2 What?
"The peak… the peak of what? And what do you mean the same as everybody else?"
"You see" She starts with a small smirk; she probably is enjoying herself. "It's tradition, must of us, the peak entities in infinity, got this chance, died, meet someone, get a mission of some sorts, got stronger, completed the mission, and reached the peak" The smirk disappears transforming into a full-blown smile, as if reminiscing of the past, I know the look, I`ve practiced it since I got older, makes one seem mysterious.
"Nobody actually knows how all this reincarnation business got started, but it kept repeating and repeating, so we gathered and created a system, as I mentioned before there is no heaven or hell, wait, there may be in some pockets"
"Pockets?"
"Or ponds, shush it."
"Ponds…. ahhh."
"Yes, but usually souls just disappeared after a long period of time, unless someone got a hold of it, and gave it an opportunity. So, the system we created standardized the procedure, everyone gets a chance, no more souls disappearing."
"Okay so, everyone reincarnates, then how come there are not billions of super-powerful entities out there?"
She gives me what could only be considered a cheshire smile. "There is a catch, not everyone wants to reach the peak, everyone starts the same, reincarnation, memories of their last life, with some differences, one wish, and two perks. And boom their journey starts, but for the majority, they believe they want to reach the peak, but their subconscious just wants a normal life, so little by little, they forget their previous life and their mission. Rinse and repeat"
"Wait, before I forget, how is my family?" How could I forget them, damn.
"Well they were quite devastated after your death, I mean they saw you just before you died, so your daughter took quite the hit, besides that, they are fine, so you can move on, without worrying"
As I heard that relief washed over me, at least they are fine without me, my daughter is kind of dumb but she`ll manage.
"What are the rules, limitations, you know?" One wish and two perks, I think I know what I want but I need to know a little bit more.
Her aura suddenly becomes all business-like, I tense for a second, the chit chat is over.
"Well, no systems, no instant mastery, no overpowered wish for the world you are starting, that's pretty much it."
"Guessed as much by how you talked about systems before, okay-"
"Starting world!" Is it, is it what I believe, multiverse traveling, fuck yes! I try to control my giddiness, wouldn`t want to embarrass myself.
"You kind of already did but whatever. Yes, starting world, or you think reaching the peak in just one world is possible, hahaha, your naiveté amazes me."
I`m kind of offended, how would I know what "reaching the peak" means. "You know you could first tell me what reaching the peak means first, right," I say with more than a little frustration in my voice.
"Uhm, sure, sorry about that," She says a little embarrassed? Don`t really know.
"Reaching the peak is literal, reach the peak in anything, fighting, cooking, farming, martial arts, fucking, by anything I mean anything, concepts, laws, daos, just reach the peak. The worlds you travel will be based on what you are aiming for." She takes a sip off a cup that appeared fuck knows when or how.
"Your vocabulary is quite… colorful for someone your age you know." Is that a smug smile I see, goddammit it is.
I may or may not have forgotten she could read my mind since she kinda didn`t bring it up again.
"Well I may have been old, but I am young at heart."
"Alright, you've been here long enough, tell me, what is your wish and perks, I will inform you if it`s not possible."
"Okay, okay jeez, not the patient type I see. Can I choose the world?
"No"
"Great…" Sarcasm bleeds through me. I wonder can you reach the peak in sarcasm, I`m rambling, aren`t I?
I see her nod with a deadpan face, If I had a body I would probably blush, good thing I do not have one.
"Okay, for the wish I want talent."
She draws a little closer to the table, she seems curious. "Specify."
"Since instant mastery is forbidden, I want to be talented in everything."
"Eight," She says with a little ridicule.
"Eight…what"
"You can be extremely talented in eight things, no more. Ha, talented in everything he says, pfff."
I pause, well, that throws my plan out the window.
"Chop chop"
"I need a paper, could you?" As frustrated as I am, I need to think about this thoroughly. A paper appears out of nowhere in my…. hands? I have hands?
Whatever, I start writing.
The paper reads.
1. Fighting
2. Martial Arts
3. Languages
4. Physics
5. Kendo/Sword fighting
6. Energy Manipulation
7. Understanding
8. Critical Thinking
I pass the paper to her and wait nervously.
"Hmmmm…... interesting. I see where you are going, if not a little cliché, it is one of the easier paths."
The happiness I feel when I hear that, like the day my daughter was born, maybe.
"You are going to need to specify certain things, mainly energy manipulation and understanding, those are some broad topics there."
Figures she would ask that, "Well, for energy manipulation, since I don`t really know where I am going, I want the manipulate energy easier, be it chakra, ki, magic, whatever it is."
As I finished, she seems in deep thought. Please accept. I beg, to whomever.
"Fine, but the one that will definitely be limited will be understanding, that basically what your previous wish of talent for everything was, so" Waving her hands she says. "big no-no."
Quite frustrated I answer. "Fine, as much as I would want to believe myself to be a genius, I am most definitely not one so I want an easier understanding of abstract concepts like sword aura, or what in the actual fuck is a law."
Uh, she seems surprised, that is a new one.
"Color me surprised; you are not as stupid as you led me to believe."
"Hey!" Is she complimenting me or insulting me…
Smirking "Both" A she waves her hand towards me, "Perks."
"I want to be able to choose which family I get reincarnated into, while I would love nothing more than not having to be a child multiple times, there is no way one could simply appear in a world and be fine-tuned to said world."
And she is surprised, again.
"You really aren`t as stupid as I thought. You are correct, there are some worlds where you need certain biology to be able to operate in them. Next"
"Okay this one may not be possible, but let's see, I want to have perks in each jump from world to world" The moment I say that I can see her eyes closing as if daring me to continue.
"Wait, let me finish," I say hurriedly and a little scared. "You see in one of the stories I read in my youth, the character could choose certain perks based in a limited series of points, or something, while also choosing negative perks to increase said number of points, you could have it that the starting points are only enough for me to choose the family if I need one, and if not only for some minor boon. "
Please say yes, please say yes….
After a couple of minutes of seeing her thinking, quite deeply may I add.
"Quite the copycat I see, yes I know who you are talking about, they are my acquaintances, I believe it is possible, but keep in mind there will be limitations, a lot of them, I agree. "
"YES!" If this were an anime I would without a shadow of a doubt be crying anime tears.
"However, both perks will only be functional at the start of your second world, wouldn´t want to spoil your first." Damn smug smile and innuendos.
My happiness diminishes instantly, but it`s acceptable, only need to survive the first world. Easy right, right.
"Fine," I say in a monotone voice.
"If that all, I think that`s it for this conversation see you lat-"
"Wait!" I scream.
"Ugh...yes?"
"While I cannot wait to be literally reborn, you may have missed some quite crucial information, for example, how do I travel between worlds or which memories do I get to keep?"
Silence
.
.
.
.
*cough* "Sorry…..?" She is definitely embarrassed.
"Alright, alright, you get to keep all your memories and-"
"No, I don`t want all of them, in the case I don`t forget all of my memories, I just want the basic memories, and the ones about the media I've watched, I don`t want memories of my self before dying or my family"
Sadly, I know that what I asked for may seem insensitive or stupid, but I loved my wife, and love my children and grandchildren, but as this is literally the afterlife, knowing that I am older than my parents is not something I want, and I may fall in love again, don`t want that in my conscience.
"Unusual, but fair enough, now, if you are done with the interruptions, thanks, you will know when you can go to your next world when you are ready, and before you interrupt me again, no you will not need to live all your life and die in a world to be able to leave."
"So goodbye"
And darkness once again.
As the soul of the old man gets snapped out of the place, a beautiful woman appears in its place.
"Any reason why you talked so much with him?" She asks Alexia.
"Well I haven`t done this in a long time and besides you know we came from the same place; it was fun talking with someone from there."
