Chapter 3: His New Life

"Can you hear me?" A woman’s voice reached Caelan’s ears after a moment of silence.

He couldn’t answer. He tried opening his mouth, but it didn’t work. Instead, he just felt as if his entire body had been thrown down a mountain.

"Please, wake up!" Caelan tried to open his eyes, but he felt as if they were glued shut. It took several attempts before he finally managed to open them.

The first thing that greeted his vision was white flakes falling from the sky. It was snowing.

Caelan stared at the sky for a moment. It was also snowing when he died last time. When he moved his face, the second thing that caught his attention was a woman’s face.

The woman had delicate features, bright blue eyes, and blonde hair that seemed to glow against the dark surroundings. She was kneeling beside him with a worried expression on her face.

"You’re awake!"

Caelan tried to move, but pain immediately spread throughout his body.

"Hah!" He suddenly gasped as if something had been stuck in his throat.

"Don’t move!" The woman quickly placed her hand against his shoulder. "You were lying in the snow when I found you." She quickly explained.

Caelan looked around for a moment. His forehead creased when he saw that there were old-fashioned lanterns glowing along the roadside.

Those didn’t look like normal lanterns at all.

There was something strange about the light coming from them. It wasn’t simply fire. The faint glow seemed to contain something else.

"Where am I?" That was the first thing that came out of Caelan’s mouth after a moment.

"What?" The woman stared at him.

"I asked where I am."

"You don’t know?"

Caelan shook his head, which made the woman’s expression become even more worried.

"You’re in the village of Westmere!"

"Westmere?" Caelan had never heard of that.

Before he could ask anything else, something suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Host has awakened.]

[You have received an SSS-Rank Blessing from the Goddess.]

[Blessing: Hollow]

Caelan froze just as those words rang in his head.

[The blessing of Hollow represents emptiness and nothingness.]

[Like an empty vessel, Hollow contains nothing of its own. But because it is empty, it can be filled with things that do not originally belong to it.]

Caelan stared at the words. It was somehow making his head hurt.

[Hollow allows the host to acquire and use abilities that are not originally possessed by the host.]

His eyes widened slightly.

An ability that could copy other abilities?

[However, this blessing has limitations.]

[The host must obtain Hollow Fragments to acquire abilities. The required number of Hollow Fragments depends on the ability’s strength.]

Caelan’s expression became slightly more serious. So it wasn’t as simple as seeing someone use an ability and immediately copying it. There were actually limitations on it.

Well, that made sense. If he could freely copy any ability without any cost, then it would be far too powerful. Still, it was a pretty incredible blessing.

[You have received 1 Hollow Fragment for successfully transmigrating.]

Caelan stared at the final line. He had received 1 fragment already. He wondered what he needed to do to obtain more.

- - -

Name: Caelan Veyr

Level: 5

EXP: 0/100

Innate Ability (Healing): Life Thread (0/1)

Blessing (SSS-Rank): Hollow

Hollow Fragments: 1

- - -

Caelan stared at the words in confusion. It was still his name, but why was there a level, and what exactly was Life Thread?

He didn’t remember having anything like that. Before he could think about it any further, another message appeared.

[Beginning soul and body synchronization.]

Just then, a strange warmth spread through Caelan’s chest. The pain throughout his body suddenly disappeared. He gasped again from the sudden change.

"Are you alright?" The woman immediately leaned closer when he heard Caelan make a sound.

"I think so." Caelan slowly sat up. He wasn’t sure why, but his body suddenly felt much better.

"You should not be able to sit up." The woman stared at him in shock.

"Why?"

"You were covered in blood when I found you and you were on the verge of death!"

Caelan looked down at himself, and that was when he realized that she was right. His clothes were torn, and there was blood all over them.

However...

He couldn’t find a single wound on his body now.

"What happened to me?"

"I don’t know." The woman shook her head. "I just thought you were dead."

"Me too." Caelan looked at his hands. They were shaking slightly from the coldness around.

"What?" The woman gave him a confused look.

"Oh, nothing." Caelan slightly smiled at her before standing up fully now. His legs felt weak, but he could take a few steps.

[Physical condition restored.]

[Minor injuries have been repaired.]

[Soul synchronization: 7%... 15%... 32%...]

Caelan looked toward the woman and noticed that he wasn’t the only one who had been injured.

"Oh hey, are you hurt?"

"Me?" The woman blinked and pointed at herself.

"Yes."

"I..." The woman looked down at her arm.

"That’s nothing..." There was a long cut running across it. Blood had already soaked through the sleeve of her shirt, making it impossible to hide from him.

"That doesn’t look like nothing," I muttered.

"I’ve had worse." She gave him an awkward smile.

"Let me see it." Caelan walked toward her.

"Why?"

"I want to check something."

She hesitated before eventually holding out her arm. Caelan placed his hand over the wound. He had expected it to work immediately because his innate ability said he could heal.

However, nothing happened.

He frowned at it.

What’s happening? That was the only time the screen appeared in front of him.

[Foreign injury detected.]

[Use Life Thread?]

[Yes] [No?]

Caelan stared at the message before using the first option. He was curious about what his ability could actually do.

He had originally thought he might be able to heal her the same way his own body had suddenly recovered.

[Life Thread activated.]

A faint golden light appeared beneath his hand just as those words rang to his head.

"What is that?" The woman suddenly gasped.

"I have no idea."

Apparently, he was right. Just then, the wound on the woman’s arm slowly began to close. The bleeding also stopped. The cut became smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared completely.

Within a few seconds, her skin looked completely normal.

She stared at her arm, and her eyes widened.

"What did you just do?"

"I honestly don’t know."

[Life Thread has been used]

[You have reached the limit of use. Level up to increase the limit.]