"You're lucky to be alive, young man." The small Lady said, expressing exhaustion at bandaging him up and exasperation at the boy for being a fool. "You know, mountain spirits aren't privy to letting fools escape. You must be very smart or extremely lucky if you managed to make it here."
Chao attempted to speak, but all that came out was a croak.
"Can't speak yet, eh?" The old lady chuckles, giving the boy some water. "Drink and rest. We can speak later."
She exits the room, allowing Chao to rest in peace. He then examines everything in the room. He's still weak, bandaged, but has enough strength to move. he grips the cup and drinks slowly but surely, gulping down the water before putting it back down, and attempting to move his legs.
"No good," He thinks. Closing his eyes, he searches through the child's memories. He hears one name, constantly, as he opens his eyes.
"Chao Wei, that's the name of this body," he thinks to himself as all the memories rush in, self-taught cultivation, his skill nodes, his plan to take the wraith-like creature, his failure, and later...his death. He also begins making a mental list of where the hell he was. The first fact he knows for sure: He's in Murim, or some sort of martial arts-based world. The second, even if he wasn't meaning to, he observed markings on a few people, including himself. Markings on his forearm. These markings are skill trees, it's safe to assume everyone has one, on either the same or a different part of their body, and they function in different ways. His skill tree was all about throwing. Chao Wei would laugh if he could use his voice because the irony is not lost on him. Even in this life, he was a pitcher.
As he finished that thought, he drifted to sleep, wanting to recover fast, so he rested. Once the sun came up, he was able to move again. His body was a bit weak, a little malnourished, but he could move enough to get out of bed.
He then looked at his back, covered in bandages, then his tunic, which was torn at the back, with a large hole in the middle of the back, and he frowned, getting out of bed. His legs were strong enough to walk, but he needed to lean on a wall, his pants were slightly torn at the back, and he made it to the hallway where there was a single table and chairs.
"For someone who entered the Blackwood mountains and came back injured, you sure are stubborn, aren't you?" The old woman said, looking at Chao Wei.
"I...I'm fine... I've recovered...need...water..." The boy said, still stuck somewhat in survival mode.
"As your benefactor, I cannot in good conscience allow you to leave until you can support yourself. Get back to bed, before you reopen your wounds." The old woman said, a bit of sternness in her tone.
Chao Wei looked at her, seeing a flame lit in her eyes, while she may be old, it didn't mean this woman couldn't kick his ass. He went back to the bedroom, she got him two cups of water not too long after.
-Four Days later-
A tunic and trousers sat on a table next to the bed as Chao Wei got out of bed, stretched, and mostly recovered after four days of rest and recovery.
"Hey Kid, get dressed. You've recovered enough. Blackrock Town doesn't tolerate free loaders for long. You'll need to earn your keep."
Chao Wei nodded, putting on the tunic, which was soft inside; the tunic hugged him warmly, the fur stretched across the shoulders. The outside of the arms, the trousers too had fur on the inside and outside of the outfit, then he wrapped his arms and hands in clean bandages, the boy began to look like a man, and a proper hunter, making the old woman surprised, but also smile.
"That's an old hunter's garb made from Iron Fang Wolf Pelt." The old woman said. Earn your keep. This town has odd jobs; you can go mining, or you can hunt Iron Fang Wolves, find herbs, or go out on your own. I do expect repayment, fifteen spirit stones' worth of medicine was used on that back injury of yours."
Chao Wei nodded. The concept of money in this world was foreign to him, but to the body, it was familiar. He clenched his fist, then he walked out.
"I may be a child, but I'll repay my debts. I won't run." The boy said, sounding more like a grown man than a child as he left the building, now facing the town in its full glory. He decides to go mining, signing up as a laborer.
"Yo, Kid!" A voice that sounded old enough to be an adult but young enough to emanate clear emotion called to him. Chao Wei turned around.
"Yes?" Chao turned to him, Pickaxe in hand.
"Why are you here? You're only a kid."
"Doesn't matter. I'm here to work." Chao Wei turned around and handled the pickaxe, and began to walk toward the cave, the large village used to mine spirit stones. The man followed him.
"Kid, do you realize this is a mine? You can die here." The man said, showing genuine concern as the boy slammed a rock with the pickaxe.
"I'm aware. But I have to work, I'm an outsider with nothing to my name. I'm starting from scratch here." Chao Wei said, a sharpness in his tone that even he didn't recognize.
The man showed sympathy and took a place in the cave next to him, where they mined quietly, as the boy mined, his grip slipped slightly, the next hit made the pick bounce off the rock, his small body couldn't handle the recoil. The small boy dropped and rolled to avoid the pickaxe, only for it to never hit the ground; the man next to him had caught the pickaxe.
"Here." He said, dropping the tool at Chao's feet quietly, mining beside him before he could say "thanks", as night fell, everyone left; however, later Chao had an idea, returning to the mines.
"I had dropped my pick before...but it didn't just drop...it bounced off, into the air, above me..." The skill tree in his forearm pulsed with gentle power.