Awaken

 

His eyes snapped open.

 

He didn't know who he was, or what he was doing there, all he had a few memories.

 

"Is this… Chyraea…?"

 

He sat up slowly. He had been laying face up in a field of grass and was greeted with one hell of a beautiful view. Around him there was a ring of multicoloured flowers, the single, vibrant drop of colour in the plane of green.

"Woah," the boy said. "…it's pretty."

 

Sunrise or sunset, he had no clue, since he'd just opened his eyes there. He was perched on a large mountain ledge, the clouds within arm's reach above him, overlooking a huge, steep-sided valley. Snow-capped peaks towered over around him, the sun's golden light dappling the sides of the valley, casting a warm glow across the red and black rocks. Patches of grass and greenery grew here and there, and the sky was ablaze with colours.

 

It was indeed very pretty. The boy got slowly to his feet, yawned, and squinted at the horizon.

Now that I look at it, those mountains look copy-pasted.

"Guess God's running on low budget this time…"

 

He couldn't have been older than thirteen, with jet black hair and fair skin, a couple inches under six feet. His eyes were a glittering, beautiful violet. Nobody would've suspected this boy was a being a hundred thousand years old, and had lived a thousand lives.

 

A god on his last life.

 

"Max difficulty, huh?" he mused to himself, strolling casually towards the edge of the mountain. "…sounds interesting."

 

The 'Difficulty' of various lives that God controlled. Split into six levels, peaceful, easy, normal, hard, nightmare and hell, in ascending order. He'd only ever done hell difficulty four times - as the Heavenly Demon Cheon-ma in Murim, a lone survivor in a world already destroyed, a game world where everything tried to kill him, and becoming the admiral of an interstellar fleet.

 

'Difficulty Max', God's challenge for his last life. Perhaps he should feel apprehensive or worried for what'd happen in this life. But rather, he was excited.

 

"What should my name be…?"

 

Sometimes, he was given a name. Other times, he just made one up on the spot. For his last life…

 

I'll pour all my regrets, all my sick feelings, into this life.

 

The name he remembered clearer than any other, his first ever name, in his first ever life.

 

The only life where I was truly, 'me'.

 

***

 

The boy discovered quickly that his powers had indeed been completely sealed. Sometimes, he awakened a new life with all his past strength and skills intact, and played God in that world. Other times, especially Hell and Nightmare Difficulty runs, he opened his eyes as a normal human being.

"Unfortunate," he muttered. "Would've been fun to just let all my powers loose and destroy the world."

But he didn't think he'd enjoy it as much. After all, he'd already done it before.

 

Let's hope it's an interesting storyline to get involved in at least. Well, what can I say. God did make this for me.

 

One may think that a being who'd lived a thousand lives would become accustomed to death and reincarnation, and spend his time like running water. They'd be wrong.

 

He only had a few rules for himself that he swore to never break. One of those was to always live life to the fullest, and cherish every moment that came with it. Because inevitably, the day would come where his eyes closed forever, and no more seconds would pass carrying his name, and he would regret even wasting one minute of his time alive.

 

Every life was precious on its own. His nine hundred and ninety-nine past lives meant nothing. Here, in this world, he was himself, and himself alone.

 

He descended the mountain slowly, following the narrow mountain path.

 

What would he do first? To be honest, he was lost on how to start. He did not know if this body already belonged to someone else, or if it was a new one created directly by God, but as he approached a clear stream running down the mountain-side he caught sight of his reflection and was a little taken aback.

 

"Oh, wow. Guess my name's truly a fitting one now."

 

He did look exactly like he did in his first ever life, save for the violet eyes.

 

I don't know what will happen in this world that will make it befitting of Max Difficulty. Maybe it'll just be super shit all the time, or I’ll just not be allowed to use any powers at all.

By now, he'd already started approaching the lower half of the mountain, which was covered with ledges of beautiful and lush woodland, with clear streams and bushes dotted through the landscape. The sun was now huge in the sky, loud and angry in the cloudless sky.

Or, it could be difficult in a different way to just suffering.

Reaching a small clearing, he sat back, surrounded by the chittering of birds and buzzing of insects A large, pale green butterfly rose up out of the nearby bush and landed affectionately on his shoulder. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, concentrating. Mana, Ki, Magic Power - anything he could get his hands on… nothing. His eyes opened.

A new power system. It'll be interesting to learn.

 

***

 

The man stared at him. The boy glanced at him, then went back to staring out over the range. The 'man' in question was fully armoured, and his hand was wrapped around the hilt of his sword hanging on his waist.

A mountain patrol? No… an escort.

How could he tell?

 

Because behind the soldier, pulled by two huge white horses, was an even larger carriage with pearly white walls and glass windows covered from the inside by velvet curtains. It was adorned with gold carvings and encrusted with jewels, and the sunlight bounced off it in all directions, a dazzling, shimmering anomaly among the greenery.

…what is the princess or whatever doing a thousand feet in the air…?

To be fair, the road had widened out massively, winding around the base of the mountain, about three to four carriages wide.

 

"Speak!" the knight said loudly, tramping forwards, flanked by two more soldiers. "What are you doing here?"

For a few seconds, the boy was clueless, but then realized he was the one being challenged.

"I'm sitting."

Apparently this was not the right answer, even though it was the truth. The knight looked - pretty pissed under his helmet, and one of the soldiers flanking him was not exactly helping the boy's case.

"Sir," he said, leaning in and whispering. "do you see that boy's eyes? They are no human's eyes - he must be a monster of some sort with the intent of attacking the young lady…"

The knight nodded, and drew his sword with a scrape.

"Whatever your purpose is," the knight snarled. "You will not succeed today. This boy is suspicious! Capture him, and if he resists, do not hesitate to use force!"

"Yes, sir."

…what are they doing…? Is this a world where a kid sitting on the side of the road warrants suspicion?

 

The soldiers sprinted towards him, swords drawn, as three more knights formed a wall in front of the carriage. The lead knight slammed down his visor and raised a shield, spinning his sword by the pommel.

 

The boy yawned and stretched, then got to as feet just before the first soldier brought his sword down on the patch of grass where he'd been sitting, the wind from the swing brushing against his back and thwacking into the grass with a wet thwack. Confused, the soldier glanced round, and was met with a slap to the nose that knocked the daylights out of him. Dazed, he stumbled around and collapsed in the grass.

"Dude," the boy said, flexing his fingers. "What are you doing? I'm just sitting here. Am I in the way or something?"

"Don't play daft," the lead knight rasped through the visor. "Would a normal child be able to take down a full grown man with a slap?"

The boy thought for a minute.

"Yeah, that's fair."

"See."

"But I'm not a monster. What, is this a world where you attack random kids on the street for fun? Nice culture."

The second soldier rushed at him with a war cry, shield raised, bring it down like a blunt weapon. It would've crushed the boy's skull, but he could even swing into it the boy raised a hand lazily to block.

 

There was a dull metallic thump, and the soldier stumbled backwards.

 

The boy looked at his slightly bruised palm.

"Oops," he said. "Guess I'm still built different. Sorry about that, God did a sloppy job."

Well… at some point I was able to blow up planets by thinking about it. Not surprised if some of that carried over…

He raised a hand, and flicked the shield-bearer in the forehead where his helmet didn't cover. The force sent the man cartwheeling backwards and faceplanted onto the dirt road in a cloud of dust.

 

Only the lead knight remained, sword drawn.

"I will not ask again," he said angrily through his visor, shifting his centre of gravity. "Identify yourself!"

"Since when did you ask me? Besides, I'm relatively new around here."

"…are you one of those bloody migrants…?"

"Huh? No."

"What is your name?"

 

My name, huh.

 

"My name is Jaxin Godwinson," the boy said. "Call me Jax."

He offered a friendly wave.

"You guys jump people before asking names? That's not very knightly, you know."

"Do not play games with me, boy!" the knight spat. "Those eyes - that accursed violet flame - what manner of creature are you?"

 

Jax was confused by this question. He glanced down at himself, then at his arms, and his legs, and then back at the knight.

"Uh, I think this is called human, or person - you can choose. Unless you count insomnia as a mutation. As for my eyes, they look cool, don't you think?"

He blinked slowly to prove his point.

"Anyw-"

 

He was cut off by the slightly blurred tip of a sword almost impaling his face between the eyes, but Jax moved his head in the nick of time to dodge the lightning quick thrust.

He closed the distance in an instant. He may just be an escort knight from what I can see, but he's skilled.

Jax backstepped out of the sword's range, but the knight pressured him, and swung the sword is a series of wide arcs, trying to cleave him in half. He dodged them all without moving his feet and drove the knight backwards with his palm, sending him stumbling towards the edge of the path.

"That's the wrong way. It's a long way down."

"You mock me!"

"I mean… kinda, yeah."

 

The sword came again, swift, elegant slashes that met nothing but air. Jax weaved through them with barely any effort, pivoting and turning with the smallest centres of gravity. The knight's sword carved arcs and lines in the dirt as he swung, throwing up clouds of dust along with the flashes of his sword.

This is getting kinda boring. I should move on with the 'storyline' and see what this world has to offer instead of angry knights. Starting with…

He glanced past the raging knight at the twinkling carriage he was 'protecting'.

…with the little princess or whatever.

Casually stepping inside the knight's reach, he hit the knight in the chest with the back of his hand.

 

There was a small boom and the knight sailed through the air, fist-sized dent on his breastplate, and he left a long gouge in the dirt as he rolled to a stop.

 

Jax blinked.

"Oh wow. This is unexpected. I seriously need to get a measure of my own strength."

I'm sure of it, this is no 'sloppy job' on God's side. He intentionally gave me a starter pack, and a decent one at that. Does that mean I should be excited for challenges in the future?

The soldiers scrambled to their captain's side, shouting.

"Captain Velour!"

"Velour? What, like the fabric?"

One of the soldiers lifted his sword again, but a voice rang out from the carriage behind him as the pearly white door creaked open.

"What's happening? Why did we stop…?"

A short, red-haired girl stepped out from the carriage. She couldn't have been older than ten, and she was still groggy, like she'd just woken up from a nap.

"Young miss, it's dangerous!!" the knight captain said, still wheezing for breath. "Get back…!"

"Hey, I don't even know who this brat is!" Jax protested.

"B-brat!?" the girl suddenly said, looking insulted. "You're a brat."

 

Now he was pissed.

 

"Huh? Didja just call me a brat, brat? I'm thousands of times older than you!"

"Wait really?" she looked shocked.

"I knew it," the knight captain growled, gripping his sword again. "You're a monster in human skin. I don't know what your purpose is coming here, demon, but…"
He assumed a fighting stance again, blood leaking down his jaw.

"…I WILL PROTECT THE YOUNG MISS WITH MY LIFE!!"

"Dude," Jax said. "That's good and all, but what's it got to do with me? I don't give a crap about your young…"

Hold on.

"Wait, redhead brat," Jax said. "Who are you?"

 

There was a short silence. Then…

"Huh?"

"Like, are you the daughter of some noble family or a princess or something…"

No, a princes should have a much more capable guarding force than this.

"SILENCE, DEMON!!" knight captain Velour yelled. "I WILL DEFE-"

"Stop."

A second voice, soft but commanding, rang out from behind the redhead brat.

 

Everyone froze.

 

This time, a young woman, older than Jax but no more than seventeen, stepped out and came slowly down the carriage's steps. Two soldiers offered her help, but she pulled her arm away. Bright crimson hair fell down around her shoulders and the sunlight caught her eyes, shimmering like the sapphires on her carriage.

"We are the envoy of House Gilsend of Etherea," she said, looking Jax in the eye. "I am the First Daughter, Alicia Raymond Gilsend."