Mature Content Warning: I don't think that there is anything to warn you about in this chapter, but there is perhaps some strong language or imagery

Author's Note: This is a shorter chapter than I would have liked. However, it said everything that needed to be said. :)

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Light gently peaked through the clouds and reflected from the crystalline architecture of a massive floating city. The city in the clouds was the home of the divine races of the world. Some thought these beings to be nothing more than a myth. Other people, such as high-level priests had a personal relationship with a particular divine being.

The divine city was the home of the gods, enlightened mortals, and chosen heroes. The gods spent their days managing the world below and trying to keep a bit of balance and order in the system. That system, known as ARS, was responsible for allowing the creatures of Origin to grow beyond simple biological capacities.

One particular goddess had taken an interest in a specific creature on the world below. In fact, she had been the reason for that creature’s existence in the world. Her name was Origin. She was the goddess of life and the one responsible for overseeing reincarnation.

“How’s he doing?” asked a soft masculine voice. Origin smiled slightly then looked over to her partner, Silence.

The god known as Silence was a deity that many would refer to as the grim reaper. He was not particularly grim, but he was responsible for the transition of souls from this world to the next. He took souls into the land of the dead. Origin brought them back and bid them be reborn. Of course, both of them had subordinate minions who actually performed those tasks directly. They were management personnel.

“Scott seems to be adjusting. I’m curious about what he will do with the new life that I granted him.”

Silence glanced at his work partner. “I bet.”

Origin raised one finger. “Don’t even go there.”

The Grim Reaper laughed gently. “Oh, baby sister has finally grown up and taken an interest in men.”

The blue haired goddess of life glared at her brother. “Who’s a baby sister?”

“I was born first. What can you do?” He spread his hands out sideways and shrugged in a way that bespoke an acceptance of fate.

“You kicked me on the way out of the womb and climbed over me to get out!”

“I was in a hurry! I had been trapped in there for months...”

Origin snorted at the black haired end of all mortal things. When he did not seem to be concerned with her ire, she breathed in slowly then snorted once more. “Whatever, stop with the cutesy routine please.”

The death god grinned at her then glanced at the crystalline monitors. “You brought someone from Earth. It was a male someone. You even gave him a free pass to avoid my power...”

“You approved that.” Origin frowned at him. Why was he being so snotty?

“Of course, why wouldn’t I approve of the man my baby sister has chosen with her own hands and heart?”

“You..! You’re impossible!”

“I’m also pretty.” said Silence.

Origin glared hatefully at her brother. Why was he being like this, seriously? “That human merely met the parameters!

You know full well it was time to begin the net cycle.”

“Yes, yes. The uppity mortals have gotten uppity and started to learn things. Gods forbid they learn calculus or something. Let’s send in the extermination squad to rough them up.”

The blue haired goddess shook her head. “That decision comes from the council of elders, and you know it. The only thing we can do is choose a champion and hope that he grows strong enough, fast enough, to keep the damage to a minimum.”

Silence stopped laughing. In fact, he became the epitome of his name. Several minutes passed before he spoke again.

“He chose to be a sorcerer, though.”

“Yes, he did.” said Origin.

“That skill-set... he won’t be able to stand against what is to come.”

Delicate fingers curled over and formed into tight fists. “I know that. Sorcerers are powerful but they don’t have direct access to high class spells or physical combat skills.”

“How can he become strong enough to turn the tide if he will have trouble handling even simple monsters at a high level?”

Origin bit her bottom lip then closed her eyes. “He’s from Earth.”

Silence gave her a look. It was a look that bespoke his sentiment clearly. However, he decided to vocalize it as well. “I fail to see the point of your reasoning. There are literally thousands of high-level fighters and magic users in this world who could have become a champion.”

She shook her head. “None of them met my requirements.”

“Bullshit.” said Silence in a flat tone.

The goddess of Life frowned. “Fine, I’m tired of it. I’m just tired of it!”

Silence listened for a while as his sister ranted over their mutual grievance. The council of elders routinely destroyed human towns and cities that grew too powerful. It was supposedly necessary since the ARS system would allow humans to grown powerful enough to rival the gods in time. A single mortal who achieved such power could be banished to the abyss or elevated to godhood. Entire countries of extremely powerful mortals could become a major issue, however.

Humans and other mortals were expected to try and become as strong as they could. That was the entire point of ARS. However, the moment that they started to get ideas about disregarding or overthrowing the gods they would be stepped on... hard.

“I know why you hate it. I do too. Yet, how can a human from Earth help the situation?”

Origin smirked at her brother. “Where is that human, now?”

“Where?” asked Silence.

His sister nodded. Silence checked Origin’s monitor. “Clearly he is fighting a large rabbit in the forest near Victory Station.

He is also being beaten quite severely, though he does seem to be winning.”

Origin turned off her monitor. “Yes, now where is he?”

“Wouldn’t he still be fighting that rabbit?”

“Yes, but find him with your own power and equipment.”

Her brother decided to humor her and started to search the world with his senses. He immediately zeroed in on the Victory Station region and even checked the forest nearby. However, he could not find the human that he sought. “Did you teleport him away?”

A slow, predatory smile crossed Origin’s face. “No. He is there.”

“Why can’t I see him?” He should be able to sense every soul in the world. If he could not sense a mortal soul, no one could. It was his entire reason for existence!

“Simple! I never entered his information into the main system. I’m allowed to keep my chosen champion a secret, and that means that I can hide information about him. You and Mid are the only others who know who he is.

He smiled at her in turn. “Mid, huh?”

Origin nodded, her smirk never departing her lips. She had chosen a champion who could not be searched in the system. His champion’s nature would make it hard to discover him with divine senses as well. He would be practically invisible to the gods, unless he walked up to one and told them who and what he was.

Chapter 4: Farmer John

The fields south of Victory Station were home to many farmers, and the occasional hungry rodent. These two forces did not co-exist on a friendly basis. The farmers wanted the land to grow crops and raise animals. The rodents wanted to eat the crops and possibly the other animals. The bigger rodents might even try to eat the farmers.

Scott strolled merrily through the fields. He had finally completed the damned rabbit hunting job. Rabbits, though numerous, were not a swarming creature. They also only operated at certain times of the day for the most part.

Rabbits came out in the early morning and late evening. So, his primary hunting time was just before dawn, and just before nightfall. He had a good six hour hunting window between those two times, but the rest of the day was spent barely finding any rabbits at all.

Over the course of the last four days he had managed to find and defeat five or six rabbits in the morning and a similar number at night. The rest of the day he had managed to find one or two. One day he had not found any. He now understood part of the reason why this job paid a bit more than the parts were worth.

Scott saw a man tending to a field and called out to him. “Hello, there!”

The man stopped weeding the field and looked up. “Yeah? Hello.”

“Sorry to bother you, but do you know a farmer named John?”

The man looked at Scott curiously then asked, “Why you want to know, lad?”

Scott considered being offended by the man’s brusque tone, but decided that he wasn’t being offensive. “I took up a request to hunt forty rabbits and wanted to turn it in.”

“Ah! I see. This your first time doing a rabbit hunt for farmer John?”

The sorcerer nodded and the farmer chuckled softly. He stood up then said. “There ain’t actually a farmer named John, lad. It’s a group thing. A bunch of us farmers chip in a few Fayth to hire someone to depopulate the area a bit.”

“Oh? Is that right? Who do I give these rabbit parts to then?”

“You got all of them?”

Scott smiled. “Well, the flyer said forty rabbit parts. I have a few more than that.”

The farmer gestured at the mighty rabbit hunter. “Just turn ‘em in at the guard station at the front gate. Tell them you have a delivery for Farmer John. They’ll sort you out.”

“Thank you! Sorry to have bothered ya.”

“No trouble, lad. I could do with a break, and least ways you had a good reason. Damned rabbits never stop coming unless you take down a few now and then.” The old farmer went back to his weeding and Scott returned to town.

When he arrived at the gate he smiled. There was a familiar guard in attendance. “Good afternoon Sergeant Arne.”

“Lad! Good afternoon to you as well. You seem to be keeping busy.” The guard sergeant that had saved Scott from grass rat related death eyed the novice sorcerer for a moment.

“Yes. I just finished up collecting some rabbit parts for Farmer John.”

“Did you now?” Arne’s eyes lit up. It was not a hard request, but it could take a while.

Scott nodded at the man then called up his inventory screen. “A farmer told me that I am supposed to turn them in here at the gate, though?”

“Ah, yes. You’ll have to take your bounty chit to the town hall to get paid, but we can take the proof off your hands here. Follow me.”

Scott followed Arne into the gate and over to the gatehouse. The good sergeant pointed at a table near the far wall. “Just dump them out there, and one of the recruits will sort them later.”

“Thanks.” Scott walked over to the table and dropped the various whiskers and pelts onto the table.

Arne eyed his haul critically then asked, “Lad, you didn’t gather any meat?”

“Uh no...Was I supposed to?”

“No, for the quest anything you got would do. Still, it seems a waste not to get a bit of meat out of your hunts.”

“Uhm...” Scott wasn’t sure how to tell the man that he had gotten no meat because none had dropped. The people of this world seemed to understand the game-like nature of its existence, but how far did that extend?

“Ah, you’re a sorcerer and a young one at that. You probably don’t have any survival skills.”

“Survival?”

“Yes, lad! How are you going to survive in the wilds without them?”

Scott thought about it then said, “Well, I don’t know.”

Arne snorted at him then started to laugh. “Lad, lad. Save up some money and buy a survival lore crystal ring. Lore rings are expensive, but at least you can learn the skills.”

“I haven’t seen any for sale at the local shops.” He already had a survival lore crystal, but he did not want to reveal that. Mid had made it clear to him that carelessly mentioning such things would be a bad idea.

“Yeah, you’d have to wait till Regal Alice is open. She will probably open tomorrow night.”

“She’s only open one day a week?” What kind of business model was that?

The guard sergeant shook his head. “Regal Alice is a lore sage merchant. When she comes to town she opens up shop for a week, usually.”

“What’s a lore sage merchant?”

“You’ve never heard of them?” asked Arne.

“I can honestly say that I have not.” said Scott.

Arne rubbed his chin for a moment. “Lore Sage Merchants are people who have mastered the skills of a lore sage and a merchant. Sort of like a Mage-Knight, or a Celestial Arc-Paladin. Regal alive mastered both skill sets completely and was able to reincarnate as an advanced class, the Lore Sage Merchant.”

Scott’s eyes lit up immediately. Such a thing was possible? He could develop an advanced class? “I thought it wasn’t possible to completely master the skills of another class?”

“Ah, no. That’s not quite right. You can master multiple classes. You just need to do it one at a time.”

“One at a time?”

“Yes, for instance I am a guard but that is not my class. I am a Rogue Knight. I mastered the arts of the rogue and the knight. When you reach level one hundred you can reincarnate as a new class and start again.”

“Really? So, that means that you have reincarnated at least twice now?” Scott had not expected to find someone who had done so in his first town!

“A few more times than that, lad. I was a bit wayward in my early years.”

“Wow, interesting.” Arne was someone who had repeatedly reincarnated. No wonder he could paralyze a hoard of monsters with a shout!

Arne smiled. “Reincarnation, few manage to make it the first time. Those who do will tend to get addicted. Each reincarnation is easier afterward because you are a little stronger. It’s almost necessary anyway.”

“Necessary? Why?” asked Scott.

The guard sergeant sighed loudly. “You haven’t faced stronger monsters and opponents yet, but I suspect that you will. I recognize that eagerness in your, lad. You should know that after level one hundred monsters become obscenely powerful.”

That tidbit of information chilled Scott a little. “How obscenely powerful?”

“It would take a powerful group of level one hundred adventurers to take down each monster, even if they are only one level higher. If you have any notion in your head about being strong enough to fight such monsters alone, get them out. You would need to reincarnate repeatedly to become that strong.”

Honestly, Scott did not mind the idea of repeatedly reincarnating. He could try all of the classes! Why not, right?

“Someone once told me that a truly dedicated adventurer could reach level one hundred in a year. Is that true?”

“A year to reach level one hundred? Lad... it’s possible but you would have to have an incredible bloodlust and you would need to take terrible risks. Most dedicated adventurers that don’t die can make it in a few years.”

Scott rubbed his chin. “Hey, Arne. What’s the highest level you have ever reached, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The man squinted at Scott then laughed loudly. “Lad, that’s quite a question to ask someone you hardly know. Most people would be highly offended.”

“Ah, I did not know that. I’m sorry.”

Arne waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine, it’s fine. The highest I have ever made it is level one hundred twenty-two. The lure of reincarnation called to me. Besides, I probably need to reincarnate two or three more times before I can honestly attempt to reach the higher levels.”

The process sounded fascinating, but tedious. In order to fight higher level monsters, he would need to have stats equal to multiple life-times. It could take years to acquire a special class. “I wonder who has the highest level.”

“Highest level... hmmm.” Arne considered the question for a moment.

Scott waited patiently to see what the man would say. Several guardsmen drew close as well. They were suddenly interested in the conversation. Few people revealed anything about their level to others. It was sometimes taboo to even speak of them.

“I think the gods have the highest level, maybe some of the ancient dragons, or demons in the abyss. Us mortals, it’s probably one of the six great kings.”

Scott wanted to ask about the six great kings, but Arne anticipated the question.

Arne said, “The six great kings are the rulers of the six strongest countries in the known world. Of course, two of them are actually queens.”

“Ah, it would take a high level to be a king?” asked Scott.

Arne laughed. “Oh yes, lad. If the king is not at a high level, he could be over thrown. I think all of the great kings are around level four hundred or so.”

Scott nearly had a heart attack. Level four hundred? He could flash freeze several rats at level one. Could you even consider someone at level four hundred to even be a human being anymore? They would be more like an extinction level event!

“That look in your eyes, I know if well. Yes, they are beyond normal human existence. They hold sway over most of the world because of their great power.”

So, power was everything in this world. It was just as Scott had thought. Further news about reincarnation was useful, but he now knew that he had a long road ahead of him. How many opponents with multiple reincarnations under their belt would he fight in his life time? He could theoretically always survive the encounter, but even so...

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