Kabanata 1

"Promise to me that we will see each other again."

A girl hiccuped as she controlled herself not to cry, she knew that this was not the end. Her eyes mirrored the loneliness that she would have. She did find another family but she lost her friend instead. 

"Un… I promise I will become stronger."

Young Keenan bit his lip, he didn't want to show that he was going to be sad. His eyes were starting to blur,  yet no tears fell. How could he cry in front of her when he promised that he must become stronger? His expression remained still regulating his feelings.

"We will see each other again."

"We will…"

Her silhouette slowly disappeared as her new parents took her. Keenan relentlessly waved his hands at her. He smiled, happy for her. He shed tears only after the girl left.

………

……

…

A strong shock pierced Keenan and he woke up in torment. His head felt full, he didn't know who or what did he saw, yet it was real. However, he didn't have the time to comprehend as his body ached, especially his abdomen. 

"Gah--!!!"

Keenan gasped as he slowly sat on the hard ground, his saliva dripped, he couldn't control it. Excruciating pain shocked his body, he touched his abdomen and realized that he was injured. Hot blood tainted his palm, it was fortunate that he was still alive despite the attack. His huffing intensified realizing that he must stop the bleeding. He put back his hand on the abdomen and put a bit of pressure. 

"Aaagh!!"

It was painful, a feeling of electricity stabbing him, he grunted. He kept his hand on the wound while he opened the pouch attached to his pants. He bent just to reach the elixir in the pouch. He grimaced as blood spurted out of his stomach, yet he still extended his hand. Fortunately, he grabbed the elixir, it was unused and didn't break, he was lucky. 

Keenan didn't hesitate, he uncorked the elixir and put it in his mouth. The bitter taste of liquid run down his throat. It was awful, but for him, this nasty liquid would save his life. He gulped and consumed the elixir, he drunk all of it, he was thirsty.

He ripped his uniform and looked at his stomach, the damage he got from Crow-type Zviera was severe but could still be treated. The wound gradually disappeared, only the blood that painted his skin was there. He touched his abdomen to make sure that it was fully healed. He sighed in relief, except for the old scars he had, his stomach was smooth. 

"… Where am I- ack!"

Keenan felt a powerful outburst inside his head, he touched his head yet the pain didn't go away. He knocked against the ground as the pain kept killing him, he shrieked. His voice echoed in the vast land of wasteland. The silent night was filled with him crying and begging to die. Instead of lessening, the pain in his head kept building up, terrorizing him. He wriggled and rolled on the ground, dirt covered him but he didn't care. All he wanted was the pain to disappear. 

Visions erupted inside him, his memories and the memories of another person converged. He saw different scenes, sometimes he knew them, but sometimes not. As the memories poured inside him, his pain grew. He screamed, kicking the air, he even tried to smash his head on the ground but it was futile. The pain didn't go away. He shed tears since this was the only thing he could do, he cried and cried.

After few hours of torture, Keenan couldn't endure it anymore, he lost his consciousness and fainted. His body rested on the cold ground. His mind went to different events that he experienced yet not. 

………

……

…

The strong rays of sun prickled the ground, Keenan deliriously opened his eyes. He was breathing hard and looked around the place, he tilted his head. He felt like he knew this place but half of him was not sure. 

"Where am I?"

He already asked this twice, although it seemed like he forgot it because he felt a stabbing pain in his head. He touched his head, a bit of tingling pain hit him but he could endure it now. He started to remember what happened, both his current and past life. 

"I am Keena Corragio, 18 years old, C-class Arma, Katana-type… is this serious? Did this thing really happened to me?"

Asking himself, he chuckled believing that this was a joke, or perhaps this was hell, and he was undergoing torture. 

"Yep, maybe, since I wake up having wound perhaps this is really hell… As if reincarnation is true, besides why would I be reincarnated? I'm a criminal, I killed millions of people. I think I don't have any rights to reincarnate."

Keenan honestly said his opinion. He was too bad to be reincarnated. In fact, bad was not the best word to describe him. He was a mass murderer, he killed for money most of the time. 

Keenan stood and scanned the surrounding, he was in a wasteland, he saw a vast desert around him. He couldn't even see the end of the desert. 

"Right, this is hell."

He convinced himself, but no matter how many times he tried to say it, he knew that he was wrong. If he further denied the concept of reincarnation, how could he explain the memories he had? All of them, how could he say that his memories were fake. He experienced all of them with his five senses, Keenan had a scrunched expression as he brushed up his bloodied hair. 

'I retrieve memories of my past life after overcoming death? As if.'

He didn't say it but a big part of him was telling him that he really did reincarnate or to be exact, he remembered his past life. 

"People say that past life regression is a hoax."

He fixed his hair again. The dried blood on his hair made it harder for him to brush his hair.

"Even my hair has blood-... Ouch."

He weakly said.

His body ached but not severe anymore, just a bit of prickling. The pain earlier dissipated after he drunk the elixir. On top of that, as a man who suffered many types of setbacks and survived many tortures, Keenan was accustomed to pain.