By: Miles Smallhorne
Chapter 1 - Reincarnation
“Wake up.”
“Huh? Who? Where?”
Nick was surprised to find himself in some sort of mystical plane. It was foggy, and behind the
fog, he could see stars and what looked like space. But instead of pitch black, it was purple.
“Why purple?”
“I like it better than black.”
“Oh, okay. Wait who are you?!” Nick looked around to find the source of the voice, but there was no one there.
“I am god.”
“So wait, I’m dead?”
“Sorry.”
“Oh no! Please don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”
“Well, about that…”
“Hm?”
“Your uh future… As it’s written here, you're supposed to die of old age. But you didn’t. You died at the ripe age of 21. I don’t even understand how that’s possible. But I’ve heard from the others that this happens a lot. People rewriting their fates. Humans sure are amazing.”
“So what now?”
“Now? Well, now you get to do the whole Japanese isekai thing.”
“Oh. OH. No. That sounds bad. What is that?”
“What? You don’t know? Aren’t you from… Oh. You’re from that world. Whoops. Actually, that works out better. If you were from Earth, I would’ve been worried. But you aren’t.”
“Okay… But what is that?”
“Oh. Um, here.”
Nick has acquired all knowledge pertaining to isekai. Wow. What useless information.
“Oh. Okay, that’s a lot of those. Only like ten of them are worth watching. The rest are okay, or just bland. Also interesting how broad isekai is as a term, or genre when you really think about it. ”
“Hm… Okay, we are out of time here. You’re gonna end up in a place with some gifts that will be suited to your needs. It’ll make you happy. I guarantee it. Have fun with your new life. Do whatever you want. ”
“Oh. Okay. Bye then. Thank you. ”
Nick’s body is covered in a bright light, but as he is being sent away, god tries to tell him
something.
Nick didn’t hear him.
Chapter 2 - Cabin of the Woods
Nick wakes up in a wooden cabin. On a very comfortable bed. The bed might be too comfortable. He refused to get up. Until he did. After an hour or two. His room had a desk, a mirror, a bed, and a rack that had some tools on it. Nick picked up one of the tools and instantly had knowledge transferred into his brain.
Nick has acquired all the knowledge pertaining to tools. Something actually helpful.
“Sweet,” Nick said.
He looked at his mirror, he was still in his 21-year-old body. With his black hair and brown eyes.
He was still wearing his hoodie.
“No wonder I’m so comfortable, ” Nick said.
He then walked around the cabin, finding that it had a bathroom and a kitchen. Both of which had working appliances, as well as artificial lightning. After examining the place closely, he found that it seemed to be powered by some strange force.
“Magic, I guess? That’s cool.”
He finally stepped outside, and on his porch was a suit of armor that didn’t look like it would fit him. It was clunky and looked rusted. When he touched it…
Nick has acquired all the knowledge pertaining to putting on armor. What? How to use it?
It’s armor! It’s self-explanatory!
He then put it on. It then shrank to conform to his body type. The rust also came off like it was dust when he started moving around. There was even a huge sword, a claymore, he thought.
He picked it up with ease.
Supplementary information has been added.
The sword didn’t shrink or anything, but he could hold it in one hand even though it was longer than his body.
“This looks like it would be impractical to use, but I know I can use it. ”
Nick looked around. There was nothing but forest around him. Nearby, there was a small pond, the water was clear, and he could see some fish in it. He took a deep breath.
“Yep, this is perfect. ”
Nick basked in nature. Until he was attacked by a bear.
“Oh shit!” Nick was surprised as the bear slashed at him, its claws not making a dent in the armor, so Nick ran through it with his sword.“Jeez. Thank you for the armor, too!” He said, to no one.
“Well, I guess I’ll be living here now! All by myself… PERFECT!”
“Fuck other people! After all, the reason I died was because… ” he shook his head.
“No! I don’t need those memories anymore. I’m free.”
And so began Nick’s life of solitude.
Chapter 3 - Solitude Ends
A few months passed, and Nick figured he was in winter. On account of all the snow. For eating, he was granted a fridge with a freezer. He stored his meat there. Also, when he touched the dead bear, he was granted knowledge about hunting and skinning.
“Thank you for central heating,” Nick said, snuggling in his bed with his hoodie on. The cabin also had its own temperature control.
Elsewhere…
Lost in the middle of the forest, during the winter? How could things get worse?
“I need to find shelter for now… ” the girl said to herself.
She walked aimlessly deeper into the forest. She was surrounded by trees and darkness. Until she saw a light in the distance.
“Huh? Light? Civilization? Out here?” She got excited, but then her brain kicked in and calmed her down.
“No, I should be careful. I’m in the central region. ”
As she walked closer, she realized it was a nicely sized wooden cabin. “But what kind of person would live out here?” she knocked on the door.
…
“Eh?” Nick was genuinely surprised.
‘A knock? No, was it the wind? What kind of person would be in the middle of a forest? What if it’s a monster?’
“Hello? Is anybody home? I’m a little lost. It isn’t too much trouble, could I-”
Nick opened the door while thinking,
‘This is going to be the worst mistake of my life… Isn’t it?’
Nick was face to face with another human, except her hair was dark blue, along with her eyes.
To him, the color was unnatural, but it might be normal in this world. She was wearing light armor and was armed with a sword.
‘Crap. should I have worn my armor?’
“Good evening, sir.”
“Uh, good evening?”
‘She seems polite enough…’
“Sorry, you must be confused. But it’s a lot for me too. I never expected to find someone living here, of all places…”
“I imagine that’s the point actually.”
“Oh. Yes. I see.”
Nick noticed she was shivering.
‘I guess it would be safe to invite her in…’
“For now, you should probably come in… Uh…”
“Alice. Thank you.”
Chapter 4 - First Visitor Since Never
When Alice first stepped inside, her body was immediately bombarded by the warmth of the cabin.
“Ahhhh.” Alice enjoyed the feeling of her cold body being slowly warmed by the natural heating.
“What is this? Some sort of magic?”
“Probably.”
“Eh? You don’t know?”
“Well, I wasn’t the one who built the place, but it was made for me.”
“Isn’t that suspicious?”
“I guess so… But the one who made it was… Well… I can’t really describe them.”
“By the way… What is that you're wearing?” Alice asked, pointing to Nick’s hoodie.
“What? Never seen a hoodie before?”
“No. I haven’t. Although I don’t really have time to pay attention to fashion trends with the war.”
‘Eh? Did she just say war? I shouldn’t get involved with this person… War is never good news! Not in any story ever has it been good news!’
“Nick was it?”
“Uh. Yes.”
“I hope that the war doesn’t find itself here,” Alice said as she walked to the door.
“Wait, you’re leaving already? You barely even rested.”
“It’s fine. I’d hate to make you feel more uncomfortable.”
“Me?”
‘Well, it's true I don’t want her here… But I don’t want her to die cause of me.’
Nick grabbed her hand before she could walk out the door.
“Nick?”
“Please don’t be overly considerate. In this situation, you could die out there. You should at least wait until the sun rises.”
Alice pauses for a second. She smiles.
Alice stayed the night. Nick offered her the bed, while he slept on his couch.
The next day…
“Hm? What’s the smell?” Alice rolled out of the bed and sluggishly walked towards the kitchen.
“Oh you’re up? I cooked some of the bear meat I had. It’s the only thing I have. Sorry if it isn’t to your liking.”
“Heh. It’s only reasonable, it’s winter. Thank yo- BEAR MEAT?!”
Nick jumped in surprise.
“Y-yeah?”
“You killed a bear? By yourself? Then you must be quite skilled.”
“Well, you can’t live in a forest without some skills… Heh.”
“Hm…” Alice stared at him for a while.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s nothing. Shall we eat?”
“Uh… Sure.”
After Alice took her first bite, she paused.
"Nick."
“Eh? Yes?”
“You… ARE A REALLY GOOD COOK!”
“O-oh… Heh. Thank you.”
After breakfast…
“Nick, thank you. You’ve saved my life. As well as that of my people. If the hero died now… They wouldn’t stand a chance against the demons, dragons, or the beasts. I must leave now, but I promise I will return to pay you back!”
With that, she was gone. Nick didn’t even get to say anything.
“Wait… Hero? Holy crap… I just met someone amazing.”
Remember, Nick has all the knowledge on isekais, so he knows what a hero is.
‘She mentioned Beasts, Dragons, and Demons… I guess humans have a lot of enemies in this world. I just learned some interesting facts.'
Chapter 5 - Another Visitor
Two weeks later, it was another cold night, but it wasn’t as cold as before. Winter was ending.
Nick sighed in relief. Once it ended, he would try to hunt for something that wasn’t a bear. He was sick of eating it.
While he was just lazing about, he heard a large thud outside that made him bounce in the air.
He quickly put on his armor and ran outside.
“DRAGON?!” Nick yelled.
He was face to face (Sorta) with a red dragon. Its red scales glistened in the night, the whites of its eyes were yellow, and its sharp pupils were black.
The dragon opened its mouth as if trying to say something, then paused, and sighed.
It was suddenly covered in a huge puff of smoke, which was soon blown away. Leaving only a woman with long red hair with the same eyes as the dragon from before.
“Human. You live here?” she asked.
“Uh. Yea- Yes. I do live here. Is there something I can help you with?”
“No, I just thought there was a forest fire starting, but it was just the glow from your
home.”
“Oh. Sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize. I clearly startled you. I am sorry for that.” The woman said as she bowed.
Nick dropped his weapon and took off his helmet.
“No, please don’t apologize…”
“No, as the leader of the dragons, I, Leonore, have to make it up to you someh- ACHOO!”
“For now, how about you come inside?”
For the second time, Nick has let a stranger into his home due to the cold.
“Dragons aren’t good with the cold, huh?”
“Well, we live in an area with volcanoes for a reason. But transforming into this body means I lose the protection from my scales.”
“... Oh. Here you go.” Nick hands her a mug.
“What is this human?”
“Hot chocolate. Also, my name is Nick.”
Leonore takes a sip.
“Ahhh~” She clearly enjoyed it.
Leonore left after she finished her cup, promising to return with a gift as her thanks.
“That’s another one…” Nick lamented.
Chapter 6 - Nick’s First Encounter With Magic
It was spring, the snow was mostly gone, flowers were blooming, and most importantly…
Animals were waking up. Thus Nick ventured away from his home. But not too far. He had spent his time before winter marking trees in a circle perimeter so he could find his house easily.
As he was hunting he found deer, bear, boar, chicken, cow, and sheep.
“What is this? A survival game?” Nick laughed to himself. He brought a little sled that came with his cabin and wrapped the meat and fur on there.
“That should be good enough for today. Don’t want to overhunt.”
*Rustle Rustle*
“Hm? Is something in the bushes over there?”
Nick noticed a pair of purple horns pop out of the grass.
“Horns?”
“Huma-”
“My name is Nick.”
“Eh? Er… Nick… Why are you in thi-”
“I live here.”
“You honestly expect m-”
“I’ll show you.”
“What?”
And so Nick led a stranger, that he didn’t even see the face of, to his house. Mainly because he was worried he was gonna get attacked, by a dragon or a demon. Either way he wasn’t taking any chances. Need to protect his haul of food. Showing he meant no harm was the only way he could think of.
Without turning around to look at the stranger he walked back to his house.
“See I told you.”
“Wha? Who are you? To live in seclusion like this… Oh. I see it’s to avoid the war.”
“Er. Yeah I guess you could look at it like that.”
“Then I must apologize.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I only ran here to avoid the enemy… But it seems I have led them here.”
“Wha-”
“Get down!”
Nick is pushed to the ground as arrows fly overhead.
“Get her!” A rough voice said.
“Dammit you missed idiot!”
“Sorry!”“Shut it and attack!”
“Sorry about this Nick.”
“Huh?”
The person that he had met before got off of him, and immediately he felt a surge of energy around him. Like something in the air had changed.
“Crap she’s casting her magic!”
“Get back!”
“Fire”
“Wait isn’t that a basic spell?”
“IDIOT! SHE’S PRACTICALLY A GENUIS IT DOESN’T MATTER IF SHE USES A BASIC SPE-”
*BOOM*
Nick looked up and saw that a huge patch of the forest had been burnt to a crisp, and crumbled.
“What the fuck.”
“Restore”
As if time was being rewounded, the burnt forest returned. Not the people she burnt though. Those dudes are dead.
“The spell only works on surroundings… Well I’m likely the only demon that can even use it like this.”
“Wait so you can bring back trees but not people?”
“Er… Yes. I haven’t been able to figure that part out yet.”
“Hm.”
“U-um… Nick.”
“Yes?” It was at this point that Nick was finally able to get a good look at the person he was with.
Not only was her horns purple, but so was her long hair. Her eyes were a piercing yellow.
“I haven’t had the time to introduce myself to you. Sorry about that. I am Medea. Some call me the Queen of the demons, but I am not royalty, nor their leader.”
“Nice to meet you Medea. I’m Nick, just a guy that lives in seclusion.” Nick said while taking off his helmet.
“Mmhm. NIck. I can’t stay any longer, I will push on back to my home.”
“Oh… Well stay safe out there. Although you’ll be fine… After seeing what you did to those guys. "
“Yes. I will return with a proper apology gift. Goodbye!” With that Medea was gone.
“This war thing is pretty serious huh?”
Chapter 7 - Saving the Princess
Nick hadn’t properly been keeping time, but a year had passed since his life here began. He just now realized he didn’t know what the name of the world, or continent he was on was. Winter was on the cusp of ending once again, the sun beating down on the snow. The trees and animals slowly waking up once more.
At this point Nick had been expanding his exploration by so much that he wouldn’t be home for days at a time. He had even reached an end to the forest, which cut to a wasteland. This route out of the forest wasn’t days away with how fast he could move. He just found himself enjoying camping and wouldn’t be home. As a countermeasure to missing the only friends he had made.
He left a sign.
I’m out and about in the forest. I’ll be back soon. Come in and wait if you have the time.
As Nick wandered out into the wasteland he found broken weapons, armor, skeletons, or just
straight up decomposing corpses.
“I wonder what this place used to look like…” As he continued to walk there were signs of explosions, magic, people being eaten. It would’ve disgusted a normal person. But he isn’t. So he wasn’t.
After wandering around he decided to walk back. On his way back he saw fresher corpses.
Which he instantly took notice of. The blood trail lead back into the forest. He followed it, until he found some demons(?) surrounding a small girl with droopy dog ears. The demons were dressed like bandits. Nick assumed they were demons because of the horns.
“Hey who the heck is that?”
“I don’t know! Deal with him!”
Two of them turned towards Nick and shot small fireballs at him. Nick easily dodged them then rushed them and cut them in half.
“Oh crap!”
“NO!”
The last demon went wild with his magic and launched a bunch of small fireballs into the surrounding area. He hit his friend, but missed Nick and the girl. Nick went to stab him but noticed he stopped moving.
“Huh?”
“He used up all his magic in such a careless way. Of course he was going to die.” the girl said walking over to Nick.
“Oh. He’s dead then.”
“You don’t know much about demons do you?”
“I don’t really know much about anything really. I just live here.”
“In the forest?!”“I get that a lot.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“I get that a lot too.”
“How do I know you aren’t trying to kidnap me either?”
“Um… Cause I don’t know you?”
“You don’t know me? But I’m the…” she looks at Nick with curiosity before she continues,
“Princess of the beasts, Diana.”
“Yeah, no. I don’t know what any of that means. Besides you being royalty.”
“Oh. Okay then.”
‘She’s not showing it, but she seemed kind of happy about that. Oh. Her tail is showing it
actually.’
“Well then… Nick thank you for saving me.”
“You're welcome. We should probably head to my cabin before more of those guys show up. If you disappear for a good while they might think you got away.”
“Good idea. But is it really okay?”
“I’ve already killed their friends, so I’m definitely involved.”
“Yeah… I promise I’ll pay you back somehow!”
“Eh… Sure.”
And so Nick led Diana back to the cabin, they did have to duck and cover a couple of times, but they made it back without having to fight.
“WHY YOU!”
“Eh?”
“Huh? Do you live with live someone Nick?”
“N-no… But I see the sign I had left on the door has been taken down… So it can only be…”
Nick opened the door and found Alice, Leonore, and Medea arguing over something. They all paused to look over when they heard the door open.
“Nick!”
“Nick!”
“Ni-
... YOU!” Medea pointed at Diana.
“YOU!” Diana replied.
Nick sighed,
“Oh boy…”
Chapter 8 - My House is a Neutral Zone
The four of them sat at the table glaring at each other, not saying a word.
Nick had just finished cooking and put a huge cooked chicken on the table.
‘I’ve noticed that despite this being a fantasy world all the animals are the same as mine. Kinda weird.’
“Enjoy…” Nick said meekly.
“Nick.”
“Y-yeah?”
“You’re not some kind of womanizer are you?” Alice asked.
“How rude! You guys all came to me asking me questions! Except for Diana. But it’s not my fault!”
“Exactly! I just thought there was a forest fire!”
“I was fleeing my attackers.”
“I was being attacked.”
“O-oh… I suppose that’s true…”
“Well what about you hero?” Medea asked.
“I was lost…”
“Ha. So my trap did work.”
“You and your stinking magic.” Diana sided.
“Excuse me?”
“Demon magic smells like garbage.”
“So that’s how you’ve been avoiding my teleportation traps. I thought it was strange…”
“O-oops. I shouldn’t be speaking my hand like that.”
“Teleportation traps huh? I’ll be sure to watch out for those.” Leonore said.
“G-guh… Dang it.”
Nick sighed with relief, although they were kind of fighting, they were talking and eating with one another. He decided to leave them alone for awhile. When he came back out he was surprised too find their conversation had turned to peace.
“If we all work for it, it’ll be possible.”
“Yeah. No one really wants to continue on like this.”
“No one would expect the four of us to suddenly become friends, and wish for an end to the war.
“All we have to do is convince my father, the human king, and the demon king to at least meet along with Leonore.”
“You guys are gonna end the war?”
“Oh, Nick you’re back. Where did you disappear to?”
“I’ve been exploring all day, I was tired.”
“Oh no. I can’t believe we made you cook too.”
“It’s fine. I had to cook for myself anyway.”
“But you didn’t eat anything.”
“... Oh you’re right.” Nick hung his head, realizing his blunder“It’s fine, we saved you some.” Medea said, patting his back.
“Thank you…”
“Well Nick, thank you for the meal. I know we all came here to see you, but we must be off at once. War won’t end in a day. ” Leonore said.
“She’s right. I know it’s already been a year since I’ve seen you, but we might see each other for a couple of years.” Alice said.
“Meeting you has lead to something amazing, besides you saving me. I owe you a lot.” Diana said.
“Hm. Finding a worthy gift for you has become quite difficult, given all you’ve done.” Medea said.
“... Hm. I didn’t really do much. But good luck. Come back anytime.” Nick said.
With that they were off.
‘Should I have gone with them? I know they didn’t ask because they know I prefer the seclusion… but should I have?’ With those lingering thoughts… Nick began to excitedly expect their triumphant return.
A year passed, then another, and so on…
Chapter 9 - Leaving The Forest
Ten years later…
A total of eleven years in this world. Nick was now 32 years old. He had a middle-muscular build. He had been shaving his facial hair cause it began to bother him when he wore his helmet. Thankfully his armor adjusted itself to his body whenever it changed. The huge sword stayed the same however.
“In the end… None of them came back.” Nick looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed.
" I should have gone with them.”
Nick ate breakfast. Packed his belongings into a tiny magic sack, he found while cleaning around the house. Then he left. He didn’t look back.
“Thank you god, for the house, the armor and sword, and all the nice stuff in it. But for once I feel like I have to leave. I’ll be back someday.” he said, to no one.
He walked to a different edge of the forest and walked alond the road. Eventually he found a sign that pointed to a town. He was chased away, because no humans were allowed though.
“Freaking demons…” Nick mumbled.
“Wait… But that means…”
NIck wandered around for a couple of days, having to stop and kill and cook wildlife every once and a while.
After running around, getting lost and chased away… He finally reached the area where humans lived.
“Jeez I must’ve traveled around the whole world. Or continent at least.”
So began Nick’s infiltration… He doesn’t know what happened to his friends, but starting with the human realm would be easiest. He also had to be careful, so he didn’t try asking around carelessly. Instead he went to a bar and asked about selling animal hides and such. He was directed to one such establishment and received money… It was coins, varying from bronze to silver to gold.
Nick has acquired knowledge on human currency.
He returned to the bar and ordered some food, then sat down in a corner. Instead of just eating he listened to the conversations going on around him. Usually it was some useless information.
He thought this would take days, but luckily some drunk idiots spilled the beans for him.
“Still, can’t believe that damn hero… After everything that was done for her… She goes and tries to betray us?”
“Don’t worry about her. The king locked her up in that sealing crystal… After enough time she’ll
see the error of her ways.”
“Doesn’t that crystal take the life away of the person in it though? It’s just a slow death.”
“Then what are we gonna do without our hero?”
“It drains the life you idiot! That means someone else can use it to fight. It’s perfect for us aura
users!”
“OH! That is perfect!”
The group started to laugh.
Nick calmly finished eating, paid, then left.
‘Traitor? Well whatever the case is… I’ll get the story myself!’
Chapter 10 - Alice the Hero
“Alice come on let’s go!”
“Coming!” Alice yelled, running after her friend.
She spent many of her childhood days running around with her friends.
“Run!”
“Bleh!” One of the boys stuck his tongue out.
“Serves them right!” Alice said with a puff. She turned to her friend,
“Are you alright?”
“SHE IS THE HERO!”
Everyone cheered.
“Isn’t that great? I can protect everyone now!”
“Y-yeah…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I gotta go.”
“O-oh… Okay.”
“I don’t understand! Why do I have to train by myself?”
“Because no one else will be able to keep up with you!”
“Why do I have to live here?”
“This place was built to train the hero! No where else will be suitable!”
“What about my family?”
“They can visit whenever they please!”
They never did.
Suddenly she was thrust awake. She felt like she had fallen on the ground.
“Fuck this!”
“Ni…ck?”
“Alice! Sorry. I fell.
” Nick said helping her to her feet.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Sorry. No time. I have to get you out of here.” Nick picked her up again and started to run.
Alice tried to take in her surroundings, but she was feeling weak. It was the capital.
“Nick just leave me… I can feel my life slipping away…”
“Hey! There they are!”
“GET HIM!!!”
“Damn it! I’m not leaving you Alice!”
Nick begins to sprint, straight to the castle.
“Nick why are we going there? You’ll die…”
“Because Nero has the item your aura was converted into! If I get that I’ll be able to save you!”
“You barely know me… Why are you…?”“I had a friend, that I let do something by themselves, just like you guys. I wasn’t close to him or anything, but I let something bad happen to them. Now I let history repeat itself. I should’ve followed you, but no I just had to be a loner! What the hell is-”
Alice managed to muster enough strength to cover his mouth.
“Nick stop. This isn’t your fault. I guess we were just too naive. We didn’t consider that some people actually want war.”
“Mmph!”
“Nick… thank you. For coming to see me…”
Alice managed to push Nick to the ground.
“Alice! What ar-”
She kissed Nick on the mouth,
‘Not even my closest friends or family came to see me… But you did.’
Nick could feel the last bits of her “Life” poured into him.
“Use… th… pe…”
And like that she was gone.
“Alice?” Nick shook her in denial, but he could feel it… She was gone.
“Oh.” he began to cry.
“Why? This was someone I met twice… I barely got to know her… So why?”
But he knew why. It was the guilt. He had been given a second chance at life, but made the same mistakes. Now because of him, someone lost a life that he could’ve prevented. He didn’t even have to go with them. Just tell of them of the reality that their childish dream was improbable. Even if ending the war was the logical answer… Humans almost never acted with logic, only emotion. To them the other races are threats, monsters, things that took the things and people they loved away from them.
“Alice told me to escape… But I won’t.”
Chapter 11 - Nero the First
Nick was empowered by the little aura Alice gave him. His body and armor were surrounded in a light-blue glow. He ran and jumped over the castle walls, bewildering his pursuers.
Meanwhile in the throne room…
“I can’t believe this! Who the hell helped her escape?!”
“M-my liege we don’t know yet but the knights are still after him!”
“We need the last bits of her measly life to complete the scarf!” The man wearing the crown said picking up the dark blue scarf which was surging with energy.
“Scarf?” Nick stopped running and turned around to where he heard that yell come from.
The doors to the throne room were cut apart.
“Huh?”
“S-sire!” the man wearing chancellor-like attire yelled stepping back.
“Oh!” Nick said eyeing the scarf.
The king scrambled to put it on, but Nick moved faster than he could see or react. Nick grabbed the scarf and put it on.
“You bastard! You took the last remnants of her aura!” The king yelled.
“Shut it Nero I. ” Nick put on the scarf around his neck. He could feel the aura Alice shared with him and the aura from the scarf combining to become whole once again. The scarf that had been dark blue turned light-blue signifying its completion.
“You bastard! Give that back!”
“Why? You killed her because she wanted peace? What makes you so fucking deserving of this? You don’t deserve this power.”
“You bastard!”
Nick disappears from sight, then reappears right in front of him with his huge sword up against his neck.
“I should kill you. But I won’t. Your lucky.” he said while looking past him, instead his eyes falling upon a light-blue ghost. Alice smiled at him, then disappeared.
Nick did the same. By jumping out the window. He easily escaped into the forest, his body enhanced by Alice’s aura.
“Phew. Barely even broke a sweat! Now then… That’s Nero I dealt with. Now then Nero’s II, III, and IV are left.”
With the death of the hero and the loss of her power, the humans were weakened.
However, the beasts, demons, and dragons all lost their own respective powerhouses.
And thus-
Chapter 12 - The Ultimate Punishment
Nick couldn’t sneak into the beast realm due to him not being a beast. Their enhanced senses could easily tell them he was human even with his armor hiding his features so… He fought his way in. Without being discreet about it he got his answer faster and easier than the last time. The princess had her senses stolen from her. It was the ultimate punishment for beasts, leaving them alive but without sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. They are then thrown in a cell and given food and water everyday while they just lie there wasting away. Their senses are then kept in a strange bottle, which when released returns the senses, after the punishment has been served. However it was unlikely that the princess would get her senses back. The people weren’t told the reason why, but apparently the princess had committed treason, against the people, the kingdom, and her own father.
“Bullshit.” Nick said, knocking out the guy that told him.
All the beast people had some sort of animal feature added to their mostly human bodies. Some had animal ears, some had animal noses, some even had scales on some parts of their bodies. It was always one feature, until they transformed into their full beast forms. Then they became werewolves, werecats, and were lizards. Upon seeing this, Nick was absolutely flabbergasted. It evened the playing field between the super-powered Nick and the transformed beasts. But only by a little bit, as thanks to Nick’s gift from the disembodied voice that referred to itself as “god” he was akin to a masterwith the sword, a powerful knight, and-
“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Nick said striking a wave of transformed beasts back, sending them all flying.
You get the point.
Chapter 13 - Diana the Princess
“Nothing is there. No, something is there. But I can’t tell. I can’t smell, feel, taste, see, or hear. It’s just darkness, I can speak, but I don’t know if anyone is there to listen. I won’t say I’m
surprised.”
“Father I-”
“Ah, Diana good you’re here. Let’s resume your training.”
“... Yes.”
…
“Should we ask her to play?”
“No way. She’s just a princess. She won’t be interested in us lowly commoners.”
“Yeah come on!”
…
“You’ll go ahead of the troops. Distract them on your own.”
“Yes father…”
“Ni…ck…”
Suddenly everything burst forth into her, information about the world, it surprised her, startled her, and paralyzed her.
“Diana!” Nick yelled.
“Nick?” Diana looked at him, his helmet had been broken, and he had a cut on his face, but otherwise he was fine.
“Nick!” Diana stumbled over to him, she fell but Nick caught her.
“What are you doing here?”
“Correcting my mistake, I came to save you. Luckily your dad didn’t have your senses on him. It was here.”
“I’m not surprised…”
Nick carried her on his back as they escaped…
“My liege. The intruder has taken the princ-”
“It matters not. She was only a tool. We will reclaim her. Simple as that.”
Chapter 14 - Nero the Second
It took a couple of months for Diana to regain even a little bit of her strength and body mass.
She was finally starting to look like her old self again.
“So Alice is dead…”
“Yeah.” Nick gripped the scarf.
“Nick what are you going-”
“Diana. I’m going to the demon kingdom and then the land of the dragons. Whatever happened to Medea and Leonore… I’ll find out. Then I’ll take them away from there. I buried Alice outside. I’ll do the same for the others.”
“Why are you so sure they’re already dead?”
“After Alice… I just assumed the worst. I was really happy to find you alive.”
“Nick… I-”
A loud crash. The house had been cut in half. It was Nero II, Diana’s father. In that massive attack he unleashed, Diana had lost her life.
“N… NOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Nick cried out.
“Ah. I broke the tool. Unfortunate. I will have to sire another.”
“NERO II YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!”
Nero II was a huge werewolf, one that easily tore his house and his tool apart with his claws.
“I’LL KI-” Nick stopped when he saw a bright orange ghost. Diana was pointing to something on the floor. It was a bottle, one that was familiar to him. Nick grabbed it and opened it while pointing it at Nero II.
“Wh-”
Nero II lost all his senses. Nick drank from the bottle. His senses were enhanced now.
“With this I can go to the demon kingdom.” Nick said.
“My liege!” the soldiers began to surround Nick.
“Don’t bother. I’m out of here.” Nick weaved past each and everyone one of them and escaped into the forest.
With the king’s loss of his senses, the army now prioritizes finding the one that has taken them and stealing it back. This will mean invasion of the demon kingdom. However with a loss of both the tool and the king this will-Chapter 15 - Invading the Demon Kingdom
“DAMMIT!” Nick yelled. He lost his home, Diana, and Alice all at once.
“So much for burying everyone there… Fine. I’ll have to hurry up then. Go save Medea. They don’t deserve her.”
“Wait what the hell is that smell? And what the heck is this popping up on my vision right now?
Oh wait… Diana mentioned something about being able to smell magic traps. So that’s what
these are…”Nick could see multiple glowing spots on the ground, all over the place. He jumped in between them as he traveled to the demon kingdom.
“With my senses enhanced I should be able to deal with the magic easily… Well hopefully. I need to find Medea and get out of here fast. Then I’ll… Well I don’t know…”
Nick finally made it to the wall of the city, where the demons upon noticing Nick’s lack of horns instantly retaliated by lobbing projectiles of multiple elements. Nick however, managed to weave past each and every piece of magic thrown at him, he was lightly grazed by a fireball.
“Damn it. I haven’t got the trick of it yet. But with the superstrength and enhanced senses my body is more in tune with itself.
Nick has attained all knowledge that pertains to magic, but he lacks the organ to use it…
A demon’s heart.
“... A demon’s heart? I’m not gonna steal one! Jeez!” Nick said to himself having taken out the guards.
Unfortunately the demons were a little more private than the beasts. Either they knew and just refused to tell or they didn’t know anything at all.
Meanwhile…
“My liege we’re under attack!”
“What? By who?”
“It seems a single human has invaded.”
“A single human?! Seriously! I’ll go myself!”
“Oh also… The beasts are also invading as well.”
“Oh. Of course the are!”
Chapter 16 - Beasts vs Demons vs Nick
As Nick was fighting his way through the demon kingdom, the beasts that pursued him to retrieve Nero II’s senses took advantage of the chaos Nick caused. This gave the beasts the upper hand as they easily destroyed any of the demons that attacked them. With this they were hot on Nick’s tail.
“Ah shit.” Nick led them to a wave of demon soldiers and ran past them.
“Well that worked out.” Nick saw a huge black castle in front of him.
“Hopefully Medea is there… ” Nick pushed on ahead towards the castle dodging magic projectiles and soldiers alike.
He cut down the gates and doors with ease and ran straight to the dungeons and catacombs.
Those are like basements for castles right?
No? Then he ran to the basement.
He checked every room, sometimes interrupting… well I’ll leave that to your imagination…
Eventually he got to the right room. Although this wasn’t a good thing exactly…
“Me…dea…”
In front of him was a lab, and hanging up on two meathooks was Medea’s torso, she was cut open with her guts and entrails hanging from her torso.
“It took a long time because of her magic energy… But we finally managed to excavate her heart my liege!”
“Just in time. We can… Who the hell?!”
“Nero III.” Nick said, he found himself bursting with rage, this time it felt like he really might kill one of the Neros, until he saw a bright purple ghost. Medea was pointing at a glowing red orb that Nero III was holding in his hands. Nick wasted no time going straight for that. He grabbed it while once again weaving past the magic projectiles shot at him.
“You bastard! Give that back!!!”
Nick looked at the orb, as soon as he touched it he recognized it as Medea’s heart. He looked at her, and she gestured for him to eat it, and smiled. Nick ate the heart.
Nick has acquired a demon heart. The requirements to use magic have been fulfilled.
“... FIRE!!!!!” Nick yelled from the bottom of his lungs, and so sprung forth a pillar of fire that burned a hole through the ceiling and extended all the way to the roof of the castle.While everyone was distracted by that pillar of flame Nick made his escape. And he headed straight for the land of the dragons.
Chapter 17 - Medea The Witch
“Isn’t as simple as that?”
“No way. Medea your freaky!”
“Yeah. No. you’re the one that’s weird.”
“That’s not right. Come on everyone back me up here!”
Everyone looked away from her.
It wasn’t until much later…
“Medea you did it!”
“You are the strongest!”
“MEDEA!!! MEDEA!!! MEDEA!!!”
“First the shun me… Now they sing my praises…” Medea sighed.
“Well, they just didn’t understand you at first. People fear what they don’t understand. But you aren’t a monster, just a prodigy, with excess magic power. ” Nero III said with a smile. But, these were his real thoughts:
‘I hate this stupid bitch. They think she’s more worthy to rule all
demonkind? This stupid bitch doesn’t even understand the first thing about ruling!’
Later…
“Peace?”
“Yes! I’m sure we can work together to achieve it!”
Nero III smiled. He walked over to Medea and hugged her.
‘FINALLY!!! An excuse to get rid of her!’
He killed her, right then and there. Then tried to rip out her heart. But her body healed the damage. He flinched. But she was dead.
It took ten years to finally get the heart out. But that wasn’t by chance, Medea’s heart held on…
Waiting for Nick to arrive. Her body and her soul, would only offer itself to him.
“GET BACK HERE WITH MY POWER!!!” Nero III screamed.
“Medea… Thank you for holding out for so long. Thank you. ” Nick buried her corpse back in the forest, where his destroyed house was. He also managed to bury Diana there as well.
“Now then… Leonore I’m off to see you.”
After the beasts invaded the demon kingdom, Both sides were heavily weakened. Neither could give chase after Nick. The humans without their hero dared no-Chapter 18 - Dragons and Volcanoes
Nick was grateful he could use magic now. It was really hot in the land of the dragons, on account of the volcanoes and such. He used a mix of wind and ice magic to keep himself cool.
His real problem was the dragons. Most of the ones he saw where small lizards, and were likely just wyverns. He couldn’t avoid them, so he ended up killing them by infusing his sword with the
Alice’s aura and Medea’s magic. There were some full-sized dragons, but their necks were easy targets. Nick wouldn’t learn this until later but dragons were actually weak to aura, or “life”.
“Huh… So humans are weak to magic, but strong against dragons. Demons have a difficult time dealing with the beasts who can sense and predict their magic attacks, but have an advantage against humans. Beasts can easily beat demons, but not dragons. So it’s kind of like a rpg weakness system. But not exact. These weaknesses only really mattered to their strongest… Alice, Leonore, Medea, and Diana…”
Nick soon discovered a problem. Only Leonore could turn human, so there was no city for him to invade.
“Crap. They might’ve even just burned her corpse… If they could even kill her.”
Just then a familiar-looking dragon came crashing down on top of him. But right before it crushed him to death, Leonore transformed into her human form. Nick then caught her so her body didn’t smash like paste into the ground (If that would have even happened).
“Leo-”
“Nick! Heh… right on time. I just lost to those bastards.” she pointed up to the sky where multiple giant dragons were circling the skies.
“What? Wha-”
“I’ve decided to wipe out the dragons… They won’t listen to reason. So I decided to kill them all. I’m guessing by your face, the others didn’t make it.”
“Yeah, they’re all gone. It’s my fault…”
“What no it isn’t! This was our own choice. You had no obligation to us. We were just freeloaders. ” Leonore pats Nick’s head.
“Although you seem to have suffered a lot. Sorry but I’m not gonna make it either. So take my power.”
“Huh? How are you gonna…”
Leonore created a small glowing ball of energy.
“Nick will you accept this? If you do I need you to kill all the dragons here… Cause I can’t do that.”
“If that’s what you want. I’ll do it.”
Nick grabbed the ball of energy with his dominant hand. The energy began to flow into his arm, more energy poured into it from Leonore’s body, as it began to glow slowly and break apart.
“Thank you… ” Leonore said with a smile.
Chapter 19 - Leonore the Dragon Queen
She was always the strongest around. She easily defeated the other dragons that challenged her.
But because of that, she was alone. She could live for as long as wanted, but she was alone.
Eventually she grew sick of fighting and of challenge. But her fellow dragons wanted nothing but to fight and destroy.
She grew sick of them. She grew sick of war. But she had no one to share those sentiments with.
Until she met Nick, and then thanks to him she met the others who thought like her. She knew it was naive, but she hoped they would succeed. Otherwise nothing would change. So she decided to wipe out all dragons. A hard task even for the strongest apparently. She fought nonstop for ten long years… And just as her goal was in sight… Her body failed her. She would fall to her death… But then Nick of all people caught her.
Nick’s dominant arm began to glow, it was full of draconic power.
“If I combine this with magic and aura…”
Nick then poured both magic and aura into his sword, layering his arm and sword with pure power… He swung it into the air.
What followed was a huge explosion in the air that absolutely decimated the area and all that lived within it. The entire region was razed to the ground, no lava, magma, or volcanoes were This attack shook the entire continent, the explosion could be seen by everyone in the left. Realm.
With the massive explosion… It marked the end of the dragons. They were all gone. No
trace left. The humans, beasts, and demons were all severely weakened. So they all were
forced into a cease-fire. Which eventually turned into a truce. Nero I and III, as well as a new king of the beasts, signed a peace treaty. The war was over.
Chapter 20 - Nick
He walked back home and made one more grave. This last one would have no one to be buried under it… But it was Leonore’s grave.
He stood in front of their graves and almost started crying.
…
“I'm gonna go right up to them. And convince them to stop this madness!”
“Ok… Why are you telling me?”
“I don’t know? I guess cause you don’t really care either way. Well, see ya!”
“Ok fine…”
Later on…
There was a huge crowd, Nick pushed through them to see what was happening… when he saw their corpse hanging from a wooden pole. There were signs of torture.
“This is what happens when you speak out against us! Understand?”
Nick normally didn’t care about this stuff. But for some reason… He was angry. He ran up the stage, weaved past the guards, stole a weapon, and stabbed those bastards in the throats. Just like that, he stopped the madness. However, he was shot by one of their guns that misfired. His home was saved from the tyrants, but he died.
…
This place was no different. He didn’t care anymore.
Nick would die five years later… All the power he accumulated was too much for his vessel.
He would end up in the underworld, where he would reunite with Alice, Medea, Diana, and Leonore.
I hope he heard what I said at the end there… Don’t repeat the same mistake. Get
involved if you get the chance. Then you’ll lead a life of happiness, Nick.
Now I have to go and die…
“That was a god? What a joke…”
“That was a low-tier one, idiot. Don’t get full of yourself. We still have yet to meet a real one…”
The two mysterious figures squabbled over the god they just murdered.
Nick will return.
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