Chapter 1

The End

A proper telling of my Legend must start with my original self. I will easily admit, I would rather skip it, and I fully plan on going light on the details.

Angela Reid did not live a happy or fulfilling life. She went nowhere, did nothing special, and died of cancer after suffering alone in a hospital bed, at the age of 56. That is all I want to say about that life. It is how that life felt to her.

I will say more though, I feel I have to.

Angela was a woman who lived a life striving to get away from one event that the rest of the world used to define her. A childhood trauma that simply could not be left behind. I know she would prefer that I avoid any specific mention of it, though it will likely come up later anyway.

Over the years she sought many different methods of escape. Some that were healthier than others.

Her favorite method turned out to be fantasy.

She read stories and played games about worlds more fantastical than her own. She dreamed of magic, and adventure. She dreamed of monsters to slay, and the easily discerned fight between good and evil.

I've lived that life now, and I gotta say, she had no damn clue what she really wanted. She wouldn't have lasted five minutes.

She may have died alone but she had plenty of friends over the years, they bonded over their shared love of swords and sorcery. They went to conventions together, and egged each other on to create more and more elaborate outfits portraying their favorite characters. Those times were the happiest she ever was.

Then she got sick, her friends were very supportive. They came to visit her in the hospital every week. Until she stopped being able to have conversations with them. After that, they came less and less. She held on for longer than anyone expected, no matter how bad she felt, she didn't want to let go. When she finally released her stranglehold on what remained of her life is when her memories became what I feel are my own.

I remember fading away, expecting to pass into nothingness. I was stunned when I flowed down a path toward a light. I was beyond stunned when that light turned out to be a fluorescent bulb in a small office.

I ended up laughing quite uncontrollably while looking around at the fake plants, the inspirational kitten poster on the wall, and the low quality fake leather office chairs.

The lady standing behind the particle board desk was wearing what struck me as the silliest librarian glasses. The stern appearance that I'm sure she was aiming for with her tight bun, and buttoned up suit, was utterly ruined by the wide eyed shock on her face at my riotous laughter.

I took a moment trying and failing to get my impulse to laugh under control. A meeting with an office worker after death, it was like I walked straight into a comedy. Of all the depictions of the afterlife I had ever seen or heard of, one involving paperwork would have been my vote for least likely. Meanwhile the woman composed herself, smoothed her suit, and sat down. She was very obviously calmly waiting for me to get my shit together. Eventually, after a few false stops I laughed myself out.

"Well, Miss Reid, I believe that is the first time someone has laughed at death in my office." She smiled softly at me. "I'm sure this must be a rather large shock for you, please have a seat."

"Angela, please, Mrs Reid is my mother." I said reflexively as I sat down. "So is this what it is?" I gestured around me. "Death, I expected either nothing, or a whole lot more."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Angela, I go by Marilyn." She sighed before smiling brightly "And now we have entered familiar territory! To answer your question, no, this room is only for those who I decide to extend an offer to. It will just take a moment of your time to hear me out, if you decline I will simply send you on to whatever is waiting for you."

"What is it? Waiting for me I mean." I looked at her with great interest.

"Oh Angela dear, I can't tell you, I keep both feet planted very firmly on this side of the veil." Marilyn looked at me, seeing the disappointment in my eyes. "I can say I have some ideas, it could be anything, I'm reasonably certain that the souls of the dead go somewhere. I personally think they are destined to be recycled, stripped of identity, and sent back to live new lives."

"That… sounds like it's functionally the same as becoming nothing." I frowned looking at the woman behind the desk. "What are you offering?"

Marilyn put her hands on her desk, and sat up straight. "There are many worlds beyond Earth, and most of them are in the care of a god, or gods. They sometimes call for outside help, looking for people to fill roles, or do simple tasks on their worlds. Generally it isn't to save the world, they can handle that easily enough on their own. Just jobs that would require more attention than it's worth it for a deity to commit. For example, I just facilitated a contract with a soul to be incarnated as a talented stone mage with the goal to maintain a specific set of roads for the duration of that life."

She tapped a finger on her desk while watching my face like she was trying to read my mind. "The pay for these simple contracts is the incarnation itself most of the time, another life to live is valuable after all. These incarnations will be created to suit both your wishes, and the mission at hand. They do sweeten the pot sometimes though." She smiled at me, her eyes sparkling.

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"I'm looking to hire for one such contract. If you accept me as your agent, I can get you a new life with multiple boons!" Marilyn leaned forward with an expression of intense excitement. "One of them is even a soul level boon! That means you'll have it forever! And trust me those things don't grow on trees!" She sat back and looked at me expectantly.

I was taking the offer, I was set on agreeing to whatever the offer was before she even started speaking. Even if it was a horrible deal, I figured continued existence was better than erasure. The minute she mentioned the talented stone mage though, I was beyond all in. Magic! I could have a new life as a mage. There was no way this was going to end with anything other than me agreeing with any demand. Inside, I was practically mentally vibrating to the tune of YES YES YES! When I opened my mouth however, I spoke in a calm voice. "Um, well I think I understood at least part of that, boons in fiction are usually pretty nice powers and such. From how you talk about them, that's what they are, right? So… what's the catch?"

"The catch.. Well, this contract is being offered exclusively to new souls. The goddess states that they want someone who is still connected to their origin life, the feelings associated with mortal life often fade with too many incarnations." She sat back in her chair watching my reaction.

"So," I said, with a smirk, "she wants to avoid people who are likely to go all murderhobo. I can handle that. There is more though, right?"

"Murder… hobo…" she said slowly, looking slightly amused. "What a delightfully colorful term."

She paused for a moment, as if contemplating her pitch. "There definitely is more, please know that you would be informed of this before you actually signed any contract. I do take care of my clients. 'The right soul for the right place, leaves everyone happy.' Is my motto. In this case, you were brought here very specifically because a rather complex piece of magic judged that you would be likely to accept."

"The reason most new souls would be a bad fit is because the vast majority of viable new souls are human. Souls generally are most comfortable incarnating into something as close to their origin as possible. This contract involves living a life as something called a spirit beast. They are often viewed as, to put it nicely, upjumped animals, or monsters."

Marilyn paused, frowning before moving on. "They are sapient, but often extremely hostile to the other races, mostly because they are frequently hunted. Their bodies can be used to create all sorts of valuable things. Part of what makes them what they are, and one of the reasons they are so rabidly hunted is a core they develop somewhere in their body that contains mana. The type of mana, how it's fueled, and how it affects their lives varies greatly."

The agent looked off into space, it seemed like she was verifying something, because she shook her head ruefully before moving on. "The goddess who wrote out this contract left the details on exactly what sort of beast you'll find yourself living as out of the request. It is likely that she intends for the choice to be made upon your incarnation."

Marilyn looked me straight in the eyes. "Most people would reject that body on a level so deep, it would prevent the incarnation. But not, I believe, you"

"Yeah.. "I said, as I thought about living that kind of life. If the prospect of having magic was exciting, actually being magic sounded amazing! Even if it came with some baggage. "Actually that sounds fun? I kind of hated everything about my life before, I wouldn't mind if I was never human again."

The devilish woman in the suit across from me smiled widely "oh, that can easily be arranged, my dear there's always folks looking for someone to fill odd kinds of incarnations. Well, I bet you won't ever have to wait long between lives with an attitude like that!"

"So, um.. can I ever live as a dragon? Dragons are… well I want that." I said eagerly, that life would be a dream come true.

"Not this time, for sure, and probably not for a very long time. But if you perform well enough on your contracts, I'm sure I'll be able to find a god willing to place you as one eventually." She said, with a stern look. "You are right that dragons are special, not many gods want to place something like them in their worlds."

I nodded, "So what will I need to actually do?"

"The job itself is fairly open ended, the goddess Belua wants you to work among her world's human population. You are meant to make as much of a name for yourself as you can. I believe she will likely label you as an adventurer in her iteration of the System, so you will have quite a lot of freedom of movement."

I'm fairly sure the woman saw how much I wanted to ask her a few questions about that, but she continued on. "Her stated goal is to promote peaceful cooperation between the sapient species of her world. I will not lie to you, it is likely not going to be an easy first job. It is in the nature of young sapient species to reject those different from themselves, and spirit beasts are very, very different."

Seeing her pause after that, I asked my burning question. "System? You mentioned a system, could you please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means."

She nodded at me "That is important to understand! The System is a tool created eons ago, by a god who I believe had an origin in a world and time so like yours it may as well have been the same place. He worked with a coalition of others to communicate their needs with Reality itself. The gods use the System to categorize and quantify their creations. It is used to facilitate the progression of societies towards their goals. In essence you can think of it as a magical artificial intelligence that is hooked into the fabric of reality. It guides all organisms on the planet. It helps by finding a place for them, and gifting them with a sort of instinctive knowledge of how to fill the role they are placed in. Success in their assigned roles is rewarded by a distribution of mana used to enhance their existence. Every sapient being can sense the level of success an individual has had, as a quantifiable number."

I put my head in my hands hearing the explanation, it was definitely what I thought she meant. "Okay so, that's a thing, I'm gonna be living in a damn game I guess."

"I see you are familiar enough with the concept, good, it will make things easier." She sat up straight, her eyes staring into space as she spoke "As a duly appointed agent of the System I hereby offer the soul in attendance a contract on behalf of the goddess Belua, to be incarnated in her connected world. To be returned to this place upon completion of contract. Rewards and conditions stipulated herein to be enforced by Reality itself."

I rocked backwards as information flooded into me about the exact specifications of what I was going to be agreeing to. In essence, in return the goddess supplying mana to the System, with my agreement, it would analyze me and place me where its algorithms determined I would best be able to accomplish the goal of integrating a new type of life into civilized society. The system would determine what boons I needed, and apply them to me when it created the body it thought would lead to the best outcome.

I felt something in my mind show me how to express my agreement, and I did. Everything went white.