1 Rebirth

In the darkness, empty and void of anything else, a light was flickering in the distance.

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This was the soul of Akira, a 17-year-old boy whose life was about to take an unexpected turn. Some would say he had a good life, others a bad one, but to Akira, it was an unremarkable existence spent reading books and delving into his interests. With a photographic memory that allowed him to memorize every book he read and understand the inner workings of machines, he was a bright and curious young man.

He was born in a wealthy family, his parents weren't around very often, so he spent most of his time reading.

But one day it all changed.

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While waiting for his parents to come home the door below burst open, telling by how much footsteps there were he knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself. He quickly grabbed his phone and ran to the safehouse, which was precisely made for these kinds of things.

But as he ran, a silver glint caught his eye.

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It was a bullet.

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*SHATTER*

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*Puchi*

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In an instant, a bullet shattered the window and sent him falling to the ground.

His life ended abruptly and painlessly, or so he thought.

╾──────────────╼

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'W-where am I?' The soul asked, but of course no one answered. No one could hear him, he was alone in that empty space.

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'W-Wait... how can I even think? I shouldn't be capable of thought...right?'

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'Is this the after life? Is this it? Am I just going to be stuck like this for all eternity?' The soul began to worry, being in a state similar to what one would call a vegetative state for an eternity would be hell, maybe even worse...

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Several hours passed after that, hours turned into days and days turned into weeks, but no change occurred whatsoever, he was still there....just floating....in the emptiness...

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The soul waited patiently, hoping something would eventually happen...

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Just then.

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*BOOM*

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Suddenly a loud boom resounded, followed by what seemed to be a shockwave.

'!?'

A bright flash of light temporarily blinded him.

His sight quickly returned, and when he could see again he saw he was in a line of what looked to be souls!

His vision was replaced by a queue of other souls all in a line moving forward towards an incalculably bright light, he seemed unable to control where he was going. The place looked very bright with clouds as far as the eye could see, there was a very clear blue sky but no sun!

'Wait how can I even see? Do I even have eyes?' The soul pondered.

There were a untold amount of souls, all in a line that seemingly stretched on forever. Akira stood in the line for what seemed like days. 'Is the after life just filled with waiting, waiting and even more waiting for eternity?' he began to become annoyed at the fact that he had been waiting for so long.

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As he drew closer to the strange light, he started to feel a sense of comfort and ease that he couldn't explain. The closer he got, the more his worries and doubts melted away, as if he was being enveloped by a warm embrace.

***

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*SWOOSH*

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A large black hand emerged from underneath the clouds.

It was pitch black, carrying a semblance to that of a dark void, the hand was at least 50 meters tall, its long claws looked so sharp they could tear the skies apart with relative ease.

*SWOOSH*

The hand immediately grabbed Akira, pulling him down.

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Akira's vision changed as he was pulled down from the clouds.

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*CRACKLE*

*BOOM*

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The light blue sky turned into a hellish crimson that reminisced that of blood. The air had a pungent smell of acid, smoke and blood all blended together to form a horrible stench that filled the air. Violent thunderous sounds could be heard all over the place as the giant hand pulled him down.

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'What the hell!? What is this place!' Akira immediately started panicking when he realized what had happened.

He was suddenly transported to a hellish wasteland!

Ponds and rivers of lava flowed around the hellscape, Thunder and lightning were striking the ground every second, it seemed like the phrase 'Lightning never strikes the same place twice' didn't apply to this place.

This place was a the polar opposite of where he had just been!

Eventually he came to halt midair.

"Precisely that." A booming voice erupted from behind. The voice was loud and orotund, it carried a powerful and royal tone to it, yet it also had an extremely evil and malicious ambience.

The soul then turned around, what he saw sent shivers down his spine...

The figure standing there was nearly 5 meters tall having 4 arms, but somehow, in an inexplicable way, the being also seemed to have more than a thousand at the same time, it had a red crimson skin and eyes that looked so sharp they could stab you.

The glowing yellow pupils that it had, looked as if it could peek into your soul and devour it whole.

His face and body was tattooed with multiple strange markings, and his whole lower body was all pitch black in color.

It had multiple glowing magical arrays on his back, filled with ancient archaic symbols that he could not understand.

Jet-black wings adorned his back, they were darker than a black hole giving the impression that anyone stepping to close to it would be engulfed in an endless darkness, similar to the arms they had an indefinite number looking as if he had two, four, and a thousand all at the same time.

He had a very charming face that no model from earth could hold a candle to.

He had a long sharp tail behind his waist, seemingly having hundreds while simultaneously only having one.

He was sitting upon a throne made of bones which were smothered with blood and flesh, The throne was as disgusting as it was grandiose.

When Akira saw him the first thought that came into his mind was the word 'Demon'

One couldn't blame him though, every aspect of the entity in front of him was the manifestation and embodiment of the word.

'Y-you can hear me?'

"Of course I can." The demonic figure responded with a smirk.

'Who are you? W-wait, hell?' Akira stammered, barely able to speak under the weight of fear.

He didn't think that he'd go to hell, he thought that he'd have done enough in his life to go to heaven!

" You can call me Lucifer... and yes you're in hell. " Lucifer chuckled and snickered

"Heaven? the chances of one getting in to heaven are at the very least 1 in a million... there's no way you would've made it in there. "

Akira was appalled '1 in a million!?'

'W-wait... Lucifer? The fallen angel !?' Akira responded

"Yes... The fallen angel. You humans sure have a habit of reminding me about that." The demonic figure frowned a bit.

*gulp*

Akira really had no idea what to do now, he didn't even know why he had been brought down by Lucifer in the first place.

'W-why do you want me?' Akira asked, barely able to utter anything under the immense pressure of the demonic figure.

"Hmm, well... You see...

The Jade Emperor has chosen a person to send to this one particular world... and I need that person dead... I can't personally come to the world because I don't have enough Qi to hide my aura, that would alert the Jade Emperor. But you... I can cover your presence easily...

Here's the gist of it... I want you to go to this planet find whoever Jade Emperor sent there and kill that person...of course you would also be appropriately rewarded "

Hearing all of that Akira couldn't help but think that it was a really petty move.

"I can still read your thoughts, you know?" Lucifer said in a displeased voice.

'I'm sorry! I just can't help it!' Akira apologized

'Can't a powerful demon deal with it? Why me?' Akira was confused at all that was happening at this moment.

"At the moment, my trusted demon followers, like Forneus, Auron, and Zenesha, as well as the other demon royals, are preoccupied with other matters."

and as for why we picked you, well...

I just randomly picked the most powerful soul I sensed in the area at that time and it just so happens to be you," Lucifer said with a big smile.

Akira nearly spurted out a mouthful of blood when he heard that, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry being picked for such a flimsy criteria.

Even after all that, Akira had still had one final question that he needed answered...

Why?

"War."

"War?"

"War and life, life and war, what's the difference? Two seemingly disparate concepts that are inexorably intertwined. War, viewed as that oft-lamented scourge by life, yet is an ever-present force throughout the annals of its history, a force that has shaped the very fabric of its existence. War, the potent crucible for progress and change, while simultaneously wreaking havoc and destruction upon those who are caught in its tumultuous wake."

"To keep it simple, lets just say that a big ones coming, and I need you to do your part."

Akira was dazed, not knowing how to respond...

"As for your rewards... Of course you'll be immortal, meaning you won't age... and a very special constitution. Hmm, might as well give you an aura type treasure... '' Lucifer said while contemplating.

"Constitution?" Akira was a little bit confused...

Although he had read many novels during his time on earth and some had used the word 'constitution' he didn't want to randomly connect this to the novels he read.

"All your questions will be answered when you get transported there, the war will commence soon. Remember that. You have to be fully prepared by then, "

Multiple magical arrays suddenly appeared underneath Akira.

Although Akira had so many questions he was unable to utter another word as the arrays quickly spun, generating an unknown magical aura.

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*BOOM*

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Akira's soul was enveloped in a pillar of light.

╾──────────────╼

In the middle of a forest under an ancient tree that was not unlike a willow tree, a bare naked body was lying underneath the branches, resting next its trunk.

After several moments the eyelashes of that body began to flutter.

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"Ughh... my head hurts... does teleporting always make you feel like this?" Akira said while one hand was holding his forehead

He slowly stood up looking around, he then proceeded to look at his body...

"hmm?" He patted all across his body, feeling the changes, when his hands suddenly travelled slightly 'downwards'...

"...eh?"

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"Eh!?"

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"EEEEEEHHH!?"

'WHAT THE HELL!?'

'I-Its gone!?' His hands patted around the area, feeling around hopelessly.

Suddenly a feeling of hopelessness arose in his heart as he suddenly slumped over in the corner.

'M-my son...' Thick streams of river like tears welled down his face as a small drop of snot went down his nose...

(Authors note : In a comedic way of course)

"Goodbye, old friend... You will be missed..." After having mourned the loss of a dear friend he continued onwards, pushing his feelings down and bottling up his emotions...

After having said his final farewells ,He then began to examine his other body parts...

He looked at his hands and feet and noticed they were much smaller, his hair was much longer too, he looked and touched his chest surprised to feel and see nothing. He had a body similar to that of a child!

He desperately wanted to go find a reflective surface but knew that he had more important matters to deal with.

'F*ck! How are you the Demon of Pride!? if anything, you should be the Demon of Pettiness!' Despite his bravado, however, Akira couldn't quite figure out how to take on the demon, or even if he wanted to try...

He climbed on the tree sitting on a branch, luckily the leaves of the tree were so dense that no one would be able to spot him.

As he was slightly lost in thought, he then suddenly saw an odd screen pop up I front of him...

(Authors note : Think of solo leveling)

[INPUT NAME]

Akira's brows raised suddenly thinking of all the novels he had read...

An odd sensation flooded him as excitement rose in his heart, Although he wasn't sure where it had come from or why it was with him none of that mattered to him right now!

'A-a system!' He couldn't help calling out in his mind.

"Hmm... what name would I want... "Akira began to think about the multiple names from when he loved to watch anime, but then just thought that it would be best to use his own name.

"Akira."

[AKIRA]

Suddenly the Menu closed and several pieces of information flooded into his head, it felt very odd but didn't hurt that much. This was information practically known to all the common people of this world, it wasn't a lot of information, just enough to not leave Akira completely clueless about the world he was in.

"Hmm... Ok I think I got it now" Akira was rearranging his memories and information

"This world has a striking resemblance to all the cultivation novels that I used to read when I was young...

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...Currently the forest I'm in is called the 〖The Great Forest Jaya〗 ''

Akira was transported to a world full of magic. People here were able to do magic by utilizing the dense Qi in the air. Almost every single living being in this world had an affinity for it and could cultivate.

According to the information, the cultivating path was divided into several skies, so far he only knew about the 〖Mortal Sky〗, the 〖Novice Sky〗 and the 〖Neophyte Sky〗.

Each sky consisted of several realms, and those realms were further divided into 3 stages.

The most important stages he knew of right now were under the 〖Mortal Sky〗, being the Qi Gathering Realm, Base Qi Realm and True Qi realm!

'Some beings in this world are born with powers called 'Constitutions' which granted them supernatural abilities and powers...

Not that they didn't have them already... ' He felt as if it was particularly unfair, not only having the ability to cultivate, some of the individuals from this world were given powers above the existing ones they already had, they were essentially tigers which had been given wings.

Each and every person had different constitutions, but very rarely, two or three people would have the same type of constitution.

Before people would enter the 〖Mortal Sky〗 , constitutions would have very weak effects, for example if a person had an ice related constitution he would be able to withstand much lower temperatures than a normal person, or he might be more adept at using ice related abilities, but when that person entered the mortal realm, the ice constitution would be enhanced significantly, granting its user to control ice and learn ice type skills and spells much quicker than the average cultivator.

Constitutions were rare, making them a unique advantage possessed by only a few individuals. Unlike other creatures, humans had a lower probability of inheriting a constitution, which has prevented them from surpassing and dominating other species.

Akira remembered Lucifer mentioning him having a special constitution, 'Wonder what it is...'

Akira then recalled seeing a menu before, which he was also very familiar with thanks to the 'system novels' he liked to read,

'Oh right! I've got a system too, that's great! how do I activate it... let's try this...'

"Open System." Akira didn't know how to summon the menu of the system back so he just did what any other human being would probably do.

Nothing happened...

Akira felt at a lost for words. '...'

'Just now, was that even a system?'

Akira tried several other commands to try and get the system to pop up, but nothing happened...

"Sigh...Maybe that really wasn't a system..." Akira was slightly disappointed.

' I've definitely read too many novels...

Hmm, some of the novels would normally have these kinds of voices that would sound when a person achieved something of importance like breaking through a realm or learning a new skill or even when acquiring 'Geno Points'. '

He chuckled remembering a novel he used to read.

Akira was contemplating whether to hunt down some animals for their pelt, but decided against it.

The information which he got told him that almost every being could cultivate in this world, and it was rare to find one with no cultivation.

' Who knows what kinds of beasts are residing inside this forest ' Akira shuddered at the thought of having to run away from the horrifying beasts which roamed these woods. It was essentially courting death.

Akira wanted to make some makeshift clothes with the branches and leaves, but they were prickly and difficult to move around in, so he decided to use some mud and leaves to cover up his body...

"Ok... this will suffice...for now..."

He then did the next logical thing...

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It was to cultivate!

The way one cultivated was to first sense the surrounding Qi in the air and gather it inside the body through their meridians, once there was enough Qi, one had to refine the raw Qi into Profound Qi inside the body.

Profound Qi played a major role in the world. It had many uses with the main ones being 2.

The way one would be able to utilize skills, spells, magic and various other special abilities was by using the Profound Qi which had been accumulated within their Dantian. [1]

The second use was so that they could cultivate and become stronger!

Once there was enough Profound Qi inside the Dantian one would need to circulate it throughout the body through their meridians, these meridians would act as a pathway so Qi could enter, exit and move throughout the body.

Every time the flow of Profound Qi passed through a body part, a small part of the Profound Qi would then get absorbed and infused, and that body part would be slightly strengthened, once the Profound Qi was depleted one had to repeat the process over and over again.

( Authors Note: You can think of Profound Qi like a type of mana, MP and exp )

"Ok so calm my mind and sense the surrounding area..." Akira closed his eyes and began trying to feel the presence of Qi .

Akira raised one of his eye brows, he was beginning to sense strange fluctuations in the air but couldn't get a good hold of what they felt like... After hours passed he then suddenly felt the fluctuations become stronger then...

*CRACK*

The air around him seemed to suddenly crack!

*SHATTER*

Akira was taken aback by the sudden change in perception.

His vision changed from that of a normal one to one that could see all around him! What was once just 210° from his eyes became 360°! It felt incredibly surreal...

He could now also sense odd flows and fluctuations of energy in the surrounding area!

[Congratulations Host has learned the skill 『Magic Sense』! ]

Akira was startled by the sudden voice. It was the same one he had heard when the menu appeared.

Akira then opened his eyes and was very pleased... He had been in the world for barely more than a few hours yet he had already learned a new skill!

Akira chuckled, the skill which he got was indeed very similar to a move a certain slime once learned.

『Magic Sense』 allowed it's user to sense the surrounding Qi within a specific range and area. This move was very useful as it allowed one to find a good place to cultivate.

But Akira suddenly thought of a different use for such a technique. 'Could one try to use it to sense the Profound Qi in other individuals?' Akira wanted to test his idea as the ability to see all around you was akin to knowing the position of your enemies at all times, negating any and all attempts to ambush you from behind.

'Hmm right now it seems that I can only sense things in a 10 meter radius. It should improve if I train with it more' Akira thought while stroking his chin.

After getting the ability to sense the surrounding Qi in the area he noticed that the area where he was sitting had faint Qi, not suitable for training or cultivating.

Akira then decided to move to an area which had more dense Qi.

He hopped out of the tree and used 『Magic Sense』 to try and figure out the direction he needed to go.

He then noticed stronger fluctuations in the east and decided to go that way.

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Akira kept walking in that direction for about half an hour, on his way he had seen multiple odd beings in the forest ranging from purple squirrels which had odd glowing patterns on it to majestic colorful birds up in the skies.

He had tested 『Magic Sense』 on the small creatures, seeing that they had an odd glow around them, almost like an aura or more so a halo? He'd guessed that it was some type of halo which living beings radiated, and had some relation to the amount of Qi they had.

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After walking for a little while, he then saw a large pond nearby. The pond had much denser Qi compared to the other places he had been to.

To avoid getting seen by beasts or other people he found another willow tree and sat on it's branch.

He tried absorbing the denser Qi in the air for the rest of the day but to no avail...

He was very disappointed.

What he didn't know however was that normally a person would take a few months of preparation to breakthrough to the first realm, and if that person was extremely talented, maybe a week.

Breaking through to the first realm was one of the most complicated stages in cultivating, as it required the cultivator to understand how to absorb the Qi around them. It wasn't particularly hard but it required a lot of time to understand.

It was akin to that of learning how to use a new body part one had never used before, it couldn't be taught or explained but one had to just try it over and over again until they could use it properly!

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*Grrrrr*

Akira's stomach grumbled.

He needed food, he had been ignoring the hunger that he felt for the past couple of hours but now he felt that he couldn't continue...

He wanted to find some fruits that he might be able to eat.

But just then...

*STOMP

*STOMP

*STOMP

Loud footsteps could be heard from the distance and it seemed to be getting louder.

Akira tried to see what was happening but the willow tree blocked his vision.

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Suddenly.

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*ROAR

(Authors Note :

* means sound effects

' means thought

" means speech

『 』 means skill or spell

〖 〗 means Sky (i.e Mortal sky, Novice Sky and the rest

Though I might also stray off this path a little just to make tings look a little better.)

This is my first book! thanks for reading :) Tell me if there's any grammatical errors! and if there's anything you would like to change!

Thanks for Reading, I appreciate it!)

(Author from the future here! I've noticed that sometimes the symbols which I use may not register after a long period of time, so don't be confused why there are many symbols which have been replaced with an odd question mark in a diamond symbol like this "�" This might also explain why many of the novels in Webnovel have these too, Anyways Thanks or reading!)