After cleaning myself up with a rag, I changed into a new pair of clothes—well, new might be too generous a word. They looked almost identical to my old set, just a little less filthy. I sighed and leaned over the bucket of water, staring at the reflection that rippled back at me.
It was strange seeing a child's face instead of my own. My body looked frail, bones poking through thin skin, my hair a tangled black mess that refused to stay flat. My eyes, though—they were the strangest part. Dark, almost unnaturally so. Not the usual brown or black, but the kind of darkness that reminded me of those videos online about "the world's blackest paint." They seemed to swallow the light instead of reflecting it. I looked… otherworldly.
"Is this really me?" I murmured. My voice sounded small, distant, like it belonged to someone else entirely. For a moment, I almost reached out to touch the reflection, half-expecting it to move on its own. The water rippled, distorting the image into something even less human. I shuddered and turned away.
My gaze fell on the so-called "meal" waiting for me—a single loaf of bread and a bowl of something that barely qualified as soup. "Heh, I really am in a medieval world," I muttered under my breath.
I picked up the bread. It was so hard it could probably double as a weapon. I tried to bite it and instantly regretted it. "What is this, a rock? Ah, my teeth!" Setting it down, I turned to the soup. The smell hit me first—muddy, sour, and vaguely fishy. I took a cautious sip and nearly spat it back out. "God, what did they put in this? It's like they just threw in whatever they found lying around."
Still, my stomach growled. Hunger overpowered disgust. I dunked the bread into the soup to soften it up and forced myself to eat. Each chew felt like punishment, but it was better than starving. The room was silent except for the faint crackle of a dying fire and the distant shouting of men outside—probably the gang that had taken me in. Their laughter carried through the thin walls, rough and cruel, reminding me of the kind of people I was surrounded by.
As I ate, my mind turned to tomorrow. My task was to distract the guards so the gang could kidnap the Marquis's daughter. I was supposed to lure the guards away from the abduction site—basically, to be bait. They'd probably send someone to watch me, to make sure I didn't run or warn anyone. Which meant if I wanted to escape, I'd have to use that chaos against them. I needed to warn the guards and survive. Both sounded like long shots.
"This plan is terrible," I muttered after finishing my miserable meal, collapsing onto the bed of hay. "But it's all I've got… unless I can learn a little magic."
The thought made me laugh—just a small, bitter chuckle. Magic? I didn't even know if it was called that here. But still, if I was in another world, I had to try something. Sitting cross-legged, I closed my eyes and focused inward. "If it works in novels and movies, it's gotta work here too," I whispered.
At first, there was nothing but silence and the rhythm of my breathing. Then—faintly—I felt something deep inside. Like a tiny spark in the darkness. I reached for it, but the moment my mind wavered, it slipped away.Trying over and over with no results but only made more sparks appear.
Frustrated, I remembered a documentary from my old world about nuclear bombs—how joining atomic nuclei released massive amounts of energy. "Fusion creates energy… so maybe I can fuse these sparks together," I thought.
I tried again, fusing two sparks. Nothing happened. Sweat beaded on my forehead. "This is way harder than I thought… feels like my skull's gonna split open." Then another thought came. "Fission—if I can join them, then split them over and over, maybe it'll cause a chain reaction."
It was risky. If it worked like nuclear energy, I could blow myself up from the inside. But if I didn't try, I'd never stand a chance against Iskar and his men.
So I sat again, breathing slowly, focusing everything on those sparks. I imagined them fusing, separating, fusing again—until suddenly, something changed.
Power surged through me, wild and uncontrollable. My body trembled, bones creaking, muscles stretching like they were about to tear. Blood trickled from my eyes, nose, and ears. I tried to redirect the energy, forcing it to flow through me, but the pain was unbearable. It was like every nerve in my body was on fire. The air around me shimmered, vibrating faintly, and for an instant, I thought I saw faint blue light flicker along my arms.
Finally, the pressure eased, and I collapsed.
When I woke an hour later, every inch of me screamed in agony. "That… hurt so bad," I groaned. "I can't even move." My body felt like I'd done a thousand push-ups and then run a marathon. My limbs were heavy, my vision blurry, and I was starving again.
"Did it even work?" I muttered weakly. Closing my eyes, I focused inward and sensed something—faint, but there. The energy had gathered near my abdomen, pulsing softly, like a living thing. Slowly, feeling returned to my limbs. I looked down and saw faint blue veins glowing under my skin, like rivers of light.
The glow faded after a moment, but a warmth remained, steady and calm. For the first time, I felt… alive. Stronger, sharper. My hearing seemed clearer, my breathing deeper. The exhaustion didn't vanish, but beneath it, something powerful stirred—something raw and new.
A grin spread across my face. "Maybe… just maybe, I can survive this place."
Then I noticed the air in the room had shifted. The faint smoke from the fire hung perfectly still, unmoving. Even the sound of the men outside seemed distant now, muffled. I felt… connected to everything, like I could sense the faint hum of life beyond these walls. It was intoxicating.
But as quickly as it came, the feeling faded, leaving me gasping for air. My body trembled from the strain, the world spinning around me. I fell back onto the hay, chest rising and falling as I tried to steady myself.
"Okay… maybe don't overdo it next time," I muttered, forcing out a weak laugh.
Feeling the weight of my eyelids, I laid down falling asleep. With excitement and dread for tomorrow