Roll back the tape...

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Vajra POV...

What do you get when you combine a kid from the slums with a second chance? The answer is... me.

I get up from the bed, walking out the room. I don't have the luxury of a second outfit today, nor a proper bath. I walk down the stairs of the inn, ignoring the black mold creeping up the walls. I set a coin on the counter before wordlessly walking out of the room.

I can smell the musty and stale air of the wharf, the dampness piercing my lungs. Today's my 22nd birthday... although I haven't been counting since I was 5. I walk down the creaky boards of the pier towards our semi-reliable vessel that remains moored.

"About time you showed up, Pierce," Captain Ahab greets me, a man of significant age with sullen eyes and sturdy frame.

I groan and nod, but hop onto the craft formally known as the St. Emma or known informally as the shittiest ship at shore. It isn't actually the worst, but everything feels worse in a place like this.

Pierce... how long has that been my name? It started as a nickname, but I've taken to it well. I first got called it when I speared my first whale, but I started using it every day... whatever. It matters not to me.

I stand towards the aft mast of the ship, next to the captains quarters. I grab a harpoon off the ground, pronged and long with slight inscriptions on the spearhead. I lean against the spear, waiting for the captain to give the order to begin to leave port.

Eventually, he does shout for us to leave port. Some of my fellow crewmates tie the lines and undo the knots connecting us to port. I await for us to begin, not having a job besides spear throwing. We're constantly overstaffed in case we lose crew members on a voyage. This voyage will take, at maximum, a year.

I watch as we sail away from port, knowing that I have no actual attachment there. This ship is all I've known for years... it will probably be the last thing I know, too. The captain stands at the wheel, yelling directions for lesser crew members to follow.

At C- rank, this job is all I can get. Sure, my strength is uncommon, but not enough to disregard my background. Although there's something about the sea that draws me in... perhaps the human desire to destroy or conquer.

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It's been a month since we set sail into the sea, the St. Emma making nice time. We should be entering the hunting grounds soon. The waves are quiet rough by now, as are the winds. I see a streak of thunder through the heavy clouds, painting the sky with it's brilliance. The power of thunder... wouldn't that be neat?

But no, I awakened water mana. At sea, I am my most powerful, and at sea I shall remain. I look towards the bow of the ship, wondering when we'd spot our first possible catch. I look leeward, which just so happens to be portside, and at the water. It looks darker than usual, as if there some gargantuan shadow beneath it... wait-

"AVAST!!!" Captain shouts, seeming more concerned than I've ever seen him. This shadow, it couldn't possibly be... 

"THE WHITE WHALE IS UPON US!"

This can't be... it was supposed to be a legend, an unfindable beast meant to drive children away from the sea. A myth.

Regardless of my concern, I run portside and look over the railing. The water shifts all around us, causing tidal waves of motion. Every move of the beast beneath us rocks the ship around, threatening to capsize the St. Emma. The storm has long since intensified, raining down water onto us as if we were the target of some torrential flood.

I'm small in comparison to the beast, inconceivably small. I can hear some crew members pray to their gods, the captain staying silent. He looks at me and I look at him, locking eyes. This is the final voyage of the St. Emma.

"SPEAR IT, PIERCE!" He yells to me, wanting me to at least try and ward the beast away. The whirlpool the beast will leave behind will kill us, regardless of our protest.

I channel all of my mana into my arms, winding back my arm before hurling it towards the shadow of the whale. It flies with the strength of a cannon, disturbing the air in its path. The inscriptions on the spearhead glow and the spear expands mid-air, piercing the water with no resistance. Even the expanded spear is tiny in comparison to the whale.

I don't see if it lands due to the water immediately filling the empty space that the spear left behind. I stare down at the water, knowing that everyone aboard the St. Emma will vanish today and be brought back into the sea.

We might as well be fighting the sea, if not nature as a whole, itself.

A shadow is cast over the ship from behind. I turn in time to catch my final moments, the tail of the beast impacting the whole of the St. Emma in an instant.

Death. Instant and painless.

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I'm in an empty room, a woman before me. Huh, so God is a woman... one with completely white hair and blue eyes as well. A lot of questions flash through my mind, but I don't speak any of them... rather, I can't. My lips seem to be sealed up.

The room is a bright white box with golden furniture, a bit too flashy and extravagant for my tastes. The woman sips a cup of tea before setting the cup down, standing up with a soft and gentle smile.

"One of prophecy, you will be given a second life," She says, extending her hand towards me in a gesture. "You are one of many to be given this chance. I gift you a second chance and the assistance of a being known as a system. One day, there will be a threat that will shake the world you know, even stronger than the beast you stumbled upon. You, among others, will be tasked with saving this world. Can you handle this, young one?"

I stare at her for a while, not saying anything and simply processing everything. I can feel that I can speak now, but I intend to wait a minute. Taking a deep breath and drawing air into my chest, I speak.

"I'm not young-"

She rolls her eyes and in the next moment, I'm somewhere dark and cramped. It's warm in here and I'm so small... wait, am I being birthed right now? First off, eww. Second off, I get a second chance at life! How cool is that? Besides having to go through being poor and starving again, y'know?

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