**Chapter 2: The Fool's Descent**
**Part 1: Awakening in Amber**
The fall ended not with impact, but with a gentle settling, as though the world had decided to catch him.
Saferu's eyes fluttered open to golden haze. Warm light poured through a canopy of amber leaves, each veined with faint sunlight that made them shimmer like living gold. The air carried damp earth, blooming flowers, and a faint sweetness—cinnamon mixed with pine. No salt from the sea, no diesel from the port, no distant ferry horns. Just quiet broken by soft rustling leaves and distant bird calls that almost sounded like laughter.
He lay on thick moss, soft and springy. His body felt wrong—or too right. He pushed up on elbows that did not ache, hands moving without the old drag of years. Looking down, he saw slim fingers, smooth skin, no patrol-callused palms, no soft middle. He patted his stomach: flat, taut beneath the same navy security shirt. The fabric hung looser now.
A nearby puddle reflected a stranger: early twenties, round cheeks slimmed, eyes wide with shock instead of dull exhaustion. Hair dark and thick, no gray. The face of the boy who once organized basketball games, wrote secret letters, believed the world still had space for him.
"What the hell…" His voice cracked—higher, clearer, without the rasp of gin and late nights. Panic rose, but he forced it down the way he forced down every scolding, every failure. Assess first. Survive first. Old gate-guard habits: scan for threats, note exits, stay invisible until the rules make sense.
The forest stretched endlessly—towering trees with copper bark, vines heavy with glowing blossoms pulsing like slow breaths. Birds with feathers shifting violet to gold darted overhead. No blue anywhere—just warm reds, golds, browns. The cliff, the figures, the portal… it had to be real. The app's voice: "A Fool has connected." Transferred. To where?
He stood. Legs steady. Stronger. No hangover fog. Energized, like a full sleep without the bottle. A faint dirt path wound ahead—worn by feet or paws, bordered by small stones catching dual sunlight. Voices drifted from that direction: melodic, laughing, in the same alien tongue from the ledge.
Hide? Run? The old Saferu would have crouched behind a tree, waited for the world to forget him. But this body thrummed with energy he hadn't felt since high school. Curiosity—stupid, dangerous—won.
He followed.
The trees opened to a clearing. Thatched huts with curved roofs curved in a loose circle around a central fire pit. Smoke rose lazily. Figures moved with easy grace: beastkin—pointed ears, tails flicking, skin in shades of green and bronze. Shorter, stockier than humans. A market stall sold glowing fruits, another hammered humming blades.
A young woman with fox-like ears and sunset-furred tail spotted him first. She froze, amber eyes widening, then called out in the melodic tongue. Heads turned. A small crowd gathered—curious, not hostile.
Saferu raised hands slowly. "English? Anyone speak English?"
The fox-woman tilted her head, ears flicking. She said something soft.
An elder pushed forward—wolf ears streaked silver, staff topped with pulsing crystal. He studied Saferu, then pressed the crystal to his forehead.
Warmth flooded in. Words reshaped in his mind.
"Welcome, child of the Blue Realm," the elder said, voice deep, calm. The barrier dissolved; Saferu understood perfectly. "You carry the mark of the Fool. The gods have chosen again."
Saferu swallowed. "Chosen for what?"
The elder's golden eyes softened. "To live once more. To mend what broke. Or break further. This is Amoria—land of second dawns."
**Part 2: Amberwood and the Outer Forest**
They called the village Amberwood. The elder—Elder Thorne—led him to a small hut at the edge, walls alive with climbing vines blooming tiny flowers when he passed. Inside: woven-reed bed, wooden table, basin of clear water. They gave him fresh clothes—soft tunic and pants in earthy browns, sturdy boots—and a leather belt with short dagger.
"No spirits like your gin," Thorne said wryly when Saferu asked about drink. "But starbloom tea clears the mind better."
That night, alone, the new body felt borrowed. He sat cross-legged, staring at unmarked hands. Strong. Unscarred. But the mind inside was still thirty-eight, still carrying every unanswered letter, every dropped job, every night passed out on blue sheets.
He tried the magic. Focused on his palm. A flicker—then a small sphere of cool blue water hovered, rippling. He shaped it into a thin shield, like liquid glass. Illusion next: a shadow-self stood beside him, mimicking perfectly until he let it dissolve.
Resilience, the elder called it. Blue Affinity. Gifts from pain. From loneliness. From every time he chose silence.
He whispered to the empty hut, "This time… I won't hide."
Morning brought explanations. Thorne gathered him in the hut adorned with glowing runes.
"This world has mana, levels, monsters in the wilds. You arrived as Level 1—a Fool Novice. Quests, kills, tasks will raise you. Your Blue Affinity summons water shields, illusions. Useful for one who once guarded gates."
Saferu listened, heart racing. Cheat skill. Fresh start.
Amberwood lived on the outer forest edge. The beastkin here—fox-kin, wolf-kin, deer-kin—were hardy but cautious. They foraged, traded, hunted small game. Deeper in, the forest darkened. Stronger monsters roamed—Echo Beasts born from regrets, larger predators, twisted shadows. Only the most powerful tribes survived the inner depths.
"The rabbit-kin guard the boundary," Thorne said quietly. "They came long ago through a crack in the world—swallowed during a battle between a god and a goddess in their original realm. They could not return. So they settled here, at the threshold where the forest turns deadly. They worship that god still—call him the Forger, the One Who Remade. Gentle to allies, merciless to threats. They allow no one past their watch unless proven."
Saferu nodded slowly. "They sound… dangerous."
"They are necessary. The outer forest is safe enough for us. The inner is not."
**Part 3: The Outer Edge**
Days blurred into basic training. Saferu learned mana flow, how to draw without exhausting himself. He summoned water whips, cracked them against dummies, wrapped illusions until he nearly vanished. Stubbornness from years of routine translated well.
Then the first real test came.
Mira—a small fox-eared girl—wandered too far chasing glowing fireflies, into the shadowed fringes. The village panicked. Echo Beasts prowled there, drawn by strong emotions.
Saferu stepped forward. "I'll go."
Thorne studied him. "You are new. Unproven."
"I know regret," Saferu said quietly. "And I know how to watch."
They let him.
He tracked her using old patrol instincts sharpened by magic. Illusions masked steps. He found her cornered by a shadowy wolf—twisted smoke, whispering failures in his father's voice. "Useless… lazy… crawl back…"
The beast lunged.
Saferu reacted. Blue flame slammed its flank. It howled, dissolved partly, reformed. Claws raked his arm—pain sharp, blood welling. Resilience flared: wound burned, then steadied him. Strength surged.
Water shield blocked the next strike. Illusions flickered—two more selves drawing attention. It snapped at phantoms. Saferu closed in. Dagger flashed. Blue chains erupted—Echo Bind—wrapping legs, pulling tight. The beast thrashed, whispering old failures: Angelie's laugh fading, Apple's polite texts, the stroke that stole his mother's strength.
"I know it all already," Saferu gritted.
Final strike—flame and blade. The Echo Beast shattered into mist.
Mira hugged his leg. "Thank you, mister Fool…"
Back at Amberwood, cheers. Bonfire. Spiced meat, starbloom tea. Level up in his mind: **Level 2. Skill: Echo Bind (Improved). Mana +20%.**
By the fire, Lira—the fox-eared woman—sat beside him. Her tail brushed his arm once.
"You didn't freeze," she said softly.
"I've been frozen long enough."
She smiled. "Then maybe you'll survive longer than the others."
Thorne approached as the fire died. "The shadows stirred more than usual after your fight. The boundary weakens. Tomorrow, you should go to the outer edge—where the rabbit-kin watch. They guard the passage deeper. If any will speak to a new Fool, it will be them."
Saferu looked toward the darkening trees. "They really came from another world?"
"Through a crack during divine war," Thorne confirmed. "They carry their god's lessons still. Gentle to those they accept. Brutal to what threatens. They may see something in you."
Saferu exhaled. No more excuses. "Then I'll go."
The forest waited beyond the outer ring—stronger, darker, full of monsters only the rabbit-kin could face. Tomorrow he would meet the guardians at the threshold.