Episode 4: The Weight of Tomorrow
I woke before the sun.
Not because I wanted to—but because my body had learned something new overnight.
Pain was still there, yes. It greeted me like an old acquaintance, familiar and unwelcome. But beneath it, there was a strange awareness. A sense of connection to my muscles, my breath, my balance. As if my body and I had finally agreed to speak the same language, even if we were still arguing about everything else.
The faint blue icon pulsed at the edge of my vision.
I didn't open the full interface immediately. Instead, I lay still, listening.
The village of Oakhaven breathed around me.
A rooster crowed somewhere distant. Wood creaked as someone opened a door. The wind slid through the cracks in the walls, carrying the smell of damp soil and smoke. This world didn't wake suddenly. It stirred. Slowly. Reluctantly.
Just like me.
I flexed my fingers.
No sharp warning. No sudden dizziness.
That alone felt like victory.
Health: 55/100
Stamina: 42/100
I stared at the numbers for a long moment.
Nearly half stamina, without eating yet.
"That's new," I whispered.
The System responded, unprompted.
[Passive Effect Active: Frail Body Adaptation (Lv. 1)]
[Recovery efficiency increased under repeated strain conditions.]
So pain wasn't just pain anymore.
It was input.
I sat up slowly. The movement pulled at my muscles, but it didn't threaten to crush me. The world stayed steady. My breathing stayed even.
This body is learning.
The thought sent a strange tightness through my chest. Not relief. Not joy.
Something closer to respect.
The door creaked open.
Borin stepped inside, already awake for hours if his posture was anything to go by. He paused when he saw me sitting up on my own.
"Hm," he grunted.
Just that. One sound.
But his eyes lingered a fraction longer than usual.
He set down a small bundle—bread again, and something else this time. A wedge of hard white cheese.
"Eat," he said. Then, after a moment, "We work today."
I blinked. "Work?"
"You don't heal lying down forever."
That was the closest thing to encouragement I was going to get.
I ate slowly, deliberately. Chewing hurt my jaw. Swallowing scraped my throat. But the System responded faithfully.
[Action Detected: Consume Food]
[Health +3]
[Stamina +5]
Health: 58/100
Stamina: 47/100
Borin watched the numbers climb without seeing them. To him, I was just a boy who didn't look like he was about to collapse.
"Good," he said. "We start small."
Outside, the morning had fully claimed the village. Smoke rose in lazy columns. Chickens scattered across the path. Someone laughed—a sharp, brief sound, like it had been rationed.
Borin led me not toward the fields, but toward the edge of the village. Past the well. Past the clustered homes. Toward a low shed near the treeline.
My heart sank.
Manual labor. Of course.
Inside the shed were tools. Old ones. Worn handles. Rusted edges. Axes, hoes, coils of rough rope.
"You carry," Borin said, nodding at a bundle of firewood stacked against the wall.
I hesitated.
"How much?"
He looked at me then, really looked. Measured my stance. My breathing.
"Half," he said finally.
Not mercy.
Assessment.
I lifted the bundle.
Pain flared instantly, sharp and bright across my shoulders.
[Warning: Load Exceeds Comfort Threshold]
My teeth clenched. I adjusted my grip.
Leverage. Balance. Don't fight the weight—align with it.
The knowledge wasn't from Elric.
It was from me.
I shifted the bundle closer to my center of mass, braced my core, and stood.
The pain didn't vanish—but it changed. Spread out. Became manageable.
[Farmhand Labor (Lv. 2) – Progress Increased]
[Basic Movement (Lv. 1) – Progress Increased]
Borin raised an eyebrow.
"Huh."
We walked.
Not far. Just to the woodpile behind his forge. But every step sent tremors through my legs. Sweat beaded on my skin despite the cold.
By the time I dropped the bundle, my arms shook uncontrollably.
Stamina: 47/100 → 21/100
I bent over, gasping.
The System chimed again.
[Strength +0.1]
I froze.
Strength. Not the constitution. Strength.
I straightened slowly, staring at my hands.
"So carrying weight builds strength," I murmured. "Who would've guessed."
Borin snorted. "Talking to yourself again."
"Thinking out loud," I corrected automatically.
He studied me for a long moment, then handed me a smaller bundle.
"Again."
The day passed like that.
Carry. Rest. Stack. Breathe.
Pain became constant background noise, like the crackle of the forge fire. My stamina dipped dangerously low more than once. Each time, I stopped before the System forced me to.
Don't push into collapse. That's not growth—that's damage.
By midday, my arms felt like they didn't belong to me anymore.
Health: 61/100
Stamina: 9/100
I sat against the forge wall, chest heaving.
Borin handed me water. "Enough," he said. "For today."
Today.
The word echoed louder than it should have.
There will be a tomorrow.
As I drank, a new presence settled in my awareness.
Eyes.
Not hostile. Not curious.
Assessing.
I glanced up.
An old man stood near the forge, leaning heavily on a staff. His back was bent, his beard yellowed with age, but his eyes were sharp—too sharp.
He was watching me like I was a puzzle missing a piece.
"That's the fever boy?" he asked Borin.
"Aye."
"Hm."
The old man stepped closer. The air around him felt… heavier. Not magical. Not threatening.
Focused.
"You walk strange," he said to me. "Not like a child. Not like a farmer."
My pulse quickened.
"I had bad dreams," I said carefully. "Changed how I think."
He studied my face for a long moment.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
"Dreams change many things," he said. "Some wake with fear. Some wake with questions."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Name's Aldric," he added. "Come to the shrine hill sometime. When you can walk farther."
The way he said it made my skin prickle.
The System did not react.
No quest. No alert.
Which somehow made it worse.
That night, exhaustion dragged me down faster than ever. My body felt heavier, denser—as if it were slowly accepting this world's gravity.
Just before sleep claimed me, the System spoke one last time.
[Daily Summary]
Strength: +0.2
Constitution: +0.1
Skills Progressed: Farmhand Labor, Basic Movement
Quest Progress: Recovery – 52% Complete
Over halfway.
Mana is still locked.
But closer.
As darkness closed in, Aldric's words echoed in my mind.
Some wake with questions.
I had many.
And for the first time, I suspected this world might actually answer them—
if I survived long enough to ask.
Episode 4: End.