Eric Faust is the name, and I'm regular soldier for the Human Federation. Being a soldier is different than I expected. Maybe its because times have changed. First, let me tell you why I wanted to be a soldier. First of all, almost all boys wanted to be strong fighters, to help the weak and the needy, alright, maybe thats just me.

You see, I grew up poor, I was an orphan, I really didnt know who my parents were, the orphanage told me that someone just left me at their doorsteps. I would get bullied a lot by the older children around my area. I would see those bullies bully other children after they beat the living crap out of me, I would just lay there not being able to do anything.

Its not like I have a strong sense of justice, its just that I really don't like seeing the weak getting oppressed by the strong. So as I grew up, I would practice with my wooden sword, which I crapily made of course.

I just didnt practice my wooden sword, I would do chores around the orphanage so that they wouldn't kick me out, I had to make my self useful, I would do odd jobs around the neighborhood.

At around the age of ten, Science and technology made a breakthrough, they found a plant that is pretty similar to Earth. At the age of 12, Scientists managed to recreate the Earths atmosphere on different planets, allowing other planets to sustain life. With the abundance of resources, there was no need for war, At the age of 16, Earth was now united, and we called ourselves the Human Empire.

At age 18, I was finally old enough to join the army, to fight the rotten human beings, to uphold justice. I left the orphanage and was headed towards the local recruiter. Carrying all my belongings in one big duffel bag, and my handy wooden sword at my side, I enlisted for the army.

The army trained me for 2 years, during those 2 years were hell. As I grew up, I did daily exercises which included, jogging, for miles, push ups, pulls ups and sit ups. Also I can't forget about processing my swordplay, I always dreamt to be a samurai like guy, but more on that later.

As I was saying, physical training wasn't hard, but the social aspect of training camp was hell, everybody thought I was a dumbass for carrying a sword, a wooden sword to be more precise. See, as I enlisted, Human technology has advanced enough that normal soldiers would be using laser guns, no one in the right mind would bring a sword to a laser gun fight.

So I was shunned by my fellow soldiers, I was only average on the tactical and educational stuff. But I did excel at physical training.

I graduated training camp after 2 years, which is the bare minimum, and most people do graduate after 2 years, so I was nothing special. I graduated at the age of 20. I was excited, to finally be put out in the field. I didnt take into account that with the abundance of resources, poverty was pretty much nonexistent, almost everyone in the world was satisfied with their lives. Along with my fellow graduates, we had nothing to do but patrol areas, we pretty much were pretty much policemen.

6 years have passed, In those 6 years, I did the same thing over and over again, do my morning exercise, practice my swordplay, and start my job as a soldier. My job was pretty to do whatever I wanted, there was literally nothing going on. So in those 6 years, I decided to run around and look for people that need help. Not in fighting bad people, but helping them tackle everyday hurdles, like carrying groceries, constructing new buildings. I know it doesnt sound like what a soldier would do, but at least I'm doing something.

Which brings us to today, I woke up and did everything the same as always. But this time, something was different, a nearby nuclear reactor had exploded, the cause unknown.

I rushed over to the site, all I could see is the reactor plant on fire, nearby houses and vegetation are being engulfed in flames. In the sea of flames, I could see people dying, burning alive. I rushed inside the area and see if I could save people. I wasn't alone, other soldiers like me who swore to put our lives in danger in order to save others, were with me. We rushed inside the building saving who we can.

My heart was thumping very fast, I could hear my own heartbeat as I was carrying a man towards the safe zone. I don't know how many hours had passed, but another explosion made me look towards the general area of explosion. For me, everything went silent. I stood still for a couple of seconds until I heard a faint cry in the distance. I focused my eye from where the explosion came from. I see a small silhouette amongst the sea of flames, it was a child! I rushed over hoping to get there on time.

I managed to reach the little girl, she almost burned alive, but I covered her in my jacket which immediately killed the flames that were engulfing here. I carried the little girl princess style which my jacket covering her. I ran outside of the house carrying her with me, I took her to the nearby ambulance, she motioned her hands, as if telling me she wants to say something. I leaned in and she whispered "my brother, he is still inside, please save my brother."

As i heard those words, I immediately ran left the little girl and started to run towards the burning house, inside I scoured the entire first floor, but there was no child. I went up to the second floor, and there in a room, I saw a small body slowly being eaten by the flames. The boy was already dead, there was nothing I could do.

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

I started crying upon seeing the body being engulfed in flames. I laughed to said out loud "Eric Faust, you wanted something more exciting, now you got it" I sat down on the burning floor, with no chance of survival, I accepted my fate. My only regret was that I wasn't able to save the little boy.

I woke up in a vast space covered in white. I was sure I was dead, as I was looking around, I noticed a humanoid figure just sitting there, I couldn't see his face though, All I could see is the person wearing pure white robes. His face was being illuminated by some shining aura.

"Hello there Eric Faust" The white robed guy got up and said.

"Where am I? I'm pretty sure I died" I asked

"Well you did die."

"Then does this mean this is heaven?" I asked once more looking around.

"No, heaven is better than this blank space" The guy said in an amusing tone

"Wait, are you God?!" I asked in surprise

"Yes I am, and this is purgatory, If you want, I can take you to heaven, or I can maybe give you something better."

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, just checking to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Then God started laughing and said "This is real my boy, I can take you to heaven, or give you a different life, a life full of excitement, a life full of sadness, of happiness, a life that will be full of hardships, and a life that you may or may not have imagined."

"Before I make my decision, why me?" I asked while pondering why he chose me of all people.

"Well, first of all, I watched you from afar, you helped people out of good will, not many humans do that nowadays, and your soul is pure. Second of all, I'm bored, I want to see how you progress in a life that you want, a life full of adventure and excitement."

" I see, but even if you give me a new life, Its pretty boring down thereon Earth."

"But I won't be sending you to Earth, I was actually surprised on how well the Earth managed, I was pretty sure the human race would tear each other apart."

"Wait, how come you don't know how the human race would turn out?" I asked with my mouth open, I was sure God should be all knowing and things like that.

"Well I could see everything in the past and the present, but the future is tricky, there Is a unlimited number of time streams that contain the future, a majority of those time streams end with the human race pretty killing themselves in the fight for resources."

"I see, so where will you send me?" I asked again in a curious tone.

"A few decades ago, I already assumed that Earth would pretty much just die, So I made a different planet, in a different universe. The place is called Newerth."

With the snap of a finger, our surroundings changed, I was floating in space, and beside me, God, still shining bright.

In front of me was a planet that looks like earth, but it looks bigger, it seems like its 4x bigger than earth.

"Is this Newerth?" I asked God with my eyes brining with astonishment

"It sure is, in this planet, you'll see many different things, many different creatures, its a fantasy world filled with magic, with different races, different monsters and all sorts of things that you could only imagine on your time on Earth."

"Whats the catch?" I asked before saying anything else

"Nothing, Im just watch you from the heavens, so, will you take upon having a new life, or will you go to heaven with me?" God asked with a visible smile

I pondered for a while, and finally, I decided to choose to live a new and exciting life.

"I choose to be reborn into Newerth."

"Good good! before I send you off, ill give you a present, ill let you choose your element affiliation."

"Element affilation?" I don't know what those are, but he did say something about magic

"Yes, all living things in Newerth have an element affiliation, it just means that ill let you choose on what element you want to be most accustomed to, it breaks down to these elements, Fire, Rock, Water, Wind, Ice, Lightning, Nature, Light and finally darkness."

I thought long and hard, and I finally decided to go with wind, since I already had a general idea on what I would become.

"I choose the wind"

"Hohohoho good choice, before I send you off, ill tell you this, everything that will happen to you will be not my doing. So don't blame things onto me. If tragedy will befall upon you, then that is how it is supposed to be. I may have the power to change things, but I will not, where the fun in that?"

I nod and fully understand, I dare not say anything unnecessary in front of God who can create universes from nothing.

"Also, in Newerth, people worship lesser gods that watch over newerth, I'm sure you will learn about them as you grow up, now go ahead and have fun in your new life"

"Thank you very much" As I said those words, the world around me turned dark, and in front of me was a bright light slowly engulfing me.

I am now ready to take on this new world! Ready or not. Newerth, here I come!