A small pebble laid on a quiet little road somewhere in Europe. Attached to an old saddle it had been carried here a while ago. It didn't know where it was or what would happen to it.
As a small stone it would only be pushed around by fate until eventually returning to dust.
However, today this pebble might just break out of its predetermined role. Maybe this small stone would change fate itself. Or maybe this fate was set in stone since a long time ago.
Josef Maier surely wasn't thinking about fate at this moment. Neither his nor others'. He was simply bored to death.
In order to curry favor with his Lord, Josef stupidly volunteered to gathering taxes in those small villages and towns far into the countryside.
Once in a while memories of better days would pop up in his mind. Then, a light smile would form on his face as he reminisced his heroic days in the clan.
Josef hasn't always worn such a cliche name. He also hasn't always called himself a loyal subject to his lord.
He hasn't always considered himself a member of the Holy Roman Empire.
He hasn't even always lived as a human being.
Ater all, he has always belonged to the mighty Zrathras clan.
For most of his life he proudly carried the name of Eldrak Prim Irom Furuwewent Zrathras.
Admiring eyes would follow him everywhere, as his name outshone all those so-called geniuses in his clan. However, one small mistake can change everything.
Suddenly Josef awoke from his drowsy state. It seemed even subconsciously his mind wouldn't want to recall those painful memories.
The young man let out a resigned sigh, as he took a look at his own body. Gone were his streamlined muscles and his athletic legs.
As a seasoned shapeshifter Josef was used to living as someone else for a long time. However, his current appearance only reminded him of his fall from grace.
His tight, red trousers, old leather shoes and cheap, green jerkin where of such a low quality, even his slaves at home were granted better clothing.
However, in this backwater planet called Earth those were already considered luxurious. He lamented this fact ever since he was punished by his clan and sent here to do minor work.
Josef shook his head as he thought about how it only took him a few days to learn the language spoken by those natives.
With this simple feat, he was already miles ahead of the many peasants in this country and got a good job as a scribe.
It was simply pathetic to think that he had to exchange bloody conflicts for pen and quilt only to please some irrelevant human lord.
Thinking about his journey so far, Josef slowly balled his fist. Traveling in this horse drawn carriage was simply considered an insult to him and his butt.
Since a few weeks ago Josef had been driving along bumpy roads, leaving his whole body shaken and sleepless. As he was out collecting taxes, Josef's convoy naturally consisted of more than his own carriage.
Multiple carts followed behind him, constantly making noises, irritating him to no end. The worst, however, where those stupid soldiers. Those idiots just couldn't shut up.
Not that they had much to talk about though. No; they simply repeated the same few stories time and again.
Finally, as a soldier to Josef's left laughed for the third time this week about the story of his captain falling into the latrine, Josef couldn't hold back his anger anymore.
Suddenly a loud slam shut the dozen soldiers outside up as they stared wide eyed at the scribe's carriage. A hand-sized hole had appeared on its side.
The old wood cracked and splintered as the carriage only drove on two of its wheels.
Under the loud neighing of horses and with a loud rumbling the carriage's other wheels crashed down on the road again.
It took the soldiers a second to come back to their minds. Multiple thoughts spun in their heads.
What happened just now? Did ballistae just shoot at us?
Did I see a human hand just now? How can a human have this much power? And how could he be inside the carriage?
What should we do now? Is the scribe alright?
Chaos and panic broke out as the soldiers realized that the young scribe was surely dead. How could he survive such a blow with his frail body?
Luckily their captain was a seasoned veteran. A loud whistle quickly drowned out the neighing horses. With this signal the trained soldiers manage to gather their bearing as the captain led his horse towards the carriage.
At this time nobody noticed the small, inconsequent piece of gravel. How could they even? There were after all thousands of pebbles on this long, dirty road.
One of those, however, happened to be in the right place at the right time. As Josef lost his cool and punched his carriage's wall, an inhuman amount of force traveled along the wooden structure, soon reaching the road below.
This force also shot into a random pebble, suddenly propelling it outwards at high speed. It soon crashed into a larger stone, dislocating it. Before anyone could react, a landslide had already formed.
Loud rumbling sounded once again, as the captain didn't even have time to reach the carriage. With surprise on their faces, the soldiers could only watch on as a mass of dirt and stone rushed down the small hill they were on.
Inside the carriage, Josef had just taken in a deep breath, controlling his emotions. Such a big blunder was rather uncharacteristic of him. It seemed he had gotten careless while surrounded by beings who posed no threat to him.
As his eyes shifted towards the hole he just made, irritation crept into his mind. How could he explain what just happened to those soldiers?
While coming up with explanations in his head, Josef suddenly spotted something. The landslide he caused had mostly been stopped by some trees and only reached the bottom of the hill at a few places.
With his superior eyesight Eldrak noticed a panicked man further away. This man had tears in his eyes as he used his bare hands to dig through the dirt.
Josef thanked his luck for such a perfect distraction.
Before anyone could ask questions, he quickly left the carriage and shouted:
"I'm fine! I'm fine. What are you all doing?! Quickly take care of our horses! Captain?!"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Take a few men and help this poor bloke down there!"
Although Josef didn't have a military or noble rank, the captain was still used to listening to him during their travels.
He asked himself whom the young man was talking about as he peered down the hill.
"There, there. Don't you see him?"
Befitting his role as an inexperienced scribe, Josef wildly pointed down the hill. Although he told everyone he was fine, his face still showed some lingering fear.
After a few seconds the captain also noticed a disheveled looking man digging through dirt. However, some peasant naturally wasn't as important as the scribe's security, so he turned around with a questioning gaze:
"Sir. We have to make sure you are safe. Shouldn't we scout for enemies? We don't even know what hit us right now."
"E… Enemies? You think they are still here? You are right! We must run quickly! They have such a strong weapon; we are basically waiting to get shot at by staying here!"
As if realization suddenly dawned on him, Josef showed panic on his face. Without waiting for anyone, he turned and bolted down the hill.
The captain stood in confusion for a second before yelling some orders, climbing down his horse and rushing after Josef.
With his training it wasn't hard for Josef to run down this hill. Even on this uneven ground caused by a landslide he could still pretend to stumble a few times only to recover at the last second.
In this way, the scribe soon reached the bottom of the hill long before the captain. He deliberately emerged close to the man he saw earlier.
Observing the latter's panicked expression and coarse, dirty linen clothing, a trait which continued to bring Josef into trouble showed its ugly face again. Pity!
With a conflicting expression Josef looked towards the ground to find the reason of this man's distress. There, leaning against a tree, a young woman could be seen.
Her long black hair loosely covered her face. Her old, plain dress was in tatters, showing her bruised and scratched skin, as her lower body was still buried in dirt and rocks.
Obviously, the landslide just now barely reached this woman. However, how could a weak human defend themselves in the face of nature?
Josef's face contorted as he was once again reminded of the ongoing conflict in his mind.
Who wouldn't want to gain strength beyond all measure? Who wouldn't want to laugh nature in its face as it sends a landslide? Who wouldn't want to stand at the top in this survival-of-the-fittest-kind universe?
Naturally Josef wanted all of these. However, once again he felt this damnable emotion holding him back.
Pity!
How could a proud warrior of the Zrathras Clan feel any Pity?!
After a short struggle Josef closed and opened his eyes with a sigh as he walked towards those two peasants before him.