Being reborn isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

Somewhere in a remote little town in Sweden, a gloomy atmosphere weighed down on everyone's spirits. The skies which were usually clear and limitless were filled with dark grey clouds that seemed to weigh on people's souls, especially on this day. In the middle of the town's only graveyard, people had gathered together, and not for a happy occasion. In a town where everyone knew each other, someone had passed away.

Who was this person who had passed away you ask? It was only a young boy. A young boy, who which only a few weeks prior had his entire life to look forward to. Now what had happened you ask? The young boy had finally managed to muster up the little courage he had to jump off a diving tower, but alas, the gods didn't seem to like this idea of his. At the very top of the nearly 8-meter high diving tower, the young boy had slipped, hit his head, and fallen into the dark water below.

His friends only thought that it looked a little funny at first, but they quickly realised something wasn't right. Unfortunately for the young boy, no one was quick enough to save him. A few seconds of neglect quickly turned into an entire lifetime of regret when they realised what had happened. While they were still joking around, the young boy was all alone, in the depths of the dark water. Conscious, yet his body wouldn't listen, he had to suffer all alone in dark depths, with only his mind to haunt him.

When the boy had passed away, all that was left of him was his soul. Quite a scary experience, but he quickly grew used to it. No matter what he tried to do, he couldn't communicate with anyone, he could only wander. He could hear the screaming of his mother when she was told the news of his unfortunate passing. He could see the tears that streamed down the face of that cold and awkward father of his. His life had quickly turned into a nightmare. A nightmare which he would never wake up from.

Even though weeks had passed and he had grown used to his existence, the boy still felt emotional upon witnessing his funeral. Even though he could still hear, he sat far away and just watched it from a distance, he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if he was able to hear what everyone was saying. A lot of people were present at this funeral of his. The granny that lived down the street, the clerk at the local shop, the young boy's three best friends and even his childhood sweetheart, Hazel. People here were closer than you'd think, and a lot of people showed up to support the young boy's family, even people he didn't know turned up, it was a truly shocking matter after all.

The boy himself could only watch as that brown casket which contained his one and only body was slowly put into the cold and dark ground. It seemed like the darkness was where he truly belonged after all. Now that the casket was beyond his sight, all he could see was his family and friends crying. The scene was quite heavy to take in, and as he thought about what would happen to him now, a tear couldn't help but roll down his face.

As this unassuming tear rolled down his face, it suddenly started to radiate with a golden light. The golden light was warm and comfortable, and the cold dark water which had been haunting his mind seemed to flow away, much like that of a river. His mind that had been aching for weeks was finally set free once and for all. All the pain he had been feeling was gone, and all that was left was a strange ethereal feeling throughout his existence.

The boy that had been hoping for all of this to be a dream started floating slowly yet surely into the sky above, leaving his family and friends behind him. His mortal existence was no more, and as he floated up, the dark clouds parted for him, letting a few rays of sunlight through in the process. The gentle sunlight that suddenly graced the venue of the funeral brought about a great effect, and the people of this small little town all looked up into the sky together, hoping to spot something within all that darkness above.

.....

"Urghh..."

In a dimly-lit room, the young boy had just woken up. His normal five senses felt as dull as they could be, and he could feel intense pain rampaging throughout his body. He had no idea what was going on right now, all he could remember was that comfortable warmth enveloping him, and then... then what? He had no idea! He tried to look around to see if he could figure anything out, but the pain he was feeling was too intense for him to try and move.

As he tried to wrack his brains, he could feel another surge of intense pain, but this time it was on a completely different level, unlike anything he had ever felt before! This pain didn't stem from his physical body, but rather from his soul. He had no idea about this though, and he just laid on the bed as still as he could, trying not to make the situation any worse. Like this, time passed quietly as the young boy just waited for the pain to ease.

The dimly-lit room soon became brighter and brighter, until it seemed to reach a peak, whereafter the room became darker and darker again. Though the young boy was experiencing excruciating pain, he was abnormally calm about the whole situation, he just felt a weird sense of belonging, like this was his home, but he couldn't really put his finger on it. After almost an entire day had passed, the soul-tearing pain he had been feeling was finally beginning to calm down, and the boy was able to think normally again.

What came as a shock to him though was the influx of memories that had come when the pain had seemingly disappeared. As he organised and went through these memories, his originally calm expression contorted a little, what the hell was going on? The young boy who had originated from a backwater town somewhere in Sweden was all of a sudden in a different world, how believable was that?

No matter how much the young boy thought, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation as to what had happened. Not only was he in a different world, but it was also way too different compared to earth! Martial arts, something that was mostly seen in movies in his original world was actually a thing here, and not only that, but it was way too op! It wasn't like taekwondo or karate, but rather something called cultivation.

He wasn't too sure what this cultivation thing was yet, and it seemed like he had to delve deeper into these memories of his if he wanted to find out. Before anything else, he managed to find out some information about himself. As he searched his memories, he managed to quite quickly find out his name, Gale!