In the far western skies within the outskirts of the Imperium of Avalon, a black thunderstorm surged through the skies covering the entirety of the heavens. Deafening radiant thunderclaps kept blinking in and out of existence with their gleaming light, signifying the cycle of life and death.
Yet within the dangerous and massive black thunderstorm, an airship was treading through at full power.
The airship seemed to be an imperium heavy transport ship, and clearly, it was enormous in size, at least 500 meters in length, with its width being 100 meters.
The imperium heavy transport ship was clad in jet-black metal. Structures parallelling that of Gothic architecture were found everywhere on its main body, with some steam-punk resemblances here and there.
It had massive cannons with long barrels on its broadside, with one cannon broader than the rest simply pointing forward found on its bow. Following the cannons were anti-air defense turrets scattered beside the cannons, along with machine guns found throughout the airship.
It was highly defended and a heavy lifter, though such things were needed to tread through the far-western skies of Vasteciel.
Anyhow, within the imperium heavy transport ship, the third son of the Astarte was awoken from his slumber after the rumbling thunderclap struck near the airship.
*BANG!*
He opened his eyelids as his distraught gaze widened in confusion and shock. At first, the third son had difficulty breathing and seemingly found himself in a precarious situation.
The third son looked around and saw many people like him sitting on a metallic chair with lights flickering in the background. He realized that he was nowhere from what he had remembered.
"What am I doing here?" The third son questioned with confusion until he realized his voice sounded strange.
"W-Wait, wait! This isn't my voice." He tried touching his neck only to feel more flesh than usual. A chill went through his spine as a cold feeling touched his skin. He had a bad feeling deep within his mind, and he wondered where this feeling came from.
It was at this moment he figured everything out. He wasn't in his original body and was displaced somewhere else. After all, his body couldn't have changed this much in an instant when he had blinked.
"Now that I think about it, something happened before this." He furrowed his eyebrows, and before he could continue thinking about it.
An old and hoarse voice sounded out of nowhere. This made the third son jolt, and his heart skipped a beat as the crisps words echoed through his ears.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake."
The third son turned his gaze toward where the hoarse and old voice came from and saw an old man staring at him. He furrowed his eyebrows as he didn't notice the old man beside him.
'This body has bad senses and instincts.'
He disappointingly thought to himself as he noticed his hands resembling a pig meat lump. The change was too much for him to handle since he had a healthy body before waking up.
Then memories beforehand, the circumstances surged him like a flood. He remembered the time of his awakening, the time before his inevitable death.
Back to his former life before reincarnation, he was a draftee. He was in a military installation on an island in the middle of the pacific. It was 2032, and the nations' relationships with each other were tense. A world war was about to start its dawn.
His country was preparing for war and drafted tons of young men as an emergency precaution for the inevitable. Of course, there were many against it. But there was nothing they could do against the military complex.
He was included in it, though it didn't worsen his lousy life.
He was a war orphan from a proxy war that had happened in the 2010s, but that wasn't important.
He trained himself for an entire year in the military installation and worked hard to become respectable. Finally, his life was a bit better than before, and he had the finance to create his own business. However, a declaration of war was given before he could leave the military.
It meant that the inevitable world war had started.
Because of this war, a missile was thrown toward them at the very first minutes of the declaration as they were one of the nearest military installations on the enemy's borders. Anti-ballistic missile armaments had done their best to resist the upcoming attack, but it was all for naught.
A nuclear ballistic missile landed at the center of their blast and created an explosion equivalent to a thousand suns.
He got blasted off the planet and died in an instant.
After the short flashbacks, he didn't know what to feel as he died instantly after almost entering a new part of his life. He wasn't sad, yet he wasn't happy. He couldn't feel anything about it and could only sigh to himself.
'I-I can't remember my name.' This thought popped out of nowhere, and he was right. Despite having years of memories in his past life, he couldn't remember an ounce of his name. Yet, nothing was spoken about it, which signified many things.
No one called him by his name in his memories, and this awakening might be why he forgot it.
"This is becoming more complicated than I thought.' He quietly muttered to himself as he turned his gaze toward the old man. There was something he needed to do, and that was to gather new information regarding the place he was in.
He might have been reborn, rebirth, reincarnated, transmigrated, and many more.
What happened to him wasn't necessary, though. The most important thing he needed to do was adapt to this new world and grow in it. He had already died in his past life, so he didn't plan to die young on this one.
"Old man, do you know where we are and what my name is?" He questioned the old man, wanting more information about himself.
"So you finally talk to me, marshmallow man. I was wondering why you were looking at some wall frozenly." The old man smirked and uttered with his old hoarse voice.
"I don't know how you didn't know what we are standing in. But it seems that you hit your head during the journey. So I'll let you fill in some gaps. After all, I'm a good old man." The old man smiled as he puffed his chest despite looking like a stick man.
"Yes, you are a good old man, so why don't you tell me more about this place?" He, the third son, had no choice but to play along with the old man. This was the fastest way to gain information from him, so despite the old man being annoying, he was willing to endure it.
"It's good that you know my deeds of being a good old man."
"Anyway, we are in the magnificent imperium heavy transport ship, Pelican. We are currently heading towards an outskirt military installation. I'll be working there as a chef, what about you? Are you trying to become a recruit?" The old man questioned, looking at the marshmallow man.
Numerous thoughts were passing through his head after hearing the old man's words. There was much information he gained just from the old man's words. Such info from the imperium heavy transport ship, Pelican, to the outskirt military installation.
It didn't even end there. As the third son looked through the windows, the giant ship or airship was flying. Obviously, he didn't even know such a thing was possible, but from the looks of it, the world he was currently in was fantastical.
Such thoughts made him conclude that he was born in a new world and reincarnated into a unique and majestic reality.
"Yes, I want to become a recruit." His eyes glinted while stating such words.
The old man laughed after hearing him as if hearing a joke escaped from one's mouth.
"A good joke you have there, marshmallow man. It's hard for anyone to join the military. Even a draftee would have a hard time going through basic training. You look like a pig, and your skin says you are rich." The old man was straightforward and honest.
"And, you seem to not remember anything."
"Apologies, but I don't know anything about you, marshmallow man. I can't answer the second part of your question."
"You're a stranger, just like me. I don't know your name and where you came from." The old man felt a bit bad now that he had realized that the fat man knew nothing about the world and himself. It was a bad situation to be in, and the marshmallow man might fall into trouble because of it.
The third son agreed with the words of the old man. It was somewhat true, as just by being in this body, he could guess its stamina sucked. And this body might have come from a wealthy family, just like the old man said.
Since this body was sent to a military installation in the outskirts. The third son could guess that the body got exiled from the household for a short while.
Of course, such thoughts and theories were not validated by any known fact. But with this, the third son could have a direction to head on. Otherwise, he would act like a lost kid, which was not far from the truth.
"There is no need to worry, good old man. What you gave me was good, especially for someone who doesn't know anything. I will never forget your help." He was thankful to the old man for the information given to him.
"You are a lot different than I had expected you to be. I thought you were an exiled noble, so I expected you to be somewhat of a rowdy and arrogant pig. And instead, you are actually a marshmallow man." The old man smiled at the third son and continued.
"If you manage to join the military, I can give you some free food if an opportunity arises."
"Thank you, but I will not take any more of your time." The third son lightly bowed towards the old man despite going through an orphan life without any guardian. He was respectful to those who were good to him since they were rare.
"You're not taking my time. To be honest, I was a chef at the military installation we are heading in. I was trying to find some important ingredients for the newly arrived captain. Giving food to a soldier is natural, so just call me." The old man said as he left and went off.
While walking away from the third son, the old man's eyes glinted as he mumbled to himself. "That Astarte is far different from the rumors, and he seems to be not acting. But, I guess that you shouldn't judge someone from hearsay." The old man kept smiling as if he had found someone interesting.
"Two people entering the military fortress with exciting problems and destinies. From the proud young general to the arrogant marshmallow man, is this the work of fate?" The old man continued as he couldn't help but question himself.
"Nevertheless, things would soon become interesting back at the base."
Meanwhile, the third son sighed as he knew nothing about the body he was in. It would have been good to have some memories of this body so he could safely adapt without that much of a problem.
The lack of information could lead to many problems. Therefore, the third son was willing to do anything to gain general information about this world.
It was at this moment a silver light flashed radiantly before his eyes. His thoughts had been heard, and the silver light pulled him back to his deep consciousness.
Delving into his deep consciousness, hidden memories of the body began to unlock themselves and revealed everything to the current holder of the body.
The truth, perception, and reality of the third son unfolded.