“Please state your name.”
Due to the accumulation of my previous memories, my mind takes a few moments to adjust itself. Once my head clears up, I find out that I’m currently sat down on a wooden chair, surrounded by nothing except whiteness. I’m not even sure where the brightness of the room comes from, as there are no nearby light sources. I’m unable to see how big the room is, as it’s completely white, with no shadows anywhere. I try to get off the chair, but an unknown force prevents me from doing so. I hear the same mechanical voice speak again.
“Please state your name.”
“Kai.” I answer calmly.
“Welcome to Heaven, Kai. I am an A.I. meant to introduce you to this dimension. This dimension consists of two geographically identical worlds inhabited by humans and demons respectively. The humans, like yourself, reincarnate after having died in their previous worlds; they reside on Earth, one of the two worlds. The demons, however, are reincarnations of all non-human species who had a deep hatred for humans in their previous lives. They reincarnate on Hella, the other world, for the sole purpose of opposing Earth and its inhabitants. Both worlds have received and still receive equal amounts of reincarnations over time. Reproduction is impossible within this dimension.”
“At the end of every year, a life-or-death battle occurs in an arena located between the two worlds, which will be broadcasted to every single being. Besides the team of 12 that each world must bring into the arena, 10% of the worlds’ inhabitants will be randomly chosen as the audience within the arena; the audience will be stripped of all stats and skills within the arena. Battle ends when either team’s killed off; victory rewards the remaining team members by doubling all their stats, along with the right to do whatever they wish to the losing world’s audience.”
“You will assume the age and appearance of when you were in your prime from your previous world. You, nor anyone else in this dimension, can grow old, but you can still be injured and killed through other means. There are laws and rules enforced by The Order, a large group of adventurers who desire peace and unity amongst Earth’s inhabitants, although not everyone shares the same mindset. In a moment, you will reincarnate within Heaven’s Castle, which is located in Edora, one of the major cities on Earth. However, before you start your journey, let me show you who you are in its entirety.”
A window consisting information about me appeared in front of me. It reminded me of the games I've played in various worlds, a few of them also being Earth. Games really are universal...well, multi-universal.
Name: Kai
Race: Human?
Age: 25
Level: 1
Title: Multiverse Master
HP: 100?
MP: 100?
Strength: 100?
Dexterity: 100?
Intelligence: 100?
Skills:
Wisdom of a hundred worlds - Complete magic control.
Strength of a hundred worlds - Complete physical control.
Endurance of a hundred worlds - Takes very long to fatigue.
Agility of a hundred worlds - Possess near instant reflexes and reactions.
Flaw of a hundred worlds - Unable to level up.
Experience of a hundred worlds - Stats are not absolute.
Summary:
A being capable of traversing through dimensions with ease.
Default appearance retained.
De-synced from system...
No further data can be extrapolated from this individual...
“You can access this page for yourself simply by thinking ‘status’. To start off, I will give you a basic explanation of each stat. Strength is pretty straightforward, as it essentially defines the physical aspect of a character; how much one can lift and how tough they are on a physical level. Dexterity represents the different aspects of quickness within a character; how fast you can react, how fast your reflexes are, and how agile you are. Intelligence indicates your general proficiency with magic-related aspects; how fast your mana regenerates, your mana capacity, the power of magic-related abilities. Your health points roughly dictate your overall condition; how much damage you can endure and how close you are to dying. Health points are quite inconsistent and unreliable due to it being a subjective stat. Finally, mana is simply a resource required for the majority of magic-related things. Due to an abundance of mana essence within the air, your mana will naturally regenerate overtime. This can be strengthened through various methods, increasing intelligence being the easiest one. To achieve stat points to allocate, one must level up. The simplest way of doing so would be slaying creatures located across Earth...or Hela for experience points, which would level you up, granting ten points for allocation per level up. With all this said, I will now spawn you in the Draco academy for further assessment.”
My mind goes blank for a few seconds, only to then appear standing on what seems like a circular steel platform. I quickly notice two girls on my right, each standing on their respective platforms. The girl beside me kept a composed expression, stealing short glances towards me and the other girl. She seemed to be of Asian descent, with relatively short brown hair that barely extends past her shoulders. The white dress shirt she wore over her small and slender body, combined with her black dress pants, extruded a look fitting of a young adult. She's approximately a head and a half shorter than me. I take a look at the other girl and I couldn't help but be instantly entranced by her baby blue eyes and long eyelashes. She shyly turns away after making eye contact with me, causing her elegant a-line wedding dress to gracefully spin around with her. A silver tiara encompassed her perfectly straight, warm blond hair, creating a contrast of colours fit for royalty. Surprisingly, she's only half a head shorter. These two seem pretty interesting.
After I was done checking out the ladies, a voice is heard throughout the small room.
“Hello you guys, welcome to Heaven! My name’s Erick, I’m sure our A.I. has given you three a rundown of the situation. I understand if any of you have further questions beyond what was given, but rest assured, we will answer everything after the initial assessment. If you guys may walk through the door in front to the next room, that would be greatly appreciated.
The girls look around, and at me for a bit. They seem a bit cautious to move forward, so I take the initiative to do so. I open the steel door and walk into a large, open room that looked like a mix of a school gym and sports arena. The room is furnished with wooden floors and glass panels on both sides of the room. In the middle of the room, there’s a circular steel platform on the ground, similar to the ones we spawned on. A large screen is attached onto the wall in the back of the room, with a door underneath it. There were lots of people observing us behind the glass panels. The girls end up walking through the door, stopping behind me. The door automatically shuts once they’re in the new room.
“Hello again! Just to clarify, no one around you means any harm and are only spectating. We’ll be running a quick test, just to determine your capabilities and help you get started. With that being said, could Amelia stand on top of the platform?”
The blonde girl hesitantly walks forward and stops on top of the platform . She seems pretty nervous, but didn’t question the instructions spoken.
After a brief moment, the screen lights up and displays the basic stats of Amelia on the screen.
Name: Amelia
Race: Human
Age: 23
Level: 1
HP: 323
MP: 186
Strength: 281
Dexterity: 167
Intelligence: 186
All of a sudden, an approximately 2 meter high, lower case t-shaped training dummy appears in front of Amelia out of nowhere. It seemed to be made of a green slime-like material. Then, in mid-air, on the right side of Amelia, a visible handle wrapped in leather forms from the bottom up, onto a steel hilt, then finally onto a large metal blade. The entire process of this well-crafted longsword took no more than a few seconds. A similar event occurred on the left side as well, but with a rapier instead. Both weapons remained in mid-air.
“The test is pretty simple, just destroy the dummy in whichever way you’d like, the use of magic is also allowed. The type of equipment created were based on your memories, so they should be well-suited for you.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Amelia, simultaneously, wraps both her hands on the two weapons beside her. The weight of the longsword doesn’t seem to affect her in the slightest despite i. She definitely looks comfortable while holding these two weapons, despite her lack of a matching outfit.
“Actually, would you prefer a change of clothes first?”
“No, this is fine.”
Her demeanor has clearly changed after equipping herself. She definitely isn’t shy anymore, especially with the aura she’s emitting. She moves back a bit and gets into a stance that I’m not too familiar with, but it resembles a mix between fencing and medieval swordsmanship. She holds her rapier in front of her, like one would while fencing. With her right hand, she holds the longsword slightly above head level, arm bent, matching an ox guard stance, which is supposed to be done with two hands. She focuses on the target forward, with her legs bent, prepared to engage and react to any situation that opposes her.
She springs forward and thrusts her rapier, piercing right through the wooden dummy like butter. With no time in between, in one fluid motion, she swings her rapier to the left while still pierced within the dummy, easily cutting it again, and freeing the blade. She continues the swinging, and with the additional weight of the rapier, uses the created momentum to rotate her entire upper body. This allows her to extend her right arm like a whip, along with the rotation of her wrist to reposition the sword for a slashing attack, which sends the longsword flying down diagonally, decimating the dummy the instant the blade makes contact with the wood. With her two weapons down on her left side and a low posture, she ends her onslaught with an aggressive tackle onto the remaining bottom half of the dummy, causing it to fly a few meters back. She proceeds to stand up, with the two weapons in hand still. Not a sign of fatigue is shown.
“...”
The announcer and majority of the observers had to take a few seconds to comprehend what happened. The scattered pieces of the dummy and her two weapons quickly dissipate into nothing during the moment of silence.
“Wow. That was spectacular! Even with your impressive stat page, we didn’t want to expect too much, since they’re never fully indicative of one’s strengths. It’s always exciting to be introduced to such individuals like yourself. It looks like you’re also able to weave enhancement magic during your attacks...absolutely flawless. It’s not often we get to witness someone as amazing as you, especially not while they’re level one. Great job. ”
“...Is that all?” She asks shyly.
“Oh sorry, yes that will be all that is required from you. Thank you for being so cooperative. You can move back to where you were.”
She scurries back behind me. Seems like her timid personality is back.
“You’re strong. I’m impressed you could pull those attacks off in that dress. ” I told her calmly.
“Thank you.” She replies quickly and quietly.
“Could we get Hina to walk to the platform now? The same test will occur for her as well.”
The Asian girl confidently walks to the platform. I assume her uneasiness has died down because she knows what to expect now.
Similarly as before, the same training dummy appears in front of the new girl, back in one piece. The screen’s display changes, now showing Hina’s stats.
Name: Hina
Race: Human
Age: 21
Level: 1
HP: 238
MP: 198
Strength: 132
Dexterity: 364
Intelligence: 198
Before anything else happens, Hina runs back and stops in front of me. Amelia and I decide to back up a bit more.
“I’m ready now!”
Just like the test with Amelia, a weapon starts to form on the left of Hina. A wooden bow slowly appears, positioned with the bowstring at the top. The design seems to be somewhat derived from the Manchu bow. Instantly after, a quiver with a long leather strap containing five arrows form on Hina’s right side. Hina flings the quiver onto her back and grabs the bow. Without missing a beat, she instantly slips three arrows between her fingers from the quiver behind her, attaches them to the bowstring, draws the bowstring, and releases all three arrows simultaneously towards the target’s head. The moment the arrows leave Hina’s fingers, she dashes towards the target with accelerating speed, during which, she slings the bow over her head and behind her back, with the bowstring acting as a strap. Moments before the arrows reach the target, she speeds up even more, side steps past the target and ends up behind the dummy. In the last half second, she manipulates the top and bottom arrow to sharply turn and fly onto each side of the dummy’s head. During this, she withdraws the last two arrows, holds one in each hand in a downward position, jumps up and proceeds to swing down onto the dummy’s head. In one, synchronized instant, all five arrows penetrate into the dummy’s head. The time it took, starting from the release of the arrows to the dummy, took less than three seconds.
“How was that?” She says with a hint of cockiness.
“...”
Once again, the bystanders are speechless. There has been an increase of spectators since the last test. Given how well Amelia did, word must have spread quickly.
“Boy, seeing the both of you perform to that level with ease is...is...insane! It’s hard to figure out what words are fitting for the two of you. Just understand you both are one of a kind.”
Hina runs back behind me and grins happily, clearly satisfied with her performance.
“Seems like you both were raised in pretty intense environments. I’m sincerely impressed with you two. I would like to invite both of you to stay by my side in this new world of ours.
“I don't even know you.”
“Um...me neither, sorry.”
“I could easily guarantee your safety in any and every circumstance that comes your way.” I continue calmly.
“Ahaha, you already saw how strong we are, I don’t think there’d be any issues with our safety. Thanks for the offer though.”
“Hey Kai, come on up, it’s your turn.”
I pretend to ignore him.
“Hey Kai, could you please move forward to the platform?”
“I appreciate the please.”
I walk onto the platform.
The display changes again.
Name: Kai
Race: Human?
Age: 25
Level: 1
HP: 100
MP: 100
Strength: 100
Dexterity: 100
Intelligence: 100
After it displays my stats, I notice fear within the spectators, most likely due to my race being an uncertainty. At least my stats are displaying properly, without the question marks.
“Why does your race contain a question mark, Kai?” The announcer sounds serious for the first time.
“I’m not sure myself, maybe your screen is broken.”
“Don’t take me for an idiot. Please identify yourself!”
I keep myself quiet to gauge the situation. He’s panicking over such a minute detail. How pathetic.
A few moments of silence later.
“Ah, sorry about Erick over here, he’s relatively new and overly cautious. We didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome. I will take over for him in the meantime. Nice to meet you, Kai, my name is Celeste, I am the current vice principal of this academy.
“Ah, no worries, I can understand how a small detail could scare him...and everyone else watching. None of you have any kind of significant power to protect anything, so being insecure is a pretty natural response to anything unfamiliar.”
“What the fuck?”
“Who the hell is this subhuman trash to insult us in front of us like that?”
“Let me fight him!”
I hear students yelling behind the glass.
“I don’t understand why he’s being so confident...his stats don’t seem to warrant it. I understand him being upset because of people doubting him, but why push it?” Hina calmly asks
“Uh, I’m not sure. He was pretty confident when asking for our companionship too...maybe he has something hidden…”
“Come on now, I apologized for Erick already. I do hope you can take back the words you said about him and everyone else. It doesn’t do anyone good to spread hate, we already have the demons to worry about.” Celeste says with a bit of annoyance.
“And yet, the majority of the students, Erick included, inferred I might have been a demon, judging their reactions. Am I supposed to accept that kind of accusation because your students couldn’t maturely handle a symbol on my stats page? I’m not fond of taking shit from people, strangers no less.”
“You’re right...and I apologize again for the entirety of the academy. Everyone spectating, please settle down and stop escalating things. Anyone else caught being loud and rude will be suspended indefinitely.” She actually sounds sincere, after realizing my point of view.
Everyone around instantly became quiet. Despite their anger, they were pretty obedient.
“Thanks Celeste, you’re not too bad. Since you put in the effort to apologize sincerely, how about I make it up to you a little. Spawn me a living test subject and I’ll show everyone what real power looks like.”
“Uhm...are you sure about that? We have a lot of demon prisoners, but they’re significantly tougher than the wooden dummies…and most new reincarnates wouldn’t even have the conviction to harm another living being.”
“Just do it, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.”
“...Fine.”
It took a bit longer than the dummies, but a demon magically chained to a metal cross finally appears. It stood over two meters tall, equipped with thick, dark grey leathery skin and the muscle mass to shame a world-class bodybuilder. Additionally, with four obsidian black horns on its head, blood red eyes, and razor sharp teeth, it resembles a dragon in your darkest nightmares. It’s easy to see why people are afraid of them...along with the fact that most demons find total pleasure in torturing humans. His stats page replaces mine on the screen.
Name: Asgaroth
Race: Dragonic Demonkin
Age: 526
Level: 150
HP: 4692
MP: 1776
Strength: 3712
Dexterity: 1481
Intelligence: 1776
“ARGHHHH!! YOU FILTHY HUMANS, LET ME GO OR CEASE TO EXIST WHEN MY SOLDIERS RESCUE ME.”
“Shhh...corpses shouldn’t be so loud in the morning.”
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TALKING TO, FILTHY LIVESTOCK? I AM THE LEADING COMMANDER OF THE DRAGON CORPS. YOUR PEOPLE HAD TO SEAL ME BECAUSE THEY FAILED TO KILL ME. FREE ME AND YOU’D UNDERSTAND HOW INSIGNIFICANT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE.”
“...” So annoying.
“Do you require a weapon? Our mage can’t seem to conjure a weapon for you…”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“AHAHAHA, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH YOUR WEAK HUMAN HANDS? HOW LAUGHABLE.”
“Bragging?” Hina thinks to herself
Some of the students observing are even snickering, thinking I would humiliate myself, especially with no weapon.
I stand there, left hand behind me, legs together, facing a monster one and a half heads taller than me and raise my right hand slightly above his left shoulder. Before anyone could question what I’m doing, I chop down.
“WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO DO?”
It takes him a few seconds to comprehend what happened. His confidence in his own strength and body, coupled with the lack of expectations he had for me prevented his mind from physically feeling any pain...initially.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
His entire arm had been cut clean off his body. Blood came flowing out, dying the ground red. The interesting thing is that his arm remained in the same place, floating due to the magic chains keeping his entire body static in that one particular position.
“...”
“What the actual fuck?”
“...This guy wasn’t joking.”
“I’m sorry for even joking about fighting him.”
Once the demon settled down, I position my hand above his head and smile.
“Please. I’m sorry I said anything, I’ll go back to my prison quietly, please. Please, I stepped out of li-”
I swing down once again, but with a wider range of motion this time due to his large frame.
His supposedly tough body does nothing to hinder my hand, splitting it right down the middle from his head to his crotch. The chains disappear the moment his life is extinguished. The halves of his body only remain upright for a few seconds before falling to their respective sides. His internal organs scatter once the bodies hit the ground, floating in the pools of blood.
“...”
“...”
“...”
Nothing but silence.