Death, Successor and Life

I hadn't been very normal in my past life. Unlike those protagonists in novels who spout over and over that they're 'normal' or 'average', I'm not like one of those people.

I was far from normal and I have no chagrin with admitting it.

I was one of the best. A top-class athlete. An absolutely monstrous martial artist. A pure-blooded and pure bred fighter. I was a prodigy. Any sport I put my effort into was easily mastered both by my mental comprehension of said sport and by my natural God-given physical ability. Yet it was only fighting and martial arts that held my attention for any longer than a month.

Why? Because there was always something to learn. Someone new to fight. Some new move to master. Some new challenge to overcome.

Yet there was a problem most normal people don't ever experience.

I was alone. Being at the top of the martial arts and athletic world...was lonely. I was surrounded by crowds of people - yet it was always with ulterior motives. They wanted my money or they wanted to use me or they wanted to hurt my career...there was always SOMETHING behind the scenes.

It may seem like I'm complaining about my privilege - and that's exactly what this is. As I die, I'm looking back on my life and complaining about how I had it so good that it was bad.

The greed of humans, am I right?

Though, I guess the only reason I'm thinking back like this is because of how I died. Betrayed by the only woman I ever let close. Even now, I have no idea why she betrayed me, drugging me and then stabbing me to death. I suppose it serves me right - everyone else had been like that--filled with ulterior motives--so why wouldn't she be the same? Alas, it was too late to regret letting her get close. I was dying. More and more warmth left me as my blood pooled out of me as the pain racking my nervous system began to wane off and dull.

It was at times like this that I cursed how strong and vigorous my body was. I'd rather have died instantly than be stuck watching the woman who killed me pacing back and forth while on the phone.

[Do you want to live?]

And just like that, my mind was changed. A second ago I was ready to die--no, I was even wishing I could die faster. But when that booming voice entered my head...my body and mind thirsted for the chance to live.

Humans were not just greedy. We were also fickle with our opinions and choices. You could wish to die but when you're standing on the edge of a building...you'll always find yourself hesitating to take that last step. That's just how humans are - and just as I was a human, I eagerly spoke aloud in my mind.

'Yes!'

That was the only thought in my mind. I daren't care nor worry whether or not this was an hallucination of a dying mind or whether it was Lucifer himself come to corrupt me.

I only wanted to live.

[Do you want to live even if you would only ever know fighting? Slaughter? Would you still wish to live even if I told you following this path will either end in eternal pain or a life of struggling? Think wisely Human. This choice cannot be revoked.]

My rational mind told me to think. Maybe I should have listened to it. Maybe I should have taken a scant few seconds to really think whether or not I would want to live that kind of life.

Yet, I was only Human.

'Yes! I want to live!'

The voice replied yet all it held was pity. It sounded tired, like it had gone through this dozens of times before. Yet right now, I couldn't find it in me to care.

[...So be it. I wish you luck, Samuel Booker. You will need it if you are to become my successor. May you succeed where others have failed and become the next White Tiger.]

And then everything went black. I thought I'd died. Little did I know that this was only the beginning.

. . .

I wasn't dead. If I were dead, my conscience would have been snuffed out like a light or I would've been in some form of afterlife. This dark place could be the afterlife...yet every instinct of mine told me otherwise. There was no danger where I was - it was a safe haven. For now.

Innumerable hours went passed. Sometimes I was awake, other times I was asleep and dreaming. I dreamt of supernatural things.

A world hundreds of times bigger than Earth and filled with exotic life that would make the apex predators on Earth look like de-clawed kittens. Gigantic dragons that soared through the sky, red birds that had wingspans that could eclipse cities, colossal tortoises the size of island nations that slumbered at the bottom of impossibly deep seas and finally, tigers the size of skyscrapers that gleamed with murderous intent and brandished their impossibly sharp claws at anything that wasn't them.

Each of these species each had special methods of getting stronger. The dragons had the Azure Dragon Technique. The red birds had the Vermillion Bird Technique. The tortoises that slumbered in the seas had the Black Tortoise Technique. The tigers that killed everything they could had the White Tiger Technique.

Each of these species cultivated their respective techniques. All to become the symbol of their race. Once all four symbols were chosen, they would fight.

They would fight and fight until only one remained. Sometimes it would be over after a few days. Sometimes a few months. But on one occasion, it took 108 years for a victor to be decided. The four symbols chosen for that battle were the strongest symbols ever seen. The Azure Dragon was vigorous beyond compare, healing from injuries which others would find fatal beyond compare. The Vermillion Bird had flames so hot it was like a sun had appeared on the exotic planet. The Black Tortoise was sturdy beyond compare and was unable to be stunned - it was a bulwark that could not be damage unless the force applied was beyond extreme.

And finally, the White Tiger. All White Tigers before it had been deadly. Their claws capable of cutting through even the Black Tortoise's shell. Their body's strong enough to fight the Azure Dragon and be it's equal. Their fur and body so durable the Vermillion Bird's flames were unable to harm it - a body like unyielding metal that refused to be melted, burned or torn asunder.

When these four titans collided...it brought about the end of the world.

After 108 years, the White Tiger won against it's century long adversary, the Azure Dragon...yet it stood victor to a broken world. All life except itself and a scant few others were gone. Dead, in the century long fight of the four symbols.

The Vermillion Bird's flames had destroyed all chance of vegetation on the planet. The Black Tortoise's tsunami's had destroyed what little was untouched by the combat. The Azure Dragon's blood and flesh that was scattered across the planet was poisonous to all except the other four symbols, killing what was left when they turned to the gigantic chunks of meat when all vegetation had died out.

The White Tiger, master of electricity, had upset the worlds magnetic field with it's use of it's electric-based attacks. The atmosphere broke away from the planet and everything that had survived up...died. Including the White Tiger.

I gained this information through dreams spread across a presumably long period of time. Whenever I was 'awake', I'd taken to counting the seconds go by as a way to keep my mind sane and focused. It had helped. But it would also imply that I'd been in this dark space for months and months. Not even including the time I was asleep - of which I was unsure for how long I was asleep.

Though a change to the routine of counting seconds came after I had the dream where I watched the White Tiger die. I felt something being...added to my mind, and at the same time, I felt the walls of wherever I was contracting.

At that point, I was quite sure on where I was.

I was in a woman's womb. I was a baby. The contractions meant...I was about to be born. I'd had my suspicions but no conclusive evidence until now. The dream? From the information I was gaining inside my head, the dream was supposed to inform me of the history of the person I was a successor to. The voice who asked if I wanted to live. The person who I assume is the White Tiger.

How he did what he did - reincarnating me, even after his own death - I have no clue. All I knew was that I had a new chance.

And with the contractions getting stronger and stronger, I thought that I should at least try and help out my new mother. So, I moved my head toward the opening I could feel beginning to dilate.

...Man, who knew getting born was such a hassle?

. . .

"Samuel Joseph Booker! Wake up right now or I swear to God I'll attach the hose to the bathroom sink again and I'll spray you until you wake up!" my eyes cracked open at that threat, the feminine voice belonging to my aunt who'd adopted me after my mother and father died.

Bummer, I know. Turns out my mom was taking a massive risk giving birth to me because of a genetic illness she had that weakened her body and her immune system to dangerous levels.

The birth didn't kill her but the subsequent days after just drained her. She got an infection, she'd lost too much blood and whatever transfusion was given to her just wouldn't help - it was over for her and she knew it. My father knew it as well. Which is why after she died, he offed himself in the hospital bathroom.

After those fucked up events, the hospital contacted my next of kin, which was my aunt on my dad's side. Her name was Samantha Booker - she was also the person who named me. After herself, I'd assume, seeing how close our names were.

...Kinda weird she gave me my father's name as my middle name though. He did kill himself shortly after my birth, so all it did for me was feel like bad juju. Like his ghost was gonna come and haunt me or something.

Shivering a little at the thought, I shook my head as I swung my legs out of bed.

"I'm up," I said, in a normal tone with a normal volume and yet my aunt easily heard it because the threats and angry pacing stopped soon after I spoke.

It'd been 15 years since I was reborn. And it'd been pretty boring, honestly. It was the early 2000s, so the internet wasn't all that fun just yet and movies were kinda sucking ass at the minute because I guess that's just how the early 2000s role. Yet that's not to say I haven't had a lot of stuff to do in these 15 years.

For one, I've been preparing myself. Preparing myself for what? For cultivating the White Tiger Technique. Bit by bit over the years, more and more information has been showing up in my mind. I'd linked the information showing up to my body growing and getting more athletic.

Which meant I could speed up the knowledge transfer by getting more physically fit.

Which is why I've been in sports and martial arts just like my last life. Mainly because that way I get ways to get used to this new body of mine but also because the prize money from some of the tournaments I've dominated give me quite a lot of savings that I'm planning to use when I turn 18. Of course for now, all that money is kept in my aunt's bank account but she's not a piece of shit, so it's safe in there.

Why haven't I started cultivating the technique yet? Because my body can't handle it. It's made for pseudo-divine beasts. If my human body were to just start cultivating it...I'd probably just die.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, however. My new body was a few tiers above my old one, for instance. I don't know how the White Tiger did it but my body is insane for a normal human. If my estimation is correct, even if I didn't train I'd still be around Captain America level. With training, I'll be even beyond that. My natural athleticism, muscle and bone density, natural reaction speed and my body's natural toughness are all incredibly high.

I guess that's because if I were a normal human, I'd never be able to cultivate the technique.

Which makes today a special day. Because it's the first day I'll be cultivating the White Tiger Technique. My body is barely ready but that still means it's ready. I could play it safe and not start cultivating until I'm 18...but that's too far away. By the time I'm 18, I'll only have a year until everything kicks off in the MCU. If I start now, I'll at least have enough power to be prepared.

Knocking me out of my thoughts, my aunt's head popped around the doorway into my room, "Get dressed and get to school. Your lunch is on the kitchen counter," she informed me before gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb, "I'm off to work - I'll see you later, Sam. Love ya," she said before leaving.

She looked similar to me in terms of hair color, eye color and skin tone, having brown hair, sun-kissed and tanned skin, with brown-red eyes. Some would even say maroon eyes. She was tall, for a woman, at around 6'0" flat and because of her job as a police officer, she was athletic and somewhat muscular. Though that didn't mean she was unfeminine or whatever.

She definitely looked more feminine than how she acted on a day to day basis. No wonder she didn't have a boyfriend - she scared most of them away with her personality.

Snickering to myself, I got up off my bed before making my way to the kitchen.

I wasn't going to school today. I'd take the scolding from my aunt because it meant I'd at least get a start in the White Tiger Technique - that was more than worth it.

Plus, at this point, I use any reason if it meant not going to school. Jealous guys, girls in heat and all that is in between - I hated it. Teenagers take too much energy out of me. Probably why I don't have any friends...but how was I suppose to relate to and become friends with a bunch of teenagers? I'd probably have to wait until college to even be able to have a decent chat with someone my age. Until then, I'm fine with just being Mr. Hot and Unapproachable. Or whatever they call me at school.

Shaking my head in disapproving manner, I entered the kitchen and began to make breakfast. A pan, some oil, a couple strips of bacon and some eggs. Setting them aside, I pulled out some butter and some bread and put the bread into the toaster while I let the butter soften up.

Then I got to work cooking.

Cooking was...fun. A newly discovered hobby of mine. Aunt Sam couldn't cook for shit, so we usually ended up having takeout every other night. In the hopes of having a somewhat decent diet, I began cooking small meals for myself when I turned around 13 or 14.

My aunt trusted my maturity around that point seeing as I was well beyond kids my age when it came to mentality and the way I acted.

...More than a few visits to the doctor about that. Courtesy of my aunt who's the biggest worrywart I've ever known. Like, seriously, I've met Olympic-level trainers and coaches who've worried less about me and their careers were on the line at that point.

I guess nothing beats an aunt's worry? I don't know.

Anyway, cooking. It was surprisingly fun. Especially when you gave your food to another person and they enjoyed it. It was an oddly rewarding thing. Turning the bacon over, I cracked the eggs open and opened them above the pan. More sizzling followed as the egg yolk and white dropped onto the searing hot metal.

Soon, the bacon and eggs were done just as the toast now popped out of the toaster. Taking the pan off the heat, I took the toast out and pulled a butter knife from the drawer as I began to spread the softened butter over it in an even spread.

Plating it all up, I began to dig in after I seasoned it a little with some salt and pepper.

It was lovely.

Putting the dish into the washer, I held the knife and fork I'd been using as I looked down at them. An ability I'd had since I was born was an odd one - I could see the energy in metals. I didn't know what it was at first but as I gained more and more knowledge on the White Tiger Technique, I discovered this energy was Metal Qi.

Metal Qi was the thing most needed for the White Tiger Technique to progress. Which meant rare metals and strong metals were what I needed to progress.

And I'd built up a decent collection over the years.

Putting the cutlery in the washer as well, I closed it up and turned it on before walking back to my bedroom. In my bedroom, I opened up the closet that was built into my wall and after moving some shoes out of the way, I saw a place where the carpet had been torn up to reveal the wooden planks underneath it.

Moving the wooden planks which gave way easily due to having been cut beforehand, I reached into the darkness before my hand touched something cold and hard.

Smiling, I grabbed it and pulled it out.

It was a dark grey metal that was incredibly heavy. Not so much for me but this 10 by 10 by 10 cube of metal the thickness of my forearm would probably weigh around 18 to 20kg - that was a phenomenal density. Which also meant it was stunningly rich in Metal Qi. It was a piece of tungsten that I'd stolen from a nearby scrapyard.

Which should tell you I have a few other good pieces of metal under the floor boards of my walk in closet. I'd built up quite the collection after I knew how vital it would be for my cultivation.

Exiting the closet, I sat on my bed with the piece of metal in my hands.

Closing my eyes, I began the first step of the White Tiger Technique - sensing Metal Qi and absorbing it. I could already sense it, so all I had to do was absorb it from the tungsten in my hands. It was surprisingly easy.

It came naturally to me. I just...willed the Metal Qi to leave the piece of metal and enter my body. Which is where the next step comes in:

Imbuing a part of my body with the Metal Qi.

The White Tiger follows a pretty simple Body Tempering method. You start with the Skin, then you move inward to the Muscles, and then to the Veins and Blood within them, then you move to the Bones, then you go even deeper and enter the Marrow, and then you finish with the Internal Organs. Which leads to six levels to the Body Tempering stage. Each level gives a boost of between 2.5 tonnes and 5 tonnes, depending on your body's potential and it's baseline strength.

For example - If you're weak and somehow manage to cultivate the White Tiger Technique, you'll only ever get 2.5 tonnes of body strength per stage. But if you're like me, who's genetic potential is honestly inhuman, you'll get 5 tonnes per level. Or at least I hope so.

I have a slight feeling that the White Tiger gave me a pre-stage to the actual White Tiger Technique because I never saw any of the tigers in those dreams do this...but I guess there was a reason for that. Probably to make me strong enough for the actual technique or to at least prepare me for it anyway.

Manipulating the Metal Qi was honestly quite easy. So, without any real challenge, I pulled the boundless Metal Qi from the tungsten in my hands and I began to imbue it into my skin in countless patterns and shapes.

I couldn't really see the patterns, they were just happening. Almost like it was instinctive knowledge.

Either way, I soon found that despite there being more Metal Qi to use in the tungsten, I couldn't draw on it. Opening my eyes, I quickly found that I was covered in sweat and some droplets of sweat had inky blackness in them.

"...Ah, the classic impurity removal," I smirked before getting up off my bed before speed walking to the bathroom.

...It seems cultivating, no matter how easy it feels, does take it out of my body. Though, looking down at my hand as I stood in the shower, I clenched it and felt a surprising amount of strength gather in my hand from the casual gesture. It was nowhere near 10% extra--not even 5% extra. But it was an extra bit of power. Which meant cultivating was worth it.

I wondered how I'd gained physical strength in the Skin Level but knowledge soon popped into my head - the Metal Qi imbued into my skin was slowly tricking down into my muscles and bones, meaning I was gaining a strength increase even when the Skin Level was purely about defensive ability.

Though thinking about that, the White Tiger Technique seemed to gift the user incredible strength, explosive and inhuman athleticism AND incredibly durability. It also implied I'd gain the electrokinesis the White Tiger had at some point during the Body Tempering stage...

I wonder if I'll be on Luke Cage's durability level? Man, I wish I am. No matter what anyone says, being bullet proof is pretty badass.

Smiling, I continued washing myself as I thought about how I was gonna have to skip school a few more times this week until I broke through the Skin stage.