Everyone suddenly was enveloped by darkness and then they felt their bodies changing. They became spirits and then they felt their techniques, knowledge and powers being sealed. While it was an uncomfortable feeling, like suddenly being covered by massive chains that restrained his every movement, Aien felt the excitement growing inside him.

  (Generating random starting points, conditions and limitations… The goal of all participants in this round is world domination. Become the overlord of your respective worlds as soon as possible.)

  ‘The simplest one, for starters, huh… no matter, this is where the fun begins,’

  (Starting points, conditions and limitations have been randomly selected.)

  Name: Zenis

  Age: 05

  Race: human

  Bio: Your village was attacked and destroyed by bandits. Zenis and his father died trying to protect the place, but they failed and they ended up losing everything they had. Zenis’ little sister and mother were taken away to be sold as slaves.

  Limitations: you can only use spear and spear related techniques to cause damage on your enemies.

  ‘Hmm, this is a complicated starting point… I don’t have to worry about anything or anyone holding me down, but there is so much I can do as a five-year-old. I need to grow fast and then learn more about the world before doing anything big. Also, a spear, huh? Not my cup of tea.’

  Aien’s memories were sealed away and then he received the previous owner’s memories while he was seeing a light at the end of a tunnel approaching him.

  Before long, he woke up in the body of the boy called Zenis and he became him… Zenis was lying with his face on the ground when he opened his eyes. He could see a burned down village and numerous bodies around him.

  The village was in ruins, a haunting reminder of a tragedy that unfolded. Buildings that once stood firmly are now reduced to mere debris and broken structures. Wooden beams jut out at odd angles, and the remnants of homes were charred and blackened by fire.

  Men, women, and even children lie motionless, their bodies sprawled across the debris-strewn streets. Some were contorted in unnatural positions, while others appeared as if caught mid-flight, forever frozen in their final moments of desperation.

  ‘Wow, I knew that this would happen, but I can really feel the anger and the agony that the boy suffered before dying,’ Zenis thought. ‘This will be hard… his desire to save his mother and sister is strong. I can’t use anything aside from a spear, so it will be hard to fight one hundred bandits to do so.’

  Zenis’ small fingers brush against charred books, searching for any page that may still hold fragments of stories and information. He collected shards of broken pottery, a small token of the life that once thrived here. Zenis’ eyes scanned the rubble for anything salvageable. A forgotten trinket, a scrap of fabric. Anything valuable would do for him.

  Zenis only found two spears that were too big for him under some bodies, but it was better than nothing. With some training, he could defeat small creatures and monsters and then level up. Speaking of leveling up, it was time to check how things worked. He designed it alongside Herneus, but he didn’t test it.

  “Status,” Zenis said.

  Zenis - Lv 01 (0/100)

  HP: 30/30

  MP: 30/30

  STA: 30/30

  Strength: 03

  Vitality: 03

  Toughness: 03

  Magic: 03

  Spirit: 03

  Wisdom: 03

  Perception: 03

  Dexterity: 03

  Endurance: 03

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Skills: None

  Traits: None

  Bloodlines: None

  ‘I guess I really had a bad start with no skills, traits or bloodlines. I shouldn’t have expected more from a five-year-old boy,’ Zenis thought. ‘I can remember thanks to his memories that received some training, but nothing special. Still, this is exciting since it brings back memories… I wonder how the wonders are doing?"

  The level of difficulty and randomness went from a scale to one to ten. With one, an unlucky person would basically start off with a deadly disease or with a limb missing. Meanwhile, with ten, they would start as the son of a king or a ruler. Zenis felt that he got a three out of ten since they had ten of them. At least one person got really lucky. Regardless, it didn’t matter. What really mattered was the fun.

  “The bandits were humans, and they took all the valuable things, but I should find some money…” Zenis said while looking at the position of the sun in the sky and then he saw a big one and a smaller sun. “Judging by the distance and position of the sun and my memories… The days here are fifteen hours long and the nights are thirteen hours long. He doesn’t know much about the world since he didn’t leave the village and his parents only told him scary stories about outside… Still, it looks like there is another village a day away from here and that place has a dungeon, huh? Interesting… not like anyone will let me enter such a place to train.”

  Aside from the spears, Zenis found some things that were made of silver, like cups. They seemed valuable enough, and money was also something that Zenis will need a lot in the future.

  Zenis began to walk north since that was the direction of the next village. His body wanted to go south since the bandits headed there, but he knew better than to be a moron. He would leave that to the Star-King of chaos.

  Four hours had passed since the start of the day, and he had eleven hours. Even though the trip was supposed to last fifteen, he knew that he could cut that by half.

  ‘Let’s see… How can I use mana again? I can’t remember at all… breathing techniques? Control of ki? Nothing, huh,’ Zenis thought and then nodded. ‘As expected of me, I really sealed away everything aside from my raw experience and instincts. I will have to start from scratch.’

  Zenis began to run with all his might and without holding back. He felt like he was moving in slow motion, though. At least his body was healthy enough to make his thirty points of stamina last five minutes.

  ‘This is where the real thing begins,’ Zenis thought while forcing himself to run despite the crazy pain in his legs. ‘I don’t have the knowledge, but I still have my instincts. My instincts tell me that this is the right thing… my instincts might kill me.’

  Zenis stopped to rest for a moment. Did he push himself that hard? Were five years old bodies that frail? He didn’t remember. It has been a while since he was only five… a couple of tens of thousands of years.

  In any case, Zenis’ body recovered fast, and soon he was on the move again. That being said, he had to repeat the same thing a couple more times before he got any result.

  (The skill Dash was unsealed)

  (The skill Stamina Plus was unsealed)

  (Dash passively increases your movement speed by five percent per level when running at the cost of one point of stamina per second.)

  (Stamina Plus: passively increases your stamina by five points per level.)

  Strength: Strength determines your physical power and ability to deal damage in melee combat.

  Vitality: Vitality represents your overall health and resilience. It affects your maximum hit points or health pool, increasing by ten with each point.

  Toughness: Toughness measures your ability to resist damage and endure physical punishment.

  Magic: The magic parameter represents your proficiency with spells and magical abilities.

  Spirit: Spirit reflects your connection to spiritual or mystical forces and their ability to harness divine or supernatural powers. It increases your MP by ten points per level.

  Wisdom: Wisdom signifies your knowledge, intuition, and understanding of the world. It can enhance your ability to make wise decisions, solve puzzles, unlock hidden paths, or identify important clues.

  Perception: Perception represents your sensory awareness and keenness of observation.

  Dexterity: Dexterity measures your agility, precision, and hand-eye coordination. It affects your ability to perform actions requiring fine motor skills, such as aiming ranged weapons, picking locks, or dodging incoming attacks.

  Endurance: Endurance gauges your stamina and physical resilience over an extended period. It increases your STA by ten points per level.

  ‘Everything is working the same way it was planned. It is weird that I can remember this, but I don’t remember how exactly we did it,’ Zenis thought. ‘Regardless, since I recovered the skill, it confirms that we still have them and the connection between this body and the real one still exists.’

  Zenis confirmed that the experience necessary to level up the skills was the same as he himself needed, so he began to force himself to keep running. More stamina will help him a lot, after all.

  Zenis’ youthful features were partially obscured by a layer of dirt and grime. Wearing tattered medieval clothing, his clothes were a testament to the hardships he had endured. The fabric, once vibrant and rich in color, now bore the marks of his journey, stained with dust and ashes and a bit of blood.

  His tunic, once a deep shade of forest green, was faded and threadbare. The fabric clung to his slender frame, revealing the signs of his meager physique. The edges of the sleeves were frayed, and patches of worn-out cloth hinted at attempts to repair the garment. The hem of the tunic grazed his knees, displaying signs of dirt and mud. The previous owner of that body didn’t live an easy life.

  The downside of that was the fact that Zenis was dirt already and adding the sweat to that, he would end up looking like a beggar once he arrived in the next village.

  ‘They aren’t my real mother and sister, but this memory and body still are bothering me to help them,’ Zenis thought. ‘I suppose I can inform the guards of the next village of what happened and then go with them to fight the bandits. They should give me some experience to level up and that will be more efficient… I highly doubt that they will have enough people to face one hundred bandits, though.’