Author's Note: Hello to anyone who reads this, chapters may be irregular in size, depends on how I feel. Now, please enjoy.

Great Mother motioned to my chest. "You are now a Champion of Death, one of the most hated existences in this world. You have been summoned to this world because of an unbalance, and Lady Death has brought you here to set it right. You met the requirements and was chosen by the God-Beetle, and survived the trial of the God-Beetle. You are officially a Champion of Death, a Reaper, a Soul Eater. Your mission in this world is to kill whatever Lady Death wants you to kill, and in order to do so she has gifted you with new abilities. Though they vary from Champion to Champion, the main ones are heightened regeneration, lengthened life span, increase in base strength and speed, increased endurance and reaction speed, tougher skin, heightened senses, universal language understanding, overall increased efficiency of all body functions, and finally the ability to find your target, wherever they may be. There may be more abilities, but those you must find and train yourself."

As Great Mother was listing all these abilities, I noticed that I really did feel stronger and lighter on my feet. My mind was clear, and I could even hear the beating of Yerna's heart if I listened close enough.

I looked at Great Mother. I was curious about something, so I asked, "Great Mother, what exactly are you? Some sort of elf?" I was thinking about the elves I saw in movies, with blond hair and pointy ears. Great Mother burst out laughing. 

"Haha! Do we look like one of those puny mischievous devils? No no no, we are a type of dryad. We are all born from the Mother Tree," she said, pointing up to the tree we are sitting under. "We can live for several centuries, millennia if we are careful, and we are able to communicate basic messages to each other mentally. That is also why I knew about you when you came here. Yerna sent me a message beforehand, when she realized what you might be. When we die, we are buried under the Mother Tree, absorbed and used as nourishment by the Mother Tree and reborn from the fruit of the Mother Tree after a period of time, though most of the time we forget the memories of our past lives. We are one of the few races that are all female, though we can reproduce through copulation if we so desire." She looked pointedly at Yerna. "Yerna is actually my direct daughter. All females born from us are born as dryads, connected to Mother Tree, and all males as the race their fathers are from." 

Next I asked something that had been on my mind for some time since she mentioned it. "What is mana?"

"Mana, as I've said before, is the energy exuded from the planet, and allows for feats of magic." She held up her hand and opened it. I suddenly felt a strange pressure from her palm, as if she were pulling the very atmosphere, or energy around us into a point on her palm. Water droplets began to gather in her palm, and soon she had a sphere of water in her hand. Then she shot it at a nearby bird so quickly the bird didn't even have time to react, and it disappeared in a mist of red and feathers. 

-I thought dryads loved nature and animals...-

She continued, "However, in order to manipulate it, one must have a high sense for it. If one has sense, their manipulation of mana will manifest as certain attributes of magic, the most common being fire, water, earth, wind, and certain enchantments or enhancements. Different races also have more affinities to different attributes according to their races. For example, we dryads have an affinity for the attribute of water and nature magic.”

-So I might be able to do magic!- I felt a rush of excitement. Magic! Something that I could only imagine doing in my old world! The ability to manipulate the elements! The very energy of the world!

I still had more questions, but I could see Great Mother was getting tired, and it was getting late, so I asked one more.

"What are God-Beetles?"

"Ah, yes, the God-Beetles. God-Beetles are the manifestations of the will of the gods. A God will send one out, and they will seek someone to become the Champion of that god. When the Beetles find a suitable Champion, they will burrow into them, and become a part of them. They will test the Champion, and if they pass, the Beetle will endow the Champion with gifts from the patron god. All Champions are respected and feared by all races, because to be the Champion of a god is to be the hand of the god. You are literally the will of the god, and gods are the manifestations of what they represent. To be under the protection of your patron god is something truly amazing, as you will have the potential to become a god yourself. And though most gods are respected and loved along with their Champions, there are exceptions. Champions of the Goddess of Chaos, Goddess of Death, God of Famine, God of Pestilence, Goddess of Misfortune, and others are all hated for what they represent, and are usually shunned and killed, if possible. We, however, respect the Goddess of Death due to her relationship with the Goddess of Nature, our race's patron Goddess. According to legend, the Goddess of Nature and the Goddess of Death are very close friends and allies within the Pantheon of the Gods.”

-Well, this is a lot to take in.- I sighed and took a sip of my drink. A couple minutes passed before Great Mother looked up at the sky. It had gotten pretty dark, and the sun had almost set.

"Dante, it is time to say good night. Tonight, you will most likely receive a message from Lady Death explaining why you are here. Ulaya, take Dante to his room. Yerna, stay with me for a little, we have to talk."

I was still bursting with more questions, but I also knew that Great Mother was right. So I thanked Great Mother for her time, and let Ulaya lead me into the big house. It was more like an inn, really, and she led me to a room on the second floor. It was rather cozy, with a small bed placed against the wall and a desk and chair in the corner. It had a window looking out into the town, and I could see the villagers going about their business. I placed my weapons on the desk and turned to thank Ulaya for her help, but as soon as I opened my mouth she had locked her lips around mine, pressing her body into mine. For a second I was flustered, but I regained my composure quickly. Until she began using her tongue. By then, my mind had overheated and blanked out. She released me and looked into my eyes, her face red. I could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest, and I was feeling very hot. I wasn't sure what to do! I had spent all of my life in the various Syndicate branches, being trained and experimented on, and had not really had much contact with the opposite sex. The only girl my age I had ever spent time with... Sasha. A flood of memories caused me to break from her gaze. My eyes were burning as I held back my tears.

"What's wrong?" Ulaya had concerned look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. There's some things I have to deal with... I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled at her and gently pushed her out the door. It was clear she wanted to continue, but the look in my eyes stopped her. She nodded, and left the room. I could tell she was disappointed, but I can’t do this yet. It was nice knowing that a beautiful woman had interest in me, but I can’t accept her affection. Not until… I turned my gaze back to her receding figure until she disappeared down the stairs, and closed the door quietly. I slowly took off my pants and shirt, tossing them next to my weapons, and pulled off my boots and sat on my bed. A wave of fatigue hit me, and I collapsed on the mattress. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

=======================================

It was dark. So dark. The cold steel of my cage caused my small three year old body to shiver. My body hurt from the most recent dose of injections and experiments. My head was burning, and I felt as if I was dying. I began to cry softly.

“D-don't cry,” a soft voice whimpered out to me from my right, and in the darkness I could barely make out another cage, and a figure even smaller than me shivering in the confines of the cage.

“D-don't cry, or I'll cry. W-what’s your name?” The person asked tremulously, clearly holding back their own tears.

I tried to stop my sniveling enough to answer.

“C-C1."

"No, your real name.”

I though for a bit. My name was C1, but that was just the name of an experiment. An object that had been created, not a human that had been born. I tried to think. What was my name? I dimly remembered someone calling me something, among all the memories of pain and suffering… Dante. Was that my name? I guess so.

"D-Dante..."

“D-dante? I'm S-Sasha.”

"S-Sasha..."

"Dante... Can w-we be friends?"

I saw the outline of the child move slowly and painfully to me and stretch a hand out from the bars of the cage. I stayed still for a moment, and moved to take the hand. It was warm. The warmth seemed to spread through my body, and I could barely make out the figure. It was a girl. Her head was shaved bare, just like mine. She had no clothes on, just like me. She had clear, shining gray eyes, just like me. And I could barely make out leathery appendages spreading from her back. Just like mine.

The memory shifted, and I was suddenly back in the dark place where I had fought my doppelgänger. But instead of my doppelgänger, a beautiful woman with flawless ivory skin, and black hair that flowed down to her lower back, wearing a black strapless dress that could just barely keep her voluptuous breasts from spilling out. Her teeth were perfect, and her deep black eyes seemed to swallow me up.

-Wow. She's beautiful!-

The woman smiled, and said, "Glad you think so."

-Fuck! She can read my mind? Shit! Shit! Gotta hide my pervy thoughts!- I struggled to banish all the previous thoughts I had as soon as I saw her, but to no avail.

"I can still hear you. So you want to do this and that, huh." She flashed me a smile. "Maybe later. You do seem like an... Exciting young man." She glanced over me, making me instinctively cover myself. I cleared my throat, and she snapped her gaze back to my face.

"So. You're Lady Death, right?”

“Yup," She smiled proudly.

"Soooo... Why am I here? Why did you summon me to this world?”

Lady Death perked up. "Oh that. No reason really. I just wanted a Champion! I was getting bored, and my last toy... I mean, Champion died a little while ago. Choked on a fish bone, can you believe it?" She scoffed incredulously.

My jaw hit the floor. 

-Whaaaaaaattttt?!?!-

"Waitwaitwait! Don't you usually summon Champions when there's an imbalance in the world? When I have to play hero and keep the balance?”

"Hmm? Who told you that? I just summon Champions whenever I feel like it. It's always fun when us gods get together and pit our Champions against the world," she said, laughing. 

"So I'm not here for any higher purpose? I'm just here 'cause you're bored?"

"Pretty much." She nodded proudly. "Also, you settle disputes between me and other gods against their Champions."

"So you tore me out of my world, dug a fucking beetle into my chest, made me fight myself, dropped me naked in front of a hot chick, all for fun?" I was fuming! This lady just casually plucked me up and made me a stranger in a strange land!

-Who is she, to tear me away from everything I know!-

"Well, for one, I'm an all powerful God of Death."

-Fuck! I forgot she could do that! Damn, this is going to get annoying!-

"Really? I always thought it was convenient."

-Goddamnit!-

"What do I damn?" She looked at me with an amused gleam in her eyes.

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-She's fucking playing with me!-

"Yup, I definitely am. Anyway, let me ask you one thing, so calm down a moment. Weren't you bored there? You had nothing there to live for. All that was left were painful memories. In my opinion, I've given you a good reason to live again."

-Hmm. That's true. I had almost no friends, and I was bound to be killed eventually. This does seem like a good chance to start over.-

"I know right?"

“Damn it, stay out of my head, will you?"

"Haha, I just can't help it! I'm already having fun!" She was laughing so hard tears were in her eyes.

Lady Death calmed down, and waved her arm. A bed appeared, and she plopped down, patting the place beside her. I reluctantly sat down, but as soon as I did, she squealed and jumped into my lap.

-Is this really the ageless manifestation of Death?-

"Of course I am!"

-Gah!-

"Stop that! It's freaky!" 

Lady Death giggled. "Anyway," she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Lets explain stuff, alright?"

She brought one of her hands to my chest and tapped the beetle in my sternum.

"This little guy is my God-Beetle. I created him purely out of my will, but I never controlled him completely. All I did was create him, and program him to find someone worthy of becoming my Champion. Like that, he traveled across worlds, galaxies, universes, dimensions, timelines, whatever. After that, it's up to him to choose someone worthy enough. Usually, he tries to find someone that fits my type of guy, but last time he couldn't. Good thing he could this time!" She giggled and patted my head playfully. "Continuing. All God-Beetles give the same basic abilities and enhancements, but sometimes us gods agree to give our Champions more than what is the basic." She grinned. "This is one of those times. I am allowed to give you one more gift other than what you already have, which are heightened regeneration, a lengthened life span, increased base strength and speed, increased base endurance and reaction speed, tougher skin, heightened senses, universal language understanding, overall increased efficiency of all body functions, and finally the ability to find your target, wherever they are. Of course, you can train all of these abilities and make them stronger. All your abilities can grow with you, and if you work hard enough, you can even become a god!"

"That's great, but I have a few questions. Why did you have me fight myself? And what is that stone I got from him? A rare boss drop?"

“Oh yeah, your doppelgänger! He was part of the trial to become a Champion. The gist of it is, if you can defeat yourself with the base physical abilities of the gifts, then you are worthy of the gifts."

"Ok, I get that, but what's with the stone? I know it's important, but what do I do with it?"

Lady Death smiled.

“Yes, the stone. Part of it has to do with the world itself, and part of it has to do with becoming my Champion. Any enemy you kill will have a chance of dropping a condensed part of their soul, which will form into a rock. This rock can be absorbed into one’s body, however that will yield little to no results. So, the inhabitants of this world have developed a special metal that can absorb the stone with a much higher success rate. This metal is called soul-steel. Any weapon made of this metal can therefore be reinforced by the condensed souls of their enemies. Of course, there is a limit. Most of these weapons can only hold three stones, and will shatter if you use more. There are exceptions, of course, such as the higher graded weapons with a greater purity of the metal can absorb more stones. Each soul will give different reinforcements depending on the defeated enemy. For example, a Diamond Scaled Serpent will give a weapon higher durability and sharpness, or a mage of the fire attribute will infuse the weapon with flame damage. You can even combine stones of different attributes, or stack the effects of an attribute!”

-This! Amazing!-

My mind was reeling from this information. So many possibilities! Lady Death grinned at my reaction, and said, "But that's not all! I have yet to explain the effects of being my Champion have on these stones. Now listen closely, because this is important."

She licked her dry lips, and continued. "If you defeat an enemy stronger than you, and they drop a stone, you will have an eighty percent chance of gaining their special ability from ingesting it, and a ninety-five percent chance of gaining some of their knowledge! You must remember, the success rate of this happening with a regular person is only a five percent chance, and they would never get the knowledge as well! The stone you obtained from your doppelgänger is one of these soul-stones.”

-This is amazing! The more I defeat stronger enemies, the stronger I can get! And the knowledge! This is truly amazing! That means I could learn all magic here if I kill a bunch of magicians!-

My mouth was already watering from the thought of obtaining strong soul-stones. Imagine if I kill a dragon! Or maybe even a god! Is that even possible?

"However," she interrupted my thoughts. "You must be aware, that these stones are literally condensed pieces of a strong entity's soul. They still contain the will and part of the consciousness of the entity, and if you ingest a strong soul, they will try to fight back. If your will is not strong enough, you will lose yourself, and your body will be taken over by the remnants of the soul."

-So, there was a catch. Of course there was. However, I will take the risks! I am confident in my willpower. The years I spent at the School, the torture I went through at the Hospital... I can do this!-

Lady Death chuckled at my thoughts.

“Yes, my little Champion. Grow strong. Prove to me you are worth it." She swiveled on my lap and wrapped her legs around me, pressing herself up to me and bringing her face up to mine.  I could feel her two large pillows pressing against me, and her breath tickled my cheek. I felt myself blushing furiously, but I held my ground. "If you get to me, I might just reward you with something good!"

She giggled seductively and got up from my lap.

-That... That is actually great incentive.-

I curled my lips into an eager grin.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll find a way to get to you. Just wait, I'll become a god! And get some… rewards!”

She chuckled. "Oh really? Will you really? You know, you have a long way to go. In this world, even with your gifts and training, you are still much weaker than many beings here." She mused, "If I'm not wrong, you should be at around the C rank in strengh, according to the system set by the adventurers." 

-Well, shit, that doesn't sound too good.- I grimaced.

Then, I suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, what about magic? Do I get any perks from being a Champion of Death?"

She got a thoughtful look on her face. "Hmm, all Champions are supposed to have a high magical affinity, due to their nature. Come to think of it, I haven't even tested you for affinities yet."

She motioned for me to get up. She then grabbed my arm gashed my palm with her surprisingly sharp nails. Then she licked the blood.

-Ooh, that's kinky!-

She looked up at me, and I remembered she could read my mind.

-I really have to watch myself around her.-

She swished my blood around in her mouth, and swallowed.

"Hmm, not bad. Not too sweet, with a slightly spicy flavor. Leaves a nice aftertaste."

-Really?! Do I look like a wine bottle to you!?-

"Anyway, moving on, you do seem to have an abnormally high sensitivity to mana. This certainly helps. Most people believe affinity judges what magic you can do, but that is untrue. Being able to feel the energy of the planet and the universe is much more important, as you will be able to understand the flow of mana and bend it to your will. They also believe that you can only learn through incantations and have a few elemental manifestations of magic, but that is false. If you can bend mana to your will, you can manipulate it and manifest it into different things. Basically, if you are strong enough, you can literally bend reality to your will through mana. This is basically what gods do. However, it is true that some people have an easier time imagining different elements, due to their environment and personality. Honestly, for you, the best thing to do is just use the meditation techniques you learned on Earth in order to feel mana and eventually manifest magic. In the end, magic is determined by your ability to feel the mana, and to imagine a manifestation in reality."

-Sweet! That seems pretty simple! There has to be a catch...-

"However..."

-Yup.- I sighed in dismay.

"This is harder than you think, and even more difficult to use in battle. In fact, it is much more efficient to practice one move continuously, and attach a word or phrase to it. This is the basic theory behind incantations. So, just start with something simple, like a fire ball or water bullet. It takes years to master magic, and many lifetimes to even get halfway to the power of a newborn god. Of course, with your ability to absorb knowledge and abilities, this process can be sped up. So, in the mean time, kill as many strong things as you can and send them to me!" She smiled sweetly.

-That isn't something you say while smiling like that...-

Her smile turned evil and scary.

-Yup, that's the smile... Now an evil cackle would make you the perfect witch! Ow!-

I rubbed my head where her fist had hit, and I could see a dangerous looking vein popping out on her forehead.

"You little--hrm!" She crossed her arms and looked down at her wrist.

"Wow, look at the time! It's about time for me to go, you have an appointment with Morpheus soon."

-You don't even have a watch!-

"Anyway, enjoy your gifts, and work hard. Watch out for everything, especially other Champions. Almost everything in this world hates you for being my Champion, so take care of yourself." She turned and began to shimmer, gradually disappearing. 

"Wait! What was the last gift that you said you were allowed to give?"

She cackled evilly. "Oh don't worry, you'll find out in the morning. Be grateful, I had to beg on my knees to Venus to get it for you! Oh yeah, and don't be ashamed of what you are. You really have been created very well, even if you don't think so. Accept what you are, and everything will go much smoother for you." With that, she disappeared and I dropped back into my dreams.