Chapter 1 - The encounter (RW)

Morgan Le Fey, was your average college student, average grades, average looks… Well, if there was something unusual about him, that would be his hobbies… He really liked anime and manga, to the degree that he sometimes even cut classes to watch some episodes of his favorite anime. He also liked RPG games and he often imagined what he’d do if magic really existed in the world.

That day, he was in a hurry. He didn’t plan on being delayed at the university, so he hadn’t programmed his computer to record the last two episodes of YAT A****n! U**ū R***ō. Morgan loved that anime and that was the third time he watched it. There was only one thing which exasperated him about that anime, despite it being the third time it was emitted on TV, he had yet to watch the last two episodes of its last season.

He had searched through the internet, in forums and P2P file-sharing programs, any possible torrent… yet he had been unable to find and watch those two episodes. He had even tried to buy the DVDs and ship them from Japan, but even that had proven to be impossible. Boundless happiness had invaded him when he learned the anime was being emitted on TV for a third time, and he hadn’t missed any chapter… until that moment. He had always missed those two last chapters for some reason or other.

That day, he had been delayed at the university instead of going home on time. He tried to return home as fast as possible, and he made a choice he would never have in normal circumstances. He had already resigned himself to miss the better part of the first chapter, but if he hurried, he would be able to watch the whole last chapter, and if he got lucky, maybe even the last part of the previous one! That’s why, he decided to use a shortcut to gain some time.

He never went through that back alley if he could avoid doing so, it was too dark and there were always a prostitute or two with their clients whenever he passed through it. But today the scenery had changed, instead of the usual women, what was there that day was a group of men molesting a beautiful blonde young woman. Her name was Sheena Altan, and she was Morgan’s neighbor, as well as the girl he had a crush on.

He never had helped anyone nor accepted help from anyone, but this time it was different, this time he had to act. When he realized who she was, he did run towards her, but before he could get to her, she suddenly stood up with a sinister grin on her face. Morgan felt something wasn’t right, he couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he was unable to shake that feeling off.

Morgan continued looking at her and suddenly realized something, she was drenched in blood and the men who were trying to assault her weren’t in sight anymore, he then looked down and saw the men, they were all dead, she had cut their throats and stabbed their hearts in less than a second. Morgan helplessly looked at her without knowing what to do next. She then grinned again, licked the blood on her knife and told Morgan, “So, do you also want to make me yours by force?”

And, without giving him any time to answer her question or to react, she cleanly stabbed her knife through Morgan’s heart, killing him on the spot. Morgan couldn’t believe what had just taken place, and while he was trying to understand it, his consciousness fell into a bottomless darkness…

***

“Morgan Le Fey.” Morgan heard someone calling his name and then felt a warm presence in the darkness. This presence was a being made of pure white light, and that warmth he had felt before was emanating from it. The presence called out his name one more time, “Morgan Le Fey.”

At that moment, Morgan finally managed to react, and he answered to the entity, “Yes, that’s my name and… could you please tell me who or what are you?” However, after putting some more thought into his current situation, he changed his questions, “No, wait… where are we? And how come I’m alive after I was stabbed in the heart?”

The entity was a little overwhelmed by that number of questions in such a brief moment, so it couldn’t help but say, “Please make one question at a time.” It then continued with its explanation, “My name is Fate, I’m the being who reigns above the fates of every living creature in this universe. As for where we are, we are in a time before any time, in a place before any place, we are nowhere, yet we are anywhere. And about your last question…” He had made so many questions at the same time, that the entity had already forgotten what he had originally asked, “What was it again?”

Not remembering the question himself, Morgan didn’t immediately reply. He tried to recall his previous questions, and when he did, he answered to Fate, “I had asked how come I’m alive despite having been stabbed in the heart.” He really wondered how he could still be alive, because no matter how he thought about it, he shouldn’t have survived after receiving that kind wound.

Fate was surprised by his question, after all, the only way to enter her realm was by dying. She suddenly realized her mistake, she assumed anyone would know that fact because she did, but no one actually remembered their passage through her realm after the cleansing of their souls, so Morgan’s question was a legitimate one. After her realization, she answered his question, “Oh, that! Well, the answer is rather simple, actually, you are dead!”

Morgan somehow felt that she wasn’t deceiving him (at least, he thought the being was a she), but the answer puzzled him even more. Then Fate started talking again, and explained to him how mortals are often mistaken when it comes to the concept of fate. A fate was like a road, with a beginning and an end, already decided from the moment a being was born. Nevertheless, as a road, fate has many detours, which ones are taken depends upon the choices the individual makes in his or her life, but no matter what choices are made or what detours are taken, the individual will always end up returning to the main road called fate.

Then she said that every individual has a unique fate, given to them by her upon their birth. Only one fate, no person should have more than one, for it goes against the laws of the universe, that’s why it should be impossible. Then, she said something that startled Morgan, “Well, that’s how it should be, but you somehow ended up having two fates. The one I gave you at your birth, by which you shouldn’t have died so young, and the one that killed you, which came from somewhere else.”

Fate saw the puzzled look in Morgan’s face, and tried to further explain to him the origin of the fate that killed him, “It should be a fate provided by a being like me, but who resides in a parallel universe. As for its reasons for interfering with another universe by giving you an additional fate, I have no idea, but now that it has come to this, you have a choice to make.”

Those last words of Fate’s confused Morgan, and he couldn’t help but say, “I don’t understand. What choice are you talking about? I’m dead, isn’t that supposed to be the finish line?” As soon as those words escaped his mouth, his thoughts went haywire and recalled the events on some of the manga and web-novels he had read. Could it be that I am going to have a chance of reincarnating in another world?, he wondered.

Noticing his confusion, Fate hurriedly explained to him why, instead of following the usual procedure, he had the right to choose, “Well, death would be the finish line for someone else, but not for you. You didn’t die because that was your fate, you died because of an external interference.” Then, she explained to Morgan the options he had in the choice he had to make, “So, I’m giving you a choice, you can either clean your soul, forget your past life and reincarnate in your previous world like every other soul, or…”

Is she doing this on purpose to add more tension to the situation?, thought Morgan. Seeing that she didn’t continue speaking, he decided to play along, “Or?” Fate giggled playfully in celebration of her win and explained to Morgan what his other choice was, “Or I could backtrack the energy signature present in your foreign fate to find the parallel universe it originated from, and reincarnate you there, with your memories intact. As the fate from there is already used up, the one which will come into play after your reincarnation will be the fate I gave you at your birth.”

Morgan didn’t have to think much to pick his choice, travelling to a different world had been one of his dreams ever since he started reading manga and watching anime. He looked at Fate and said without hesitation, “I choose option two! I want to go to a parallel universe!” His childish reaction to the words parallel universe amused Fate, she waited until Morgan calmed down before she began speaking again.

“I don’t know what kind of world will end up into, only that it’ll be one of the many worlds existing in the parallel universe that your corrupt fate came from.”, she warned him. She then started to explain to him the consequences of being reborn with a fate from a different universe, “You won’t be bound by the fate I gave you. Actually, it will give you a total freedom of choice in that universe. That’s something no being in a universe should have, apart from the ruler of fate, of course.”

At that point, she gave him a final warning, “That total freedom of choice of yours will probably change the fate of those around you, if that change will be for the better or for the worse, I don’t know.” Morgan appreciated her concern, and thanked her for the warning, “Ok, thank you for giving me a heads up. I’ll be careful, then, I don’t want to screw someone else’s life.”

Due to the irreversibility of the situation once she had sent him into the other universe, Fate tried to make sure he wouldn’t regret his decision later. “After you reincarnate there this time, the cycle of reincarnation of your soul will be linked to that universe, and you will never be able to come back.”, she explained to him. Then, she asked him for the last time, “Are you certain you really want to go there?”

Why do you keep on asking me, time, and time again? It almost looks like you don’t want me to go there!, thought Morgan. He felt her unwillingness to let him go, but he didn’t understand it, so he gave an honest answer to her question, “Of course I’m sure! Who would be the idiot to miss the chance of going to a parallel universe? I even get to keep my previous memories, so I couldn’t care less about coming back!”

Fate was taken aback by his answer, and gave up. She decided to stop trying to keep him in her universe. "Ok, ok, I understand. You’ve made up your mind so the only thing left to do is to send you there…”, she said, dejectedly. After hesitating for a while, she called out to him, “Hmm, Morgan?”

“Yes, what is it, Fate?”, he replied. Is she still trying to change my mind? I don’t know why she wants to keep me here... Could it be she has fallen for me, and she wants to keep me by her side? No, that is unlikely, I have never had such a good luck with women…

Contrary to Morgan’s delusions, Fate was only trying to explain to him what to expect on the other universe. “I’ll give you a piece of advice before you go. The fate I gave you at your birth will automatically align with the signature energy of that universe right after your birth in that world.”, she explained. But she didn’t give him any time to rejoice, and pointed out that the alignment wouldn’t give him the power of the freedom of choice right away, it would leak bit by bit, and it would be fully his in approximately six or eight years after his rebirth, not sooner.

There are many things that I regret having or not having done in my last life. Discovering that the so called freedom of choice humans are said to enjoy is actually just a big fallacy, is quite anticlimactic. As long as I can choose my own path, six or eight years of wait are definitely worth it!, thought Morgan.

Having sorted out his thoughts on the matter, he calmly replied to Fate’s previous statement, “It’s ok, I can wait. There is no need to rush things. It’s as they say, haste makes waste. I’ve been given a second chance at life, while retaining my past life’s memories, there is no way in hell I’m doing something which could get me killed while I’m still an infant!”

Fate felt relieved by his words and responded, “Ok, ok. I just wanted to make sure you understood the risks involved.” While she said those words, she remembered the favor she wanted to ask of Morgan once he grew powerful in the other universe. She had put that thought at the back of her mind, and it was only at that moment that she had recalled it. “Ah! One last thing, Morgan!”

“What is it?”, asked Morgan sheepishly, while thinking, Is there still more things I need to know about my reincarnation? However, he would have never guessed what Fate’s next request would be, and it would send shivers down his spine every time he thought about it after his rebirth.

Realizing she had gotten his full attention, Fate almost regretted having decided to give the task to Morgan, almost. She couldn’t do it in person, so this was her only chance to get payback. She collected her thoughts, and finally said to Morgan, “After you become strong enough… If you ever find the bastard who ignored the multiverse treaty and interfered with my universe, causing your death, I want you to greet him in my place, by kicking his balls as hard as you can!  Ok? Could you please do me that favor?”

Morgan was dumbfounded by her request. She wants me to do what?, he thought. As he recovered, Morgan started wondering about how powerful he would need to become to kick the balls of a supreme being who rules over the fates of several thousands of millions of lives and survive doing so. He concluded that it was impossible, not even in a thousand lifetimes would he be able to reach such heights of power.

But one thing is one’s thoughts, and a different thing is one’s actions. Morgan answered, “Yes, Ma’am!” and decided to deal with the problem when the time came. After all, nothing good would come from dwelling on something that was out of his control. In addition, he feared her reaction and didn’t dare to say no to her.

Seeing Morgan going toward her, while she was starting to create the magic circle which would send his soul to the other universe, Fate got upset and told him, “Morgan, stay still, don’t speak, and unless you want pieces of your soul scattered among a dozen different worlds, don’t distract me!” Those were harsh words, but she didn’t lie, a single mistake in the creation of the magic circle, could very well destroy his soul during the transfer, or break it in some unknown way. She didn’t want anything of that to happen to Morgan’s soul, hence her harsh words when he had distracted her.

A very complex magic formation appeared in front of Morgan. The formation started glowing and enveloped him, finally, there was a flash of silvery light and Fate was all alone in the darkness, once again. I think I’ll miss him… It had been a long time since I had last had such a good conversation with someone…, thought Fate, after her loneliness returned with Morgan’s disappearance.

***

Morgan’s POV:

While Fate was talking about how I should be careful and avoid showing any sign of abnormality after birth, because I had yet to make my fate’s power mine, I was thinking about my past life, and the many regrets I had. I never had a girlfriend, I was an unwanted child whose parents never cared about him, and my only friends were the books in the library.

Discovering that the so called freedom of choice humans are said to enjoy is actually just a big fallacy, is quite anticlimactic. As long as I can choose my own path, six or eight years of wait are definitely worth it!, I thought. If I carefully consider everything about this new opportunity I’ve been given, I really would need to thank Sheena for killing me, if she hadn’t, I would have never been able to have this chance to start my life from scratch, and in a different world to boot!

Then, Fate suddenly gave me a chill and requested something from me… an impossible task which I’ll have to try my best to accomplish… It’s better not to make her mad, after all she is the one making my soul reincarnate into a different universe, who knows what kind of shitty place I’ll end up in if I piss her off…

Her request had been, “After you become strong enough… If you ever find the bastard who ignored the multiverse treaty and interfered with my universe, causing your death, I want you to greet him in my place, by kicking his balls as hard as you can!  Ok? Could you please do me that favor?”

Are you freaking serious? How the heck should I find a being as powerful as her, when I will reincarnate as a mere mortal in one of the many worlds that conform that parallel universe? And… did she just say after I become strong enough? This chick is crazy as hell.

How am I supposed to match the power of that being while I’m a simple human? Not even a thousand lifetimes would be enough to fulfill her request, but merely for my own sake, I complied with her demand.

After I answered, “Yes, Ma’am!”, a very complex magic formation appeared in front of me. I thought it looked really interesting, I had read about magic formations in manga and light novels, but seeing the real thing made me realize that I was yearning for learning magic. The moment right before the flash that reincarnated my soul appeared, one thought crossed my mind, I hope the world, I’m going to reincarnate into is a world of swords and magic.

The next thing I remember after that, is opening my eyes and seeing a lot of giants looking at me. At first, I was confused, but after a few seconds I cleared my mind and understood that those people weren’t giants, they were my new family. That mere fact made me very happy, for it meant I had a family, and I had successfully reincarnated into a baby’s body.

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