1 1. The End?
It's not often I wake up somewhere I'm unfamiliar with. Sure, I go out drinking with friends sometimes and got so drunk that I slept in some questionable positions but never so bad that I wake up in an unfamiliar location. There were a few things that stood out to me as my senses focused back to where I am now, a predominantly white room with comfortable furniture in a living room setting. The second thing was an old man with the most majestic snow-white beard I have only seen in those Chinese cultivation movies.
"I thank you for the complement young lad, of all the forms you mortals envision me as this one is by far one of favourites" he responds with a chuckle. 'Huh, did I say that out loud?' were the thoughts circulating through my mind. Either seeing my confusion or reading my mind, I will never know but the man in front of me responded with an amicable smile and said, "I am not reading your mind, it's more like your thoughts are so loud you might as well be screaming them in my face, I don't take offence to it mind you, it's just that nothing is hidden from me is all".
A few scenarios run through my mind but being the avid watcher of anime that I am, or was, if my suspicions are to be correct then this is the famous met god/rob. Receiving only a sad smile and a nod from the being in front of me only confirms these thoughts in my mind, it takes a few minutes?, seconds? or it could have been months before the reality of the situation kicks in.
"Time is not a concept here, it is infinitely stretched and compressed meaning we are currently in the everywhen". Oddly, that makes sense, wait! What about my family and loved ones that… I, don't seem to… remember?
"That my dear young one is a consequence of the location you are. A few rules and circumstances that has led to your unique arrival to where you currently are.
1. I cannot return you to your original body or world or plane or even universe. Your time there has come to an end and to put you back there will unleash things better left not being there
2. Your core, what makes you the person you are remains the same, you remember all the anime you watched because even on a minute scale they influenced the being you became in that life
3. Your familial memories are erased because you will start a new life soon, it has happened many times when reïncarnaties or transmigraties only see their parents or close ones as stepping stones and that just ends badly for everyone, hence what is happening to you"
That makes sense to me at least, I still mourn the loss of those that I think were close to me but I have to move forward. People may call me heartless but I can only be upset to a certain extent for people I don't remember now. 'So what's going to happen to me now?' I try and direct my question the the being sitting in front of me and as if knowing what my intentions are he adopts a grandfatherly smile and answers my question.
"A few choices are open to you currently, due to your special circumstances", 'that's the second time these circumstances regarding my death has come up, wonder what happened for someone like the being in front of me to step in and alter whatever should have happened take place?' I question more internally than directed at the being in front of me. "Let's say that you are a special case that caught my attention and leave it at that, shall we?", 'well if we're gonna leave it at that then who what else can we do' I mentally shrugged
"I'll explain everything to you and only once I'm done can you ask as many questions as you wish" the amicable smile never leaving the old man, "you have a few options that you can choose from. You can choose to go your biblical versions of heaven or hell the choice is yours really. You can also choose to cease existing all together if neither of those options are what you desire and you feel that your end needs to be your end. A popular choice this last century is reincarnation or transmigration, that choice really depends on the user itself. Finally the last choice available to you would be to work under me and essentially stay here making you a supreme angel of sorts".
'That's quite the bit to take in. My first question is who would choose biblical he'll willingly!?!' I was screaming in my mind incredulously, it made no sense to me whatsoever. "Some people just feel the need to be punished when all their deeds are laid out in front of them" was the response I got with a shrug of his shoulders. 'Huh… oddly, I can see that happening.' With this new information provided I thought back to my life and all that I could remember, I believe they use to call us men of culture. Having watched a few animes', read a few Mangas' and light novels with the odd fan-fictions mixed in between. Mind you, I'm no Otaku that knows of every bit of culture out there but I have seen my fair share. 'I would like to know the curimstances of my choice of either reincarnation and transmigration, if thats possible?' I asked after several minutes of thought. "Reincarnation is the natural process of you being born with a new mother and father and you would go through the natural growth processes a mortal goes through, transmigration on the other hand would have me create a body of your choice and race depending on where you would go. In both instances you will retain your memories you currently have, although if you go the reincarnation route they will slowly return to you when you reach 4 or 5 years old. Also, you would not remember meeting me here and making the requests you would as no soul should know about the after. You will have knowldege that you died and ended up as you are there".
Going deep into thought, I realized that this exactly like those wish fullfilment stories that I've read before and immediatley began wondering if I got the traditional 3 wishes or if I got more? Again reading my thoughts the Rob in front of me chuckled again and gave me a response I was not quite ready for, "there's non of those specific 3 wishes nonsense. You choose your race and will recieve their strengths and weaknesses, after that you could voice a few advantages that I would either accept or deny and from there we would finish". Understanding that I can't just wish for absurd things and that I would need to adapt whatever I request to wherever I would end up, it then hit me like shovel to the face. I had no idea where I was going and this revalation made me realise that I almost made a major mistake. 'I would like to be transmigrated please, also would it be possible to find out where I would be going before I make my choices?' I hesitantly asked. With a sly smile on his face the being snapped his fingers and a spin the wheel appeared before the both of them causing me to give a deadpan look towards the being infront of me for their childishness, 'won't you already know the outcome being the all-knowing-being you are?' was my first thought. "I don't focus on those thoughts to allow a bit of surprrise in my life" his smile turned more amiacable and the wheel starts spinning. I watch it go past a few interesting names at high speeds, names like: Marvel, DC, Naruto and Dragon Ball. After some time the wheel started slowing down to the title: Danmachi and various thoughts go through my mind. 'I know of the general plot and a few events but not enough to prepare for every event and come out on top, the most important thing in a world like that is that might makes right.' These thoughts caused me to go into deep thought and recall all the races I knew of and their advantages and disadvanteges.
Thinking things through carefully and knowing full well that life would have to be taken within the world I'm going to, be it monster or adventurer I have to choose something that will keep me as safe as possible but also to level up and not remain stagnant and thats when the perfect combination occured to me. 'Would it be possible for me to request how I would be transmigrated and what time-line? Also with regards to my requests, I would like to make a few adjustments that would not make me too powerfull but also not too weak either thus creating a balance?' I asked with high expectations, "depending on what you request and what changes you want to make will determine what is allowed and what not" was the only response I recieved. 'I would like my race to be a Dark Fey like Maleficent with the bloodline already activated, is this possible?', at this the being stroked his chin and nodded prompting me to continue, 'I would like the weakness to change from iron to something a little more in-line with the world. I would like to change it so that someone must first plant a single treasure crystal from the treasure tree within soil containing a litre of my own blood, this tree will grow a red dagger that will only last for a single day and is capable of killing me.' At this request the being only laughed and accepted my race request but told me I would have to be born younger to allow my body to more easily accept the unlocked power and I thanked him dearly. 'For my request, I would like to be the dragonborn with the system that came with it. There will be no shop or quests that help me level up faster or anything like that, only access to the basic functions and track what I am capable of.' I asked with a little trepidation because even I knew how powerful that could make me in the future. "Hmm, that can be done. However the 'perk allocation' part will only be accesable to you when you enter a deep meditative state and be able to be unlocked when you reached a certain proficiency within that star cluster. An example of this would be that you would have to learn the basics of smithing first and the better you get the higher your proficiency in it will be, unlocking a star will only solidify your understanding. With enchanting we can change it so that you can use monster cores instead of soul gems as they are basically the same, the stronger and lower the monster the stronger the effects from the gem will be. Necromancy would cause a bit of a problem if you summoned a dremora so lets change that to monsters you personally have slayed within the dungeon and again, the stronger the monster the higher your proficiency would need to be. In relation to shouts, hmm. We'll do it like this. All the shouts will be grayed out in the begining of your system with descriptions within them and you must comprehend the first word of said shout to unlock it, from there at certain curcimsatnces you will recieve the dragon souls to further unlock them."
At the end of the being's explanation I was nodding my head furiously with stars in my eyes. I only had 1 little request, 'would it be possible to change the inventory from weight based to number based?' only to recieve a look from the being that made me shrink back a little for asking more. "Very well, it can be done. The inventory will change to number based and will only be accessable when you look within yourself to reach your system. It will aslo only grow larger the stronger you become, with this change I will have to add a curse of sorts to balance you a little. If you would like to make suggestions I can hear you out." Hearing this made me think long and hard until I could come up with a curse that will be benifical in the long run, 'What about calling it something like [Average Out], that means no matter if I only use magic or certain weapons the excelia gained will be evenly split between all my stats? meaning I have to work that much harder to reach an acceptable stage to level up?.' Stroking his chin the being in front of me pondered on my words for what felt like a long time, "That is actually acceptable, it means you won't be running around destroying the world within a short span of time. Alright I accept that suggestion."
Happy with what I would become and have within my new world heaved a sigh of relief. Going over everything once again in my head I was satisfied with my coming coming future. Looking at the being again I had 2 final requests, 'Might I ask for 2 more possible things and again if its not possible thats fine?' recieving only a nod from the being to continue. 'My first request is that my family in my past live be looked after', I only recieved a smile and a nod accepting and prompting me to continue 'and the second one is the nature of my transmigration, I would like to appear from an dremora summoning type gate the same as though a Dremora Lord were summoned in Elder Scrolls V with a concentration of magic in the air getting denser until the portal is visable?' I asked with a cheeky smile adorning my face. "Hahaha, you really want to make a dramatic entrance like that?" the being in front of me laughed hard. 'I just dont want to be mistaken for a monster that escaped the dungeon is all, with this my origins will be unquestionable' was my simple response. "That can be done indeed" the being laughed heartily, "as an added bonus, I'll drop you before the strongest mage. With this everything should be sorted and you can go enjoy your next life, there are no quests from me or requirements you must meet except that once you are there you will know for certain you died and cant return as well as that the moment you arrive, the fate of the world will change to include you as a variable."
'Thank you' were my last thoughts before I was whisked away from the being.
