Kale's eyes were blurry, his entire being in unfathomable pain, after the fucking priest had kicked him, throwing him like a worthless rag. He didn't know what happened afterward; he probably lost consciousness. Right now, he could barely make out the vague silhouettes of the crying twins, continuously shaking him amid the rain.
But what truly made his eyes snap wide open was the mechanical voice, which, strangely, had the same tone as the AI he used most of the time in his research on the project back on Earth. For a moment, he thought if he was hallucinating, but the severe pain told him that it was unlikely.
And finally, when his mind cleared somewhat, he could see the flashing texts.
[Host in critical condition….]
[Activating life-saving emergency mechanism….]
[Healing major wounds….]
[Healing necessary soul injuries….]
[Unable to fully stabilize condition….]
[Requesting host to seek necessary measures….]
[Does the host want to see his current status?]
Kale waved his hands at the twins, telling them to stop shouting at his face. But the kids still wouldn't quite give up.
"Fuck, you're finally awake…"
"We thought you would die, you bastard…."
"Wait, did your injuries….actually heal….."
"Maybe the medicine worked…"
Kale took a few breaths. The heavy rain didn't help at all; though his condition had somewhat healed, as the strange texts said, it still couldn't heal him completely. But it was more than enough. With the help of the twins, he got up, seeing so many small beasts and insects dead around him.
He asked, "What happened? What are these?"
Josh hesitated for a moment, but eventually revealed, "They were trying to attack you…."
Jared opened his mouth, about to reveal that a monstrous-looking snake had actually bitten his forehead, but in the end, he did not reveal that.
He was only thankful that Kale was fine, brought back from near death by some miracle. It was best not to worry him, since he was fine.
Maybe it wasn't a poisonous snake, despite how vicious it looked, Jared concluded in his mind.
Kale's eyes showed a trace of hopelessness when he heard that, reminding him of the priest's hateful words. He could only grit his teeth and put those despairing thoughts aside; he was also completely befuddled by the existence of this strange system.
Overall, he wasn't on his right mind as the ambition of his two lifetimes was so thoroughly shattered that it left him utterly broken. He said to the twins, "We need to leave this place, go back to the village, right now."
The twins nodded; one went to look for a carriage to take them home, while Jared helped Kale walk. After walking for a while, standing near a large tree that somewhat shielded them from the heavy rain.
Kale said, "Tear a small piece of cloth from my dress. Wrap it around my forehead; the black soul sigil needs to be hidden. Otherwise, no one will give us a ride."
Kale, right after stepping into the caravan, heard the mechanical voice once more.
[Host's mental condition is detected to be suboptimal….]
[Calculating necessary countermeasure…]
[Forcefully putting the host to sleep….]
***
"Hey, you punks, get the fuck up….we're here in your goddamned village, my caravan ain't your goddamn bed…."
"Get out…." shouted the caravan driver.
Kale instantly woke up, his body was still wet, his mind groggy, and he almost thought for a moment that it was all but a stupid nightmare, the things that had happened. But he realized that they were not a nightmare but reality as he touched the wrap on his forehead.
The uncomfortable hostility of the world, which only he could sense.
Josh and Jared also woke up hurriedly. The first thing they did was to check on Kale; it seemed the twins freaked out again when Kale lost consciousness.
The three of them walked together. Josh and Jared looked at Kale in worry. There was no trace of the vibrancy left in his eyes; his posture was now weak, as if the ambition that drove him, the very thing that defined Kale, was taken away.
Now nothing but an empty husk. In the soft light of the reddish sunset, they stood at the edge of Dagan, the countless people working in various fields instantly turned their eyes towards the three of them, for the three of them were the hope of this rural village.
As everyone rushed towards them, wearing bright expressions filled with immense expectation, Kale stood frozen in his tracks at that sight: the young, the old, married couples, aunts, and uncles. Brothers and sisters. Every single person in this stupid village treated him as if he were their own flesh and blood.
How could he disappoint them? He could lie, he could hide the truth, but there was a knot in his heart that firmly stood against that decision. Josh and Jared both placed their hands on his slumped shoulders. They did not speak a single word, for they did not need to.
Kale's right hand trembled as it reached towards the wrap of wet cloth around his forehead, hiding the black, putrid soul sigil of his. Eventually, the torn cloth dropped to the ground, showing a horrifying, cursed pattern. All the villagers stood frozen, shaken at that sight.
Kale let out a wistful laugh, seeing their shocked faces, "The very Dragons you worship have damned me, I'm not a blessed child, I never was, I'm the cursed one…"
"For I can never tame a single beast, ever again…." he said in a lost tone…
The expression on the faces of Josh and Jared turned complicated. Kale was the one with the most heaven-defying talent, but the Dragon Race had cursed him. Would the fanatic old ones of their village also have the same extreme reaction as the horned priest? They could not help but worry about Kale.
But to the shock of the twins, it was those very old people, who came close to Kale, they did not shout at him, they did not slap him, they did not curse him, they put their hands softly on his head, on his shoulders, on his chest, and said, "So what if the Dragons have cursed you, you're still our adored child, you are Kale Ardentis…."
A few others laughed, "Fuck those Dragons, this old man had been tired of praying to them all my life. Not like they gave me anything that I ever prayed for…."
Another old one snorted, "These old bones shall break every single one of those statues on my hut, how dare they curse our bright little boy?"
An old woman with wise eyes and a gentle look said to him, looking him in the eyes, "It's fine, son…. It's fine….you will be okay. We will always be on your side."
A trickle of tears fell from his eyes, silently melting into the ground. From all sides, everyone placed a hand on his body, in affection, in pity, in sorrow, to console his broken spirit. That once shone like a radiant star. Now snuffed out by the very dragons who were supposed to bless it.
The darkness that had taken hold of Kale somewhat lifted as the sunset-red light painted a serene picture of a green-eyed boy, surrounded by the hands of his villagers in a circle.
***
He eventually returned to his house and found it to be empty, because Selene, Darius, and his little sister were ploughing on a field of theirs, a bit north outside the village. They would be back by evening.
As he lay on the soft bed, with his black soul sigil mark shimmering darkly, he could not help but chuckle to himself, "What a day it was, huh?"
To be so close to his dream, almost in his grasp, only to lose it,
Accursed by some ancient dragon,
Being kicked out of the church, then ridiculed, humiliated,
Nearly dying as he bled nonstop, while unconscious,
Then, finally, being saved by a mysterious system.
His expression suddenly turned serious as he said aloud, "System?"
He waited, but no response or texts appeared. Kale's frown deepened as he said again, "What are you?"
There was no response, no indication of the system, but he didn't give up: "Did you save me?"
"Why did you save me?"
"Where are you from?"
"Are you a bio-mechanical program?"
For a moment, he could not help but seriously think that if he was hallucinating at that time, due to serious mental fatigue, it was possible that the subconscious mind could make things up, for the conscious part of your brain to vent or calibrate back to normal through an artificial coping mechanism.
So, the 'system' thing could have just been a figment of his own imagination to snap his mind back to reality. But that didn't make sense; he was never a gamer, so why would he start imagining a fucking system to come and save him?
He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and said something that might actually bring a reaction, "Why is your voice the same as that of Deimos? The Artificial Intelligence that I always used as a companion in every step of my research back on earth?"
And indeed, a flickering noise graced his ears.
whrr… tck—tck—bzzzt!