Chapter 001 - Awakening

"1° person POV only in the first half"

I don't feel anything.

...

Around me, endless emptiness surrounds my consciousness.

...

I've been in this state for so long that I've had every possible reaction.

After all, what is time? How can I measure, without a reference point that breaks down in the face of such a natural law... I just know that I'm here to the point that all my memories have been worn away, and the few that I have are summed up in blurs and feelings.

...

As there is not much to do, I accepted this "inert" state, trying not to hope to get out of this state, just enjoying the moment.

However...

I felt pain.

Was something tingling toward, what felt like, my head?

Since when did I have a head?

Suddenly, something seemed to be pulsing inside me, pumping a viscous liquid that coursed throughout my body, from head to toe.

The feeling of numbness dominated me, but from the sensations I was having, I soon realized.

I am in a body.

Going deeper into my consciousness, I can feel the humanoid shape, apparently human, my heartbeat is slightly weak, but it is still too early to judge.

The silence that tormented me was no longer present, what took over was a light noise, I don't have references from my memories to describe it, but there was certainly airflow where my body lived.

Despite having my eyes closed, my surroundings became increasingly clearer.

There was air, there were noises, there was heat, there was a body and the smell... of blood?

I don't know how my soul ended up in this body, but I'm getting familiar with it pretty quickly.

After a few tries, in about sixty seconds I managed to move a finger.

Controlling my body was confusing, but little by little I began to take note of how to control it. I focused on my head, where my eyes should be, with a little force, I forced my eyelids open.

What appeared before me was a gray wall, or the ceiling of a room to be more precise.

There was little light in what seemed to be the room, looking around, I could notice a balcony, which clearly showed a view of a dark, starry and clean sky. The pale moonlight invaded the room, forming shadows on every object it hit.

Looking at such a sight, a warmth seemed to run through my stomach, I felt emotional. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes, just the insignificant act of looking at the sky made me feel alive.

Looking around the room again, I notice that I am lying on a bed, there was a table and a chair next to the bed and a wardrobe in the corner of the room. There seemed to be a door to a small room, other than that the room was quite ordinary, there was nothing special to mention.

Trying to move my body, I felt pain, looking at my abdomen, I could see bloody streaks, it appeared to be a minor injury.

Despite the tingling and throbbing, the pain was tolerable.

Forcing myself a little, I sit up and pull my legs to the edge of the bed, feeling my feet touching the cold floor gave me a refreshing sensation.

Trying to stand up, I almost fall, my sense of balance seems to be lacking, which forces me to use the walls for support.

I approached the table, which had a burning candle, a mirror and a book on it.

Taking the mirror with one hand, I come across the reflection of a teenager who appeared to be around 12 or 13 years old, he had black hair, slightly long, almost reaching his shoulders. His eyes were dark, despite the poor lighting, he seemed to reflect a sharp light.

The boy's body was slightly thin, but there were few prominent muscles. When his eyes went to his hands, there were calluses, probably consequences of the "previous" boy's actions.

The boy's body moved carefully, sitting on the wooden chair. Picking up the book that was on the table, he began to leaf through it.

Diary

Drake Crimson

Hi, today is my 10th birthday

And today, it's been 10 years since my mother died

I don't like this melancholy atmosphere, but it ends up being inevitable

My father is a nobleman, a military member of the Crimson family, and the strongest candidate to become the next head of the family.

My mother was just a servant, of unknown origin, but according to what they say she was quite beautiful and it seems that I inherited her features

Despite having common blood in my veins, everyone in the family still had little hope that I would inherit the Crimson talents.

But reality can be cruel sometimes...

Even though I have above average intelligence, my sensitivity to mana was almost nil.

They had expectations of me

But at age 8, the meridian test results showed how pathetic I was

I had no talent to absorb mana into my brain, to strengthen my consciousness and become something like a mage

Much less when absorbing mana into the body, forming an aura core, which is the Crimson's specialty

Since then, my father, who until now tolerated my existence, started to distance me, even though I carry the surname Crimson, among the direct lineage, I am ridiculed

Sometimes I'm treated like a walking punching bag or target for my brothers, which really sharpens my sense of danger. But since they were free to beat me, I could only resist

Nah

The only one I can blame is myself for being weak. I could very well drop the Crimson name and live like a normal person, but I don't want to be normal, I want to be stronger, I want my family to recognize me, I want the world to recognize my name

But I'm weak, at least a conscious weak

Despite everything, I don't hate this family, even with their brutal methods, it is precisely this life of survival that makes the members of Crimson different.

Furthermore, there is my grandfather, the current patriarch, perhaps, because he is the strongest in the family, he allows himself to show some emotions and treats all his grandchildren equally. He makes our family dinner really fun with his sense of bad jokes

Well, I think that's it for today, I have to go to sleep, regardless of absorbing mana or not, I have to keep training.

---

Looking at the worn diary in his hand, "Drake" found the boy's line of reasoning interesting, despite all the adversities and his internal conflicts, the boy was concerned about developing his own strength.

With interest, he continued leafing through the few pages that contained some notes, among them, he obtained some information.

Crimson Family

The Crimson family was a renowned family in the Deore empire, being among the ten most important just based on their absolute power in the military field.

His name originated from his ancestor, who demonstrated an innate power that boosted his strength in extreme situations. They have been protecting the northern side of the Deore Empire for generations. The Deore Empire bordered some remote lands in the Shadow Valley, what separated them was only a dense forest, whose colors gradually changed from green to black.

The races that coexisted in the world seemed to tolerate each other. There were certain resentments mainly in relation to demons, as demons had a different constitution, being able to practice evil techniques and strengthen themselves through heinous acts.

But in general, they were currently at an impasse, there were no major wars at the moment, all races tolerated each other, but there were always small conflicts, which did not necessarily generalize all beings of a race.

--

As he pondered the facts in his mind, Drake had a thoughtful expression.

It's been 2 years since his 10th birthday. Currently being 12 years old, with no Mana core, just relying on his physical abilities.

He couldn't remember what happened before he woke up, but from the notes, the boy decided to hunt a wild beast, alone while without Mana.

The bandages on his stomach, the dried blood, the feeling of numbness in the wound, showed that he had been treated.

Standing up and looking out his window, Drake took in what his home looked like. Great walls separated the grassy plain from his home. His room was high up, probably four floors?

Dense forests could be seen in the distance, on the horizon line where they almost bordered, some dark trees could be seen.

The wind breeze greeted and moved all the vegetation, the moonlight illuminated the world in its maximum full moon, the clear dark sky calmed other people's thoughts.

From afar, a large gray castle could be seen, with large walls, with four small towers in its four directions.

On one of the balconies of this castle, there was a young boy with dark hair, the lights of the stars seemed to reflect in his eyes, his hair moved with the breeze of the wind. Little by little, a smile formed on his face.