Rebirth (2) - Ancient Mannerism

Although the vision was sub-par in that impromptu mirror made out of Prana, it was still adequate enough to show what I had become.

I was back again. Back to the 15-year-old self that had walked the path of Hell before.

Everyone else in the room was startled to see me use Prana all of a sudden. However, I did not care.

'Is this Hell or not?' I had doubts raising inside my head.

"Sir Sage!? If you would bless us with your name, we would be grateful to hear of your excellency!"

Before he was only courteous, but after seeing my Prana, he suddenly started acting as if he would become my slave if I asked him to.

'Is Prana rare in this world? But I'm sensing Prana all around me since I woke up?'

'Wait! I should deal with the thing at hand first!'

I looked at my father who replied to the confusion on my face with an even weirder look - a look of a fanboy.

I felt like he looked at me like how I looked at those Hunter teams in past when I wanted to become a Hunter and go for inter-galactic exploration.

'But wait for a second! If dad is here and that woman is his wife, what happened to mother?'

'and is it really the Hell? Did I really die or just cross over to another dimension?'

I was still avoiding talking to my father and was reluctant to answer him truthfully.

'He might not even be the same person as my father'

I glanced at the weak sillouhoutte of a man in my father's skin.

'Shouldn't you know what you named me?', I thought, but the words never left my mouth.

"I don't have a name, and It was only by chance that I helped your son. You don't have to worry about anything."

'I had fainted as soon as I opened my eyes in this world, how could I have helped your son?'

"How can we... You have saved the life of an heir to Prayag's Mayur family. We are in debt, and Mayurs' never forget their benefactors."

"Mayur family of Prayag?"

"Yes. We had come to Mahismati for my son's awakening! but he had wandered out to the forest on his own. It was a miracle that he could return safe, all thanks to you, sir Sage."

'Prayag? and Mahismati? Aren't they the names of ancient Bharat's provinces... and what the hell is awakening?'

Modern Bharat didn't have cities with such peculiar names as they were remnants of a past that Bharat wanted to eradicate from people's minds. Bharat in the 23rd century was a dystopia that had tried hard to erase its glorious past.

"What year is it?"

"Uhmm... It is 2220 of Vikram Calendar.", he replied with confusion.

'Vikram Calendar? Isn't that the lunar calendar of Ancient Bharat?'

The number 2220 gave me a weird sense of wariness, and I remembered the very next moment that the year was exactly 100 years after my death in the previous world.

'Ugh!'

[*grabs head*]

'Again!!?'

The violent pain attacked again, although not as severe as the time I was in the forest a few hours ago, however, it still hurt like hell.

Every time I tried to recall the events of that night when the Union attacked the lab, I felt some powerful spell taking over my mind and stopping me from remembering anything.

'What is this place? and what exactly happened to me?'

Barring the thought for a second that I was in Hell again, the only other explanation was that I had somehow travelled to an alternate reality that resembled Ancient Bharat from myths.

"WHERE IS THE DOCTOR!!"

Lost in my thought, I had not even realized the commotion that was going on just outside our room.

"GET ME THE DOCTOR NOW!! OR I WILL KILL EVERYONE IN THIS HOSPITAL!!"

The shouting became more vigorous and threatening with each subsequent sentence.

(*BAM... CRACK!!*)

Disturbed by the sound of the furniture being destroyed and glasses shattering, my fake dad and me walked out of the room to check. There, five bulgy men were ransacking the hospital hallway in anger.

Although they were doing all of it in a fit of rage, their actions seemed superficial and calculated.

~(*gasp*) They are the Kuryu Gang!~

Fake dad whispered from behind. Although it was just a whisper, one of the five-person had noticed that they have been recognized.

~Who is this Kuryu Gang?~

~Lord Sage! You must not be from Mahismati to not know of them!~

'I'm not even from this world, my dear fake dad!'

~They are one of the major bandit gangs that occupy the southern forest route outside of Mahismati. However, I've never heard of them being able to set foot inside the city. They shouldn't have been able to enter without introspection unless ...~

~Unless an official wanted them to be here!~

~Exactly! No one can break the laws of Mahismati. If whoever helped them got found out, they would meet a gruesome end worse than death. Even I won't dare to mess with Mahismati~

I felt weirded out by the last sentence that felt like it was misplaced, but didn't ask him what he meant by "even he wouldn't dare"?

~Then why are they making such a scene and declaring themselves out in public.~

~That... I don't know...~

I could feel that fake dad was hiding something, but it was none of my concern.

It was better that I didn't associate with him any further anyway, as his face was just a constant reminder of a past that I wish hadn't happened.

Just as I was about to ask another question to fake dad, one of the bandits decided to set an example out of the two whispering idiots talking about them in a corner and their sight landed in our direction.

"Oye! Oye! Oye! What do we have here...", a scrawny looking dark-coloured man spoke out while pointing his short sword in my direction, "...Apparently there are people who can still gossip while in our presence".

"..."

I was speechless at such a childish taunt.

..

"What? Cat got your tongue or something!?"

..

It wasn't worth mingling with such side characters, so I decided not to engage with them and started to turn away, however, as I turned, I saw my fake dad shivering and quacking like a chick in the winter.

"Ka.ka..ind ... Si...r... We weren't trying to..."

Fake dad tried to finish his sentence with all his effort, but he was a tad bit slower than the bandit aiming for his head.

"SIR! PLEASE!!"

Fake dad took out a golden token from his side bag hanging at his waist and presented it to the approaching bandit.

Surprisingly, the bandit stopped. I was planning to jump and save my father, but as was the case, I didn't really have to.

'What is that?'

The number of questions in my head had risen by one.

"Are you one of the Duckkan merchants?", said the bandit.

His eyes showed that he was actually thinking very hard about whether to attack or back away at he moment.

'What is this man's identity?', I looked at my father's lookalike once more.

He looked just like a normal man, even weaker than average at a first glance. Although he resembled my father, he was actually a tad bit shorter and a lot more cowardly compared to my strong-willed father from the past.

From a first look, nobody would consider the man with a slightly hunched back carrying a golden token to have any authority in the matter, but surprisingly enough, all the spectators had started gossiping after hearing the word 'Duckkan Merchants'.

What surprised me more, however, was not him but the token. With the letters 'Du' engraved on the lion's head and having a faint trace of Prana, the token felt like a living entity for some reason.

"Yes, kind sir... My family is also resting amongst all these patients. Can you please let this go and tell me what you require? I would do the best according to my capacity to help you out."

I could see the veins on the bandit's forehead trying to move left and right.

The whole scene had completely disrupted the group's momentum and now if they were to shout again, they would seem like idiots who only attacked the helpless patients and doctors.

"Even if you are from Duckkan, this is not your place to speak. I will let you off here, as you are one of "them", but don't bother us anymore..."

He tried to save himself some face, but the damage to his reputation was irreversible.

Men who attack only those weaker than themselves were always the subject of scorn wherever they went, and the fact held true here also.

The eyes of all the spectators in the hospital had turned from fear to disgust. They seemed to be saying 'where is all your bravado?', 'disgusting swine can only attack weak people like us!'

"...But, he is not from Duckkan right?"

The dark bandit on finding their authority declined in the hospital decided to make the gravest mistake of his life that day. To salvage his already ruined reputation he turned his sword from my fake father to me.

(*whoosh...*)

He plunged with all his strength without any warning.

'Heh! How typical of a minor character!'

I laughed in my head, but a grin unknowingly escaped from my mouth. It angered the scrawny bandit even more.

"No Sir! Please calm down. He is with me, I... I... I am warning you!!"

It felt wrong to have my father look alike shaking whilst protecting me, and immediately an image of my strong and sickly father from my previous life appeared in my head.

[*grab*]

I stopped fake dad from using any more words.

I had seen many hot-headed people during my time in the Military. Even though I was just a priest, I too had my fair share of training and exercises as part of the reserve force, and in every batch, there were many youngsters who would walk up to the instructor believing they owned the place.

I knew from those experiences that such prideful people only understood one language, the language of the fist.

"Where are our manners? We can't possibly let this gentleman's attack stop twice in a row now, can we? wouldn't that just destroy his fear?"

Fake dad shut up after listening to my words, he seem to have realized that I had different intentions than begging.