Rebirth

Ethan felt strangely disoriented as he slowly regained consciousness. Everything around him was unfamiliar and foreign. He sensed a slight pressure in his chest and an inexplicable sense of unease. As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a small, shabby room. The walls were made of cracked clay, and the warm air told him he was in a desert city.

As he sat up, he realized that his body was much smaller and weaker than before. Looking at his hands, he recognized that he had been reborn into the body of a 14-year-old boy. Fleeting memories flooded his mind—memories of a life that was not his, filled with deprivation and hard work.

Coincidentally, the boy's name was also Ethan, and he was an orphan who had been sold by his parents at the age of six to ruthless slave traders. They had brought him to this remote desert city called Ishla, near an oasis, where he was sold to a trader. This trader also owned shares in a nearby mine, where the boy had to toil from the age of six to twelve.

The trader had died some time ago, and all the slaves had escaped, including the boy and four of his friends. Now, he lived on the dusty streets of the city as a homeless child, forced to steal to survive. Life was tough, and he had already lost two of his friends to the harsh conditions because food here was expensive and scarce.

As he recalled the names of his two missing friends, Ethan felt a burning desire to find them. But first, he had to address the food problem to avoid the same fate.

He wandered through the narrow alleys of the city, bustling with people who all seemed to be searching for a better life. He felt their gazes on him as he tried to move inconspicuously through the crowd. Though he tried not to stand out, he still felt out of place.

He maneuvered through the market, looking for leftover food or fallen fruits. When he found an apple, a part of him rejoiced like a young boy, but Ethan was confused because he wasn't hungry. These were not his true feelings. Before he could eat it, he noticed another starving boy nearby. Without hesitation, he handed the apple to the boy.

"Why are you giving this to me?" the boy asked, surprised.

Ethan smiled and replied, "I've never seen anyone starving before. Take it, you need it more than I do."

Gratefully, the boy devoured the apple. Ethan felt his heart warm as he saw the boy become happy and content.

As Ethan continued to roam the city, he heard a muffled voice coming from a dark alley. Curious, he followed the sound and discovered two figures engaged in a secretive conversation.

"I heard that the mine owners have heard strange noises in the mine for the past few nights," one of the figures whispered.

"Yes, it seems the mine is haunted. Some claim it's ghosts, but I don't believe in such nonsense," the other figure replied skeptically.

Ethan listened intently. The mine where he had toiled for years seemed to be haunted by a mysterious presence. He felt that this might be connected to his missing friends.

In this world, there were supernatural phenomena and superpowers, but the young boy didn't know much about them as they were beyond his horizon. In Ishla, people possessed abilities and practiced Qi cultivation up to Level 3, but with a population of only 100,000, the city was small and impoverished, located on the fringes of a small kingdom embroiled in eternal warfare. However, unlike what Ethan might expect, these wars were not about conquering lands but rather training soldiers. The king sent army after army to the front lines, using them as cannon fodder.

One might think this is cruel, but the kingdom was fortunate in its misfortune. Although poor and weak, it bordered only human realms, while the northern realms were adjacent to Drazon, a vast empire of man-eating lizard monsters. These were just stories that young Ethan had picked up at the market, keeping him awake at night.

He, too, had an ability, but despite all his efforts, he failed to figure out what it was. Like many others, he was unsure of his power. Though there were items in the capital that could reveal one's ability, such items were scarce in Ishla. Here, people relied on rudimentary methods to uncover their powers.

Ethan thought of his friends, whom he had never met, but was quickly distracted by the mysterious presence in the mine. Though young Ethan might not know better, Ethan himself quickly noticed the oddity. The thought kept resurfacing, much like ads on websites without an ad blocker. Either something was toying with him, or it had something to do with his ability. Ethan delved into young Ethan's memories and quickly discovered irregularities in his behavior and thoughts, like how he miraculously survived in this desert hell for two years, defying all odds and managing to feed his friends as well.

However, young Ethan had no clear idea what his ability was, and in the end, a bit of luck wasn't enough.

On his way to the mine, Ethan learned that his two missing friends had been captured for stealing food and were now held captive in a dilapidated dungeon.

The food problem was urgent. While reincarnation had given him time, he felt himself weakening rapidly as hunger and thirst gnawed at him from within. But he couldn't abandon his friends. His instinct told him he should head to the mine first, as it would be almost impossible for him to free them in his current state.

In a more remote region, he then saw a corpse lying in an alley. He was certain he had seen the man at the market; he appeared to be buying supplies—water and food. Although someone had attacked him, the supplies remained untouched. Coincidence? Hardly. But now was not the time to dwell on it; quick action was needed. Ethan looted the corpse as if he had experience, and then it struck him—young Ethan had some experience in this.

A few moments later, he found himself back on the path toward the mines, no longer plagued by hunger and thirst. The food and drink he found would easily last a few days, but the real prize was the wallet that could sustain him and his friends for a month.