"Haaah!" a deep and exasperated breath escaped my lungs, as if I had fought against an unseen force, choking me out. My lungs were hurting, my head dizzy and my legs felt like jelly. Were I standing at this moment, I would have, without a doubt in my mind, fallen on my ass, embarrassing myself in front of however many people were around me at the time. Luckily, I was in my bed, the pale light of the moon shining in through the mirror. Full moon, with just the slightest amount of purple miasma in the air, making the sight unforgettable. And unforgettable it was, for I could easily place the time and place I saw a sight like this.

Ten years ago. The first night after enrolling in the defenders academy- and institution founded to combat the flood and the monsters it brought with them. Ten long years of fighting against hordes and hordes of monsters. Pushing them back time and again. Fighting until our hands bled from the bruises the endless hilt holding inflicted. The screams and cries of your dying friends as they were overwhelmed by yet another monster wave.

Those moments were the hardest. The screams haunting my dreams for a long while, until the death of yet another friend and then theirs were the screams that haunted me. And yet, for all the pain and suffering that the fight put us through, for all the nightmares and heartbreak they brought along with them, the alternative was far, far worse. The promised death of all those waiting back home- friends, family, lovers. If the flood was not stopped, not pushed back, all would be lost. Yet another plane devoured by the never ending and eternally hungering maw.

And if all of that was not a kick in the gut for a traveler of the worlds who grew far too attached to the people around him, then the slight taste of final despair and betrayal should do the trick. Oh yes. This was not the first time I had jumped worlds, nor would it be the last, I reckoned. There was the slightest difference though this time. You see, whenever I defeat a monster of considerable power, my bloodline devours a slight amount of their powers. It has served me countless times, making me stronger in the long run. And now, since it had not worked any time before, A temporal shift was activated upon my death, bringing me back here, giving me yet another chance to go through this damn world. Seeing yet once again as my friends died, as group after group was overwhelmed. The worst thing of it all? I had nowhere near enough time to change things.

Sure. Ten long years have passed, theoretically giving me plenty of time to prepare, to forge plans and strategies utilizing my knowledge to the best of my ability, and that was a simple matter for someone with my particular skill set. And yet, I also knew that I would be deployed the day after. I was no one in this world. Actually, I was considered worse than no one- just a lowly commoner with slight affinity for mana- a good enough material for the front line meatshields, powering the force shields and protecting the precious noble born mages as they rained fire upon the battlefield. And if they accidentally his some of those meat shields? It did not matter. Not like they could not just send more. The force shields could whether the hits after all.

And so, I gritted my teeth and tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning the remainder of the night. If there was anything that occupied my mind the most, it was the betrayal. The blade in my back as we had slain the last monster, the gatekeeper of the flood, saving the world from this nightmare, ending the ever present fear and uncertainty plaguing our minds. Edgar. The softie that I am, I could easily understand his plight as well as my own. A noble born son, his father executed for abandoning his post, losing a notable defensive location. As the heir apparent he was then sent to serve alongside the commoners, to atone for his bloodlines taint.

And as expected, most of the people there looked at him with disdain. It was because of people like him that the rest of us were there. Still, he was a valuable asset, his bigger than average affinity and maan pool, result of centuries of selective breeding by his ancestors, allowed more of our squadron to survive. And as I noticed the painful, yet obvious truth, I did all that I could to keep the fold like me, the commoners and downtrodden, from shanking the arrogant young man with a chip the size of a mountain on his shoulder.

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And so, year went on after year, with me serving the role of a gatekeeper. I had saved plenty of the guys in our squad, proving my desire for us all to survive, no matter how begrudgingly others had to admit it. And, I did so again this do over. Time and time again I saved as many of my group as I could, all while doing my best to bring us all together. No longer was there the gatekeeper, the squad and the abandoned mut, as the others used to call Edgar, laughing of his disgraced and sullied bloodline. 'Hounds of the empire my ass!' the men would laugh openly. 'I would at least die with dignity were I offered my pick on several virgin girls for my valliant bloodline to propagate!' There were as many insults as guys in the squadron, growing by yet another when one of the guys was picked off.

No, now there was only the squad. The accursed. The hungry. The undying. I had grown particularly good at the whole saving my men part, losing one guy for every hundred other squadrons lost. This efficiency of ours eventually brought us to somewhere I had not been the first time around. Still, with the accumulated experience of my past and current lives, I still managed to maintain an incredibly high survival rate. So much so that even the mage squad was warned to care with their attack spells.

And as we fought and fought on, the squad grew closer. Sure, there were still casualties in our group, new people came in one after another. Sometimes someone was wounded bad enough that they would no longer were fit to serve and sent back, once again promising a new member for the squadron. And as the years went on, even Edgar was getting along with the men in the squad. I was pleased. My efforts were rewarded. The squad grew tighter, less and less en died and we pushed the flood back more and more. What used to be desperate struggle to even hold our line, had changed into slow, suffocatingly so, yet still push forward.

I should have seen it back then. Much like the first time around, though it happened much faster on my second go around. You see, even on my first go at this shitty world, my abilities to keep my men alive and around was exceptional, no doubt earning the attention of the higher ups, their devious and always scheming minds immediately turning on their scheme machines. Curse me and my overly trusting personality. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

"Cough!" a large amount of blood left my throat as I coughed, the sword pierced through my torso from the back doing its intended purpose quite well. I could not help myself but struggle to turn my head to see the perpetrator, the corpse of the gatekeeper in front of me, and? Yes, of course it was Edgar. Where had I gone wrong? What could I have done better. Thankfully, my self depreciation was interrupted by Edgar himself, my actions this time clearly had crossed a line that caused him to vent openly.

"You damn, filthy commoner. To have the gall to consider us on equal terms? INCONCEIVABLE!" he screamed the last word, as if demanding support from the other nobles of the squadron and the mage artillery. The then inhaled deeply, as he turned around and faced his compatriots. "THIS VICTORY WAS EARNED WITH THE BLOOD SWEAT AND SACRIFICE OF THE NOBLE BLOOD! LET OUR VALOR BE HEARD!"

"Heh." I chuckled, coughing a copious amounts of blood blood once again, sensing the irritation of the man at my last act, the sword sealing the wound still giving me precious little moments. And to be honest, I was actually, finally, dont with this shity world.

"What was it about tigers and their spots exactly? See you soon you damn bastard!" the last words escaped my lips as the sword was tugged, the last jolt of pain coursing through my body as it shut down.

Temporal shift devoured.............

Already existing ability. Replacing.......

Error. Cannot be replaced........

Merging.....

Merge successful...

Initiating......

'Ahhh, the sweet sound of revenge'...............