Again…
The boys laughed and walked away, their voices fading.
"Don't forget the elder's robes, trash!"
"And the latrine. Outer disciple duties!"
Their footsteps disappeared down the path.
Silence.
Astra stayed there, feeling the roughness of the stone against his cheek. A weak wind brushed his face. Somewhere in the distance, disciples were shouting as they trained, fists cutting through air, swords clashing.
He could smell the faint metallic tang of blood and the bitter scent of herbs.
His chest rose and fell.
Slowly, his fingers curled into fists.
In this life too… I'm starting from the bottom.
He closed his eyes.
And the darkness inside his mind… wasn't empty.
Memories in the Dark
It started as flashes.
A small room lit by a blue screen.
The glare of a cheap phone.
A cluttered desk stacked with books and instant noodle cups.
A boy hunched over a monitor, reading lines of text about cultivation, about genius protagonists, about worlds like this one.
Blue Star…
My previous life.
Not another soul.
Not someone else's story.
His.
In that other life, he'd been ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Average grades, average talent, no background, no power. He dreamed big and did nothing big. He read about heroes but never became one.