There I was. Just trying to keep moving on with my life after another failure. I always thought that I was a selfish person deep down and I just masked that with a facade of kindness that even fooled me, but there I was jumping in the way of some kid and an out-of-control motorcycle.
'Why me?' I thought to myself as my life flashed before my eyes. I had always been emotionally distant from people. Even to my family, it seemed like I had to work for joy when being with them. I had just gotten rejected by a girl that I…liked? I'm not fully sure what my feelings were towards her. In retrospect, I think it was just the first time I felt close to a girl, so it was most likely me trying to fill in the void of someone I had lost a long time ago. Sure the rejection hurt a little, but it was more of an annoyance. She said that she didn't have eyes for anyone in general.
Lies.
My friend said that he didn't really care about her like that.
Lies.
Every day I had seen them together and felt something inside. I don't think it was sadness, jealousy, or even rage. More confusion. 'Why give me false hope?' I had wished that she just told me the truth. All of this and I couldn't even muster up resentment towards them.
"Damn it." I cursed to myself right as I was about to be hit.
Why did I jump in the way? Did I really have enough heart to care about some kid I don't even know? I didn't even have time to think about it and just moved. With a smile, I accepted my fate and could only hope that God would mercy on my soul.
I opened my eyes to myself lying down in a meadow under a tree. It looked the exact same as the place my mentor told us to envision. We were told to meditate and create a place in our minds to speak with God. This was so that we could gain a better understanding of our minds, which would need to be clear when fighting. After I looked around I found the path I had walked down so many times to find comfort. I walked down the path and into a forest that kept most of the light from shining in and only letting through small rays through the leaves.
"I guess this is it." I said to myself as I chuckled and reached the end of the forest.
I saw another tree at the top of a hill with a man sitting on a log. I kept walking up the path as the wind seemed to be pushing me towards the direction of the hill. With each step I took I could feel my heart pounding. I couldn't tell if it was fear or excitement, but I kept pushing forward. I reached the top and saw a man that smiled at me. It felt as if the sun was greeting me with a hug and all my worries went away.
"Come my child." The man said with the most calming voice I had ever heard.
I didn't even need to ask who he was or why he was there. I fell to my knees and cried. I knew that I was loved in my life, but never seemed to care much. I knew I cared, but I never thought that it would mean this much to me if I died. The only reason I didn't commit suicide before was because of my fear of being damned to hell… is what I thought.
"I'm sorry!" I yelled while streams of tears ran down my face. "I wanted to do so much more for you. I wanted to spread your love, but I just couldn't. I could just never connect with most people."
He held out his hand as he embraced me for a hug. I kept crying in his arms for I'm not even sure how long. Once I had calmed down he said something that would be the cause and motive for almost everything from that point onward.
"You will not be damned to Hell or be sent to Heaven. You my child have a soul that has experienced loss and has died before coming to terms with your life. You view yourself as selfish, but in your final moments saved the life of a child you had not even met."
"So the kid is ok? That's good. It would suck to have died for nothing. Haha…"
"I will be sending you away to another world. One that you may experience for yourself and heal your broken soul. I will give you one gift for when you are reborn."
"Re- reborn? Like reincarnation? Isn't that a Buddhist type of thing?" I asked.
"Hahaha! Yes, something like that. You will be reborn in a world of magic. You may ask for one thing to have when being reborn. Whether that may be status, money, physical traits being exactly how you would like, or anything else."
"Does that mean I could go back to my old world and keep living there?"
"I'm sorry my child. That would interfere with the natural order of life. I can't bring you back to your old world because of that."
Without thinking for long I had come to a conclusion. "While being a massive buff guy would be nice, there is something that I must ask for. I would like to gain power. Enough power to change the world, not into a dictatorship, but power to protect everyone that is soon to be close with me." I said with unshakable confidence.
The man smiled at me and said, "Good luck my child, and may you find peace through the hardships you shall endure."
The next time I blinked I was in a dimly lit room with a man holding me. The man seemed to be happy, but his presence felt ominous. He set me down in a basket and walked away. He spoke in a language that I couldn't understand. It makes sense though, this is another world after all.
Before I knew it I was asleep. I woke up later and could only look at the ceiling. My body was too heavy for me to move so I just lay there with my thoughts. I remembered that there was magic in this world and wanted to know how to use it, but that would have to wait for now. I was really damn hungry.
As I whined the man who I would assume is my father picked me up and fed me this soup-like food. It didn't taste that great, but it was better than nothing. He started to talk to me again acting as if I could understand him.
'I really need to learn about this world and fast.' I thought to myself. I had remembered how many stories in the past I read about characters being in a similar position. The young mind of a child learns incredibly fast so if I start early enough I should be able to gain a firm grasp of magic and this world very early on.
The process of raising me went on for what I think was 2 months until everything changed. Over the course of those 2 months, I had gained some basic knowledge on what things were called, and that my name was Kazumi Shizen. It sounded Japanese, but there was no such thing in this world, so I guess it was just a coincidence.
My father took me on what I thought was a trip to another town, but we went right past it and into a nearby forest at the top of a mountain. He walked inside and placed me down in front of a shrine.
'What is this thing? A shrine? Are we going to do some kind of praying or ritual?' These were all thoughts that appeared in my head.
After my father had set me down and placed down an orb, something began to happen. An ominous aura of black, white, and purple began to swirl around me. The air was thick as I felt the most fear in my life. It was almost as if I was in the presence of the Devil himself.
My father started to chant something and the misty aura became violent. I was paralyzed with fear not even being able to move. Then within an instant, that mist of dread flew straight at me.
I cried, still not being able to scream words. The pain was unimaginable and I thought I was going to die.
'Not yet.'
I thought to myself about my second chance.
'Not yet.'
I would not let this chance go to waste. I would not die again so soon.
'Not yet!'
'I will never go back to being a no-one! If this is how I gain that power I asked for then so be it! I will not die here!'
The mist started to calm down, but only for a moment. Soon it seemed that I had absorbed it all, but then in a violent burst, it had launched out of me in the form of uncontrollable lightning that even went in the direction of my father and then I passed out.
Father POV:
'What the hell!?' I thought as I jumped back. How could Kazumi overcome that!? The mental fortitude needed to control the power of chaos should be far beyond the realms of a normal man let alone a child.
More lightning kept flying at me even after Kazumi fell asleep. This isn't even close to what I thought would happen, but this will have to do. I must contain this outburst of magic though.
[Magma Dome]
Magma appeared from thin air and surrounded Kazumi. The lightning didn't seem to do much physical damage at all to the spell, but the spell was becoming harder to control.
"How long will this last!? He's going to collapse this whole cave at this point. I can't kill him because of my plan, so I just have to hold out until it's over.
After one final burst of the chaotic lightning, everything went silent. I was heading to pick up Kazumi but then I sensed a powerful mana source heading in our direction.
'Maybe this might do.' I thought as I left Kazumi to be found by an older man. I hid my presence and made sure to expel no mana. The old man picked up Kazumi and took him home. I whisked away into the night after that to the top of the mountain.
"You shall be the key to my vengeance Kazumi. Grow to be strong and uncontrollable. Become a walking disaster of death and chaos." I said in the light of the moon before vanishing from sight.