The Darth System Initiates: Prologue
When people tell you that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, or that life will flash before your eyes, I can confirm that those people are full of shit. When you die you just fucking float in an endless void of black with no indication of anything to speak of. I can't even think properly.
I don't know why, but 'thought' as a simple 'thought' is an impossibility here. Every 'thought' you would have is translated into emotions instead. Want to reflect on your life? Bam! Instant anxiety, frustration, ecstasy, resentment, rage, happiness, determination, focus, and acceptance. And not only that, cause when those emotions hit, you can literally feel them coursing through your 'body'.
I really didn't foresee my death, I was just on a mission as usual. Kill this dude, kill his underlings, retrieve sensitive information, watch out for The Cardinal Cords, get to the extraction. The usual Death Merc shit.
To think that there would be an Ironclad squad ignoring their patrol duty just to take a quick break right by my exit window, and wasn't the stare-off we had when I landed in their midst fucking awkward.
Like what the hell man, I planned this meticulously for like a week. And you just had to take a piss right fucking there.
The short fight that ensued was so fucking one-sided it wasn't even close to funny. And fuck me did a sword through the chest hurt like a bitch, getting punched by a Cardinal was way fucking worse though. At least it was a quick death at the end of the day.
It saddens me that I didn't get to say goodbye to my apprentices for real, but it is a lesser regret compared to the feeling of not being able to help them complete their training. They were gonna struggle. Especially now when they are gonna have to find a new Dark leveled Death Merc to give them guidance and train them in personal techniques. Even if the new instructor they get is a lower level than I was it would be great.
Bit I do feel especially bad for Adams since he was heavily investing his time in my personal fighting style and my personal techniques. He is doomed to fail now since I don't think anybody else has ever successfully stolen or copied any techniques from The Cardinal Cords before me.
Reflecton here is really odd, but time is even weirder... It feels like I've been thinking about somethings forever, felt them. But in reality I must have only reflected on it once or twice.
So when I think back on my life, I thought I'd be feeling regret, and I did for a while, but I'm much more overwhelmed by the drive and focus I had in my younger days and the ecstasy, happiness, and resentment I had as I grew older, the regret is more like a distant ache than the throbbing pain my other emotions.
But ultimately, I do feel regret as well, but not for my life choices as I would have believed would be the case. I felt regret over not getting further in my illegal career, and that regret was fueled by my determination. But all the determination and regret in the world has no use when you're floating in a fucking void of-
[Booting System]
Okay. So that's new...
[Darth System Online]
[Assimilating New User]
I don't know what to think of this. On one hand, it's the first new thing happening in who knows how long, but on the other hand, I'm guessing that I am supposed to be this user (Haven't seen anybody else her if you didn't notice, that would have mittigated some of my droning).
That implies that I'll be using something, like the demonic powers of the nameless? But I'm almost certain that their powers weren't capable of communicating mentally, and 100% certain that their powers didn't produce something that looked like flat screens of red mana with golden text adorning it. And the voice it used is just so… It's almost like 100 different voices speaking at once, but the voices are blended by the ocean waves.
[Darth System Has Established Connection With New User]
[Users Name Registered As: Aron Hyde]
[Congratulations On Being Selected By The Dice]
What the hell… is even happening right now?
The user is in the process of starting a new life and competing against or coexisting with other users in the hope to entertain The Primordial Systems.
But by being assigned The Darth System (Aka me) as your guide, entertaining The Primordial Systems mostly entails the eternal quest for conquering, combat, and power. Barr a few circumstances.
And when is the other shoe dropping? There is no way in hell am I just getting a free resurrection without any consequence. There is no such things as free out of jail cards from death, even the most powerful Weavers can only resurrect someone by sacrificing huge parts of themselves. And what are these Primordial Systems, and why would they grant these 'users' a new life for entertainment?
You will be afforded more information about that when it is time, but just to alleviate some of your curiosity I can confirm that I am a part of The Primordial Systems. For now, you only need to know that you will be reincarnated (sort of) and not resurrected into another world in the Multiverse, and with help from The Darth System, will grow immensely powerful in time.
I'm just going to assume that getting more information 'when it is time' is just another way of saying 'go fuck yourself'. And there is absolutely no way there are no downsides to this, I will absolutely refuse this if I do not know the cost of getting this new life.
Saying that I'll be granted that information, later on, is just not an acceptable circumstance.
…
You have already somewhat succeeded in being entertaining. Most we have offered this to before have leaped at the opportunity of a second attempt at life. None under my jurisdiction has ever figured out that there could be downsides before.
They were are shortsighted and fools then. Every reputable person I knew of in my previous life would have seen that there could be consequensial downsides to a deal like this. Especially since Darth is another word for Devil where I'm from, and that doesn't make you seem very trustworthy in my eyes.
Fair enough. I'll grant you your request, having you know the downsides to this might actually be interesting in certain ways, even if the positives outweighs the egatives by quite a margin. For one thing, your soul is bound to The Darth System so that the system can exact penalties, influence you, reward you, and so that The Darth System may always pinpoint your location in the multiverse.
Only The Darth System is able to unbind your soul. And from a certain viewpoint, rewards you gain and persons you meet in the multiverse can affect your mentality, soul, and hurt you in general. Do you want to know the positives to this deal whilst you're at it, maybe you didn't get the 'get to live again' part, or 'will grow immensely powerful in time' part either?
... I don't think I'm interested. I don't want to bind my soul to anyone, let alone something that is way out of my comprehension. I have to decline. I may have the determination to live a new life, if, it didn't mean that I'd have to bind myself to what I can only assume is some kind of God.
That's all well and good. But that is gonna make this next bit awkward… The only reason you can see and hear what I'm saying to you, is that your soul is kinda already bound to me.
And I'm definitely not letting you go, merely on the basis that you are entertaining.
Ah shit, then...
(Sorry, not sorry…)
Okay, this shit is officially fucking retarded.
(That was a bit mean…)
Go ahead then.
[Character Creation Initiated]
[To Start The User Will Be Granted 4 Boons That Are Based Upon Achievements From Their Last Life]
[Granting Boons]
[Deep Dark Leveled Death Merc]
Conditions: Be part of the underground society Death Incorporated and reach Deep Dark level status
Boon: Trait [Wreathed In The Deep Dark]
[Apprentice Of The Darth]
Conditions: Be brought on as an apprentice by a cabinet member of Death Inc
Boon: Trait [In The Presence Of Death]
[One Man Army]
Conditions: Win a fight against 50 people without outside help
Boon: Trait [Lone Wolf, Trait [Lone Warrior]
[Cardinal Cords Copycat]
Conditions: Copy one of The Cardinal Cords techniques
Boon: Unique Class and Proficiency-Set granted [The Manifest Of Cords]
You have been your Boons. If you wish, you can take a closer look at the perks, skills, and classes you've been granted when you are transmigrated. For now, you can roll for traits, for every trait roll you get one good and one bad trait. And after that, we move on to Character Creation. Do you want to roll for supplementary traits?
Um, no thank you. You said that you could affect my mentality and shit with different rewards, this is one way, right? If that's the case it's a firm no from me, I do not want to rely on luck when it comes to my life. I make my own fortune.
I would suggest going for a couple of traits, but your loss I guess. Moving on the-
If that is what you suggest, what are the best and worst traits you can get?
[Chosen By The Primordials] and [On The Brink Of Death]...
There you have it. It doesn't even fucking matter how godly the first trait is, I am not risking my life or my own mental state slash mentality, or whatever for it. Now, what is next?
...
[Character Creation Initiated]
Do you want to keep your old physical body or change it in any way?
The red screen in front of me was suddenly split into two. The part with the text on it stayed in place whilst the other was placed horizontally and started projecting an advanced image of my old body. How did it even do that? I have never seen a copy of reality like that other than in drawings, is it a drawing? No, definitely not. And why does it keep writing on the screen if it speaks to me mentally as well? Anyways I'm getting sidetracked, let's get to it.
There really isn't anything wrong with my old body, tall, muscular, white hair, blue eyes, white skin, some facial hair, late 30's, and somewhat well-endowed bellow the waist. But from experience, I can tell you that white hair is not the greatest when trying to hide without a hood, and the tall build is great in fighting but worse for when you are trying to hide… But I like my hair and to change my height in any way would be detrimental instead of helpful since I would have to relearn how to move in a smaller body.
In the end, I only change my, uh... rod length to 25cm (I'm a guy, I can't help it) and age to 18 so I have more time to stay alive, but I will still count as an adult, and hopefully, I stop having back pains. Looking over everything again I can say that it seems like everything I want to do with that is done. Some things are a bit interesting, like heterochromatic eyes and hair, unusual skin colors as red, yellow, blue, and pure white, almost the shade of new-fallen snow. But those kinds of things will only make me stand out, and to be honest I do not want to change my skin color to blue.
Now that you are done we can proceed to the last part of this initiation face. The Transmigration of your soul and chosen avatar. Remember that depending on what world you choose, certain requirements may be forced upon you.
[Please Choose Which Universe To Transmigrate Into]
[Planetos]
[Nirn]
[Bleach]
[One Piece]
[Slay The Spire]
[Middle Earth]
[Attack On Titan]
[Hyboria]
[Randland]
[Star Wars]
[Remnant]
[Marvel]
[Azeroth]
[My Hero Academia]
[The Witcher]
[Narnia]
[The Forgotten Realms]
[Star Trek]
[Naruto]
[Fullmetal Alchemist]
[DC]
Holy moly, that is a lot of shit to take in, and none of it really rings any bells. At least it didn't read out every option for me, only the ones I'm thinking of, and it gives a detailed description of the different worlds. And I can say that I don't really get any of it… Do you have any recommendations, Darth?
Can I choose for you?
No, I am not gonna let you choose for me, without running it by me first.
This selection is the current ones I recommend for you. And mind that this is only my preference recommendation and not difficulty recommendations.
[Slay The Spire]
[Middle Earth]
[Star Wars]
[Nirn]
[Remnant]
[Marvel]
[My Hero Academia]
[The Witcher]
[Narnia]
[DC]
That's a start I guess. Now remove everything I am almost guaranteed to die in. And maybe worlds that I'll have trouble blending into very well.
…
[Nirn]
[Narnia]
[The Witcher]
[Middle Earth]
… Why did you remove so god damn many?
I removed everything with technology levels that would be confusing to you, resulting in you standing out, and everything that has a 50% mortality rate for users or universes where you are predicted to die based on your probable alignments. I was hesitating to remove [Marvel, [Star Wars] and [Slay The Spire, just because I love the universes…
Should I be concerned that I only have a less than 50% mortality rate in these universes? I guess I can't really complain since Death Merc mortality rates are somewhere in the late 90% range for new recruits. The high ranking level I held before my death still had an estimated mortality rate of roughly 30%, but that is actually reasonably good for a profession based upon assassination and mercenary work.
After a quick look at [Nirn, I realize that there is a type of mystical system that's not a mystical system(?) referred to as 'Magicka' and is casually called 'magic'. This is somewhat different from the system I am used to that is based around metaphysics and is just called Mystic, Mystic powers or Mystical.
It was fairly interesting to read about this 'Magic system' and after reading through the descriptions I come across a curious thing. All the other worlds use some type of 'Magic system'. Why is there no Metaphysical systems? Is it that my world is actually pretty unique? Does that give me an advantage?
I chose [Nirn] in the end after carefully reading through all the recommended options, merely based upon that it seemed the closest to what my previous universe was like. There were definitely quite a few differences though. Like what the hell is an elf, and why do they have more than double the lifespan as a normal human? These 'Beast-races' is definitely more my forte. If fighting against the flood counts… Ok, I'm definitely in the deep end here. But what am I supposed to do? Fight for or against some dark lord or witch? Maybe become a monster hunter? Fuck that, I'm a mercenary at heart. I might not be evil, but I am definitely not some fucking goody-two-shoes.
[User Has Chosen To Transmigrate To The World Of Nirn, Good Luck On Your Endeavers User ~ The Primordial Systems]
[Transmigration Initiated]
And that was the last time I saw the void.
Authors note
So this is my first fanfiction and I am only doing it atm because I want to improve my storytelling, creative process, and my ability to research different aspects of mythology and already established fictional worlds. If you have any opinions or noticed anything wrong in the chapter please let me know and stay safe in these worrisome times Heeanoren.
Second Authors Note
Sorry to Oxygen Destroyer 1954 for temporarily removing the story. I was not happy with a few things and temporarily took it down. Some things just didn't make sense to me and wanted to change those things. Like going to RWBY for my first universe, and that really didn't make sense for Aron to choose. I hope I didn't inconvenience you too much.