Uuugh... my eyes...
They feel so heavy. As if there's lead pressing down on my eyelids.
What... happened?
The moment I try to move, a sharp pain slices through my arm.
Like someone's driving a knife between my muscles.
"Ah..." The sound slips out. My voice is dry, cracked.
I can barely move. But my hand... that still works.
Maybe I can try something...
With slow fingers, I feel the ground. Soft. Grainy.
Wet.
What is this? Dust? No... sand?
Sand. And it's wet.
My thoughts move sluggishly, as if they're wading through mud.
Then- a flash.
My eyes snap open, involuntarily. A blinding light cuts into my vision like knives.
"Ahh..."
The world spins, drowned in white. I blink once, twice. Slowly, color returns.
Blue.
An endless sky.
A thin veil of clouds, white as bleached linen.
Am I... on a beach? Or in a dream?
The sand beneath me tickles my skin, stings my eyes. My face feels sticky, salty. The scent of minerals and water fills my nose.
Sea.
I can smell the sea.
Slowly, a sense of awareness returns.
But before I can even grasp it, a shadow falls over me.
My eyes widen - and I freeze.
A woman.
She's looking straight down at me, her gaze fixed.
Calm. Unshaken.
The heat of the beach seems to fade, yet the air doesn't grow colder. It feels... perfect. As if she controls the climate itself.
She says something. The words flow smoothly, yet they mean nothing to me.
A language I don't know.
(What is she saying? Gibberish? A foreign tongue? Am I on another continent? Another country? Should I listen harder? Are there others here?)
I try to answer, but my throat...
It feels like I swallowed glass.
A cramp seizes my stomach, every muscle screams in protest. My head spins.
What... what is this?
I open my mouth, but no voice comes. Only pain.
From my throat to my toes - pain, everywhere.
My skin burns, my body trembles.
I turn my head.
My arms are covered in bite marks, wooden splinters carved into my flesh.
What the hell happened to me?
I try to sit up, but everything spins.
The air, the sand, the woman.
My heart pounds, my breath catches.
"It hurts... what am I doing here... where am I... how did I get here...?"
My voice is hoarse, barely audible.
Then, I feel a cold hand on my forehead.
My body stiffens.
She leans closer. Her face- expressionless, calm. A faint frown, as if I'm a nuisance.
With a sigh, she says, short and clear:
"Be still. Stop moving."
Her voice is pure, icy.
And suddenly- I understand her.
Those were the first words that made sense to me.
I freeze. My breath hitches. My heart hammers, but I don't dare move.
She watches me, studying my reaction.
"So, you can hear," she says coldly. "Of course. The human tongue is always instinctive."
Human tongue?
What does she mean by that?
She continues, her tone now sharper:
"Where do you come from? How did you end up here?"
I try to answer.
No- I want to scream.
But only a groan escapes.
My lungs force out air without sound.
She looks down at me, frustration mixing with what seems like disappointment.
"Alright... I see."
She steps closer.
I can't see her face clearly- the sunlight behind her head makes her almost unearthly.
"Close your eyes," she says softly.
That's easy. My body is exhausted, my head heavy.
But what happens next- I could never have expected.
Her hand - cold as ice - presses against my chest.
And then... it goes inside.
"W-what-"
An unbearable pain shoots through my body.
My back arches. My eyes snap open, my body convulses.
As if my blood is boiling, my bones shifting out of place.
A thousand needles pierce my skin, my nerves scream.
She's killing me. She's tearing me apart.
"AAAAH-!"
No sound. Only air. Only pain.
I feel the sand trembling beneath me, my arms twitching uncontrollably.
My heart races- if it's still beating at all.
I need to get away... she's insane. She's torturing me. This is the end.
Minutes feel like hours.
And then... it stops.
Everything falls silent.
The woman pulls her hand back.
Blood drips from her fingers, spattering onto the sand.
"I'd advise you not to move too quickly," she says calmly.
"Healing magic is powerful, but your body is still weak. Push yourself now, and it may collapse."
Healing... magic?
I gasp.
Salty air fills my lungs.
The pain is gone.
Truly gone.
I breathe deeply. The air no longer burns my throat.
My heart still beats.
It feels... comfortable.
As if I've been reborn.
Slowly, I move my arms. No pain.
My chest- whole. No wound, no scar.
I want to thank her.
I need to know who she is.
With effort, I push myself up. The sand shifts beneath my hands. The sun stings my face.
I look at her- my savior.
But all I see is her back, as she walks away.
Her posture perfectly straight, her steps measured.
She wears light brown leather armor beneath a black plated harness decorated with white patterns. Her legs are partly bare, strapped with belts full of knives.
Her boots gleam with metal, her gloves end in claw-shaped tips.
At her left side hangs a double scythe - one blade black, broad and jagged, the other white, thin and smooth.
The weapon is exquisitely crafted, every detail forged for balance and power.
I squint.
Her hair... short. Unusual for a woman.
The left side black, dull as coal.
The right side silver, shining like moonlight.
A living contrast of light and shadow.
"I have to say something... before she leaves!"
I take a deep breath. My voice weak, but I shout:
"WAIT!"
She stops.
Doesn't turn.
"W-what's your name?"
A moment of silence. Only the whispering waves.
Then she speaks, her voice echoing across the sand:
"Speak your own first... before I reveal mine."
"My name is... Noric Perdante Illwinter..."
My tongue feels heavy, my vision blurs.
The world darkens.
What... what's happening?
My head falls to the side. My body feels like lead.
The sun fades behind a veil of black.
The last thing I hear is her voice- soft, but unmistakably ominous:
"You're lucky I found you in time...
But your trial in this world has only just begun."