' Don't worry, Yumè. I'll figure this out. I always do' Ren drifted off into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Or, at least he thought he did, because he opened his eyes immediately after he closed them, feeling completely rested. He rubbed his eyes groggily and noticed he was already standing upright, and upon looking down, there was no floor beneath his feet. Nor were there any walls or a ceiling either, for that matter. Ren couldn't even get a sense of up and down. There was only black.

Not darkness as in the absence of light, it was somehow something heavier and thicker, like the world itself had been erased, leaving behind a void that pressed against his skin.' Is this a dream?

'he thought.' It feels so real…' Unease crawled up his spine as he looked around, trying to assess his surroundings. At that moment the blackness shifted, and something within it moved. From the void ahead, a shape began to form. A thin line at first, then thicker, unfurling like a living shadow. A black tendril slid forward, and as it approached, Ren noticed its surface was rippling with purples and reds in a way his mind seemed unable to process.

The moment Ren saw the now fully formed tendril, terror slammed into him with crushing force. His mind screamed for his legs to move, but they refused to listen to his commands. He tried to step back, tried to turn, tried to run, but his body ignored him completely.' Move,'he begged himself.' Please move.' The tendril reached him and burrowed into his chest. A searing agony exploded throughout his entire body. Ren tried to scream, but no sound came out as the tendril drove deeper, touching something beyond flesh.

His entire self splintered and began twisting violently out of shape. His thoughts fractured amidst the pain. It was as if unseen hands had seized his very being and crushed it, stretched it, folded it like it was nothing. Pieces of him were torn loose and reshaped, forced into something new. Power surged from depths he had forgotten even existed, erupting upward from deep within him, causing every part of him to burn. The tendril began to dig deeper, increasing the already excruciating pain.

Just as something inside him threatened to give way completely, the void shattered, revealing a soft blue, almost white, light that erupted before him. A doorway tore itself open in the darkness, a vertical wound of pale blue radiance that pushed the blackness back by its mere presence. From it stepped a figure made entirely of light, vaguely humanoid and impossible to focus on directly.

Just looking upon it made Ren's mind fracture even further, not from pain, but from incomprehension, like his thoughts couldn't hold the shape of what he was seeing. The tendril recoiled instantly, snapping back like a wounded serpent, easing the pressure, but leaving the searing pain behind. His soul throbbed, warped and incomplete. Or was it full? The figure of light turned its gaze upon him and relief washed over Ren. Surely this figure was his saviour. He was wrong.

Crossing the distance in an instant, the figure lunged at Ren with a spear of blue light. He knew then, with crushing certainty, that when this figure reached him, he would die. Moments from his life flashed before his eyes. Days spent shepherding in the fields with his father, mornings spent collecting wood for his mother, and recent nights spent huddled under thin blankets with his sister. If he had a second chance, what could he have done differently?

"I'm sorry, Yumè…" he whispered in utter defeat. But right before either the being or its spear could reach him, the world lurched and Ren was ripped downward. He was dragged away from the light and into the endless abyss below. Something watched, and the dark consumed everything as Ren fell. And fell. And fell. Until there was nothing at all.