With damp earth beneath her feet, Lena closed her eyes as she inhaled. Fitted with the smell of decaying wild fruits and stagnant water from the swamp nearby, the air around her felt surprisingly clean-  damp and heavy but clean.

'Must be the storm last night,' she concluded.

Opening her eyes, Lena eyed the shallow grave that she had dug for her mother's body. Despite the wet mud from the rain, digging such a grave still took her almost an hour. This body's strength was so weak, even simple magic could easily kill her.

Sighing, Lena sat on the big twisted root near her. She could hear the sound of birds chirping as the leaves danced, choreographed by the soft wind blowing from the west. Lena lifted her head, her long dark hair falling on her back. The trees in this part of the city were surprisingly tall, their leaves so dense, she could barely see the sunlight passing through.

But at least this forest was full of life.

She eyed the grave once again, the sense of loss enveloping her. A part of her was telling her that she already missed her mother. She knew it was the original soul from this body. Eyeing the small pouch nearby, Lena let out a low chuckle at her current situation.

Orphaned, homeless and alone with nothing but a couple of cards. 'What a pitiful woman,' she let out another chuckle.

Her grumbling stomach pulled her attention away from the pouch. She never had dinner and probably would spend the rest of the day scrambling around looking for food. Eyeing the trees again, Lena instantly wondered if the fruits here were edible.

While Lena Hou lived just outside of this forest, her mother strongly cautioned her against going into it. She said it was cursed, haunted.

The thought only made Lena laugh. Two thousand years ago, this place never existed. Hua City was but a small town with fewer than a hundred people. Two thousand years ago, people never believed in curses or ghosts. They had magic. They were superior. Or so she thought.

She snorted. She was strong— the strongest in Shan Country. However, her emotions became her downfall. Her lover became her killer. Now, even her name had been forgotten. The name of the woman who defeated the demons, who protected the people from their invasion, was now forgotten. Erased from the history books that Lena Hou used to read.

'Ungrateful people,' she thought. For a few seconds, Lena stayed silent before she decided that it was time to say goodbye to her mother. She needed to move on, leave this place and survive. That was the least that she could do for this body.

Pursing her lips, Lena took the time to feel all the emotions that the body wanted her to feel. It was grief— the heaviness of grief made her limbs weaker, her mind numb. For a few minutes, memories of Lena's childhood flashed through her mind: happy memories of her mother carrying her around, her mother fixing the only dress that she had and her mother teaching her sewing. Lena was happy and so was her mother.

Or that was what the little Lena thought.

Lena never saw her mother cry. Not even once did she get mad or complain. She was all smiles, caring and loving. She was patient and gentle. Lena let out a sad smile towards the small grave. The biggest regret of this body was not being able to give a proper burial to her mother.

In this time, people were cremated, turned into ashes and buried on an island just outside Hua City. However, this would cost her money— something that she didn't have. After a few more minutes, Lena decided to leave as she ingrained the location of the grave in her mind.

One day, she would come back. One day, she would give her mother the proper burial that she deserved.

Lena looked at the direction of the small town full of slums where she used to live. By now, people must have realized that she and her mother had left their small space. Taking a step towards the opposite direction, Lena decided to walk towards the next small town. It shouldn't be that far, she figured.

She was wrong.

It had been a few hours, and the absence of sunlight seemed to make her feel heavy, tired. The body's pitiful knowledge of the surrounding area coupled with her weak constitution was enough to exhaust her. The fruits that she had picked were of no use either.

They were edible but not enough to make her full. As much as she wanted to hunt, Lena decided to save the energy left in her body to find a shelter, perhaps a cave where she could rest and regain her strength. Her heavy footsteps trod forward, leaves and twigs crunching under her damaged shoes.

After what seemed like forever, Lena finally found a place where she could take a nap.

It wasn't a cave, rather it was a hollow in the middle of a tree, a cavity. The humongous root of the tree in which the cavity was located was enough for her five foot five frame to sit inside with her knees folded tightly against her chest.

'This will do,' she thought. She was exhausted, hungry. Her clothes were wet from the damp air, and her emotions were trying to fight against her wishes to leave this place. She was a mess.

After climbing into the root, Lena immediately closed her eyes. She tried to assess her magic. It was still pitiful, still weak as ever. Biting her lower lip, Lena decided to nap first. She needed her energy. She needed to calm her raging emotions before she could even think about her magic.

It didn't take long for Lena to drift off. Her chest rose and fell in a rhythm, the deep lines in between her brows disappeared as she hugged herself to sleep. Her face became peaceful, unaware that danger was coming her way.