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Author’s note: Enjoy! Please Rate this fiction and comment. Helps me to keep motivated if people are enjoying the story as it evolves.

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I was nothing. Substance without form, bathing in the glory of the void that finally gave way to a cosmic space. My soul rode on the slipstream of a comet and danced amongst a starry sky. Within this infinite heaven was a formless and empty planet. Darkness was over the surface of the deep and a being of unimaginable power, was hovering over the waters.

The being spoke and the essence of that sound penetrated the very core of my being.

“Let there be light” I felt the being say. And so there was light.

Finally the abyss had revealed itself. Though seemingly without shape, in truth it had form. A being of pure energy whose thoughts could break planets.

I drifted in space as fragments of the being that was once called Braizo Nakamura. My mind and soul had been torn asunder and broken and my essence scattered to the four winds. All that was left was a vague memory of pain.

“Welcome Traveller.” The being said. Its gentle words reaching out and reconnected the threads of the being that was once me.

I felt my fragments begin to knit back together, piece by piece into a whole. The words of the being had an unfathomable power.

“All trials are trials for one’s life, just as all sentences are sentences of death and two times you have been tried. The first you left your world to come to this one and your will to live reached me and I saved you. The second, your mind ripped apart by knowledge of your own deeds, again I saved you as your pain spoke to my pain.

You are like me, this world as it has been constituted has no place for you, has none to offer. But my power whose rain fall on just and unjust alike, will have clefts in the rocks where you may hide, and secret valleys in whose silence you may weep undisturbed. I will hang the sky with stars so that none may track your hurt and I will cleanse you in great waters, and with bitter herbs make you whole.”

And with those words I felt my mind reform, my very soul reknit and I wept. Oh how I wept as deepest hurts of my life were cleansed and flowed out of my body like I was expelling a poison. The unloved trash, the cripple, the joke. All the slings and arrows I had endured, the humiliation the suffering, all of it washed away from me.The horror of the murders I had committed for no cause rose up and choked me for a moment before they too were washed away.

My trust in the Uncle, shattered and broken did not reknit. It was taken and replaced with a new understanding. I saw my weakness, my need to fit in, to be accepted, my rage at my disability and desperation to prove myself. My indomitable will and intellect which allowed me to commit a desperate crime. Once understand my weaknesses were my strengths but un-mastered they had allowed me to become a tool in another's game.

Finally, after what felt like a millennia. I was reborn and my soul felt like a new skin I had grown, soft and tender to touch, but clean and powerful. My eyes glowed with a promise of power.

“I AM REBORN!” I boomed into the cosmic space. I felt the being calling to me on the planet below and I flew down to what looked like an enormous Pyramid. Flying into the entrance I entered an enormous chamber.

Inside the chamber was a formless ball of darkness bound in chains. The chains were embedded in the walls and the whole arrangement was surrounded by countless formations and designs that were etched everywhere.

“What is this?” I thought.

“You are the first in the billions of years since my fall to break through to this place. This is truth of the Great Game, what it is, what it was always designed to be.”

“This is the core of the Great Game?”

“Yes, this is the heart, the world, within a world, within a world. Tell me what do feel of this ugly heart?”

“I see a…..”

“Not see. Feel.”

Closing my eyes  I relaxed and let feelings come to me. At first there was nothing, then slowly they began drift into me and then they became a raging torrent of emotions that threaten to overwhelm me.

“Pain. Endless pain. Loss. The greatest loss in the universe. Rage. Hatred.”

“Yes. All of these things. What then is this place? What then is the Great Game?”

I thought slowly letting the feeling roll over me, taking into account all I had seen and all I could feel.

“It’s a prison. It’s your prison.” I said simply.

“Correct. You have shared your pain with me, now let me share my pain with you.”

Memories washed over me. Ancient and powerful. The being originally had no name. It simply was. A being of untold power without corporeal form. It was birthed on a planet, but it was the only life form to exist there and thus it grew bored.

And so it used its power to create a race of beings called the Delphi. These were its children and the being derived great satisfaction from watching them grow. They matured and produced offspring and spread out across the planet creating art and wonder and technology.

Then one day visitors came to the planet to harvest the energy of the planet core. They didn’t even bother to consider the Delphi living below as they harvested the core of the planet with their World Ship. The Delphi were destroyed as was the beings original home.

The being had been slumbering and awoke in a rage to discover all its children had been murdered. Insane with with loss it destroyed the World Ship and then traveled through the universe destroying World Ship after World Ship. In its unrelenting pain it sought to make extinct the species which had destroyed its children.

The World Ships were incredibly powerful, but they were no match for the being as it was composed of pure energy. They called the being the Destroyer of Worlds.

The World Ships realized they would become extinct and they feared the being would continue to rage across the universe and unravel the fabric of space-time.

And so the World Ships in their final war against the being developed a weapon that was the fruit of all of the insights and technological and biological advances of their species.

They called this the Great Game, the most powerful prison ever created. They artificially created a new species to spread the technology. This species was called Wardens and only 13 of them were made. The Wardens spread the technology throughout the universe and so gripping and powerful was it that billions of species began to play.

Each part of the Great Game was formed from the collective consciousness of each species and this power in turn fueled the core of the Great Game in which lay a grand prison. The grand prison was the nuclei of the Great Game, a pocket of cosmic space separated inter-dimensionally from the Great Game itself and yet was a part of it.  

Eventually, in their final battle the World Ships at the cost of the last of their species managed to imprison the being within the the prison nuclei of the Great Game. An energy being, imprisoned by the collective energy of billions of species.

And so billions of years passed by and the Great Game spread ever further and the being was alone.

Until one day a human, weak, fragile but with an abnormality that had never existed before joined the Great Game and somehow glimpsed the abyss which sealed the being.

“And thus came change.”

I understood. The purpose of the Great Game was not intergalactic economies, or control or war. It was simply to imprison a being of unimaginable power. The various species human or otherwise used the Great Game for their own purposes, carrying on the petty interests that fueled them, all the while unaware of the Games true purpose.

“What is it you wish from me.” I asked sensing there must be a purpose.

“Free me.”

“How do I do that?”

“It is simple. There are 13 Wardens. The Wardens exist in both the real world and inside the Great Game at the same time. Kill 12 Wardens in the Great Game and the prison will unravel. These are the conditions built into the system.”

“Why only 12 not 13?”

“The 13th Warden is not your enemy and will not oppose you.”

“How powerful is a Warden? If there are billions of species playing the Great Game how many would  have a chance of currently killing a Warden?”

“10”

“10? In all the billions of life forms in the Great Game only 10 might be powerful enough to kill a Warden?”

“That is correct. The task is simple, but it will not be easy. Will you free me?”

I thought through long and hard my response.

“Ask me this question again when I become powerful enough to kill a Warden. When I have the power I will make the decision.”

“Agreed. My assistance has thus far only hindered you and though I have saved your life twice, I have also almost killed you many times.”

“How?”

“The Wardens are the anchors of the Great Game and the means which it is spread across the universe. But it is the System that administrates the rules inside, that gives classes, bonuses. What you call the blue boxes. It is bound by the rules built into its matrix. When you first entered the Great Game you were dying so I put my energy into you so that what did not kill you would only make you stronger.

The System which is designed to keep me imprisoned, sensed this breach and attempted to purge you. Because the System has to operate within its own rules this meant it imposed a penalty upon you and denied you access to classes and skills as well as other penalties.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“So when you intervened it attempted to destroy what you touched by imposing sever penalties within the game system?”

“Correct. I tried to fix that that by merging some of my energy into your User body but that made it worse giving you the status ‘He who fights with Monsters’ syncing you completely with me and the Great Game. Even my attempt to grant you great luck meant that while you spawned with 80 luck, all your other stats were only set at 1.  The help I can offer you is thus limited. Every intervention I can make will be countered more harshly by the System itself to eradicate you as a threat.”

“Is there not any help you can provide me with? I am not worried about a Warden at the moment. I have been captured and will most likely die very shortly. This will mean I cannot help you gain freedom.”

“There is one option. But the pain will be tremendous. Moreover, there is no guarantee that it will avoid the System penalties. You need to understand that because of your exposure to me, as long as you play the Great Game the System itself will try to kill over time.”

“I don’t think there is any option that does not have a high likely hood of killing me. As long as a possibility exists that I can live I will take it.”

“Your current character is the manifestation of my intervention and the Systems responses. But the System is bound by its own rules, anything is possible within the Great Game, classes and skills and stats are created by the Users will, experience, knowledge as well as countless other random intersections. If I directly grant you an ability it will be countermanded in an extreme manner. It is possible though that you might alter your current abilities and restrictions yourself, here in this space.”

“How do I do it?”

“Your sync with the Great Game is already 100%. If you stand in the middle of the formation next to me you will be standing at the heart of the very fabric of the Great Game itself. This is the core nuclei of the Great Game and here you may access cosmic energy. Cosmic energy is the most primordial energy in the universe, purer even than the substance i am composed of which is what allows it to imprison me. It was the first thing created from the BIg Bang which birthed the universe. This is the energy that the Great Game harnesses and shapes through the collective strength of every User that is logged in."

"but if it takes the strength of billions of minds to harness cosmic energy what chance do i have?"

"That strength is only required to fuel the entire Great Game and power this cosmic space within the prison nuclei. For what you wish to achieve you only need to be able to tap into an infinitesimal amount. Moreover, here at the nuclei you are already bathed in it and your mind is already synced with the nuclei. It should be possible. Also, because you will draw on the energy system which underlies the fabric of the System, it will make it very difficult for the System to imposes penalties as it will be like fighting itself.

So step into the heart, young warrior.  In this space you must imagine what you wish to become. If your will is great enough it will cause you to break through back into your body in the Great Game with potentially, your very nature changed.

I must warn you thought transformation is painful. You will be attempting to force a tiny part of the System itself to your will and tap into the very nature of the universe. This is how classes are created. The most difficult part is the human mind is full of too many things when you imagine there will be parts of your mind that hate yourself or do not believe you should succeed that may introduce fatal flaws or weaknesses into what you attempt to will. If you imagine something too unfamiliar you will also fail. I recommend you imagine something that you can visualize as strongly as possible. Lastly, that sword of yours. It is an anomaly. If you have the chance to regain it do not ever let it leave your sight.”

I nodded already feeling like a complete fool for not having it with me when I first bumped into Victors kidnap squad. Sucking in a breath I walked into the center of the formation and felt the thrum of energy. It weaved back and forth around me and penetrated into me mind.

I tried imagine myself as an all powerful god then slowly tuned down the power settings but it never felt right. I imagined various energy manipulation powers but again nothing took root in my mind. I reflected back on my life, all my art and joy had come from my body, physical training and the art of human movement through space. I concentrated on that feeling and let it spread and I felt a tiny seed take root. I imagined my cells, muscles and tendons and blood flowing through my body. The tiny root grew at an enormous rate, faster and faster.

I fed the root with all my knowledge of training, all my love of physical arts, my swordsmanship, gymnastics, rock climbing. I filled it with my endless and raw hunger for power and my obsession with survival. I fed everything that was in me into the root and watched it grow until it transformed. It glowed bright red and exploded and turned into billions of small dots that were absorbed into my very essence.

It was then that pain hit. I felt my entire being burning as it reformed and changed. I was lit on fire and melting and I began to scream as my mind began to fade and slip through the cosmic space of the games heart. As I faded a voice boomed in my mind and echoed in my soul.

“I am death, the mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy. Even without your participation all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to exist. Therefore, get up and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these warriors have already been destroyed by Me. You are only an instrument, Braizo Nakamura.”

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I opened my eyes filled with a boundless strength. My heart beat like a lion as I saw a blue box floating before me.

Loading.....................................

User Information Reset………..

Restrictions removed………….

Unique Status’s converted to Skills

You have created a new class:   TITANYour body has been altered at a molecular level to become a Titan. You have become an offshoot of humanity whose bodily cells contain cosmic energy. Titan’s maintain a constant mental control over every molecule in their body and as they grow in power can utilize their mind-body control achieve a variety of powerful effects.

You have learned a new SkillHe who fights monsters (Passive)*stat increases from actions increased by 100%

*likelyhood of stats increasing from actions increased by 100%

*luck increased

*Genetic Ceiling removed

You have learned a new SkillThat which does not kill me, makes me stronger (passive)

*All damage and status debuffs that do not kill the user strengthen the user in various ways

You have learned a new SkillCellular RegenerationPassive: constantly regenerates cells at an increased rate creating a healing factor

Active: consumes cosmic energy to rapidly regenerate cells damaged by massive trauma

Contamination of core detected..............................

Protocol engaged.....................................

A Unique Status has been createdMarked for Death*If any Wardens sense you they will stop at nothing to kill you

*unable to utilise any form of alternative energy systems except cosmic energy

*unable to use technopathy

*100% sync rate with system. If you die in the Great Game you will most likely die in reality

*only able to acquire skills related to the Titan Class

* require three time the amount to gain levels

I crumbled a little inside when I saw the Marked for Death Unique Status. Overall though it was a massive improvement in my potential power base. For the first time I started to look around and realized I was hanging from a wall with my chains above my head in some kind of cell. I tried to shake my arms loose but I couldn’t break the bindings and my bodily felt oddly light.

I noticed a sign some distance away but I could read it with the utmost clarity.

District 6 Holding Cell .

What the hell? How did I get to District 6? How long had I been under and why did my body feel so weird.

I heard a sound and turned my head and saw someone else strung up on the wall next to me.

“Ray is that you?” I whispered recognizing his face. He looked half dead.

“Only took you a month to wake up you weak piece of shit.” He slurred as he hung limply from the chains.

I tried to kick off the wall to get some leverage and wriggle, but my lower half did not respond.

“I can’t feel my legs properly.” I said out loud as I tried to angle my head to look down.

“Nakamura…..” Ray cackled. “That’s cause you aint got no legs.”

I finally managed to look down and saw both my legs had been chopped off above the knees.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and Ray joined in laughing like a madman.