"So, Yuuji," Sakurai asked. "Do you want to restart?"
I was awoken by Sakurai's soft voice. Apparently, my blissful time resting on her lap had finally come to a close. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and stretched.
"A restart?" I can assume what she meant, but I wanted to confirm.
"Yes. A restart. You know. Like those isekai novels you used to read," Sakurai answered, rather matter-of-factly.
"Uhh," I started. "Do I really have a choice in this decision?"
"Well, yes but actually no." Sakurai replied.
"Uh huh…"
Basically, on the surface, I had the option to say no, but the consequences pretty much threw that option out the window.
"Well?"
"Whatever, I guess I can't say no," I replied. "What does this thing entail? The 'restart' I mean."
"Great!" Sakurai said, ecstatically.
Great. There goes my days of rest.
"I can read your thoughts, you know."
I rolled my eyes and gave her the most deadpan expression I could muster.
"I know"
Even for my standards, that was kind of cold. But, I needed to get the point across. Which, I think it did, considering Sakurai started to make the pouting face again. Maybe she was just trying to make me feel bad. I wouldn't put it past her, to be honest.
I sighed, and then asked "So, what do you want me to do?"
'Yes, my child." Sakurai started. "Let us get to the issue at hand."
^^^^^^^^^
Sakurai explained various things to me. Apparently, those labyrinth ruins I had encountered had not originally been a part of our world. And that there were hundreds of otherworlds out there, some similar to ours, some completely different from ours. I was surprised to learn that out of the countless parallel otherworlds, ours was rather unique. We had no magic. At least, the craft had been long forgotten in our world. Something that was exceedingly rare among the countless otherworlds. The byproduct of that, however, was that we advanced technologically far faster than any other societies.
"So, being magic-less wasn't all bad?" I had asked her.
"No. In fact, some could say that having no magic was an advantage," Sakurai replied.
"I don't know if I'd go that far, but I can see where that point of view is coming from, I guess."
We were one of the few civilizations that left our own atmosphere. Technology made some feats viable that would otherwise not be. What was interesting to me was that, for most societies, magic was a hindrance in understanding how their world worked.
"So, magic is kind of like a shortcut?" I inquired.
"I'm not so sure what you mean by that." Sakurai said, confused.
"Well, if you take a shortcut in learning something, you learn how to get to your specific endpoint, but you lose a lot of that foundational information, right? So, if you have magic to do things for you, you would have no need to try and replicate that yourself. Thus hindering growth as a whole."
"Ah, I understand. Yes, I couldn't have explained it better myself," Sakurai replied, beaming at me.
Apparently, she was proud that I came to that conclusion myself. According to her, most of her reincarnees(?) had come from worlds of magic, so she had to explain things in a most basic manner. Something I definitely would have gotten tired of doing multiple millennia ago. It was always super nice not having to explain the same basic thing over and over again to clients, back when I was alive. I could totally relate to her.
We spoke for who knows how long about various topics, mostly smalltalk, but some tidbits of information would definitely become useful later on down the line. Our friendly conversation eventually got to the monoliths, and it turned somewhat serious and somber.
"So, that thing that ended up doing me in for good," I had begun. "What the hell was that thing?"
Sakurai's normally soft eyes seemed to harden a little bit. They were apparently something that she was uncomfortable talking about.
"Yes, my child. The monoliths. There are five of them in each otherworld. They house secrets powers. Extremely powerful entities. They make contracts with people. They bring about a golden age only to make the world fall. Crumble to dust."
Sakurai stared up at the sun, and a singular tear ran down her cheek.
"Just like my home…"
^^^^^^^^^
Suddenly, the scenery changed. Standing at the edge of a mountain, watching the world turn black. It seems like Sakurai wanted to show me her fate.
I learned that Gods can be born in various ways. Some are born to parents who are also gods, while others can appear out of seemingly thin air. The latter tend to normally be the materialization of pleas for assistance. Sakurai was the former. Born to two loving parents, she grew up like a normal child. Her parents decided to walk among their subjects, something that Sakurai would eventually follow in.
That family of gods could hardly be seen as different from the surrounding locals. Sakurai played with other kids her age, even though they were all a part of various mortal races. The locals loved that family, and would gift them a basket of vegetables, or a couple of loaves of bread rather often. It was a happy life in a quaint village. But all good things come to an end.
The monoliths in their world, which had, at that point, been long revered as bringers of a golden age, and there was only praise for the monolith guardians. There were few wars, no famine, and rarely any tragedy occurring. Most people just died of natural causes, like age. But, even then, the monoliths greatly boosted the age and vitality of everyone.
"The monoliths create golden ages just to end them. They do it to suck the world dry of magic power; magicae," Sakurai had told me. I nodded, as I couldn't find the right words to say, and she continued showing me the fate of her home world.
I watched Sakurai's friends start aging and growing older, but Sakurai really never seemed to grow older. I suppose that immortality causes a slower growth cycle. But even as her friends grew older, they stayed close. They would drink together on weekends, and help each other out in the village. Just your typical close-knit community.
And then one quiet day, the chirping of the birds and the running of the water suddenly froze. All noise was silenced. The sun turned dark.
I heard the villagers scream. And the village we were just walking through fell through the cracks. As the chasms widened, the villagers were swallowed up. Moments later, those same thatch-roofed cabins started falling from the sky.
As the ground deteriorated, both Sakurai started falling as well. In an endless loop. Gaining speed, anyone who wasn't a God or already dead would die to the immense g-force. We kept accelerating in a never-ending cycle.
The only objects that weren't falling into the void were those five monoliths.
"Those five cursed monoliths," I heard Sakurai say, holding back tears.
Not knowing how to respond, I just looked down at my feet. And the void under my feet. This world faded into black. But none of those villager's souls could ascend. They had nowhere to ascend. And the never-ending cycle was like an eternal damnation to the dead.
I am not sure how long we kept falling for, but after a while, our fall slowed. I watched a younger Sakurai with her parents, hugging each other. Then, her parents pushed her away. They had sacrificed their immortality, bartering it with the Revenant Reaper to seal those eternally damned souls; so they can find peace in the afterlife.
"They sacrificed themselves." Sakurai clenched her teeth. "For me. For everyone else…"
For Sakurai, those monoliths took everything away from her. They gave her everything, only to snatch it away from her flailing arms. Then, Sakurai turned to me.
^^^^^^^^^
"I want you to become a savior."
"A Savior?" I slowly asked.
"Yes, my child. I believe you have what it takes."
I stared at Sakurai. And then shook my head.
"No. I don't. I am just a shut-in soldier who had PTSD. How would that possibly translate to a hero?"
Sakurai smiled at me, placed her hand on my cheek, and lifted my chin. We locked eyes, and I clenched my fist.
"Why do you trust me so much? How can you place such a fundamentally important task in my hands? If I fail, literally everyone dies!" I started to raise my voice. Maybe it was out of fear, or maybe it was out of shame, but I had already decided that I would probably fail. And that so many people would die because of me.
Sakurai smiled at me and said, "You won't fail. And if you don't go down there, they'll all die anyway. Please. I need you to do this for me."
I looked up at her and said "There's absolutely no way I could do this." I paused for a second, and finished my sentence. "Alone."
"You won't be alone, Yuuji. I will show you the way." Sakurai smiled at me, that softness in her eyes calmed me down. "Plus, you'll find companions on your journey. And who knows, maybe you'll find that girlfriend you've always been wanting."
Embarrassed, I turned away.
Sakurai giggled, saying "See. It won't be so bad. Just put your faith in me. And more importantly, yourself."
I smiled silently for a minute, and then turned back towards Sakurai.
"What do I have to do, then?"
Sakurai smiled, hugged me, and whispered "I knew I could count on you, Yuuji."
We sat back down on the grass, the nightmare world gone, and she explained what I would have to do. I would have to travel to each monolith, whether by boat, by carriage, or by trekking, and make a contract with the entity residing within the monolith. Only then could I avert the future that Sakurai showed me.
Each monolith had a riddle of sorts, locked behind other traps. Each monolith was different, and the entities within also housed different powers. Each world had a unique combination of powers, so I could not be sure what I would have to vanquish. Once I had the power of all five, I could alter fate. Something that even the world creator was unable to do.
But, I already had an advantage. An advantage I had gained, unbeknownst to me, in those ruins.
"Do you remember that disgusting looking meat you ate?" Skurai suddenly brought up that rubber-meat
"Yes, I do. Quite well, actually. Why?" I had asked, surprised by the seemingly sudden change of topic.
"You ate a bunch of it, right?"
"Yeah…" I answered slowly.
"Well, that should have killed you. Not the monolith energy field."
What?!
"But, you were thirsty, so you drank Liquid Starlight. Effectively saving your life."
"That pearlescent liquid is called Liquid Starlight?" I inquired.
"Yes. And that combination rebuilt your body entirely. So you can manipulate mana. Directly. Something that even I can't do."
"So, basically, I can just visualize something, and it appears?"
"Pretty much, as long as you can harness that skill."
"That's OP. I would be literally hacking at that point."
"Yeah, kind of…" Sakurai said with a happy smile, though I could sense the jealous undertones hidden behind it. How scary.
So, basically, as long as I could learn the mechanics behind it, I could do anything I wanted.
Cool.
^^^^^^^^^
"Before I send you on your merry way, I need to tell you a few things." Sakurai called out to me.
I learned that I would be born to the once mighty Hammerwulf clan.
"You will be the first child of Steele and Freya Hammerwulf," said Sakurai.
She told me that I would grow up to be the child of the prophecy. I learned how to actually use that menu that had been burned into my retinas, which was somewhat helpful. Apparently, everyone had access to that "Status Menu" as it was called.
How handy.
If you learned how to use it correctly, you can use it as a HUD rather than just a status plate, which Sakurai taught me how to do.
She also told me that, once I grew old enough to leave the house myself, she would tell me where a small supply cache was. I had no idea what she meant by a "Supply Cache" but I'd take what I could get.
I again lost my corporeal form as my soul was about to be transferred into a new body. As I was turning back into a spectre, golden sparkles lit up the grass field we had been talking in. It was a beautiful, surreal scene, and I started rising from the ground. I smiled and waved to Sakurai.
"Oh, and last thing! Don't forget to enjoy yourself!"
I left that picturesque land to start my new life as a child of the Hammerwulf clan. As I ascended, I swear I heard Sakurai say something.
I'll be waiting for you, my love…
^^^^^^^^^
I traveled through various different space-times. Weaving through the fabric, I saw some worlds in a golden age, and others in eternal ruin. Though it was dark, I could see everything clearly. I could see the strings of fate. I watched a couple get married. I watched a family grieve over a family member. I watched someone get betrayed.
For those moments, I was omniscient. I don't know if that was standard, or it was a gift from Sakurai, but I could see everything. With the overload of stimuli, I could only keep track of a few events at a time.
I watched heroes lead armies. I watched the birth of children. I watched almost everything imaginable. And then some.
I watched sages develop new magic. I watched children cast their first spells. I watched people die by their own spells backfiring on them.
As I traveled through that fabric, it was starting to get brighter. And warmer. I felt as if I was inside a warm bed, encapsulated by soft blankets.
I started traveling faster. And faster. Not being able to keep up with the amount of events happening, I closed my eyes.
For the first time since I died, I took a deep breath. Real, fresh, oxygen. I could tell I was getting closer to my final new destination.
I was about to say final, but I guess this isn't a final destination at all. It is a new beginning.
Back to thinking to myself, I almost said that aloud. I opened my eyes, and watched the fabric fade away.
It appears that this is the world I am destined to save.
I watched continents form. And break apart. I watched tribes gain power. And I watch them fall. I saw the kingdoms rise. And cities along with that. Though medieval style architecture, they were actual cities. With people in them. As I flew through the sky, I saw individual faces.
I saw history repeat itself. And I saw a hero vanquish his enemies. I watched his dynasty rise. And then eventually wane.
I watched houses be built. I came to a small village on the outskirts. On the final frontier. This was the last stop before complete wilderness.
I saw two people get married. I saw them move into their newly built house. A log cabin, that could easily be added on to. I liked their style. I assumed that these people would be my new parents. I had no other reason to focus on them so much.
Maybe a little bit too much.
I watched them do what newlyweds do. If you know what I mean. It felt really awkward, as these people would be my parents for the next decade and a half.
Sakurai had told me that the age of 15 was adulthood in this world. That sounded about right, as this was medieval style technology. She had also instructed me to practice magic at a young age, as that's the best time to grow in skill. Once born, everyone had access to the most basic skill progression tree. Literally called basic, it was for daily necessities. Something that everyone could use.
I smiled at the newlywed couple's antics. They were so cute, flirting with each other, cooking together, training together, and doing other stuff together.
My vision started getting brighter and brighter, as the wife neared her due date for the child. I heard a frantic father cry for joy.
And then a bright white light engulfed me.