Reincarnated as a Strongest Beast kin.

Previous [ Chapter 1: Beginning ]

A year had passed since my improbable rebirth. I could now toddle, babble, and even attempt a few rudimentary words. But my fascination remained unwavering – the bookshelf. I would spend hours mesmerized by the strange symbols, meticulously tracing the alphabet with my tiny fingers. An unusual pastime for a one-year-old, I knew, but my intellect, honed in my previous life, devoured the information with an insatiable hunger.

In my past life, I had been a prodigy, a criminal mastermind with an IQ that bordered on the preternatural. Now, stripped of my former life and its accompanying darkness, I vowed to utilize my intellect for good.

And then, there was Olivia. My sister. The name, a melodic symphony, rolled off the tongue like honey. A brother's pride, I suppose. My father, Raden, had bestowed upon her that exquisite name. I couldn't help but wonder about the man who had named him. 'Raden'? A rather… prosaic moniker, if you ask me.

Life with my new family was idyllic, a paradise compared to the grim existence I had endured before. I cherished these moments, vowing to never succumb to the darkness that had once consumed me.

But paradise, it turned out, was a fragile illusion.

Four years later, our idyllic existence shattered. A horde of savage raiders, I preferred to call them terrorists, descended upon our village, a wave of fire and blood engulfing everything in its path. Panic erupted, a cacophony of screams and the crackling of flames.

Olivia and I, huddled together in a horse stall, listened in terror as their leader barked orders, "Kill everyone! Capture the children! The women… they're yours to do with as you please!"

Fear, a chilling serpent, coiled around my heart. Despite my past, I was not immune to the primal terror that gripped us. But Olivia, my little sister, her fear was palpable, a raw, untamed emotion that mirrored my own childhood.

"Olivia, don't be afraid," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly, "I'm here."

Then, a voice, familiar and cherished, cut through the chaos. "Ah… I found you two. Follow…"

The sentence remained unfinished, cut short by the sickening thud of steel. My mother.

"Mother!" Olivia's cry was a raw, guttural sound of anguish.

Rage, a boiling torrent, surged through me.

"Rawr! You brats will make excellent slaves for the human masters!" The raider, a hulking brute astride a monstrous beast, roared with laughter.

Olivia was inconsolable, her sobs echoing through the pandemonium. I, however, remained eerily calm, a chilling detachment settling over me. I had witnessed the worst of humanity in my previous life. But beneath the surface, a cold, simmering fury was taking root.

I lunged at the raider, a desperate flurry of punches. But my childhood strength was no match for his brute force. He effortlessly swatted me aside, a cruel, mocking laugh ringing in my ears.

"Ha! You weaklings! You can't even scratch me!"

He tossed us into a cage, the bars a cold, unforgiving prison.

"You brats," I spat, my voice thick with impotent rage.

The wagon, laden with our misery, lurched forward. Olivia clung to me, her small body trembling. She was only three, too young to comprehend the horrors unfolding around her. I glanced back at the village, now reduced to a smoldering ruin. My home, my sanctuary, destroyed.

Even in this alien world, I was a stranger in a strange land. I watched the faces of my fellow captives, their eyes reflecting despair and terror. I understood their pain, their fear, their loss.

"We… can't help it," I whispered, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. But a vow, born from the ashes of despair, ignited a fire within me.

"But… I will grow stronger. I will avenge them – for my parents, for my village, for my kind!" My fist clenched, the promise echoing in the confines of the cage.

Anger, a potent fuel, coursed through my veins.

"Now, I'm truly in hell," I muttered, a grim determination hardening my resolve.

I would live up to the title of Otherworlder. I would become a force to be reckoned with.

———------———xxxxx————-----———

Next Chapter-- [Escape from Cages]

Please Support me by liking and voting to his novel.