1 Volume 1 Chapter 1 Acceptance

Throughout the vastness of eternal darkness that was the void of space, only illuminated by the faint light of the stars, a planet surrounded by a cosmic nebula could be spotted, once upon it the abundance of oceans could be seen from outside the planet. A collection of islands were the first things that could be seen among the waters, this group archipelagos were each connected by trains bridges as the wagons went by, the island was so big that it looked as though the trains move at normal speed. At the very edge of it, was a tall lean man next to a big tree, with eyes that seem as though he was blind, but that's far from the truth. The man was looking outwards in the black space of the universe, with armor and a sword in case of combat. Eventually, another man appeared.

"Hey Heimdall." said the man all casual to Heimdall. He had blue robes, with a straw hat as well. He seemed so casual and laid back based on his posture and expression, it was as though nothing wrong is happening "I am in some demands from the bosses."

"If its another goofy experiment, Tom." replied the man known as Heimdall "I am not going to allow you to go there, you are far too important."

"I am telling you, its serious business. The time is almost here and we need more warriors, and I know some good ones. You sensed them by now." said Tom, his expression instantly changing, despite not being able to see his eyes, his tone of voice changed, showing that he has serious about the current situation.

"I will open the Bifrost soon." said Heimdall, stabbing his sword on the tree, which glowed and showed first the endless universe, known as the Mortal Realm, then a galaxy, then a solar system and Earth. Tom touched the Tree and dissapered completely.

Meanwhile on Earth

At the same time, at the outskirts of the busy city, there was a fighting tournament being held, a young teenage boy was seen there, he had red hair, white skin, well built and blue eyes, preparing to face against his opponenet, who was right now finishing his round. His opponent was facing a boy who was taller, more muscalar and, based on the black belt, was at the highest level of mastery over Karate. Despite having this mastery over karate, he couldn't comprehend just how skilled Markos' opponent was, with attack patterns that are impossible to register with the immense speed and the unnatural rythem, no matter how skilled they were, they couldn't comprehend just what is the next sequence of punches and detect his fight pattern. With the defeat of the master at Karate, Markos was able to hear the cheers of everyone in the background, and he had a smile on his face, no doubt, no worry, nothing, determined to win this final round.

'This is what I have been wating for. I am going to win this, and I will be one step closer into becoming the greatest fighter in the world.' said Markos to himself, but then suddenly, he heard a fight in the background, Markos saw his opponent picking on a little boy.

"Get out of my face you twerp!" said the opponent kicking the little boy as well, which made Markos frustrated, determined even more to win the fight. At the ring, both Markos and his opponent were present at the ring.

"And here we are Jimmy! At the most exciting round yet! The finale!"

"You are right Nicholas! And there is no better way to end this than with these fine gentlemen with no loss to them so far!"

"In the blue corner, we have Markos Son Silva! This lad is a new guy, and this kid has just given a twist to the whole 'underdog' thing with these new guys!"

"That's right my friend, with his first fight alone, everyone was speechless with how fast and skillfully he took down his opponent, and he has shown nothing more but this level of skill and power unseen in any new guy around!" the audience cheered on for Markos, it would come out as a shock to anyone if it was revealed that Markos was the new guy in this whole school tournament of fighting, because he know has the reputation of someone who has done it for years, with just a few fights, but Markos was only focused on his opponent, everything else was out of his mind.

"But in the red corner, we have Timothy McGregor! A man also known for his talents, seemingly a prodigy in this area!"

"This kid can always win a fight without as much as a scratch on him!"

"He wins in like seconds all of his rounds!!! Have you seen how he treated his previous opponent?! Who was bigger, heavier and was a master of Karate! This man is simply unbeatable!"

"These two indeed have a great future, but tonight, let's see which star will shine brighter!" the announcers ended the commentary and the bell rang as Markos and Timothy had their guards up, with Markos beginning with a very quick and aggressive charge, with a punch aimed towards the head. However Timothy blocks it and tries to punch Markos' gut, but got countered with a knee strike from Markos to the face, knocking out Timothy completely.

"UNBELIEVABLE! UNBELIEVABLE! MARKOS WAS ABLE TO TRICK TIMOTHY!"

"That's right, this is the first time someone tricked one of the greatest fighting prodigies of our time!" and it seems like Timothy was having trouble getting up and the round was over, with Markos' victory. The crowd cheered for Markos and Timothy was left behind confused at what just happened, then got frustrated and left the arena. Sometime after the finale, Markos found the same kid from before being picked on. And it was by the same guy he just beat.

"That red head asshole! Who does he think he is, making a fool outta me?!" Timothy had veins popping up on his forehead, gripping on the collar of his brother's shirt as he pressed his back against the wall, clearly making the younger child scared and uncomfortable. Markos didn't like the sight of this. He questioned how no-one picked up on this. Nevertheless he had to put a stop, and so the tall teen walked quickly towards the enraged Timothy, who was busy venting his unhealthy rage towards his brother. Markos put his left hand on Timothy's shoulder, nudging it to draw attention. Timothy turned around, only to be met with a fist hitting his face, with the force of the impact causing him to drop his brother and fall down on the floor before losing consciousness.

"If you had such a problem with losing, you should have come to me." Markos scoffed before helping Timothy's little brother get up. "Hey, are you alright?" Markos asked the boy as he crouched down.

"I'm fine..." the boy murmured under his breath, standing up straight as he started to catch his wind.

"Does this happen often?" Markos turned his head to look at Timothy before looking back at the boy. The younger brother averted his eyes, not saying anything. Markos could get the hint. "Where are your parents?"

"My brother was supposed to take us back, but..." The child murmured again, and if not for such a close distance, Markos wouldn't have been able to hear him.

"Well..." Markos thought to himself whether or not to help the kid walk back home or call an Uber. "Want me to take you back home? If it's not too far of course." The boy looked back at Markos with a surprised look, but then looked hesitant.

"My mom told me not to trust strangers. But... Since you saved me, mister, I guess I can trust you."

"Well alright, lead the way then." Markos said, watching as the boy began to walk back to where his home was, and he followed immediately after. "Just in case, what about your brother?"

"He's old enough to walk back on his own." After he successfully led the boy safely back to his parents, with the said parents thanking him for his actions, Markos was jogging his way back to where his house was. Going further away from the busy city, there was a series of houses located near a forrest. It was peaceful, it allows one to be in touch with nature, is how he could described it in a summary. He unlocked the locked door with his house key before swinging the door open, letting his presence be known. He spoted his mother right away, and before Markos could say anything, she hushed at him and pointed to his sister's room. Markos caught on immediately as to what his mom meant. Upon entering his sister's room, she was there on her phone, texting her friends, noticing Markos until...

"Booo!" Markos exclaimed, which made her jump with how sudden his entrance was.

"Markos?!" yelled the girl as Markos cheekily got out of the room. "That wasn't funny!"

"Sorry! I just had to! You're too easy to pull a trick on!" laughed Markos as he got out of the room. He ran all the way to the living room, where he high fived his mom, both sharing a laugh together as the sister came downstairs.

"Mom! You were involved in this too?!" yelled the sister in outrage.

"Like Markos said, you are too easy to play a trick on, Olivia." The mother told her daughter, still putting up a chuckle.

"I'll get you back at this." Olivia growled, as she already began to plan her revenge. "Both of you."

"You wish." Markos teased his younger sister, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, alright..." The mother calmed her laughter down. "So Markos, how did that tournament go? You didn't call me at all." she was eager to know as to how hee son performed in the martial art tournament.

"Well I don't mean to brag, but..." Markos showed a smug grin as he pulled out a gold metal from his other pocket. "I got first place. As expected."

"That's wonderful!" Markos' mother wrapped her arms around his torso, giving a tight hug as she was overjoyed to hear this.

"That's lovely..." Olivia didn't seem to be as excited, though she was still proud of her brother's accomplishment as she held a smile.

"But right now... I am feeling a little tired... very tired actually. I'll just hit the bed." said Markos as he eventually got ready for bed. The lights of the house turned off, and Markos drifted away to sleep. Several hours later, an unsettling loud screech could be heard, waking Markos up from his sleep as he jerked his whole body upwards. He clenched his sheets as he was in a state of momentary shock, taking heavy breaths.

"What the fuck...?!" he spoke in a groggy tone, having just woken up. He heard it again, and when hearing it more clearly, his body stiffened, realizing that the noise was actually close. Whatever that was, it was away from his house.

'Please let it be some boar...' Markos thought to himself, removing the sheets as he got off his bed, standing on his feet before heading downstairs silently. When Markos got there, he heard a loud shriek coming from a woman. He clasped his mouth in horror, releasing hot breath as he felt his heart beating against his chest. The strange part was he could also feel a heavy intense wave of energy. He's never felt a phenomenon like this. It was evil, almost like it can corrupt his mind. The boy immediately ran to the source. When he got there, he saw a deformed being, one that had the anatomy of a man. This thing growled aggressively at a woman, who in terror grasped her arms around a man. The creature looked as though it came from a nightmare given shape, as its horns were slightly curvy, an inhumaly large mouth that was foaming from what the young woman could only guess was hunger. The man that laid on the ground was bleeding, looking as though he took a heavy blunder, along that his arm was missing, so he was seriously injured and needed medical attention right away. 'This can't be real. I got to be having a nightmare. But it feels too real.' Against his better judgement, he ran towards the human. His brain was telling him this was stupid and suicidal, but his subconscious said 'You have to save them!'. Once he sprinted close to the creature, he punched it in the face, focusing primarily on his index and middle finger, with a crack to signify that the creature's bones were cracking, but it ignored the pain and diverted its attention onto Markos. It moved its head to stab Markos in the head with its horns. The red haired teen flinched as he saw the deadly horns coming to stab him, which worked, but the odd part was that Markos was feeling a strange energy coming into his body. It was like he was being corrupted and being broken apart from the inside, but he didn't give it much thought as nothing seemed to happen. Markos then broke the creature's horn that was impaling him and then struck its face with a knee.

'What was I thinking?!' Well it ignored the couple, but now it was after him. The red haired boy clearly didn't think this through. What terrified Markos, was this feeling that he was for the first time ever, staring at evil, and it was all reality, he didn't know what he was doing.

"HAAAARH!" Markos screamed out in terror as his body leaped forward, sweat pouring from his body, his heart pounding so loudly that he felt it would jump through his chest. The creature stood stunned as the human went at him, which wasn't something the predator expected. Exerting a level of strength he never thought were possible, Markos slammed his fist through the creature's head, blood gushing out in doing so as the creature got knocked down on the ground, its head was reduced to nothing but a pile of blood covering the ground as it spread wider. Markos took heavy breaths from what he just performed. This wasn't natural. None of this was. His body was visibly shaking, and Markos felt a deep, dark dread filling his stomach. His jaw was clenched tightly, releasing unsteady breaths. Markos looked back at the woman, exchanging eye contact as both were filled with fear. "I..." Markos whimpered, feeling his throat having a lump as he struggled within to speak properly. "Call the ambulance."

"What were you doing..." The woman murmured, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Don't bullshit me, lady! Just call the ambulance!" Markos angrily yelled at her as he swung his arm. He didn't mean to raise his tone like that, but the fear dwelling inside of him couldn't go away. The woman nodded her head right away, digging through her pocket until she pulled out her phone, unlocking her screen before dialing the emergency call. With all the noise that was made, there was no way this wouldn't go unnoticed. How could any of them explain this? Just then, smoke erupted, and it flew past Markos. This act made the teenager gasp in shock. He looked over to see where it came from, and it was from the demon's body, which had already died prior. The woman looked at Markos, confused, as for whatever reason couldn't see what he was seeing.

"Mine... Tis' mine..." A grouchy, raspy voice came from the smoke, as though it was the one speaking, despite having no mouth. Markos felt like he was losing his mind. This thing didn't talk before, and now it could? Or could it always do that? Markos felt a hand grasp his shoulder, and the sudden sensation made his body jump. When he looked behind to see who or what it was, he looked to see a man in a blue robe and straw hat. The man got out a bottle.

"Sorry for the scare, but I'm not here to hurt ya. Just doing my job." said the man, as the bottle glew, creating a gravity field and pulled the essence of the creature into the bottle before closing it "Glad I got here on time. These Onis are just the worst, but good thing this one was weak." said the man.

"Who the hell are you? What did you do?!"

"Don't worry, I sealed the demon away, nothing more." The stranger said, flipping the small bottle he contained the demon in. The stranger looked at the woman, who left her mouth open in spectacle. "It's okay, miss, I'm not here to harm anyone. And excuse me for a moment." the stranger then opened a flask and dropped its contents on the man's wound, but not before taking a piece of the man's flesh and meat "Make sure he gets to a good hospital." the stranger then looked at Markos "Now listen kiddo... first, let's take this somewhere a bit more private." Before Markos could reply, the surface felt different than the cement he was standing on mere moments ago. He blinked, taking in his surroundings. He gasped as he realized that all of a sudden, without a word, they were in a middle of a forest.

"Woah woah... how did we get here?!" asked Markos.

"I just teleported us here." replied Tom.

"Wait what... how can you do that?! Who are you?! What the heck was that thing?!"

"One question at a time. Though I suppose it is rude not to introduce myself. For simplicity's sake, just call me Tom." The man introduced himself. "As for the rest, it would go faster and easier if I showed it to you."

"Show me what?" Tom then showed Markos a flask that contained broken flesh.

"This is from the man you just saved."

"Ok, you seem like a weird guy, so what exactly is so special about it?" Markos asked. What Tom showed next was a holographic projection of the flesh and it showed that its molecular bonds were breaking apart and were still dissolving from an energy substance.

"That was the Demon's demonic energy." replied Tom "Before we left, I cured that man of it, but I wanted to keep this much so you can see what I am talking about. You took much more focused Demonic Energy than this man, and here you are, as though you aren't wounded at all."

"Yeah, what about it? I've always been tough, and have been my whole life."

"What if I told you there's a reason for that?" Tom looked to see what reaction he would get out of the boy. "I mean, haven't you wondered even once? The higher strength, skill, agility, and even intelligence at such a marvellous young age in your world, you must have performed something that wasn't natural... oh yes you did, you fought a Demon who can crush a grown man's arm into a pulp." The boy wasn't saying anything, his expression stayed blank as though he was processing this all. Here is the truth, you aren't a human, you're a Reincarnate, a reincarnation of a Mythological God." Tom laid it out on him, and Markos looked completely baffled by this.

"I'm... a God?" This. All of this was happening way too fast. "What the hell..." he shook his head. "Yeah, no. If I was a superhuman I could get that, but you completely wasted our time if that's all you wanted to tell me. I'm no God." Tom however looked at Markos, his expression said it all, he wasn't lying.

"Listen, I know this is happening way too fast, but I need you to come with me. I know just me telling you about this wouldn't be substantial proof. But I do know a place that'll answer many of your question. I'll take you to the Realm of the Gods." Tom then took Markos to a tree "Touch it." said Tom. Markos did just that, and the next thing he knew, the tree glew and a rainbow of colors appeared, consuming Markos. The next thing he saw was that he was in a spherical structure, and a few seconds later Tom arrived. "Welcome to the Realm of Gods" said Tom. "Well, to be more precise, more so the focal point that connects the two worlds."

"What is that thing?" asked Markos as he pointed to the tree.

"That is the Yggdrasil. Inside it has the Bifrost, which connects our world to the Mortal Realm. Think of it like a bridge. However, only us Gods can use it, if we focus enough." explained Tom, but Markos had other thoughts in mind.

"So this whole Reincarnate system... just who am I and how does this whole thing work? Hard to believe that Gods really do exist instead of some stories you're told."

"Well, you believed wrong. Everything we believe in is real and all for one. How it work is that we live a certain point of our life, and then once we die, we resurrect. At least, that is what I could gather and figure out. Take me for example, I am the Reincarnate of Raijin. But I chose my cover to go under the alias of Tom."

"Cool, so who am I then?"

"You'll know soon enough, but first, there's someone you should see." said Tom as a train arrived right before them. It looked like an E2 Billinton Tank Engine. Markos and Tom entered its coaches before the doors closed. The guard blew his whistle, and suddenly, the Tank Engine accelerated at humongous speeds.

"Holy crap! This thing is crazy fast!" Markos exclaimed, struggling to remain in his seat, grabbing as tightly as he could so he wouldn't fall off.

"You look like you're about to throw up." Tom snickered as he folded his arms. The teenager's body was trying to get used to how fast this little Tank Engine was going. It hadn't taken long for Markos and Tom to arrive at their destination station. Markos and Tom got off the coaches and Markos went to hurl at the nearest thing he could find to puke on. After minutes of hurling and clearing his dizziness, Markos saw an enormous castle, bigger than anything he's seen in this place. Its presence just screamed royalty, especially with the exaggerated slimmer of gold that shined. Markos looked behind him, and he couldn't believe that he could see what he assumed was an entire city. He could see trains, citizens minding their own business, be it for farming crops or anything other than that. Markos couldn't help but be breathtaken by the beauty of it all.

"You arrived, Tom." said a guard monotonously, holding a spear in his disposal. Markos stood still as the guard turned its head to look at him. "And this is the boy?"

"Yes, his father wants to see him." said Tom, which made Markos turn his head to look at Tom, as if he'd grown two heads.

"Wait, my father?!"

"Come along now." Tom walked ahead without registering Markos' words. Both of them entered the castle and it was enormous on the inside as well. The best Markos could describe it is like putting the most gorgeous parts of museum you've ever seen, and stack them all together. At the center of it all was a tall, old, muscular man, with two wolves, playing tug of war with a statue, and two crows who stood on the man's shoulder "Greetings, Gabriel." Tom said. "Or, the Reincarnate of Odin."

"At ease Tom." Gabriel put his hand at front before turning to look at the boy who stood next to him. "Markos..."

"Father..." Markos responded with a tint of anger in his tone, clenching his fists as his expression was stone cold. His eyes sent a deathly glare to the man sitting on the throne. Tom stood by as his eyes darted between father and son, as he could just practically feel the tension in the air. The room may as well be covered in ice.

"I apologize for not being with you during your short years, but I felt the time was right to summon you here. Dark forces are coming earlier than anticipated. I'm sure you already encountered one before your arrival." Markos studied his face, and all he could see was just a stern expression, as though he was here on business rather than greeting his flesh and blood.

"You could say that. I asked Tom here what the hell it was..." Markos turned over to his left to take the opportunity to glare at the older man. "But this asshole here was being vague!"

"That was an Oni. They're a class of Demons, beings who died and commited sins when they were alive. However, it has some of the same abilities as the other Demons, which included fusing with places and inflicting curses on humans. However, you should be thankful it's still weak, thanks to Tom's efforts, all the Demons are sealed up propely. But we aren't sure for how much longer."

"So because I'm a God I have to fight these things? Is that where I fit in?" Markos asked bluntly.

"Everyone in this city, myself and Tom included, are all Reincarnates. And you Markos, you are Thor, the God of Thunder. So as him, its your duty to come back to the fold and fight for what you fought for eons upon eons ago!" Gabriel exclaimed, slamming his staff down the floor, echoing across the halls. Markos stood silent as he stared at his father. He inhaled through his nostrils as he folded his arms.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to say no to that." This made Gabriel widen his eyes in shock from the response. Tom sighed as he put his palm on his face. Gabriel's expression changed to that of anger.

"What did you say?"

"I said no." Markos made his tone more firm. "You were gone for my whole life, and then you come back and just expect me to fight by your side without questioning anything?" his fingers clenched tightly to his biceps. "Turns out my dad is some God that's been fighting demons. At least that explains where you've been all these years, fine..." Markos' face began to externalize the anger within him. "But don't think for even a second that I'll kiss your ass and pretend nothing happened." he began to raise his voice more. "Because guess what, a lot of things happened since you were gone."

"Markos, arguing with you is the last thing I need right now. Fighting demons and being a king doesn't exactly give me the time required to meet up with you, until now at least."

"And expecting me to bow down and forget your absence is the last thing I'm doing. What, did sitting on that throne made you forget what morality is?!" Markos shouted. "Maybe the God side of me might join, but not the mortal in me! You may as well taken all of us with you if that's the case!"

"Insolent boy, do you have any idea what you're doing?!" Gabriel lost his patience, having been angered by this. "If you decline this, you're going to lose much more than neglect! Do you know how many lives will be lost because of this?!"

"Well you guys have been doing fine so far, haven't you? I'm just a kid who gets in street fights compared to whatever you guys do."

"Get him out of my sight!" Gabriel recoiled, pointing his staff for Markos to leave his throne room. Tom didn't say anything, but nodded as he led Markos from the room. Both father and son shared a cold look before Markos turned away. They got back to the train as they entered inside.

"That went about as well as I expected." Tom shrugged as he took a sigh. "I guess you wanna go back to your home."

"Not at the yard." Markos remarked strictly. He didn't want anybody to see him. Hell, the police were probably there already, with his mom and sister being worried sick about him. How was he going to explain any of this.

"You don't have to worry about that. But hey, catch this." Tom threw a device at Markos, to which he responded by catching it on instinct.

"What is this?"

"A teleporter. It will allow you to use the Bifrost and come here whenever you want, at least if you're having a near death experience, since you clearly want nothing to do with us. But, you are still the son of Odin, so it's not like you'll be banished."

"Right..." Markos murmured, looking at the device without too much thought. Soon, Markos arrived back home and Tom was able to immediately get rid of all the evidence pointing to an attack by a 'supernatural cause' as the human detectives would suspect "And I need a shower... again." as he went to take another shower.

Two days have passed since the encounter with Tom and learning about Gods for the first time ever, and for Markos, it was though nothing has changed. Not a singular Demon showed up or someone else was at risk because of one. Guessing he probably didn't need the 'God training' after all. Markos was currently in a fast food restaurant, but he didn't exactly have the money to pay. A woman noticed Markos' trouble and walked up to him.

"Hey, noticed you are having problems." she said.

"Yeah I am." Markos replied honestly.

"Here. I have more than enough." said the woman handing Markos some money. Markos accepted and smiled.

"Thanks." he said.

"You're welcome." said the woman as she left. Eventually, the red haired boy was able to eat his food and left the restaurant, but then barely leaving the place, he spotted a group of men picking on the same woman, he overheard the whole situation and the men were obviously making the girl uncomfortable. Markos then went to the men and decided to stand up to the woman.

"Hey losers, leave her alone, she's obviously not comfortable with you." said Markos calmly and coldly. The men then looked at Markos and one of them started speaking.

"Hey punk, just leave us alone." said one of them, which then made the woman look down sad. Markos however didn't leave, which made everybody present confused "I said leave, idiot." said the same man as he went for a punch, which then Markos blocked and pushed him back, stumbling him into the men and knocking them all down. Markos then got infront of the woman to protect her, as the men then got back up and tried to attack Markos again, but then he counters by predicting the attack and then punches the guy on the chin, which then knocks him out.

"Like I said, leave the woman alone." said Markos as another man tried to punch him again, but then Markos counters by dodging and then performs a hook with his elbow, landing on the man's chin and cracking his chin. Markos was doing his best to hold back his strikes to not kill anyone, now that he had a difficult battle against the Demon, as he felt stronger now than ever before. The men then noticed their friends knocked out and in pain, so they immediately left Markos and the woman alone. As the men left, Markos sighed and checked up on the woman "You alright?" asked Markos with concern. The woman smiled with Markos' genuine concern and calmed down.

"Thank you for helping me." she replied politely with a smile.

"No need to say that, I just really wanted to help after what you did for me." Markos thought that the woman seemed really kind, but why would anyone want to pick on her and be aggressive with her? "But anyway, I can accompany you to your home."

"Oh no need, its fine." she replied as the woman began to leave, still very grateful for what Markos did for her. Markos smiled, happy to have helped another kind person, but was still dissapointed over the fact he can't help everyone all around. As Markos was headed home, he heard a blood screetching roar.

'What was that?!' Markos thought to himself as he looked up at the sky, since it was the source of the roar. He saw a weird looking dragon.

"A Demon Dragon?" he asked himself outloud, but then the Dragon suddenly spat fire at the general vicinity of the town and killed many people, including the woman Markos has just helped. Markos then felt his heart sink into a deep despair, as he heard many screams of pain and agony from the fire of the Dragon and then saw both the buildings and the people be reduced to ashes. Then a split second passed, as the Dragon flew up and then came down very lightning fast, it was going for another attack, it was carrying so much energy that it could potentially wipe out the entire block "NO!" with a burst of flaming rage, Markos jumped to the Demonic Dragon and punched the creature's chest, which sent him moving a little, so Markos, still mid air next to the Dragon, punches it multiple times "JUST GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Markos then gave one final punch, generated with lightning, and the punch created a shockwave that sent the Dragon away, stagerring it, no damage is present there, it seemed like Markos just pushed him. However, the Dragon gave his attention to Markos, viewing him as a worthy threat, and he headbutted Markos into a forest far away from the main city. A crater of about couple meters long was created, by the force of the Dragon, Markos felt some back pain, but then he recovered relatively quickly, however the Dragon followed in pursuit. It shot a fire ball at Markos, which Markos countered with a stream of lightning he created from his hands, catching it then he sent it back to the Dragon, but the Dragon flew up towards the fire ball, absorbed it, and with its newly acquired power, immediately moved faster than what Markos could track or predict, and used its claws to stab Markos through the chest, causing excrutiating pain this time, and the Dragon fired a fire breath at Markos, attempting to burn him alive. Once the Dragon stopped, Markos looked burned, on his face and most of his clothes were burned as well, but he was able to regenerate his skin "Is that the best you can do?" Markos then placed his lightning charged hands onto the Dragon's arm and shocked him, and with the window of oppertunity, Markos got the Dragon's arm off his chest, regenerated his chest in the process as well, and got to the Dragon's face, repetedly punching it, with speeds too fast to keep up with the naked eye. This time, it seems like Markos gained more power and caused damage to the Dragon's face, especially with an ugly final punch that seemingly caused damage to its bones and brain. The Dragon however recovered, grabbed Markos by the leg and threw him to the ground, which caused even more pain, as though Markos has had just reopened a freashly closed wound, except all his wounds were completely healed at that moment. To Markos, this spoke volumes to how strong the Dragon was at this moment, an obvious power difference is shown here.

Before anything else could be done by Markos to counter attack, the Dragon placed his foot on Markos' body, which didn't kill him, but caused more pain. With the red haired reincarnate down, the Dragon was able to aim a fire ball at the highly populated place, as its original target was to be, but the teenager couldn't allow that. Once the fireball was fired, Markos found the strength he needed to get the Dragon's leg off of him, reached the fireball just in time, and kicked his hardest kick ever and sent it back to the Dragon, but his leg gwas reduced to ashes and took even longer to heal.

'No... I am feeling tired already.' thought Markos to himself as he began to feel like he was about to pass out. The Dragon ate the Fireball and began to try to bite Markos. It got Markos' other leg and with each bite it gave, Markos yelled in pain, he couldn't take it, and the next thing the dragon did was release Markos from its bite and shoot the biggest stream of fire it has ever fired in this whole battle point blank, which began to burn several dozen yards of the forest present. Burning down the trees and grass, but most of all, Markos was shown visibly blocking the fire with his arms, but they weren't enough as they presented 3rd degree burns. Markos then slowly felt like he was about to pass out, but he couldn't, this Dragon could kill everyone on the whole planet, Markos was the Earth's best defender! He can't lose! But Markos was feeling as though he was on his limit and his death bed.The Dragon then threw Markos back to the ground, it got close again and gave roar point blank, with the air shaking around it, and Markos just layed there, not being able to do anything, the Dragon then once again was charging up a stream fire, this time, Markos wasn't going to be able to survive it.

'Come on you piece shit. Get up! Don't let this thing get away! You are this planet's best protector! Surviving isn't enough either! It killed many many people and some good ones at that! You have to win! You have to get up and win! Don't! Don't let it! DON'T LET IT DESTROY THE WORLD SHE LOVES!' then a click is heard in Markos' head, the whole scenery changed right in front of his eyes. Markos is then in the busy town. There were many faces, each presenting an emotion, feelings of cruelty, despair, depression, anxiety, sadness, many different negative emotions, he felt from many people, but especially himself. Why? Who knows why. Maybe even so much as his long red hair was enough to make him a target. But then he sees a woman, indescribably beautiful and seemingly gentle, Markos is seeing multiple versions of her at the same time, helping the innocent in a court room, helping people who have nothing in their lives, which regardless of the item, like a toy or money, made everyone happy. All these negative emotions are gone, replaced with feelings of love, faith, happiness and completion.

"Markos..." said the woman, talking to a younger version of Markos "You asked me before why I help you and everyone, right? Well, its because, I love this world, I love all the gentle people, the seasons, the nature, I love everything about it, and people are suffering in it, so I want to help them in any way I can. One day, you will understand what I mean." then the woman has a hole head, feel to the ground and disappeared to dust, with the same dust going into Markos, as though a will has passed onto him.

'I have to fight… there are too many good things in this world that she fought for. That's why you learned to fight, you piece of shit! To defend the weak, just like her when you were weak! GET UP AND FIGHT! SAVE THE GOOD IN THIS WORLD!' said Markos to himself. In the real world, lightning is produced in Markos' eyes, more energy being produced with how the fire will that is in Markos' heart now. A hammer was seen racing down towards Markos and the Dragon, and once it came into contact with Dragon's Leg, it was smashed into a pulp, and Markos with instinct sent the Dragon flying to the sky with an amazing punch, which produced a shockwave that wiped out all the fire that was presented in the Forest, however it resulted in his arm being broken. However, once he grabbed the hammer, a massive surge of power was felt, as all of Markos' wounds began to heal, including the recovery of his arm and leg being accelerated. It was as though Markos was reborn into the world, stronger than ever before. The hammer was weirdly shaped and the handle was one handed, it seemed best fit for two, but it's not like Markos needed both his hands, his newly found strength compensated.

"LET'S FINISH THIS ASSHOLE!" Markos then flew up to the same place as the Dragon, and the teenager smashed the Dragon with such force that it turned into a pile of blood and guts flying everywhere, that then dissapeared into small particles and reduced it to nothing, with the same evil presence gone. Markos then landed onto the ground as he just reflected on the whole situation "That was the fight of my life. Are Demons this strong? Where did this hammer come from though?" Markos asked to no one in particular, but he can't help but remember of all the lives that were lost and he could have saved. Feelings of guilt and sadness. A lack of strength? Maybe.

"Congratulations, Markos." said Tom appearing in the background clapping "I guess you do have what it takes. I was at the Realm of the Gods, and I have a lot of weapons stored in a weapons house, but at one moment, Mjolnir flew out of the house, so I followed it. Mjolnir only responds to the ones who have a great will of iron, you must have shown it for the hammer to come to you." said Tom.

"So that's why it came?" Markos asked.

"Yes." replied Tom "Also, just to let you know, this one was A LOT stronger than the Oni. So yes, if you don't train right now with your powers and use them more effectively, you won't win.".

"But I used my powers!"

"Were you thinking? Were you concentrating? Or was it instinct?"

"Well... it was in the spur of the moment..." before Markos could finish though.

"Exactly my point, you weren't concentrating and you didn't know what you were doing. That's why you almost lost. I will hand it to you, being able to do things like that without any guidence, I am amazed, but I am not gonna let potential like that be wasted because the user wants to rely on luck." Markos then thought about the proposal. Maybe this is a way for him to protect the world. Maybe this time, he can be faster in saving the gentle woman from being burned alive.

"Tom... is the proposal still open for negotiation?"

"Of course it is!" replied Tom.

"I just... don't want to see the world burn. I want to protect the world she loves."

"Understood, your training begins tomorrow morning, after your classes." replied Tom.

'Mika... I can do it now, I will protect your world.' said Markos.

To be continued