Rise of Redemption

After about an hour, Shizaki had quietly returned to the comfort of his home.

He couldn't find Gariah Firuseko on his way back, but he decided not to go searching for him. He had confidence that he was safe and sound somewhere.

Besides, he did not want to run into trouble again while looking for him in the village.

Although the timespan from Shizaki leaving the house to the incident was only about two hours long, he couldn't exactly tell how long he had been unconscious for while in the Emergency Healing Site.

Although when the sun had met his eyes when he first woke up, it was now directly above his body as he took a quick squint at the beam of light. Midday, huh? He initially left at around nine in the morning. Three or four hours, perhaps?

Seems like Gramps stayed at home despite all of that drama occurring. 

Shizaki had let his thoughts wander to this point. If that man had known about the news of him needing medical assistance due to his recklessness, he would've been one of the first persons to arrive at the scene despite his old age. 

It probably would be best if I don't say anything about it, although he will know about it through rumors and gossip from the other villagers sooner or later. 

After thinking this, he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down in order to not arouse suspicion in the old man. He then advanced towards the door, and then rummaged through his pockets, searching for a wooden key.

His heart then stopped for a second.

What….is…

….that doing in his pocket?

He pulled out a white, circular box, as with the size much smaller than his hand.

…The box that he had touched from the unknown person in the forest was in his possession.

You're kidding me…I don't remember taking it with me when I touched it.

A bit scared to open it, he quietly put it back in his pocket, with his heart racing, and finally took out his house key.

***

"I'm home-"

"About time. I heard that you ran straight into a burning forest to look for a single person. Do you mind explaining?"

Ah. He already got the info. And he's waiting for me by the door. Kill me now.

"Actually, I do mind. I'm going to sleep."

That was a lie, of course. He just needed to get away from an awkward conversation as fast as possible.

Trying to ignore him, Shizaki closed the door behind him and started walking past the middle-aged man, and advanced towards a room on his left. However, the next few words from that man stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"…"

"I wouldn't know what to do if you had gotten badly injured….or worse. Still…"

He turned, displaying a clear sign of worry on his face.

"You're truly something else, trying to throw your life away so easily just for one person who doesn't even know you. That's much like you, but please stop doing that."

"I was trying to save Aya-san."

"Aya…..? Oh, Alexandriya Aya. That girl, with the constant blank face?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"I see. Is she okay?"

"Yeah. I….didn't find her, but she managed to escape."

"My goodness, Shizaki….well, at least both of you are alive and well.

Shizaki then opened the door that led to his bedroom, but-

"Shizaki."

"…..What is it?"

"I know that you don't like to hear this, but you're a grown-ass man now. It doesn't make any sense for you to not have a job right now. You shouldn't be wasting your future trying to take care of me while holed up in this house all day. I need you to go out there, and start living life more fully."

Oh, here we go.

Shizaki turned back to face the man with a forced smile.

"...I'm okay with taking care of you. I don't really have a clear goal for my future, but whatever happens, happens.

"Shizaki…that's…"

The man Shizaki had cared for most of his life turned his gaze to the ground beneath him, and then after a few seconds, turned it back to Shizaki.

"Remember when you said that you wanted to be an adventurer?"

"Ugh, Gramps, that was all stupid talk. There's no way that I can go far with my Soul Realm broken. How can I complete the hardest of missions while I can't even release my magic at its full capability? I'm useless."

"No. You're not."

"Yes, the hell I am!"

Suddenly, his voice rose suddenly, and Shizaki began to shout while closing his eyes in frustration.

"Everyone thinks that I can't use magic, and in a sense, I really can't! I'm a fraud who isolates himself from the village because I can't even show myself to people without them gossiping about me, making fun of me, and hating me for being weak! I can't….I can't do anything….except care for the person who took me in!"

"...Shizaki…."

Staring at the boy, he could not help but sense self-loathing and anxiety.

He reached out and squeezed Shizaki's right cheek with his fingers.

"Ahhhh!!! F-f….dammit, Gramps, the hell?!"

"Listen to me, Shizaki."

On releasing his cheek, both of his arms now rested on Shizaki's shoulders.

"People may hate you because of your weaknesses and disabilities. But do not ever let your weaknesses make you hate yourself. You just have to deal with it, and you can still try your best with what you have.

"…But…"

Don't give up on a journey just because you got hurt while preparing to run. You might be weak because of it, but that shouldn't stop you. Don't give up on a journey just because you got hurt while continuing that journey either. Go and finish that journey with everything you've got. Understand?"

"...."

He fell silent. But normally, his old man always did this. He always tried to build him up, to encourage him. It hardly ever worked though. But maybe…

{"In exactly one year…}

That voice again….. That prophecy. That fate.

If it was truly meant for him to save an incredible amount of people, then that meant that whoever provided him with that vision knew that he had the capability to do it, even though he was in this state.

Shizaki's eyes shined with a rare light of confidence.

"I….I will try….okay?"

Hearing that reply, the man then rubbed his beard and smiled, impressed.

"Good. I have faith that whatever you choose to do, you will succeed. So go and do it."

***

The sun was setting as night slowly approached, and the young man stared at the falling sun descending into the depths of the horizon through the window of his bedroom.

What an eventful day for once.

With the mysterious small box opened beside him as he sat on the bed, he narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself.

"There's nothing there. The box itself looks interesting though. Looking at it more carefully, It's white but outlined with gold skulls around the edges. Weird…"

After making some notes on what he had witnessed in the vision earlier in the day, and having the likely cause, he finally decided to generate ideas of a goal in mind, a goal to counter what was about to come.

Sometime, in the future, a slaughter of many would occur, and it was up to him to prevent that.

He was going to stop whatever was going to happen in the future, that much was obvious. Who wouldn't want to save their loved ones from impending disaster? And if those loved ones would certainly include his old man, Gariah Firuseko and Alexandriya Aya, then he would do it without any hesitation.

But the details were missing. How were they going to die? Where exactly were they going to die, in a land completely covered in snow? How was his future self not able to save them? There were no answers to those questions, at least not at this point in time.

Whenever he had tried to replay the specific scene again in his head, all he could picture was a foggy memory. Therefore, he quickly made notes of it and tried to re-imagine it based on the descriptions.

He couldn't recognize anybody from that scene as they were all blanketed by a distortion of white and blood. But he felt a strong sense of emotion, as if he had lost something extremely dear to him.

Those people could also be people from a specific time of the future that he might soon become friends with. The odds were endless. But despite this, his plan to counter his fate was…

I want to become strong enough...so that I can protect both myself and the ones I care about without worry. It is easier said than done, though.

He was already at a disadvantage after all, due to having fractured Soul Realm, making him unable to output magic at full power. So, how could he get stronger?

He could try to learn and master swordplay, relying on his skill of the sword instead of his below-par magic. He could also aim to become a mage and learn a powerful set of spells gained only from the highest level of training and research on magic. While he set out to do either of those things, he could try to somehow pick up clues on events that could lead to the vision. The only problem now was…

"Where do I start to train? And I might need strong allies with me to help stop that vision from becoming reality."

As for allies, there were only Firuseko and Aya by his side. Nobody else outside of his village knew him or would want to team with him based on the limit of his power.

Would they even believe me if I told them the vision? It's unlikely. Ugh…

Searching for enough powerful people to aid him in stopping a vision that only he knew about was definitely a challenge that he had no idea how to overcome.

As for where to train though…

He had no clue if there were things like magic trainers or academies to enhance power. After all, he had basically stayed in Sekoto Village for most of his entire life. The only thing he knew close to that was…

Shizaki got up and walked toward his small bookshelf on the right corner of his bedroom, picking up a small map of the Three-Headed Continent, the supermassive island which was the known world, and inspected it.

The Aldranza Dynasty in the West…

The nation in which he resided in.

The Heavenly Kingdom of Dragonia in the East…

A larger and powerful land being known for having a feared but resourceful ruler in the heart of its capital. 

And The Mala Region…

With an alias of 'The Nation of Darkness', situated right below the other two adjacent countries, a land of mystery as its citizens live in complete isolation from the outside world, rejecting anyone who tries to be in contact with them.

Together, those three nations were dubbed as the Three-Headed Continent, completely surrounded by the Ocean of the Unknown.

After taking a scope of the countries, Daizen Shizaki's fingers ran through the upper part of Aldranza, slightly above his hometown. 

His eyes widened. 

This was it. This was the place where I could start my preparations.

A place where adventurers carry out missions and report back to the subsidiary of the Aldranza Dynasty itself. A place where the strongest heroes, knights and adventurers were formed to battle in the Grand Vendetta almost one thousand years ago.

A place where he could undergo missions and train to become stronger, taking on powerful foes and beasts, gain allies from being in a party, and gain access to research on magic.

And…

{"Remember when you said that you wanted to be an adventurer?"}

The place where he had dreamt of becoming an adventurer and becoming the strongest.

The Guild of where the Savior of the Three-Headed Continent was born, almost one thousand years ago.

With excitement building, he blurted out the words of his perfect starting point.

"The Northern Province Royal Guild of the Aldranza Dynasty."

It was time for Daizen Shizaki, the hopeless boy of Sekoto Village, to become an adventurer of the Royal Guild….the starting point of a future hero.

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(Chapter 4: Starting Point of a Future Hero)