Thoughts Of Despair Before Reawakening

The palace descended into chaos as news of the king's death spread across the place.

Both Landria and Phastus couldn't believe their ears and ran towards the throne room area.

Arriving there, a multitude of guards were already on scene gathered around the mutilated body of the king while Flandor, Landria's father knelt in front of the corpse with a look of disbelief.

"Sir Flandor, why did you commit such an act?" One of them voiced out while drawing out his weapon.

All the guards in the vicinity unsheathed their blades and pointed it at Flandor who silently remained in a kneeling position.

Landria gasped in disbelief knowing his father could never harm the person he was meant to protect especially knowing it was the king.

Phastus broke down crying in front of his father's corpse while the maids and butlers tried to pull him from the scene.

Landria felt his head turn foggy like he was living in a dream. He didn't even know what to say or do in this situation.

The next thing he knew, his father was carted away. He wanted to run to his father but Flandor gave him a glare that indirectly said, "Stay back,"

Phastus was taken to his chambers as well and Landria was also pulled away from the scene by other royal bodyguards.

Time felt stationary and at the same time like it was moving very fast.

In just a week his father was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death with the rest of his immediate family which included him, his mother, and little sister.

The other branches of the Lebenoire family were saved due to this sentence since this was the best way to root out the issue of them being branded as traitors to the kingdom.

Besides, it wouldn't be an easy task to root out the most powerful force in the entire kingdom since it might lead to a civil war so the Queen saw this as the best way of dealing with the situation after losing her husband.

No matter how much Landria's father pleaded for them to only kill him and spare his family it fell on deaf ears.

He would have tried saving his family but his mana core was sealed so he was unable to perform any feats despite being the most powerful battlemage in the kingdom.

Landria didn't usually pray but this time he said a lot of prayers hoping they got saved before the execution by a divine force.

Unfortunately, Landria watched his world collapse right in front of his eyes as his father was first decapitated.

"No!"

Chop!

Next his mother...

"No!"

Chop!

Then his little sister...

Chop!

At this point, his voice had turned hoarse from all the crying and watering nose. He couldn't speak again.

He watched the blood of his family flow down the scene of the execution mixing together.

And finally, it was his turn...

The spectators around were royal members of the family, royal bodyguards, and normal guards, as well as citizens of the kingdom.

They all had looks of pity as Landria was dragged towards the guillotine.

"He was such a promising young mage,"

"He would have been next in line, what a pity,"

Mumbles could be heard in the vicinity.

Landria took one last look at everyone with a lifeless expression. He could see some of his cousins trying to hide their gloating expressions and it was no surprise since a lot of them were jealous of him.

His knees kissed the ground and his neck was placed on the rack. He threw everything to the back of his mind, accepting that this was the end.

'If there is a God... You failed us,' These were his last thoughts as the massive ax came chopping down.

Chop!

All he could remember was his vision turning black and he suddenly woke up to find himself buried underneath a pile of corpses.

*******************

Within a small town square, people clad in mostly sack clothes could be seen moving about the place, going about their business.

The whole environment reeked of a low standard of living and only a few could be seen dressed in more decent outfits.

Horses pulling wooden carriages occasionally moved about the place as well and the houses were mostly constructed using wood.

Children occasionally ran about the place chasing each other and traders selling different kinds of merchandise could be seen by the roadside.

Some had stalls and others just placed their merchandise on a table.

From the view above it could be seen that behind this town was a dense forest of trees that spanned for miles and a river cutting through it on the western side.

In the surroundings of the houses close to the outskirts of the town, just several hundred feet from the forest area, little kids could be seen playing around while some adults engaged in small talks.

-

Flicker! Flicker!

Within one of the houses, a pair of eyes suddenly sprang open.

The instant he opened his eyes, the teenage kid with snow-colored short hair looked around the small spaced room and couldn't see anything beyond the four walls surrounding the bed he was laying on.

His memories returned to him as he held his head and his breathing turned heavy.

"I was drowning a while ago... where am I?" Landria voiced out with a tone of confusion.

"How did I survive the guillotine...? A rebirth spell? An awakening spell? Or did I reincarnate?" Landria still couldn't understand how he was alive.

Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!

Albeit faint, he could hear the sounds of children playing in the background. This was coming from outside whatever household he was laying in at the moment.

He could see that his clothes had been changed and his entire body was clean compared to the last time he found himself in a sea of corpses.

Landria proceeded to stand up from the bed. Just as he did, a small wave of drowsiness hit him causing him to stagger a bit.

Pah!

His hand slapped the side of the wall as he held it for support.

A woman sitting outside the house turned around as she heard the sound.

"Looks like our guest is awake," She muttered causing the children playing in the background to pause.

They all turned to look at the house as the woman stepped in.

Within the room, Landria was still holding onto his head as he breathed in and out profusely before stabilizing his steps.

"My mana is completely depleted. I shouldn't even be alive," He voiced out while holding his right hand out.

Kachum~

The door suddenly sprang open and a woman walked in.

Landria raised his head to stare at the intruder.

It was a 5'4 tall woman with long red hair and a beautiful-looking face with a light scar on her chin area. She looked no older than thirty years of age but her low standard brown outfit still couldn't hide her beauty.

"You're finally awake," She voiced out with a warm smile.

"Who are you?" Landria questioned with a slight look of suspicion.

For one, he didn't wake up restricted so he wasn't too suspicious but he was still trying to be cautious.

"My name is Laura what about you?" The woman answered with a smile.

Her warm smile caused him to loosen up a bit as he sensed there might not be any danger.

"I am Landria..." While answering several heads popped through the sides of the doors.

These were the children playing outside earlier.

"He said his name is Landria,"

"What a fine name,"

"What no! it sounds like a girly boy kind of name,"

"He must be a weakling,"

"He seems quite handsome to me,"

"Quiet kids. Now out you go," Laura voiced out while turning around to send the kids away.

They all obeyed and left to wait outside.

"You must have lots of questions," She voiced out next.

"I do," Landria responded.

"Come, let's discuss in the main room while you have some food," Laura proposed while turning around to move to the living room.

"I'm not hungry," Just as Landria voiced that out, his stomach made a low grumbling sound.

"The broken silence begs to differ," Laura said with a smile.

Landria moved to the living room and looked around. It was nothing fancy. All that could be seen were two chairs made out of wood positioned on opposite sides.

A mat made from animal skin was spread in the middle of the room and the massive heads of two magical boars were placed on both sides of the wall.

"Here you go," Laura handed over a bowl of food to Landria.

The food was greenish and looked creamy.

It wasn't his usual type of food and originally he would be disgusted but he was so hungry at the moment that he overlooked all that and began gobbling down the food.

'Hmm it's not bad,' He thought and proceeded to eat faster.

"Slow down," Laura voiced out with a smile as she watched Landria eat.

Landria continued to gobble the food down quickly regardless. He had never felt this hungry throughout his entire lifetime.

He felt this might be due to his depleted mana.

"Well I guess it's normal for you to eat this way since you've been asleep for a month now," She added.

He suddenly paused as he heard that with a look of disbelief on his face.

Swallowing the food lodged in his cheeks, he spoke, "A month?"