Bab 1: End of Misery, A new Beginning
A headless corpse suddenly fell and rolled down the hill, joining the pile of countless dead bodies at the base. Xander watched on coldly from the hilltop while wiping his sword clean of bloodstains. His embroidered black robes billowed in the wind, making him look like a valiant scholar of noble descent.
Then his sword suddenly fell out of his grasp, his hands trembling. Eyes began to sink in. His figure shrank until he was no less than skin and bones. His hair greyed rapidly and began to fall out. Multiple wrinkles appeared and soon they were as deep as ravines. The stench of death and decay filled the air, thickening rapidly with each second that passed by.
In no time at all, Xander had transformed into an elderly figure only a step away from death.
*sigh* He sighed, looking up to the skies with small muddled eyes, "Time's up, huh ?"
You could sense the melancholy, exhaustion, and relief in his voice. It was as though he wanted to disappear from this world - to wipe out all traces of his existence from the sands of time. Without a doubt, the man's greatest desire was to cease.
He began to perform hand seals one after another. His eyes closed as he savored the moment - the feeling of collapse and disintegration while the winds blew him away like dust into the sky. And as the last hand seal was formed, he once again opened his eyes, his final remains dissipating.
Now a question rang out between heaven and earth, its answer unknown even to the heavens.
" Does the misery end here ?"
*****
The first rays of dawn shone through the curtains and landed on a young man's face, rousing him from his sleep. His eyes slowly opened and he stared at the ceiling for a while, confusion evident in his gaze before it turned cold with a hint of irritation.
This young man was Xander, whose life had ended just a moment ago. Or to be more precise, this was Xander from a decade ago.
Currently, he looked like a nineteen-year-old with a frail body, sickly pale complexion, and an ordinary face with black hair and eyes. His clothes were that of a servant, slightly worn out due to excessive laundry. From this, it could be seen that he was now a servant boy of commoners blood.
Xander soon got out of bed and began taking a look around the room. It wasn't much to talk about. Just slightly bigger than that of the average working man. To the right corner of the room, there was a desk. On top of it were a book, a pen, and another set of servant clothing. Nothing else was present in the room. Clearly, he was quite lacking in possessions as well.
Xander didn't think much of it though, quickly making his way out of the room and grabbing a broom along the way. He soon made it to the courtyard. The scent of morning dew was fresh in the air. Xander took a minute to appreciate the moment before getting to work while planning his future steps.
' Currently, I've been reborn as my nineteen-year-old self. That's quite odd since I've always been reborn as my eight-year-old self instead. This doesn't change much though. I'll just have to adjust my plans a bit '
Having thought to this point, Xander took a pause on sweeping the courtyard and looked at the entrance. At the top, there was a wooden plank with the words ' Fynn's clinic ' carved into it.
' Fynn's clinic... if I remember correctly, the noble families in the city should be getting ready to attack and assassinate the head physician. I should be able to reap quite the benefits if I play my cards right. But, I need to sort some things out first. '
Countless schemes surged in his mind like lightning bolts zooming across the sky. His gaze flickered with sharp cold lights like sharp swords clashing against each other with fanatic ferocity. Involuntarily, a cold and unfeeling aura seeped out of his body. The sight of which would come as a shock to all those who knew him.
Another servant stepped into the courtyard during that time. It was a girl, who looked to be around sixteen. She was quite the beauty with brown hair, hazel eyes, a fair complexion, and a petite figure. She came in only to find Xander standing there in a daze, which stunned her a bit. Then she grinned, a mischievous look appearing on her face.
" Oii, Xander, what do you think you're doing dazing off like tha - hiih"
Unfortunately for her, whatever mischief she was plotting was shot down with just a glance from him. His attention had been drawn when she began speaking. But when he looked at her... when he looked at her, she couldn't help the dread she felt. She suddenly felt as though her actions were no longer hers to decide - like a puppet whose every move would always be at the behest of her master.
But that feeling disappeared just as quickly as it came as a slight smile appeared on Xander's deadpan face.
" What Ella? It can't be that you finally decided to eat me up, right "
Hearing this, Ella snapped out of her daze and her face reddened slightly from realization and embarrassment.
" Y-you shut it. W-who would want to eat you ?"
Nevertheless, there were some doubts in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder whether what she had experienced earlier was just an illusion.
Xander was just an orphaned kid the head physician took in three years ago. He was quite the gloomy one, always quiet, cynical, and a loner - much to Ella's distaste. That's why she would always try to get on his nerves and rile him up. Unfortunately, the young man was quite the cunning one so most of the time she ends up suffering a loss. But after experiencing that feeling from earlier, Ella couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.
" Oh? Is that so? Well, that's a relief. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do so I'll be leaving you to your fantasies "
Nope, she was wrong. Ella couldn't help but grind her teeth in hate as she stared at the young man resuming his chores. She would have loved to retort but she knew that Xander would just ignore her, leaving her frustrated and aggrieved with nowhere to vent. Not to mention any attempt to disrupt his work could be used by him as leverage to have miss Fynn deal with her. After all, he's done that a lot.
" Hmph "
And so, to preserve whatever dignity she had left, Ella snorted and left, walking out the entrance. One of these days she was definitely going to ride the life out of him.
' Huh, why would I do that?'
Frightened by her thoughts, she panicked and ran away with a reddened face.
Xander immediately came to a stop once she was out of sight. His gaze was cold and expressionless once more.
This time, he was quite close to getting caught. Had he not acted quickly, Ella would have panicked and most definitely reported him to miss Fynn, which would have negatively impacted his plans. Fortunately, he was able to make her doubt herself enough to forget about the matter - at least, for now. Either that or he would have been forced to have sex with her on the spot to shut her up.
Ella might not have realized it herself but Xander knew she's been aiming to fuck him for a while now. If not for the head physician's strict policy against sexual harassment, she would have probably made a jump on him long ago. And so giving the girl what she wants should be enough to silence her. Unfortunately, that was an alternative he would rather not take at the moment. His body was not ready for that just yet.
Thinking up to this point, Xander looked at his frail figure and sighed.
" It seems it's about time I went back to that place "
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone