2 Chapter #2

He woke up feeling like he got beaten to death, the only reason he could still move was the warmth flowing through his body and his own mind screaming at him to get up.

Ignoring the pain he got up and looked around, he didn't expect his new life to be a good one given his previous experiences but...

'Why was I sleeping in the slums? Why do I feel like I got beaten to death?' He thought.

The buildings around him looked old, he could almost say medieval fantasy judging by the smell but something back in his mind denied that possibility.

'I am probably in the 14-15th century but I don't know where.' He thought to himself.

A jolt of pain hit him, this time it was his head, a stream of memories flowed through and he finally recognized where he was and his identity.

________

He is in Florence, living as a apprentice blacksmith. His name in this life is Zeno, it was given to him by the clergyman of the church that found him at their door.

They later gave him to an orphanage ran by the government. At a time when political rulers fashioned themselves as the "fathers" of society, cast-off children like him presented a very immediate challenge and opportunity.

Unfortunately, the orphanages of Florence were harsh and did nothing to educate the cast off children like the others. 

At least that's what Zeno remembers from his first life memories, the rest of the orphanages might be the same.

This resulted in his placeholder turning to crime for food.Thanks to his gifts, he stole food whenever he lost his own in a fight.

Looking back at it now Zeno can conclude that this gift is not natural for a normal world.

Eventually he was caught red handed after getting ballsy and got thrown out of the orphanage after the matrons beat him up.

Living on the streets, he discovered that for some reason he didn't need to eat or drink, previously he thought he needed to because others complained about hunger.

He discovered that he never felt hungry before but he ate just because he thought he should eat.

He already knew that he healed faster than other kids thanks to all the beatings he took but this scared him, so he never told anyone about it.

Since his body was able to get nutrients somehow, he was stronger than his malnourished peers.

Once he realized that he wondered how he got beaten so much back at the orphanage but he couldn't find an answer.

He didn't like thinking too much anyway.(AN: me irl)

Since he was strong he looked for a job and he got accepted as an apprentice to a blacksmith after showing his strength.

Life was finally back on track for Zeno after he started his apprenticeship, he got a place to stay and since he discovered that he didn't have to eat or drink, he could save his money to buy sweets all he wanted.

Like this years passed until he reached the age of 14. Everything was going perfect, he had been apprenticing for the past four years.

He was having dreams of opening his own shop once he mastered the craft until the tragedy struck.

Some thugs came to shop, armed with weapons forged and sold by his master.

They were being led by a kid, he was around his age and walking at the front with an haughty attitude. He undoubtedly has a wealthy family behind his back judging by his clothes.

Zeno, now looking back on this memory, could identify the kid as Vieri De' Pazzi. The same kid that Ezio fought at the bridge in the opening of Assassin's Creed 2.

Apparently Vieri didn't like the designs of the weapons his family purchased and wanted his family's money back in some way or form. 

Unfortunately for the blacksmith, Vieri being rich and a hormonal teenager with too much power was not interested in money but the blacksmith's daughter who was blossoming into a beautiful flower.

Under Vieri's orders the blacksmith got his hands cut off meanwhile Zeno threw the hysterical girl over his shoulder and started to run with all he had.

He was not able to run for long due to not being used to running with a struggling girl over his shoulder and the thugs eventually caught them. 

Vieri wasn't interested in watching the death of an apprentice like Zeno but he ordered his death just because he could.

But, he wasn't interested in watching him die, he apparently had better things to do judging by how he looked at the shivering girl he caught. 

So, he left him with some of his thugs before he took the girl back to the store.

Last thing Zeno heard of her was her anguished screams before the thugs started to beat him...

He tried fighting back but years of peace, away from the times where he had to fight for his food at the orphanage had dulled his instincts.

He truly believed he had a good life ahead of him and let himself go and now he had to pay for going soft.

Naturally he didn't fare better than his master as they mercilessly beat him up until his consciousness was getting blurry.

The only reason he survived was the mercenaries that happened to see what's going on and killed the thugs before going their own way.

Zeno heard them yelling and fighting as he was going between consciousness and unconsciousness.

During the brief moments while he was awake, Zeno tried to point to the blacksmith's shop to seek help but he didn't even know his left and right at the time.

After getting himself together Zeno realized that the streets were filled with the corpses of the thugs.

Going back to the shop he saw there was nothing but rubbles left of the shop he spent his years in.

In front of the shop he saw his master's handless corpse hugging his daughter who was pretty much naked and dead.

Passerbys were pointing at the tragedy, talking in hushed voices as the city guards inspected the area.

Seeing the scene Zeno's eyes went dead as he looked up to the sky.

Looking up, he saw that the sky had already darkened and he apparently had been passed out for hours.

Why they didn't just cut his head off befuddled him but in the end he didn't care.

Giving the shop a one last look Zeno gave up, his wounds were too severe even for his accelerated healing.

He knew he wouldn't survive the night and he honestly didn't want to see the morning, so succumbed to his wounds, then 'he' took over.

_______

Sensing another jolt of pain Zeno grimaced and walked towards the wall to support himself.

'Why am I even bothering?' Zeno stopped all of a sudden. 

His mind was already fragile from the consecutive reincarnations even with Merlin healing him, he felt like he was crumbling and this life's memories hit him hard.

'Merlin said my memories could be shaky in this life. I don't even remember my previous name. Why bother with this life when I can recover instantly in the next one?' He thought to himself.

It was kind of tragic that he remembered the game he played when he was just 12 even if it was blurry but he can't even remember what he did for a living.

He knew he was in Assassin's Creed thanks to that dog Vieri but so what?

This world has future calculating mathematician Isu. He didn't want to deal with that shit

A part of him agreed with this cold calculation, if he is going to do this he'd rather be at his 100%. Yet another part of him strongly objected, a part he didn't even know existed.

That part was furious that he saw his own death as nothing but a nuisance, Zeno even thought he heard a roar of an animal at the back of his mind.

These two conflicting thoughts were giving him a headache until it suddenly stopped...

[Mental Influence: Origin(?) Has been Suppressed by ???'s Determination.]

[Mental Interference cancelling each other...]

[Trait: Free Will acquired.]

[Free Will: As someone with an awakened Origin, it is only natural that it would affect your very existence.

Thanks to the effects of ???'s Determination and Origin(?) Mental Interference cancelling each other, you are no longer under effects of any mental interference.]

Zeno slumped on the wall as he read the system prompts. He was breathing heavily as his healing sped up for some reason.

'I didn't ask for a system... Merlin didn't give me one... He only awakened my Origin... No way!'

[Origin: System, has been identified]

Zeno looked through the information presented to him. It appears his system is a manifestation of his Origin.

While it is unique and filled with infinite possibilities. It is still tied to him, the system cannot make use of something that he simply don't have.

To his luck, the System is able to sift through the information gained from the Law of Reincarnation and use it. This means he can reincarnate whenever he wants without fearing that damned river hunting him down.

This comes at a cost however, there's a safety cool down to maintain his incognito status.

He needs to stay here at least 20 years for him to go unnoticed. As for why his Origin pushed him to reincarnate? Well, it was apparently a calculated risk.

'Is this thing sentient?'

[No...]

'Oh, alright then. I will totally ignore the obvious signs... Are you messing with me?!'

[...]

Zeno waited for a proper answer but there was no answer.

Eventually giving up he sighed. It is his Origin, it probably wants to continue living, so it shouldn't harm him. It cannot manipulate him thanks to ???'s Determination. It's not like he can just rip it off from his soul, it might as well stay.

"Now, since I am back being homeless... Where should I go?" Zeno asked himself, feeling lost and bitter until he noticed golden footsteps.

His instincts were telling him that they belonged to the mercenaries that saved him, maybe they can help him somehow.

'Well, that was easy…'