The night was cold and drenched in rain, the forest alive with whispered secrets carried on the wind. Somewhere in the darkness, a fragile cry pierced the stillness—soft, desperate, unmistakably human. "Ahhh, ahhh," the baby wailed, a small sound swallowed quickly by the vast wilderness.
A voice broke through the night's quiet, laced with confusion and concern. "Where are you? Whose child is crying out here?"
The baby's tiny body twitched, as if stirred by a faint spark of awareness. He tried to move, to understand, but the world felt strange and heavy. Why was he alive? Was he supposed to be dead? Then, like a sudden lightning strike, clarity cut through the fog of his mind: he was that baby.
Questions tumbled in his thoughts, chaotic and unformed, until a figure emerged from the shadows—a woman with long, flowing black hair that shimmered like ink against the stormy night. Her silhouette was graceful, almost otherworldly, framed by the dim glow of the storm. Her eyes, dark as the endless sky, held a fierce tenderness as she bent over him.
She was his mother, he realized, though everything about this moment felt surreal. Her hands cradled him gently, her voice a soft melody against the roar of the rain. "There, there, Everett," she murmured, brushing away his tears. "Don't cry, my love."
Slowly, the storm inside him stilled. The world softened, and sleep beckoned him into its quiet embrace. As his eyelids fluttered closed, one truth settled deep within his soul: he had been given a second chance. He had been reincarnated.
When morning came, Everett awoke to a new and unsettling reality. A man stood over him, cloaked in the same strange garb as his mother, his eyes cold and unreadable. Fear surged through Everett's small body as he struggled and fled, only to find himself abandoned at the edge of a dark, forbidding forest.
A strange energy pulsed from the trees, a force both ancient and alive—an energy that mirrored the one burning fiercely within him.
Soon after, he became aware that he could manipulate the strange energy pulsing within him. Intrigued, he guessed it might be mana—a mystical force he had only seen in anime. Eager to test his newfound power, he attempted to cast a spell just as he had watched on screen, but nothing happened. Undeterred, he tried another technique from those stories.
He focused the energy around his body, enveloping himself in a shimmering aura. Almost immediately, he noticed his body temperature stabilizing, a coolness spreading through him, and a newfound strength coursing in his limbs. It was a comforting sensation, a sign that the energy was responding to his will.
However, this was his first attempt, and his control was far from perfect. His infant body seemed to resist the flow, the mana feeling uneven and hesitant. He realized that his young form might be the reason his connection to the energy was still unstable. With little else he could do, he remained still, concentrating on the subtle currents within him.
After a few moments, he sensed the mana stirring not just within him, but also moving through the forest beside him. Instinctively, he raised his arms in a defensive stance, bracing himself for whatever might emerge.
From the dense bushes, a creature stepped forward—a dryad. She had vibrant green hair that flowed like leaves in the wind, eyes the deep shade of emerald, and skin that shimmered with a verdant hue. Her figure was graceful and ethereal, blending seamlessly with the forest around her.
She had come to investigate the disturbance, hoping to discover what was approaching the sacred woods.