Chapter One

A man in his twenties could be seen walking down the street. The surrounding sandstone buildings and desert biome hinted at him living in a Saharan area. He was gazing at a few restaurants and stores as he walked by them. The man wore a silver name tag that stated his name as 'Net.'

His clothing was an odd mixture of red and green and he seemed generally unhappy. Net stopped in front of a building that had the words 'Travco Group,' an Egyptian travel agency.

He pushed open the glass doors and sat down in the main lobby, the chairs were cushioned and seemed like office chairs. He muttered a few words under his breath as he began to wait.

The people around him looked at him oddly, as he was completely pale. The people surrounding him all looked to be Native Egyptians.

However, he never got the chance to get up from his chair, as only four seconds after he sat down, he spontaneously combusted.

No, seriously. You think I'm kidding? I am not. I would show you the aftermath but... I don't think you could deal with that kind of scene yet. Maybe later.

Net, however, didn't know what happened of course. He had spontaneously, and by definition unwarned, combusted into chunks. He however, was still conscious, although not in the same plane of existence as before.

Right now, the area Net was in could only be described as...

The River Styx.

.

.

.

I was utterly confused. One moment, I was in Luxor, Egypt and the next I was in front of a river that seemed to be made with the souls of the damned.

Obviously, I immediately thought of the River Styx as I was superstitious and religious, but my logical side turned that idea down. I grunted slightly as I felt a pull toward the left of me, and screamed as I saw a massive three headed beast in the shape of a dog.

Or at least, I tried to scream. My voice worked for only a second as it got quieter and quieter until finally it disappeared. The... dog? looked at me arrogantly and put it's raised paw down onto the black sand that seemed to be all around.

"You have done well in life, and for that... it must be said that you will be rewarded. You sought death as an escape from a bad life, so I, Cerberus, Grant you with a life worth living."

And then I vanished again. I'm not sure how I know, but... it felt like I had gone from existing to... not-so-existing, you know? Well, you probably don't know but to me, it makes perfect sense.

And then I was back. Cerberus stares at me in slight annoyance as he muttered a few things to wandering souls. Did I mention the heart attack the first wandering soul gave me? I wasn't expecting it at all.

Cerberus looked back at me. Then back at the souls, and then back at me. He said something I didn't expect, and honestly surprised me.

"You have been... banished from your home world. Therefore, you will be sent to another and born again."

I vanished once more into the comfortable shiftedness of wherever I go to when this happens. Until my feet once again touched the ever soul searing black sand at the start of the River Styx.

Cerberus just began glaring at me in annoyance and mild surprise. He began to ignore the other souls in favor of sending me off.

It happened time and time again, and each time he said I had been banished. What did I do? I'm not sure. I still can't speak or make sounds, so I can't really ask. Finally, after nearly thirteen thousand attempts, he stopped and said something different.

"I, Cerberus, am a deity of my own you know. Therefore, I henceforth send you to the Homeworld of the Great Guardian of the River Styx."

And this time, I did not go to what I have begun referring to as 'The Waiting Room,' and instead actually disappeared into another place. I was just as I had been, a pale, black haired, green eyed, five foot ten man.

One thing, however, was different. There was a small area in my stomach, nearer to my navel, that felt bottomless and ready to be filled. That, and my voice was still gone. Damnit!

Did being in the Underworld for so long take my voice? Perhaps. I'm not sure. Maybe it was Cerberus. Not the point, I assume.

My head felt a small tag of information that was waiting to be opened. It was like a gift on Christmas Day, not that I celebrated, waiting to be opened.

And so, naturally, I opened it. I realized by connecting the dots that the feeling in my navel area was my Mana Pool, as the 'tag' called it, and that I could fill it by meditating.

This was certainly interesting, however weird it sounded. So I sat down cross legged and waited. And waited. And waited... for longer than I would like to admit, I sat there.

And then I realized something; There was a pathway in my body that definitely wasn't there before and I'm not sure how it took me this long to notice, even the 'tag' mentioned it.

So, I did what the tag told me to... and stopped breathing. Instantly, the pathway was filled to the brim with the energy that has been called 'Mana,' and the pit in my navel filled up.

I enjoyed this feeling for awhile until a screech woke me up. I looked at the sky only to curse in my head, as I got up as fast as possible and began running through the massive trees that were several tens to hundreds of meters high.

The bird I had spotted only seconds earlier crashed into my previous spot with its blue feathers flaring violently. I just continued my silent run away, until something made me trip and fall.

And fall I did, down a very suspiciously steep hill. I painfully came to a stop in a cave at the bottom, hidden from view as a loud ringing sound resounded in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw a transparent and ethereal box in front of me.

[The Great and Mighty Cerberus has granted you the One Spell System. You have one Spell Slot unlocked and One Spell Ticket. Would you like to use it?]

Spells? And why is this System or whatever called the One Spell System? Can I only learn one of these Spells? Whatever, I mentally groaned, and said yes. Or rather, I thought the word yes.

Thankfully the System accommodated me and accepted my mental answer.

[You have used one Spell Slot. You have no Spell Slots left. You have learned Spell {Crush.}]

Crush? Like as in love crush? Or as in Gravity? I just sighed and began my mental preparations if it was the love Crush. But if it wasn't I still was prepared. I aimed it at a small coal ore in front of me, as I was battered from the fall and didn't want to move.

Crush.

I felt stupid. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. I sat up and winced at the sting in my side as I began to meditate, hoping to find another information tag or something.

It only took a few minutes before I found it, and seconds before I opened it unhesitatingly. Knowledge on how to flow my Mana and how to command it to my will instantly appeared but took a few minutes for me to memorize.

So I looked at the coal ore in-front of me and once again commanded it to my will.

Crush.