Chapter 3- Rebirth

Chris opened eyes only to be met with a cold wind under a boundless dark sky filled with peerless stars shining indifferently above him.He struggles to get his footing in what seems to be an alleyway, no doubt his new body was malnourished and weak due to starvation, and began walking to the only source of light in this unknown location as his memories begin to slowly load back up.

'HOLY CRAP, I'M ALIVE!.'

Memories of his previous life fully sink in as reaches the source of light. He takes a moment to take in a breath of fresh air as the reality sinks in.

He reincarnated. In a foreign and starved body in an alleyway hungry and weak. His new body had brown hair reaching shoulder length, and dark eyes that coupled with his outward appearance gave him a menacing look, very reminiscent of drug addicts in his previous life.

Reaching the source of light that turned out to be a street of sorts, his first thoughts upon stepping foot on it were odd, due it being the first time seeing buildings designed in a Medieval design, although some buildings were designed in a Victorian era style instead.

'No doubt, the residents residing there are atleast wealthier than the other villagers...assuming I'm in a town of sorts, although I've never heard of anywhere where an entire town dresses up like this collectively...'.

'Need to find a library. I have hunch regarding my circumstances and newfound life,chances are I'm overthinking it, but I hope I'm wrong.'

Before asking for directions to the aforementioned library, chris began searching for a stall or shop selling clothes in order to put on atleast decent clothes to be allowed into the library. Chris was well aware how people ignore the poor but won't hesitate to offer thoughts and prayers as if any of it really helps.

10 minutes later, after thorough stalking, chris lands on a shop that conveniently sells clothes using mannequins on display right outside the shop. Obviously, chris had no plans to pay for them, so he resorted to come up with a plan to steal them to cover up his sickly appearance to avoid being seen as a street rat.

Chris finalized his risky plan and stealthly moved closer to the shop, silently observing customers as they came and went, taking note of all their actions. Hand gestures,Conversations, Fashion Preferences, even the currency being exchanged.Which chris mentally noted being different from being paper money.The customers were using silver and copper like coins, which chris took note of in order to investigate later on.....

Chris decided to begin his plans the moment the merchant went back inside his store to talk with their customers, now although the clothes were outside, anyone inside could see them as clear as day, and all it takes is one person shouting thief for the entire neighborhood to be alerted of a thief in their midst, and him being caught due to his weak stamina and inability to run away.

20 Minutes Later ...

'Tsk, he's not moving', thought chris impatiently.

'I guess, i have to go with plan B then, huh.' thought chris as his eyes darted towards a little girl across the street.

'She will do' thought chris, as he began walking up to the girl reluctantly.

"Hey little girl, My name is Candice Dickens." said chris in a cheerful manner.

"Go away, street rat!," spat the blonde girl, that chris immediately noted down as some daughter to a wealthy man judging by the clothes and manner traits she gave off.

"MOM! Tell the dirty street bum to go away !," as the little girl continued screaming, chris didn't get to react as a tall lady's shadow loomed over his short new body.

"Tell me one good reason to not peel off your skin for disturbing my daughter," said the tall woman, in a calm tone of voice with no trace of emotion. Chris felt a shiver run down his spine all the way to his toenails under her cold gaze as soon as they locked eyes.

But chris didn't falter and followed his script as he was prepared for such occasion.....

" I am but a humble slave, tasked with spreading word of my master's shop which just received new stock of clothes made from exquisite materials to the people walking by...," said chris in a fearful tone , trying his best to hide his emotions under her gaze.

Immediately, her cold gaze turns into a beaming smile that would make anyone drop their guard against her.

"New clothes! WHERE!?," shouted the tall woman while raising my drooping head to meet her gaze once again.

"Who is your mast- , never mind, where is this shop you were talking about?," asked tall woman, seeming much more kinder now.

"Right over there!" , chris said while pointing to the shop that he would soon be attempting to steal from.

"Carmella,we're off" she said while dragging her unwilling daughter along. Chris couldn't help notice her glaring at him the whole way while being dragged. Perhaps she had seen through his charade?

BAM!

The doors were sent flying as the tall woman hurriedly paced through the store with her daughter while engaging in a conversation with the merchant. Meanwhile chris, was already outside the shop making preparations for the window that seemed to be his biggest obstacle.

Chris brought over a bucket of water over to the window, after using a nearby bucket and water from a the same shop's drain pipe to create a mist fog over the window to momentarily distract and buy him enough time to get away. The reason his plan was worth attempting is due to the cold wind blowing today.Probably going to be christmas in a couple of days since he vaguely remembered dying in late december in his previous life and he doesn't know how long he was dead,and the time in between reincarnation, so he just attributed that knowledge to the chilling cold wind.It was either that or he's in some really northern country.

As chris slowly sprinkled water over the window, a mist slowly started forming. Odd how no one on the street cares about what he's doing though, or maybe that's how low slave status is in this town, or perhaps proclaiming himself as a slave belonging to the merchant sweetened things for him. Nevertheless he wasn't going to mistreat this opportunity.

After the mist completely covered the window, chris began undressing the mannequin and replacing his own shriveled and torn attire for the news outfit and placing them on the mannequin. Chris immediately bolted out of there, without wasting another second in that area. Slowing his pace, he starightened his posture and began walking as if he was never a slave in the first place.

Chris hesitantly stopped a man walking nearby, and politely requested him to offer directions to the nearest library.

"Hahaha, why so serious young man!? The library is just up ahead, though you'll have to pay a fee of one copper coin ,but seeing such a young man take interest in books and...," He said while looking at chris up and down....

"you're not from around here are you?, well welcome to Midvake town, my name is Arthur Midvake, and I'm the lord of the town, so here's one copper coin as my way of helping a young and foreign kid in hope of ushering in a new scholar." He said while handing you a copper coin with and insignia with a crest you've never seen before.

Chris is dumbfounded to realize he just met the city lord of the very town he just committed a crime in, then proceeds to thank him repeatedly for his help. He bids the city lord farewell and then heads straight to the library.He eventually finds the library after asking a different person for more detailed directions after receiving the city lord's vague directions,much to his embarassment considering how he bolted with asking properly.

Chris walks in, pays the fee then walks towards the history section of the library,picks up a few books with the help of the book keeper and does the same with all the other genres of books, until he has a mountain of knowledge to digest.Instead of chris being discouraged he feels determined to finally make heads or tails of his surrounding and get a general bearing of the lay of the land before going forward.

'Ah, I see, so I wasn't reborn in my own world but in a completely different one entirely.....and it's name is.....'

"VANTRALIS".