Chapter 1

I was bleeding bad; the red blood was gushing out of the stab wound I had just received from some strange, hooded man. I tried to keep the wound covered but nothing would help, it just wouldn't stop bleeding. I knew my life was ending and I couldn't do anything about it. This is so pathetic. Being killed without even seeing what happened to me. All my experience and training turned to nothing.

I wonder what people will think when I die, will anyone even care. I wasn't particularly close with my family or anything, I was quite distant with even my friends. There's only one person who I could see caring and that was my next-door neighbour. She was amazing. She had silky blonde hair that you couldn't help but stare at when you saw her, and those emerald eyes of hers were just to die for. She would come and check on me every day at least once to make sure I was okay and that I was eating properly, and occasionally she would bring round some ramen to eat and we would eat it together while we watched the TV.

Maybe I should've asked her on a date sometime but never mind that now, it's too late. She probably would've said no anyway.

My eyes start to close, and I know this is signalling the end of my life and if I shut them, I'll never be able to open them again, but I don't care. I can't say I had the best of lives; I was involved in a lot of shady things such as underground fights to the death. All because of the one-time my friend needed some help with a delivery, and I agreed, it got me in with this mafia lord, that pretty much controlled the whole of our city, and he ended up forcing me to do these fights to the deaths. He threatened me by saying if I didn't, he would kill me himself and it won't be a quick and painless death, it would be a slow and painful one.

My eyes finally close and I enter into the dark abyss of the afterlife. People say you can see a replay of your whole life in about 7 minutes but that was obviously a lie as all I could see was just pitch-black darkness, it was a never-ending void.

Well, it was just a pitch-black void.

I can see a tiny white light in the distance, and it looks as if it's getting bigger and bigger. Wait it's not getting bigger; it's just getting closer and at a really fast rate. I prepare myself for impact, but nothing happens until I hear a faint voice of a woman saying "Congratulations, it's a beautiful baby boy!".

I try to move but none of my body parts are able to muster up the strength. All I can do is look around, so I decide to look around and see what kind of situation I am in. I can feel myself being handed over to another person to carry me and as I look up to see who it was, I see a gorgeous woman.

She had lovely brown hair which looked like it was taken care of by at least 3 people every day. And she had beautiful brown eyes that matched her hair so perfectly. She held me with care and rocked me slowly.

Confusion takes over. Have I been born again? Have I been reincarnated into this world? These questions filled my head. It's the only possibility to explain all of this. The woman holding me must be my new mother, and I have no complaints if that is true.

I then see a tall man lean over to see me; I'm guessing it must be my father. He has a strong build; he has large muscles all over his body, it must have taken him years to get to that point. He has short black hair as well which looks as though he just slicks it over with a comb quickly in the morning. He has pearlescent green eyes that when you look into make you feel cosy and warm.

I need to assess my surroundings a bit more to get an understanding of where I am. As I look around, I can just see that I'm in some old wooden cottage, but it didn't look bad at all. It looked amazing. All the walls and floors were wooden, and the place was decorated beautifully. There was a really nice fireplace that was lit, and I could hear the crackling of the wood as it burns up.

While I'm looking around, I can just hear my new parents talking and them saying about what a good job they have done to make such a beautiful baby and some other sappy stuff.

They sound like they are perfect for each other; they laugh at all the same things and they always know what the other person is going to say before they say it and finish each other's sentences. They must love each other so much. I hope I don't cause any problems because back on earth a lot of arguments between parents came from having troubles with their child. I'll just try and be the best child I can possibly be for them.

My mother just lay down with me in her arms for a while and my father lay next to her and got her anything she wanted while she was resting after the birth of myself and during this because I was a new-born I could just lie there and listen to their conversations.

I was there listening for a good hour and I learnt that there are people who go by the title of manipulators, these people are able to manipulate the energy around them and turn them into the 4 basic elements: fire, water, earth and air. Usually, people are only able to manipulate one or two of these, however, my mother can manipulate 3 of them, those three are water, earth and air and my father can manipulate 2, fire and air. You can also use the energy around you for physical enhancement to make you stronger or faster or you can store it into your weapon to make it stronger.

People who are able to manipulate usually become adventurers and create parties with other adventures and go on missions to keep people safe. They are usually made to go to places called domains which were pretty much dungeons with monsters and other scary things. My parents were also adventurers, but my mother resigned from that life when she found out she was going to have me, and my father is still an adventurer. That explains the big muscles.

Once my mother had her long rest her and my father took me to my room where I was going to be sleeping and they tucked me in tightly and they both gave me a kiss on the forehead. I can't remember the last time someone has done that; I could feel the warmth of their lips and a strong sense of love for me coming from them. I never wanted this moment to end but I knew that it would probably come again.

I shut my eyes and try to fall asleep quickly as to make the next day come faster.