It had been several years before Shane found out, due to a lucky or rather unlucky coincidence, that his mother had died while giving birth to him.
His father considered him no less than a miracle sent from Heaven above.
The nurses had told his father that both his son and his wife had died.
Through something unknown, seen as a divine intervention, the former dead baby had suddenly started to breathe once again, moments after the doctor had declared it to be dead.
With that in mind, Shane concluded that it had only been possible because he had transmigrated into the baby's body.
That could be the only reason due to which his "father" could suddenly see his dead son "alive" and kicking, crying like he was stung by a bee.
His father seemed to love him dearly, and Shane felt guilty of deceiving him because he was not his father's biological son.
However, as years passed, he found himself believing the fact that he was indeed his father's son, even though the love that he had obtained in the beginning was different than he could have ever imagined.
Even If he continued to think differently, there was nothing he could change about his current situation, and several years passed until he finally made up his mind.
Growing up under his father's care, he noticed pretty early that even his father had his share of nasty flaws.
His father was barely at home and had an extremely bad temper.
Shane felt as if his father was cold and distant towards him.
Furthermore, he controlled his son's life, micromanaging everything down to the last detail. Thus, Shane´s social interactions were limited to his father's friends, and the servants of the luxurious mansion he resided in.
He was imprisoned inside the mansion and wasn't even allowed to leave the mansion without a servant tailing him. To make matters worse, he was forbidden to publicly name his father, and reveal his true identity..
As if that was not enough, his father did a poor job at parenting, and rather it was his father's friends, who raised him more than his own father.
There were no friends or other people interacting with him on a daily basis.
When he transmigrated to Igra, he was horrified to find out the perils of the world he had entered.
Even though Igra was approximately six times larger than earth, this couldn't protect him from the terrifying existences that eradicated cities and even countries.
However, the worst thing that happened to him was when he was around eight years old.
One day, his father returned home with a few small green hideous-looking beasts that were tied together with ropes.
At this time, a premonition caused Shane to frown, as he drew his tiny eyebrows together. His father wanted him to kill the small hideous, green-skinned beasts, called Goblins.
Pushing an alloy dagger into the hands of his 8-year-old child, his father had stepped back and looked at Shane who trembled violently in fear, while his father released a faint trace of mana.
Shane, who couldn't feel his father's mana should have understood the harsh reality sooner rather than later, but he denied his father´s order to kill the tied Goblins. At that time, memories of his past life flooded his mind, where he would save helpless animals and not harm them. He saw the same helplessness mirrored across the Goblins' faces.
But, Shane was unable to lift the dagger, even if he wanted to, and his little fingers curled around the hilt of the dagger with an unsteady grip.
His father had waited for some time, tapping his feet on the floor impatiently. When his son wouldn't obey, his father took matters in his own hands. He went ahead and severed the Goblins' legs with a clean slice of his blad he swung without showing any mercy.
As Shane watched in horror, his father then tended to their wounds, and stepped back, apparently satisfied with his 'piece of work'.
However, his cold gaze lingered on his son, and the aloofness in them caused the eight-year-old boy to shiver in fright.
Having lived for more than 20 years, if one was to include his previous life, Shane knew what his father had expected from him. Yet, he was still disgusted with the thought of killing a living being.
The Goblins, however, were oblivious to Shane's predicament. One of the goblins crawled towards him with blood-red eyes, not being able to resist its inherent need for bloodlust.
Looking into the bloodthirsty eyes, Shane knew that there was no hope left. The almost invisible ray of hope that he desperately clung to, was now devoured by darkness.
At that time, Shane had only noticed his father's cold gaze that had been fixated on him and he knew what needed to be done.
Even though he loved animals, the being crawling towards him could hardly be considered as one.
There was no room for mistakes left…
As his father's eyes bore down on him, Shane clutched the alloy dagger with a firm grip to prevent his shaking hands from dropping it accidentally. As tiny tears streamed down his cheeks, he forced himself to thrust the dagger into the already seriously injured Goblin's chest with all the energy he could muster up.
With the dagger piercing into the Goblins' flesh, its eyes widened involuntarily. He felt the timid goblin resist him, but the razor-sharp blade sliced deep into the bloodthirsty creature's body.
The goblin's vision blurred and the goblin uttered a painful shriek that would haunt little Shane for months. The goblin's body slumped down as blood flowed down in rivulets. Soon, the blood was pouring on the clean and smooth ground and had painted his clean clothes deep crimson.
**
It was the first time for him to kill a living being in both of his lives. His father had given him no acknowledgment or appreciation but had merely walked away from him. Shane had fallen to the floor, crying helplessly with no one to offer him comfort. Clutching his stomach he had vomited a few times until only gastric fluids were left behind.
To Shane's dismay, his first time killing a beast was not the last one. His father had seen his son's hesitation as a weakness, and a flaw, that could kill him in the future.
Over the next few years, Shane accompanied his father to hundreds of different places. Each of those places was infested with murderous beasts that would kill him without the slightest hesitation or remorse.
His father taught Shane to kill without mercy or delay. Due to this, he slowly grew numb to the mindless slaughter of living beings.
In the beginning, he was still disgusted to see his blade cut and hack through flesh, but slowly he adapted to his father's mindset. Over time, his thoughts had undergone a radical change and now, were almost aligned to that of his father.
The main turning point in his life, however, came in the form of a beast break-out where the beasts had brutally massacred innocent and hapless human beings.
After that unfortunate day, his attitude towards beasts had changed by 360 degrees. He couldn't see them as the same innocent animals that he had loved back on earth anymore. Now, he saw them for what they were.
Life was cruel and harsh in the world he had transmigrated into, and only the strongest could survive.
His father was strong and powerful, but Shane didn't like being someone's puppet. Even if that someone was John Stella, the president of the whole Stella-federation, governing mankind and Igra.
Shane´s family name was different from that of his father's surname. He had taken his deceased mother's family name, which was the same one he had in his former life.
As such, his name was still Shane Suro, son of John Stella.
While some people thought that it was beneficial to belong to a formidable family in such a dangerous era, Shane couldn't agree. He would rather face the chaos and death head-on than to sit cocooned in his father's mansion, oblivious to everything that went on outside.
He was constantly being controlled by everyone and everything.
Freetime? What is that?
A free-will? Can I eat that?
He was forced to excel at everything, from knowledge to weaponry, even lifestyle occupations, that left him with no free time. Even if he did get free time, who would he spend it with? The servants inside the manor?
Furthermore, he was expected to be able to lead people, fight monstrous existences, and become a killing machine in order to protect humanity from all kinds of threats.
Shane had to wait till he turned 16, to be able to enter the Primordial Dimension. At last, the long-awaited day finally arrived.
Staying under his father's control, not having a say in any decision, and marrying someone he had never met before, wasn't how he imagined living for the rest of his life. Shane's desire to live his life the way he wanted ignited deep inside him.
Planning his escape for months, he chose to be his own ruler!
He was his own king and not someone's puppet!
Nobody should control him and force him to do something he didn't want to. With that in mind, the memory of him killing the first living being, 8 years ago, crossed his mind.
Now, the day after his 16th birthday, Shane was standing in front of the Dimensional Portal anxiously. He nervously stepped forward, entering the semi-translucent liquid which changed his whole life.
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