How do I start this? I have never really done this before, so I am kind of new to the whole 'narrate your life' gimmick. I guess my name would be a good start!
The name is Alex Mercer, and please do not get me confused with that sociopathic shmuck from Prototype. We share the same name, and that is as far as we both go on the similarities list. Instead of
a smart, edgy, power-hungry, warpath stricken twenty year old guy, I am just a smart, edgy, power-hungry, warpath stricken fifteen year old kid. Wait a minute . . . .
Okay, just do me favor and forget I said anything! You done? Good! Now let us get started. Uh, where was I supposed to start from again? Oh right, the beginning of anything and everything; the end! And with that in mind, I died!
A fifteen year old kid getting struck by a bolt of lightning was not something that was common on your day-to-day News headlines. Of course, it was not something that was too alarming either. Sure, they will put up a few more warnings by the time the next storm comes rolling about. At most, I would get a decent burial, with the head of the city council attending to say a few words along the lines of 'Someone so young should not meet a fate so cruel blah blah blah *insert generic political figure head speech over mournful disaster* and we need to improve our citizen's state of being'. Hey and before you go and say that I am just spilling nonsense, I would like to have you know that I saw the entire thing with my own two eyes. Well technically speaking my eyes were inside the coffin, but who cares about technicality? Seeing the coffin lowered into the earth made the entire thing look really weird. On one hand my body is being lowered into the cold pitiful Earth, while on the other hand my soul was being raised into the bright blissfully blue sky. And for a moment there I got you thinking that I was going to heaven! Ha Ha Ha . . . . No! Although, to be fair, I thought the same thing at first. After all, the general consensus was that the gracious and everlasting heavens lies in the sky, while the burning unforgiving pits of hell lie dead underneath our feet. Who knows, maybe that is true, but I was never able to find out! Before I could reach what seemed to look like a large pearly white gate in the distance, surrounded by large soft and tender clouds with angelic beings sitting atop, the sky suddenly darkened, and the whole world suddenly went black. It was not a metaphor. Between me and my apparent destination a gargantuan sphere had formed without any forewarning that it was ever going to appear. The sphere was a complete void-like entity, sucking in anything and everything around it. The light around the edges began to bend inwards, until it too was lost in the ever expanding void.
'A black hole!' I thought frighteningly.
In this perilous moment, as my soul was being pulled towards the singularity, I failed to notice how it was not just the singularity that was turning everything so terrifyingly dark. Everything in a several thousand kilometer radius had been brought under a dark unrelenting storm. The people down below thought it was another freaky weather phenomenon, but that idea was soon abolished. This was not freaky! This was apocalyptic! The monstrous black clouds hurled thunderbolts at the land below, vaporizing and morphing the landscape of the area encompassed under their looming gaze. The angelic beings that were once smiling and radiating a Heavenly aura had now suddenly turned stern. Hundreds of millions of people felt the anger seeping out of these beings, their frail mortal bodies suddenly seeming on the verge of collapse. All this, just through an expression of their emotions. The power was frightening needless to say, and yet, in the aspect of what it was to come, it was still so tiny.
I saw this orchestra of power take place between my own two corporeal eyes. The Heavens had sensed the danger that this foreign entity posed, and if a battle between them and this unholy 'thing' was to take place here then the entire Earth may fall subject to death and destruction. And with that in mind, the entire stage was flung away. All three of us, the Heavens, the Singularity and of course the most important piece of all, Me. All three of us were moved until the earth was just another distant part of the background in space. From looking no bigger than a ball, to shrinking into a speck of dust, to completely disappearing completely, the Earth was seemingly gone. Earth's crisis was averted. Mine, not so much!
The entire time that I was hailed, sucked and flung around I could do nothing but look on and watch as I was being drawn closer and closer towards the hailing void. At the time I did not pay much attention to the details, but I was falling towards it for an extremely long time. If the black hole had a diameter that stretched across at least several kilometers, and it formed only a few hundred kilometers away from me, then it should have only taken several seconds before I was sucked in. It was only later on that I learned that it was the influence of the Heavens that kept me from getting pulled in any faster. Not that it did much!
At the time, I might have been just a second away from the black hole, right on the verge of crossing the event horizon. That is when it happened! The white pearly gates that had remained shut all the way till now, suddenly and violently began to shake. The angelic beings looked at the shaking gate in absolute fear, almost as if it was their lives that were being threatened. Then suddenly without warning, the gates burst open, and for a brief moment, everything stopped. No I do not think you understand what I mean when I say 'everything stopped'. Time had completely stopped altogether! Barring me, everything that had been going on up till now had been put on a halt, as if someone had hit a pause button while watching a movie. I was no longer being pulled into the black hole, which was a major relief, but my mind still had only one thought that was rolling over and over on repeat.
'WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON!?' I thought while having completely lost all form of rationality. Since when was dying supposed to be so damn complicated? Before I could think of anything else, never mind actually doing something useful, a large blinding light shot forth from the pearly gates. The speed at which it travelled made it hard to make out, but I knew one thing for sure. It was headed straight for me! As it moved closer, the power which had previously halted time slowly began to lose its hold. I was slowly and gradually being pulled towards the singularity once more while having no way of doing anything.
My world at this point was only filled with two things, Black and White. The blinding light of the Heavenly figure, and the void that consumed it all. They each were fighting over one another, trying their best to reach me first, but each attempt was to no avail. They both were evenly matched. This little race ended when half of me got divided completely down the middle. The blinding white light that I had mentioned earlier had now made it to my side, and while although back then it was too hard, and too bright, for me to understand what was going on, I now know it was actually trying to enter my body through my right. My left half was already within the event horizon, and yes, I did not die! Now from here onwards I am a bit skeptical to say what happened after all that. It was something like a tug in the gut, a feeling of vertigo, then getting engulfed in darkness, only to be followed by something that I still cannot quite understand:
"Alex Mercer, You have been chosen"
Do not ask me how long I was knocked out, because I just realized that I never bothered finding out myself. Although, judging by how much my body was aching, and my lethargic mood, made me estimate that I may have slept for more than at least twelve hours. Despite me often sleeping in, I was not exactly the type of person who liked doing so. It was just my resting body taking control over my conscious, making sure that I stayed asleep, causing me to wake up in the middle of the evening, a full four hours of productivity having been wasted to nothing but mere lying down. Sorry! Got side tracked, again!
So I woke up, YAY! Where? No clue! All I can tell you was that I was suspended in a pitch black void. Or at least, so I thought!
After a minute of getting my lethargic body accustomed to waking up, I looked forward only to notice that someone else was there. Around ten or fifteen meters away from me, also suspended in this pitch black void was a girl. She looked groggy, as if she had just woken up as well. Slowly brushing off the blonde hair that covered the front side of her face, she finally noticed me who was looking back at her, each of us bewildered that there was someone else here.
"Uhh hi" I said, trying to see if she knew anything of what was going on. The girl gave me a confused look, looking at me as if she was trying to make out what I said. Before I could continue, I saw her lips move in the exact manner as one would when they are speaking.
'Wait a damn minute' I thought, pondering over the possibility. Our voice was still here, or at least I knew that I still had my own voice. That much was obvious. If I had suddenly lost the ability to speak, then I would not be able to hear my own voice when I had spoken. So somehow, we are being restricted from speaking to each other, for reasons unknown.
While I came to that conclusion, my mind suddenly began thinking about the way each of us was suspended. When I previously mentioned how I was suspended in midair (Does 'midair' count in a void? After all I was still breathing!), I kind of lied. In reality, my legs were being supported from an invisible platform underneath. I felt the normal pull of gravity coming from beneath it, with no clue what could be causing it. I tried taking a step forward, and much to my pleasure, saw that the platform continued. And so I took another, and another, and another, and then stopped. Another invisible barrier, but this time in front of me. It did not take a genius to figure out that it was some sort of invisible box. It was probably also the reason why we could not hear each other. Looking forward once again, I saw that the girl had arrived to the exact same conclusion almost at the same time that I did. Her hand pushed against the invisible wall was testimony to that fact.
'So we can't speak, but we sure as hell can see each other! WAIT, so we can still see one another, and there is no one else around' as the thought rolled through my head, I adopted a leering grin on my face as a perverse thought suddenly came to mind. Hey, can you blame me? She was really pretty! The girl was still looking at me, and only now did I realize that she was crossing her hands over her head the entire time, hoping to get my attention. I looked at her and saw she was trying to say something out loud, but did so while saying it slowly, and in a manner that allowed a person to see every use of the others mouth as they spoke. She had already realized that we both would need to lip read in order to communicate, and from the looks of it she was already trying.
Looking at the words she was trying to mouth, it took me a few seconds to realize what she was saying:
'Lip read'
'No duh' I thought. 'That much was kinda obvious. Now my turn'
I only said one word repeatedly, emphasizing on the movements of my lips, much like she did. Looking at my lips, it only took her a moment to realize what I said, after which her face was stricken with horror, while her cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink. Not even hesitating in the slightest she raised both her middle fingers, not wanting to spell out the 'fuck you' that would have come my way had we not been isolated by these barriers.
Laughing in my cell at my perverse joke, I barely caught the glimpse of her laughing too. How hilarious! Both of us just died probably just a day ago, might have gone through the same hell that I went through, only to land in some limbo type void with no way of hearing or interacting with one another, and the first thing I could think of was that! I mean come one! How was I still sane at this point in time? Was I really even dead, or was I just dreaming? Who knows, since I still ask myself that question everyday ever since what happened now.
After we both had shaken off our laughing fit, we tried to see what in the world were we thrown into.
'You know anything about reincarnation stories?' she asked. For a moment, I did not want to believe what I was hearing (Or technically speaking 'seeing'). 'You know, all those ones of someone dying and being reborn into their dream hood fictional verse, or the ones where . . .' Before she could finish what she was saying, I crossed my hands side to side signaling her to stop.
'Don't tell me you read them too! Do we literally have the same mentality when it comes to rebirth?' I said, hoping for the best.
'Reborn with future knowledge, learn everything there is to learn, become powerful, etc. etc. etc., yeah I've been there!' she replied, a smile now evident on her face.
'You up for world domination?' I asked
'Yup, but no back stabbing' she said in a slightly menacing, yet friendly, tone! (Which I inferred through her facial expressions because I am awesome that way!)
'Ha, like I'm going to do anything to the one person who could arguably understand me the most' I replied.
'So which verse do you think it is?' she asked
'Absolutely no clue. Just hope for the best and pray we get some power like 'The Gamer'' I said.
'No shit! What shmuck would pass up an opportunity to get 'The Gamer''
'What shmuck still uses the word 'shmuck'?'
'Fuck off'
'And a happy fuck you too' Up till now the two teens were just content with being in each other's company. Their words might come out as offensive, but to each other it was just plain playful.
'We at most have some pseudo-Gamer power up that prevented us from collapsing into sheer insanity up till this point in time' I said, re-initiating the conversation.
'Makes sense, but that does not have to be the case. I am under the impression that you were not exactly the most heartfelt souls in your previous life. Much to my guess, you were probably cold and calculating, and often chose the most logical choices even if they did not often seem to be the moral one! In other words, you and I were practically the same! As such, I think that we each are not ones that collapse as easily as others! I think it is safe to say that out higher mental capabilities have prevented us from entering such state of being.' Her guess was nearly dead on the spot. However, the moment I heard her say that, I could tell that there was a bit of a superiority complex fitted in her cunning mind. And the last time I checked, it was the arrogant that always fall!
'A logical choice is a logical choice' I replied, 'and morality is subject to those with the power to change it to their desire. A subjective concept is not something that makes one good or bad, but just good or bad from the perspective of those that define it.' I countered. 'As for your point saying we have higher mental capabilities, I would rather that neither of us get on that high horse bullshit! At most we were cold and calculating, each of us understanding a good deal of science, spending our time immersed in studies, further trying to expand your knowledge pool. You were probably also a Viner, spending your free time undergoing debates between fictional characters, or imagining hypothetical unreal situations that are never to occur! We are the type of people that do not base our arguments off of emotional appeal, but rather off of sound, logical, backed up statements, not allowing our own emotions to take over. However, there are times when our minds can still be overcome by overwhelmingly horrid situations, and due to nothing more but the biology and physiology of how our brain works, we experience emotions such as fear. I think it is more likely that we have some higher power ensuring that we don't go mad, and we've probably been given power similar to 'The Gamer's Mind' to prevent us from collapsing into total insanity' I had to take a deep breath after my long rant, my mind having already reached its peak of mental exhaustion!
'Alright Alright, but can we stop talking about this philosophical crap and just figure out what's going on?' she said. She was not wrong when she said we each went a bit far off topic. I was about to reply, but the interruption caused by the barrier halted me in my tracks.
The once invisible barrier that kept us both in our places had now turned a translucent shade of blue. We each looked at each other trying to make out what we could of it. After a minute of examining the barrier, I was about to resume speaking, when words suddenly popped up on the now visible wall:
Greeting fellow mortals! Do not despair,
for you have been selected by
The Rebirth Engine
Looking across towards the girl, I saw she had the same expression that I had the moment that words began to pop up on screen; one expression of complete nonchalance. Taking one last look at her, I began to continue reading the words that popped up on screen.
The individuals who are selected for
The Rebirth Trials
Are those who have shown the resilience, aptitude,
and willingness to use their power for causing
ABSOLUTE DOMINATION
In each of your case, the concept of rebirth is not new,
and as such, it is not necessary to explain.
If you have not already noticed,
you each have been given an ability called
'The Sorcerer's Mind'
The moment the name of the ability popped up both me and the girl gave each other a knowing look.
'Hey I was close enough' I said in a snarky manner. She responded with another 'finger' while sticking her tongue out as well!
The sorcerer's mind is a rare ability,
one that has only been granted to you two individuals.
If you wish to examine the scope of its abilities,
please just say its name out loud to observe
"View Ability: Sorcerer's Mind" I said out loud. Without any delay, a blue box appeared right in front of my face. I looked across to see the girl reading something suspended in midair. Despite the fact that she looked like she was reading, I could not see anything that was possibly there. In conclusion, we each could only see our own abilities, unless of course we did something about that later on. Not focusing on her any longer, I began to read the box that had appeared out of thin air.
[The Sorcerer's Mind]
(Tier: Max) – (Level: Max)
The Sorcerer's Mind grants the user the ability to always remain calm
and use their mind to create the most logical solution in all forthcoming
situations. The user is also immune to any form of mentally ill effects
such as insanity, craziness, induced drunkenness, forced sleep, forced coma,
telepathic attacks, mind reading, mind controlling,
and many other variants of mental attacks.
Sorcerer's Mind also grants the user higher level intellect along with
improved cognitive functions, memory retention skills, and critical thinking
in all situations.
As wizards are dependent upon their wisdom and intelligence,
learning, creation and combination of spells shall be of utmost ease.
I read the ability description in complete awe. If what this says is true, then it was even better than 'The Gamer's Mind'! Just 'The Gamer's Mind', mind you! The full 'Gamer' ability was still far more overpowered than anything that I have ever seen before. Or at least for any rebirth situations where one wanted to rule the world.
Now that you have acquainted yourself with both each other
AND
your abilities
it is only fair to now give a brief overview of the world you have been selected to join!
You will be joining the Percy Jackson Verse (PJV)!
You will be sent in a time where Percy is fifteen,
just one year away from the war with Kronos!
Before you jump with joy and excitement, there is a twist!
You will not have any naturally given abilities from the PJV!
Instead you will each be gifted with the natural magical abilities of
The Harry Potter Verse (HPV)!
'What the hell does he mean when he says natural abilities?' I thought. I did not ponder over it too much and continued reading the text.
Of course there will be differences with the magic that you employ,
and the one that the HPV generally portrays, but we will not get into that!
You will learn about all of that in your own due time.
Now of course is for the most important part of
The Rebirth Cycle
Perk Selection!
'What in the world is perk selection? I've gone through plenty of rebirth light novels, and have even seen all those 'Gamer type' reborn fanfics, but I've never heard of this!' I thought, unsure if I was going to like what I was about to read.
From the list below
you are to choose five Ability Perks
+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)
+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)
+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)
Enhanced Intellect
Target Seeking Spells
Auto Spell/Shield/Rune Casting
Enhanced Magic Power Output
Enhanced Magic Growth Factor
Ability To Add AoE To All Spells
Multi-Projectile High Speed Spells
Magic Conduit Requirement Removed
Enhanced Necromancy + Umbra kinesis
Create Self-Returning/Repairing Magic Conduit
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)
I looked at the list of perks with my eyes looking like they were about to pop. All the options looked really good, but of course, I could not have them all! I looked towards the girl, who was now backed against the barrier, looking just as stunned at the options as I was. Waving my arms over my head, I got her attention motioning her to come forward.
Looking at the 'godly Lineage Abilities' I finally understood what the text message meant when it said 'no natural abilities'. In case you did not, then understand it like this. Percy Jackson was born to Sally Jackson and Poseidon. Now he was naturally born into the Poseidon Lineage, and as a result he got all the abilities a son of Poseidon would get. If you are a child of Athena you get greater intellect, child of Ares and you get enhanced battle affinity. In our case, we get to choose which of the godly lineages we want to employ, that is if we want to employ any at all!
'I think I know 'one' option that we both should take!' I said, letting her read my lips.
'Which one?' She asked
'Horcrux!' I replied. 'We each could take one Horcrux, and just hear me out, implant it in one another! A Horcrux already seems to have its own tendency to defend itself, and so we can count it as an auto shield to some sorts, making it a two-in-one deal. Also, this will practically make it impossible for one of us to get killed as someone would have to kill both of us simultaneously. As long as one of us lives, we each could always revive one another!'
'Don't get me wrong, that sounds great and all, but we're going to a verse filled with death gods and primordial calamities. Beings that conceptualize aspects of human belief. Sure we might not get killed by any demi-god, but it might be possible that gods such as those seated in Olympus, or the ones in the House of Horus could easily smite us!' Her argument was not wrong, and it was well thought out, but I still felt like going with my idea.
'Hmm, well either way, I don't see why we shouldn't take the Horcrux. I think both you and I came to the same conclusion when I say that we should not take two or three godly abilities. Only one shall be sufficient! If we take all three, or even two, then we are basically sacrificing our mobility and stealth for power. Monsters are able to hunt demi-gods because of the divine blood that resides within them. Now imagine how far our divine scent would go if we took two or three of the god's lineages. Not to mention demi-god powers are heavily implied to be stamina draining, and taking all three at once might not be the best idea. Sure, the combination of three demi-god blood abilities will also give us a huge boost in stamina, but the fact remains that those powers are not versatile enough. Even if we took all the big three's abilities, which would mean Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, against any brutish opponent we would be an unstoppable force of nature, but to anyone with even a bit of a versatile edge we would be left helpless. What's the point of firing lighting, shadow travelling and water bending when your opponent can turn you into a guinea pig?' I would have continued, but in the one small moment that I stopped to take my breath, the girl already launched her own explanation.
'Even if that is true just remember one thing, we are not giving up our magical powers! We still retain our affiliation with the mystic arts, and we will have a major power boost alongside it. In the end even you cannot deny that the Water Based Regeneration granted by being a child of Poseidon is a bit overpowered. Not to mention, I think it is possible that with the power boost that we get through being a demi-god, we should have an increased magical ability boost automatically. After all, nearly everything that the gods do is done through divine power. Why on earth should it be any different than magic. A demi-god's soul should be leagues stronger than that of a regular mortal, and so I think it's safe to say that the influence of divine blood would lead to higher magical capabilities.'
'Man she's a pretty good debater' I thought. 'But luckily, so am I!'
'I'm not saying you're wrong! But I'm not saying you're right either! After all it's still just speculation whether or not divine blood is going to help amplify our magical proficiency, so basing our choice off of that alone does not seem to be the best idea. If we did, then we should take all reasonable forms of speculation into account, and that's not exactly going to help us now is it. I think the best way we should approach this is by putting our highest priorities first, and then seeing where we could improve our other stats. I think the most important thing we should look at is 'wand less magic'. And while although I will seem like a hypocrite for saying this, I have speculations over whether taking this will increase our magical proficiency!
'Oh ho, and what makes you say that now?' asked the girl in a snarky manner.
'Look at the list one more time. You see how there is an option that includes 'self-returning/repairing magical conduit'. Well just ask yourself this, 'why would they include that in?' After all, if you have placed the option 'wand less magic' right next to it, then what idiot in the right mind would pick a self-returning and repairing wand when they can perform magic that requires no conduit. My guess is that these conduits, which are probably just the wands we often hear about, each have a different level of power. Now I don't think that's too farfetched to believe, seeing as the elder wand was considered a superior wand compared to all others. Different wands may show different levels of power. Notice how it also says 'create returning/repairing conduits' implying that we might want to change which wand we are holding onto later on. The only reason anyone would want to change their wand is if they have found a superior one to replace their current one. So that leads me to ask one question: If wizards who are unable to perform proficient wand less magic use wands to amplify their power, what would happen if a wizard who can perform proficient wand less magic was to use a wand? For all we know it would be tantamount to squaring the multiplier that amplifies your magic. After all, the option only says that we 'can use' wand less magic, not 'only use' wand less magic'
'Uhhh we keep going off topic! We were originally discussing whether or not we wanted to do the Horcrux thing.' Said the girl in what seemed to be an annoyed tone. 'I have an idea! Why don't we each just tell what choice we each want to take, and then we'll discuss it after we both lay it all out? Deal?'
'Yeah, that sounds fine' I said. 'So do you want to go first?'
'Nah, I'm still thinking mine over! You go on ahead.' She said.
'Okay' I thought. 'Here goes nothing!'
'So for my first option, I am definitely taking wand less magic. My second and third option are the same, taking the godly lineage of Athena and Hades. Athenian Lineage for their enhanced intellect and Hades for … the glory of papa bone! My fourth option is going to be enhanced intellect, giving me a double intellect bonus, while my fifth option depends!'
'Depends on what?'
'Well, it depends on you! Mainly on the matter regarding the Horcrux thing'
'So you're really that hung up on it?'
'Yup!'
'Uh, alright fine! I was going to choose the Horcrux anyways so it's not much of an issue'
'Alright, so that wraps me up! What are you picking?' I asked.
'So I'm taking the abilities from the Hades lineage, along with Enhanced Necromancy, Umbra Kinesis and intellect. Apart from that I have the Horcrux that we decided on from the start, and of course, wand less magic'
'Okay so that should wrap it up. Now how do we finalize it? Should we just try willing the abilities into ourselves or do you think . . .' I never got to finish my sentence. In the middle of me speaking, another blue box had appeared right out of seemingly nowhere.
You have selected the following perks:
+1 Hades Lineage Abilities
+1 Athenian Lineage Abilities
Enhanced Intellect
Magic Conduit Requirement Removed
+1 Horcrux
Do you wish to finalize your selection?
(This option cannot be changed later on!)
[YES — NO]
I looked across at the girl, then back at the screen, then back at her again.
'I guess that answers my question' I told her. Looking at her, I saw that she had three fingers raised up, ready and waiting to be counted down. It was quite obvious what the countdown was meant for. Once I gave a thumbs up to confirm I saw her fingers, she began the count down
Three . . . Two . . . One . . . *push*
We both pressed the buttons simultaneously. There was a sudden tug in my gut, as I felt the same feeling of vertigo as I did when I was first brought here. My entire body seemed to be fading away, slowly turning transparent. As my world turned black, the last thing I saw was the girl just looking back at me with a smile. I smiled back!
