"I- I am really sorry son...." He finally mustered up the courage to say.
Seth looked at his father. The father whose eyes seemed so reliable just moments ago were filled with guilt. The body full of confidence had just slumped down as if carrying the weight of regrets.
The possible consequences of his late arrival flashed before him. His negligence had caused such tremendous chaos and the guilt was eating him from the inside out. Seth only looked at his defeated father.
"I- I always thought that things would turn out to be better. I always overlooked Caspera's actions and left it to hope."
He slowly spoke. These words were harder for him to speak. Harder than fighting any beast. He continued.
"A-After your mother's death, I was broken." He sighed
"Her death ate me. I could only see her dying but was unable to do anything to help her. I was devastated and threw myself in the hands of alcohol. I hunted everyday and drank every night."
"Today I saw the results of my action. If, if only I had stopped. If only I had looked at Caspera's actions before..." He tried to speak but could not continue.
Seth looked at his helpless father and signed. He understood how he felt, he had also tried everything to help Sophie but he could not. He neglected his family and everyone, but what Rene did was also not forgivable.
Seth believed that his armor could protect him from at least two wind blades before getting destroyed. That was shocking for him because in the previous life his armor was nearly invincible. Only weapons that could destroy an area of radius 250m could destroy it.
Seth would have been able to protect him, but what about Sarah? What would have happened if his soul had not transmigrated here? Seth sighed once again and looked at his father.
His father was pinching the bridge of his nose. Tears were welling up in his eyes. He was frustrated and angry at himself. Seth patted his father's hand and smiled at him.
"I understand father. I know that you are full of guilt but there is nothing you can do to change the past. The only thing you can do is correct the future. You should stop drinking and live for us father." Seth spoke in a childish voice.
If a normal person would be here he would be weirded out by the mature words spoken by a kid. But Rene was different. He was given a glimmer of hope, even if it was from a child.
Rene grabbed and hugged Seth and burst into tears. The welled up emotions finally found a way out. Seth could only embrace his father. The sun had fully risen now. The village was bustling with activity but a father and son were at peace.
Rene stopped crying and pledged to never touch a drop of alcohol once again. He went to the outskirts of the forest and hunted a few chickens, leaving Seth alone in his thoughts. He arrived at afternoon and cooked up a meal.
The rest of the day and night was uneventful. Seth was now finally in his room. He was not tortured or made to do any work. He was laying down on his bed.
The room glowed with the light from the bedside candles. The room was pretty empty. There was a clay jug filled with cold water. A old wooden almirah sat at one corner of the room.
The floor had a animal skin carpet. A light breeze was flowing in from the windows carrying the scent of earth. The night sky shone with a melody of different animal sounds.
Seth blew the candle and closed his eyes thinking about the happenings of the day. He had realized one thing, peace would have to be earned in this world. Atleast he had a loving father and sister. It was time to return.
Pushing all these thoughts to the back of his head he dozed off to sleep...
*****
A/N: Italics = Thinking or conversation in mind or telepathy.
The room's light switched on. Shivansh's eyes fluttered as he got up. It was 7 a.m in the morning. Shivansh's mother helped him get out if the bed and kissed him morning. His father had already went out for his teaching job.
Shivansh woke up and took a few minutes to freshen up his memories.
"Shanti you there?"
"Yes, I am. Did anything happen during the night? Your brain activity fluctuated 2 times. Once when you fell asleep and one a few minutes before you woke up. What happened?" She replied
"Well.... It was weird. You can just see my memories"
"Oh. Ok."
After a few moments of him sharing his memories of the previous day to Shanti, she once again spoke but this time in a grim voice.
"This is pretty serious issue Shivansh. The laws here are very weird. Even though she needed some time to charge her spell but the damage was very great. Your amour is of nearly no use there. The priest also had some weirdpowers." She spoke.
"You portray my worries clearly. This world is both a curse and a boon. Even though live and death go hand in hand but there must be resources. The laws may be different, but what would happen if I could use them here? I could upgrade everything." Shivansh replied in a tone full of joy.
"I understand it but it would be very difficult for you. You nearly died on your first day. Although that Rene has promised to change, it will be difficult for you. How will your weak body withstand the powers of that world. Nearly everyone is stronger than you.
They can kill you if you offend them. In those type of world only the strong have full control. It is not like Earth where commoners can rebel and escape with a light slap or few causalities. Powers like those cause greed. Humans are greedy by nature."
Shanti still warned him, it was like throwing a bucket of water on an ember. She had brought Shivansh back to clarity. Shivansh pondered for a moment and then slowly spoke.
"There is one thing I can do. I can upgrade my body from this moment onwards. I can slowly learn skills that will benefit me in the other realm. Afterall our bodies are connected and the stats of both the bodies will be same."
"Th- That may work, but promise me Shivansh you will be careful. I don't want to see you get harmed irrespective that that is another body of yours." She slowly spoke, her voice full of worries.
"I promise Shanti di. Now, please prepare a training system for me. Also add a few skills with proficiency charts so that I can see my progress. Build it as a independent software so that I can use it in the other world too. Give me the highest authority to modify and use it." He spoke with a determined voice.
"As you say Shivansh. Remember that I will go into a indefinite slumber after this. You have to gain enough energy to wake me up." She spoke.
"I know di. I promise that the sleep won't last for long." He spoke.
A hologram appeared. It was Shanti. She winked at him and converted into a screen with a lot of lines running in it. A progress bar was quickly filling up. After a few seconds...
97,98,99,100%
Training System has finally completed.
Omega is at your service Master. Here are the tasks and skills....