Trinary moons hang in the air illuminating the surroundings. A lone mud house sits at the top of the hill. At the base of the hill is a small village.
In the center is a larger wooden house, it is surrounded by a few smaller houses set up in a grid-like pattern. The houses in the village are mostly made of mud with only a few being made of wood. To the right and back of the town is a forest with a few felled trees, indicating the town is still under construction. To the left of the village is a river, it would take a few hours to cross by boat. The space below is wide enough for a large village to develop, but as of now its still in the beginning stages.
Without climbing this hill, crossing the river, or traversing the forest it would be impossible to get to the village.
As he stands in the entrance of the hut, his body is illuminated by the moons. Looking at his body he notices that he's no longer covered in bruises, causing a smile form on his face “The flames of resurrection really live up to their name, they must have healed while I was passed out.” the main reason he wanted that devil fruit ability was for those healing flames.
Looking around for a moment Marco begins to frown.
“Was I some sort of scout? Why am I the only one up here?” frowning he walks to the back of the hut. The hill is fairly flat on top, almost like a plateau. The ground is upturn in a few places and footprints litter the ground.
“Was there some sort of large gathering here? Or maybe a battle?” walking further he arrives at the other side of the hill, altogether it's about a quarter mile across. Looking down he sees the forest and river continue to run on this side as well. He can't tell what's on the other side of the forest because it stretches as far as the eye can see, but he can see the other side of the river. The other side is filled with mountains and small patches of trees scattered about. As the mountains block his line of vision, he can't tell what's on the other side. Between the forest and river on this side is a grassland. It stretches on for miles and is covered in smaller hills. Looking closer one can see herds of animals slowly moving about.
After looking around for a bit Marco turns to walk back to the mud hut. “What is this place? Why is it in the middle of nowhere?”
As he gets ready to move, he feels a strange sensation on the right side of his chest. Not a painful feeling but more like the spreading of warmth, a pleasant feeling.
Unsure of what the feeling is, he begins to walk back. “I guess answers will have to wait till tomorrow”
As he walks back not only does the feeling not go away but becomes stronger. Confused he rushes back to the hut.
Sitting down on the straw, he places his hand over his chest. “There is no discomfort, so I guess its ok?” reaching down he grabs a handful of dirt. Using both hands he smears it on his face before using his shirt to wipe it away, to remove the blood tears.
Laying down, he closes his eyes and begins thinking about what to do tomorrow. As the warm feeling is so pleasant he unknowingly falls asleep.
“126 hey! Wake up 126!”
Startled, Marco quickly sits up. Looking around confused for a moment, he has no idea when he went to sleep. He hears the voice again causing him to stand up.
“Fuck man are you alive or not!?”
Furrowing his brows, he opens the door. Standing outside is a thin middle-aged man with brown hair, his nose looks like it's been broken a few times and his face is covered in patches of hair. The man is dressed in similar rags as himself.
“So you're up, good. It's time to swi-” seeing Marco the man is stunned into silence for a moment. His face contorts as he looks at him strangely “Fuck! Man! How do you look better after taking that beating yesterday?!?”
Confused, Marco looks at his own body causing his eyebrows jump. Yesterday he looked to be so malnourished, the wind could probably blow him over. Even though the flames healed him, he was still deathly thin. But now even though he is still thin you can no longer see his bones, no longer on death's door. Gripping his fist he notices he has more power than yesterday.
“Is this my devil fruit augmenting my body?” He mumbles to himself.
Seeing that he is just as confusing as himself, he drops it. “Well, not that it matters. It's time to switch shifts, you're on logging duty today.”
“Logging duty?”
“Tsk” the man clicks his tongue “Guess you were hit pretty hard. Go to town and report to 37, you're cutting trees today"
“Right, 37" nodding his head he walks past the man. As he moves downhill he glances back to see the man climbing on top of the hut.
“I guess it is some kind of watch post" as he moves downhill he sees more and more people moving about.
Arriving at the outskirts he begins to hear voices.
“Common move it! We gotta turn at least three of these mud houses into wood by the end of the day!”
“You four, go move that log over for processing”
“Where you want these planks boss?”
People mill about moving logs and planks. Some are giving orders and some seem to be the labor force, but all of them are dressed the same. Not knowing what to do he walks up to one of the men moving about.
“Hey, you know where 37 is?”
The man stops and looks at Marco for a moment. “Fuck! 126 you're alive! Haha, great man good job. 37 is by the treeline” with a satisfied smile the man walks away.
“Strange" shaking his head he moves towards the treeline. As he walks past people, some pat him on the shoulder with a strange smile, and some thank him for being alive. Bewildered, he finally leaves the housing area.
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In the distance, he sees a group of people cutting trees with a single man overseeing the workers.
Walking towards the man Marco pauses for a moment “37?”
Turning only his head to look back “126 you're late, grab an ax and get to work, not like it matters for you anyway” shaking his head he looks back towards the other men.
Walking towards the axes lying on the ground, the look on his face is horrible. “What's with everyone's strange attitude, what's even going on here?” grabbing an ax he walks towards the trees.
*Tak taktak tak* the rhythmic sounds of axes striking wood enters his ears. Walking up to a tree he swings his ax.
Looking around he sees a person close to him. A young man of around 24-27 years old. He has short red hair and a face full of freckles, his nose is rather long and he has thick lips. His thin appearance makes him look like a birdman, tall and lanky with a huge beak.
“Hey, do you know why people are treating me so strangely”
“Ye don't sey’” a strong accent, that can only be described as country leaves his mouth “Why de fuck peoples won't be glad to see ya? As long as you're not dead, you will take da beating for us!”
Hearing his words it's like all the gears finally click in place. The reason this person was dead, the wound on the back of his head, the bruises that covered his body, and the reason people showed him looks of gratitude and pity.
“Why am I the one getting beaten?” confused, he asks the man.
“Because of ye face! We be fucking soul slaves, and ye dare look better than da Master?”
Soul slaves? Panic flashes through his eyes for a moment before realizing his soul is different from the previous owner of this body, so he should be ok.
“Why doesn't he just ruin my face then?” remember no pain came from his face he asks the man.
“Fuck like I know how dem cultivators think"
“Cultivator? The master is a cultivator?”
The man shakes his head “It musta been pretty bad yesterday huh? He hit yer head? Scramble yer brains?” ignoring Marco's question, he continues to chop the tree.
Seeing that he no longer wants to talk, he moves towards a different tree and begins to swing his ax.
“Why can I understand the language? Is it like people with amnesia, while they have no memories they can still speak and use bodily functions? I can only assume it's leftover functions from this bodies brain.”
Chopping the tree he begins to space out.
“What do I want to do here?” as he chops, he begins to ponder “The basic instinct of humans is to reproduce and survive” with the continued swinging the warm feeling in his chest returns and begins to spread throughout his body.
A strange light flashes through his eyes as he chops the wood faster. The more he moves, the stronger the feeling gets.
“It first appeared yesterday after walking for a while, so is it physical activity that triggers it?” relishing in the refreshing feeling, he continues to chop. After a few minutes, he notices that not only is he not tired, but he feels a little better than when he started.
“This shouldn't be Qi, as I can't use my Sharingan. But it seems to be strengthening my body"
Marco abruptly stops swinging the ax. “If I have all these gifts, it would be a crime not to use them.” he gently closes his eyes and thinks about all the anime, manga, and light novels Patrick has read.
After a few seconds his eyes open “Its decided. I will build the Uchiha clan once more in this world, something Sasuke refused to do.” gripping the ax tighter a smile forms on his face.
Without goals, people wander aimlessly through life. But when one has a goal they have something to work for, power without ambition means nothing. Those who seek strength for the sake of being powerful never have a good life, always ending up alone and isolated. So he shall build something for himself with his own hands.
As Marco is lost in thought a man walks next to him. “126, it's time. The master wants to see you"
Looking back at the man the smile is still present on his face. “Yes, It's time”
Dropping the ax he follows the man. As they walk people stare at him, nodding their head in his direction. After walking for awhile they arrive at the large wooden house in the center.
The man steps to the side, holding out his hand. “Good luck man"
Nodding towards the man, he walks to the door. Twisting the knob, he walks inside.
As he enters the room a strong smell of cider hits his nose. The hallway is simply decorated. Some sort of stone is fixed into the walls providing light. A strange animal fur lies on the ground, the fur looks like some sort of big cat combined with a boar due to its snout and tusk.
Walking into the hall he closes the front door. “Hello?”
“In here, slave" a raspy voice comes from behind one of the doors.
Walking to the door he takes a breath. “This is where my journey begins or ends" pushing open the door, he walks inside.
A young man stands in the center of the room with his hands behind his back. The room is a simple square, in one corner is a desk and chair, the walls are lined with bookshelves filled with stones, animal bones, and a few books.
The young man looks to be around 18-20 years old. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, but his face is average. His eyebrows look unkempt and one of his eyes are slightly larger than the other. He's dressed in a long black robe with gold embroidery.
Seeing Marco walk in a strange look appears on his face, a smile so creepy kids would cry.
“127 I see you are alive hehe" he begins to stride over to Marco, stopping three feet in front of him, he begins to breathe heavily. “Do you know your mistake?!” a crazed look flashes through his eyes.
“Before I came here I was worried. Worried if I could follow through with my plan. But I'm glad you are the first cultivator I’ve met. Thank you for making this easy.”
“What are you talking about!?!” erupting in fury spit flies out of his mouth “How DARE you talk back to me!” veins begin to appear in his eyes “ON YOUR KNEES!!” pointing at the ground he yells as he takes a step forward.
Bending his knees his arms drape forward. Crossing his arms as he bends down, a smile forms on his face. A light flashes through his eyes as he springs forward.
Seeing Marco's actions the man sneers while throwing out a palm strike.
“Haa!” Marco swings up his arm, as they travel they erupt in blue flames. In the middle of the swing, his arms transform into large blue fiery wings. The increase in reach catches the man off guard blasting him against the wall.
Flapping his wings back down causes them to propel him forward. Kicking out his right leg it erupts in blue flame, transforming into the talon of a Phoenix.
As the man's back slams against the wall, before he even gets a chance to fall, a talon grips his neck, slicing into his throat.
“Die!” with his talons gripping flesh he flaps his wings to propel him backward, ripping out the man's throat.
Shocked, the man tries to stop the blood from flowing out of his throat with his hand. His eyes go wide as he begins to panic. Using his other hand he reaches into the bag around his waist.
Not giving him a chance to act, Marco steps forward sending out a series of kicks as fast as he can into the man's chest. When he pulls his leg back it brings chunks of flesh with it. Using his sharp talons he is able to mangle the man's chest.
After a few seconds, the man succumbs to his wounds and slumps to the ground.
Seeing the man fall, he finally stops and the transformation reverts “The Tori Tori no Mi Model: Phoenix is mainly for utility and not meant for attack, but I guess its ok on weaker targets.” looking down at the corpse, blood gushes out of the body and the smell of is causes a sick feeling to overwhelm him. Turning his head he vomits.
“Uhhh" wiping his mouth he looks at the corpse again. “I'm glad I was right. Judging by the wounds, I assumed he was weak, but he still managed to kill 127 so I was unsure.”
Taking a breath he looks around the room. As his eyes land on the books, they light up. Walking over he grabs one off the shelf.
“Introduction to Demonic beast" nodding he grabs another book “The levels of Cultivation” smiling he grabs the last book “What are treasures? And how do you make them?” walking over he sets the books on the table.
“No cultivation techniques? Just normal books? If I can activate my Sharingan I'll be a lot safer.” dissatisfied he looks around the room again before his eyes land on the bag on the man's waist.
“Is that the legendary bag of holdings?”