Inside what seemed to be a void, the figure of a young man, bare naked, hovered all alone.
Ken opened his eyes, 'Huh? Where am I? Am I In the afterlife?' Ken observed his surroundings, all around him was a complete void, not a single thing could be seen there, except darkness. Not a single sign of life, other than he himself, was present.
'This sure is a strange place. I don't think I've ever heard of something like this, or maybe I have,'
'I wish I could destroy all this... and go back. Let's see. If I could still use my powers, then, I'd be able to erode this place, maybe make it collapse on a big level, disintegrate it,'
'Ouch, if I did that wouldn't I get hurt? I'd definitely need some resistance to it. Adaptation is a core principle, too. What? I don't think I'm the type to think all this, atleast not this much.'
A strange metallic voice rang in Ken's Head.
'Huh? What was that? I can't be hallucinating right now, can I?' However, the voice continued.
Succesful>
Suddenly, a brilliant burst of light rose from the corner of Ken's eyes, immediately engulfing his sight, his whole being.
****
Ken opened his eyes, once again, and the first thing he saw was the blurry sight of a woman. "He's so cute... why isn't he crying, though?" The lady said, her tone laced with concern.
"Hmm... something is strange." A man walked towards the woman, and she gently placed the baby in his arms.
The man wore a doctor's attire, a white coat. He had small, jet black hair, and his brown eyes reflected the sight of the baby in his arm's perfectly.
Before he could do whatever though, the baby started crying. The woman took a sigh of relief, relieved to know that there was no need to worry.
"Let me hold him too." A mature male voice tinged with mischief called out, and a man seemingly in his mid twenties, entered the spacious hall. Both the doctor and the woman smiled, and the former gently handed over Ken to the man who had just appeared.
"Be careful, Jin." The woman said.
"Come on Elena, I know how to hold a baby." The man, Jin, replied and turned to his friend, Luke.
"Luke, thanks a lot for coming here, even though I called you so urgently." Jin said, holding his baby in a warm embrace, and extended his right hand forward while holding his baby with the left.
Luke extended his left hand and completed the handshake. "No problem, Jin. It's just in my job that emergencies are so important, it is in all professions, but being a doctor definitely demands it a lot. And, you're also a very dear friend of mine. So, yeah, there's no problem this side."
After some moments of important talks and some idle chat, Jin walked out of the house with his friend, and soon came back with Ken.
"Jin! Take care of Alex! I'm going to the market, alright? I'll be back in just a bit!" Ken's—Alex's mother called out to her husband, Jin, as she grabbed a bag from the hall and stopped for a reply.
"Okay!"
****
Jin walked up to his bedroom and laid down, putting Alex beside him, and covered him with a small baby blanket.
'So... it seems like I've been reincarnated. But... where? Where is this place? I know for sure that this is not the same world as mine, I can sense it. This world has a more lively vibe, but it's also less powerful than mine. It's all quite fuzzy and complicated. Argh! I'm being driven crazy! I'm not the type to ponder all this—Or am I? I want to know it, I wish to know the truth!'
Ken's eyes widened—or what he thought happened.
'I see. I can finally come to a conclusion, that this voice... It's actually telling me about the skills I'm acquiring,'
'But is it that easy to just think about something and acquiring one? I don't think so. Then... yeah! It can be. Maybe these skills... I'm gaining them because of my strong desire, or something close to it,'
'Well, I was definitely known to be extremely smart in my past life, I was considered a prodigy. So, I believe I might... might just be right. If so, then I can use this strange desire and this overwhelming headache to gain many, many skills!'
Ken—Alex, turned to look at his new father, he was a tall man who seemed to be in his mid twenties if one were to look at the person by normal means—however, Ken could tell that the man, infront of him, was, infact, quite old.
This father of his was quite charming, he had raven black hair and azure eyes.
'He's really different than that old man of mine. His presence pales in comparison to that old geezer, so does his cunning and whatnot. As far as I can see, he seems to be a lovable person, but, well, let's wait and watch.'
'Anyways, I have a lot to do. I don't have time to ponder on such trivial matters. The goal that I have in mind will either be sown or be destroyed from it's non-existent roots in the upcoming days. I'll have to learn a lot more about this world.'
****
Fourteen years later:
THWACK! THWACK!
The sound of two wooden swords clashing against eachother could be frequently heard in Mr. and Mrs. Aulbert's garden. The sight of three figures, two male and one female, two young adults and a young child, was what greeted Lady Rose. The young boy and the young man were dueling in the southern-left corner of their garden, which was covered in soil.
The young boy sprang back as the tall young man, his father, with raven black hair and a pair of azure eyes, stepped forward and swung his short sword vertically,
Instead of dodging though, the young boy, Alex, enchanced the durability and resilience of his sword through magic, and blocked the strike.
But, he did not stop there, he suddenly dissapeared and reappeared in the air infront of his father, delivering a strike to his head, but the young man swung his sword in a wide arc, exerting immense force, deflecting the strike and throwing back his son by the force.
The young boy spun in the air and dropped down, elegantly. He stopped for a moment, before a blue aura surrounded him, rising and falling likes tides.
'I see. So am I about to witness the great, "Azure Serpent" Style?'
The young boy pressed down his weight, forming slight tremors on the frail soil, with time, they increased in magnitude. But, suddenly, the young boy turned back, his back finally not to Lady Rose, "Aunt Rose! What are you doing there? Peeking and all." Alex called out to Rose with his half-matured voice, tinged with matureness unexplainable for his age.
"Oh! Nothing really, Junior. I was just curious, that's all. It seems my cover is blown," Rose said with a smirk she stepped inside, "You kinda ruined the fun, you see." She continued.
As Rose reached and stopped near Alex, she raised a hand and caressed his hair, "You've grown quite a lot since I last saw you, Alexander."
"Oh! And you've also grown quite handsome, like your father." Rose patted Alex on the head and turned to look at his father, and took a step forward.
"How have you been? Sister." Jin extended his arm and Rose followed. "Quite well." Rose replied back as both did a handshake.
Then, she turned to look at Jin—no, behind him. "Hey, Elena!" Rose shouted as she saw a beautiful young woman with beautiful light auburn hair and turquoise eyes approach them.
"Hello, Rose." Elena greeted the beauty with raven black hair and the same azure eyes as Jin. Both took some steps forward and did a hug.
"How have you been?" Asked the young woman with auburn hair.
"Fine, really." Rose said as they broke the hug.
Jin approached the two women alongwith his son, "So, how did things go? I hope there weren't too many loses this time."
Rose turned back, her expression had darkened a little and tired.
"Well, actually. We had to fight a greater demon. The casualties weren't much. But, you know I don't like giving casualties a quantifiable amount and talking if it's much or less. Every single life counts."
Jin smiled bitterly and nodded.
"Yes, that is true."
Elena put her hand on Rose's shoulder.
"You must be tired, Rose. You should go get some rest."
Rose looked at Elena over her shoulder and said, "Yes, you're right."
Elena took Rose inside of the house, to get her to freshen up and take some rest.
Meanwhile, Jin and Ken headed outside, in the village, as per their daily routine.
****
Ken walked beside his father. 'It had been quite a while since Aunt Rose had went for the expedition with the others in the forest of Jura.'
Ken's—Alex's family—or lineage was quite an influential figure in the Eastern Empire, they controlled the south-western parts of the Eastern Empire, this place was situated quite far from the actual south-eastern part of it, though.
Their bloodline was scattered all over the Eastern Empire. Actually, Ken's Father and Aunt were descendants of the great 'Azure clan.' Which had been situated by Ken's or his body's Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, known as the "Azure Serpent."
The Azure Serpent was a Saint that had brought many Arch-Daemons to their knees.
He was a truly fearsome warrior, at least that was what he knew. But, that wasn't the thing that earned him the name—The Azure Serpent. He had a skill that allowed him to take on the form of an Azure Serpent—one that had devoured thousands of demons. One whose belly desired only Demons.
Because of that, when Ken developed a battle art of his own, it became famous in the village and the villages surrounding it as "The Azure Serpent Style." Ken didn't care to carry about the legacy of some old legend, he didn't care what people called his art.
The Azure Serpent Style was really flexible, sharp and lethal. First of all, Ken used his own magicules and the ones surrounding him to strengthen his body to a great degree, after that, he synchronised with his mind and soul.
All he did afterwards, if seen by a normal person, could be called a death dance, wherever the Azure Serpent Style was performed, death always followed, the bodies of hundreds of beasts littered the ground and a river of blood surrounded them.
Over the years, Ken had developed into a fearsome warrior himself. He travelled far and wide with his father, his aunt and even the other descendants of the Azure Clan, sometimes, and grew and grew. Eventually, being hailed as a prodigy among prodigies.
Well, that wasn't surprising—Not for Ken because he had always been one in his previous life, from the moment he was born, his fate was sealed. He was born into the royal family of one of the Empires, as a Prince. And it wasn't surprising for the others because they believed he was a chosen one of the Azure clan or possibly even the reincarnation of the Azure Serpent himself.
It was all a big misunderstanding, but Ken did not care. He had goals that far outreached these villages, this empire, this world. It was a goal aimed outside of the reality known to even the greatest beings of the Cardinal World.
It was to return home, avenge himself for he had been wronged. He wasn't that passionate about it at first, but then, he gained powers, powers that were exactly what he needed. This world had the perfect opportunity for him.
If he didn't decide to act on it, and just died in this world without doing anything, what would all the talks about great purpose back In his world, he had with the others, mean?
Great things didn't mean much to Ken, but, he wanted to do this. He wanted to return back to his world, he wanted to destroy it. If needed, he would destroy this world too—for he did not belong to any world, he was an outlier.
An abandoned, one abandoned from the world he was born in, a world that itself had once been abandoned, and now back in a world that had been abandoned. It all started with abandoning and ended with it.
A/N: Please read the Author's Thoughts.