The scent of iron mixed with grass made Aden's eyes snap open. Sunlight immediately assaulted his vision, forcing a sharp gasp from his throat.
He squeezed his eyes shut again and struggled upright. His hands clawed at the soil as he pushed himself to his feet, then staggered against a nearby tree, breathing heavily.
"I… survived?"
Slowly, he turned his head to take in his surroundings. Lush greenery stretched in every direction. Towering canopies blocked much of the sky, and strange plants crowded the forest floor. Instead of comfort, the sight only deepened his confusion.
"What is this place? A jungle?"
A low rustle broke the silence.
Aden flinched and jumped back instinctively, nearly stumbling as he landed several steps away from the sound.
A deep growl rolled through the forest. Birds burst from their nests, scattering wildly as they fled.
"What in the hell is going on?!"
Panic surged through him. Aden ducked behind a rock, chest heaving as he struggled to steady his breathing.
Judging from the unfamiliar plants, the strange birds, and the unnatural lightness in his movements, Aden realized something was deeply wrong. This wasn't his body—and this wasn't Earth.
"So… reincarnation is real after all…"
A faint glint caught his attention. A golden ring sat on his index finger, flashing briefly as he ran a hand through his hair.
His brows furrowed. He brought the ring closer, tracing the intricate carvings etched into its surface.
Without meaning to, his thumb brushed across it.
Pain lanced through his head.
Foreign memories flooded his mind causing a light nausic feeling to pass through him.
"Who is—?"
The ground exploded beside him.
Before he could react, the rock he'd taken shelter behind shattered with a thunderous boom.
A beast roared and charged toward him with ferocity akin to one who watched his whole family slaughtered before him.
It stood over seven feet tall, its blue fur amplifying its already massive frame. Each step drove its claws deep into the soil, tearing through earth as it closed the distance with terrifying speed.
Aden didn't think. He ran.
He ignored the searing pain in his side, ignored the sweat pouring down his back, and pushed his legs harder than he ever had before.
The clean air brushed violently against his face as he fled for dear life, but the intense rumbles didn't bring any hope.
"I hope this body can keep up," he muttered in distress.
With a leap, his hands gripped a damp branch. His vision blurred as he swung to the next tree, almost clumsily.
His heart pounded against his chest. Aden turned his head back for a split second, and felt his stomach drop when he saw the blue‑furred beast getting closer.
'What am I going to do? What am I going to do?'
Desperately running and switching terrain, Aden sifted through his newfound memories in an attempt to find anything helpful.
'An awakened? Resonance? How am I supposed to awaken!?'
"ROAARRRR!"
The beast, angered by its prey defying its fate, opened its mouth, and a round ball of blue energy came blasting forward.
Aden's face paled slightly as he noticed the shift in atmosphere. He didn't need to turn around to notice that something big was heading straight for him.
With an abrupt turn that would leave most athletes ashamed, Aden dodged the incoming attack by the skin of his teeth.
Using the momentum, he bounced off a sturdy branch and landed at the tip of a higher tree.
His unnaturally sharp eyes caught traces of smoke in the far distance.
'A fire! Just past… the beast—!'
A large beam of blue energy shaved by him so close that two strands of his silver hair disintegrated before him mid–air.
Cleaning the cold sweat that formed on his palms, Aden clenched his teeth and jumped to the tree in the direction of the beast.
"As much as I have nothing to live for, I still don't want to die."
Firming his resolve, Aden charged dauntlessly at the beast, earning its confusion.
The beast took his charge as a battle invitation and extended its claws in his direction with a speed that nearly broke the sound barrier.
To its surprise, Aden somehow dodged its attack and whizzed past it.
"Grr…?"
Taking advantage of its momentary confusion, Aden dashed forward with all his might, ignoring the growing pain in his abdomen.
His speed increased greatly as he traveled in the direction of the smoke. His lips opened a little wider to take in more air.
The roars of the beast grew increasingly louder, and Aden had a nagging feeling that if he didn't succeed in this attempt, he could die.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
Shaking his head to clear the sweat drops that threatened to fall in his eyes, Aden jumped over the various stumps and bounced over numerous trees, his desperation rising with each step.
After hours of running nonstop and dodging the beast's continuous onslaught of blasts and roars, the smoke he followed like a beacon of hope became clearer.
'Almost there!'
Aden clenched his teeth, pushing his new body past limits it had never been accustomed to. The leaves gave way as he dashed through a denser part of the forest.
Unfortunately, the density reduced his speed just enough for the beast to close the distance.
Not letting go of its chance, the beast extended its claws and slashed at his back, the force launching him deeper into the forest.
Low thuds sounded as Aden's body bounced on and off the ground, low cracking of bones accompanying it.
"Fuck!"
This was the first time Aden had ever cursed in this life or the past, and considering the sudden amount of pain he was being forced to bear, it wasn't unwarranted.
"Haa… haaa… aghhh…"
Biting his lip fiercely, Aden gripped the branch that buried itself in his thigh and pulled it out with a pained grunt.
"Grr…"
The beast walked slowly, almost triumphantly, and licked its lips as Aden's immobile figure came into its view.
With each step it took, Aden's body grew colder. All his hairs stood on end, his chest rose and fell erratically, and his feet desperately shifted the soil in hopes of getting away.
"No, no, no, no, I am not going to die here. I just got another chance!"
The pain in his stomach grew even more intense. What was a slightly discomforting warmth became a blistering heat, and it only grew worse as time passed.
"Aghhhh!"
Aden crouched on the soil, his eyes closed shut, his teeth clenched so tight you could hear them gnash.
The beast seemed to enjoy this show of weakness as its massive tail swung slowly from side to side.
But then something changed.
The sounds of pain were gone.
The body became incredibly still, so still that one could have mistaken it for a corpse.
And then it vanished.
The beast's eyes widened to the limit as its prey disappeared from its spot with no prior warning.
Then its instincts screamed. Its head snapped left and right to locate the source of danger, but all it saw was a blur, then it felt itself lose balance and crash to the ground.
"Graaaa!!!"
It roared in pain as it spotted a thick branch pierced into its side.
Aden looked at his trembling hands and tried to control his ragged breaths but failed to do so.
"This strength… but how?"
His face was riddled with confusion, but his body moved without his permission and ducked just when the beast swung its paw at him.
The wind from the attack caused the loose trees and leaves to scatter, creating a patch of bare soil where Aden stood.
He jumped on the beast's neck with another branch he didn't know he'd picked up and promptly stabbed it into the beast's eye.
"Hesitance breeds laxity, laxity breeds death," he muttered, almost in a trance—like state
The beast roared in pain and anger as the blood contaminated its fur and blurred its vision.
Its body shook wildly to throw him off balance, but another stab of a branch to its side secured his balance and reduced its stamina.
The beast slammed itself into a tree with a guttural roar, sacrificing its body to get rid of the pest that was causing damage, but it all proved to be meaningless.
Aden's heart hammered against his chest, his hands unbelievably moist, and the noble clothes had long been transformed into rags.
To a passerby, this battle looked no different from a barbaric hunt carried out by one person.
And it was partly true.
The roars of the beast slowly died down until they became a dull growl, and all its vigor drained out of its body.
"Grr… grrr… grrr…"
Pulling the branch out of its body for the umpteenth time, Aden jumped off its body and stared at its half‑lidded eyes for a while before lifting the bloodied branch and stabbing it in its neck.
"Ghhkk!"
As soon as the beast's eyes dimmed, Aden coughed up a mouthful of blood, and blood flowed from his nostrils in scary amounts.
"What… is… happening to me…"
The pain that blasted through every muscle retreated as he fell against the scattered soil, his vision blurred, then blackened as he fell unconscious.
Some time passed, and the dull crunches of branches and leaves broke the eerie silence that plagued the forest.
A man well over his forties, with a small stick between his lips and a scar drawn from the top of his face down to his chin, inspected the scene before him.
Mumbling something under his breath, he effortlessly swung the unconscious Aden over his shoulder and dragged the dead beast behind him with relative ease.
"The kingdom will probably banish me for taking in a rejected noble, but since when have I ever cared for them?"