Chapter 1: The travels beginning
It was cold.
That was the first thought that leaked from my mind as I was submerged in the darkness. It was cold, like the clammy feeling of a cold stone. It was an icy lake I was submerged in as if I was getting baptized.
It was comfortable, something I never thought would be comfortable. Perhaps, my body has finally given in to the temptation of a sweet release of my soul from its corpus? Or maybe, I'm in a coma and will probably awake sometime soon? Whatever the case may be, I will get a break from the stressful life of mine. Kinda wished I would stay dead almost, almost.
But something seemed keen to interrupt the darkness I was slumbering in.
A light peaked through the endless, bleak darkness like a singular pinprick of life. It seemingly grew bigger, or I was getting closer, as I got a somewhat full view of it. It was a glowing sphere, surrounded by rings which seemed infinite in diameter and the sphere itself was constructed almost like it was made of code or some metaphysical material.
I was seemingly heading towards it, and as I neared it I reached out my hand to touch it.
A flash seemingly happens.
Then, I was in the darkness no more.
What first greeted me was the stench of iron, as if I was placed in a pool of blood. I felt warm and as I looked down, it seemed I was correct. I was in a pool of my own blood apparently, and the wound, which was a hole in my stomach, was being mended by tendrils of light, stitching the wound close.
I got up slowly from the ground, the body I was in was sore and a bit weak and bereft of strength. I grasped what I could of the wall I was against to brace myself as I got up and looked over to see I was in an alley of some sort.
I stumbled along as I made my way in a random direction, just trying to find somewhere to go, not wanting to remain in the alleyway where there was little coverage from the elements. I looked up towards the sky and noticed it was shifting to a greyish hue, indicative of rain.
'1st day of reincarnation, and its gonna rain' I thought, already making heads of my situation as I noticed a puddle of water near me, and it was somewhat clear to look at and it gave me a good view of my new body.
It was average at best, better than my former body as it had a little handsomeness to it. Brown hair, green eyes, and a body that was lithe and strong. Then of course, there was the blood staining the coat I was wearing, a sizeable hole that was quite fatal, but it allowed me to reincarnate so I can't really complain. 'Sorry former body, if I get your memories I will try to remember your name' I thought to myself as I made my way further and came out to a street that was surprisingly empty.
I saw that street signs were still on so there is still business that was active. I then felt some fluctuation, I can't even describe how that feels, but I felt something and made my way towards it. It was a strange sensation I really wanted to be explained to me, but I guess I had to wait and see.
As I got closer, the air suddenly seemed overwhelming as if the energy which surrounded us was very concentrated which was an unusual phenomena except for grand rituals and the like.
As I neared the source of the feeling, I came across an unusual scene. A girl, who was no more than 17 years, was wielding a katana which seemed overwhelming in its presence. She had raven black hair, square rimmed glasses, and had on a japanese uniform which made use of a magenta skirt, white button up, black vest, and black shoes.
The most unusual thing about her was the immense presence. It was demonic in its feel, my body feeling unsafe. By her feet was a corpse of what looked like a mutated beast, and across its body was a huge slash that broke the body in two.
I immediately made an about face and began to walk away. There was a quote about my line of work that was taken as religion.
'What you cannot see and hear, is your safety'
If you worked in my field, that was a word you had carved into your soul, your flesh. A mantra you often chanted during the morning like prayer, and you pray to whatever God is out there that you aren't noticed or are ignored. Then there is sometimes the unwanted option, where the target notices you and begin approaching you. I looked back to see the girl following me and I immediately began to dash away.
Of course, now it seems my body decides to fail, as if an author was trying to pull something out of their A** and I fell on the ground as my mind sputtered for a little bit before it sunk into the darkness again.
You know, if I had a nickel for everytime I emerged from the darkness into an unfamiliar place, I would probably be a billionaire by now. Granted, many times was because my team mates back then were the playful sort, and let it be known, I have given some of them a ruthless curse of diarhhea as soon as I awoke.
Of course, lets began to focus on the elephants in the room. First of all was the woman who I assumed brought me here. Then there was others in the room but one in particular caught my attention. A girl with a bob cut, square glasses, and she even wore the same uniform. But what caught me off guard was her magical energy.
Not only was it a good amount of it, it was its composition that put me off guard. Its feeling was something akin to unholy, and I felt like it was somewhat corruptive. Seeing them glare at me was making me a little nervous so I figured I would say the first words.
"I come in peace"
Whatever atmosphere existed her before I spoke, i had a feeling it vanished as soon as I uttered those stupid words. I could see the leader, the one with a bob cut looking as if I just took the wind out of her sails.
"Seriously? Is that what you really wanted to say?" she asked as she sighed and put her hand to her forehead as beckoned over the one I encountered earlier. "Tsubaki, can you recount what you said earlier?" asked the leader as the girl, Tsubaki, nodded and began a recount of events that seemingly led up to my capture and binding in this room of sorts.
As she finished, the boss of the bunch turned to me. "Okay mister magician, what were you doing there?" she asked the leader, whose name was apparently Sona Shitori. "Well Ms.Shitori, I was wandring around because I awoke in a mysterious alleyway and happen to chance upon the situation" I said, being honest as I didn't know if they had truth detection spells or not intwined in my bindings.
"Okay, but that doesn't make sense as you should have checked with the overseers of this town" said Sona. I cocked my head to the side, not understanding what she was implying. "Overseers?" I asked with a confused look as they looked at me like I had gained a second head.
"Overseers, you know, the supernatural entities which oversee the town? Most foreign entities have to check in you know" she said as if it was obvious practice but I still looked at her with a look that said 'I still don't understand what you are talking about'.
"Your being serious" she said with a resigned sigh. "Yeah, I literally have no idea what is going on or where I am" I said with a little more force than necessary. I almost wanted to just undo the bindings with a quick spell just so I can get out of here.
"Okay, so you just woke up here and by your looks I assume you have no money either" she said as I nodded. "Yep, I was almost dead earlier, but I had enough magic for a healing spell" I said, lying through my teeth about the new abilities that were in my possession, powers that could quickly tear the world apart if they were used correctly.
"Alright, how about this? We can get you settled and even help you find a job. Of course, there is the fact you are gonna have to pay us back for these services like if we request you for an odd job here and there, is that okay with you?" asked Ms.Shitori as I nodded. It wasn't a bad deal, granted I think they should applie a geas but if they aren't gonna say anything I won't either.
"Alright, here is an address. My family owns these apartments near this school building here. Just bring them the note and you will be settled in. Of course, I will try and find you a job that will work with your new partner schedule as well so please go" she said as she undid whatever bindings were put on me and I left and headed towards the address she gave me.
As I arrived I whistled as these looked pricey. I headed into the main office as I got my keys from a gobsmacked office jockey and entered my apartment, room 203. Let me tell you, this is some pretty ritzy stuff. Of course, I have to do some basic stuff first like setting up barriers of course.
It didn't take me long to set up, even if I had to draw a core matrix sequence to tie all the spells together. As I laid on my bed, I figured it was time to glance at my new powers.
One of them of course, took my main focus considering its near world destroying capabilities. The essence of the Throne of Heroes. It was a metaphysical plane that held all thos legendary figures from history and mythology. It granted me a plethora of powers, especially in regards to summoning and commanding these heroic spirits with world altering powers.
I could even subsume their entire existence, granting me everything about them from their memories to their powers, how sick is that!
Than there is the essence of the Archmage. Beyond genius intellect, and the capacity to learn any magic was the cream of the crop for someone like me who was a practitioner of the magical arts.
Then, the essence of the home' was the truest of treasures. Forget the apartment, I could have just used the home, but it would probably have left suspicions. But lets overwrite this space with it shall we? Of course, that would mean my protections were useless, but hindsight is 20/20 sometimes.
I quickly converted the space to my interdimensional home and what greeted me was an extensive space full of greenery, trees, and even lakes and ponds. It was so, beautiful, a term that still couldn't fit the idealic look this land represented with its ethereal beauty.
There was only one word I think I could use to even describe the words I had right now. I felt 'Euphoric' and I just had to cackle from dusk to dawn, eagerly awaiting the next day, as I enjoyed the brisk wind of the overflowing nature of this land.