Lukewarm water splashed on my face, a normal part of my normal routine after being reincarnated. Brushing my soaked brown hair aside, I stared down at my reflection on the creek water. I had a young face with average facial features, black eyes, brown hair. Leaning down, I splashed my face again and stood up, facing the sun. It shone brightly in the blue sky.

I closed my eyes, thinking about the last five years I had lived, reincarnated in a baby's body. I still remembered that day in the winter blizzard and how I got adopted by an old woman who happened to be passing by. After four years of living with that granny, she had passed away of her old age and I was out on the streets. However, during those four years, I had learned that it had been two centuries after Kahil's, or my "death", which had happened during the Continental Year 264. To my shock when I learned about it, the Kingdom of Koqnia was buried in history and the kingdom I lived in, Minvit, I hadn't met a single person who knew of "Kahil" or Koqnia. In the local library of my former home, there wasn't a single record scroll that contained anything that I was familiar with.

Crunch. Crackly brown leaves crumpled under my leather boots. There wasn't anything for me to do now. There was no need for me to be angry at Rahzan or have any vengeful thoughts about what had happened. It was all behind me now. Right now, I was just a boy lost in the woods. Nothing else.

I picked up my satchel of meager provisions and tipped my tattered straw hat onto my head. Soft wind brushed across the small field surrounded by endless trees.

"Let's go." I murmured, trekking the uncharted path to who-knows-where.

It was around midday when I stopped walking. I seemed to sense that my stomach was hollow so I broke out my small pack of dried meat and grainy bread. I took a bite of my food and chewed it like it was rubber. Five years and I still hadn't gotten used to the artificial taste of food in the "modern" era. Meals used to be much more simpler and tasty back in Koqnia. I finished my small lunch and continued walking. Realizing I was trudging uphill, I squinted upwards to see a strange sign of life. There was a clearly human-made structure at the top, with wood splinters and blocks sticking out unnaturally.

Curiosity captured, I sprang up the hill. Although I was in a child's body, I had become physically adept and flexible. I skidded to a stop at the top of the hill to find a small log cabin lined with a worn down fence and a dusty axe laying at the doorstep. Tentatively, I stepped up to the door. It was left open by whoever had inhabited it, but my wary feeling proved to be correct as a red glow illuminated the inside.

Instantly, I drew the shortsword attatched to my waist and slashed at the being that pounced out at me. A metallic sound echoed as the being's curled form collided with my blade. The unknown beast turned out to be a gyrtle, one of the many magic beasts that existed in the wild. It bounced back, expanding into its normal form out of its shell. About two foot tall and being small for a deadly magic beast, the gyrtle was commonly mistaken as weak, but its speed and defense was no laughing matter. As such, I got into stance to take on the enemy seriously.

Although my shortsword was chipped and not of good quality, I was confident I could win this. The blue glow of mana shone on the blade and my reflexes took over, leaping at the gyrtle with all my strength. However, the gyrtle suddenly disappeared from my sight and my sword ended up cutting air, blowing up a cloud of dust.

What the hell just happened? I stepped back, wildly looking around for the silver shell of the gyrtle, but my eyes, nor my mana sense, could detect where the magic beast was.

Shit, I have to retreat! I could only imagine how strong the gyrtle was if I couldn't even known where it was, so I could only think of running away. I had only taken two steps back when a force slammed into my back and my bones let out a cracking sound. Landing on the dirt with a thud, I twisted my neck to see the gyrtle pinning me down. It was heavy as a house, mind you. Its red eyes glinted with ferocious malice, reflecting my horror.

But then, the gyrtle opened its mouth, uttering, "You. What in the world are you?"

I gulped, eyes widening. The magic beast could talk? No way, something was off here. This gyrtle was strong enough to take down a city alone and it wasn't using its scale attack on me, a contradiction to normal magic beasts' rampant natures. In any case, I was needed to select my next words carefully.

"I-...I'm..." I broke off.

Who was I? I wasn't Kahil Tallohn any more. No, I wasn't that crown prince of Koqnia anymore. I was just a regular five-year old boy who had been abandoned in the snow. But, didn't that granny call me something before?

"I'm...Lupus." I managed to answer.

The gyrtle scoffed, "I didn't ask for your name, boy, but that's good to know. Now, I'll make sure to send you off peacefully."

I gritted my teeth as a razor sharp scale seemed to slide off from the gyrtle's shell and zoom to my neck. Just as I felt a prick in my neck skin, a sharp aura broke the air, causing all the hairs on my body to stand up. I struggled to move my head to look at the cause of the aura. It was a man standing about 10 feet away.

He grinned, "Stop it, gyrty. You should chill, man."