My name was Sheng Yu, and I died. I know, I know, it is very cliche and overplayed. But what can you expect I suppose, death is a part of life and it is natural process of the world. Then again, who can say they were killed by their own failures? Well, I know there's many who could claim, but the question is still valid. What makes it worse is the death was embarrassing in the age of ability.
I was in my room, playing a virtual game that allowed use of ones own real strength to fight in the virtual world, a game called Rapture. As I was playing it, the cord caught in my office chair and I fell and hit my head on the corner of my bed, bleeding out and dying very quickly. The process felt slow but it was quicker than I could imagine. I mean, who dies because a cord gets caught in their chair, my social score will decrease now because of this stupidness.
Of course, instead of meeting with the God or Buddha, I sat in the void. It was ample time to reflect on life. It wasn't a bad life, I had good parents, a decent job that payed well and I 'had' an ability. I say 'had' but I never knew what it really did beside a general mental and ocular enhancements. It helped me with work and minor details on projects but that was all, but an ability is still an ability, which put me somewhat higher on the worlds pole.
'I say, if I ever reincarnate, I want to know my ability and maybe, just maybe, get reborn in a more fantastic world' I thought as the endless darkness surrounding me then began to crack. The cracks eminated a blue color and tendrils of wispy energy began to coil around my spiritual form. 'Oh no, please don't be an eldritch entity!' I mentally prayed, and I swear I could feel the tendrils tighten in indignation as my mind, for a lack of better word for the accompanying spiritual organ, began to overload with information and I blacked out.
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'Why is it so warm?' I asked myself as I felt my consciousness slowly return to my form. The void as I remembered had a cold feeling to it and was very empty. This place, though dark, was warm and had substance, something the void lacked. As I moved around, I noticed I did not have the same physical mass I once felt, as I was still a soul. I tried to see if I could 'feel' around where I was and discovered my sense of touch was somewhat in tact, but muted.
'Liquid' I discovered as I was able to feel myself being surrounded by something with a thick, viscosity. It was warm and I felt strangely comfortable in. I also felt something else that was near my own spirit, about center in my chest. I extended a hand towards the source and I felt a strange amount of information in my head. 'My ability' I thought as I felt its purpose fill my mind.
'If its right, I am gonna be so powerful' I thought as I also felt something else in the surrounding, something similar to the blue wisps in the void. 'What is that?' I thought to myself as I extended my grasps towards the whisp of energies and I felt somewhat invigorated and my ability felt a little stronger. My hand had seemingly absorbed the energy without a single input from me.
Deciding to test this, I grasped at the energy again I felt it enter my spirit. My spirit grew strong, my own senses were growing and my ability was slowly itching on to the forefront. A grin began to grow on my face as I discovered this. 'Oh yeah, I have a plan' I thought with a menacing voice though it felt more childish than anything. I slowly began to absorb the energy at a steady pace, waiting for myself to grow.
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Its been a few months now, using my internal clock which has been very precise, and I have grown in power. My senses have been extended beyond their initial level, and my ability has grown consistently. It was now able to gleam a few things from objects, like an appraisal ability. The energy around me was supernatural in origin and had effects that could cause change.
Another mystery that was solved was where I was. I am in the womb, and my body was growing around my spirit like a container. It took me a minute to figure this out, but once I found evidence like my former, embryonic state I was able to see what was happening. Reincarnation, a topic that was the buzzword in many places, especially online novel platforms. It wasn't unfamiliar, especially in the culture I grew up in.
I could feel like my time was nearing, about another week I could guess and my guesses were nearly as accurate as my internal clock. It was something I was looking forward to, hoping to see another world with my own eyes. I could feel my ability pulsing with a feeling of gratitude at this chance, a fitting thing I suppose. Even though I spent months in here, it was odd to be born again, especially in full awareness.
'My time here is almost up, I need to make the most of it' I thought as I began to absorb and refine the energy in my surroundings, giving it a density unlike what it was naturally. I figured out I could do this by the time of 3 months. Absorbing and condensing, a cycle to repeat as many times as necessary. I also used this resource and sent towards my ability and my head, a spot I chosen. It started as an experiment to see if I could enhance my senses by forming a spiritual eye of energy.
It of course nearly failed but I did gain some success. I was able to clearly sense the energy and where it flowed to and from. I was also able to extend my senses around me and was able to better control the energy around me. 'Its no third eye, but it can get there in time' I thought as I decided to abide my time, waiting for the moment of my birth. 'Hopefully I don't get monstrous parents and uncles as family members' I thought as I continued my routine.
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'Its time' I thought as I could feel the time of my birth approaching. It was a bit longer, just an hour, and I would finally be born. The months of growing my abilities were a great boon. 'Though, I wonder what I will do once I'm out' I thought to myself as I should have a goal, even if its a minor one. 'Though, I can wait and see what the world is like before I do so' I thought as the minutes began to inch closer and closer to me re-conception.
The time then began to approach and I felt a weird feeling, like suction, and I was sliding out the womb inch by inch. The screams of someone outside was able to be heard and I could instinctly feel that it was my mother. When the final push came and my body was exposed to the outside world, a slight sensation of pain was felt and I let out a convincing cry.
"My baby!" a woman shouted as I was cleaned and wrapped in cloth and handed to her. My eyes were blinking because of the light but once they adjusted, a face appeared in my view, two faces exactly. One was of a woman with the slightly tanned skin, brown hair, and amber eyes which seemed to be able to see his soul. The other face was a young looking man, with a dark mustach and curly hair on his head. I could feel an intimidating aura from the both of them.
"What should we name the baby dear?" asked the husband, his mouth forming a gentle smile. "I don't know, so many options in my head" said the mother. I could somehow understand the language they spoke, possibly because of my ability and constant stay in the womb. "What about Merlin?" said my father. "It sounds nice, but what about the middle name?" asked my mother. "Hmmm, what about Hermes?" asked my father as my mother nodded in satisfaction.
"That's an alright name I suppose, Merlin Hermes Abbot" said my mother as the name wasn't lost on me. 'Whatever rules this world, at least their naming sense isn't bad' I thought as my new life in this world is about to begin.