Ten days passed since Scias was reincarnated in Ostea.
The cave transformed into something resembling a home.
Scias arranged his living space with military efficiency—sleeping area nestled against the back wall, fire pit positioned for optimal ventilation, and a crude drying rack for preserving meat hanging near the entrance where smoke could escape.
Small trophies of his new life decorated the space: a collection of useful stones, bundles of dried herbs, and tools he crafted with increasingly confident hands.
Even though he was no longer in military, the habbits honed over the years were hard to forget. Still, he was slowly adjusting his mindset to escape the military thinking.
A bow was his finest achievement. Three days of careful work yielded a usable weapon—nothing like the masterfully crafted composite bows of Astana's elite archers, but effective enough for hunting smaller game that populated these woods.
His arrows, tipped with sharpened stone and fletched with feathers from birds he caught, hung in a quiver fashioned from bark.
Scias stepped outside his dwelling, the morning sun warming his skin.
He wore only a simple loincloth and the sturdy boots he crafted from hide, their soles reinforced with layers of toughened leather.
His body adapted quickly to this primitive existence, shedding the relative softness of command for the lean hardness of survival.
Today he would venture deeper in the forest.
He explored the immediate area, establishing a territory he could navigate confidently.
The creek that provided his water curved through the forest like a silvery ribbon, eventually widening into a small pond teeming with fish.
Game trails crisscrossed the woods in predictable patterns. He even discovered a berry patch that supplemented his meat-heavy diet.
But beyond—where the forest canopy grew scarcer and the spaces between trees widened—he had not ventured.
Something about that shadowed realm gave him pause during his earlier explorations. Not fear exactly, but a warrior's instinctive caution.
Scias gathered his hunting gear, bow and quiver across his back, dagger secured at his waist, waterskin filled and slung over one shoulder.
He fashioned himself a small pack from hide to carry emergency provisions—strips of dried meat and a handful of berries wrapped in broad leaves.
With one last glance at his dwelling, impressively camouflaged by the natural rock formation and strategic placement of branches, Scias set off.
Even knowing its location, the cave entrance became invisible after fifty paces, swallowed by the landscape as if it never existed.
His morning routine of physical training left him pleasantly warmed up.
Daily exercises—forms and stances from martial arts practiced in Eswua—had maintained his combat form despite lacking a proper weapon.
Even though he was alone, he would talk to himself from time to time. Mostly to exercise his voice.
Each day, he pushed himself further, discovering that this new body responded with remarkable stamina and recovery capabilities.
'Better than ever,' he thought, ducking beneath a low-hanging branch.
The realization no longer disturbed him as it did during those first days.
He came to accept these unexplained abilities as gifts rather than mysteries.
This body—younger and more resilient—possessed innate skills that served him well in this wilderness.
He followed the creek initially, moving with practiced stealth through familiar territory.
Small animals scurried from his path—not in panic but with the ordinary wariness of prey animals recognizing a predator's presence.
Birds continued their morning songs overhead, unalarmed by his presence.
By midday, Scias reached the boundary of his previous explorations.
Here, the forest character shifted subtly. Sunlight shone differently through leaves, creating dappled patterns that seemed to move independently of the breeze.
The trees stood farther apart, their bark darker. Trunks of some trees were twisted into weird shapes.
Scias paused, drinking from his waterskin while studying the terrain ahead.
He crouched, examining the soft ground. No footprints besides those of forest creatures—no indication of human presence.
Ten days of solitude began to weigh on him. As High Commander, he never lacked company, even if much of it was formal and distant.
The complete absence of intelligent conversation—or any conversation at all—left an unexpected hollow in his days.
Drawing a deep breath, Scias crossed his self-imposed boundary and entered the deeper forest.
The difference became immediately apparent.
Sounds dampened as if the air itself grew thicker. The familiar bird calls receded, replaced by occasional deep croaks and chittering noises from unseen creatures.
The forest floor changed too—less undergrowth but more fungal growth, with pale mushrooms clustering around tree roots and strange shelf-like growths protruding from trunks.
Scias moved more cautiously now, testing each step before committing his weight. His senses stretched to their limits, noticing every shadow movement and unfamiliar sound.
After an hour of careful progress, he detected a change in the ambient noise. A rhythmic rushing that suggested flowing water larger than his creek.
Following this sound led him to a substantial river cutting through the forest, at least fifteen paces across and flowing with considerable force.
Scias knelt at the riverbank, studying the water critically.
It ran clear but with a faintly bluish tinge unlike the creek he was drinking from. Unwilling to drink it, he continued along the bank, searching for signs of habitation.
The river represented the first major geographic feature he discovered since arriving in this world. Rivers meant transportation, fishing, and most importantly, civilization. People invariably built settlements near reliable water sources.
He followed the river's course downstream, moving parallel to the flow while maintaining cover of trees.
The forest continued its strange character—darker, more primeval—but the presence of the river provided some comfort.
Scias continued moving downstream. Sunlight shone through trees like emerald beams dancing across the forest floor.
A distant crash shattered the woodland rhythm.
Scias froze mid-step, head tilted slightly.
Another crash followed, then a rumbling sound that didn't belong to any natural forest sound he heard before.
His muscles tensed, instinct urging retreat while curiosity pulled him forward.
Crouching low, Scias abandoned the riverside path and slipped between massive trees, moving toward the disturbance.
He kept his breathing shallow and controlled. Each movement deliberate, each step light and silent.
The sounds intensified. Roars that vibrated through the air, sharp whistling noises, the unmistakable crack of breaking timber.
A fight?
Scias reached edge of a clearing and took cover behind an ancient oak.
What he witnessed made his eyes widen and his breathing quicken. His eyes gleamed with disbelief.
Two beasts faced each other in mortal combat.
A massive bear, easily twice the size of the largest specimens from Eswua's mountains, its fur the deep brown of wet clay, stood on its hind legs.
Across from it, a feline creature with midnight-black fur, roughly the size of a war horse but with sleek, deadly build of a predator born to kill.
But it wasn't their size that froze Scias in place. No. It was the way they fought.
The bear swept one massive paw through the air, not striking the cat directly but seeming to pull something from empty space.
Earth and stone coalesced from nothing, forming jagged projectiles that hurtled toward the feline.
Where the projectiles struck the ground, deep holes were left behind.
The cat leapt impossibly high, twisting in mid-air as winds swirled around its body.
It didn't touch a single branch or surface, yet changed direction twice before landing. The air around it sparked with invisible energy. Air currents that moved counter to natural airflow, bending reality to the creature's will.
When the bear slammed its front paws into the ground, the earth itself responded.
Stone spikes erupted in a wave advancing toward the cat.
The feline countered with a deafening cry that manifested as visible distortions in the air—slashes that cut through the stone projectiles and continued toward the bear.
The bear raised its arms, and earth walls rose to intercept the wind attack, crumbling upon impact but absorbing the deadly force.
The fight intensified. The feline creature surrounded itself with spiraling winds, creating a shield that deflected chunks of earth the bear hurled at it.
Using these same winds, it propelled itself around the clearing with unnatural speed, attacking from multiple angles.
The bear's movements grew slower, blood leaking from its wounds.
Its earth walls rising slower and weaker. A particularly vicious aerial assault from the cat landed multiple wind slashes across the bear's sides.
The massive creature staggered, tried to summon another wall, but the earth merely trembled in response.
With a final, desperate roar, the bear collapsed.
Its enormous body shuddered once, twice, then lay still.
Scias remained motionless, barely breathing.
The feline creature circled its fallen opponent warily, then sniffed the air.
Apparently satisfied, it approached the dead bear and started to claw throught its flesh and bones. Then, as if it found what it was searching for, the cat dug its jaws into the bear's body and with a single bite tore a chunk.
The feline chewed. Cracking sounds could be heard. Suddenly, before swallowing, the feline paused, head raised, scanning the forest edge.
Scias pressed himself against the tree, forcing his heartbeat to slow.
After what felt like hours but were mere moments, the cat walked away, its body quickly disappearing.
Even after the creature left, Scias waited, counting his breaths until he reached three hundred. Only then did he slightly relax, though he made no move toward the clearing.
The bear's massive body lay dismembered and Scias wouldn't risk approaching it. Whatever these creatures were, they were beyond his understanding.
With stealth, he backed away from his hiding place.
Once he put enough distance between himself and the clearing, he turned and moved quickly toward his shelter, his mind racing.
'Magic.' The word surfaced in his thoughts. Not the cheap tricks of traveling performers in Eswua—sleight of hand and misdirection for gullible audiences—but true manipulation of elements.
The bedtime stories his father would tell him, tales passed down through generations as family heritage.
"In the time before time, when the moon first danced its courtship across the night sky, magic flowed through the world like blood through a body," his father would begin, voice dropping to a dramatic whisper that had young Scias leaning forward eagerly.
Stories he dismissed as adult as fantastical entertainment for children. Fairy tales meant to inspire wonder before sleep claimed young minds.
As a child though, he was awed by magic. He wished to be a real magician. But life had different plans for him.
Now he witnessed something that defied rational explanation. Creatures that commanded elemental forces, moving earth and air without physical contact.
As Scias moved back toward his shelter, his mind raced with questions.
Was this ability unique to these creatures, or could humans also command such forces? Could he learn this power? And most of all, if magic was real, what other elements of those childhood tales might also be real?
Sun dipped toward the horizon as Scias reached familiar territory, the strange forest giving way to the woods he knew.
His shelter waited, secure and hidden, but it suddenly seemed more primitive than before—a temporary haven in a world far more complex and dangerous than he'd initially understood.
That night, Scias sat by his fire, staring into dancing flames with new vigor.
The childhood fantasy that once brought laughter now ignited profound purpose.
If beasts could command elements, why couldn't he?
This wasn't just about survival anymore. His fingers traced invisible patterns in the air, mimicking the creatures' movements.
"Magic," he whispered.
His youthful dream of becoming a magician, long buried beneath duty and warfare, stirred to life in this strange new world.