Rewarding Kindness

Alexander's awakening was not a pleasant one.

The last thing he remembered was staring into the mouth of the ghost that had haunted him for years. He stared into the eyes that he saw there with great curiosity in his last moments on earth...

How did he know he was no longer on earth? Well... He could see it. In the distance, he could see his small, insignificant planet. A place that he had studied with passion and curiosity. A place that held his close acquaintances and friends...

Truth be told, Alexander did have quite a few friendships, but most of them were extremely superficial. But, that was to be expected given the middle-aged man's career and accomplishments.

What Alexander didn't expect to see in his entire lifetime, was the reality currently staring him in the eyes. He was floating... In outer space. So far away that his home was merely a speck in the distance.

And it was getting smaller and smaller, or rather, Alexander was getting further and further away. He felt as if his very soul was being rapidly pulled towards some other place.

Before he knew it, he was in front of a strange amalgamation of eyes and tentacles. Earth, that small imperfect sphere was no longer anywhere to be seen.

A toothy mouth appeared inside the tentacles and eyes, wriggling around in a strange matter. Alexander couldn't find any words for what he was seeing, but he also couldn't quite bring himself to find the thing in front of him disgusting.

It was strange, he was staring the unknown straight into the eyes, there was no genuine fear to be found in Alexander's eyes, something that seemed to surprise the strange being.

"A human... After so many aeons..." The being spoke, its very voice shook Alexander's soul. But once again, Alexander couldn't bring himself to feel any fear and disgust... All he felt was his burning curiosity, much like the being in front of him now started feeling the same.

"Kindness... Such a strange concept." The being spoke again, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"Yet you are the second person to ever come here. To ever receive a reward for his kindness."

Alexander now raised a brow.

"But there were more in the past, weren't there? I am sure other humans have passed through this place at some point... Otherwise, there wouldn't have been any depictions of the wanderer in that civilization..."

The being listened to Alexander's voice as it closed its eyes.

"Some may have reached this place... But none deserving of a reward." The being moved one of its limbs as it turned massive, it seemed to pull apart space, showing him a strange sight.

Dozens of people, wearing the same types of tribal clothing that Alexander had seen in the depictions of the civilization he found, were all being tortured by different human means... All but one, who seemed to be having an eternal feast, surrounded by beautiful faceless women from all sides.

"The one in eternal bliss was the first human to reach this place. He wasn't worthy of a proper reward, but he was also not guilty of anything, having fed my agent in your world a warm meal with a smile on his face. His character wasn't strong enough, so I simply gave him what you are seeing."

"It is a simple reward, barebones. Maybe it would've been a punishment to some. But he had given some kindness to the wanderer, so he was not to be punished."

"What about the rest...?" Alexander asked as he looked at the tribal people being tortured, many of them seemed to beg for death, their bodies and mind endlessly regenerated to keep the pain 'fresh'.

"I have glimpsed into your past. You are more than intelligent enough to guess what they have done to be deserving of this." Alexander simply gulped a bit.

A picture of what had happened was already painted inside of his mind.

The first man found it in himself to give his kindness to the wanderer, and he received a treatment similar to his, which was likely seen by others...

The wanderer was most likely hunted down, each hit it received, it devoured someone else, until the tribal civilization gave up on the hunt, realizing that they were only losing able-bodied men for no reason.

The men, however, were never to be forgiven. For they had given the wanderer the opposite of kindness.

The wanderer became unnoticeable to most from that point on. Alexander still couldn't understand how or why.

"Indeed... You seem to have understood the situation. I am essentially the god your people used to worship, I am still being worshipped, though under different forms. Now, what do you wish?" The being spoke again, this time its tentacles wriggling a bit as they reached out towards Alexander.

The researcher didn't do anything to try and dodge them, he knew that he was safe after all.

"Apologies, that was a silly question on my part. I know what you want." The god in front of Alexander spoke again, its tentacles wrapping around Alexander, it wasn't a vice grip like one would expect, rather it was more of a gentle hold.

"A man like you would only be satisfied if he were to be sent into a world filled with secrets. Secrets to unravel. But you will also need the strength to protect yourself." The god spoke as a smile spread on its face.

"Thankfully, I have the perfect body to send you into. A candidate better than any other. A human that considered himself god, but was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust despite his power."

"A person with no pull, no influence on the world at large. Despite the fact that he could be as strong as the strongest in that world."

Alexander's eyes widened as he seemed to find something strangely familiar about the man that the being was describing.

"Is my current body not good enough?" Alexander asked as he looked down at his own body. He had spent many hours working out, trying to sculpt and strengthen his body to withstand the harsh deserts he was travelling to so frequently. He was relatively powerful by human standards.

"Unfortunately, your current body is far from enough to survive even a day in the world I am sending you." Alexander sweated a bit, he felt a bit insulted, but who was he to argue with a god?

The ancient being as old as time itself was surely better qualified to judge such things.

"I understand... Any other advice you might be able to give me?" Alexander asked, he realized that the god wanted him to find out his reward on his own, so he didn't enquire about specifics. After all, if he was to be told specific things, he would've been told some things already.

"Nothing more... You will have the memories of that person, but I doubt someone like you can be influenced by the personality of a fool.

Enjoy your new life, kind soul." The god then released Alexander. Alexander could feel another pull, this time his soul was actually pulled out of his body, he could see his body left behind, being once again grabbed by the god that was getting farther and farther away.

As soon as Alexander disappeared, the God smiled once again. Its twisted mouth and jagged teeth shined in the infinite blackness of space.

"To think such a human would exist... A genius like him would've thrived despite the circumstances I sent him under, but a kind soul deserves a hefty reward."

The god then looked at the first human it had ever technically rewarded. Although it didn't consider what that man was given a reward.

"A man of his intelligence wouldn't be pleased by some mere carnal pleasures... I look forward to his journey..." The god then seemed to blend into space, as all its eyes closed.

__________________________________________________________________

Hope you liked the chapter! You know what comes next ey?

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)