It was the final countdown, and I knew it would be a struggle.

“You hold a part of the deep one within your soul, and I offer you a way to finally ascend into a true being of power. You have opened paths for the great ones followers, as you have passed his trial. I will teach you what his legacy means.”

8

She stood beside me, her shadow darkening me despite the pitch black night.

“Let us walk towards your grand work.”

7

She offered, and so we did. My steps were slow, my timing precise as we approached.

“Tell me, does it hurt?”

Her question startled me a little, before I noticed my hands were still bleeding.

6

“Yes, they hurt a lot. But it is my responsibility for them to be in this state, and I think I should act like it.”

She nodded, and we continued our pace.

5.

“You know, this is the day of your ascension, his unfathomable self making you his child the way he did to many chosen ones in eons past. I always hoped to pass down my knowledge to a worthy apprentice.”

It almost hurt to hear her words like that, some part of me having moral qualms, which were quickly suppressed as I remembered who she was and what she wanted to do.

4.

“You are the hero that will free him, I am sure, the legends sing of the soul eater and the grand destiny ahead of him.”

I had to hide my disgust, destiny not something I particularly enjoyed.

3.

“Thank you for teaching me all these things.”

I said, smiling as she took another step, I had slowed my pace without her noticing, making her take one more step towards the temple and reaching the invisible line.

2.

“Something is wrong, isn’t it? You think you can escape your destiny? Or maybe the books I left for you to read made you hesitate on following my plan. I bet the priest has tried to twist your mind and get you away from the grand destiny ahead of you.”

She pondered, shaking her head as she turned around, both of us barely an arms reach away, and yet separated by a barrier I completely dependent on for my survival from this point onwards.

1.

“I would love to do a great monologue, but you don’t have a lot of time left, so I want to thank you for your sacrifice. You think the deep one corrupted me, but I have been corrupted from the moment I was born by someone much stronger. I am eternal, and you, you were merely a servant.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

My grin turned into an approximation of the false one she wore every day.

0

It took just a bit too long to dawn on her what was happening, the bolt of divine energy hitting the building.

At first, everything turned cold, and I knew it had worked, the ritual drawing anything within the range I gave it, freezing it and even draining the color.

Through a window, I saw the priest looking towards me, his look of betrayal almost as great as my teachers.

I had never felt this powerful as he turned gray, his normally relaxed smile becoming disappointed.

Hey might have thought I was playing both dies, or maybe only actually working with one of them, but none would expect me to betray both.

“You really thought this would be your great moment, huh, Mangaren?”

She tried to slash for me as the ritual leaned on her, slowly deconstructing the area within as everything was drawn towards the cleric, rock molding with his body as the church collapsed on top of him.

Within seconds, he had turned into a titan of a man, immobilized by tons of stone, with the hag basically the spell anchor, but bound by the same ritual.

It would have been perfect had it stopped there.

Everything had gone to plan, until the sound of agony came and the devils soul shattered under the rituals power.

Nothing was sundered, the uncontrolled power instead blasting our home into bits, my own parents screaming the loudest as their bodies were ripped from our world, an army of specters of different colors drifted from the cracks I made in reality, attacking and killing everything before they were absorbed by either me or the unstable ritual.

For an hour, we both felt raw elemental power flay our being, until the ritual stabilized.

I had created a titan the size of a house, a body brimming with power as it erected itself to the full size, sygils all over him glowing in different colors, with a single shattered one plastered across his forehead.

It had broken apart and reformed until it became a suitable source for his power, glowing like an eye.

It looked like a mixture of golem and cyclops, and from the way he looked at me, I assumed he really fucking hated me.

I tried running away, but his fists hit like boulders, shattering many bones and pressing me into the ground.

Had I fought him then and there, my body would have been paste within another round. Instead, I retreated, my unbound trait activating as I passed right through his fists cracks, running away because my life depended on it, my sanity draining as everything was lowered to repair my body.

The beast would be restrained to the village until the ritual was complete, and thus, I took those thirty minutes and slipped out of consciousness.

Hundreds of instincts controlled my body, muscles I didn’t know I had strengthening and growing, while I spend the time searching my memories for a solution.

Three days were spent as nothing but a feral ghoul, jumping any beast I thought I could take on and tearing through them to fuel my otherwise relentless charge.

During this time, my mind raced with excuses, though I pushed each of them away.

My failure was evident, and every idea on how to blame someone else became more and more stupid.

I could not blame my teacher for having a weak soul, it was only a construct made by a sleeping entity, after all.

Nor could the blame befall the priest, for he had no way of knowing I planned on petrifying him.

Maybe I could have blamed bad luck, but in the end it remained my fault.

Having a basis to work with had made me cocky, several series of meticulous work by heroes always resulting in some type of win.

But I was no hero, I had always been selfish and would probably remain that way.

Most of the lives I remembered were lift as nobodies or villains, driving other peoples stories without ever appreciating my own.

But that had to change, after all, what was the reason for me writing this journal if I wasn’t going to act as its protagonist?

That day, three things were sworn by me, three tenets I could never break.

“I shall learn of every encounter, and I will always try to understand why it didn’t work and how to do better the next time. There will be no inactivity, if I want something, I will work for it, for that is my ultimate responsibility. Lastly, I will never serve anyone but myself.”

My senses returned once I reached the village, walking upright and casting any spell to clean myself could only procrastinate my next plan so long, thus, I began walking towards the center and the elders.

“How come that the slime slayer has returned after only half a year?”

They wondered, and I stared into their eyes with determination.

“A titan has destroyed my home, his fists like boulders and his body as massive as the largest of trees within this forest. I cannot refine my soul, and I have reached a bottleneck in the growth of my mind, thus I ask to be trained in the art of the body.”

The elder of soul nodded, and the elder of mind was somewhat surprised, only the elder of body furrowing his brows.

“You will need to undergo rigorous training for this to work, and I hope you are aware that my training involves pains beyond your imagination. I will allow you to train with the spearmen, and if you show any talent for the martial arts, I will gladly take you in. You will however be a citizen of our village for the time of your presence, and thus we ask that you act as such.”

I grasped his outstretched hand, my eyes fixated on his.

“I will train until my body is the weapon I need, for he killed my parents and I will find vengeance, whatever the cost.”

I wanted to be the pinnacle of power, to be immortal, and if absolute torture was what I needed to go through for that, it would be what I did.

Some might point to this point in time and call it the start of my legend, though I firmly believe my birth was a tad bit more important.