Chapter 2 : Prologue II

"Why am I here?" The man's voice trembled slightly as he looked at Death, trying to keep a level head despite the bizarre situation.

Death smiled, a chilling yet oddly warm expression. "Well, you see, I just send all the souls that wander in the void to their final destinations. But occasionally, I send some souls to other worlds. Isn't that wonderful?"

The man raised an eyebrow, suspicion creeping in. "Yeah, hell no. That doesn't sound wonderful at all. You're telling me you have the power to chuck a soul into another universe? So, what is this—transmigration or reincarnation?"

Death sighed, almost as if he was disappointed by the man's cautious approach. "Sigh. So, why am I here?"

"Don't sigh," the man shot back, his nerves beginning to fray. "This isn't exactly fun for me. But you? You're probably having the time of your life, sending souls off to random worlds for your own amusement."

Death chuckled, a deep, resonant sound. "Oh, come now. It gets boring here sometimes. I like to send souls to other worlds for adventures. It's like my personal reality show, and I get to watch it all unfold. The difficulty of your journey will scale according to your choices. Here are your options."

With a wave of his hand, a scroll materialized out of thin air, floating in front of the man. He hesitated before taking it, unfurling the parchment slowly. As he read, the possibilities unfurled before him:

World Timelines:

HPxDxD:

Transmigrated to Harry Potter after being announced as the champion of the Triwizard Tournament—Choose 3 things.

After rescuing Sirius in 3rd year—Choose 4 things.

Before confronting Riddle and the Basilisk—Choose 5 things.

When Harry receives his letter for Hogwarts—Choose 6 things.

When Harry is on the verge of dying in the cupboard at the age of 7—Choose 7 things.

Powers That Can Be Chosen:

Essences

Items

Wishes

(Difficulty scales as you go down)

The man scanned the list, his mind whirling with the possibilities. "So, I get to pick my own starting point, huh? And the more dangerous the time, the more powers I get?"

Death nodded. "Exactly. Where would the fun be if there were no stakes?"

The man considered his options carefully. "I'll go for essences," he finally said, his voice firm.

Death sighed again, though this time it was with an air of resignation. "Sigh, always going for the easy way out."

"Yeah, I follow the 'keep it simple, stupid' principle." The man smirked, trying to maintain some semblance of control in this surreal situation.

"Very well," Death said with a nod. "Here are the essences you can choose from:"

Essence of the Barbarian

By drinking this blood-red essence that tastes of strong but favorable ale, with faint undertones of sweat and tears, you gain:

Superhuman strength, speed, and stamina that will grow with time, training, and combat.

Superhuman dexterity and coordination, enough to snatch an arrow out of the air.

A vitality that can be trained.

The ability to bounce back from even crippling injuries.

Resistance to curses, hexes, and various other malicious or unwanted magical effects (though not full immunity).

The power to slay even allegedly immortal/unkillable/deathless/amortal beings with enough dedicated effort.

A keen mind and sharp instincts honed for combat, with a great knowledge of how to fight both armed and unarmed, immune to the ravages of age and time.

Multitasking abilities, allowing you to track the happenings of an entire battlefield at once while still holding your own in a fight.

A surprising talent for languages, which you can learn in a surprisingly short time on your own, and far faster with assistance.

Great charisma to sway lesser men and women, inspiring either courage or fear as you prefer.

Immunity to psychological trauma, including that from combat, bloodshed, death, gore, and more.

Willpower sufficient to withstand crushing defeat, decades of torture, untold suffering, and many other horrible things, including knowledge that would break lesser minds, and still carry on as you please.

Essence of the Archmage

By consuming the essence of the Archmage, you gain several boons:

Perfect memory with infinite storage.

Beyond genius-level intellect.

The capacity to learn any 'magic,' even unique ones, upon seeing it once or understanding enough about it (including Ki, Chakra, soul power, etc.).

Possession of a supernatural reactor that can adapt to any supernatural energy to fuel spells, enchantments, powers, etc. This reactor provides a steady supply of power that will grow over time, allowing you to use high-consumption abilities with wild abandon and still not make much of a dent after a few hours.

The ability to teach others systems even if they previously lacked the capacity.

The capability to manipulate entire systems or combine them with experimentation.

The ability to cast any spell as long as you have the energy, without requiring any extra elements like a focus or materials. However, the time required to cast (if any) remains.

Essence of the King

A body just above the peak of your species in ability, sculpted to your tastes.

Infinite willpower to tackle any foe; even bloody and broken, you will not stop.

Endless endurance, stamina, and immunity to pain.

A signature bloodline with limited benefits, up to your discretion. Can pass onto your descendants.

Perfect memory with infinite storage.

Mastery of many weapons and unarmed styles, including plain old brawling.

Immense skill in conducting war on a strategic and tactical level.

A good handle on logistics and how to raise and train a force from a small band of soldiers to entire armies.

Mastery of economics, logistics, politics, and other things needed to run a functional power.

Charisma to bend the will of entire nations and the sheer presence of a monarch that others would describe as divine (needs to be trained).

"So," Death said, his voice cutting through the man's thoughts, "you've made your choice then?"

"Yeah, I'll go during the Triwizard Tournament. But can I ask something? What about the Horcrux? Will it be left for me to deal with, or will it be removed after I arrive? Or will it be... added to me?"

Death's smile widened into something far more sinister. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Good luck."

With a wave of his hand, the world around the man began to dissolve. The bar, the warmth, the comfort—it all faded, replaced by a cold, tingling sensation as reality began to warp.

And then, there was nothing.

The man felt a jolt, as if he was being slammed into something solid. His vision cleared, and he found himself standing in a large, opulent hall, surrounded by students and teachers, all staring at him with wide eyes. His name echoed through the room, followed by a deathly silence.

"Harry Potter," called out Dumbledore.