Bubble.

Country of Fire. Year 22 since the End of the Warring States. Summer.

A small, scrawny boy stood under a large grove of trees. A roving shadow engulfed his tiny body at times. His feet were bare and somewhat dirty due to the mud in the area. He wore loose-fitting traditional black pants and was naked from the waist up. On an oak tree near him were the rest of his belongings. Belongings that consisted mainly of: The top of a black kimono and also a long purple ribbon to tie it.

Naturally, that boy was me.

+1RES

A green box with white lettering suddenly occupied much of my visual spectrum.

- Uhh! -. I inhaled.

I didn't pay much attention to it for the moment. I had something more pressing on my mind.

- Ah! -. I exhaled immediately.

My little body was rising and falling at an irregular but unmistakably fast pace. I was currently doing some push-ups.

- Uhh! ah! -. I inhaled and exhaled repetitively.

Ten push-ups later and I was done with my most recent itinerary. An itinerary I had been religiously accomplishing for the past five or six hours. An itinerary I had been progressively performing for the past two and a half months, without fail.

+1STR

Another green box with white letters occupied my visual space. This time its contents were partially different, it no longer read "+1RES" but "+1STR".

After a little snort I ignored its presence again.

- Phew. Phew -. I gasped with my tongue hanging out from exhaustion.

My breathing was heavy and my whole body ached terribly. My voice was as squeaky and childish as would befit a 3 year old.

- Phew. Excellent. Ahh -. I mumbled standing up on my tiny 3'5" feet.

Sweat soaked my features. A face where dense jet black hair was falling and then sticking to my skin. Hair that meandered until it ended abruptly at my shoulders.

The refreshing autumn breeze caressed my face. A small boyish face defined by a large forehead, small ears, thin black eyebrows and two sharp dark green eyes. It was followed by a small aquiline nose, thin black lips, wide jaw and finally a small rounded chin. All this was preceded by skin as pale as snow itself.

By then, my breathing had calmed down once again. Although my cheeks continued to be somewhat red from the intensity of the exercise I had just performed.

Then I took the rest of my clothes from the tree and dressed very slowly.

My gaze began to wander around enjoying the peaceful place. A very humid place full of beautiful green grass, small bushes with berries and several coniferous trees.

- This world is beautiful. Yes, really beautiful -. I murmured, looking up and then taking a big breath of fresh air.

It smelled of wet earth and fine grass. It was a very relaxing smell.

Today the sun was shining brightly in the skies. The intensity of a beautiful afternoon in the Fire Country. A Thursday afternoon. A Thursday outside the village commonly known as: Midori no Hi. My new world and home. At least that's how it would be for the next two months. Once that period was over, my Mother's contract with the village would end. After that our goal was to settle in the capital. There my mother would start her new job and I, well. I would continue my training for a while. At least, until I turned five. At that age Midori planned to enroll me in some local school or temple of the capital.

- Midori -. A small satisfied smile tugged at my lips at the thought of her.

Her affection. Her dedication to me. Her determination to have me even with my father's absence. I felt loved. Happy. Having a family was something extraordinary. A dream come true. I felt as alive as I hadn't felt in a long time.

- Hum -. My face suddenly changed to a darker expression.

This world had changed me. It had softened me. Many of my concepts had been consigned to oblivion. Concepts like pragmatism and ambition. Peace had done that to me. It had made me weak and complacent.

Too long crippled without taking action and then accumulating wisdom for almost 70 years caused that. Doubt, fear, slowness, lack of adaptability, rigidity. Making that excuse of "tomorrow will be better, today I'm tired" constantly became habitual. However, the whole picture had changed radically during these last 6 weeks. Several times I had gotten out of bed having nightmares. Horrible nightmares. Nightmares of faceless men using strange abilities. Ninjas. Chakra abilities like: fireballs, lightning, gales, waves and god knows how many other terrifying things. Nightmares of those same ninjas ending my life. Nightmares of monsters devouring Midori without me being able to do anything to stop it. Scenes that constantly warned me of my inaction. I became paranoid. I knew about the ninjas from the stories Midori had told me lately. I knew about the samurai. I knew of the demons and beasts that roamed freely throughout this strange world. I knew of the power that Chakra was capable of giving their avatars. Even if I didn't know how to use it myself. The village elders kept talking about the extraordinary things such ninjas could do with said Chakra. It made me wonder if during my past life I had been someone as gullible at that age as they were right now? As they put it, Chakra didn't sound that different from magic. Magic was a myth. It wasn't real. I knew that. But at the same time those stories also planted doubt in my mind. Were they the fools or was it me for ignoring their words? This was a strange world to me. I knew almost nothing about it. I had only lived here for three measly years and only remembered two of them clearly, and even so. Even so, I knew there were things beyond my comprehension. Things like the wheel. Things like "Error". So why did I doubt? Ignoring was suicidal most of the time. That was a fact.

I had to take action immediately.

Thus, I decided to move up my scheduled ten-year training to now. Although it probably wouldn't do much good for the time being. (A 3-year-old body could undergo a lot of stress, no doubt, but it was something quite dangerous. Something that could bring me a lot of growth problems and who knows how many other things.) Nevertheless, the urge was there, constantly pushing me relentlessly. Tormenting my head in the form of bloody nightmares and visceral dreams.

Conscientiously, I felt I had to do something else to calm my frayed nerves. Something to clear my mind and tire my body. Something that would somehow justify my previous laziness and naivety: Training. But not just any training. Training could be done by anyone and still get nowhere. No. I would follow a different path.

I had finally found my solution among the mysterious capabilities of "Error". While I didn't know all of those abilities: "Soul Touch" or "Soul Conversion". And although I suspected that "Error" was incomplete due to the large amount of "Error" manifested in its various sections. With it in my possession I was convinced that one day I would become a truly powerful person. "Error" only came with advantages.

Thanks to him I knew exactly about a lot of aspects. Aspects about my own body and soul that I could never have known without previous experience of them. Things that would have remained in my ignorance had it not been for those mysterious abilities: "Statistics, body states, skills, my physical limits", are a good example of this. To become stronger I just had to train and be aware of what "Error" displayed on their screens during each workout. Strength and experience would come with time, yes, but "Error". "Error" was irreplaceable. Unique. "Error" made me special. It would be stupid to waste it. It was my obligation to try to understand it and then be able to use its capabilities to the fullest.

Consequently I had been working hard during these last two weeks. My short-term goal was to be able to reach my physical limits. Naturally I was on the right track. I estimated that three or four months from now I would be able to achieve that goal. My long-term goal was to be able to understand all the secrets that "Error" hid among its multiple and cryptic data. My progress in this regard was minimal at the moment. But I would not be discouraged by that.

- Cycle closed -. I whispered diverting my gaze to the two boxes in front of my nose.

+1RES

+1STR

After my words both squares shrank and then disappeared without a trace.

- Open cycle. Tch. So easy -. This time I whispered a different voice command.

My mouth twisted into a rather unpleasant grimace. A grimace of resignation and bitterness. I found myself recalling a rather particular circumstance from the past. A not too distant past. Of a specific day about two years ago. The day I had finally found the key to be able to use "Error".

Error! Error! Error!

Error! Error! Error!

Error! Error! Error!

[Administrator's Interface]:

[Administrator's Name: Error! Error! Error!].

[Administrator's Age: Error! Error! Error!].

[Administrator's Complexion: Error! Error! Error!].

[Administrator's Location: Error! Error! Error!].

[Administrator's Statistics:

-Strength (STR): 📊2/4 {Max: 6}.

-Speed (SPE): 📊3/5 {Max: 9}.

-Resistance (RES): 📊2/6 {Max: 12}.

-Physical Energy (PE): 📊7/15 {Max: 27}.

-Spiritual Energy (SE): 📊285/285 {Max: Indefinite}.

-Chakra (CHA): 📊293/300 {Max: 1500}.

-Chakra Control (CC): 5%.

-Chakra Nature (NAT): Fire Yin {Fire-76% Water-5% Wind-2% Earth-12% Lightning-7% Yin-95% Yang-5%}.

Soul: (SOU): 0/0 {Max: 3}.

Soul Points (SP): 0/0 {Max: Indefinite}.].

[Administrator's Status Effects:

-Error! Error! Error!: (Error! Error! Error!). {Error! Error! Error!}.

-Erratic Chakra: (Yin: 95% and Yang: 5%). {Your ability to shape Chakra is 32% more difficult than it would normally be}.

-Tired: (You are tired). {Executing skills becomes 30% more difficult}.].

[Administrator's Skills:

-Error! Error! Error!: (Error! Error! Error!). {Error! Error! Error! Error!}.

-Soul Touch: (-100CHA). {Touch someone recently deceased and claim their soul as your own. Touch someone living and check their stats}.

-Soul Conversion: (-100CHA). {Convert a claimed Soul into Soul Points}.].

Error! Error! Error!

Error! Error! Error!

Error! Error! Error!

A large holographic screen was projected in front of my nose. It had a black background and bright white letters. Around it swarmed hundreds of other boxes that read: "Error", in white letters, on red surfaces.

- Okay, now let's go to "Statistics". Yes. Right here. "Administrator's Statistics". Right -. I mumbled, visually reviewing the contents of the larger box.

My attention slowly drifted to the "Administrator Statistics" section.

[Administrator's Statistics:

-Strength (STR): 📊2/4 {Max: 6}.

-Speed (SPE): 📊3/5 {Max: 9}.

-Resistance (RES): 📊2/6 {Max: 12}.

-Physical Energy (PE): 📊7/15 {Max: 27}.

-Spiritual Energy (SE): 📊285/285 {Max: Indefinite}.

-Chakra (CHA): 📊293/300 {Max: 1500}.

-Chakra Control (CC): 5%.

-Chakra Nature (NAT): Fire Yin {Fire-76% Water-5% Wind-2% Earth-12% Lightning-7% Yin-95% Yang-5%}.

Soul: (SOU): 0/0📊 {Max: 3}.

Soul Points (SP): 0/0📊 {Max: Indefinite}.].

- Hum. As I guessed: "Endurance" went up to "6" points and "Strength" reached "4". That caused my "Spiritual Energy" to increase by 2 points and reached "15". Also my "Chakra" grew to "300" points. Hum. Alright, there has been progress. Closed Cycle. Closed Cycle. More than I expected for a body as young as this one. Now then, let's go back home. From the position of the sun I'd say it's already past 6pm. It won't be long before it gets dark. Midori will worry if I take longer than that. I think she's been condescending enough to me by letting me come all this way alone, really -. I muttered starting to walk towards the village very slowly.

I crossed a crystal clear stream.

Then I followed a small path. This path led to a forest. A small forest of mostly coniferous trees and the occasional exotic shrub. This forest gave entrance to the southeast of the village.

In the distance I could see several thin trails of smoke rising to the sky above the trees. Smoke trails that were right where I remembered my village would be.

After seeing those trails of smoke my footsteps unconsciously stopped.

- Huh? What is that? It wasn't there before. Mi-midori -. I hesitated for a second.

My heart suddenly skipped a beat. I feared the worst, just like in my dreams. I imagined Midori's corpse in front of me. A corpse torn apart and blank-eyed, lifeless. I imagined deformed beasts and monsters. Ninjas laughing mockingly at my misfortune. I imagined the town in flames, ruins, blood, corpses and death everywhere.

The images of the past 2 years began to play like a movie right under my nose.

- Midori -. I repeated like a refrain.

I remembered the good and bad times I had spent with Midori. With my mother. I remembered the warmth of her embrace. Her motherly games. Her insistent attempts to make me laugh or talk. Her sadness when my mask prevented me from further interaction with her and the other children in the village. I remembered her happiness when I learned the strange written language of this world in just one month. I remembered that beautiful smile of hers always full of positivity. A silly expression that I hated before. A smile I now lived for and would give everything for. That smile that I currently wanted to become stronger for. Her happiness was everything to me. I now knew that for certain.

A tear rolled down my cheek.

- I-I must be overthinking things. It's all an absurd assumption. A game of my mind. Mere paranoia -. I mumbled in my throat.

Images of the village in flames and a dead Midori among hundreds of corpses came into my mind.

My blood froze immediately afterwards.

- No. No! -. I screamed on the verge of mental collapse.

Then I started walking again. Then I picked up the pace to a strong jog. One that quickly turned into a desperate run. A run during which I unconsciously ignored the pain of all my still fatigued muscles.

I jumped over obstacles, dodged trees and rocks.

I tore my clothes on some sharp branches.

I bruised myself with several sharp rocks on the ground.

I pushed on clenching my fists and biting my lips. I endured the muscle pulls that tackled my body in its exhausted state.

The forest blurred behind me.

That bad feeling continued to assault my senses constantly.

The smell of burning wood and flesh accosted my nostrils not long after.

I quickened my pace.

- Almost there -. I shrieked.

The light came. It hit my face. It was an orange light that marked the arrival of sunset.

The small forest was finally over.

My eyesight cleared.

The world went from a colorful place to an extremely discouraging monochromatic amalgam.

Reality knocked at my door once again.

To be continued...