A New World?

The island of Patch settles to the west of the prosperous continent of Vale. A place where people can settle down to have a, more or less, quiet life away from the busy life-style in the city. Patch is home to a decent amount of huntsman, retired or on break. Though like all places of the World of Remnant, it is still a place where many of the creatures of Grimm roam about.

In a common house, settling in a clearing close to the borders of the island, sunlight seeps through a window, landing on the face of a young unknowing child.

His dark navy blue eyes slowly blink, observing his surroundings. He then jolts awake, confused and frustrated. Eyes wide from the new sights of a small wooden desk in front of him, a small wardrobe next to it, and the bed that he is now feeling with his hands. His brows furrow as he tries to understand his current situation.

'Well this is new. I thought I was at school napping on my arm chair. God damn, why does my body feel so light?' He thought to himself as he raises his arms to eye level. He inspects them and realizes that they are smaller and contain less muscle. As well as the palms of his hands that barely have any calluses in them.

The boy surveys his surroundings more and finds a small mirror. He looks at it and finds himself surprised by his new... features.

His cheeks are slightly more rounded, his eyes in a deep navy blue, his hair is light blonde and a mix between spiky and messy, and overall his skin tone is fair with a slight tan to it.

'Wow. Anime protagonist much huh?'

He puts down the mirror and sits down cross-legged on the wooden floor, contemplating on what to do next.

'If I was betting man I'd say I was either isekai'd(isekai: term that means "another world") or I'm in a coma. A coma might be a case since dreams are never usually this realistic, and isekai cause'... well, isekai.'

He puts his left hand chin while supporting his elbow with his right hand in a sort of thinking pose.

'In the case of this being a coma dream, I can just do whatever the hell I want(Whatever the hell I want being lazing about and thinking of ideas to write. Although... in the case of this being another world which is another 'possible' explanation, I think I'd like to live out the best life I could imagine. I don't care if anything comes my way. Be it a megalomaniac with hundreds of superpowers, a vampire with a ghost that can stop time, or an evil organization that threatens the world from the shadows, I will live this new life given to me how I want. Not like... what I did to myself.'(A/N: TOTALLY NOT FORESHADOWING :) TrUSt mE)

He looks down at his arms again, sudden feelings of relief, anguish, regret, and sorrow drowns his mind. Reminiscing sounds too joyful of a word as he stares at his wrists. He then begins to caress his neck trying to find any sign of-.... His eyes change from a navy blue to an empty pupil-less grey and the rest of his face void of any real emotion.

His eyes revert back to their usual color as his instincts caught a small shuffling sound from below the floor, probably the resident of this house.

He stares at the door as the foot steps stop at the door before casually opening, revealing a woman supposedly at her late twenties, her figure slim and well toned, with the same navy blue eyes as his, along with light blonde hair wrapped in a bun.

The boy looks at the woman who looks a bit surprised as he tilts his head in curious confusion. He took a moment to realize that he is actually in the body of a child instead of a mid teen.

"I didn't expect you to be up at this time my little troublemaker." She speaks up smiling at the boy. Her voice low and gentle, though a tiny bit deep, sets the boy at ease.

"Hi mommy!" He raises his arms in an energetic fashion. If he knows anything about small children, it's that they're little bundle of energy waiting to be released. And the fact that the woman called him a troublemaker practically cements that assumption.

"I was about to wake you up but I guess the gods decided to bless me this morning."

'Gods? I still don't know what world I'm supposed to be in, but that's a start. Note 1: This place has multiple gods.' He thought for a moment before showing a big smile at his, presumably, mother and gets picked up by her. His bottom sitting on her forearm while the rest of his body is supported by his shoulder.

They then arrive downstairs at the kitchen and the boy catches a glance of several translucent crystals of different color, shining with a weak glow. His mind tries to think of where he saw these types of things. It was at the tip of his tongue but he couldn't put a finger on it. The colorful gems were the only thing that caught his eyes the most as he was carried through the small two story house that had a cozy, natural ambiance to it.

At the dining table he takes a look at his father. Brown hair combed to his right side, soft looking facial features, and teal eyes.

The lean built man looks at his now awake son and shows a small smile.

"You didn't have much of a hard time waking him up today did you?"

"When I came to his his room, he was already awake." The woman replies.

"Well, looks like our little Gray is learning how to wake up on time." The man's voice was firm yet kind.

Gray. So that was his name now.

The woman sets Gray down on a high chair so he can eat his food that seems to be a thick milk wheat tasting that reminds him of a specific baby food that he liked in the past.

...

After eating, he was told by his mother that he can go back upstairs as she and his father said they had something to discuss. The slightly worried tone of their voice catches Gray's attention and he immediately makes his way through the house.

Thinking of an idea, Gray goes upstairs as he opens and shuts his door in the most convincing way that he can act.

His small body comes into his advantage as he silently goes down to the middle of the stairs to hear their conversation. His steps being light and silent as listens.

"-to come there. It's a search and destroy mission they say. 5 teams to map out the entire ruins and completion offer is 70,000 lien." The father's voice sounding serious as he gains an annoyed expression.

"That's almost twice your pay in a year, but five teams of huntsmen? What are they trying to do?" The mother sounds more surprised than worried as she analyzes the idea of more or less than 20 huntsmen in a search and destroy mission. What kind of mission would require that many experienced warriors to map out some ruins?

"It turns out that one of their branch's expedition teams discovered a huge vein of Dust in those ruins. But from what they told me, this is actually the second time the SDC is hiring huntsman to clear that area. The estimated completion time is within 2 to 3 weeks."

"Anything else? This case sounds a bit more than just your usual Grimm exterminating if the SDC is requesting it."

"The only other thing I know about this," He pauses for a moment before resuming. "is that it's called the Acosador Ruins."

"I see. This is too much of an opportunity to pass on Tial. But this sounds so suspicious that I can practically see red flags in my line of sight."

"Titania, we both know I have the experience and equipment to back myself up. So I'll take this offer only with your consent. I want to know that you've got my back on this." Tial gives her a smile trying to cheer his spouse up. With that much Lien, even their child's education won't be a problem in the future if they save that up.

Titania looks at him and sighs, worry begins to cloud her mind before letting it go.

"When will the mission beginning?"

Tial gains a more relaxed and even happy expression as he looks at Titania.

"2 months." Is the only thing he answers. Titania looks at Tial with a smug grin on her face and an expectant look in her eyes.

"Just enough time for me to whip you into shape." She answers. Tial looking nervous and afraid at many levels as he could only imagine the kind of training the strict Signal Academy teacher will provide him.

...

Meanwhile at the staircase, Gray, or Emory, is thinking deeply on the new information that he now has as he listened to his parents' his discussion. A rising feeling of fear creeps in his mind, but with that fear came anticipation, excitement, and curiosity. All of these feelings swirled in his mind as only one sentence was muttered through his mouth.

"It's time to be a hero."