"Report commander, unit five has been successfully destroyed. I'm heading there to see if there are any survivors," Ares immediately ran to worry about the condition of the camp where his fellow soldiers were standing guard.
"You guys hang in there. This is beyond belief," muttered Ares, who soon reached the camp.
The situation was quite severe. Blood was splattered everywhere, and there were even some organs that had simply fallen off.
Ares immediately approached one of his colleagues, who seemed to be still moving. "Hey, hang in there. I told the commander I'll try to save the people who can still be helped here."
A soldier looked with blurred vision, then slowly got clearer. "Ares? Are you Ares?"
The man said while spewing blood from his mouth.
"Yes, mate. It's me, Ares. Hang in there. I'll try to help you," Ares said, then immediately helped his friend, who was crushed by the rubble.
"Fool. You shouldn't have come here. We all just realised..." the man was sweating, and blood flowed from his mouth. Occasionally, the soldier coughed, so his sentences were unclear.
"W-what do you mean by that?" Ares replied in confusion.
"We're all just being used as scapegoats. It is all a trap. The commander was clear about our defeat, and before the attack, that man said our sacrifice was necessary for future success," the man explained stammeringly.
Ares tried to understand the situation and the events at hand. The man began to feel the irregularity of the situation and conditions.
"If this is all just a supposed form of sacrifice, then..." Ares muttered as he realised that he was also falling into a trap.
But it was too late, as someone in the distance was already aiming a red laser at Ares.
"Checkmate!"
A missile hurtled towards the crumbling base camp. In just a split second, the building was destroyed.
"Argh!" Ares screamed as the building's metal pierced through his chest.
"Is this the end of me?" the man muttered as his vision began to blur.
Although Ares had taken steps to leave the place, he was too late. Some of the rubble was now also tearing Ares' body apart.
"Oh Lord. H-heaven, please g-give me ano-ther c-chance!" It was the last sentence Ares uttered before he lost consciousness.
[System synchronised. User detected. Vital condition weakened. Two realities will merge into one.]
There was a sudden glitch in the situation. Ares felt like his body was passing into a dimension. Scientifically, Ares seemed to be fused into a part of the language programme of artificial intelligence.
"I didn't expect it to be this painful," muttered a young man who woke up downstream.
The roaring sound of the waterfall could even be heard clearly there. The clear-coloured water seemed to become murky around the man lying there.
The man's trance that had been blurry was now clearer. The man then held his head, which still felt dizzy.
"Blood! Am I bleeding?"
As the man's vision began to clear, he could see that there was blood dripping from his forehead, and his leg appeared to be torn from being dislocated.
The man turned his face upwards and saw a steep cliff not far by the waterfall.
"Could I have fallen from up there?"
As the man's mind began to compartmentalise, he noticed something strange. "Why am I here? Wasn't I in a base camp building earlier? My body is still intact. Didn't the missile fire destroy this place and tear off some of my limbs? In fact, I'm pretty sure there was a long metal rod that went through my chest. So what exactly happened? Why did I get injured as if I fell off a cliff?"
Ares tried to feel his shoulders, which had scratches from the steep cliff, and there was even a cut on his left leg. All of the wounds were fresh and obviously quite severe, with even more blood seeping out of them.
"Arghhh!" Ares cried out again as pain attacked his head. This time, the pain was much more severe.
After that, a strange memory seemed to enter Ares' mind. Unable to bear the pain in his head, Ares finally fell unconscious.
On the near edge of a steep cliff and a small clear waterfall within the wilderness, a seventeen-year-old youth blinked his eyes several times, having woken up from his stupor.
"This memory is really real. Looking at what's around me, it seems like I've just experienced something beyond reason and logic. It feels as if I felt two deaths become one, and then I was born in this place." Ares sounded so soft, indicating that he was still so weak.
"Strangely, this is not my body. I actually changed places with someone. The funny thing is that this man's name and age are the same as mine."
Ares, who was still in disbelief, immediately checked his physical condition. The man was really surprised that the body actually had identical similarities with his body.
Ares was a soldier trying to save his friend on the battlefield, who had to die because of his commander's unknown covert plan. But reality seemed to change; Ares, who was supposed to leave the world and go to the realm of the spirits, was stranded in another world and merged with the soul of a young man with a name and physique identical to his.
"I am now Ares Shaddai. I am a young prince of the Empire of the Strongest."
Ares Shaddai was a prince who was loved and supported by the people. However, the imperial family did not like that and had their own political agenda. Although the people wanted Ares to ascend to the throne, it was not by the rules of the empire.
The public's support gave Ares made the imperial court consider the man a potential threat to the crown. Ares was a prince with no fighting skills and no military experience, so if the people began to stage coups and demand that Ares rise to power, the elders of the empire feared that the reign would end and not continue.
"Ares, I have only known you through the memories you left behind, but I already feel a closeness as if we were twin brothers. Now, you rest easy in the beyond, let me avenge your disappointment and prove to them that you are no weakling," Ares responded with determination.
The man felt that betrayal was betrayal, no matter where it came from. Sacrificing a life to achieve a goal easily was something Ares hated right now.
"Dude, it's a shame that your body is really weak," Ares muttered as he tried to stand up, but his body was so limp that he had no strength.
"If I had my real body, this kind of injury wouldn't hold me back," Ares said after getting up and standing straight.
"This world is much different from mine. I just found out that magical powers in this world are very common. By using a little bit of inner energy science, I can judge that Ares is a white magical ability element. It seems like this is the element of light," Ares said.
From the remaining memories, Ares could tell that the white magical ability with light element was just a type of healing technique. The man now understood the reason why his body felt so weak.
"Ares is also not very good at physical arts. It looks like that guy rarely works out. This situation really makes me feel unlucky."
While muttering, Ares accidentally noticed a strange sight in his field of vision. There was a set menu that looked like a computer desktop. The man was then puzzled.
"Wait a second! Don't tell me this is similar to the novel I was reading!"
Without waiting any longer, Ares pressed the strange panel in front of him. Suddenly, the transparent desktop-like menu displayed some text.
"Oh, shit!"
[Name: Ares Shaddai] [Age: 17] [Creature: Human] [Levels: 1] [Next level: 0/51] [Strength and Agility: 3&5] [Vitality: 2/4] [Stamina: 1/5] [Power Element: Light] [Mana: 20/20] [Skill: Appraisal] [Money Coins: 1,000] "No wonder I feel so weak," Ares said as he looked at the details of his data. Without wasting time, Ares immediately tried to understand what he should do immediately. "With the white power of the light element, I should be able to restore myself. But unfortunately, I don't have a single skill to do that." Ares looked discouraged The man was now hobbling around looking for food, as well as looking for something to treat his wound. Ares closed the menu display in front of him. "Looks like I'm not completely unlucky, because look at all the food that can be picked immediately." Ares picked a fruit from a tree in the forest directly. The food was enough to make Ares relieve his hunger. But it turned out that not only did it eliminate hunger, it was also able to heal t
When Ares stepped outside, he immediately met three young men from a small town. Ares saw the men sitting while treating each of their wounds. When they saw Ares' figure, the men immediately changed their attitude from introspection to attack mode. Ares, who saw the attitude of the men, could immediately judge that they were strong people. And from their scars, Ares assumed that those men had just faced a goblin-type monster. But it was only when they saw Ares' clear appearance that the men were relieved. Because Ares' appearance was like a vagrant, and his young stature did not make the men feel afraid of Ares. Even so, Ares could feel their aura was much stronger than his. "Lad, what are you doing here? This area is dangerous for a novice like you," one of the young men reprimanded. "Sorry, but I do live in this cave. No place is safe as long as the schism continues to rage," Ares replied matter-of-factly, but that thoughtful sentence left them mesmerised. Ares was still only 1
The place was a small town called Avalon. A separate region that was not incorporated with the empire or other large regions. Based on historical records, the city used to have its own empire. Still, it had to collapse due to their territory which was always flanked by other large territories, making Avalon City one of the battlefield areas. Not to mention that the place is often a stopover for monsters. The city area is not far from the famously dangerous dense forest. But even so, Avalon still stands, and its government and people still exist and support the progress of the small city every time it must be destroyed due to the effects of war or attacks from monsters. It even established a cooperative affiliation in politics and business with the nearby city of Tangier. Tangier was a city within the large territory of the Emerald Empire. Although the two cities often transacted in politics and business, the distance between Tangier and Avalon required months of travelling. The rem
Ares was now standing in the front garden; the man looked confused, looking for the fruit the system referred to. As far as Ares' eyes could see, he only saw a tree. At first, he hesitated because the apples differed from those the system described. But Ares approached the plant, took four apples, and immediately consumed them. Ten apples were ready to be eaten, but Ares only consumed four and left the rest on the tree. "This fruit really doesn't look like an apple! It's really small," Ares thought. "Sir, I suggest you eat all four fruits at once to give you a one-time shock effect." Ares was confused, but tried to ignore his doubts and quickly asked the system for confirmation. "Sir, you don't need to worry. I've done my own analysis and calculations. And that number is the best way to increase your strength." Ares remained silent and pondered. Although the system reassured him, he was still hesitant to eat the four strange apples he was holding. After some time of convincing
Ares felt a surge of power coursing through his veins. He smiled brightly and said, “I almost forgot. I have a new strength to test out.” He didn’t need to chant any spells; he only had to imagine his skills and they would manifest. He conjured two balls of white fire and hurled them at the nearest red fur dogs. The fireballs exploded on impact, creating a loud noise and a blast of hot and cold air. Ares saw the red fur dogs vanish in the flames. He said, “What a strange fire. It burns and freezes at the same time.” The other red fur dogs saw their fallen comrades and howled for backup. Soon, Ares was surrounded by eight more of them. He said, “I used two mana to kill two of them. That’s too slow. Let me show you 10% of my power.” He created eight more fireballs around him and aimed them at the red fur dogs. They sensed the danger and tried to flee, but it was too late. Ares said, “You shouldn’t have come here. Now you must die.” The fireballs flew out and hit their targets, crea
Ares nodded and said, “Okay, summon the subordinate.” A portal opened in front of Ares. A man came out of it and knelt before him. “I am Ashur, your loyal servant, sir,” the man said. Ares was stunned by Ashur’s level. He thought, “Level 2,200? How is this guy so much stronger than me?” “Master, don’t worry. Your subordinates are absolutely loyal to you. Even if they are stronger, they will never betray you.” Ares nodded again. He said, “Ashur, stand up. And don’t call me master. Just use my name.” “I apologize, sir, but that is too disrespectful. You are my master forever, and I, Ashur, dare not call you by your name,” he said and rose. Ares gave up on changing his mind. He didn’t mind having a loyal servant. “Ashur, follow me. We have something to do in the city,” he said and ran back to Avalon City with Ashur behind him. *** In the early morning, five kilometers south of Avalon City. Some security officers were patrolling and found thousands of fresh beast corpses with se
The five youths look at each other. They can’t get angry or refute what Ares said. They are indeed weak, and they realize that. One in five youths ventured to speak to Ares. "Sir, our village is in a state of famine. The harvest in the garden failed due to the attack of wild beasts. That's why the five of us, as the strongest people in the village, tried to hunt for meat. Instead of the meat we got, we got lost and went deeper into the forest." "Take all the body parts from this wolf, and I will escort you back to the village. Ashur, come take them out!" he shouted, calling for his partner.From the thick of the tree emerged an adult man with an athletic body and handsome face but still lost to Ares' perfect look. The large green sword stuck behind Ashur’s back made him very dignified. Seeing the arrival of Ashur, the five youths who Ares was helping are a little wary. Then he decided to speak to lighten the mood, "You don't need to be wary. My brother's face is a little scary, but
"Why don't you make this village yours? This village has all the conditions to complete your mission, sir." There is a system sound that makes his face brighten up instantly. He starts to speak, “Erick, I can help this village and make it much better than how it is today. But I have one condition." I haven't asked yet, but I already got a breath of fresh air. Of course, Erick and the others are pleased to hear Ares’ offer. Even though they are new to each other, they may feel he is not the wrong person. After all, if Ares is a bad person, what will he want to take anyway. The village is already poor, the children aren’t that attractive, and the women are weak and might not be enough to fill his charm. "If indeed you can make the condition of this village improve, whatever conditions you put forward, we will agree to it, sir," Erick said with confidence. "I want to be the leader of this village," Ares responded to his words directly without rambling. Erick and the others fall silen