“You’re ready.”

“What?”

It hadn’t been long since Kenji had planted the seed of power within me. In a few short months, he had only taught me two things: how to build my power and how to wield it.

“It’s time for you to do your job.”

Kenji had taught me how to condense my power in certain places to strengthen my body. I spent weeks just trying to get it to move how I wanted. Now, I could collect it in my fists and break a small tree in half if I so desired, or run as fast as a horse.

“You’ve barely taught me anything!”

My power was not inexhaustible. Kenji taught me how to meditate and circulate it, gradually collecting it back as it moves throughout my body.

“It’s enough. If I say you can do your job, then you can do it.”

And apparently, through fervent use, practice and circulation, I could refine the core of my power and make it even stronger. This had yet to occur.

“I’m going to start you with an easy one. It’s a world populated by humans.”

Kenji had finally told me exactly why he was training me. My purpose was still to kill, but my target had changed. Kenji did not want me to kill him. He wanted me to kill other beings with the seed of power.

“Fuck. Just send me there already, then, you piece of shit.”

Of course, my motivation hadn’t changed. If Kenji had a job for me to do, I would, for the time being, be forced to comply. He was far more powerful than I had ever initially imagined. He was no longer a man; Kenji had become a god. With time, though, I was certain. I could kill him, and be freed from my shackles.

Kenji was about to send me into another world to kill a god. A holder of a seed of divinity, like the one that he’d planted inside me. A wielder of power in its purest form. I didn’t feel ready, but Kenji thought otherwise. So, I had no choice.

I was granted only the most basic of armaments. Some leather armor with light plating on the joints, and a gladius strapped to my hip. Some god. Couldn’t he have given me excalibur or some shit like that? My provisions were slim, too, fitting into a small sack tied around my shoulder. Fuck, I was getting kind of nervous.

“Who’s my target, anyway?”

Kenji ignored my question, as was standard at this point.

“Have a nice trip.”

Without even looking at me, seemingly focused more on his cigarette, he flicked my forehead, and suddenly, I was no longer surrounded by the endless night of the Black Box. The first thing that I noticed was the blinding light of the sun. I reeled back, shielding my eyes from the light. The second thing I noticed was the warm breeze passing through my hair, a distant sensation from the cool, still air in the Black Box.

It was not the least bit refreshing. Instead of feeling free, I just felt disoriented and uncomfortable. Still, I had not forgotten to take note of my surroundings. I was in a small clearing in a forest. Well, shit. Couldn’t you have dropped me into a city or something? I climbed a tree to get my bearings. Fortunately, the forest was pretty slim, and I could see a dirt road cutting through it towards the north. Great.

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I took my time getting through to the road, and then again as I started to trek down it. I was in no rush to kill whatever god had taken his claim here. About a day had passed before I encountered my first otherworldly being.

“Looking to hitch a ride, traveler?”

He shouted out to me as his horses slowed to a halt.

I nodded my head. In response, he held up three fingers.

“Three copper! My carriage goes no further than Pinehurst.”

That’s unfortunate.

“I have no money.”

He shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Are you adept with that sword on your hip?”

He tipped his head, gesturing to my weapon.

“I’m well practiced,”

I responded. I didn’t know yet exactly how strong anything in this world was compared to me. For all I knew, I could be like a baby holding a plastic knife compared to this world’s swordsmen.

“It’s your lucky day, traveler. There’s talk of nesting beasts on this trail. Protect my horses and the ride is yours.”

How surprisingly kind. The only person I’d talked to for the last few years was Kenji, and he was far from pleasant. Naturally, I accepted his offer. I mounted the front of the carriage and took my seat next to the driver.

“It’ll be two night’s ride to Pinehurst. Company for the trip is certainly welcome. Your name, traveler?”

“Daniel,”

I was not used to conversation anymore. Kenji barely spoke to me, and when he did, he certainly wouldn’t give me any chance to respond. As the day passed, the driver did most of the talking. Fortunately, I had my methods to understand this foreign language.

Another application of my power that Kenji had taught me was the resonance with will. My will is what controlled my power, and so, with focus, I learned how to interpret the will within the words of others using it. Of course, it went both ways. Very convenient.

I sparsely threw in some questions to try to get a sense of what this world was like, but as it turned out, the driver was pretty keen on telling me everything I needed to know regardless. He mostly rambled on about his life and his work, but he occasionally said some interesting stuff.

I was in the kingdom of Stonewall, named after the range of mountains surrounding the continent. The kingdom was currently in the throes of a war with the former hero of Stonewall. Previously a great and powerful general, he had now led a quarter of the kingdom’s troops to rebel against the throne.

He talked into the night until falling asleep in the back of his carriage. I sat in front of the fading fire, smoking a cigarette. Fucking Kenji had taken the liberty of using a third of the space in my bag to pack in a carton. Who needs water, right?

Still, it was a pleasant moment of respite. The cool night air and starry sky was familiar and comforting. That was, at least, until the distant sound of crackling underbrush tore through the calm silence of the night.

I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, remaining alert. Through the bushes and trees, a figure emerged. And then another. And another. Three strange beasts, with black fur and beady eyes flanked the cart from the left. They looked vaguely wolf-like, but were twice the size of any I’d seen on earth. The driver emerged from the back of the cart, roused by the barking and snarling that had started as soon as they noticed me.

One more step.

I tightened my grip and started to gather power in my calves and ankles. Then, evenly throughout my fingers and upper arm.

Just take one more step.

The wolves approached. Bad choice.

Instantly, I made my move. I didn’t know the strength of anything in this world, really, so I had to be fast and decisive. If my sword was too brittle or my strength was too meager, and I couldn’t hurt them, I needed to be able to quickly retreat past them and into the woods.

I exploded off of the ground, the power in my legs dispersing and quickly gathering back. I traveled about twenty feet within a fraction of a second. I twisted my body in the air, slicing downwards at the furthest wolf’s neck. My sword cut cleanly through its flesh, sending its head straight towards the ground.

Good.

I stopped myself, boring divots into the ground, turning towards the other wolves.

I lunged again, weaving between the other two wolves. Before the first one’s body had even hit the ground, the other two were dead. I resheathed my sword and walked towards the driver.

“It’s over. Go to sleep.”

I walked back over to the glowing coals of what had been our fire, sat down, and lit another cigarette.