1 The Beginning

[This is an update on how I actually want this novel to proceed. I see most people enjoy reading novels about systems, and an unassuming mc. So, I have made tweaks to this novel so that it attracts more readers, enjoy]

*1657, outside a frontline fort*

The smell of pines wafted through the air of the woods outside the colony fort. Levi loved the smell, it was peaceful out here, outside the judgment of the walls. He loved exploring the woods, it used to be the site of a crusade battle, back when the Mediterranean was the focus point of the crusades.

Sometimes he'd find helmets or arrows, at times, rarely, he'd find a sword or dagger. Then he would wear them past their dull ruggedness, into rusted iron pieces. Levi wasn't any good with physical things, he was a very chunky son of a noble. Things were done for him, and because he never had to lift a finger, he was weak and an easy target for the lower class kids as well as other noble children.

Eventually he withdrew from his family. Exiling himself outside the walls for days at a time. Yet, no matter how much he did that, he retained his weakness, and his chub. He had just gotten a good beating from a group of low class kids, his clothes were tattered and his face was bloody. Levi ran deep into the woods to avoid their continuous onslaught, eventually, He was far deeper into the woods than he usually went.

"Jesus, Every God damn day!" Levi huffed. It wasn't easy to run away, especially when it came to his physique. He took a glance at his surroundings, taking in the details. Levi was standing in a dense grove of trees, and all sorts of crusade memorabilia littered the wooded ground.

"Fucking score!" He thought to himself as he began picking through the items. The first thing he found was a long bow that was still, miraculously, strung. The only problem was that the wood looked like it was ready to break from centuries of erosion. Levi picked up the relic, and stupidly pulled on the string. It held up until a quarter drawn and snapped. The force of the wood breaking in his hand caused a deep gash to manifest, and the string cut his right eye.

"OW!" Levi cried as he dropped the broken bow and held his eye. After a few moments of searing pain, he eventually took his hands off of his face and began looking for the way back to the fort, to have his wounds treated.

"Now why did I have to go and do something stupid like that?" Levi chastised himself. He noted the disturbed ground from where he had entered the grove and began walking towards it, until he heard the sound of racing footsteps echoing from just beyond the grove. Thinking it was the boys who had been chasing him, Levi dove for the closest hiding place, which turned out to be a thicket of rough bushes. After getting settled, he waited for the appearance of his pursuers.

Instead of the boys he had thought they were, it was actually a very beautiful girl, around his age, with straight brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. She was wearing a leather set of light armor, akin to a soldier in training. She wielded a small dagger and the moment she burst into the grove she spun about to face what ever was chasing her.

Levi strained to get a better look at what she was facing, but he only heard a man cackle, rather than step foot within the grove.

"Did you really think, that I wouldn't notice you sneaking around my camp, taking my game? I worked very hard to capture those delicious girls! But, it's no loss, as long as I can get you!" Levi heard the man laughing as he spoke. The girl continued to back up further into the grove, and eventually the man stepped in. He was a middle aged man, largely built and he had this malicious look on his face.

"Those girls aren't some kind of game animal that you can hunt! They belonged to their families, do you have any idea what kind of damage you have caused?" The girl finally spoke. Her voice was musical to Levi, sweet and harmonious.

"Bah, what's five or six little girls gonna do? Ah, Enough of this farce! Now, I dine on holy meat!" The man lunged at the girl. She side stepped him and dodged out of his way.

Levi's heart was racing, he was unsure of what to do, his eye was swelling up, causing him to be half blind, and the pain in his hand was throbbing. Not to mention the blood loss was making him feel faint. But, still he watched on. The man attacked the girl with his fists and body, while the girl dodged every single one, until she tripped over a crusaders rusted helmet.

The girl tumbled to the ground, and the man took his chance and kicked her, hard enough to send her into the nearest tree, earning her a sharp gasp as the air was expelled from her lungs.

"Finally, I am famished, and my main course is right in front of me." The man grinned maliciously as he approached the girl.

It was in that moment, that Levi's brain decided to shut off. All rationality was thrown to the wind as he sprinted from his hiding spot. He grabbed the closest weapon, which turned out to be a long sword, and charged the man. Levi caught the man completely unawares as he did so. The man stared at Levi in utter bewilderment, but he was a fraction of a second too slow to stop the sword from thrusting through his chest. Levi stood there, staring at what he had done, as did the man.

""You absolute moron! RUN!" The girl yelled at Levi. He turned to look at her, but he didn't heed her words fast enough. A sudden coldness spread through Levi's body. Blood spewed from his mouth and he felt a pressure in his chest. Levi looked down to see a large scaly oblong object that reminded him of a tail, stuck deep into his chest. Levi followed it up to its owner, only to see the man had morphed into a hideous monster. He removed his tail from Levi's chest and pushed him backwards to the ground. But before he hit the ground, he caught a glimpse of the tails end. It looked exactly like that of a scorpion.

The cold numbness spread throughout Levi's body, and his vision faded to nothingness. He felt nothing after that. He heard nothing, saw nothing, was nothing. It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened. The scorpion's tail had punched right through his heart, killing him. he was dead, his whole life, had been spent running and cowering. What a life Levi lived.

While he was in that endless and empty darkness, a sharp pain flew through him, and it felt like he was being pulled, Levi was unsure of as to where. The pulling became a yanking and tugging, and then there was sudden light. He blinked a few times, trying to get used to the sudden change. His eyes finally focused, and the scenery and smell of the grove filled his senses. Levi sat where he was for a moment, trying to understand what was going on.

Suddenly, in a torrent, all of what had just happened, flooded his brain and he jumped up, searching around. There was nothing, and no one. All he saw was the crusade memorabilia. No Scorpion monster, no beautiful woman, just the empty grove. Levi looked up, the sky was still bright with the high noon sun.

"I must have dosed off, or passed out after the bow incident." Levi muttered to himself. Which caused him to look at his hand... his strangely strong looking hand, that had no wound on it. He felt his right eye, which led to him to feel his whole face. No chub, same with the rest of his body.

Levi looked down at his bloodied and torn shirt, the only indication that what happened was real, and right where the monster had punched a hole in him, was a branding of a cross with chains wrapped around it, and then binding into his skin. Little did Levi know, there and then, his life was about to become a whole new kind of shit show.