Summoner's Second Chance

Chapter 53

His mind wanders from one thought to another. It was not that long ago that he was made aware of his short life span. He had a thousand things to do, and yet so little time to accomplish them. Without him noticing, his feet had brought him inside his own piece of land. A small, yet quaint little piece of land he had bought.

"Why...?"

Why am I the only one? Why did I need to redo everything? There's plenty others who are more talented than me, so why me? These thoughts of self doubt consumed him. Shaking his head, as if to shake off all the demons perching on his head, Trace decided to take a small walk in the garden he made.

"Oh hey, what's up?"

Trace turned his head and came face to face with a dear friend.

"Gilbert..."

He tried to smile at his friend, but his smile quickly dipped, his mind darkened once more. Gilbert sensed something was odd with his friend, and circled his arm around his shoulder.

"Where are you going? The garden, if I had to guess."

Trace turned to look at his friend, a mild expression of surprise on his face. Seeing this, Gilbert only smiled and playfully punched Trace's side.

"We've been through a lot together, this kind of thing isn't that difficult for me anymore."

Releasing Trace, Gilbert walked towards the garden as well. Sensing that Trace isn't following him, Gilbert turned around and gestured Trace to follow. With a sigh, and a small smile on his face, Trace followed Gilbert to the garden.

The garden was a sight for sore eyes. Many kinds of flowers and colorful herbs are planted in neat rows, stretching for about half a hectare. Gilbert squatted near one of the plants, and examined it.

"Last time I checked, the workshop are fully stocked..."

Gilbert turned to look at Trace.

"Can you go check on that side over there? I saw something odd this morning."

Trace turned to look at where Gilbert is pointing, and began checking as asked. As he looked through the plants, he noticed a shadow of someone standing behind him. He turned around and saw Gilbert, standing there with a worried look on his face.

"Something happened?"

Trace closed his eyes for a moment, before returning a smile.

"Why don't we talk somewhere else?"

The two made their way to Trace's workshop. The smell of herbs and various alchemical solutions hit their nose as they entered. Trace sat down on his work chair, while Gilbert leaned on a wall across him.

"I... think I'm scared, Gilbert."

Gilbert didn't say anything, but his face was serious. Trace sighed, and continued.

"There is so much I wanted to do, and so little time to do it. Think about it Gilbert, I am about to die in a few years, and I have done so little to help the world."

Trace turned to his work table. The various potions and remedies he was so proud of had turned into something that caused him pain. He closed his eyes and turned to Gilbert once again.

"I am afraid, Gilbert. Why would someone as talentless as me was chosen? Anyone else would be a better choice. Me? In my last life, I was a nobody. I..."

Before Trace could continue, Gilbert had punched him across the face, hard enough to knock him off his chair. Dazed and confused, Trace only turned his face towards Gilbert.