In Deep

Viers Isuel felt like he was in deep shit.

He had been running in the thickets for a while and had no idea where he was going. His clothes were torn in many places. His face was dripping with a lot of sweat. Left arm and stomach were bleeding, adding red color to his clothes. Thoughts were jumbled, he could not think straight as he ran. Only panic and fear filled his head.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on?"

Viers had never used his legs so intensely. He loved eating sumptuous food and exercising his body was never an idea he took seriously. His chubby body felt like he was carrying an elephant with every step he took. He could hear his heart thumping like someone was hitting a sandbag furiously inside his chest. His lungs were gasping for every bit of breath similar to a drowning man desperate for air.

Uncertain for how long he had run, he turned his head to see if there were any pursuers. As he turned, he tripped on a tree root and the momentum sent him tumbling to the side where the ground was steeply inclined. He saw that a river would be his next stop after his fall.

"Oh, crap."

As he fell, he tried to grab something to prevent plunging into the river, near the edge he managed to grasp a tree vine. However, he couldn't use one hand to support the rest of his body weight thus he only prevented the inevitable for a few seconds, still falling down the cliff in the end. He fell from almost five meters high; Viers thought he was lucky to not hit any rocks as he plummeted into the water. The pain, exhaustion, and mental fatigue took his mind to oblivion while the water's strong current carried his body through the river.

'I am so screwed, is this it? After I just woke up in this world?'

***

He was just an ordinary man, not handsome nor ugly, a fairly average face. He was overweight but because of his tall stature, he did not appear overly fat. He was born into a middle-class family; his parents were not rich but they made sure he received proper education and made sure he grew up not wanting. He attended college and graduated with an average score then had work in a logistics company.

Days turned to months and months turned to years. He had an ordinary job just like thousands of other people, going through one day to another. Came home after work, ate easy-to-cook meals, played video games, watched movies, read books for a few hours, went to sleep, then woke up to work again while hoping he suffered no traffic accidents as went to work in the morning.

He knew it was not a sob story. His life was far better compared to countless others who were less fortunate. So he did what society expected him to: toil, contribute, and pay taxes. Not that he felt it was wrong or wasn't supposed to be. Such was the way of life. The great machine of society must continue working. He was but a gear among millions, turning, so progress could move ever onward.

He felt trapped like a fish inside an aquarium. Earth was a big place yet the duty he had turn into chains binding his body. He felt there was more to life than this, he longed for freedom.

It was like a prison...

One day something out of the ordinary happened, he woke up inside a carriage. As a person who grew up in the city of the twenty-first century, he'd never ridden a carriage let alone spent the night in one. It was similar to the one in Cinderella movie without the magical pumpkin, a wooden carriage.

Still dazed from just waking up, he looked outside and saw a caravan encampment. He saw dozens of people, some were tending horses, others preparing to cook, and the rest were engaged in conversation. A flock of birds took flight, the sky was colored in morning hue as the sun rose.

A crazy thought formed in his mind.

'If this was not a prank then it would be the other kind!'

Unlike other people, he recognized this premise. He raised both of his hands to inspect them, what he saw shocked him. It was different from his familiar limbs, they were smaller and younger. It was clear in his mind, he was in someone else's body.

"Good God, is this what I think it is? Could I really be... reincarnated to a different world? How absolutely... MARVELOUS!"

"Status!" He shouted, after nothing happened in five seconds, he tried other words that crossed his mind. "Menu, identify, appraisal!" Five seconds later, he could hear the sound of crows cawing inside his head. He inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it.

'So, no status system or appraisal system in this world, that means this is not a world with numbers and data governing them. No EXP points, no HP and MP bar, or any other game like mechanics... Okay, I could live without those.'

He slowly calmed his mind and searched his memories, apparently the owner of this body was named Viers Isuel. 15 years old, first of three siblings, from a middle-tier merchant family. He was traveling with a servant in a caravan to Luxore town. The most exciting part of the memory that he found was, this world had some kind of magic.

"Viers Isuel..." he muttered the name of the owner of his body.

'I don't think I died on Earth, so why am I here? How did this happen?'

Viers thought while looking at his own hands. He investigated his own body and one part immediately stood out, his belly.

"A fatty... again... okay, let's be positive. This could be worse, I could be a slave, or missing a limb, I can straighten this one out just fine."

His sight was a bit blurry, but he found a pair of glasses nearby. He put them on and found they fit perfectly.

'Because it is my own you idiot.' He retorted in his head.

'Now, what should I do from here...'

His thoughts were interrupted by a series of knocking, then a middle-aged man opened the carriage door. "Ah, young master, good to see you are awake. Are you feeling better now?" Said the man politely.

'Ugh, that's right. Viers wasn't feeling well yesterday so he went to sleep early, motion sickness most likely, how pathetic.' Viers thought as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine now, it turns out a bit of rest was all I need... thanks for your concern." He replied the servant with half a smile.

"Good, I will start preparing breakfast, it will be ready shortly." The servant, Rohwin was his name, said with a small bow as he retreated.

Viers decided that he should exit the carriage and stretched his legs. Shortly after he came out, there were sounds of commotion coming from the other side of the camp.

"Enemy attack! Guards, to me!" Roared a man wearing a helmet. He brandished his sword and readied his shield, just in time before a fireball managed to hit him. As the captain defended himself, arrows started raining on the rest of the guards.

Chaos spread across the encampment, people started screaming and running all over the place like headless chickens. Soon, a group of two dozen men came out from the tree line and fought the guards. Most of them wore ragtag clothes and looked skinny. They carried pitchforks, scythes, and kitchen knives. Viers looked at the scene before him as if he was a statue.

While he was stunned, a man charged at him with a dagger. He wore a dirty white shirt, simple brown pants reaching down to his leather shoes. Feeling his life was in danger, Viers raised his arms reflectively to block the dagger from stabbing his torso and sidestepped to the right. His attacker's aim missed his torso but made a deep wound from Viers' left wrist to his elbow.

'What the fuck! I almost died, this guy just lunged at me!'

After he failed with his first strike, the attacker tumbled and fell down giving Viers time to get some distance away.

'I have to run!'

The thought flashed in his mind and he bolted like a rabbit. He ran in the direction opposite to where the bulk of the attackers and the guards were fighting each other.

Before he went far, the first guy that attacked him threw a dagger and managed to hit his stomach on the left side.

"ARGHH!!" The pain gave him a deep sense of despair, his body felt like it was dipped in freezing water for a split second before it was gone and replaced with the burning feeling of pain.

'Damn it, have to keep running!'

Afraid of another attack, Viers mustered all of his energy to run to the woods.

***

The battle in the camps was over. The guards of the caravan had more experience in combat but the attackers outnumbered them two to one. The guards were all dead except for the man wearing the iron helmet, he was the captain. The rest of the caravan occupants were herded together and the attackers kept a watchful eye on them.

What was left of those from the caravan numbered only ten. They were those who didn't manage to run or surrendered, Rohwin was among them. The attackers also suffered great losses, only seven remained.

"I told you this was too dangerous Mark, so many of us died!" Said one of the men to the leader of the robbers. Distressed by so many of his neighbors that he knew for years were no longer alive. The man was skinny, brown-haired cut short, with beady brown eyes.

"We all knew the risks, Jason! We all agreed to this. We don't have any other choice! Our villages are starving and we need to feed our families. It's either us or them! There's no right or wrong here, only survival!" The man who replied to Jason was a bit different from the rest. He wore a loose dark robe reaching his ankles and carried a wooden staff. His body wasn't skinny like the rest and looked healthy.

"Remember your starving children, Jason. You may not want to steal or kill but your morals won't fill your children's belly... It's done, stop whining and get to work! Now we take our spoils, carry everything that can be turned into coins. Do you want your cut or not Jason? Get moving!" Mark spat gruffly. Contrary from his outside appearance, his heart was heavy with concern.

'What a mess, we fought worse than anticipated, granted as this was their first battle. What do you expect from men who worked on the field and tended livestock on a daily basis? This should be an ordinary caravan, but there were a dozen guards give or take, it was more than usual for a caravan this size. There's a high chance that there is something precious inside, hopefully it will be enough for the village…'

So Mark thought as he looked at the bloody lifeless bodies scattered all around him.

"Mark, what should we do to the rest of them? They've surrendered," said one of the bandits.

"Kill them all, we can't have witnesses. No need to leave trouble for the future. Ah, that reminds me, is there anyone who managed to get away?" Mark asked Jason.

"Some ran into the woods, Gower got most of them with his bow but there were three trails that managed to slip away. One of them fell in the river," said Jason, still bitter from Mark's reply from their earlier banter.

"Shit… Jason, Gower, and I will go after them. These woods become dangerous at night. At day the danger is not that great, only beasts and a few monsters would be active. If we're lucky, hungry monsters will do our work for us. I bet they will not survive but we will still have to go after them to make sure. The rest of you, get these goods to the village." Mark said while readying to pursue the runners.

Even with less monster activity, there was a reason they didn't hunt in the woods during daytime. Despite the woods were rich in resources and the village was in poor condition, daytime wasn't a guarantee for safety. Normal humans were no match for monsters, Mark himself wasn't sure of survival if he had the bad luck coming face to face with the predatory kind.

***

Viers dragged his body out of the water and started coughing to get the water out of his lungs. He didn't do much, the current already brought him to the slope. He was woken up by the sensation of his body hitting something solid.

'I must have passed out, how long was I out?'

The wounds on his body had increased, bruises from collisions with hard rocks and scratches from sharp ones. Still, the wounds on his arm and stomach remained his biggest concern. The river current was not strong around here, therefore Viers could crawl out with the meager strength he had left.

"Huff, huf, huf," his breathing was heavy. 'Need to… find help. Is there anyone around here?'

Still on all fours and gasping for breath, Viers looked around to examine his surroundings. His glasses was gone, he had to cope with his less than ideal sight. His surrounding was quite dark and gloomy. He was on a little island in the middle of the river.

He looked up and saw not the sky but a rocky ceiling. He was inside a cave with beams of light here and there. Thanks to it, he could see his surroundings well enough. The little island he was at, was approximately only three meters wide. On the small mound of earth, a single flower bloomed.

It was a white flower, no leaf on its stalk, tens of petals. The flower's center was glowing with warm golden color. The flower's shape resembled a Camellia from. He had a mysterious feeling when he saw it, faint and ethereal.

Before he could grasp the mystery, the pain from his wounds yoked him out of his wandering thought. He continued to look around but found nothing around him that could help him out of his trouble. He lost too much blood and had no energy left. His body felt so weak, Viers turned to lie on his back and stared at one of the bigger beams of light coming from the ceiling. He began to lose hope.

'So this is the end of me... will I reincarnate again after I died? The Buddhist said so but I am not a Buddhist, I got to keep my memory this time but what about the next? I may have wasted this miracle...'

His vision blurred. His breath became softer and fainter. His body slowly turned cold.

'I wasn't a bad person, will I go to heaven? But I wasn't a good person either, I don't think I've done a noteworthy act of goodness in my life.'

His blood kept flowing from his wounds. He no longer felt any pain. He started to feel sleepy.

'So many regrets... have I wasted my life all this time?'

His consciousness was fading, darkness approaching.

'Aah... I don't want to die.'