Chapter 1: why is life so harsh!

Gosh! Life is hard

Immediately, Charles opened his eyes. He felt extreme pain all over his body. It was as if his cheeks, back, and stomach were being pounded by a pestle. Before he could process what was happening, the feeling of being pounded returned, but this time, something was resting on his head.

Charlie held the thing that was pressed on his face and shoved it aside. It was a leg! What the… how can a little kid’s leg be this strong?

He stood up with great difficulty and looked around the place, to know where he was and why he was being punched and kicked around by a little kid.

A group of kids were standing in twos and threes were standing at a safe distance, watching unconcernedly, like a group of spectators at a stadium. Most of the kids were wearing ragged clothes, others used large leaves sewn together to cover the most private parts of their bodies.

A young boy wearing a tattered cloth was cursing wildly as he punched him a few more times.

The little feather on the little boy’s headband wobbled left and right as he cursed in a language that sounded like whistling and tongue-clicking.

The language seems strange to him, but he clearly understood what the boy was saying. He is very sure that he has never learned or heard anyone speak that language before, yet! He understood everything.

“You this shameless fool! This is the fifth time that you’ll be attending the awakening ceremony, yet the only thing you could awaken is this shameless attitude of yours.” The Young boy said as he raised his chin and acted like a hero fighting for people’s rights.

“You should be ashamed of yourself and leave this reservation cave for orphans as you deserved to live in the desert, with rats and ants as companions. Tue!! You’re as shameless and disgusting as your useless father!” the young boy spat on his body as he turned to leave.

Just as Charlie was wondering what has happened to him and he was checking his now small-sized body, a penetrating pain assaulted his mind. It felt as if he was being stabbed by thousands of needles at the same time. He could only endure the pain for a moment before he fainted. Before he loses consciousness completely, he heard loud noises from afar, and within a split second, he felt himself in someone’s huge warm arms.

It was near dusk when Charlie finally woke up. He found himself lying on a hard Rock in the cave. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the other children were out of sight. He went through the new memories that were transmitted into his brain, it was the memories of the original owner of the body his soul was transmigrated into.

The little boy is an orphan who lived with other orphans in the reservation cave of the flaming totem tribe. Once the kids turn 5, they are eligible to participate in the awakening ceremony that always takes place once every year. If they successfully awaken a totem spirit, they will leave the cave and become totem warriors, but they would demand orphans who failed to awaken at their fifth ceremony to do extra and dangerous work for a living.

what shithole is this! You’ll let a ten-year-old fend for himself just because he didn’t pass some test?! Charlie thought

The tribe only feeds orphans up to the year they turn ten. Now that Charlie is above 10 since a month ago, and he has failed to awaken a totem spirit, he is expected to join the hunting logistics team to help totem warriors during the tribe’s hunting session.

He now understood the reason why the other boy hated him to the Bone. Charlie’s Father Thralie was a famous totem warrior who went hunting with the tribe 5 years ago but never came back. Ptoka’s father was part of the hunting team as well, and he was Thralie’s partner during the trip. Ptoka’s father was the only warrior who came back from the trip. His life was hanging on a thin thread when he was seen crawling out of the forest.

Ptoka’s father dropped a piece of shocking news on that day. He said Thralie found a Grand flaming core, a rare and precious material used by totem warriors. It is useful when warriors level up to the highest rank of totem warrior.

Ptoka’s father accused Thralie of betraying the tribe and fleeing with the Grand flaming core.

“sigh!! What sh**ty luck did I have? I didn’t transmigrate into the body of a powerful expert or rich young Master as written in all the great novels that I’ve read. Why do I have to suffer for someone else’s sins? Why?” Charlie sighed deeply as he imagined the kind of odd job he’ll be doing from tomorrow onward, to feed himself.

“Time to check on the real culprit that brought me here,” Charlie thought as he raised his arm to examine a tattoo of a mini golden tree that only appears on his left arm whenever he focused on that place. While he was trying to clear his head after waking up earlier, the image of that mini golden tree also appears in his head. It was the same mini golden tree in the Amber Fossil Uncle Ben gave him on the trip to the site.

‘ maybe it’s some kind of portal that helps transverse between two worlds. Since it brought me here, it can also bring me back to the normal world’

But how do I activate this thing?

Open sesame!!

System activate!!

“Old Grandpa, I know you’re in there. Come out now and explain to me how to get out of this difficult situation. I know you’re the one behind my inability to awaken all these years. Come out now before I cut down the tree!”

Charlie tried all the means to activate the golden tree, but nothing happened.

Just as he is in deep thought, looking for ways to activate the mini golden tree, he heard footsteps approaching the entrance of the cave; the ‘kids’ are back. He lay back down on his stone bed and pretended to be fast asleep, lest he attract trouble.

When the other orphans had gone back to their stone bed to rest, a 7-year-old boy came up to him with a broken bowl in his hand and woke him up from his fake sleep.

“What is it? Ponka,” Charlie asked.

The little boy didn’t say anything but offered the slightly stinking stew held in the bowl, and swallowed hard as if the stew was something precious and delicious.

Looking at the ugly and smelly Stew that looked like the kind of sacrifice offered to the devil at the T junction in his past life, Charlie knew that this is his supper (according to the new memories in his head), and he couldn’t help but groan slightly.