Leox still remembered the face that his parents made when they saw him exit the surgery room with Doctor Frost by his side. It was a mixture of relief, and fear.

  Their son, who they had just seen in a near-death-like state, was now walking with a smile on his face, eating a sugared apple gifted to him by the doctor. Leox's eye was perfectly healed, and it hadn't taken long at all. Perhaps ten minutes?

  He could tell that his brain was still repairing itself. When Leox tried to answer Doctor Frost's questions, the words were unable to form themselves and left his mouth as a mumble.

  That didn't matter. At least he was alive.

  "D-Doctor Frost, am I imagining things? Our son... He's..."

  Leox's father was stuck in a state of disbelief as he hurried over to him and examined his face. Everything was fine.

  Meanwhile, his Mother lingered in the distance. She seemed to be looking at him with different eyes than she usually did. It was as though she now viewed her son as some sort of animal.

  Doctor Frost rested his hands in his white coat pocket and shrugged his shoulders. His face was as serious as ever.

  "I can't give you an answer. After numbing Leox's face, I removed the knife. Next thing I knew, the boy's injury was healing itself."

  No matter what way you spun it, that didn't sound right. Leox's Father looked at Frost with confusion.

  "B-but how? Could it be some sort of magic? Could my son have awakened at the age of five?"

  Doctor Frost shook his head immediately.

  "No, otherwise I would have been able to see his Overview. The boy seems to be blessed by some other sort of magic. One that I don't understand."

  "Or perhaps he's cursed." Leox's Mother chimed in from behind.

  Her words made Leox's father's face scrunch up in anger. He rose to his feet and turned to her, seeming ready to punch her in the face.

  "You would suggest that our son is cursed? Leox, our little Leox?"

  Leox's mother turned away from him with nothing to say. She didn't seem to regret her words. Luckily Doctor Frost was there to de-escalate the situation. He walked over and placed a hand on the father's shoulder, helping him relax.

  "Do not be stressed, Kyle. My suggestion for you would be to keep raising Leox as you have been, and try to avoid him having accidents anymore. If something occurs again, then take him to the Church of Everhurst and report the situation to the High Priest."

  After hearing Doctor Frost's recommendations, the Father's face went white. He knew immediately that if he explained this situation to the Church, they would surely say that his son was cursed.

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  Best-case scenario, Leox would be sent to one of the cities to be further checked up on by a religious figure with more power. Worst-case scenario, he would simply be executed. The Theocracy didn't like taking risks.

  With reluctance, Leox's Father accepted Doctor Frost's suggestion, and they returned home as a family, continuing to live their lives as they had. There seemed to be a silent agreement made between mother and father that day, which was that they would never spread the word of what had happened to their dear son. It was necessary if they wanted to continue with their normal lives.

  But unfortunately, ever since that tragic moment, the Lether family's relationship with one another would never be what it once was.

  ---

  Six years passed without Leox having another accident.

  He grew into a fine pre-teenager, working with his parents on the farm, helping them with their produce. It was a meagre living, but it allowed Leox to remain close to his family, rather than picking up an occupation that would require him to be away from home, like hunting. Yet still, over the years, Leox's Father and Mother grew distant from each other anyway. It was like a fate that could not be avoided.

  Ever since his freak healing incident, his Mother would avoid as many interactions with him as she possibly could. Chores that a mother would usually do for her son were instead done by his Father, who at least still looked at him like he was human, even if he did notice a faint reluctance in the man's eyes.

  Leox made a few friends around the village. Well, one really. A girl named Ivy Graceful. She was the daughter of a Holy Nun within the Everhurst church. Her hair was blonde, unlike Leox's own dark hair. She was much shorter than him too, and kinder.

  One day, as they sat on a hilltop that overlooked their small village, Ivy suggested something to Leox that stuck with him.

  "Leox, why do you still work on the farm when you have so many other talents?"

  Even though he had never seen it that way, she was right. Many adults and children of the village classed him as physically gifted. Leox could climb trees that no other child could. He could sprint uphill quicker than anyone else who was even close to his age. On the farm, he was able to work longer than even his mother and father before getting tired.

  The problem was that in this small village, there was no room for the talented. Talent was not found in villages, it was found in cities, where the children could receive proper education during their childhoods.

  Leox was a by-product of his surroundings.

  He shrugged his shoulders when Ivy asked the question.

  "The farm is where I was raised, and will most likely die. What else is there for me to do in this village?"

  Ivy pinched his cheek.

  "Ow! What was that for?"

  "Why must you act like the village is all we will ever know?" She then said with a frown.

  Because it is. Exploring the world is far too dangerous for people like us.

  That's what Leox wanted to respond.

  Instead, he gave her the clearest answer that his eleven-year-old brain could think of.

  "Because I won't awaken. Everyone knows that to awaken, you have to be educated and trained from the age of seven. Even then, you only have a small chance of awakening when you become thirteen."

  "That's right," Ivy responded, staring off into the sky.

  He was glad she was willing to accept that.

  "That would be the case," she continued. "If you were a normal boy."

  Leox simply let out a sigh.

  Ivy Graceful was the only other person besides Leox's parents, and doctor Frost who knew about his incident six years ago.

  Leox expected her to see him the same way that his mother did. As a cursed freak, but instead, she saw him as the complete opposite. She thought that he was blessed by the Allfather, the God who looked over the Fourth World, aiding the humans in their fight against the apocalypse.

  Leox never saw it that way. In fact, he didn't even believe in the Allfather at all, even if he wouldn't voice it publicly. What sort of god would allow the world to be destroyed three times? He often thought.

  Before he could respond, Ivy rose to her feet and smiled at him as he sat on the grass. She then held out her hand, waiting for Leox to take it.

  "Here, follow me. There's something I've been waiting to show you."

  With trust, Leox took his only friend's hand and allowed her to lead him south, away from Everhurst Village.

  Where the hell is she taking me?