When I came to, I woke to the familiar scent of salty waves and the nurturing warmth of the sand. This scene was familiar, I had just been here after all.
Have I regressed once more…?
That wasn't the case. As my body reclaimed its senses I noticed the somewhat prickly, spindly vines embracing my limbs. They were tied in a bow-knot, and were wound tightly. My first instinct fired like a missile: Get up.
But I resisted the urge, and instead inhaled deeply. My heart pounded against my chest in anxiety. The wisest option was to calm it beforehand.
My eyes shut as I inhaled, taking in the scent of salt, and fresh air alongside the wafting aroma of smoked fish.
…Smoked fish. Food!
I quickly rushed into action, my eyelids flicking open and my body squirming and wriggling around. But all I managed to do was get sand in my shoes as a wave gently splashed water onto my face.
I spat in protest as my tongue recoiled from the overly saturated water. Nothing ever needs that much salt.
At this point, I was lying flat on my stomach with my arms bound behind my back. Not exactly the most comfortable of positions. I tried rolling once more but I found that I was short of breath and far too exhausted to keep moving.
I sighed and gave up in an attempt to conserve my energy. Just then, as I contemplated how I was going to break out and eat, soft laughter came from behind me.
"Haha, man, what are you doing?" This voice…
The gentle shifting of sand could be heard as a pair of legs walked beside me, and then planted themselves before me. As weird as it is, I can say I'd recognize these beautiful legs anywhere.
I tilted my head up, and met a woman's gaze. She had wavy brown hair, akin to an acorn. Her eyes were light brown and projected unfiltered knowledge. Her skin was white like alabaster, and she smiled with perfectly aligned white teeth.
I smiled wryly, realizing at once who this woman was. Charlotte Mayflower. One of the other five transmigrators… Perhaps in that moment, a knowing expression made its way onto my face, because Charlotte called me out, "Oh, what's this?" She pursed her lips and the pretentious smirk faded. Her gaze seemed to bore holes into my eyes.
"Hey. By any chance, have you died recently?" She spoke with an even, almost robotic tone. My heart skipped a beat. The world stopped for a moment, and I could only feel the heat of her gaze raising the hairs on my neck.
I'm afraid. This shouldn't be happening. Not so soon…
So, I licked my lips and responded, albeit dryly. "What sorta question is that?" I paused, waiting to see if she would push any further. She didn't so much as let out a word, but somehow, through those clear brown eyes, I felt the urge to say something more.
Finally, I laughed and said, "Of course I have. In what way, well, then it depends on why you're asking."
At that moment I seemed to have decided: I'm going to kill you.
Charlotte was a variable, someone who wasn't supposed to live long. Truthfully I was surprised, even grateful to see her. She had died saving me in my first life. One of the things I desperately wanted to do was repay the favor, though it technically didn't happen in this life.
Looks like I won't be able to.
"… Why else would I be asking?" She walked around me again, and this time, undid the knots that held my hands and feet together. I rubbed my wrists as they finally came free, and rose to my feet. She patted some of the sand off my shirt and pushed me into the direction of smoke.
Hey now, were you always this outgoing?
A short distance ahead, maybe fifteen or twenty feet, was a fire. As we walked closer over to hit, I spotted Terrance smoking a relatively large salmon. Terrance was a pretty large guy, at standing height, he might've been at least half a foot taller than me. He watched as Charlotte and I approached, and when we sat down on a log beside him he gestured towards the fish.
"They'll be ready soon… You are hungry, right?" He said with a small smile. I gave him a lopsided grin, "Totally… Very exhausted too!" Terry's grin widened. Then, he turned to Charlotte saying, "Jake and Leah are scouting the perimeter." Charlotte was about to speak when he added, "We've made makeshift spears, though I doubt they'll be doing much. Some of the things on this beach are… abnormal to say the least."
Charlotte pursed her lips, then nodded. "I see. What about Maria?" "Oh. She's over there," he pointed behind her, and surely enough, a girl could be see sitting against a few rocks that weren't quite big enough to be called boulders.
She was sketching something out on her notebook, but when she heard her name she cast her gaze over to us. For a few seconds, her and Charlotte awkwardly stared at each other, before withdrawing their gazes.
They were always a bit awkward.
Terry motioned over to the fish, and I grabbed one in return. I went to take a bite, but burned my tongue as the fish entered my mouth. Terry just chuckled. "So, who's Jake… and, is Leah the girl that was around me when I first woke?" I asked while blowing on the fish.
Terry tore the skin off his fish and chewed for a couple seconds before answering. "Yeah." He paused to swallow. "Jacob is this other guy here with us. He's in the same predicament pretty much. Leah is the one that woke you. Anything else you need to catch up on?"
I nodded and pointed towards Charlotte and then to Maria, "Who are they?" Terry shrugged. "They haven't introduced themselves personally, which is why we're going to all introduce ourselves once Leah and Jake get back. Anything else?"
I sighed and shook my head. For now, this was enough. Though, this is a bit different from my first life, a butterfly effect must have arose from my failed Prana cultivation… Whatever, these are trivial changes.
Time passed as Terry, Charlotte and I ate our fill, and eventually Jacob and Leah returned. I was the first to notice Jacob's shout. "Hey guys! We're back!" Granted, the others probably heard it only seconds after me.
Jacob's youthful face and his toned body used to make me jealous. But eventually, I grew into a tall, strong man later on. Albeit, the conditions were lots harsher, having only reached that status because I became a mercenary fighting in a pointless war.
Leah paced behind him, seemingly disappointed from their little expedition. She crossed her arms and gave me a strange look as she noticed my gaze. Then she turned to look at Charlotte.
"Done smoking fish?" Charlotte nodded, and beckoned her over. Leah didn't object. She revealed a switchblade and sliced the fish into three separate pieces.
"I won't each much. We have to ration, who knows the next time we'll see food… Today we were just lucky."
Yes. Of course you were lucky. And you will continue to be lucky again and again. My jaw tightened as I shot another glance at Jacob.
Infinite Lucky Star, or Heaven's Blessed as I call it, is Jacob's Aberration. It took some time, about two years in my past life to figure out Jacob's luck, and the fortune he brought to the group was unnatural.
By then, everybody else like Terry, Charlotte, and Leah had already revealed and mastered their own Aberrations. Jacob was the last to fully realize his, but when he did his luck only got better. It was as if the Nine Heavens themselves favored him. Of course those are only rumours… The Heaven's don't actually exist. Only the Astral Realm…
And still of course there were two exceptions that were without a doubt holding the group back at the time. Maria and myself. Though, I did have some sort of crazy healing factor in my past life, where I could simply reattach limbs and the nerves and veins would connect and regenerate and whatnot. What I couldn't do was grow new limbs. Though, this ability was slow and not especially powerful so we chalked it up to a unique physiology I gained probably though transmigration rather than my Aberration.
As for Maria's Aberration we never found it out. She kept quiet, and for the most part died quietly during the war. I was quite fond of her, and despite technically being older than me, I acted as a sort of older brother figure for her.
Two nights before I died, I was stuck in a trench alongside Maria. I had been the target of a nearby explosion and partially lost my torso, as well as rations. Maria was kind enough to drag both of us back into a trench and share her rations with me. I ended up falling asleep and…
My eyes flicked back and forth between our group. Right. I've been spacing out. They're all already introducing themselves. I quickly snapped out of my trance and returned to reality.
"Jacob. Full-time adventurer," he grinned as he shook Terry's hand. Terry grunted out a few words, "Terrance… Just call me Terry. I like books."
"Charlotte. I used to hunt, depending on our situation, still do," she gave a half smile then gestured towards Leah. "My name's Leah. My specialties lie in statistics and probabilities," she paused, then added, "Math's great."
"Maria Gothic. I-I um, like to draw and stuff…" Maria chimed in before going back to her notebook. Finally, they all turned to me.
"What's this? You're all acting like you don't already know me, y'know captain crazy?" Jacob cracked a smile. Terry stifled a cough. Leah rolled her eyes. But Charlotte and Maria locked onto me, not buying my empty words.
These guys are dangerous. I mean, how do they even see through that?
"Haha… Anyway for real, I'm Paul. Paul Scarlett. It's nice to meet you," the words tasted bitter in my mouth as I shook Jacob's, and then Terry's hand. Scarlett. I didn't want to be reminded of my parents. What would they think of their little failure if they saw me now?
No matter.It'll be alright. It's always been alright…
I stood up from the log I was sitting on and wiped off my pants. Then I said, "Let me tell you guys something." That caught everyone's attention. They all turned to face me and waited for me to talk.
Good. This is a gamble, but…
"I heard a voice. Before I transmigrated I mean," I looked around to make sure everybody was still interested, and surely enough they were hooked. "At the time, I didn't think much of it. Not sure why really, it felt like a… an impulsive thought maybe. But it told me this: 'Trust no one'," I closed my eyes, appearing like I was trying to remember something. But I'm actually not. How can I make this more convincing? Ah, right.
I force a surge of Ardor— the tiniest bit I can muster without Prana— and shove it into my brain. This isn't a good—
And in the next moment I was out like a light.