In the plains of a medieval world, a raging battle has been put to an end. Bodies covered with golden blood littering the battlefield, only one person stands amongst the remains. As the divine blood slowly drips from his broken blade, the man, covered in cuts and scars, slowly casts his gaze upward. With tears in his eyes, he lets out a bestial scream that could shake both heaven and hell.
Suddenly he wakes up, still screaming. Through hardened breathes, he slowly analyzes the room he is currently in. While sitting in the dark, desolate room, Leon remembers the events that had led to his current predicament.
He had been summoned to this world with four other people. However, he was not supposed to be there. As the others were whisked away in a bright light, he found himself standing alone with the deities that had summoned him.
They all stared at him, for what felt like years. Finally, a god, dressed in a pure white suit, broke the silence. With a voice that shook his very soul, the god told him he wasn't supposed to be there. As the god sighed in annoyance, he offered to send Leon to the farthest reaches of Erdos, this new fantastical world. He said it was so he could live freely, but the way he spoke gave his intentions away. It was clear that he was hoping Leon would die so this mistake could be forgotten. For some reason, though, this started an argument between the deities that stood before him. Leading the argument was a god dressed in pitch black armor with red accents, honestly he looked like your typical villain.
"Skabelse!" The god shouted. "Your supposed to be the creation god! How could you cast out someone you FORCED out of his world, just to make it seem like you didn't make a mistake!"
With that the gods had started to take sides. Most chose to follow Skabelse, while a handful joined the god in black.
Before anyone could react, a portal opened at Leons feet. Causing him to fall to the world below. At nineteen years old, Leon Smith was ripped from everything he knew, then casually tossed away, to be forgotten by time. Before he realized it, he had crashed into the ground and slowly started losing consciousness. showing himself in his mind, the god in black proceeded to introduce himself as Krieg, the war god of this world. He explained the differences between Erdos and Leons old world. The main ones being the effects of the gods in this world, and the magic that flowed in everything. He was told that the people who were favored by the gods had been gifted the title of "disciple", and they were on top in this world. To the extent of being above laws and even commanding royalty.
As their conversation concluded, Krieg bowed and said with a simple smile. "I'm sorry that all of this has been forced upon you, so i am going to make you my one and only disciple. I understand this cannot undo the injustices brought upon you, so i have given you a little extra power so you may live as free as you wish. I wish you well in your new life"
Returning to Leon in the damp and gloomy room, he was currently in the dungeon of an empire who had been asked to end a war. When the army had arrived at the battlefield, everyone was in utter shock. Between the two armies that were supposed to number in the tens of thousands, there was but one survivor, completely covered in blood. He was covered in cuts and scars, had long brown hair that hadn't been kept in months, a warn out pair of pants and a slave bracelet. He had passed out on his feet, so the soldiers took the opportunity to cuff him and cover the cuts so he didn't end up bleeding out before the healers got to him. As the healers began healing him, he was able to regain consciousness. Taking him into custody, some mages decided to release him from his slave contract. The moment the bracelet fell from his arm, his mana started swirling around him but due to his injuries, and blood loss, he collapsed.
As Leon sat in his cell, remembering the past, he heard the clicking of shoes slowly approaching him. Turning to see who was approaching, a haunting memory blew through his mind. Standing before him now was a beautiful young woman. She just so happened to be Leon's first and only love since coming to this world, but she was also the reason he had ended up being sold as a slave. She had a smile that could bewitch anyone, regardless of gender.
Speaking softly she spoke. "Oh, my. It's been almost two years. I'm surprised your still alive." Laughing as she spoke. "Now then, since your awake, my husband, the king, would like to have a conversation with you."
In the calmest voice he could muster, Leon retorted. "Well, Lilith. I see your still jumping from noble to noble." He smiled, a provocative and sarcastic voice tone in his voice. "If you think your husband, the so called 'king', can intimidate me, then you have another thing coming."
Lilith had been Leons lover back when he was an adventurer, although she didn't know a single thing about his adventuring life. Not his rank, party, skills, or even his strength. the only thing she knew about was how much he brought back after a quest.
Handcuffing him, the guards escorted him to the thrown room. In the room he found the king and his advisors waiting at by the thrown. When Leon analyzed the king, he could tell he was in his mid-thirties who looked like he didn't know anything. and to be honest, he was right. The king had achieved the thrown because the previous king lost the rest of his family and he happened to be the old kings nephew.
The king went on to introduce himself and his advisors, but Leon couldn't have cared less about them. After all, this scene wasn't going to play out for very long.
"Your majesty," Leon spoke, cutting off the king. "Before you continue your endless ramblings, you should know one key detail."
"And what would that be, slave?" The king asked in an irritated voice.
"The laws of this world shall be followed. As a disciple of Krieg, I will have your wife's head on a sword by the end of this day." Leon smirked. "Since, not only did she sell me into slavery, but she also attempted to have me executed by you and your men."
Everyone in attendance looked completely appalled, most thought it was a joke and proceeded to start laughing. The king, who seemed amused, ordered for a mage to be brought in to appraise Leon. After a few moments, the mage who was appraising Leon stopped and screamed. Backing away slowly the mage whispered. "Oh gods, he is a disciple." They all looked at Leon, fear creeping into their minds, as he began to laugh.
"Your majesty," Leon said, slowly looking around the room. His eyes locking on one person who was deathly pale. "From the looks of it, your general over there has figured out exactly who i am." the king looked over to the grizzled old man, who had fought in several wars, and realized the man was currently shivering in fear.
Through the terror in his voice, the man spoke. "His name is Leon Smith, or more commonly known as 'The Walking Cataclysm'." As his name left the mans mouth, an ominous pulsing noise could be heard slowly getting louder. With a psychotic grin covering his face, Leon slowly allowed his pitch black mana to leak out, engulfing everything in the room.
In a psychotic voice, Leon shouted. "I am here because I allowed you to capture me," /making eye contact with the king. "If you would have just killed her, I would have left without making a fuss. but now, I am going to have to kill you all." With those words said, Leon's mana started to engulf the room and with everything it touched, death followed.
As the darkness slowly vanished, bodies began being revealed one by one. The only one who survived was Leon, who was currently looking at his cracked status plate, completely undisturbed by the death that surrounded him.
"Huh, it really takes a lot to level up nowadays." He mumbled to himself, a tinge of depression n his voice. "Between everyone here and all those in the battle, i only gained one level. Well, i guess i am level 373. From what i have learned, most people don't even make it to level 50. I wonder what the 'heroes' levels are?" With that, Leon his way to the next town.
A few nights after the incident in the empire, Leon finds himself sitting in an open spot by the road. As he sat beside the fire, he watched the start in the sky.
"I will never get used to how beautiful this sky is." He said in an astounded voice, a smile creeping onto his face. "After all, i never really got used to seeing the stars in my old world." His voice was slowly becoming more and more depressed as he spoke and remembered all the people that he had left behind. Still staring at the sky, he notices a meteor shower starting to fill the sky.
Mesmerized by the spectacle in front of him, Leon failed to realize that one of the meteors were currently heading straight for him. Before he was able to react, it crashed about one hundred meters ahead of him. Running as fast as he could, he arrived to find a crater and inside it he found a person who felt very familiar. While the person was covered in golden blood and missing an arm, it was hard for Leon to not recognize him.
"Krieg!" Leon screamed, rushing into the hole.
Indeed, this was the same god that had stood up for him, helped him, and even granted him power.
"What happened to him?" Leon asked himself as he rushed to the gods side. As Krieg lay there dying, he asked Leon to do him a favor. He asked him to become the successor to his power, so it would not be lost forever.
This would be considered a class change in this world. Leon's level would reset, his stats would drop, but he would gain incredible skills and abilities.
"With this power, you would be considered a demi-god." Krieg explained, panting in pain. "Once you reach a certain level of mastery, your class would be upgraded to god of war."
Without hesitating, Leon accepted immediately. This was his way of thanking the god for all that he had done for him. Smiling, Krieg thanked Leon, the last of his life fading from his eyes. as Leon sat there, starting to cry, he noticed small specs of light leaving Krieg and starting to circle him.
As the specs of light passed through Leon, he could feel his power being sapped away. But they were immediately replaced by a new warmth. When the lights started fading, Leon realized that, no matter how much he tried, he was no longer a normal human. What he didn't realize though was, there could not be a great change without pain.
Leon's body starting pulsing, as his DNA started to be re-written to accommodate for the power that was to come. His hair turned from brown to pitch black, and his pupils, which were once green, turned into a deep crimson. The pain was excruciating, as his bones and muscles were broken and ripped apart, then forced back together to strengthen them. If hell could be felt, then Leon was currently in the deepest level he could be. As the pain stopped, Leon stared at Krieg's body with tears in his eyes, both from pain and sadness. He decided he should give the god a proper burial, since it was likely the other gods that had killed him.
Kneeling with his hand laying on the freshly piled dirt, Leon thanked him one last time for all the sacrifices he had made to help him. As the sun came up, Leon continued on his journey to find somewhere peaceful to live his life.
Several weeks had passed since Krieg's death, Leon currently finds himself in a smaller town, a population of no more than two hundred people. Walking past people and buildings, Leon stopped in front of one particular building, with a familiar sign, the adventurers guild. The memories of his past racing through his mind. Pushing them aside, he made his way inside. Every step to the counter earned him a new set of eyes that followed him.
Finally reaching the counter, the receptionist appeared, seemingly popping into existence, slightly startling him.
"Hello," she said with a joyful grin on her face. "Welcome to the Burg adventurers guild. How may i be of service today?"
Recovering slightly, Leon replied. "I'm here to re-register as an adventurer. I was sold as a slave and freed, so all of my information is either expired or gone."
"Alright, so your going to need a new ID card then." She replied with a knowing smile. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, I will gladly help you re-register. Oh yeah, my name is Rebecca, but most people just call me Becky or Becca."
Gesturing for Leon to follow her, she led him to a small room where the registration test would be held. Inside the room was a small cart holding clear cards, and a crystal ball sitting on a blanket. The small clear cards were status plates, which showed age, level, gender, stats, skills, rank, and an image of the owner. The owner has a choice to keep things on the card hidden if they deemed it necessary. These are the main source of identification in this world.
As he was looking over his new status plate, Rebecca wheeled the cart in front of him.
"This crystal ball shows your affinity for magic and the color of ones mana. the higher the affinity one has for magic the fuller the crystal will get, if it fills the crystal then it means you have an affinity for any type of magic. Although, that has only happened with the heroes." She seemed to have a really giddy attitude as she was explaining.
Since Leon had done this before, he had a rough idea of what would happen. However, recent events had made him a bit curious if things had changed or not. He placed his hand on the crystal and, to his surprise, not only had his magic affinity increased, but the color of his mana did as well. Normally, his mana was pitch black, almost devoid of all light, but now the black had swirls of red and even flakes of gold mixed within.
"Its so beautiful." Rebecca muttered, not even realizing she had been completely mesmerized and was blushing so much her face looked red. Realizing her mistake she quickly apologized and offered to buy him a drink for the trouble.
"Its okay." Leon said, cutting her off. "You took the words right out of my mouth. And while i appreciate the offer, i will have to decline the drink. Its been hard for me to trust myself getting close to people lately."
"I understand." She whispered. sounding a little disappointed.
As she turned to leave the room, she turned to Leon, bowed, and said. "I hope you find peace, people you can trust, and safety and success on your adventures."
After finally finding an inn for the night, he laid on the bed, beating himself up for rejecting her offer.
"Seriously, what is wrong with me?" He said in a depressed tone. "She was was really nice, and honestly really cute. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a nice body. She was perfect.
Now that he had gotten his revenge on Lilith, he didn't have any goals to aim for other than surviving.
"What do i do now? The gods left me for dead, Krieg is gone, the only woman i loved sold me to slavery, and i was extremely rude to the receptionist. What do i do now? Where do i go? I wonder how my family is doing."
For the first time since he was dropped into this world, he reminisced about the past and began to cry as he fell asleep.
As Leon was asleep, a small shadowy figure slowly crept into his room and slowly made its way to him, careful no to wake him. Standing beside his bed, it slowly reached out to touch him. However, before it was able to, Leon pinned it to the bed, its arms locked behind its back.
"Who the hell are you?" Leon ordered as he cast some light magic to illuminate the room. "Wait, Rebecca? What the hell are you doing here?" Leon asked in an exhausted tone.
"Well, well." she said giggling, the smell of booze radiating off her. "If you were just going to pin me down anyway, maybe i should have skipped the offer all together."
With an exasperated sigh, Leon released her so she could explain.
"I wanted to see your mana again." She explained, blushing from both embarrassment and alcohol. "It was just so beautiful, it was almost addicting."
Realizing there was no getting out of it, Leon sighed and walked over to the table in his room. Sitting in a chair across from him, Rebecca watched as he raised his had and balled mana in his palm. The bigger the ball got, the more distinct and radiant the colors became. Once it got to the same size as a soccer ball, you could clearly see the crimson flowing in the black like a flowing river, the specs of gold making it look like waves crashing. She was staring at the ball, like nothing else existed, so close that it seemed like she would be sucked into it if she wasn't careful.
As she was string at the ball she noticed his hands were covered in scars. She followed his hand, down and up his arm, then finally seeing the scars that riddled his body from the years of fighting he had endured. Remembering how he told her that he was once a slave, her eyes started pooling with tears and she asked. "How could they sell someone as amazing as you into slavery?"
That question had caught Leon off guard. Should he tell this random person what happened? As he contemplated he noticed how hard she was holding back her tears. He decided it would be better to tell someone that to keep it to himself. With a deep breathe, Leon told her the truth.
"She decided that i didn't have enough social status. So, she went from noble to noble until someone would listen to her. He said taking a breathe, slowly regaining his composure. "She told people i was a thief, a bandit, a murderer, anything she could think of. Eventually, i came back from a mission and was immediately taken into custody of the royal knights. The noble she convinced had ties with the empires king, and she sold me off. She became his wife, all while i was being tortured and forced to kill in wars i wanted nothing to do with."
He looked up at Rebecca, and she looked to be in utter despair. Before he could do anything to ease her mind, tears started streaming down her face. Eventually, she ended up crying herself to sleep. Staring out the window of his room, as she slept in his bed, Leon could see the sun coming up over the horizon.
With the sun shining and the birds chirping, Rebecca shot up from the bed. Panicking, she could only muster out one word. "Why?"
Sensing her confusion, Leon explained the events of the previous night, but to his surprise she cut him off.
"I'm asking why you allowed me to stay, even after i forced you to remember something so horrible." She said in a sad, subdued voice.
Smirking, Leon replied, "I'm not really sure why i told you any of that, but you seem like a person i could trust."
"I'm glad i can be," She said softly. "But i still don't understand why you're here. Why live like this?"
Leons smile faded slightly. "Its a long story," He said. "One mi not sure I'm ready to tell just yet."
"I have time," She smiled, saying softly. "And I'm a great listener."
Leon smiled at her, his grin relaxed. "I bet you are, beautiful" He said as his grin turned mischievous. "But, I'm sure your needed at the guild."
"Oh, shit!" She yelled, jumping up from the bed. "I get out at 5. I expect to see you again." And with that, she bolted to the adventurers guild.
Leon spent most of his day exploring his new status plate and the various new skills and abilities that had appeared on it. His stats we as follows:
Strength-165
Agility-145
Intelligence-200
Defence-190
Mana pool-700
There were also a few skills that had caught his attention. Those being Vanish Step, Intimidation, Skill Steal, Instant Adaptation, War Gods Fury, and Spell Creation. most of his new skills made sense to him, but.... Spell Creation? Leon was a disciple of the war god not the creation god. Sadly for Leon, reading the description didn't really help either.
"Your head, heart, and magic must be in sync to create a spell? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Leon asked in an irritated voice. He realized he could create small spells if it was something he actually cared about, like cleaning and storing his items. So long as his heart and mind wanted the same thing, but they couldn't be huge spells.
After picking up Rebecca from the guild, she continuously harassed him into joining an adventure party with her. Weirdly enough, she used to be an A-rank healer, but she would always be followed by creeps while she was on missions, so she decided to become a receptionist. With her fascination with Leon's mana, or as she calls it "addiction", she wants to start adventuring again. She seemed to have the ability to blip into existence whenever Leon let his guard down. Whether he was shopping, training, cooking, or even bathing, she would blip in and harass him into submission. Whenever she failed, she would come back more determined.
After weeks of this, Leon finally gave in and agreed to form a party with her. He explained that they would need a tank, mage and a ranged fighter before they could create the party.
"So you don't care who they are, as long as they are skilled?" she asked, wearing a smile that should have set off alarms in Leon's head. Thanks to Rebecca's constant harassment, however, he was so mentally exhausted that he just agreed immediately.
"If you cant find a tank, then i can cover it myself," He said, half asleep. "I am pretty decent when it comes to defense." Rebecca screeched cheerfully as she vanished into the night, targeting her prey.