Ben sat up and took quick, deep breaths. He looked down at his hands and clenched them.
"I'm ready to change"
Ben wiped the sweat off his forehead. He really did use every last bit of energy he had to push the lid open.
Looking around, Ben couldn't see anything that would have caused the lid to be held down with that much force. 'What the heck was holding it down with that much weight?' Ben thought as he crawled out of the trash can.
Leaping over the side, he immediately fell to his knees. He could feel every muscle in his body aching. It was as if he just got through running a marathon, he was sapped.
'Crap, am I injured?' Having never worked out a day in his life, Ben wasn't used to the soreness. Lifting up his shirt to check himself he almost fainted from the shock.
His once flabby stomach was now completely gone. All that was left now was the outline of a six-pack. "Where the heck did this come from?" "Voicing his confusion out loud, Ben checked the rest of his body and found that every single part of flab on him was gone. He was now lean and toned. He wasn't well defined or chiseled but it was a huge step from where he once was.
Groping his entire body, he admired his newfound physique. Then a thought popped into his mind. 'What about there?' With hopeful eyes, he looked toward his crotch and slowly lowered his hand.
"AHEM" Ben was caught off guard by the sound of a woman clearing her throat. He instantly shot up, ignoring his pain, and looked around. Ben recognized the voice as the soothing one that talked to him in the dumpster. "Where are you?"
Ben called out into the night. Nervously stumbling around and trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"Calm down," the voice spoke again, "I'm not going to hurt you." Hearing the voice again Ben's mind instantly felt relaxed, just as it was before when he was in the dumpster.
"Who are you?" Ben, now thinking with clarity, thought about what had just happened to him. Was he going crazy? Why is he hearing a woman's voice in his head?
'Is this the result of all the stress I've had lately?' Ben thought that all the work he had been doing was finally starting to take its toll on his mind. Then the woman's voice spoke to him again.
"It seems that you have a plethora of questions, all of which I promise to answer, but before that, I must explain some things to you." "
Ben sat back down and listened to the woman. Although he wasn't completely sure whether or not any of what he was hearing was real, he still listened.
"First things first, introductions are in order. My name is Seraphina but since we're going to be getting quite close to each other over time I'll let you call me Sera." Sera spoke slowly and put emphasis on certain words as if she was talking to a kindergartner. Ben was offended, but he didn't say anything since he wanted to find out more.
"From now on I'm going to be your guide. While you may be confused now you needn't worry. As time goes on things will become crystal clear, but before that, you must head home. Your father must be worried sick about you."
Ben's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about his dad. Although he was curious as to how Sera knew about his dad and who or what Sera even was, he decided to put it aside for now and rushed home.
Ben dashed and ducked through alleyways and occasionally hopped over fences, he found that he made it to his apartment complex much faster than he expected but paid it no mind. His apartment building had obviously seen much better days. It was in an even worse state than Ben's school. With it being more vines than brick and graffiti being the only thing really making the place worth looking at, it was hard to believe that this place was currently housing people. Yet, there were 50 residents living there, he and his father included. Housing or anything else for that matter didn't get much better in this town unless you were a mob boss or a slimy businessman.
Ben rushed in and dashed for the stairs. The building had a total of 5 floors and, unfortunately, Ben's just happened to be on the top floor. Although he could have just taken the elevator to the top floor and spared himself the arduous task of climbing 9 flights of stairs, he just didn't trust it.
The elevator would always shake and bounce when being used and Ben hated the feeling of helplessness he got from being dragged up and down by a metal box that rattled and threatened to fall the entire ride. So he grit his teeth and ran for the stairs.
He rushed up the stairs and noticed that he was climbing them faster than he could before. Not only that but he could leap over five stairs at a time easily. Something that would have been impossible for him just a few hours ago.
Ben made it to the top of the stairs in under two minutes, whereas before it would have taken him at least five. He rushed down the hall to his apartment door. The door was an oak brown with the golden letters 505 on the front.
Ben gulped and tried to slowly take the key out of his backpack and open the door. The door made a loud creaking sound regardless of how careful Ben tried to be.
"Hopefully that didn't wake him up," Ben muttered under his breath as he tip-toed in and slowly closed the door behind him. None of the lights were on and the small apartment was completely shrouded in darkness.
That wasn't a problem for Ben since he was familiar with the layout. He easily groped his way through the apartment and made it to his door. Then he accidentally stepped on a loose floorboard. It made a long and loud creaking sound. He paused in his footsteps and held his breath.
"...I think I made it-"
"Nice one Mr.Bond."
A lamp turned on and Ben swiveled around to see his dad sitting on the couch, obviously waiting for him.
"I bet you thought you were real slick huh?" Ben's dad motioned for him to come and sit on the couch across from him. Ben nervously sat down and looked at the ground.
"Tell me what happened. Oh, and before you try, I've been waiting for a long time worried sick. I was just about to call the police when you walked in. You think you can spare me having to sit through your desperate lies?" " Ben's father pleaded with him.
His father, Edward, was a short man with brown hair and deep obsidian eyes. His hands were heavy and calloused from all of his work. He had a sturdy body and his face was sharp. If not for his height he would have been considered quite intimidating to most. Yet his voice was small and gentle. Ben could tell he wasn't mad but just worried so he decided to give in and tell him the truth.
"I, uh… got into a fight at school." Ben twisted the truth a bit. While there was definitely violence involved it could hardly be considered a fight, it was more like a beat down.
"Did you win?" Edward asked without hesitation. He seemed less concerned with the fact that Ben got into a fight but more concerned with the outcome.
"No, he managed to beat me, but it came pretty close." Ben lied through his teeth. 'Yeah, right it came pretty close. The only sweat those guys built up was from kicking me!' Ben thought.
His father sighed and leaned back in the chair. He drummed his fingers on the air chair and stared at the ceiling. It seemed that he was in deep thought about what he should say next. "Tell me the reason you started fighting," Edward asked the question while still staring at the ceiling.
Ben gulped. How could he tell his dad that he "fought" because he refused to give them money? Not only would his dad find out about Jain, but he'd also learn about why Ben was stressing himself with all of those extra jobs. That was a can of destruction Ben didn't want to open up.
"It was because of a girl." At this point, Ben was simply fabricating a fairytale. He didn't even know anyone in his class besides Jain much less any girls! Despite his father's request to tell him the truth he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Edward was caught off guard by his son's response. He stopped looking at the ceiling and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. He looked Ben straight in the eyes and said. "Ben, are you telling me the truth right now?" Ben's throat clamped up and he felt light-headed. It was clear that he found it difficult to lie straight into his father's face, but he quickly gathered his courage and said, "Yes, it was for a girl."
Ben thought he would be punished for fighting for such a stupid reason but contradictory to his beliefs his father practically jumped with joy.
'Who knew the day would come when my son would be fighting for a girl!' He thought. The truth was Edward was worried for his son. Ever since the death of his wife. Edward had to quickly pull himself together and turned his full attention to his son, but he noticed that Ben had become extremely introverted. He just kept dodging any social interaction and holed himself into his room when he wasn't working. Edward was worried that Ben was going through a depression and even considered scraping together the money to buy him a gaming console, but this event lifted a weight off of his heart.
'I guess he's okay enough to be worrying about girls and things.' Edward finally calmed down and sat back down in his chair. He then regained his serious demeanor, which left Ben seriously confused.
"Ahem," Edward cleared his throat, "I'll let you off this time on one condition." Ben's face lit up with hope whatever it was, it was worth it as long as his dad could forget about this incident. "Alright what is it?" Ben asked.
"It's simple, you have to let me train you in martial arts, when you lose you tarnish the family name after all!" Edward spoke with a dramatic tone and a deeper voice than usual making it obvious he was joking.
"Dad, you know how to fight?" Ben asked with a twinkle of admiration in his eyes. He had always wanted to learn but never had the time. " "HAH! Do I know how to fight? You know, I was quite the martial artist back in the day. My enemies often didn't even see me coming."
Ben thought for a few seconds before saying. "Jeez, what happened to you?" There was a long pause as Edward fully processed what Ben had just said.
"YOU DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE- !" Ben ran into his room before his dad could retaliate against him. He chuckled to himself as he swiftly closed his door and leaned against it.
After throwing his backpack to the ground Ben took a brief shower and collapsed onto his bed, letting himself sink into the mattress. Just as he was about to pass out a familiar voice shouted out to him.
"Don't forget about me!" It was Sera. Jolting awake Ben rubbed his head and muttered, "I almost forgot about you."
"How could you forget about me! Isn't this literally the most interesting thing to happen in your life?" Sera asked in an innocent tone.
"That's really condescending but whatever, aren't you going to explain what you are?" Ben replied unimpressed.
"Right, right. Like I said before I'm going to act as your guide. That essentially means that whenever you have questions or need help I'll step in and do what I can, also-"
Ben cut her off before she could finish. "What do I need a voice in my head to answer questions I have? To get help with my homework? I beginning to think I really have just lost it." Ben squinted his eyes and talked with dissatisfaction.
Sera seemed to be taken aback. Her eyebrows twitched and there was a short pause before she tried to regain her composure. "No. Unless you desire it I won't be answering those kinds of questions. I'll be answering more important ones like: "How can I survive here?" or "How do I kill him?" For example."
Ben flinched. He hadn't expected the voice to be so morbid all of a sudden. He suddenly felt a sense of danger coming from it so he got defensive. " "What would I need those for?" "
"Ah yes, the inevitable question I've been waiting for. To answer it I need you to first go to sleep."
Ben was suspicious of Sera. He didn't like the example questions she gave him earlier and he was honestly beginning to think that he himself might be psychotic. Even still, he had no choice but to eventually fall asleep anyway. So he decided to comply with her for now.
He turned to put his head on his pillow and before he knew it he was gone. He didn't even remember putting his head down.
"What is this?" He thought. He was floating in a black expanse of nothing. It felt as if he was swimming through jello. He had a hard time even lifting his arms with the constant resistance. "This is a vision," Sera answered him seemingly reading his mind. Ben struggled to turn himself around and face the voice because of the consistency of the air.
He finally managed to twist his body enough to see her, but when he did his jaw dropped. Before him was a mature woman with tanned skin. Her jet black hair reached all the way to her ankles. Her emerald eyes glistened with a luster only possible by waxing a car thousands of times over. Her voluptuous body pulled outward and curved inward in all the places it was necessary as she was mostly covered by a thin, silky, white robe. Before this woman's beauty Ben could only stare with his mouth hanging open, like a fool.
The woman seemed pleased with his reaction, as she simply closed her eyes and smiled at him. This only made his heartbeat even faster. " "It's nice to meet you, I'm Sera." Sera waved at Ben but he didn't respond and stayed staring at her.
Sera didn't seem to mind as she simply continued to speak. "As I said before this is a vision. Many things will be visually projected to you, to aid in your understanding of what I'm about to tell you. Please don't be frightened."
Ben was still staring at her but he finally managed to shut his agape mouth and wipe his drool. Embarrassed, he nodded his head in understanding. 'How can she be so hot,' he thought, 'I have to burn this into my retinas!'
Sera seemingly unaware of Ben's thoughts, or just choosing to ignore them, began to tell Ben a story. "What I am about to show you is an unthinkable reality." Sera waved her hand and suddenly the scenery around Ben changed. Ben was now floating above a busy town. The streets were littered with cars, people were dashing from place to place on the sidewalk, and the sound of honking and chatter filled the air.
Ben looked down in shock from suddenly being so high. " "How the heck!?"
"Please do not panic, what you are seeing is merely an illusion of a reality." Ben stopped struggling and calmed down. "So this is all fake?" It sure didn't FEEL fake. Ben could feel the bitingly cold wind pinching his skin and making his eyes tear up. He could feel his clothes fluttering around and he got a strong sense of vertigo from looking down.
"Yes, it may feel real but I can assure you that it's fake, merely a panting of the past," Sera reassured Ben. Causing him to relax even more. "Why are you showing me this city then?"
To Ben's question, Sera simply remained silent. She pointed towards the city and Ben looked down at it. The city seemed to still be an ordinary city. There wasn't anything that would make it particularly interesting.
Except for that giant looming spaceship. That's casting a shadow over it. "Where the heck did that come from!" Ben exclaimed. The ship seemed to have come out of nowhere. It didn't make a single sound when approaching and even as it loomed over the city it was silent. The only thing that caused Ben to realize it was behind him was the sudden darkness that its shadow brought.
"Is that a spaceship?!" Ben asked Sera excitedly. "Yes, this ship is the first of a large fleet coming to this poor planet." The ship looked to be made out of gray smooth stone. They were no imperfections on it. Not a single dent or scratch. It looked impossibly sleek.
Suddenly the ship's bottom side opened up to reveal multiple tentacles with razor-sharp needles at their ends. There must have been thousands of them, curling and twisting out of the ship's bottom. Then needles suddenly shot outward towards the city below. They brushed past Ben with unfathomable speed. Knocking him around.
Ben, in between getting thrashed around by the needles, managed to get a view of the city below. The entirety of it was in chaos. Cars were being thrown about, causing explosions up and down highways. People ran frantically, pushing and trampling over others to get to anywhere that seemed safe.
Buildings were reduced to rubble as the needles perceived through them and their foundation in seconds. All of the needles from the gigantic ship dug themselves into the city below. They continued to burrow themselves deeper and deeper until they could no longer be seen.
After the rubble and dust settled, the amount of destruction could be seen. Cars were on fire, skyscrapers were leveled, and now large metal columns were sticking out of the ground.
Ben's mouth was once again left ajar. A whole city was practically destroyed in only a few minutes. Sera noticed his condition and spoke. "As unbelievable as it is, this is something that happened in the past of this world. Millions of these vessels have sunk their needles into cities around the earth." Sera raised her hand into the air and swirled it around, at that same moment the environment around Ben changed again.
The sky turned blood-red and the air stunk horribly. Ben looked around and found a horrific sight all of the landscape surrounding him was decimated like the city and there were hundreds upon hundreds of needle ships hovering above the ground. Ben looked in disbelief. It felt as though it had come straight from a horror movie.
"As you can see, this world suffered great turmoil at the hands of a ruthless invasion by the demon king," Sera spoke to the dazed Ben. Ben turned to her and blinked. " "Demon king?" " The generic bad guy at the end of any isekai? The most overused trope in villain history? THAT demon king? Ben couldn't believe his ears. He was being told that the infamous concept of the " "demon king" " was a real person!?
"Yes, the demon king is real. At least in this world. In this world, he has conquered countless galaxies and is now in the middle of conquering this one. The earth in this universe is quite worse for wear as you can see." " Sera seemed to be sad as she looked down slightly and paused. Ben felt sympathy for her as he wondered what she might have lost in that world.
"But there is still hope," Sera suddenly continued, "Only a hero not of this world would be able to truly kill the demon king. Normally it'd be impossible since he possesses a unique ability that allows him to take over the body of whoever slays him. However, if someone from another world were to do it, his soul would be unable to inhabit their foreign body." Ben listened quietly as he naturally realized the point in her words.
"Let me guess, you want me to kill him?" Ben inquired. Sera smiled. "I'm glad you understood so fast, and yes, I would like you to save this doomed world by killing him."
Ben crossed his legs and held his chin in thought. "What's in it for me?" Sera's smile grew wider. "Should you succeed, you'll l be granted riches and power beyond imagination. I will also serve as your guide throughout the journey. Helping you throughout the unfamiliar world."
At first, Ben was completely opposed to the idea but then he imagined what the riches could do for his dad. His dad had been overworking himself ever since their mother died. Even though his father never showed it, Ben could tell what a burden he was to him. He hated himself for it. So at the mention of obtaining power and money, he decided he would do it but there was one more than he had to check. "How long will I be in that world." He asked.
"However long it takes you to defeat the demon king. Fret not though. Time moves faster on that side. A month there is merely 10 hours here." Sera replied and with that Ben was sold.
"I'll be able to give him an early retirement!" He thought.
Ben looked up and said with resolute eyes. "I'll do it." Sera's smile widened a bit more, to the point where all of her teeth were visible. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and apologized. "Sorry… it's just that there's finally hope."
Sera lowered her hand and said, "All that's left is to sign the contract." " Ben tilted his head in confusion as Sera snapped her fingers and a white contact appeared in front of him.
Ben took it and read it up and down.
1. By signing this contract Ben King has agreed to aid in the killing of the demon king.
2. Seraphina will do her best to guide Ben King in the other world.
3. Ben King will transfer over to the other world whenever he sleeps. Thus he will not become stuck in another world.
"What's this third clause?" Ben asked. "This is simply to ensure you aren't missing for too long," Sera replied, "I want you to save my world but not abandon yours. Ah, it's also a soul-binding contact so you can be sure of its legitimacy." Hearing this Ben's heart was warmed. 'Is there anyone this nice?' He thought.
He took the paper and scrutinized it. He took his time signing his name. Sera found this weird but didn't mind it, it was a heavy decision after all. After a while, Ben signed his name and smiled saying, "Alright let's beat the demon king!"
"PUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Suddenly Sera burst into laughter. She bent over holding her sides and seemed to be struggling to stop herself. "Uh, Sera?" Ben was unsettled by her behavior.
"Ah, no it's just that… Pft-HAHAHHAH!" Sera continued to laugh uncontrollably which angered Ben a bit. "What's so funny?" After a while, Sera managed to stop herself from laughing. She still had an ear-to-ear grin but at least she could talk like this.
"It's just that you're painfully gullible!" Ben's heart froze his breathing unknowingly became unlabored. A cold chill ran down his spine. He wanted to speak but he couldn't.
"Honestly, even with my guidance did you really think you could slay the demon king?! He's someone to who even the strongest heroes in that world bent a knee. " Sera lifted her finger and pointed at Ben. "So what chance does a perverted kid like you have. The only reason you are not a complete wimp right now is because of me! "
Ben remembered the way his body changed and figured it must have been her. Snapping out of his trance he yelled out in anger. "Who are you anyway! Didn't you just beg me to defeat him for you?! "
"Ah, I guess this wouldn't make any sense to you, since your such an idiot, " Sera wiped a tear from her eyes, "I lied to you. "
Ben's eyes shot open. 'She lied? What's that even mean?!' He thought. "What are you-MPH " Ben tried to speak but he found that his mouth was suddenly glued shut. No matter how hard he struggled he couldn't open it.
"You can speak after I'm done talking. I want to see the face you make when you realize the truth. " She raised her hand and snapped. The scenery around Ben changed once again. The world he was shown this time was ravaged even more than before.
There was simply no way this earth could support any life. Every single building was either half-destroyed, fully destroyed, or on fire. All the roads were in tatters. Smoke billowed in the sky, making it a reddish-gray color. It was a true Armageddon.
"You see, this earth is already done for. There's no way for it to recover from this kind of damage. In short, the demon king has already won." Ben felt his stomach twist upon hearing this, but he had no chance but to continue listening.
"I'm actually one of his faithful servants! Even though he's already won, he still wants to devour more. So he's ordered us to reach into other worlds and pull people in."
"Sadly, we can't force people to come through. They have to do it of their own volition. That's why we only choose pitiful, weak, miserable, young people like you. You all seem to think that you're the main character. Pft- sorry it's hard not to laugh. I mean I made up so much crap that you just took at face value!"
"Anyway it's as I thought, the face you're making was truly worth it." Ben was devastated. His eyes lost the life they had in them and his body went limp and he fell to his knees. He had given up. 'Have I really been screwed over?' Ben's mind raced as he tried to think of ways to get out of the situation, but he could think of none. 'Unless…' Ben then had an idea. His head snapped up as he glared at Sera with wet eyes. "What about the contract," Ben asked, "Isn't it soul binding!?" Sera simply chuckled and said "That? You should have been careful of the double meanings and loopholes in those clauses," Sera laughed, "I'll guide you alright, straight to your death that is!"
Sera waved around her hands and the contact suddenly appeared in front of her. She put her hands on it without a second thought and laughed while saying. "You should enjoy becoming useful for once." The contract shined bright as unraveled into a string and pierced both of their hearts.
Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. "With this, if either of us tries to go against the contract, their heart will be ripped out. Not that it matters to me!"
Hearing this Ben felt strength fill his body again. He stood up and looked at her with a newfound determination.
'Why the hell does he looks so confident? Whatever he's dead anyways.' Sera thought, confused at Ben's switch in demeanor.
"I don't know why you're suddenly so confident, or is it perhaps a last-ditch effort before death? In that case, you should probably save your energy-"
"Shut up," Ben said these words calmly, there wasn't a hint of fear or anger in them.
"As if that-MPH" Sera's mouth suddenly slammed closed as she could that her lips seemed to be melted together. She looked up at Ben in utter shock and he simply smiled.
"I think you are the one who should have paid more attention."