Gosh! Life is Harsh!

I thought I was dead, but heaven couldn't possibly look like this. After all, who still felt pain when they got to heaven? My body ached, especially in my cheeks, stomach, and back, as if I had been beaten. Faintly, I heard the sound of a child screaming, but I couldn't hear it clearly yet. I blinked and tried to look around, looking for my uncle. However, what I saw was a completely different place.

In front of me was a boy around ten years old who was lifting his chin arrogantly. He wore rags and parts made of woven leaves. On his head, he wore something strange, like feathers that moved left and right. Now I realized that the voice I heard was his voice. The screams were now audible and it turned out that they were all swearing words. I don't know what language he spoke in because I had never heard of such a strange language, but I could understand every word he said.

“You should just give up, little worm! You don't deserve to be part of the Totem Flaming Warrior!” cried the boy to me.

I can't understand why he was so angry with me. I noticed that there were several other children standing around us, clearly watching what was happening while keeping their distance. They stood in twos or threes around us. All these children were thin, dressed in rags, and wearing no shoes. I can see their dirty toes.

I was about to mock their appearance, but I suddenly realized that I was just like them. My body is small and dirty, dressed in rags just like them. My heart was beating like a war drum and a chill ran through my body. I'm freaking out! I'm a grown man! In a hurry, I managed to sit up and approached a small puddle near me. The reflection of me makes me feel like I've just seen a ghost. I'm a blond boy with a dirty face and blood covering my lips.

A second later, memories flooded into my head. It wasn't a memory of my life, but of this blonde boy's life. Aran Sinai, that's the name of the boy in front of me. 

"Trying to run away, Rex?" he asked as he came closer and kicked my face.

He thought that my panicked gesture earlier was an attempt to escape. Pain ran through my face again because of the kick.

“Look, you are weak! You are a loser! After five times being in the awaken ceremony, you still fail! No other kid has failed as much as you, Rex. Just give up and leave the Reservation Cave. You don't deserve to be here," he said with a sneer.

He then approached me and grabbed my hair so that my head looked up at him.

“You know a proper place for you, Rex? In the desert with the bugs and desert rats!” he exclaimed.

Aran laughed loudly while shaking my head violently, so that I fell again and the back of my head hit hard pebbles on the ground.

“You are the same as your good-for-nothing father! You should just disappear!” he exclaimed.

While listening to Aran's ravings of anger and pain that invaded my whole body, I dug up some information from the memories of this blonde boy named Rex Hito. Rex Hito is a ten-year-old boy who has failed to awaken his inner strength five times. In this strange world, everyone has different powers, which will be awakened through an awakening ceremony when they turn six.

The earlier a person's strength emerged, the more powerful and potential they were deemed to be. Most children managed to awaken their powers before the age of nine, but Rex was already ten. He still has six more opportunities until the age of sixteen. If no strength awakens within him at the age of sixteen, he will live a miserable life. That's where I understood why Aran mocked Rex. All children who had not awakened their powers after the age of nine were considered weaker.

“Run, Rex! You don't belong in this cave!” cried Aran again.

I can't move anymore. This small body was no longer able to endure all the pain from all the punches it received. I can only lie on my back and wait for the time when I return to be unconscious as before. I hope, when I wake up, I will return to my own body. I hope all of this is just a dream.

Just before darkness and silence took over my consciousness, I felt a large figure lift me up. I didn't get to see his face, because right after that, I lost my senses.

***

I felt pain running through my whole body when I woke up. The afternoon sun was shining orange outside. I realized that I was in a cave and lying on a flat rock. The next second I realized that I was still trapped in Rex Hito's small body.

“Damn it!” I cursed slowly.

However, I felt a bit relieved that there was no one else in the cave right now. I found that some of my wounds had been treated with some sort of traditional herb that had a pungent odor. Someone must have saved me.

I tried my best to close my eyes and concentrate, hoping that then I could return to my own body, but nothing happened. I tried to concentrate harder, but what I saw was a golden tree like the one I saw in the amber fossil my uncle gave me.

I immediately opened my eyes and tried to grope around my body looking for the amber fossil, but of course, it wasn't there. I frowned in annoyance when I realized that this wasn't even my body. I then forced this small body to rise to a sitting position, to see my surroundings more clearly. Inside this cave there are many flat rocks positioned in a row, I can guess that they are the other children's beds.

I returned to a lying position and then tried to observe my new body. I raised my hand and tossed it back and forth. These hands are so small and thin, maybe this child often lacks food. However, the next thing surprised me because I could see the golden tree again, like a tattoo on the back of my left hand. The tattoo doesn't always exist, when I don't look at it with focus, it's like it doesn't exist.

Everything is very confusing for me. Because of that, I decided to dig up the memory of Rex Hito. Various information began to flood my head. I now know that Rex is an orphan living in the Reservation Cave with other orphans. He is one of the children in the tribe called Totem Flaming. If he succeeds in the previous awakening ceremony, he will come out of this cave and join the Totem Warriors of that tribe.

The next thing that made me take a deep breath, I found out that they only feed the orphans until they are ten years old, after that they have to work and it's a dangerous job. Rex Hito is expected to join the Hunting Logistics Team which will assist the Totem Warriors during the tribe's hunting session. That doesn't sound like a great job.

I also now know clearly why Aran Sinai hates Rex so much. His father and Rex's father went hunting five years ago. Rex's father did not return from the hunt, while Aran's father returned disabled and dying. Aran's father told everyone that Rex's father found a Grand Flaming Core that was not only precious and rare but also helpful and useful when warriors level up to the highest rank of Totem Warriors. Because Rex's father never returned, he was accused of being a traitor who took away the Grand Flaming Core.

All of this sounds complicated to me. I just wish I could return to my body and my world. Maybe the golden tree can help me? That tree seemed to bring me to this strange world, maybe it can bring me back to my world. However, as I was trying to think, the orphans were back in the cave and I was forced to pretend to be asleep again.

However, a seven-year-old kid approached me. He was carrying a bowl that was broken at the edges.

"Rex, wake up. You haven't eaten anything," he said, touching my shoulder.

I opened my eyes and saw a boy with bright blue eyes and dark hair. His name is Ben Xavan. He thrust the bowl at me, making me wince because the stew in it looked disgusting and smelled bad. However, from Rex's thoughts, I knew that it was my dinner. Ben stared at the contents of the bowl and gulped as if the stew in it was so good and he wanted it.