The sun had long since dipped behind the jagged horizon, leaving the world in the eerie embrace of twilight. Inside a small cave nestled deep in the mountains, Solace sat in silence. His body was battered and bruised from years of torment, but his eyes—those dark, mysterious eyes—betrayed nothing of the hell he had just escaped from. His clothes were little more than tatters, barely clinging to his skin, while his hair, unkempt and wild, fell in tangled strands around his face.
Despite everything he'd endured over the last five years, he didn't look like the victim of a brutal prisoner's torment. His body was scarred, sure, but his mind? His mind was sharp, and as he sat there, curled up with his knees drawn to his chest, he thought back to the events that had brought him here.
He couldn't help but laugh bitterly. It was almost ironic when he thought about everything that had happened to him. From the moment he'd been transported to this world, everything had been a game. At first, he thought he had it all under control. A new life, a second chance, and with it, the power to change his fate. The mask he had worn—both literally and figuratively—had shielded him from reality, but now, in this cave, far from the chaos and betrayal of the kingdoms, he saw it all with clear eyes.
"I was just a pawn," he muttered to himself, his voice rough from years of silence. "A pawn in a game of kings and dragons. I was never in control."
He clenched his fists, but it wasn't anger that surged through him. It was the cold, hard truth. Solace, once so sure of himself, had been completely played. From being a consort with no real power to being arrested by the Solara guards—surrounded by cultivators far stronger than he could ever have imagined—it had all been a series of miscalculations.
"Level 200," he muttered, staring blankly at the stone floor beneath him. "Pathetic. Nothing in this world." In his time of imprisonment, he had come to realize just how small he was in this world. Even the fire dragons—creatures of legend—had been far above his reach. The power of the Solara guards, who had captured him so easily, was beyond his comprehension at the time. Their levels were 400 or higher. Even if he had fought, he would have been crushed without a chance.
He had never really been in control. No, it was only an illusion. His strength, at the time, had been nowhere near enough to face the dragons or the cultivators. And so, he had been broken. He could only blame himself for thinking he could navigate the world with just his wits and strength at level 200. It was all so foolish.
"FUCK!!!" Solace shouted, his fist driving into the cold stone wall of the cave.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Each punch echoed through the cave, the sound of his anger resonating into the stillness of the night. It wasn't just the years of suffering. It wasn't just the Fire Dragons or the human kingdoms that had wronged him. No. It was his own naïveté. His own arrogance. He thought he could handle the chessboard of the world, but in reality, he had been outplayed at every turn.
With every punch, Solace's emotions started to find their release. But it wasn't anger that burned through him—it was a vow, a promise.
"Never again..." he muttered under his breath, as the final blow left his fist bruised but no longer trembling. His body, though weaker than it had ever been in his life, was alive. His mind was sharper than it had been in years, and his resolve had been forged in those long days of imprisonment.
Standing slowly, Solace wiped the sweat from his brow. His legs felt wobbly, but the fire in his chest was all too real. His skin was raw from the beating he had just given the stone wall, and his body was in no better condition, but he could feel the fury within him—a need to grow stronger, a need to rise above.
"Never again will I put myself in such a position," he thought, his eyes narrowing with newfound determination. "Never again will I be weak. I will train. I will grow."
The next chapter of his life was clear. Strength was the only answer. If he wanted to take control of his destiny, he would have to build it from the ground up. There was no more room for mistakes.
As Solace moved towards the entrance of the cave, ready to face whatever the world had to offer next, there was a moment—a flicker—in his mind. In the sea of his consciousness, where his thoughts and emotions connected to something deeper, she was there.
The woman, the being that had guided him from the very beginning, watched over him in silence. She had been with him for as long as he could remember, and though she rarely spoke, her presence was felt constantly, like an ethereal force that both protected and weighed heavily on his soul.
In the depths of her existence, she stood by, watching Solace in his quiet solitude, her own heart heavy with emotions she could not express to him.
"I'm sorry, Solace, I couldn't help you," she whispered, though her words were never meant for his ears. "You've been through so much, and I couldn't do anything... I failed you when you needed me most."
Her form, a fleeting shadow of beauty, faded into the depths of his consciousness, her sadness palpable as she moved through the sea of his thoughts.
"I only wished I could have protected you... from the beginning..."
But no words reached him. Her emotions, her sorrow, echoed in the vast emptiness of his mind, and she couldn't help but mourn her inability to intervene. She had watched him struggle for so long—watched him be broken by the hands of others—and it pained her deeply to see him suffer.
Yet, there was a glimmer of hope in her sadness. He had survived. He was still alive. That was all that mattered.
As she faded from his awareness, Solace continued his path, unaware of the woman's thoughts. His focus was on the road ahead. He had a journey to begin, a mission to accomplish.