Prologue: An Adventurer's Death

As I stare into the storm of death raining down upon me, I can’t help but think back over my past experiences..

From my earliest memories, I grew up in an orphanage. I never learned anything about my parents or how I got there, but that never mattered to me. The orphanage was in the poor district of the capital of Runstraz, which is the human kingdom, but that also never bothered me.

I made a lot of friends in that orphanage, and although people looked down on us, I felt only pity towards them. If there’s one benefit to being poor and having no reputation to uphold.. it would be the freedom.

Oh the wonderful days of running through the streets of the capital, stealing from merchants, fighting other kids, and being a public nuisance in general. Such marvelous times.

When I was about ten years old, I met him. The man who changed my life.

My gang and I had just robbed a bakery stall of food for the orphanage, but the guards had caught wind of it.

I ran off with a bundle of loaves in my hands, ducking into the alleys away from my friends. It wasn’t uncommon for the guards to catch on, but, when they did, we had learned that splitting up was safer than sticking together. They couldn’t chase all of us, right?

I found myself running down a back street in the middle welfare part of the capital, and I was about to turn down a smaller alley that lead back to the poor district, but...

Right at this moment, an elderly man stepped out of one of the back doors of the buildings in the alley right in front of me. He was fairly tall, and stood up straight despite the apparent old age implied by his gray hair and wrinkled face. Even beneath the silver-white robe that he wore, you could tell that his physical qualities were above the norm.

At the time I was looking over my shoulder checking to see how far behind the guards were. I would’ve crashed right into the man, but in the moment before we actually collided I felt myself suddenly float in the air. A second later, I landed on my butt, and the loaves in my hands were gone.

The guards ran into the alley, and they spotted me sitting on the ground. Running up to me, shouting something like “We have you now!” or “Better luck next time, kid!”, idiotic things like that.

I immediately tried to get up and run, but I felt a wind push me down every time I did.

I suddenly realize that the elderly man is moving his hand slightly every time I try to stand up, and he’s just standing there watching me with a smile. At the time I was throwing every insult I had at him in my head, he was being a real cheeky old bastard after all.

The guards eventually made it over to me, but as they tried to grab me, the old man stepped in front.

“What do you think you’re doing to my grandson?”

“Eh? Your grandson? Listen old man, this kid was seen stealing. You should understand that we have to arrest him.” The guard had a bewildered expression on his face, after all he knows for a fact that I was the kid he was chasing based on the clothes I was wearing.

“Oh? And what exactly did he steal?”

“He stole bread from the bakery stall. You get it old man? So step aside.” Since I could see the guards face from behind the old man, I could tell he had started to get annoyed at the interference.

“But I don’t see any bread on him.. And my grandson has been with me for several hours. There’s no way he could have stolen anything, you must be mistaken.”

At this point, the old man is giving them a smug smile while the guard’s face is turning red from annoyance. I believe if I could see my face at the time, I probably would’ve looked like one of those town idiots from the confusion that was running through my head.

“Old man, I don’t know if you’re taking pity on this boy or what, but protecting a criminal is the same as being a criminal yourself. Understand? So step aside.”

“Hm. Don’t want to.”

“*Tsk* Then don’t blame us for being rough!” They suddenly tried to move to grab the old man..

Hah.. If only those guards knew at the time who this old man was, they probably wouldn’t have even dared to stand in front of him.

Before the guards could even move an inch they were already laying unconscious on the ground. I didn’t even see the old man move, but he was suddenly standing in the middle of them.

I was probably scared to the point of peeing myself at the time, and to be honest I’m still a little scared of the old man even now.

Mostly out of fear, I tried getting up and running again, but the same wind pushed me down. Being stared at by a creepy, scary old man is really traumatizing for a kid, ya know?

“Oh? Going to run and not even say thanks? Rude kid.”

“T-thanks. Yeah, thanks a lot, sir. W-well.. I’ll be going now, so if you don’t mind..”

“Go? Did I say you could go? I guess maybe I should just turn you into the guards..” The old man looked down at the guards, like it couldn’t be helped but to turn me in.

“What?! Didn’t you just save me?!”

“Yep. But maybe I changed my mind. Who can say?”

“Please, sir! I’ll do anything, just don’t turn me in!” I really didn’t want to end up like the others I knew who got caught. Starving to death in the prison dungeons is practically guaranteed, after all no one cares about orphans.

“Haha, good. I always wanted a disciple. Call me master from now on.”

“Eh?”

“What are you gawking at boy, don’t stare at your master.” Even though he said that, he still gave me that smug smile like he’s just made the best joke ever.

“D-disciple??”

“You said you’d do anything, and I felt like having a disciple. If you have a problem with it you can just talk about it with the guards after I turn you in?”

“Ah! I look forward to learning from you, Master!”

“Haha, good boy! Let’s get out of here before more of these goons show up.”

Such a free spirited old man… That’s practically kidnapping you know? Not that anybody would care that I got kidnapped.

My master.. He was a very adventurous man. He was also the best father I ever had. Also the only one. Although he always smacked me when I called him dad.. Okay, maybe he wasn’t that great.

I still loved him like a father though.

My master was a legendary monk known as Dragon of the Four Winds. A name that’s been around for a very long time.

From being an adventurer, to a noble, to a commoner, to anything he felt like being. That was the way he lived his life. I guess when he met me, he had the urge to be a teacher, and I’m quite grateful fate led me to him.

The next nine years I spent learning under him.

We traveled through valleys and over mountains; we swam through lakes and up rivers; we walked through tundra and desert; and any time he had an inspiration to teach me anything, he would. Most of the time I simply trained with what he taught me, pursuing him as my idol.

However, eventually he taught me something I didn’t quite understand at the time.

‘A man who lives his life following other men only lives to deprive himself of the freedoms he was born with.’ Was what he once told me.

That’s why he only taught me half of the wind-style technique he created, saying the rest would have to come from myself. The technique was called the Eight Winds Style, and I was going to be the only person this insanely old man was going to teach it to.

I guess at the time, I was a little upset that he wouldn’t teach me the whole technique, but now I understand what he meant.

It’s okay to share a path with a friend, but eventually they must walk their own ways and live for themselves.

When I was nineteen, my master died.

It was… both surprising and not surprising. I guess I knew that he would die eventually, given how old he was.

I buried him with my own hands beneath a tree that he liked because it stood by itself at the top of hill surrounded by the plains.

I still remember the words that I said at that time, “Master. I guess you decided it was time for me to walk my own path just as you said... so I thank you for everything. Goodbye, Master.”

… After that, I traveled around the world as an adventurer. I would delve into dungeons and fight monsters while making friends and foes along the way.

I even become kinda famous. The legendary Tempest Beast, adventurer extraordinaire! Not that I cared about the fame.

The thrill of fighting new monsters, exploring new places, and experiencing the life of danger.

I lived and breathed adventure, hardly ever stopping in a town for more than a day or two.

I even managed to finish my own version of the Eight Winds Style, although I wonder if it was as strong as the old man’s.

At one point, I heard the stories of the new dungeon that had appeared. A dangerous dungeon that goes deep into the earth, filled with terrifying new creatures, and nicknamed Death’s Descent since the deeper you went the more likely you were to die.

Haha, nothing gets my blood boiling more than stories like these.

Me and group of nine other adventurers I was friends with grouped together to challenge the new dungeon. People called us the Guild of Legends, or something like that.

I have to admit this dungeon really did live up to the stories, the monsters here were frightening.

But we’re also pretty frightening if I say so myself.

We eventually made it all the way to the last floor. All the way, two thousand whole floors down. Definitely. the. biggest. dungeon. I’ve ever explored.

But all of those two thousand floors couldn’t prepare us for this last one. I guess.. we got cocky? Who knows, but the situation definitely didn’t turn out well.

In front of us was a terrifying monster. With over a hundred heads, the body of a dragon, and scales as hard as adamantium. It spewed lava, fire, steam, lightning, poison, fog, lasers, spears, and just about everything you could imagine.

Within the first minute our paladin who was responsible for keeping the monster’s focus on him, was disintegrated in an onslaught of magic attacks that ignored his armor. Our priest and druid healers got surrounded by countless heads and eaten. One by one, my friends and party members were either disintegrated, eaten, pulverized, impaled, or melted.

I ended up being that last person alive thanks to my profound wind techniques that made me capable of dodging most of everything. I desperately tried to slow down the attacks by cutting off its heads, but for every one of them I cut off, two more grew in it’s place. Somehow I felt like it was definitely cheating, and the gods were playing a cruel joke on me.

Eventually, I too was overwhelmed by the monstrosity, as nearly a thousand

heads bore down upon me. I had no where to run, no where to dodge.

As I watch a multitude of attacks coming for me, all I can do is think back to everything I’ve lived through. The orphanage.. my master.. the adventures.. the friends.. the enemies.. the life of being as free as the wind, or so I said to others.

I hadn’t even lived to be forty years old yet. I hadn’t ever fallen in love, gotten married, and had children. I hadn’t gotten to find a child running through the alleys with loaves in his hands while being chased by the guards so that I could save him and make him my disciple. I hadn’t gotten to pass down the Eight Winds Style on to anyone. I hadn’t gotten to do a lot of things.

But I don’t regret any of it, and to be able to die like this.. I can only help but smile, glad that I lived.

So with a smile on my face, I died just like this. Everything that I experienced, learned, and lived becoming nothing but ash and dust.

….

Strange. Is this the afterlife? I guess it’s black nothingness after all. What’s the point of this though? Why am I conscious for this?

Wait.. I feel something..

I feel like I’m slowly being pulled. Extremely slowly, but I can feel it. I guess something must be here, I wonder what it is.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

….

I feel like it’s been a long time. As for how long, I don’t know. Minutes, hours, days? I can’t seem to keep track of any of it. I didn’t really try to though. Keeping track of time seems to waste more time to me.

I mostly just spend this time thinking about everything, including how terrifying that monster was. I’ve seen hydras before, but that thing.. I don’t think I could even compare it to the hydras I’ve seen.

The pull has gotten stronger, I can now see a light. It’s slowly getting bigger, it shouldn’t be too much longer until I get close enough to see what it is.

….

Scratch the thought about seeing what the light is. It’s really too freaking bright. I can’t even face towards it without feeling forced to turn away.

The worse part is, I’m being pulled into it. I can’t even blink, I assume I don’t have eyes anymore. Maybe this is my spirit? Who can say,  but this light really is too much for me.

Ah, I finally got completely swallowed by the light. I guess my spirit is adjusting to it now, as I’m slowly able to see around me.

It appears I’m inside some kind of bubble, although I don’t seem to have a tangible body. Guess I really am a spirit or something.

Below me is what appears to be a giant puddle. I say puddle because it’s so shallow I can see the bottom, but this puddle also extends as far as I can see into the horizon in every direction.

I kind of understand what just happened. It appears I was in the ground earlier, and I was slowly pulled up out of the ground and through this pond which put me in a bubble. Weird.

All around me I can see other bubbles with what looks like wisps of light inside them. Other spirits? I also get to watch other bubbles rise out of the ground, looks like I was right.

I’m still being pulled up though. Slowly and surely me and all my bubble buddies are rising upward. Unless I turn myself upside down. Now we’re being pulled down. Haha, looks like theres no sense of up and down in this place.

In the opposite direction of bubble puddle is the a massive whirlpool. Yeah, I guess that’s what's pulling me. It has a sort of white-black coloration, and I can’t tell exactly what its made out of. It’s definitely not water, that’s for sure.

But, as I am but a humble bubble, I can do nothing but let the time pass as I’m slowly being pulled into that whirpool.

….

It’s been awhile now, but I’m finally close to the next destination in the great bubble race.

Being even closer, it’s truly an amazing sight to see the waves of white and black as they rage toward the center.

I’ve watched other bubbles ahead of me, and they just seemed to disappear into the center and I can’t see anything after that.

Knowing that this is most likely the afterlife and I’m a spirit, it’s probably some sort of rite of passage to enter the underworld. Or maybe the God of Death got tired of seeing us spirits standing in a line, and came up with this entertaining method of waiting.

Who knows, but my time is close. There’s not much for me to do here, just wait really. There is nothing for me down below, and there is only the future waiting for me up above. Really wish I could make this bubble go faster.

Eventually, I made it to the center of the whirlpool and am finally being pulled in. Guess it’s time to see what’s on the otherside.

….

I’m back in my body? It certainly seems like it. I can even feel the wind blow across my skin and smell the air.

It seems I’m standing on some kind of dirt road surrounded on both sides by a grass plain. About a hundred meters ahead I can see the road split into two paths, and behind me the road simply goes on into the horizon.

I have the feeling that I’m still dead, but as to where I am, no clue. Am I supposed to choose a path? Is this a test of some kind? I’m already dead, why do they feel the need to test me?

Maybe if I just follow the wind I’ll end up where I’m supposed to be.

I can feel the wind headed down the right path of the two roads in the front, so I’ll see where it takes me.

….

I’ve been walking down this road for a while now. I never thought about turning back. I didn’t see the point in it. All roads come to an end eventually, so I might as well see this through to its end.

“Greetings, traveler.” That’s odd, I could’ve sworn I just heard a voice..

“You did hear a voice, turn around.” Strange. There it is again, maybe I got heatstroke?

“From what? There’s not even a real sun here.” True, but I’m definitely imagining a voice, so something must be wrong.

“You’re not imagining anything. Turn around.” Quite a persistent hallucination, guess I’ll just have to walk it off.

“Turn around already!” Yikes, jokes over I guess, I just wanted to have a bit of fun.

Turning around I see a young woman with bright orange hair and a slightly freckled face. She’s not princess material, but she’s definitely prettier than a lot of adventurer girls I’ve seen. Wearing what looks like leather armor and a pack full of tools for exploring, I guess she’s an adventurer.

“That would be correct, and thanks for the.. half-compliment.” Ah, no problem. Quit reading my thoughts too.

“Don’t wanna.” Oi, you sound just like my master. Quit being so stubborn.

“If you want me to stop reading your thoughts, then just quit using your thoughts to speak.” ….

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

Looks like I can speak now. I couldn’t earlier… I don’t really get where this girl came from though, but I might as well play along.

“Well, nice to meet you miss. Looks like we’re headed down the same road, would you like to share the path?”

I think I saw a hint of surprise on her face, maybe I said something wrong?

“Haha, sure. Let’s walk together.” She gave me a bright smile, quite a pretty one too. Looks like I’ve gained a road companion, company is always nice.

“So what’s your name, miss?”

“Call me Veiloria.”

“I see.. Don’t you want to ask me for my name?” Guess my companion doesn’t know how to continue the flow of conversation.

“I already know it.”

“Eh? Reading my mind again?”

“Yes and no. I knew it before I met you on this road.”

“How’d you manage that? Have we met before?” I can’t recall ever meeting someone like her, and it’s rare for me to forget memorable people like her.

“No we haven’t met before, but I’ve seen your life so I know everything about you.”

“Ah, so you’re a stalker.”

“What?! No! I’m a goddess!”

“Geez, I know I said you look pretty, but you don’t need to get such a big head about it.” Ahaha, that flustered look on her face is too cute.

“Geez! I’m serious! I’m Veiloria, Goddess of Adventure and Travel! I’m a divine being you know?!”

“Oh.. That’s a cool nickname. So miss goddess, what brings you out here along this road?”

“... I’m here for you.” Looks like she’s a little mad, but I can’t say I dislike her face when she’s mad..

“A confession? It’s a bit late, seeing as how I’m dead though.”

“Enough already, sheesh. Yes, you’re dead. You’re a spirit. This is the netherworld, and this area around you is my domain. I’m the goddess that best represents your soul, therefore I am in charge of you. I came here to greet you out of goodwill.”

About as much as I had guessed, “I see.. So what happens next then? Shall I keep going down this road, or is there another bubble race for me to conquer?”

“Haha, no no. Nothing like that. Next comes reincarnation.” Haah, there's that cute smile again.

But reincarnation, huh.. I guess the ‘netherworld’ operates differently than I thought.

“Oh? So I’m going to be reincarnated.. Tell me, do all spirits get reincarnated?”

“Most do. Although particularly dark spirits will be trapped in a prison to be punished.”

Hearing that makes me smile a little. Looks like master and all my friends who died get to live again as well, that’s good.

“Haha, looks like you’re quite an affectionate person for one who never says how they truly feel.”

“Hm, I guess the goddess sees all, huh. How annoying.” Better not think anything too perverted near her.

“I said I know everything about you, including your emotions. Of course I knew that as well.”

“Well then, why has Veiloria come to see me? Is there a form a preparation I need to be reincarnated?”

“Nope. Reincarnation doesn’t usually require a visit, but you’re different.”

What's that supposed mean? “How am I different? Do I require punishment for being such a brat when I was a kid?”

“I agree, you really were a brat. But actually, I’m going to reward you.”

“Eh? What for? I don’t recall doing any good deeds.”

“You weren’t exactly a bad person either though, were you? But I’m not the goddess of ‘good deeds’ anyway. I’m the Goddess of Adventure and Travel. The one who guides adventurers and travelers on their journeys, giving them aid, comfort, and protection.

There are many adventurers and travelers, but most are overcome with greed for wealth and treasure or pride for glory and fame. There are very few who are purely adventurous in their soul. You are one of those adventurers that are so very rare to see. That is why I am going to reward you.”

Yeah, I certainly knew a lot of people that fit that bill. Treasure and fame, there were many people who I grew to dislike because of that. “... That’s quite something.. So what’s this reward?”

“That’s for you to choose. Out of everything you gathered from your past life, what do you want to take with you the most? I know you gathered a lot of extremely valuable items and techniques.”

Something from my past life, huh. I knew these gods were helping people cheat, how else could that monster be so damn strong. So I can choose one of those treasures or even the Eight Winds Technique..

“Can I take only the first four steps to the Eight Winds Technique?”

“Eh…? I was kind of expecting you to say you didn’t want to take anything..”

“Haha, maybe I would’ve. But I never got to teach my technique to someone like my master did for me… at least this way maybe I’ll get the chance to. Plus, I’ll get to experience recreating the last four steps all over again.”

I’m quite excited that I might get to actually take on a disciple like my master took me on.. I wonder if my master found another disciple in his next life.

“I see. That answer is actually quite good. I’ll accept it. Look up ahead, you should see the end of the road now. I’m glad I got the chance to talk to you, and I look forward to seeing you again.”

Man, she really does have such a cute smile. She’s kind of my type…

“Not a chance.”

You can’t fool me, I can see the blush in your cheeks. “Haha, well I’m going on ahead then. It was nice chatting with you.”

A couple dozen meters away from me is the end of the road. It ends at a hill, and at the top of the hill is a solitary tree.

I already understand. This is the place where the most important person to me is. The place where I buried my master.

As I walk up the hill, I can see the gravestone I made for him.

I can recall the words I spoke that time as clear as day.

If there was any place that I wanted to die if not on an adventure, I think it would be by my master’s side.

I sit down next to the tree, leaning my back against it.

The winds blow gently across me and through the tree.

I can hear the soft rustling of the leaves, the creaking of the branches.

I can smell the grass and soil of the earth below.

I can see the thin rays of light that peek through the branches of the tree upon my master’s gravestone.

I can sense the lull of sleep overtaking me as a great peace descends upon my heart.

As I close my eyes, I can feel Veiloria watching over me, and I think I caught her whispering me safe travels.