There was a time when I felt trapped in complete darkness—lost and frightened, with no way out. I had been helpless then, and even now, things don't feel much different. I'm still lost, only now I'm surrounded by light, color, and life. Strangely enough, I can't tell which one I prefer: the comforting emptiness of the dark or this overwhelming chaos around me.

Not long after, I reached the village. Two people waved at me from a distance—humans. It felt odd seeing so many people at once, a stark contrast to the silence of the caverns. Life buzzed all around me, a sensory overload.

Stone buildings flanked a wide dirt road. On my left, a farmer stood by his cart, cheerfully peddling fresh produce to passersby. On my right, a small boy tugged at his mother's sleeve, tears in his eyes as he pleaded for candy she wouldn’t buy him. The air was thick with chatter and movement.

Further down the road, wagons came to a halt as armored guards inspected their contents with practiced scrutiny. The clink of metal and murmur of conversation blended into a cacophony of sound. This place... it's undeniably loud, almost suffocating in its own way.

With no particular interest in anything, I continued my stride.

"Get your fresh produce here!" shouted a local farmer. "Harvested straight from the fields this morning!"

"These gemstones are one in a million!" said a respectably-dressed man. "Mined only days ago, and they can be yours right now!"

"The hell do you think you're doing?!" screamed an inexplicably hideous voice.

Hm... what a way to sell products—shouting curses at potential customers. Wait... I'm not that gullible, am I? No way that's a sales tactic, so what's going on?

Curious, I turned around and noticed a small crowd gathering outside a nearby tavern. Something about the commotion piqued my interest, so I edged closer, peeking over the shoulders of the onlookers. A scene was unfolding before me.

A young man stood defensively in front of a woman, holding his ground against a group of burly loggers. Despite his confident stance, the tremor in his legs and arms didn't go unnoticed.

Is he... afraid of them? Why would he be? Surely, he could handle this—unless... Ah. He wasn't wielding a sword or any kind of weapon. That could complicate things when you're outnumbered three to one.

Strange how something like this can grab my attention when all those flashy advertisements can't. I really should raise my standards. Or... should I lower them? Hard to say when I don't know anything about this world yet.

I sighed, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble. Something tells me that this fight won't last long anyway. As I turned to walk away, I stole one last glance at the young man as he took blow after blow from the loggers. Oh well. It's none of my business.

"Agh!" A cry of pain caught my ear.

Suddenly, that same young man was shoved out of the crowd, stumbling right at me. Before he fell, I caught him. It only took a second for me to notice small drops of blood oozing from his mouth.

"S-sorry..." he grunted. "Are you hurt?"

I said nothing, instead keeping my eyes on the small drops of blood oozing from his mouth. I knew the fight would end quickly, but... definitely not this quickly.

Besides, why is he worried about me when he's the one who's hurt? Silverain mentioned that not all people from the outside world are as kind as they appear. Could he be one of them?

"Hey, you," one of the drunk loggers said to me. "You with him?"

Again, I remained silent. The logger trudged over to me with an aggressive stance. His left shoulder visibly twitched.

"You deaf, kid?" he growled, his voice rough and impatient. "I asked you a question!"

Without warning, he swung his left arm toward me. Instinctively, I jerked my head to the side, narrowly dodging the blow. In that fleeting second, time seemed to slow. I could see everything—the arc of his arm slicing through the air, the tense lines on his face, and even the slow exhale he let out as his fist missed its mark.

At the same time, Silverain's voice echoed in my mind: "If someone strikes you first, don’t hesitate to strike them back."

The words fueled my next move. Before I could second-guess myself, my hand shot up. With all the force I could muster, I drove it into the logger’s elbow. A sharp, bone-jarring crack rang out amidst the background noise of the busy street.

The man stumbled back, clutching his arm in disbelief. The arm he had swung at me now hung limply at his side, the elbow twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Ah... A-ah..." he stammered, his shock quickly morphing into a scream—loud and desperate.

People on the street began turning their heads, their conversations halting as they took in the scene.

Why is he screaming like that? Isn't this to be expected? He was the one who attacked me first, so I fought back. I thought that was how it worked—if someone struck you, you do the match. At least, that's what Silverain said. Blood for blood, eye for an eye, something like that. Wasn't this supposed to be normal?

"R-Randal!" the other loggers rushed to his side. "Hey, kid! What's wrong with you?! Why'd you have to go and break his arm?!"

"No time for that!" the other one said. "We needa get him to the doctor. Now!"

As gently yet swiftly as possible, the two of them carried their friend away. Soon, the crowd dispersed, but not without giving me strange looks. Why does it feel like I've done something I wasn't supposed to?

The young man from before cautiously approached me. "H-hey, man... I appreciate the help, but breaking his arm might've been... a little too much."

"...Break...?" I asked, the concept feeling foreign to me.

"Yeah. Didn't you see the way his arm was hanging there, limp like it had been torn from his body? I've never had my arm broken before, but that's definitely what it looked like for him."

"I'm... not sure I understand. People can break?"

"Eh?"

He gave me a strange look, like I'd said something ridiculous. But wasn't it a valid question? Silverain never mentioned anything about people breaking. She only ever talked about them dying, so why was he acting like I was the odd one here?

In fact, why did everything today feel so... off? This first stop didn't go anywhere near as smoothly as I imagined. Then again, what was I expecting?

"What... do you mean by that?" he asked, clearly baffled by my question.

Before I could answer, the young woman from earlier rushed over, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Lenny!" she cried, her voice tinged with relief. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine, Lina," he reassured her with a smile, though the bruises on his face suggested otherwise.

"Oh, heavens above, your face..." Her voice faltered as she traced the injuries with her eyes. "How are we gonna fix this up? Doesn't look like ointments will do much."

"Ah, come on. It's not that bad," Lenny replied, still smiling. "Thanks to this guy here, a small bruise is all I ended up with."

The woman turned toward me, her eyes full of gratitude, before she bowed deeply. "Thank you, sir. If it weren't for you, Lenny would've been in much worse shape."

Wait... What? Just a moment ago, Lenny was telling me that I shouldn't have broken the logger's arm, but now I'm being thanked for it. So which is it? Was I supposed to do it, or not? I'm getting a lot of mixed messages right now.

"Sir?" Lina said. "Are you alright?"

"Ah... Yeah," I replied. "I'm just... thinking."

"I see. Are you a traveler? Based on your clothes, you seem like one."

"I guess you could say that. I'm just wandering around, and I happened to pass by the commotion when it happened."

"Is that so? Then, you must be tired from your journey. Oh, how about this? Why don't you come inside? Lenny and I work at the tavern, so we can get you some food to thank you. Maybe even a place to rest for the night."

"That's not necessary," I said. "I only did it because I somehow got involved in the fight."

"Nevertheless, you helped, so let us do this for you."

She seemed reluctant to simply let me go, and it was because she wanted to give me something, no less. If I hadn't known Silverain for so long, I would've surely thought that she was the kindest person I'd ever met. Granted, I don't know that many people. Like, at all.

"If you're offering, then I'll accept," I said.

Lina's face lit up, and she promptly took my hand. "Great! Come, come. We'll make sure you're all set to continue your journey."

With Lenny following behind, she dragged me into the tavern.