Tbate - The Ravager's Rebirth

Reckless Decisions

 The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the sky. It was brighter than it should've been—the sun already high, almost at its peak. I blinked, trying to shake off the fogginess in my head, but my body felt like it had been torn apart and stitched back together.

  Pain rippled through my chest, reminding me of the previous night. The mana core that had split, the explosions... it all came rushing back in a blurry mess. But as I sat up, I realized the wagon was already moving. We were on the road to Xyrus, and I had apparently been out for hours.

  "Son, how are you feeling?" Alice's soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She was sitting beside me, her face still tight with concern.

  "I'm fine," I lied, forcing a smile. The last thing I wanted was to worry her. My core was still burning, but the pain had become a dull throb I could ignore. "Just tired."

  She smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You slept longer than usual."

  I nodded, not wanting to explain why. My eyes drifted to something resting beside me. A small dagger. I picked it up, studying the polished handle and the sharp edge. It was simple but well-crafted.

  "Where did this come from?" I asked, trying to keep my tone light.

  "Jasmine," Alice replied, her voice gentle. "She said it's for your birthday."

  I felt a pang of unease. My birthday. Of course, today would be the day everything happened—the day my family died in front of me in my past life. The reminder twisted in my gut. I glanced around, scanning for any sign that Jasmine might have told them about what had happened last night, but everything seemed normal. No one was looking at me strangely, and the atmosphere in the caravan was as lively as ever.

  So, she hadn't told them. What a relief.

  I forced a grin, trying to push the memories of my past life aside. "I'll have to thank her later."

  Despite the weight in my chest, I acted cheerful, knowing I needed to keep up appearances. No one could know what had happened or what I was really feeling.

....

  A few hours later, the atmosphere had changed drastically. We were under attack—bandits, the kind we had heard about but never thought we'd actually face. The Twin Horns were scattered across the battlefield, each of them fending off attackers with weapons or magic.

  It was chaos. I had a hard time focusing, especially with the lingering pain from my core. I gritted my teeth and kept my distance, but then I saw Reynolds.

  He was hit.

  Arthur's scream pierced the air as he ran toward his father, his face contorted in panic. "Dad!" He shouted, his voice filled with fear and frustration.

  Alice, who had been holding her ground until then, bolted after him. "Reynolds!"

  "Idiots" I cursed inwardly, watching them charge straight toward Reynolds without thinking. Arthur was powerful, yes, but reckless. Stupidly reckless.

  Also Alice, My heart lurched. I had no idea why, but something about the way Alice was running terrified me. I pushed through the pain, my body protesting with every step as I followed them. My core throbbed violently, the mana inside me still unstable, but I couldn't stop. Not now.

  When Alice reached Reynolds, she knelt beside him, her hands already glowing as she healed the wound in his side. The tension in her face never left, even when the bleeding stopped.

  Reynolds, still catching his breath, winced as he slowly sat up. "You should've stayed back," he rasped, his voice strained but steady.

  Alice ignored him, focused entirely on his injury, but when her hands stopped glowing, Reynolds turned his attention to Arthur and me, his expression unusually serious. "There's something I need to tell you both."

  Arthur and I exchanged confused glances, still trying to process everything. "What is it?" Arthur asked, his voice shaky.

  Reynolds took a deep breath, his gaze shifting between the two of us. "Your mother... she's pregnant."

  The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Pregnant? My mind was racing. How had I missed that? My observation skills were usually sharp, yet this had slipped right by me. I was more surprised by myself than by the news itself.

  Before I could process it, one of the bandits noticed Alice's healing magic. His eyes lit up with malicious intent. "She's a healer! Don't let her get away!"

  Arthur reacted first, grabbing Alice's arm, and without thinking, I grabbed her other arm too. The same thought flashed through both of our minds—to protect her. We moved fast, pulling her away from the danger.

  As we ran, my senses sharpened, and I noticed something wrong. The fourth mage who had been with the bandits was missing from the fight. My blood ran cold as I heard a faint chant. I barely had time to react before I saw it—a massive sphere of pressurized water coming straight at us.

  My first instinct was to push Alice out of the way. She had a baby inside her, and I couldn't risk her getting hit. I tapped into my mana, forcing myself through the pain, i argumented mana into my limbs, and shoved her aside.

  The moment I used mana, agony tore through me. My core wasn't stable, and the pain was excruciating. But I couldn't stop. I had to protect her. Arthur, beside me, did the same, trying to get her away from the spell.

  But it wasn't enough for us to get out of the impact zone.

  Arthur cursed, his voice filled with frustration. "Dammit! Zane, get up!"

  I struggled, clutching my chest, unable to move properly as the pain surged through my body. Arthur, refusing to give up, pulled out his dagger and threw it like a boomerang. I watched through a blurry vision, as he attached a string of mana to it, guiding it straight toward the mage.

  The dagger hit its mark, disrupting the chant, and the spell dissolved. But the surge of water didn't disappear—it was still coming right for us. It slammed into us like a wall of bricks, sending me and Arthur flying off the cliff's edge.

  The force was overwhelming, and in that moment, all the pain, all the pressure on my core, it felt like it was going to tear me apart from the inside. My chest burned so badly that I couldn't tell if the pain was from the water hitting me or from the damage to my core. I clenched my fists, my vision fading as I heard Arthur's voice—distant and muffled.

  Then everything went black.