CHAPTER 1: Truck-san

It is 5:08 in a small village a few miles away from the city. People are already starting to open their shops. Life is harsh in a third world country like this, not even mentioning that this place is not even a large village. You have to work hard if you don't want to starve. Working for 8 hours every day is not sufficient enough to feed a whole family if you are the only person who's working in the household. Most of the people have to have about 3 to 4 side-jobs. The stores are opening up in this early hour. People say 'the early bird catches the early worm'.

'Clink!'

One of the few convenience stores opened up. The place is a little old, like one of those stores in deserted places we see in the movies. Shelves packed with junk foods, a counter, a refrigerator. It doesn't have everything, only the necessary stuff is present. A few moments later, two young men who are doing their morning exercises stopped at the convenience store and bought a few snacks then sat at a table. The taller one stood up and bought his favorite chocolate that he has forgotten to buy earlier before he went back to sit.

"Hey Clint, how's the racket I lent you? Pretty decent right? I used that when I won gold last interschool tournament, it's a shame that I am unable to win this time around. Wanna buy it?" A guy in a grey tracksuit said to the person beside him.

"You know that I don't even have enough money for my tuition fees. How could I even pay for the racket? We've been friends for 12 years now James and you know my circumstances. Maybe I could just borrow it for a tournament or two?" Clint had his hands near James' chest as if begging him. James is a young man about 19 years old, the same age as Clint who's been his best friend since childhood. He's got some muscles in the right places as he is an athlete. He's pretty good at almost everything that he can be considered a genius. He is good at sports, music, arts, and studies. The only thing that's holding him back is the fact that he is one of those jacks-of-all-trades, master of none. He can easily pick up things but is unable to further his proficiency towards it. His abilities in sports, music, arts, and studies can be considered good yet cannot be deemed as something special. It's been like this since he was born. He's not even mastered his own style of laughing yet.

"I know man, it's just that I'm kinda low on the budget right now. I just can't live on cupped ramens, you know? We're athletes, we must protect our bodies. . ." James shrugged as he started stretching his ankles. He's still going to college and his house is a few kilometers away from school. There is no subway system or bus there. What's worse is that the two places are connected by a large body of water. Yes, both of them are islands which is why it is pretty hard to travel back and forth every day. He's got no other choice but to get rent a room.

"I know, man. But please . . . just this once?" Clint begged as he bowed his head to reach his toes starting his own warm-up routine. "If I win one tournament, I might be able to buy that thing."

"Well, that's my lucky charm, too. I just bought it for 75 dollars but I still think that its performance is way beyond the price. If you win first place you might be able to buy at least two of those." James added as he sat down and asked Clint to help him. "Hey Clint, help me straighten my legs . . . I'm gonna go and reach my toes." The racket is just some sort of imitation. Although it is not a genuine kind of racket it still is pretty good. Life is harsh in this village and people can only result in this.

"Yeah yeah. Wait up, I'll just finish the 16 counts for both shoulders." Clint stopped his routine for a moment to help James.

"I'll lend it to you for now I guess. I haven't had any gigs this past few weeks, I'm thinking of selling my 'Pearl' crash cymbals or maybe my 'Ibanez' acoustic guitar. I don't use them that much anyway." James said as he reached for his toes in a heaving tone. Although he is not rich, he still has some sort of income. He plays in bars at night and some gigs in some sort of celebration in the city.

After doing their own warm-up routines, they started jogging when Clint stopped for a while to do his shoelaces. When James is about to walk across the road, a speeding delivery truck who is rushing for his quota ran him over. In a split second, he was hit by the truck. Not even an inch of his body was spared.

'Oh damn. Was that a dog or something?' The driver who's just gotten sober had his face marked with horror.

"Oh man. . . Sorry boy, I don't wanna go to jail. I wanna preserve my purity. I'm a man after all. Hope you find happiness in the afterlife..." The man gasped for air before stepping at the pedal again.

Too nervous that he might be taken by the police, the driver sped up leaving the body smashed into pieces. In this small village, it would be too hard for the police to investigate due to the lack of personnel and add up the fact that it is still pretty dark outside.

Clint rose up and saw the bloody mess, which is the body of his best friend. Clint prayed for the soul of his friend before shouting for help.

'Oh, was it truck-san? Not bad, brother. You might just reincarnate. It's a win-win for both of us. I get the racket for free, you get to be reincarnated. Hope goddess-sama won't be too harsh on you.' Clint thought to himself as he called for James' family. Blue and red lights flashing as the police and ambulance arrived at the scene. The police station and hospital are just a few blocks away from the convenience store. It was a small village after all.

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. . . .

In another dimension, a family of three is running away from a group of masked men. Their masks are kind of cute to look at. Some of them are bunnies, cats, bees, fishes, and all sorts of animals. One even has an anime girl's face with pink hair. I don't know where they'd get that but it's kinda hilarious to look at considering they wear a pitch-black ninja suit.

"Grayson . . . I don't think we can run away from these thugs. You go and stall for time. I'll hide Priston away. I'll come back after." The lady in red holding a child told the man he was running with.

"Okay. But be careful and be quick. I don't think I can defeat these guys even though their power can only be considered as minuscule, they're just too many. But, I can last for about 20-30 minutes. Find our son a good spot and come back quickly. My hammer's power can only hold out for that much."

He swung the heavy hammer. A heavy gust of wind struck the pursuers, leaving some of them decapitated. He turned to distract the guys and then looked towards his wife, his eyes resolute hinting a little bit of nervousness.

"I will, please wait for me, Grayson. I promise."

Her eyes were full of regret. She knows that with this much pursuers, they won't be able to leave the place alive.

"Yes Freda, I'll hold out. I can't die just yet."

Freda flew past the forest while Grayson is blocking the way of the masked men. A guy with a duck mask made it past Grayson and threw a rubber ducky towards Freda. It did not hit her but it caused an explosion. That yellow rubber ducky is actually some kind of grenade. Freda, caught by the explosion, had her legs bleeding heavily. She endured it and moved like nothing important happened. After seeing the scene, Grayson teleported and smacked the duck masked guy in the back of his head. The hammer's speed has exceeded the speed of sound thus creating a shockwave. The hammer's head has a massive diameter of 10 inches which is definitely bigger than the head of the duck masked guy. The masked guy, hit with a massive force, was sent flying away from the direction where Freda is heading.

Freda arrived at a village. "Eyes of Revealing Light!" She cast a magic spell that enables her to see through walls as she surveyed the place. She saw a family eating inside their house. She barged in and instructed the lady to watch out for her son. She gave her 1000 gold coins which are enough for one to build a large house outside the empire's walls. She took the money and greeted Freda with a large smile. Freda went and kissed her son's forehead and bid him goodbye. She knew that this would be the last time that she'd be able to see her child.

'O Priston my son. May the great spirits guide you to be a strong man. May the great spirits give you a good bloodline. May the great spirits help you grow up and stay you away from harm. O Priston. Your mother and father have greatly inflicted you. We are sorry. Please grow up and be strong.'

"This child is my son ma'am. His name is Priston. I hope that you take good care of him. This is another 1000 gold coins. This is for him. I'll leave a spell to this pouch and he will only be the one who can take those gold coins out. Without his willingness, the gold coins will never come out of it. It is not that I do not trust you but this is for the safety of my son."

"My name is Celia. I understand I will take great care of your son. This money will be enough for us to live for a long time without worrying about food. I appreciate your kindness. May I know her Excellency's name?" Celia bowed her head as if she is talking to the Queen.

"My name is not important. We have a lot of pursuers right now. I believe that with you here, my son will be spared. I am going now. I cannot waste any more time." Freda went her way out of the house as she glanced a look at her son and ran back to where Grayson is fighting against the masked assassins.

. . . .

"You cannot run anymore. Your wife has already deserted you. There is no point in fighting back anymore." A guy with a goldfish mask said as he threw a water ball spell towards Grayson.

Grayson kept his mouth shut as he swung his hammer towards the incoming water ball. The assassins bombarded him with spells and weapons nonstop for the past 10 to 15 minutes.

"You talk too much. Assassins are this lousy nowadays?"

His defense can no longer hold out against such a barrage of long-ranged attacks. Such minuscule attacks may seem too gentle for him if it was a one on one fight but against this many opponents, his defense can only crumble and fall.

"Rrroooooaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Grayson shouted as he swung his hammer at full strength. The aura infused in the attack caused the surroundings to tremble. Even the assassins cannot do anything but bow down at the might of such an attack. The aura turned into a red semitransparent giant ox and rammed towards the enemy. Half of the assassination team was afflicted by the attack and about 10 people have died.

Blood gushed from his body. That was all the force that he can manage to let out. He knew that he cannot escape his fate any further. A few breaths later, Freda appeared. She saw the state of her husband and shed a tear.

'We cannot escape our fates anymore. We can only die to let our son live. Even with our strength, we are still such pitiful creatures.'

Freda took out the staff from her dimensional pouch. It is a legendary grade artifact called 'Blue Mist Divine Staff'. This legendary grade artifact was crafted through the efforts of both of them. This is the sole reason why they are being pursued by this group of assassins. A certain noble from another kingdom has set his eyes on the staff and sent a large group of assassins to take away the artifact. It can be said that it is one of the finest artifacts that is created by human hands. It is considered priceless by some collectors.

Seeing his husband knocking at hell's doors, she chanted a spell. A very powerful spell that can easily destroy everything within a 100-meter radius. This is a suicidal spell that is graded as a legendary spell called 'Starfall '. A very powerful spell that is rarely seen on a normal battlefield. It is only used by those magicians who've lost hope as it also afflicts the caster as well. If Freda is in her top shape she might be able to pull off this spell with just having some minor injuries through stacking large amounts of defensive spells to herself but right now she has already drained all of her magic power.

The heavens dimmed for a few seconds then began to illuminate as countless 'stars ' fell from the sky.

"Sheeeeeeeeehhhhhh!"

"Bbboooooooom!"

"Bbboooooooom!"

After a series of deafening attacks, everything went into silence. Every single assassin has died and the attack caused half of the entire forest to be burned into ashes. There is no trace of Freda and Grayson anymore. Even the legendary artifact 'Blue Mist Divine Staff' is gone. All burnt into ashes. Such terrifying power. If a few of this spell appears on the battlefield, there'd be no battlefield anymore. Everything will be gone. Not even a speck of flesh and blood will remain. Everything will return back into dust just as it was in the beginning. Silence enveloped the land. No mourning, no anger, no happiness nor any bloodbath that occurred. Only silence.