1 A shocking end - a new beginning

"Now don't you go getting into trouble.." Henry's mother said between hollow breaths.

"I'm not a child anymore mum. I'll be back tonight, please remember to eat and drink plenty. Love you." Henry retorted back, kissing his mother on the forehead before leaving for work.

Ever since his father died last year, his mother had started to neglect her own health. She had never been the most healthy person, and if it weren't for Henry's intervention, she might have already passed on to see his father.

Although Henry wanted to spend more time looking after his mother, his job was very time consuming, so he often was forced to work late. He worked as a computer scientist who specialised in networks and infrastructure. In the past, he had managed servers, built networks and helped to create the systems used by a few decently sized banks across the world. His experience, coupled with his PhD made him a sought after person by many companies. Although he would prefer to work outside of the sphere of attention, he had worked hard to reach the peak of his field, and was not about to let it go.

Upon arriving at his workplace, his first stop was the server room. He liked to stop by and say hello to his colleagues there, as he had spent a number of years working with them before moving on to greener pastures.

"Hey Bill."

"Oh! How ar ye t'day 'enry?"

"Not bad. Just stopped by to make sure this place hasn't fallen apart while I was gone." Henry retorted with a slight smirk.

"Hehe. I'm not that incompetent, 'enry!" Bill said with a laugh.

Henry took the time to have a look around, greeting a few of his colleagues as he went by, before noticing a slight golden shimmer out of the corner of his eye. He reached down and extended his hand to feel for the object, but all he found was hundreds of volts of electricity coursing through his body.

He had read about people dying this way before. He had read that one would fall unconscious almost immediately, but not him. He felt every single pulse of lightning rip through his body and tear at his nerves. His muscles tensed to the absolute max, and he heard his molars cracking under the pressure of his jaws. The pain was deafening - seemingly endless in its masochistic torture - almost tore his body to shreds; but his mind stayed intact; unwilling to let go of his consciousness.

Before long, a calm, yet cold voice rang in his mind.

"Hello, Henry. If you are still unaware, you are now dead."

"AAAAAGH! CERTAINLY DOESN'T FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT!" He screamed, still wracked by the jagged volts of lightning in his body.

"Oh dear. There's no need to shout. Anyway, the cause for your death is, to say the least, a bit of an error. That fate was actually meant for Bill, who's currently sobbing over your corpse. In light of these events, you have a choice. Do you wish to die, or have your soul reincarnated into a different world? Please choose quickly." the voice said, somewhat impatiently.

"What about my life here? Can't I be reincarnated into this world?"

"Nope. Rules are rules."

"What about my mother?"

"She'll most likely be dead within the week."

"I can just leave her, though!" He objected.

"Of course you can, just pick. The world you would be going into is quite interesting. Monsters and warriors. Come on, I have a busy schedule."

"Isn't there some way?"

"God, or should I say me, you are persistent." the voice said shamelessly, "you know, I suppose rules are there to be broken, so I'll give you a little inside information. Beings on my level of power are able to arise from any world - including yours, and the one I will send you to. If you can reach that level and beat me in combat, I will allow you to return to Earth, moments after you died. How about that?" The voice said with a somewhat condescending tone.

"Deal!" Henry responded without hesitation.

"Haha. I'll be waiting. Bye bye!" The voice said, and then Henry's consciousness faded.

Inside that unfathomable, all concepts of time and space lost their meaning. He did not exist, and yet he was there. The concept was dizzying, and threatened to split open Henry's non-existent head.

An incalculable amount of time later, he saw a flash of light, as he regained his senses all at once. The overwhelming tide of stimuli caused him to lose control for a moment, as he bawled his eyes out.

But then, he saw his surroundings. A doctor, in dirty and somewhat bloody attire holding him with care, and two unfamiliar adults. A very well built and masculine woman, lying on the bed in pain and exhaustion as well as a burly, red haired man grinning like an idiot.

The man and woman began to speak a language that Henry did not recognise, and eventually the woman said one word that he, for whatever reason, recognised as his name.

"Alfryd."