A/N: Back, back, back with another chapter. I'm surprised that the prologue already received 2000 views, seems like the audience migrated from my another fiction. I'm trying to find the tone of the story, and I think this chapter came out beautifully. I played on my cliches as well. What do you think? Thanks, and enjoy the read.

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I drag my feet against the concrete sidewalk as I hold the straps of my backpack. I stretch my head as I look upwards at the dark grey clouds, which are steadily floating by. It seems that a thunderstorm will soon begin, so I need to hurry if I don’t want to be caught dripping wet. I sigh as I increase my pace just so slightly, from a snail’s pace to a turtle’s.

When did all this begin? I do not know. For some reason, the world seems to have been coloured in tones of grey for several years already. It’s as if life has been sucked out of everything, and all that’s left is this dull and monotone colour. Of course, I don’t mean literally. I’m not colorblind, or at least, not yet.

I’m talking about the boredom of living in a modern world. People would probably hear my words and exclaim, “Are you crazy? The standard of living is higher than it has ever been!” Perhaps that is true, but what is the point? Where’s the excitement of living in this society?

Society expects you to go to school, learn, and then find a job, preferably a high paying one. Then, you proceed to repeat the same, boring task over and over until you die of old age. Boring… boring, boring, and once again, boring! When I was a kid, I was new to this world, and I discovered new things. I got to explore and dream of grand adventures, of heroic displays, of courageous acts. But now that I’m grown up, I have no more new things left to discover, left as a washed out shell with no ambitions and no hope.

Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I am Leon Strauss, a second generation immigrant born from a marriage between two German parents. I’m a third year university student who’s studying chemical engineering. Though, ‘study’ is a term that I use very loosely, considering that I don’t even go to classes. I already know everything there is to know about it anyways.

I wonder why I was born into this world – into this era. We humans have already become disconnected from the feeling of danger. Back in the Middle Ages – in that war torn era – people had to live with fleeting thoughts of death daily. Even during the peaceful times, peasants had to live with a heavy heart, not knowing whether the harvest that year would be successful or not. Nowadays, everything is given to us, from food to luxurious items, as long as we have the money for it.

Even the face of war has changed from a traditional view to a more modern one. Ancient warfare was all about courage and might. If one was skilled, he lived to tell the tale. If you fought valiantly like a certain Spartan, your name will go down in history as the name of a hero. Modern warfare is about technological advantage instead. One can be located hundreds of kilometres away from the enemy and snipe them with a cowardly press of a button. It’s no surprise that people have become critical of warfare in the recent years, even plebeians can feel the massive advantage a country has when it can take down an enemy risk-free.

I sigh once more as I trot down the street walk, passing a nearby park. As if by some divine instruction, I couldn’t help but stop and become overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia as I turned my head towards it. This park holds a special meaning in my heart as it symbolizes my childhood. The hours I spent playing here was like I was exploring a whole new world. I wonder if the pit that I dug out, looking for treasure, is still there after all these years.

With a moment of deliberation, I lift my foot slowly with a desire to sate my curiosity. But I’m not able to take a single step as a soccer ball rolls in front of me and it bounces onto the road. Oh, I remember the times when I accidentally kicked the ball a little too strong. I would then run to retrieve it from the area like a SWAT team rescuing hostages. Similar to what a girl, who just whizzed past me, is doing right now. While I did compare the activity to a dangerous mission, it really isn’t dangerous at all since cars barely ever come by on this street, especially during this hour.

Deep in thought, I barely notice a truck swerve around the corner of the intersection and blast its engines loudly as it accelerated down the road. It was a peculiar trailer truck – grey in colour, painted on the side of the trailer were the letters ‘Reincarnation Inc.’ I do not remember a company with such an odd name – perhaps it’s a video game franchise of some sorts. I know that the girl in the red dress is in no danger at all, since the truck was quite a distance away. Yet, as I take a glance to her direction, I notice her hold up the patterned soccer ball up to her chin, with her brown hair, braided into twin tails, shaking along with the rest of her body. Her brown eyes are fixated onto the truck, as if though she was mesmerized by its beauty. I guess the general term that would be applied to her would be ‘shackled.’

I couldn’t help but be slightly amused by the incident, as it was all too similar to several light novels that I have read. I chuckle as I find myself in the same situation as the protagonist, albeit a bit older than a regular one. I ponder whether I should jump out and save the girl, as it would bring me no benefit at all. Yet, my heart is beating loudly, and my leg muscles creak as I rush out onto the open street, filled with adrenaline.

I wonder why I jumped out in the end. I had no obligation to save someone, and people wouldn’t blame me if I remained the observer. However, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this is my destiny. Did I want to be accepted by society after all? No. I simply wanted to enjoy the thrill and experience some danger. I wanted excitement in its pure and simple form – where the result was unknown.

Cries of “Help!” and “Someone, call the ambulance!” ring out through the air. It looks like my time has come… except that I am perfectly fine. The adrenaline rush made it seem like I was floating on air as I dashed out and just barely managed to grab the girl and roll out in time. The truck breezed past me as I felt cool drops of liquid splash onto me, which I assumed was mud. I wonder what all the commotion is about. I take a peek over my right shoulder and immediately regret my decision as I resist the urge to vomit.

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Aw, shit. It looks like I’m not the only one who had some heroic tendencies. Lying in the middle of the road is a corpse of a boy that looks like he should be in high school. His severed head has rolled over to the side of the road while his mangled body in the middle of the road is totally unrecognizable. Various organs are thrown into different locations, while his intestines are strewn around in a pool of blood. The truck didn’t show any mercy to the teen as it shifted all its momentum towards him during the impact. Sorry, kid, it looks like your death was completely in vain.

I drop the girl on her feet and scurry off the scene before the police come. While I may be considered a hero by some, I certainly do not want to tangle with the police. I may be held up enough that I won’t be able to avoid the rain. Nearing an alley, I lean against the wall as I catch my breath. I slide my hand over my kneecap and a jolt of pain assaults me – it seems that I scraped my leg during the truck incident. As I get a water bottle out of my backpack to alleviate the pain and disinfect the wound, I hear a scream of help emerging from the alley. I hastily throw the water into my backpack and scram to figure out the problem.

In the alley are two people, one man and one woman. The woman has long, black, silky hair that ran down to her waist, touching her businesswoman’s uniform. The man is wearing a beanie and worn out clothes that could be mistaken for mere rags. He is brandishing a knife in his right hand, prepared to swing it down at the young lady at any given moment. There is that feeling again – the feeling that surges through you when you feel excitement pulsating through you.

I throw my backpack to the side and ready a boxing stance as I scream, “Hey, you!” I could see the man turn his head, startled, and then turn back towards the woman. After what seems like a moment of hesitation, he begins a bum rush towards while changing his grip from a stabbing position to a piercing position. As he reaches a distance of a meter between us, I bring up my left arm and use it to deflect the knife. However, I’m not able to fully deviate its path as it plunges towards the left side of my torso, just above the hip bone.

I tumble towards the brick wall as the man rushes past me, kicking up dust. I clutch my hand over the area he stabbed in, checking to see if there are any wounds in the location. The woman hurries over to me and kneels in front of me, saying, “I’m so sorry! It’s my fault that you got stabbed!” I just return a grin as I pull out a Nokia phone from the pocket of my jeans. “No worries, lady! The phone blocked the knife’s edge. Damn, a scratch…” I tell her as I examine the phone’s damage with my thumb. I could swear that I heard her mutter, “This… the plan…”, but I dismiss it as the ramblings of a victim who nearly appeared in the headline of tomorrow’s news.

I strut over to the backpack and pick it up, motioning the woman goodbye. As I exit the alley, I think about the blood boiling incident that has just occurred. The excitement of facing a foe and beating him is one that cannot be replicated unless one puts himself into danger. Maybe I should become a vigilante that cleans crime throughout the city, like a certain DC comic character. That is certainly an amusing and interesting thought.

I do not notice that I am already near my house. I just need to walk another block or so, and I’ll be standing in front of the doorway. As I approach the house, a glowing blue circle appears beneath my feet. Surprised by the appearance, I try to dodge whatever is incoming, but it’s as if though my feet are chained to the ground. I struggle to move, as the circle glows brighter, but I cannot, no matter how much I try.

As I resign to my fate, and think of the various ways of greeting aliens, I hear a, “Watch out!” and I get pushed away by two hands. Rolling away, my eyes are fixated on the high school teenager who just possibly saved my life. He lands in the middle of the circle with a thud – no, a crack – indicating a broken neck. As the light blinds my eyes, I bring my right arm over to cover them from the intense luminosity. I could feel the light die down in the very next moment and unravel to see a shocking scene.

Holy shit! The kid was incinerated – no, he was vaporized! There isn’t a single shred of evidence that indicates that he even existed in the first place. Goodbye, kid, I’ll give you a prayer once I reach home – oh, and I need to give one to the other kid as well. I dust off the jeans with my hands, feeling the coarse material, when I hear a shout from behind me, “You!” I lazily stand up and turn around to see the same woman that I saved from the knife wielder. “Do you need…?” “Why are you still here?” She interrupts me as I politely ask her a question. Whoa! What’s her problem? “I send a truck after you – that failed. I make you face a mugger – that failed. I even used a summoning circle – and that failed too! What will it take to finally transfer you?” She rambles on like an insane lunatic.

Not good. I can face deadly threats, but mentally ill people are beyond my scope of problems. I hastily draw out my Nokia phone and prepare to call 9-1-1, but she notices my movement and chants something in a strange language. I become paralyzed as if though I am patient with multiple sclerosis. “I didn’t want to use this as it will bring you pain, but you leave me no choice,” she exclaims while snapping her fingers.

Suddenly, a very sharp pain assaults my body. It’s as if though my very whole being is being atomized into very small particles. I notice a golden colour that appears at the bottom of my feet and starts to expand upwards to my torso. I want to yell out viciously in pain, but my vocal cords feel as if though they were cut by a surgeon with a scalpel. The golden colour completely covers my body, and before I have lost conscious, I could hear the woman say, “Now, disperse into light!”