It was a normal morning in the world of Tessrak, but the first light of dawn also brought a greater shift, one that would change the fate of not only the entire world but also the entire galaxy.
The sun hung high in the sky, burning bright, its early light spilling over the vast grasslands outside the Elder Woods. Accompanying it were the gentle and cold morning winds that carried with them the soft melody of birds singing their serene songs.
One could see more than a dozen stone-horned goats grazing on the fresh, wet grass, and among them, a man dressed in simple cloaths of linen and leather, lying unconscious, seemingly taking a nap.
The man opened his eyes, focus slowly returning to them. He took a deep breath, a smile spreading across his lips, before he looked to his side, sporting the source of disturbance he heard.
'If this is heaven, then I am truly grateful,' Nero mused as he sat upright, surveying his surroundings, finding it calm, peaceful, and beautiful, evoking a sense of freedom and peace he had not felt in years.
"HHOOWWWLLLLLL"
The serene peace of the early dawn was broken by a wolf howl, which sent panic through the goats. They ran for their lives, sprinting away from the woods with their heads down, prepared to tear through whatever came in their path.
'Is this something that I wished? I did hear that in heaven I could wish for anything, and it would be granted,' Nero thought, thinking if he wished for such an outcome, but his chain of thoughts was quickly broken as one of the goats tackled him.
Nero was hit in his side, a sting of pain rushing through his shoulder like it was dislocated, while he spun and crashed face-first into the ground, spinning once more before he instinctively pushed with his hand to throw himself in the air, twisting his body midair to land on his feet.
"BAAAAAA"
Nero had just landed when a goat, with distinct dark stripes covering his body, stopped next to him, roaring at him as if reminding him of something.
"Tiger?" Nero said, and with that came a flood of memories, fragmented moments of his life, from the toughest and ugliest of times to the blissful moment of his death.
'Reincarnation System'
The smile faded as the gravity of the situation settled, and Nero realized that he had been sent back in time to another timeline.
The realization that he was eighteen once more hit him like a hammer. He had yet to do the atrocious deeds that he had regretted all his life, he had yet to meet that monster who orchestrated his doom, and he had yet to do anything.
He had another chance, maybe the one he never wanted, as he only wished for his torment to end, but now that he was back, he was forced to consider what he could change and what better he could do.
Nero never believed he could feel so happy once more, but each of those thoughts sent a shiver of excitement through his body.
"BAAAAAAAAA"
'I remember, today was the day that I nearly died,'
'Time to get my first revenge,' Nero thought, smiling ear to ear as he pushed his dislocated shoulder in place.
"Tiger, you need to leave. I will deal with these wolves," Nero said, brushing Tiger's head before pulling the short sword strapped to his waist.
A wolf nearly four feet tall tore through the tree line, its brown fur glistening under the sun, its fangs protruding from its jaw, and its claws ripping into the soft ground as it pushed toward Nero and the goats behind him.
"BAAAA"
Tiger roared once more, tugging Nero with his horns, urging him to climb on his back so they could run to safety, and even when he saw the first wolf jump out of the woods, he did not run, only pushing him harder, as he cried desperately.
Tiger was one of the goats Nero bought a year ago when he came to the village, and since then, the brave little goat has helped him escape to safety many times, and as always, he has been trying to do the same.
In his past life, today was the day Tiger died trying to protect him, but this time, Nero would change it just like the fate of many others.
'You were the bastard that tore off his leg, so let me repay you for it,' Nero thought as he walked toward the charging wolf.
The wolf pounced the moment it was within reach, and in turn, Nero sidestepped, swinging his blade at the perfect moment, making the steel cut through the wolf's skin, muscles, and bones without any resistance.
"SRIIIIIII!"
The creature screamed as it crashed to the ground, with its back legs severed cleanly, intently giving way beneath it, sending the beast sprawling flat on its chest.
Blood gushed from the wounds, pooling around its body as it twisted in agony, howling in pain, and seeing one of their comrades suffer a brutal fate, the three wolves who had exited the woods froze in their tracks, growling in anger yet not daring to move a step further.
A moment later, three more wolves exited the forest, and their leader came, a towering creature that looked nothing like the others.
It stood nearly two meters tall, its hulking muscles visible beneath his heavy fur coat, his back from head to tail covered in jagged spikes of stone like a protective shell, while his claws and fangs were rocky brown, sharp, and deadly.
"GRRRGGRRRRR"
The wolf growled, seeing one of his underlings bleeding to death, and like given an order, the six wolves all charged, no longer gripped by their fear, flanking Nero, aiming to pounce on him from all sides.
The first to make its move was a young wolf, followed closely by four more from different angles, leaving no room for escape, but they were dealing with a seasoned warrior who could easily see through their ploy.
Nero threw the blade to his left, hitting a wolf that was moving close to the ground right in the head before swiftly moving forward, avoiding the jaws of the airborne young wolf as he took hold of his front leg before swinging him with all his strength and throwing him into the wolf to his right.
Nero bolted toward the wolf he killed and yanked his sword out just in time to meet the two wolves ready to get a hold of him.
He turned and met the one lower to the ground by kicking him in the jaw before he stepped to the side while swinging his left arm wide, plunging the sword into the other wolf's eye.
The first grunted as it tried to regain its balance, while the other roared in agony as the sword sank ever deep into his skull as he tried to pull away, but for both of them, it was already too late.
Nero twisted his wrist upward, making the blade cut through the skull of the wolf and his brain before he used the other wolf's head to jump into the air, doing so just in time to avoid three perfectly aimed earth shards that zoomed past his previous location and dug into the back of the unlucky wolf.
It took him a single exchange to kill three of the six wolves, but that only made the wolves more furious, as they circled him while their leader rushed in, done with seeing his kind butchered by a weak individual he considered a pray.
Nero was not given any time to rest as the three healthy wolves circled him while their leader bolted forth, the land before him moping into an earth spike that he used to jump high in the air before launching five stone shards at him and diving right behind them.
He had no room for escape, as in any direction he moved, a wolf was ready to intercept him, and even though he could deal with one of them with ease, it would cost him time, a moment that the leader would use to end him.
It was a good strategy if the wolves were up against even a seasoned first-rank ascended, but too bad they were up against a man who had climbed his way to the peak of the galaxy.
So dealing with a few wolves, even when he was outnumbered and many times weaker than them, was still as easy as crushing a few ants.
Nero sheathed his blade as he pushed the little mana he had into his arms, a thin layer of mana forming on his skin, and as the five erath shards came, he raised his hand, touching one of them while releasing the perfect amount of mana, guiding the shard in the direction he wanted.
He did the same with the second shard and used his arm as a platform to guide the third one before he sidestepped, letting the final two fly past him, doing it in a single intensity.
The three shards aimed at him lost little to no momentum as they zoomed toward the three wolves, catching them completely off guard, and before they could react, each shard struck its target head-on.
Their skulls cracked with a sickening crunch as the shards pierced through bone and buried themselves deep into their brains, killing them instantly.
The wolf leader was left momentarily stunned but quickly gathered himself before he swung his massive claw, eyes locked on Nero with deadly intent, but to his horror, his prey effortlessly slipped past the strike.
Nero swiftly climbed onto the wolf's back, gripping its fur tightly, and with precision and all his weight behind the blade, he drove it into the narrow crack of its stone-like skin, piercing deep into the neck.
The strike severed crucial veins, sealing the wolf leader's fate with deadly certainty, and with his work done, Nero swiftly yanked his blade free and leapt away, a fountain of blood gushing from the wound, staining the wolf and the ground in deep crimson.