Stupid formatting...

Chapter One
Master of Death

He was in a room. It was pitch black, with a slight green glow. It was… strangely comforting. Realizing that he was flat on his back he sat up and saw a young woman sitting at a stone circular table in the centre of the room.

The woman was dressed in a purple sleeveless dress, and a silver choker around her neck, from which hang a glowing green jewel. The jewel was engraved in silver with the symbol of the Hallows. Her hair was as black as the night, her skin a dusky tanned white.

"Hello again, master." She said. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, and her voice held thinly veiled anger.

Completely confused Harry stands up, and starts walking forward. The table is also engraved with the symbol of the deathly Hallows. They glowed the green of the killing curse, the same colour his eyes were often compared to, despite them not being such a glowing, sickly, evil looking green. The woman is oddly… familiar. He knows her somehow. All the same, he is sure that he has never met her in his life.

"I suppose this means I'm dead? I remember being in the hospital, and the symbols there," he says. "Wait…" he pauses, his mind catching up with what he heard. "Hello again? Master? Who are you?"

The woman's eyes widen, having come to a realization. "You don't… remember? I had thought it just an act during your time there but-" a vicious smile crosses her face and her voice becomes devious and drips with sarcasm. "Then this is my chance. Sorry master but I'm not going to pass this one up. Back you go! Do try to put forth your best effort this time, unless you wish death to go wild again. Buh-bye!"

And with that, everything went dark once more.

The next thing Harry knew, he was in a dark warm place. He couldn't move though. He felt safe for some reason. There was a comforting steady pounding in his ear. It was weeks before he realized that he was back in his mother's womb.

It happened suddenly. Memories slammed into his brain. They were fragmented however. Fragmented, just not in the usual manner that people think of. There weren't any missing memories chronologically, but they lacked the experience and details that should have come along with them. They were knowledge, pure knowledge, and some emotion… they were empty of all else. It was like comparing actually riding a bike, to reading about riding one. Or a picture of a beautiful place to actually being there. Even if the quality of the picture was perfect, it still wasn't quite the same. Still, information is a power all its own, and even if the picture hadn't been perfect in quality, if it had instead been grainy, and in black-and-white, that would be better than never seeing the place at all right?

Harry was the Master of Death. The woman in the afterlife? Eris. She was his exarch. His godly servant. A previous Death before he had taken over. He had come into this world for a purpose. To save it. Voldemort was going to destroy the entire world, and even Death wanted Life to go on. After all, if everything died, there would be nothing left for him to do. Only Life kept Death around. Something had gone wrong however. The memories should have returned as soon as he died and arrived in his personal chambers in the realm of the Gods, his personal "Land of the Dead". What could possibly have happened? Well, considering he was still in the womb, he had a few months to figure out the answer.

Harry made good use of his time in the womb. He didn't have a true answer yet, not even a theory really, but he had a hypothesis. He had died before he should have. Died to destroy the horcrux that Voldemort had placed inside him. That first death was unplanned. His memories had probably tried to enter him then, but he had been restored to life too soon. So the memories had escaped the container where they were held previously, and had nowhere to go. They simply drifted along the edges of Reality and The Potentiate until he died again, degrading since they were not properly contained. Then he'd died again. Degraded, the memories took longer to find him. They'd only just found him when he was slammed back into life prematurely by his traitorous servant. This time they'd somehow managed to get through the barrier between worlds, probably because she hadn't realized the need to cast the containment spell on them again. Then, they'd located his current body and seeped into him. Lucky for him, or he'd have no idea where he was, let alone why. He probably would have gone insane from sensory deprivation without his memories to occupy his thoughts.

Harry's knowledge was going to save him this time around. If he didn't play this life just right, and succeed in everything his assistant assigned him… Since she was the one to send him here, the rules said that she got to dictate the terms of his success. If he failed, he would no longer be Death. He'd either be both downgraded to exarch and forced to serve her, or more likely he would be utterly destroyed as he'd dethroned her once before. However his knowledge was also a problem. In this world the human body was only capable of containing one of the Greater Powers at a time. Two at most, and that was a stretch. It could hold lesser powers unending, though conflicting powers could (and usually did) have bad side-effects, up to and including various types of death or insanity. He'd have to choose one before he "popped out" so to speak. That would be difficult. Both the choosing, and the event. He really didn't want to remember sliding out of his mother's bloody and over-expanded vagina. Sometimes being a God really sucked.

It was time. He'd been able to kick for months, and though he knew it hurt her sometimes, he'd done it periodically as he just HAD to adjust his position for comfort, and with arms this weak, he couldn't really be expected to swim with those. Kicking gave him more propulsion than anything else. Besides that, kicking was expected. If he didn't kick, his parents would think something was wrong and go to St. Mungo's where they could be exposed to Voldemort. Prophecy wasn't his godly domain, and in his previous life he'd never actually asked the exact date of when the prophecy was given, so he didn't know if his parents were already in hiding or not, if they'd hid during the pregnancy, or only after, let alone the difficulty of actually telling time in a place that was the same at all times. No matter what, his parents going to St. Mungo's could leave them exposed and get them killed before he was even born. Definitely not a good thing. If Eris was allowed to become Death again, especially the Death considering that he had the powers of every Death in this plane… Chaos would reign. Again.

Harry's mind was wandering again. It was time to choose. Which of his many powers would benefit him the most? It had to be something small, at least to start with. Something that would make him work for his power. If he gave himself an instant "I win" power, he'd be erased from the universe for breaking the fabric of reality. The Overgod of this realm, a mysterious entity that went by the name No, (pronounced En-oh) wouldn't tolerate uber-powerful reality warping abilities. It took him a while to find the right one, but of all of his viable options, in the end it was the only logical choice to make. It would mean taking two greater powers, but they were so intrinsically linked, that they almost counted as one, and thus would be allowed.

A Gamer's Body (Passive) – Grants a body that allows the user to live the real world like a game.
A Gamer's Mind (Passive) – Allows a user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects.

The powers might seem ridiculously stupid and weak, but they had a hidden power. The ability to become the best, the absolute greatest possible, in any, and more importantly, every facet of life at an enhanced speed. They were only level 1 for now, having just acquired them, but he couldn't do anything until his body matured more anyway. By the time he was physically old enough to take actions of his own, they would be maxed out. Which was important. "Psychological status effects" included magic. Immunity to charm or domination spells like the imperious curse and its weaker cousins? Very useful.

These powers weren't normally used. They were so close to breaking the fabric of reality that they were considered cheating. Not by the rulebook, but by the players. Gods were normally "forbidden" from using them when they played the "Game of Life" and took on a mortal form or created a divine avatar. But he hadn't chosen to play this again. He'd been pushed in by his rebellious subordinate when he didn't know what was going on. That would be enough of a loophole to get away with it. Even then, the only thing that made them "barely legal" was that he still could "lose" or "die" with these powers. They allowed one to become impossibly strong, but it took effort to make it happen. They only granted the potential. Especially since the "game" that the power allowed you to play would vary depending on your favourite type. Lucky for Harry, his favourite type of game was one designed to make mortals powerful enough to challenge and defeat gods. After all, slaying Gods was what epic level D&D (especially homebrew) was all about. Unfortunately, since he hadn't set this up, it wasn't going to go by D&D altogether. Rather the stat system would, but the skills and such would go by its natural state. That meant grinding. He hated grinding.

Still, the powers Harry had chosen were powerful enough that he would be forced to give up most of his memories as a God to compensate. He'd only be able to keep a few, and even then, they'd likely stay hidden from him until something happened to jog his memory. Not just his memories as a god either, but also the memories of his previous go around through this life would be taken. Some would likely remain, but much like those of his God-self, they would need to be "jogged" before they would return. Still, it would be a small price to pay to save all of Life in this plane of existence. This plane was different from the others after all. Instead of just having one world in the Prime Material, there were hundreds of thousands of millions. It was almost an entire multiverse all on its own! Back on topic, at least Harry could be sure that he would be able to figure out how to play. The tutorial would be on by default, and he wouldn't remember how to turn it off when his memories left him. Not before he'd gone through it. But the time for thinking was over. Pressure, then light. Then oblivion as his memories were wiped away.

It was several years before the first notifications popped up.

Abilities: Abilities are things that you can do. They are not to be confused with Skills. They are separated as things that not everyone can simply learn through effort. Some people can, but they require a user to be of the correct class, race, or have innate talent. They have levels, but no ranks. Passive abilities utilize no mana, and have a constant effect. Active abilities utilize mana when active. Some abilities are passive, but can be activated for a mana cost to increase effectiveness.

A Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv Max. – At max level, allows the spontaneous creation of new skills for use from the imagination as long as the pre-requisite skills to create them are obtained and at the required level. Note: Training under a master can still grant new skills, but is no longer required. Window screens are now active.

A Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv Max. – At max level, allows the spontaneous creation of new physical skills from repeated actions. Note: Training under a master can still grant new skills, but is no longer required. HP/MP bars and stats of the user are now visible. Food and sleep are no longer physical requirements, but instead have beneficial effects when utilized. Also, due to the body acting like that of a character in a video game, skills will not degrade over time from disuse as they normally would. This allows mastery of multiple skills to become not only possible, but almost easy with enough time.

Status Effects: Status Effects are what cause changes to your body, mind, abilities, etc. Certain effects can take priority over others. They can be negative, neutral, or positive. Permanent and semi-permanent effects take great difficulty to add or remove.

Bad Night's Sleep – Due to sleeping in sub-par conditions, your health and mana have only been restored by 50%.

Malnutrition – Due to poor nutrition your body is 50% weaker than it should be. All stats are decreased by 50%. Skills that are affected by stats are also decreased by 50%. Note: The longer this condition persists, the more difficult it will be to remove. If the condition is not repaired prior to completing puberty, it will become a permanent malady, only able to be removed through a miracle cast by a high-level cleric, or a miracle-class healing spell or item. Does not affect mana.

Exhaustion – Due to remaining under the effects of Malnutrition and Bad Night's Sleep for more than two months you have a constant stat penalty of 25%. All efforts are also 25% more difficult in every aspect of life.

Body Support – Due to severe intensity of Malnutrition and Bad Night's Sleep, 50% of your mana is constantly drained to keep you alive. Note: If you allow yourself to fall under 50% mana, you will die. This effect can only be removed by removing the two effects that caused its creation. They must be remain removed for at least six months. If they return during that period, the timer resets.

Invasion of the Soul – Due to the presence of another soul in your body, 25% of your mana is constantly drained to protect your body from being taken over. Note: If you fall under 25% mana, you will become fully "possessed" and lose control of your body. Due to also needing 50% of your mana for Body Support, falling under 75% mana will cause your possession as Body Support is a higher ranked priority than Invasion of the Soul. This status effect can only be removed by removing the foreign soul from within you.

Botched Recovery – Due to being forced to heal without proper medical attention, your HP is permanently decreased by 25%. Note: Due to the nature of the injuries, only mystical types of healing can remove this effect.

Skills: Skills are how you perform. Cooking, stealing, crafting, writing, flirting, fighting… all are skills. These can be "discovered" by attempting them for the first time, or in some cases, by watching them be performed by another. They are abilities that anyone can learn through effort, as they require no special class or innate talent. They have levels that are further sub-divided into ranks. You gain 10 skill points per level. These points can be used to increase a skill artificially, without going through the required effort to train it naturally.

Under 25- Novice
25-49 – Apprentice
50-74 – Journeyman
75-99 – Master
100 – Grandmaster
101+ – Divine – Only useful against another Grandmaster or higher of the opposing skill. These are rumoured to be the ranks of Gods.

Cooking (Passive) Lv 25 – Allows the user to cook various meals. At max level, learning to cook new meals is easier due to innate cooking talent, and the user has a 10% chance to learn how to create a food by simply tasting it. The user can also make meals from random ingredients provided they are physically possible to create from said ingredients. At this level the user can become a cook at a restaurant. Note: When mixed with Charisma, the user may cause potential mates to become somewhat attracted to them through cooking talents alone, due to the scarcity of men who can cook. Combined levels must equal 50 or higher with a minimum of 20 in both.

Dishwashing (Passive) Lv 25 – Allows faster washing of dishes. At max level, allows removal of all stains, greases, and food remains with a single swipe. At this level the user can become an experienced dishwasher at a restaurant.

Gardening (Passive) Lv 25 – Allows faster weeding, planting, and all other gardening skills. At max level, the user is capable of growing hybrid plants perfectly to allow plants to grow in climates not meant for them or to create plants with new effects. At this level, the user can join a decent landscaping crew.

Mastery of Pain (Passive) Lv Max – Allows the user to limit the effects of pain, as well as remain able to think clearly and act even during cases of severe bodily harm as long as the body is physically capable of doing so. Note: Mental and Magical exhaustion are not affected.

Endurance (Physical) Lv 12 – Allows the user to perform physical activities for longer durations before become physically exhausted. Note: At this level, only running is affected.

Run Like the Wind Lv 25 – Allows the user to run at enhanced speeds. Note: At this level, Agility *2 when attempting to flee, or if other special conditions exist. At max level Agility *8 when running, and all special conditions are waived.

Wandless Magic Lv 5 – Allows the user to utilize magic without a focus. At Max level, the user becomes one with the magic inside them and the need for a focus is removed completely. Note: At level 25 and up, this ability becomes wilfully controlled. At levels under 25, when the user is under great stress, magic may accidentally be used; usually to affect that which is causing said stress. At levels under 15, magic may also randomly occur even without stress. This skill may be increased above level 24 only through specialized training, or some other method of gaining knowledge in this ability. The use of Skill Points is not an exception to this rule. At levels under 15, the use of magic, even with a focus will grant experience in this ability. Therefore, training in magic with a focus will cause this ability to reach a point where it no longer occurs accidentally without great stress. Even then, if the user is under stress enough to utilize wandless magic and increase its level to 24 it will stop gaining experience altogether until a proper trainer is found. Wandless magics cast without finding a proper trainer (ex: Apparition) can also increase the level of this Skill up to 24.

Apparition Lv 1 – Allows the user to teleport to any known destination instantaneously through magic. At this level range is limited to line-of-sight, and splinching is highly likely. Also, the rate of successful apparition (whether splinching occurs or not) is less than .05%. At Apprentice level, risk of splinching is reduced to 15%. At Journeyman level, risk of splinching is reduced to 0% unless the user is surprised or unable to concentrate for some other reason, and the user can teleport through Anti-Apparition wards unless the wards are cast by a ward maker of equal or higher level. At max level, the user can teleport world-wide, and splinching is impossible.

When the windows showed up, Harry was confused. At first. Then he thought it might be magic. He'd gone to a place called Diagon Alley a few days before with a half-giant named Hagrid. Anything was possible now. While sitting in his "room" manipulating the windows and looking through the "menu" to learn more about his ability, a memory came loose and he remembered that at some point he had somehow "chosen" this ability even if he couldn't really remember how it worked. Still, the memory of choosing it at least made him understand that it was real, and that meant the warnings he found on the Effects and Skills lists were to be taken seriously. It was with these thoughts in mind that Harry began to prepare for his trip to platform 9¾.