It was early morning when I opened my eyes. The sun was still under the horizon, but its light already brightened the sky. A chill breezed through my room as the air from outside entered through the open window.
My house was made of thatch and wood.
As I sat up, I felt like I was forgetting something. I stared at the edge of my bed in a daze, and flashes of fragmented visions appeared in my mind.
Blood. I remember seeing blood.
What was I forgetting? I couldn't remember. If I couldn't remember, it must not be important.
I stood up and opened the door to the living room. Standing there was my Aunt Maria. She smiled at me and beckoned me to the dining table.
"Eat, Aerus, eat."
"Eat?"
When I heard the word, I froze. Something called out to me. It was a memory. Whose memory was it, though? I couldn't tell.
I sat down in front of her.
For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off Aunt Maria.
Her chestnut brown hair draped down her shoulders. Her beautiful face remained calm as she bit into a piece of hard bread. Her brown pupils turned towards me as she noticed.
"Whath?"
Aunt Maria asked with the bread still in her mouth.
"N-nothing."
I stayed calm. However, my heart pounded. Memories started appearing in my mind.
I saw her lying on the ground… dead.
I panicked. The chair fell down behind me as I stood up.
"Aerus? Is something wrong?"
Aunt Maria's concern for me touched my heart, although it felt alien to me, as if it had been a long time since I had felt her concern for me.
"What day is it, Aunt Maria?"
"Errr… Tuesday?"
Aunt Maria peered at my face with curiosity. She didn't seem too alarmed by my outburst. She was more concerned than shocked.
"It's tomorrow…" the system will arrive tomorrow.
"Eh?"
"Nothing, Aunt Maria."
Regaining my composure, I sat back down. My hands kept shaking, but I still managed to eat breakfast.
Aunt Maria watched me curiously.
After a while, she spoke. "Did you have a nightmare?"
It was a casual question, but it hit right at home. It wasn't a nightmare per se, but it was a nightmare indeed. I never wanted to go through that again.
Huh? Go through what again?
My memory was still hazy. I held my head.
"Yes, Aunt Maria. It's a crazy dream…"
Seeing that I didn't continue, Aunt Maria didn't press on. She had always been like this. She was sensitive to my emotions and gave me respect.
She stood up and hugged me. No, more like her breasts hugged me. I drowned in them.
Without realizing it, tears poured out of my eyes. I cried like a baby.
Aunt Maria didn't say anything. She didn't belittle me. There was only love.
Ahhhh… This was what I missed. My memories started coming back like a flood.
I started recalling my whole million years of life. Within her embrace, I kept crying even though I was tens of thousands of times older than her. She kept me from breaking down.
Love was such a nice thing. I was lucky I had Aunt Maria. You see, my parents died when I was young.
I never managed to avenge them. Actually, maybe I did but had forgotten. Anyways, it all didn't matter because I ate everyone in my past life. I didn't know if I killed them. I was too busy trying to escape the control of the system.
After an hour or so, the sun had already appeared over the horizon when I realized it.
I pulled my head back from Aunt Maria's comfortable chest. She smiled at me, and I felt awful.
This time, for sure. I won't let it happen again. There won't be another next time. This will be it.
I believed the words of the Void Whale. I could have any number of retries, but I would rather win it now than suffer infinitely many times. There was also the choice of avoiding the system altogether.
If I did that… what would happen?
I didn't know, but it scared me. I knew the system from the inside out.
Before I could think any further, Aunt Maria spoke.
"It's okay to cry, Aerus. You can cry more later, okay? We still need to hunt for our food today."
"Yes, Aunt Maria."
I recalled my life here in this village.
The Hunterstone Village, which was also where my last name came from, was a village of hunter-gatherers. We were known locally as a fierce group that could hunt anything within the forest.
The last part was a bit of a stretch, but it spoke volumes of our reputation.
After wiping my tears, I ate quickly with Aunt Maria and left. I held a bow in my hand. It had been forever since I touched one of these. The system forced me to use my bare hands during fights.
"We're going to hunt an Ibex today, Aerus. Aren't you excited? I hadn't tasted goat meat in a long time."
"Y-yeah… I'm excited. I hadn't eaten it since a long time, too."
I tried to sound cheerful, but the thought of eating an animal brought back horrible memories. I wondered if Aunt Maria noticed.
"Well… I will ask around for a new recipe. I know you didn't like the last recipe I cooked."
Right. I hated the taste of the last ibex I ate back then. Fortunately, it covered up the lack of enthusiasm in my voice.
The hunting went as usual. It was like I hadn't gone through a million years. My skill with the bow still remained. Aunt Maria sang me praises after I hit bull's eye.
It seemed like I had actually gotten better, which was weird. I never touched a bow again after… you-know-what happened to this village.
We returned shortly after. We tied its legs onto a long and stiff branch we found and carried it back to our house.
We met several villagers along the way. They were all familiar faces—faces I had long forgotten.
After draining the blood and chopping the goat, Aunt Maria stood back.
She closed her eyes and pushed her palms forward.
"Fire!"
A swathe of flames appeared out of nowhere and rolled towards the wood stove. It lit up the oil-drenched firewood and started a fire—a classic move using magic that everyone knew about.
"Hehehe. If only my magic is a bit stronger then our hunting will be easier!" Aunt Maria cheerfully shared with me.
Her pure smile and joy rubbed off on me. I became happy too.
After lunch, I had all the free time in the world. I found a timing when she wasn't paying attention and sneaked out of the house. I arrived at an enclosed space not far away from the village.
I had found this deep, hidden hole when the village elders started looking for me in my previous life.
I chose this place to experiment on in preparation for tomorrow before the system arrives. I didn't want the other villagers to find out about what I'm about to do.
I tied a vine to a tree and jumped down the two meter deep hole.
Surrounding me were hardened soil that formed the walls.
I imitated Aunt Maria's earlier hand movements. I brought my palms together, faced them forward, and pushed them out of my chest.
"Fire!"
Silence...
Nothing happened. It was the same as back then. My magic abilities were still trash.
I had no idea how I would protect myself from the system tomorrow. I was out of ideas.