"What is this warmth?" Hitori opened his eyes. His line of sight was slightly obstructed but he could identify long pink-hair and blue eyes. "Oh, you're awake." His face turned a light shade of red. As he glanced at where he had rested, he quickly turned away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for sleeping on you!" "It's okay!" the pink haired girl replied with a smile. "Wait am I really dead?!" "Unfortunately, you are." "Who are you then?" "I'm no one and everyone." "Are you a god?" "You're smart, that's good. To answer your, I'm the God of Souls, and you're the one hundredth-billionth soul and version of me, so I'm giving you a second chance at life." "Am I a copy of you?" Hitori looked at himself as if questioning his existence. "You're a fraction of me, and ultimately the only crime you've committed is having free will?" "I'm not sure I want a new life." "Until we meet again." She approached him and lightly tapped his chest. "I have more quest-" Hitori found himself suddenly free-falling into a forest. "What the hell!" As he passed through the dense branches, his knee slammed into one. After belly-flopping onto the ground, he struggled to catch his breath. "How the hell did I survive that?" Hitori stumbled onto his feet. "This actually isn't half bad." The forest suddenly became active.
Growls echoed around Hitori. From the stocky bushes appeared four black wolves with saber-long fangs. "(I take back what I said), let's all calm down." The wolves mouths watered at they inched closer to Hitori. "Piercing Ember!" An arrow blazed past Hitori, and struck one of the wolves in its head, setting it ablaze. The other wolves fled back into the bushes. Hitori held his face as the arrow even by it grazing him he got burnt. "A hooded figure stepped out of the vegetation."I hope I didn't scare you." "Thanks for the help but your arrow burned me." As Hitori said those words the world became distorted and he swayed till he fainted.
A sweet aroma drifted through the air. "Am I dead (again)?", Hitori asked as he looked up at the ceiling made of log. "Not yet... the poison on my arrows aren't lethal." To Hitori's right sat the hooded figure. "Is this place where you live?" "In a sense it, but it's more like a training ground." "Most monsters here are D-grade or lower." "I'm not familiar with what you're talking about." "Here's a debrief, F-grade is the lowest ranking for monsters, most F-grades are friendly. X-grade monsters are the most powerful, and everything above F-grade wants to kill you, understood?" "I guess, but there one thing I don't get." ""What is it?" "How did you light the arrow on fire?", Hitori asked with a puzzled expression. "It's fire magic." "Magic exist here?" "You seem like you weren't born in this world, why is that?" "That crazy talk, of course I was born in this world." "I'll take you by your words, and about magic. It's as simple as this." The figure held a hand out, and a small flame formed. Hitori looked on in awe like a child experiencing a fireworks show for the first time. The flame dissipated. "Did that answer your question?"
After some thought, he clasped his hands together and asked with newfound energy in his voice, "Can you please train me?!" "No." the figure's response was swift as if she was asked this exact question before. the figure got up and opened the door. "I think you should get to the outskirts of this forest before night" Hitori sighed as he got up and approached the door. "Thank y-" the door closed with warning. Upon closing the door the figure rested against it as if facing a conundrum. The figure exchanged glances with a framed photo of a blue-haired woman with her left arm around a red-haired girl wearing a cap with a silver star sewn into it. The figure remarked to themself, "It's been a while, hasn't it?..." Hitori wandered through the forest. Soon the Moon's glow became visible. Not able to bear the cold of the cruel nightlife, his eyes fell upon a hollowed tree trunk to hide and keep warm in. As he drifted into sleep the rustling of bushes jolted him awake. He couldn't speak, his voice stunted by looming threat of being devoured. Light breathes he took. He knew what was before him, its slow, slithering motion could not be mistaken for any other monstrosity. Its scaly armor shimmered in the moonlight. Even after it had departed, he held his breath, expecting the worst but hoping for something better. It couldn't slither through the grass as predator instead it path the bushes, leaving broken branches wherever it pleased. Hitori remained awake till daybreak and collapsed when he could go no longer without sleep.
Feeling a light tap on his forehead, he opened his eyes, it was the hooded person who saved him the first time, except now her hood was off. There wasn't long, nor was her skin smooth. Her face was marked by scars, giving her a hardened appearance.. Her eyes were a dull-yellow and red hair covered her head. However she smiled. "I wasn't expecting to find you alive, but I'm glad you managed to survive for this long." "Does this mean you'll teach me to use magic." Hitori's urge to sleep vanished as his eyes sparkled and he smiled. "Hold your horses... I'll build you up to be a capable enough swordsman to beat the monsters here but beyond that there's not much I can." "I appreciate it. (It would be better than dying to that thing)" he thought briefly recalling the encounter. "There's not much time to waste so let's start with the introduction..."
"126, 127, one hundred and twenty-eig-" "You're making steady progress, but it won't be enough. I think you need eight more weeks of strength training" She proclaimed as she dropped a rock on Hitori's back. "Bring it on!" Hitori mustered the strength to do a push up with the added weight. "Not half bad, but can you keep that same energy and do 100 more." Hitori took a second to breathe, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Watch me! (I don't wanna to be a part of that thing, I'll do what ever it takes to become my own person.) You hear me you damn deity!" "That's quite a bold statement, Hitori Tenu." The deity proclaimed as she viewed Hitori through an orb. "He's definitely losing his mind." The girl remarked with a nervous smirk.