Waking up in space is a disconcerting experience.
There are no words to describe the feeling of being without being there. I floated — or something like floating — in the middle of a void dotted with stars that didn't twinkle, galaxies spinning in slow motion, and nebulae staining the nothingness purple and gold.
The first thing I noticed: I didn't need to breathe.
The second: I didn't have a body, but I knew I was there.
The third: I wasn't alone.
[Comfortable?]
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. Impossible to distinguish gender, age, intention. It was just... presence.
"Where...?" I tried to speak. I had no mouth, but the words formed anyway.
[In the only place where souls can converse before being reassigned. Or recycled. Or simply forgotten. Depends on the mood of whoever receives them.]
A silence for a few seconds before the voice spoke.
[It had been a long time since I saw someone die from a car. Was it at least pretty?]
"It was a 2018, blue, with rust details on the rear doors, a sports car."
[Sounds incredible]
"It was."
The voice laughed. A strange sound, like bells underwater.
[I like you. I was starting to get bored with so many souls arriving begging for second chances with tears and rehearsed speeches. You arrive complaining that you were killed by a hunk of metal on wheels. You have... personality.]
"And is that good?"
[Depends. For me, yes. For you, we'll see about that.]
I tried to process the situation. Dead. Space. Divine voice. The pieces were starting to fit together too easily, as if my brain, even without a brain, clung to familiar patterns.
"This is like those stories I used to read, right? Reincarnation, another world, powers, all that?"
[Oh, you're quick. I like you even more. Yes, something like that. But it's not that simple.]
"Is there something you want me to do?"
[Exactly. You see...]
The voice paused theatrically.
[I exist. Although I'm not the only one. There are more like me. And every so often, we make bets.]
"Bets?"
[We randomly select souls. We watch them from birth until they die. And then... we send them to other worlds, with advantages, to see what they do with their new chance. A kind of... experiment. Entertainment. Applied philosophy. You choose the term you like best.]
My first reaction was offense.
"Entertainment? My life was entertainment for something greater than me?"
But the offense lasted barely a second. Because, being honest, what did I expect? That the universe revolved around me?
"I guess I don't have the right to complain."
[No?]
"I died. I'm here. They're offering me something. I don't see many alternatives."
[That's... surprisingly lucid for a newcomer. They usually take longer to accept it.]
"I read a lot of books. And watched a lot of anime. I know how this works. The one who complains too much ends up reincarnated as an insect in a world of giants."
The voice laughed again, louder this time.
[I love you! I've been doing this for centuries and rarely find souls so... practical. Alright, alright. Let's get to the point.]
—
The space around me changed. The stars moved, the galaxies spun, and suddenly I was facing... something?
I couldn't define it. It was like looking at a storm and a stained-glass window and a black hole and a smile all at once.
[You can choose the world you'll go to. Any world existing in the multiverse that you know. Or even one you don't know. The offer is generous.]
My mind shot off in a thousand directions. Cultivation worlds, superhero universes, epic fantasy realms...
But a single image fixed itself in my head with absolute clarity.
"High School DxD."
Silence.
[...The one with the anime with the sexy, hot girls and the supernatural beings from mythologies?] The voice sounded almost... surprised?
"The same."
[Are you sure? It's a... complicated world. The factions are in a cold war, the power balances are fragile, and any human without protection is basically cannon fodder.]
"I know."
[And you still want to go?]
"Yes."
The entity didn't respond immediately. I felt its attention on me like a physical weight, analyzing, scrutinizing.
[Why?] it asked finally, and for the first time its tone wasn't playful or carefree. There was genuine curiosity there.
"Because in that world," I began, organizing thoughts I'd had for years, nightly reflections after reading too many stories, "humans are the weak ones. The ones who need protection. The ones who, if they want power, have to sell themselves to some faction: become devils, angels, fallen, anything but what they are."
[True.] The voice said with interest.
"And I always thought... what a waste."
"Waste?" —the voice echoed my word, savoring it.
"The human body is the most adaptable machine in the known universe. We don't have claws, or fangs, or thick skin, or wings. But we can run marathons and climb mountains and survive in deserts and at the poles. We can learn any language, adapt to any culture, heal from any disease... almost. We evolved to persist. And in all those stories, humans abandon that. They want to be something else. As if being human isn't enough."
[And do you think it is? Enough?]
"I don't know. But I want to find out. I want to go to a world where being human means being fragile, and prove that fragile doesn't mean weak. That adaptability, persistence, never giving up... that's worth more than any borrowed power."
The silence that followed was long. Very long.
Then, the voice spoke, and for the first time I couldn't hide my surprise.
[I have spent countless years observing souls. I have seen heroes and villains, saints and demons, people who changed the destiny of entire universes. But never, NEVER, had I heard anyone say "I want to remain human" with that conviction.]
"Is it bad?"
[It's... refreshing. And terrifying. And exciting. All at once. Yes, I definitely chose well.]
—
[Alright. DxD world. Now: what do you want to be? Devil, angel, fallen, dragon, deity, yokai? I can give you any race, any starting power.]
"Human."
[You already said that. But I insist: humans there are...]
"I know. I want to be human."
Another pause.
[As you wish. Now, the powers. I can give you a Sacred Gear. Do you know about the Longinus?]
"Yes. The thirteen most powerful artifacts created by the God of the Bible so humanity could defend itself."
[Exactly. I can give you one. Which one do you want?]
And there it was.
The choice.
My mind filled with images. Divine Dividing, the power to halve any force. Boosted Gear, the power to multiply. Telos Karma, the power of causality. Annihilation Maker, the power to create monsters.
So many options. So many possibilities.
But one shone brighter than the others, a beneficial long-term option and the most useful.
"The True Longinus."
[Ah. The holy spear. The weapon that killed the Savior. Interesting choice. Why?]
"Because it's the ultimate weapon against the supernatural. Because it can kill any being, regardless of rank, if used correctly. Because..."
I paused.
"Because it's a human weapon. Created for human hands. Designed so a human could face a god."
[There are more versatile options. Boosted Gear would give you exponential growth. Divine Dividing would make you almost invincible against powerful opponents.]
"I know. But Boosted Gear needs time to accumulate power. Divine Dividing depends on the opponent. The True Longinus... the True Longinus is decision. One blow, well placed, and it's all over. Besides..."
[Besides?]
"It has a fragment of the soul of its original wielder. It's said it can manifest to advise the bearer. I don't just want power. I want wisdom. I want to learn from someone who already did what I'm trying to do."
The entity fell silent for a moment that stretched like cosmic taffy.
[...You are the first mortal in a long time to make me think.]
"Is that good or bad?"
[I don't know yet.]
—
[Alright, True Longinus. I'll give it to you latent, it will awaken when you're old enough. I'll also give you something extra. A... passive ability, let's say. Something that allows you to grow beyond human limits. For your body to strengthen with training and battle, breaking through ceilings that others can't break. Nothing auto-magical, you'll need to put in the effort. But the ceiling... the ceiling won't exist for you.]
"Like an unlimited growth system?"
[Something like that. But without little screens or numbers. Just... unlimited potential. What you do with it, depends on you.]
"Thank you."
[Don't thank me yet. This could be a gift... or a curse. It will depend on you.]
Another silence.
[Oh, and your new identity. I'll give you a well-off family, with connections to the supernatural world. I won't give you everything solved, but a decent starting point. Your name... do you want to keep yours?]
I thought about my previous name. The one my parents gave me. The one that sounded like a joke at school. The one I could never use without a condescending smile from others.
"No. Give me another."
[What do you want to be called?]
"Liam."
[Liam. Alright, it's easy to remember. I like that name more than Mamerto. Are you ready?]
"Wait," I said quickly.
[What?] The voice asked.
"You... what are you? I mean, really. You're not some kind of deity, are you? What are you?"
The silence was so dense I could almost touch it.
Then, the voice spoke, and for the first time, I felt it wasn't joking.
[I am what comes after what comes after. I am the gaze that watches when no one is watching. I am the space between the notes of the song of creation. Others have called me Primordial, but that's not accurate. Primordials are gods. I am... before. And after. And simultaneous.]
"I don't understand."
[I don't expect you to. Yet. But I'll tell you this: when you have lived your life, when you have achieved what you set out to do or failed in the attempt, when you claim your wish... maybe then you can understand. Or maybe not. But at least it will be an interesting conversation.]
"Sounds like a threat."
[Sounds like a promise. Or a warning. Depends on you.]
—
And then, the space disappeared.
I fell.
I fell through colors that had no name, through sounds that couldn't be heard, through sensations that couldn't be felt.
I fell for seconds that were centuries.
And then...
I saw the light, a light so radiant and bright that it blinded me completely, then I felt a great warmth throughout my body, and finally darkness.
A cry filled my ears.
No. My cry. It was me crying, me kicking, me feeling the cold air of the outside world hitting my damp, new skin.
"It's a boy," said a woman's voice, professional, tired but satisfied.
Soft hands wrapped me in a blanket. They moved me. And suddenly, warmth. Human warmth, heartbeats close to my ear, a smell of skin and effort and something else, something primal and indescribable.
"My child..." whispered a female voice, broken with emotion. I felt a kiss on my forehead, wet with tears that weren't mine. "My little Liam."
Liam.
That was me now.
"What will his name be?" asked the doctor.
"Liam," my mother replied, cradling me against her chest. "His name will be Liam."
I wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to see her face. But the tiredness was too much. The journey, the death, the rebirth... everything weighed on me like a stone.
Before losing consciousness, while my mother's warmth enveloped me and the beat of her heart marked the rhythm of my new life, one last thought crossed my mind:
'A new world, and a new life.'
But human. Always human.
And now... to grow, to learn. To train.
To prove that a human can look the gods and those who believe themselves the most powerful in the eye, and knock them down from their thrones of arrogance.