Beginning His Path

The crowd stood around looking at the devastation of the city and the remains of Gene Alexander's monstrous Crystalline Fortress.

Many died in this battle and their remains were part of the landscape. The scenery resembled a post-apocalyptic world.

"I've never been so scared in my life," a person in spandex with dots all over his body said. "Me either," A woman dressed in a pink trenchcoat, high heels, and a pink mask said.

"If it weren't for Virtuous Crusader, I think we would all be dead," a man hidden by shadows said in a deep gargled voice.

"That's right, Virtuous Crusader is our hero! Let's all hear it for Virtuous Crusader!" The entire crowd began to cheer but soon quieted down.

"Has he left already?" someone asked.

"I don't see him anywhere," another person confirmed.

"I think he's dead; both he and Miracle Woman were caught in that beam of light. They were probably turned to ashes," a person in a dark purple costume with a yellow cape and black mask said.

The entire crowd was shocked by the realization that the two greatest heroes of their planet were probably dead.

Over the following weeks, the people of Earth came to accept their two most beloved champions, Virtuous Crusader and Miracle Woman of Mars, were dead.

The news eventually reached the Matriarch Hall of Mars. Otrera, Mother of Miracle Woman, sat on her throne heartbroken.

"My poor baby, Pentha, you are no longer here. You've left your mother all alone. Her red eyes shed more tears as she mourned the loss of her beloved daughter.

All the Amazon warriors of Mars mourned the passing of their princess, the First Lady of Mars.

Eventually, life on Earth and Mars moved forward. Naturally, life continued forward for the inhabitants of Earth's solar system.

Virtuous Crusader and Miracle Woman of Mars were mourned, missed, and hotly discussed. Eventually, talk of them became rarer and they moved to the back of everyone's minds.

The living must continue living while the dead must be content in their sleep.

A beam of energy moved through the universes of the multiverse. It passed through galaxies and the empty void of space and through numerous alternate realities.

In some realities, heroes with amazing powers fought against evil, in other realities the forces of evil seemed to have the upper hand.

On other worlds the beam passed, primitive warriors with magical powers fought ancient creatures. In some realities, only mortals occupied their universe.

Worlds of pure science, others of over-bearing magic, and others filled with supreme martial artists were blinked through in moments.

At last, the beam of energy arrived in a universe and approached a planet nearly twenty times the size of Earth. Like Earth, this planet was made up of seven continents. It was filled with many types of living creatures.

Some of the residents were human and others were not. It was a complex world but in the end, everyone on this planet believed in one thing, strength!

This planet is where the strong thrive and the weak bow their head or die. It was in this world the energy beam finally arrived.

A group of youths ran through a forest chasing another youth. "Superior Crafting Guild scum! You can't run from your death." a young man about fifteen years old yelled at the person they were chasing.

The young man being chased was quickly losing strength and could feel his knees weakening. He knew that if he couldn't escape these men from King's Crafting Guild he would die.

Earlier in the day, the people of King's Crafting Guild brought an army to the doorstep of the Superior Crafting Guild to destroy it.

From the view of outsiders, one would think the Superior Crafting Guild stood no chance at all. There were so many warriors and each one equipped with special weapons created by one of the top crafting guilds in the region, the King's Crafting Guild.

Things didn't go the way the Guild Elders planned. The Superior Crafting Guild put up a desperate fight.

They were able to bring out weapons several grades better than those used by their opponents. More than half the army the King's Crafting Guild brought with them was wiped out.

Many apprentices and lower level elders lost their lives. The King's Crafting Guild elders underestimated the remaining inheritance of the Superior Crafting Guild.

Over one hundred years before, the Superior Crafting Guild was the premiere crafting Guild in the entire continent. Many were jealous of the guild's treasures and the innovative treasures it produced.

Eventually more and more of its secrets were lost and they were no longer unrivaled. They steadily declined over the years until they were no better than other Crafting Guilds.

However, everyone knew that they hid away many of their treasures and possibly their secrets. Whichever crafting guild was able to capture those secrets could promote themselves to the top of the crafting world. This is what they believed at least.

What no one knew is that about a hundred years prior; the head of the guild took the most important secrets with him and left to parts unknown.

Ever since that time the guild has struggled to stay alive much less at the top.

Now, the King's Crafting Guild decided to strike and steal whatever remaining secrets were left. The Superior Crafting Guild caused a lot of damage and death in defense of their home, but eventually, they were overwhelmed by the number of attackers.

The attackers finally broke through the defenses and were making their way inside. The elders sent off their apprentices to escape and find new lives.

The King's Crafting Guild, however, did not want just the secrets of the guild; they wanted to eradicate any trace of the Superior Crafting Guild. Thus, the young man, Xan Gower, found himself running through the woods trying to preserve his life.

Unfortunately, Xan had been running for too long and his stamina finally failed him. Crashing to the ground, the group of young me finally caught up to him. Two of the young men hauled him up by his arms.

"You stupid brat, make us run will you?" The leader of the group, a King's Crafting Guild apprentice said viciously.

"Running didn't help you, did it?" he said while stabbing Xan with his knife.

The two young men holding him up, let go of his arms and he crumpled to the ground dying almost instantly.

The leader of the group spit on Xan's corpse and turned to walk away. Just as he turned a bright light engulfed the entire area.

Everyone who was fighting stopped to look at the light. The light burned everything around it and turned everything to ash it came in contact with.

All the remaining members of the Superior Crafting Guild and the King's Crafting Guild and their army in the path of the beam were no more.

This included the young men who just killed Xan. Imperceptively, a small spherical object entered the back of Xan's head.

The wound closed itself up. After a few minutes, Xan's eyes slowly opened. A deep intake of air animated the corpse and its heart began to beat once more.

Moving his arms, Xan pushed off from the ground and slowly stood up. Looking around, Xan witnessed the surrounding destruction.

"Did I do all of this?" he asked to no one in particular. "Welcome to Gliese, fourth planet of the Tres solar system.

A suitable body has been obtained for the player. Now begins, your Ultimate Path to Power.