1 The zeroth world

On a bright summer afternoon, on a small alley in Brightstone county belonging to the country of Zelxi, lay a bleeding young man who is seemingly dead. If one took a closer look they could find small needles sticking out at multiple areas on his body. People pass by the alley occasionally but no one seems to notice anything different about the small alley. It was as if the body of the young man did not exist.

If anyone were to see the view from outside the valley it indeed did not contain any trace of the young man. The young man bleeding from all six orifices of his body suddenly jolted awake and sat upright. But immediately after he grimaced from the pain searing through his whole body. But he did not utter a word or a sound, even when he felt the pain course through his body.

It has been beaten into him during his training not to utter a sound when in an unfamiliar environment. It could become the reason for his death. Trying to understand the situation he was in right now, he propped himself against the wall. The wall felt cold to the touch and hard on his back. The cold sensation helped him offset the pain and brought some relief. It also helped to clear his mind.

"Who would have thought that the Cantu Kingdom had grown so bold that they would send a 7th-grade warrior into our country? It seems that they are planning an invasion soon!!" mumbled the young man to himself.

The Cantu Kingdom is an ambitious nation which borders the country of Zelxi. The Cantu Kingdom has been growing in power recently due to the appearance of a prodigy called William Barter. Barter became a 5th-grade warrior at a young age of 17 and went on to become the commander of an entire platoon which is conferred only to 6th-grade warriors on the same year. He was not only an excellent warrior but also an excellent commander. He had many great exploits in his time as the commander. But this was not the scariest part. He was also an excellent scholar and invented a lot of contraptions and weapons that helped them win many wars.

Two years ago when Barter turned 23 he was made the General of the whole army of Cantu Kingdom. Within a year he managed to bring together all the small tributaries, vassals and tribes around the kingdom under one banner. This lead to a meteoric rise in power for the Cantu Kingdom. Now it looked like they are eyeing the bigger fishes.

"If a 7th-grade warrior is here as a spy, then that means there is at least a 9th-grade warrior leading the charge. And they should not be that far either. Looks like Barter is leading the army personally." mumbled the young man while pulling out the needles from his body. The 9th-grade warriors are pinnacle existences in any country or kingdom they go to. There were only 10th-grade warriors above them and there are only 8 known 10th-grade warriors in existence in the entirety of the planet of Kazin. Each time he pulled out a needle one can find a white glow around his palm that seeming fight against a green light coming from inside the needle.

"Damn these people. How the hell did they manage to pull out poison elementals and insert it into these needles? If I didn't have enough mana in my body I would have died earlier. If even a 7th-grade warrior like me can't survive this then it is pointless to involve anyone below this level. But where will we get a large number of 7th-grade and above warriors from?" pondered the young man.

After pulling out all the needles from his body, the young man tried to stand up but his leg did not respond to his commands at all. Realising that the poison had paralysed his legs, he let out a curse and started to meditate with his eyes closed. Then slowly but surely very small amount of green gas started to leak out from his body. After about an hour of calm, the young man suddenly opened his eyes with firm resolution.

"It took me close to an hour to remove all the poison from my body. Then this has to be at least a grade 6 poison. Looks like they are planning to take down the king and occupy the kingdom in one fell swoop. I have to warn His Majesty before it's too late." murmured the young man before jumping onto the roof and running along the rooftops. After the young man left, the illusion cast over the alley vanished and people noticed the pool of blood in the alley but they lost their interest in 10 minutes and continued along with their life. In a world where the strongest one rule, seeing blood was an everyday occurrence.

Two hours after the young man left the alley he reached an old hut which looked abandoned at first glance. But if someone were to look closely they will find that it was neatly maintained. The young man reached the door and knocked on it rhythmically 12 times. The door then opened to reveal a large space which should not fit into the small hut. He then hurried towards a counter and passed along an envelope. He was then escorted by two people to an underground tunnel which led to a small room. Inside the room stood a man who had a regal aura around him. The young man knelt down immediately after entering the room while the two guards left the room.

"What is the matter, Aaron? What made you use the red envelope?" questioned the man.

"Reporting Your Majesty! I noticed some irregular activities at the outer ring of our city and went to investigate it. I found clues indicating activities of Cantu Kingdom spies. I followed the lead and arrived at an Inn and was ambushed by a 7th-grade warrior! I managed to kill the spy and did a memory extraction before escaping from there but was poisoned and lost consciousness. I managed to remove most of the poison before coming here but my vitals are compromised. I knew that I won't make it past the 3-hour mark and hurried to report here. It has already been 2 hours so I request Your Highness to do a soul extraction on me and do a memory search to get as much information as possible!" with that the man held out a knife to the middle-aged man who is the current emperor of the country of Zelxi.

The middle-aged man shook from the suddenness of the news and looked sadly upon the young man. He then said "How can I do a soul extraction on you? You are the one who saved from the assassins 4 years ago and you know that I love you like my son!". The emperor's voice started to choke towards the end of the sentence and tears started to form at the corner of his eyes.

"Your majesty! Pull yourselves together. We have no other choice in the current situation. I am going to die anyway, might as well be useful for the country." shouted Aaron. The shout jolted the king out of his stupor and he made his resolve before walking over to the young man and hugged him tightly.

"I always loved you before and I will continue to love even after your death. I never had the chance to love my son before he was killed but you filled in the void and added some more. It pains me to do this but I know that you will never rest easy otherwise. Are you ready?" asked the king in a gentle and caring voice. No matter how much he tried to put up a strong front, he could not keep it up.

"Yes I am!" replied Aaron in a firm and determined voice. He then knelt down on his knees before the king placed his hands on his head. He gave a deep look at Aaron and muttered "You have done your country a great service and you will forever be a hero of the country. Your merit shall be remembered forever, until the last day of our kingdom. Go with peace knowing that you have saved your enemies from the clutches of your enemies." A light then enveloped Aaron before vanishing into his body. An orb then came out of his body which went into the king head. The king looked at the young man who was lying down on the stone floor with a smile on his face and turned his head towards the southern wall with hatred burning in his eyes.

The king went out of the room and called upon all the 7th-grade warriors and above inside the small hut before rushing towards the enemy camp. Taken by the surprise attack mounted with the king, who is a 10th-grade warrior leading the charge, the whole camp was decimated in a matter of minutes and thus came the end of the once in a century genius William Barter.

Unbeknownst to everyone the body of the young man vanished from inside the small room during the chaos and was never found again despite spending many resources.

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At a place far from where any man has ever reached or seen, a place where time lost all it's meaning, a place where creation started, Aaron's body appeared mysteriously. Then the light in the surrounding started to gather around his body before enveloping in a soothing and warm glow. After who knows how long, Aaron sat up abruptly with a puzzled look on his face. He should be dead but here he was alive and in a place where he didn't recognise. Looking around and seeing nothing but emptiness greeting him he decided to call out.

"Is anyone here? If someone is around please bring me to his majesty!" he shouted.

"Aaron Carter Williams, you have been selected by the universe to be a World Diver! Do you accept the responsibilities which come with it?" a mysterious voice resounded in his head.

Thinking that he was in some kind of illusion Aaron shouted "If you think you can get information from me with this cheap illusion, you are sourly mistaken"

"This is not an illusion and you are no longer alive. Now answer the question. Do you accept?" resounded the mysterious voice. Aaron tried to look for the source but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. He wanted to ask more question and he was still cautious towards the voice but something deep inside him told him that the voice will not ask the question again. And he knew that once the voice stopped asking the question he will not exist anymore.

Aaron took a deep breath and said with a firm voice "Yes!"

"You have made a wise choice and you will not regret this day. In fact, you will look back on this day and realise that this is the wisest decision you have ever made. Now rest." said the mysterious voice. The voice had a compelling effect which made Aaron fall asleep.