[The sound of clanging of chains and a sound of thud, were the first two things I felt when they threw me off the cart. I stood up, coughing and spilling out blood, handcuffed with poison soaked locks. If I tried to open them with my mouth, I would be poisoned, if I tried with my hands, they would get slit and then poisoned. There was no way around but to obey their every command. One of the knights kicked me further.

“I’m going, I’m going! St… stop already.” I yelled and writhed on the ground, kneeling down before the townspeople, out of energy. I didn’t care of anyone mocked me anymore.]

****

Hi there! Just now, you saw me in a pretty bad shape, huh? Well, I was in a bad shape if I say so myself. So… I assume you want to know about me more? Well, I guess I have no choice myself. Who can stop the audience from cheering anyways? But, beware that in my life back story, you’ll probably end up hating me or something… so, moving on. You see, I was a normal student in a high school I don’t remember anymore. Well, it’s obvious since I lived for more than twenty decades. Pretty boring right? You might be wondering what I did in those twenty decades, right? Well, I’ll tell you some parts though.

Uhum, starting from at least twenty dec—no, two hundred years ago, I was a normal human being. When I had a family, mom, dad and a younger brother I think. I don’t remember the details well. So, I lived a peaceful life, doing my chores and going to school, everything normal ongoing. One day, everything changed in the blink of an eye…

Some angry by-passers came rushing into our house, daggers shining in their hands. I was in the living room, watching TV when I heard screams of my parents in the hallway. I rushed to the door, obviously surprised by the commotion, when I uncovered my father being stabbed in his belly, blood gushing out of the wound. A tearful tension was clear seeing from even far away in his eyes. I gave a loud scream when my gaze met my mother’s lifeless body sprawled on the carpet, blood pooling out around the body, her clothes rinsed in the red liquid. Just then one of the robbers noticed me and started chasing around the house, spouting out vulgar phrases I didn’t understand. I was only seven.

I quickly turned around the corner by the kitchen, and dashed into the closet, shutting it close behind me. I was trembling with fear, disgust, hate, sorrow, overflowing my mind. Still through the deadly dilemma, I kept quiet just for the sake of my father who once taught me how to deal with real life situations like this. But, to happen it to my family… I wasn’t ready for that. Just then I heard another rumbling sound in the house. That was when I saw my younger brother smashed against the wall, who was barely three years of age. I couldn’t protect him too.

I vainly watched the whole scene as the intruders slaughtered my whole family in front of my eyes. I held my mouth shut, forcefully making myself sink in tears and hatred. And by the time police arrived and found me, I was already gone, completely shut out. I didn’t even feel like breathing anymore. They questioned me, but all I gave them was just a gaze, dead as a fish’s eye and turn back to my same crawled position, feeling like sitting in a corner and slowly fading away.

I think… I died in a hospital the next day. Huh, to think my life would end like that way even before it began… it was just too much for me. The trauma, the pain. And after that, all I remember is my life suddenly stopping with the long beeping sound of the monitor, the lines in its screen coming to a halt. My heart finally stopped.

Suddenly, I was in a deep, inky black space, like an endless void. I was sitting on a chair, my head bent down, hands on my little thighs, haziness flowing through my mind and a faint light above me, making me stand out from the darkness.

Suddenly a voice called from nowhere, slowly, “You have met with a terrible fate, William Hockings. No one anticipated this. Your life ended within a very short time.”

I remained silent, saying nothing. Nothing but listening.

“You shall be granted another life and infused with a system to keep you alive. Will you accept this second chance or do you wish to fade away alone, in despair?” the voice asked me.

Tears flowed out of my eyes as I nodded my head, accepting the condition, even though I was half inclined to decline.

“Very well. I see a great future ahead of you. May you be blessed with luck. Live for those you love from now on, protect them and thy, shall be granted all if wished. You will meet two certain persons important to you on your journey ahead.” Ending from that voice, a strange light shined above my head, lifting me up in the air. All I could see was a white light that stroke my eyes, blinding me from seeing anything.

And so, I ended up falling through the sky and hurting my back on the hard, prickly grassland. And it seems… I cannot quote anymore this… I need to get over my past.

This is Jake Slider, signing off.

****

~Jake closed his journal, thrusting it in his left pocket, hoping to write some more someday. He sat up from the chair, bottles clanging into one another, and walked out of the bar in haziness. Despite the drunkenness, his movements matched with his pace and his strode was normal too, as if not drunk at all. The moonlight showed every detail of his person—a tall, slender body, not much of a build, with hair as white as the moon that night, golden along the edges. He had a fairly attractive face with fine features. He wore a casual black shirt underneath a furry, tall collared coat. And wore a kind of pants which the adventurers called, sprinters. Perfectly made for running and fast acting jobs. His strode made echoes of his footsteps sound into the alleyway he passed through.

The night was blue, starry. Winds almost untraceable, gracing the treeline and shaking the pond into puddles. The sheer sound of night-time insects echoed through the forest, outside the town, glowing with the light of lamps. The landscape bathed in a white sheet of moonlight, made the eyes relax to watch. Clouds hovered over the mountains flowing with the harsher winds, as if making guide them to the open plains.

The deafening roar of dragons in the night sky, blowing out ice and fire together, made Jake let out a sigh as he walked through the village road. He was already out of town before knowing it. And had to return to his own, because of a certain debt and before dawn. Hands in his pocket, he strode out.

The land of Xanthoria was the third most powerful kingdom in the Quergasp continent. In this world of developing alchemy along with elemental and complex magic, different races existed alongside each other, living in peace and harmony. While humans developed magic and alchemy the highest, the beastkin races developed firearms. The elves, the demi-humans were in the duty of managing the kingdom. The dwarfs marketed one of the finest jewels in the whole continent and were in-charge of the whole trading system. The knights of hollowness guarded the emperor’s palace, roaming throughout the whole kingdom. Dragons tamed and used in battle and racing events, ghosts dwindling in the air, the wind not affecting them even the slightest. All that made the kingdom rank the third most powerful and famous kingdom in the great land.

Jake had two friends, just as predicted by the unknown one. One, the beastkin noble Simon Rally’s daughter, Livia Rally. Despite her looks, she is a clumsy person to look after. And the other one… you might not want to know his name since he is hell’s notorious ruler. Lord Satan as he goes by the name. But, under this wolf’s skin lay a drunken pervert who, if given any chance, would lift up any girl’s skirt just to take a quick peek, no matter how much powerful of a kick he gets in his face. His guts to even do such a thing earns him the title ‘notorious’. Other way, he is the most powerful demon among the demon’s kind, obviously, and of the whole kingdom of Xanthoria.

Jake was a calm, cautious and yet a carefree person. Merciless yet kind, not showing any emotions even during a fight or a battle. He was mostly responsible person among the three and had to clean up their mess. He was the person behind the so-called Lord Satan who stopped him every time from going overboard and behind Livia too, who was too clumsy to work, messing up every time.

Or so he thought so far as the eye witnessed. Thinking almost anything, he forgot that the dawn had broken and he was only half way through.

“Shoot! I need to run…” he said to himself. He bent down, dug his feet in the ground and launched himself forwards, achieving a super human feat in running. His feet zapped with electricity, forming dark, bursting clouds above. With a crash of lightning, the traces he left behind while running, formed craters. He soon found himself panting, craving for water.

“Water… I need… water…!” he spouted out, huffing out breaths.

The town was already in sight. The sun was rising fast. He had to make it. Just then in a flinch, he was reminded of his pet dragon who always slept in his jacket pocket. He could make his dragon bigger and use it to make haste. But...!

“Why the hell am I wearing a coat today?!!” he spat, frustrated while running.

Sprinting towards the town gate, he didn’t notice a girl, around his age passing through the streets. Of course, he had his eyes closed and bumped into her at a speed unfathomable.

“Hey…! Wai—” she spoke, just before the crash with a crazy guy running at a very high speed.

He began wondering… what a wonderful night it was. Running for his life just for clearing a debt, to a seemingly far away town that he lived in and then bumping into a girl he had never met before. Laying on some soft mattress or maybe a cushion, he gazed at the starry night. “Ah, it’s been ages since I saw the sky clearly. Hmm, so soft and comforting.”

“I-Idiot, idiot! Get off me!” someone shouted from below.

The soft cushion spoke. His eyes turned from a relaxed to a fearful stare.

“Huh?”