Prologue: Re-rebirth

“Is that all you got, you ugly pieces of trash?!”

The boy's breath was ragged with numerous gaping wounds all over his body. He squirmed on the ground like a cornered animal and struggled to get to his feet. His two opponents, both old enough to be considered men, stood above the boy with delight illuminated across their antagonizing glares.

“A bloke like you needs to know when to quit. If you’re going to look down on others then you should have the strength to back it up, don’t you think?” The crude blond man said with disgust.

He added emphasis to his words by delivering a kick to the boy's exposed abdomen.

“Gah!” he howled in pain. “F-fuck you! I'll kill you both with ease…. Just wait a sec for me to prepare myself for—ACK!”

He was met with another kick in the stomach.

“AGH—SHIT!!!”

“Marc, are you sure you want to do this? Human murder is a serious crime in this town, ya know?”

The shorter, but stouter one with black hair and a large chin spoke with worry in his voice—not for the boy, but for the two of them.

He nodded, scratching his head. “I know, I know. But this little shit always runs his mouth to the good people of this town while contributing nothing. I thought I could at least instill some fear and maybe humble this worthless lump of meat, yeah?”

The black hair nodded. “We should get out of here. I don’t want another run in with the power-tripping guards, even if no one cares what we do to him.vLet's go get some beers. I doubt he will be able to get up, maybe we will get lucky and he will bleed to death?”

Marc’s eyes lit up, while his lips curled inward. “Aight, bro. I like the sound of that.”

They left the dying boy on the dirty ground, receding from the alleyway and into the main streets of town.

With his tunic soaked in blood, the boy, who could be no younger than 16, pulled himself to his feet, knees still trembling like an aftershock from the beat-down.

“Pfft! Ack! That’s another lost tooth. If only they had tooth fairy’s in this place.” The first thing he did after attempting to move was cough up blood onto the floor and wipe his ruined face. The open wound on his forehead had mixed in with his ashen colored hair, giving him a small red dye on the tips.

He walked on down the winding alleyway until he reached a more secluded part of the town. He wandered past the local inns and farmers markets all the way until he came upon the town hospital.

“The only good thing about this shitty town is the free health care, heh-heh.” The boy lowely cackled to himself.

After confirming the white cross on the front of the iron building, he hastily opened the door and dragged his limping form through. There was a lone woman at the reception desk who was in the middle of reading a novel when she noticed small trails of blood spurting out of the young man’s body.

“Sir! Sir! Are you alright?!” There was worry and fear written all over her youthful face.

She rushed over to help him up, granting the boy a chance to whisper something in her ear.

She dropped him without hesitation. “Oh, how foolish of me! It was you! Y-you disgust me!” she shrieked, backing away. “I heard about you from the other employees. You’re that deviant who's worth less than garbage.”

“The only garbage is this small shitty town in thisnshitty country of the middle ages. Pfft!”

He spat on her shoe.

“Eeeeeeh! W-what’s wrong with you?! Were you raised in a barn?! Guards! Guards! Please escort him to a patient's bed and restrain him. Don’t let him out until he is taken care of.”

“Heh, I guess a bitch like you is no match for someone like me. Figures.”

He had a good chuckle as two armed men from the end of the hall grabbed him by the arms and dragged him upstairs.

The bed they threw him onto had no sheet, just the cold metal used for its creation.

“Ahhhh. Feels like home. Must feel nice making chump-change and still having to deal with big fish like me. It must really suck to be you guys.”

“...” Both of the men said nothing as they left.

“You fuckers better run— Ow! My arm….”

He was a few hours late, but a doctor came in during the late-night and cast a restoration spell on the sleeping boy.

I wish I could pity someone weak and resilient like him, but he really does have no redeeming qualities as everyone says. It would probably be better if he just perished. And to think he was prophesied to save the world from a calamity as a child. It must have been a misread…

With that closing remark, he left the boy to continue his slumber through the night like all his other patients. The healing spell worked rather slowly due to it being low-tier, but for the residents of Axoria, that's all they had.

The boy stirred quite early in the morning, desperate to get away from other people.

“I'm glad they didn’t put any cripples near me, those weirdos give me the creeps.”

He stretched before hopping out of his wooden frame and heading out to embrace the warm rays of the morning sun.

Everywhere he walked he got the evil eye, but sometimes—if he was lucky—fruits or vegetables were tossed straight at him. They didn't seem to pick up that this was how he survived on the daily. He sorted through his juicy haul with a grin as he went through the narrow shortcut of Skunker Alley. It didn’t take a genius to surmise why it was called this.

“Heh, not bad. This really made my day and it only just started. They smell nice too. Two apples and a carrot. Now that's what I call a worthy tribute!”

He happily munched away on his breakfast as he bounced towards his next opponent to conquer.

It wasn't too long before he heard the voice from what sounded like a young female, perhaps even his age, and some older men around the corner. A normal human would feel compelled to save an innocent girl in her time of need as fast as they could, but for Raze Havok, a lady in distress’s sole purpose was a bait to reel in his prey. …At least, that’s how he viewed it.

Raze peeked over the corner to get a scope of the scene. Three knights in white shining armor engulfed the majority of his view. With sharp polished silver swords around their waists and gleaming helmets on the ground behind them, Raze could tell that they were some pretty big shots.

Good. Good. I’m gettin’ hard just thinking about it. Opponents to succumb to my secret might!

On closer inspection, he spotted the girl in question. She was slumped against the wall, all but an insignificant butterfly, fluttering in Raze’s view, but not worth more than a moment's glance. However…she was indeed a peculiar sight.

She possessed long silky purple hair that was held up in ribbons to create pigtails—a hairstyle that was familiar to Raze even though no one around here ever wore their hair like that.

Ohoho? Now, what do we have here? It may have been a while since I’ve had a burger, but I do indeed see two extra-large patties. Even got two large sides of fries!

It is as Raze…cryptically analyzed. Her body was enticing to the male eye from the size of her bust to the slenderness of her bare legs. She wore a white tank top that was already mired in sweat from her dire situation but Raze focused more on her skin, which was a few shades darker than anyone Raze had seen before. It appeared like the result of laying in the sun for too long on a beach in the Caribbean or something.

The strangest part about her was the long ears that sat on her forehead, covered in fur the same color as her hair. Wings slightly smaller than her arms sprouted from each side of her back, colored as black as night, and resembled that of a bat.

After taking in her features to the point where he was five feet from the scene, Raze finally noticed that the girl was clearly frightened and scared beyond belief. It was a common occurrence for women to be swept away in the night by some random freak, but it didn’t occur often during the day, even in the stinky alleyways of the city. After all, the one thing Axoria didn’t lack—was guards.

But still, Raze ignored the mortified visitor’s strife, instead, focusing on the two lengthy fangs that protruded from either side of her upper lips.

No way! Are there vampires in this shitty world? That would be sick! I wanna kill one I wanna kill one now!

The guards still hadn’t noticed him, but he noticed something else. Something that was bound to provide him with funds for his next brawl.

A large brown sack sat at her side, indicating that she was not a resident of Axoria. There was a chance it was heavily packed with coins, though Raze couldn’t be sure until he shook the thing himself.

“We jus’ wanna show ya a good time, ya hear?”

She continued to shiver in fear at the unwanted invaders.

“Ye. We knights never get to fool around with a demi-human. It's supah’ bland around here, ya feel me? It would be different if we were back in the Cap.”

I never really thought about it before, but the people in this town are really uneducated, especially the bumbling men. I wonder if they can even read? Pathetic!

The leader advanced, placing an arm against the wall. “We know a nice inn around here. Wanna tag along? Hmm? Our treat.”

They all grinned in unison, but that just made the vampire even more afraid.

“P-please just let me leave. I-I r-really need to reach the Church of Vanor. I don’t have time for…whatever this is. Please let me go.

Raze grinned from his spot behind the men. For a vampire chick, you got some balls. Not like it holds a candle to me, though. Watch this shit.

The cowlick antenna that sprouted from Raze’s hair swished back and forth like a dog that finally got to play with its master. He was egging for a fight, and so he walked out from behind the men, ready to assert grand dominance.

“Well, well, well—if it ain't a few ugly bastards ogling in my domain. You better be prepared to put your life on the line for stepping on my turf. And I won’t go easy on ya, just cuz you’re knights.”

Raze triumphantly puffed out his scarred chest and put up his fists. He was ready for combat. Like the hurling of insults from the public, brawling with men of any kind was another daily routine for him.

The girl seemed relieved if only for just a moment at her unexpected hero.

My savior has arrived! she thought. Though, he already seemed like he just got out of a fight. Will he really be okay? He does seem confident, at least.

The girl could not be further from the truth.

“Who the hell are you calling “ugly”, kid? An urchin like you has no right to talk to proud knights from the capital like us.”

“Ye.”

“Fuck ye.”

Raze let out a hollow laugh. “Knights, eh? That’s what you’re proud about? What a pathetic title. Why don't you go ride your dicks back to the capital—well, after I crush your innards to the point that your girls will leave you for being forever impotent, that is.”

Raze leaped at the closest knight and released fists straight for the unguarded knight's face. The knight quickly put up one of his armored greaves to act as a shield to lighten the impact, but much to the knight’s dismay, the real damage had been dealt elsewhere…

“Ga! You fucking little shit. Hit my damn balls! You are so goddamn dead!”

The injured knight clutched his privates which were the true target of Raze’s attack. His fake-out had worked and allowed a kick to penetrate the knight’s manhood. His hands were nearly a distraction. Just like a street magician, Raze dabbled in the art of misdirection.

“This little shit actually went for the balls.”

“What a fucken’ coward.”

All three of them drew their swords in unison. “Not even groveling will let you outta this one, Shit-stain.”

“Bring it, bitches!” Raze only seemed wilder as he prepared his next attack. He quickly released one of his fists and dove straight in for his next target. He indeed went for the same sort of technique on the fatter knight to his right, but the originally-injured knight had seen through him.

“FUUUUUUUUUUCKKK!!!”

Raze’s leg flew clean off and landed on the wall next to the shivering vampire girl. He fell flat on the floor, blood trickling from his open wound.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” He let out a gut-wrenching howl.

The girl’s face went deadly pale. It was cut off…just like that.

“AHHHHHHHH!” The fatter knight stuck his sword right into his back. The last knight cut off both of his arms with ease.

Raze screamed so loudly that the whole backwater town could have heard it.

“For someone that talked big, you were rather small and weak. Cheap tricks are all ya got, huh?”

The main knight massaged his armored privates while he spoke. “It would be better for ya to have a quick death, but people are already heading over here, so enjoy a long and painful descent into the Underworld, instead. Hahahaha!” He glanced towards his two compatriots.

The first shook his head. “We missed out on our fun, though. Ah, man.”

“We'll have to find another demi on the way back to the Cap or somethin'.”

The three knights hastily departed from the alleyway, leaving a dying man and the girl he “tried” to save. But hey, at least she was unharmed.

She ran over to his body, the stench of iron permeating the air around them. “Oh god, oh god. You did all that to save me? I… I don’t even know what to say… It's too late now, even with my shoddy healing magic to save you now.”

“...ittttttttch.”

“I can't make out what you are saying, but I will remember you for all my life as the one who stopped others from taking what is precious from me.”

“...UTTTT PPPPP IIITCHHHH!”

“I still can't understand you, but I will put this life to good use. You don't have to worry.”

Tears dripped from her cheeks and onto his dying body. She really did mean everything she said.

“I will make sure you get a proper burial, so don’t you wor—”

“I SAID, SHUT UP BITCH! YOU’RE SO DAMN ANNOYING! JUST LET ME DIE!”

“Well…that's no way to speak to a goddess, but I’ll allow it this one time.”

Huuuh…? Raze’s eyes grew wide. He was no longer dying in an alleyway. Instead, he was in a void of pure white. He now sat in a basic wooden chair with all his body parts re-attached, while the scars that had plagued his body for so long had ceased to exist entirely.

A woman with long pink hair with scarlet feathers sticking out of them sat a few feet away from him, wearing a white and pink astral dress that seemed to contain the very cosmos within them. She seemed rather beautiful to just about anyone that had ever seen her, but Raze couldn’t care less.

“Where the hell am I and why the fuck is there an old hag in front of me!?”

“...Hmm? Come…again?” The twinkling blue eyes of the goddess lost their sparkle, if only for a millisecond, before returning to their former luster.

“Now, ****** ******, I know this must be dif—”

“How do you know that name? I have never told a living soul of it. Plus, that’s my sibling’s, not me.”

He leaned in and gave her the evil eye before sticking out his tongue.

“I am a goddess. I know all things, even stuff as trivial as the correct name of—”

“Piss off. I didn’t ask,” he spat.

“You have quite a mouth on you, huh? Morephon mentioned you were like this when you were reborn in this world nearly two decades ago. Are you telling me you still have not changed that outlandish attitude of yours in all that time?”

“I ain't telling you shit, hag. Now send me to the afterlife or whatever. I can’t stand being here even a second longer.”

“Eheheheheeeee.” The goddess let out a light chuckle, clearly entertained by the boy’s malicious words. “That’s rich. So it’s true. You have forgotten why you were sent to this world in the first pla—”

“No,” he interjected. “I just don’t give a fuck about that shitty world nor the one I originally came from. I don't give a damn about you or any of the gods either. Now chop, chop. I don't want to hear any more of that ugly ass laughing of yours.”

A vein appeared below the goddess’s lush hair, but she calmed down almost instantly, regaining her composure. At the same moment, Raze shot out of his seat and attempted to dash toward her.

She sighed. “That will simply not do.”

She waved her hand, causing a gust of wind to knock him back in his seat. Raze tried to get up again, but some invisible force pressed down on him with enough monumental force that he could hear his bones creak from the pressure. She now had him bound to the seat.

“Anyways… You were—”

“Don’t care.”

“You were originally supposed to be a key adventurer in many of the countries of this continent’s history, one who would gather the ultimate group of—”

“I really don’t ca—”

“SILENCE! I’M TALKING, SO STOP!”

The goddess took a deep breath and tried to recall what she was saying.

“Right! As I said, you were supposed to gather a group of fellow adventurers and save this continent by defeating the seven Lords of Tyranny before confronting and quelling the Archdemon of Calamity.”

“Mphhh. Mphhh!” Raze could not get out a word.

“You were supposed to do this a year ago and yet you live in the slums, fighting everyone in sight with not an ally to speak of. It’s no wonder your rich parents—who would have funded you for life—sent you to that orphanage right after you could talk, but of course, it didn't take you long to get out of there either. What a pitiful young child you are.”

“....” For once Raze was completely silent, taking in everything she said while looking down on the blank white void below him.

“So now, since you failed your deal with Morephon when you first reincarnated here, the task has now been given over to me, Endina, the goddess of friendship and bonds. I also dabble as the overseer and rehabilitator of failed heroes. Oh, and that's you, by the way. So now, I will be sending you back to the world of Reterra to complete your original task with a little incentive added in as well as some proper assistance.”

“Mpphh?”

“First of all, you will be required to commit at least one good deed a day. If you don’t, you will become so feeble and weak but incredibly friendly until you transform into the exact thing you despise with the same capabilities that people always made fun of you for. A nice guy that helps others and puts everyone above himself, even if he needs the help of many others to accomplish it. And if you liberate this continent or perhaps even the world from the clutches of true evil, then we can talk about setting you free and perhaps even return you to your original world. Let’s just say you will have a lot more options.”

“Mphhhhhhh!”

“For any other human, that wouldn’t mean much, but for such a flawed and corrupt boy as yourself, who hates change and loves to do as you please—this should do just nicely, and it's a win for me personally if you don't keep up with your deeds as well. Us gods have already placed our bets on you. Morephon lost a pretty penny betting on you last time, and look how that turned out.”

“Mph….mmph.”

“Second of all, you will have your class changed to Savior, a special Class reserved for the heroes that really really need rehabilitation. You must be put on the correct path. The main point of this Class will allow you to accept gifts from your sponsors—the gods—to use as your own. Be grateful for it.”

“...”

“The third part has only been added after witnessing you perform a somewhat heroic deed before you died like a sad little dog. What an excellent display of sacrifice! Amazing! And to make sure nothing harms the girl you saved, the two of you will become soul-bound together. That means if she dies, you will as well and you won’t be going to any place like Heaven, Hell, or even the Underworld. There is a special place for your kind that even you would not be able to stand. You must make sure that she does not die to prevent this as her sworn protector. If you were to die, her tether will be severed right before, as to spare her life, just like you did.”

The only thing I’m taking away from this is that Hell actually exists. At least I’m not there. But surely, this shit hole can’t be Heaven?

Endina snapped her fingers, causing a small electrical device with an antenna and blue rectangular holographic display to appear in Raze’s hand.

“This Holy Scanner will allow you to appraise anyone’s level, class, skills, and statuses. Of course, the natives of the world can do that for themselves, but this way is a lot less convoluted and simple enough for even an old-fashioned monkey like you could follow. The antenna allows me to communicate with you even from the heavens. You can also use the scanner to sort through all your abilities with a clear description of what they do. However, you will not be able to remove it, but it will disappear while you sleep.”

She snapped her fingers again and Raze’s once restrained hands placed the scanner over his right eye like a puppet following the controls of his creator. The color of the holographic lens bloomed crimson red and revealed his Status Card.

[Name: Raze Havok]—[Class: Savior]—[Level: 1]

[Skills: Zodiac Wheel, Rabbit (RANK 0), Skill Share (MAX), Soul Bond (MAX), Fearless Confidence (MAX)]

[Status: Annoyed]—[Attack: 3]—[Defense: 5]—[Magic: 5]

Why do I have numerical stats in a fantasy world? Am I in a video game? Raze thought. Now I wonder what the others that I somehow lost to stats were like?

“The last point I wanted to mention before sending you back has to do with that skill you are looking at now. As you liberate more places from evil and commit more good deeds, your zodiac rank will increase and reward you with new abilities for the [Zodiac Wheel]. When you finish it, I will bestow to you another skill of the gods. Oh, and Skill Share allows the girl you saved to use any Skill you have as well. True friendship includes both sharing and caring.”

She gestured for him to speak, but he said nothing.

“Also, I'm sure you were wondering why you got no help from the gods on your first time into this world. That wouldn't have been the case if not for your constant insults about Morephon’s clothing.”

“That dude dressed like a goddamn street hippie. He had it coming!”

“Ah, so he speaks. Before I send you back to start your new exciting adventure, are there any questions you want to ask me?”

“Yeah, why do you have a bunch of bird feathers in yo—”

“Any relevant questions,” she replied in a forceful tone

Raze’s face warped into one the goddess had not seen before. He looked serious for the first time in his miserably pathetic second life.

“Why did you pick someone like me to help save this world? I'm not really the kind of guy others would look up to and I fucking can’t stand being around others, especially stupid women that expect the dude to do everything.”

Endina stood up from her seat and placed her arms out in front of her. “That is something that we hope you can answer for yourself along the way. Everyone has some good residing in them. They just need the right push or incentive to wring it out for others to see. Now, you must get going. There is already a bounty from the King of Floronda on your first head honcho. Go to the capital as soon as you can to find out more. Goodbye and I expect a report from you soon!”

An invisible force shot out from her hands, knocking Raze out of his chair and into the white void behind him. It devoured his form quickly, granting the goddess silence once more.

Endina summoned a map of the world in her hands. The paper was assaulted with the droplets of sweat that cascaded off her temple. Her gaze only focused on that one small piece of paper in her hands, captivated by it.

“...I truly hope he can change.”