I.1

An impossibility.

That's what he was - An impossible existence floating in an impossible reality. There was no comprehending the sheer scale of his surroundings. Shifting mounds of time and space, opening and yet not opening holes into other realities. An expanse of colors so vast that they barely existed at all. The cacophony of sound rang out, somehow containing all possible notes and tones.

Thus, it was nothing. Thus, it was colorless. Thus, it was silent.

Infinite so as to be meaningless; The void.

Him? He was barely a blip. Another soul that had somehow found its way in and was trapped. There were no questions to ask himself, such as why or how he'd arrived. Nor did he care to find a way out.

He shouldn't exist. The void was designed by nature to consume all that it encompassed. Somehow, he knew that. But neither should the other billions of souls that resided here as well. So what was the point of worrying about it?

And so, he observed the shifting colors in fascination. He peered into other realities for entertainment. He listened to the music to pass the tim-

For moment, the void did something it had never done before. It shook.

'Thats probably not a good sig-'

Abruptly, what could only be described as two suns collided with him, dwarfing his tiny existence and filling him with the feeling of power.

Together, along with his soul, they slowly converged into something greater.

And in a place where existence should be impossible, where time and space shouldn't matter... something happened.

[+]

'Gold.'

His eyes were a vibrant shade of gold, almost glowing in the shade of morning dawn.

Long black hair flowing to his mid-back, thin eyebrows, and an angular jaw made for a distinctly Greek visage. His build as a whole was slim, his rather tall height making him look far less than he weighed.

Normally, he wouldn't bother staring at his reflection for so long, but he found himself stunned at what just occurred.

It took fifteen years for it to happen, but Shinjiro's mind, body, and soul finally synchronized. And that meant he remembered.

Remembered the void, however incomprehensible it was, and his time within it. He remembered the decades spent peering into other worlds for entertainment. More importantly, his mind made a connection.

Several connections, really.

For one, he realized the world he was apart of. A world of monsters, gods, and mortals alike. Of supernatural intricacies lying under the veil of modern society.

Draconic Deus.

And two, he realized with a shudder that he'd encountered this supernatural world already. Multiple times, in fact.

He just couldn't remember until now.

Without the memories of the void, he was functionally a normal citizen. An orphaned citizen, since he shouldn't exist in the first place, but a citizen nonetheless.

Early on in life he realized that strength was everything in this world. Not brute strength, as modern society didn't seem to reward that much anymore, but mental strength. There were multiple ways to go about it, but he decided to go with the easiest path.

Academic strength.

And so, he pushed himself enough to earn a scholarship for the prestigious Kuoh Academy. Today was going to be his first day at that school, coincidentally enough. And with his scholarship he was granted a small stipend for everyday life, paid tuition for the now coed private school, emancipation from the orphanage, and even his own house!

Except... no. That didn't make sense. No scholarship just provided a teenager their own property.

'Someone... made me forget, didn't they?' He mused.

More accurately, they'd used some form of hypnotiziation or magic to make him less skeptical. To suppress his memories of questioning his bizzare circumstances. And they probably suppressed everyone else who was confused as well.

That revelation left a pit in his stomach. The thought of some unknown person meddling with his mind...

Yet, at the same time, he couldn't help a brittle smile from forming on his face.

Whoever was backing him clearly gave this house for a reason. They'd likely put over a dozen cameras in it to watch over him. Trying to figure out their intentions was a fruitless endeavor, however, with how complicated he knew the supernatural world was.

Instead, he'd focus on the positive. The reason why adrenaline almost flowed through him at his mere thoughts.

Because this wasn't just mundane society anymore. And his initial conclusion - that strength meant everything in this world? He couldn't be more right.

'And I already have a head start over most humans... Status.'

The ability he'd acquired from the void coalesced from two gargantuan fountains of power. Together, they grew and twisted together into an ethereal tree - their roots connecting his mind, body, and soul.

His lifeline, his savior, his beginning and likely the source of his eventual end. It blazed forth at his command, almost eager in its intensity.

And with a simple flex of his will, it provided him a screen only he could see.

--

▽

Shinjiro

Level: 0

Rank: Mortal - T0

Class: [--]

Progress to next level: 0%

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 2

Toughness: 1

Chi: 3

Mana: 1

Faith: 7

△

--

Shinjiro still wasn't sure where this thing had come from since the void was only filled with other aimless souls like himself, but he wasn't complaining. It provided him power and even pushed his soul into a human body.

It damn sure wasn't a Sacred Gear. Even the strongest of them didn't really match up to the sheer potential this ability had.

And since it was linked to both body, mind, and soul, he could literally feel exactly what each function did.

Level was a measure of his gathered essence, the energy that made up most of a being's soul. Essentially, after he accumulated enough of it, he could increase his overall existence.

Of course, the only way to get more of it would be to kill and steal it from others. Their overall soul would be fine, though. He could only take a 'bit off the top' with each kill, so they'd just be set back a bit in natural power with their next reincarnation.

It wasn't like he had to kill people, either. This world was full of monsters.

His Class was a modifier of sorts. Or, perhaps it would be better to call it a path. He couldn't directly invest essence into his stats points, so his class determined which stats would be prioritized upon leveling up.

And with each new Class upgrade, the more he gained from a level up.

Rank, on the other hand, was a limiter of sorts. With each milestone of levels, he'd increase in rank, making it so gaining essence from those of a lower rank impossible.

But while it made gaining essence harder, it made each of his stats worth more than normal. A few strength points could equal the equivalent of a hundred eventually.

Speaking of stats, they were all fairly self explanatory.

Strength was his physique. His physical prowess or lifting strength. How hard he could hit.

Dexterity was a ton of things, actually. His sense of balance, spatial awareness, and reaction time. Alongside his fine motor control and finesse.

But while Dexterity seemed to be much more impactful than Strength, they were both nessecary. Without a healthy balance of the two, he was prone to injury. On the flip side, when the two were in harmony, they made up his speed.

Toughness was also included in the equation, in a fairly obvious way. It was his stamina and his general pain tolerance. Without enough of this stat his strength would be a major detriment.

The next few stats, however, were the real important ones.

Chi, Mana, and Faith all measured the amount of a certain energy he held within his body and soul.

Chi was his vitality, or life force. Mana, of course, was his magical power. And finally Faith was his holy power. Which apparently humans have for some reason.

He had no idea why he had so much Faith. Maybe his soul was a reincarnated hero? After all, the average human had stats ranging from 1 to 3, and the stats were not linear. Having a 4 wasn't just twice as powerful as a 2.

Granted, he didn't know if the stat difference was exponential or logarithmic, but it damn sure wasn't linear. According to his power, having any stat over 9 was beyond human limits.

Normal human limits. Not the abnormals of humanity like the higher ups of the church. And definitely not comparable to a human with a sacred gear.

And that, too, was why he was so excited. This ability had the potential to grant him abilities far above what humans could ever hope to attain.

With it, it was possible to disregard his limits. To push beyond what should've been possible and usurp power he wasn't meant to have.

To trespass into the domain of the gods.

---

A/N: Fuck it, we ball.