บท 2: First Step [2]
A wooden ceiling was hovering above me as I opened my eyes, a stark contrast to the white ceiling that I had gotten oh so used to seeing.
'Am I... alive?'
It felt foreign trying to gather power in my body in order to raise it, but it, fortunately, didn't take all that long before I had regained the sensation of activating my muscles.
Yet, my body didn't move.
'Wait! Did I get reborn as a...?!'
Turning my head, I slowly, very slowly, began to see what kind of condition my body was in, worried that a new life would also mean...
'...I'm not a baby?'
Yes, when I finally saw my own body, albeit covered by a white blanket, it was obvious that my body hadn't changed. Or at least my body hadn't changed from when I last saw it, which had been many years ago as I hadn't been able to move my head at all for my last living years.
'But... isn't that also weird? If everyone is reincarnated, would it make sense to be reincarnated not as a baby but as a fully grown person?'
"Iiiii dooooon't uuuundeeerstaaaand..."
...
'What...? I can speak?!'
"Hiiiii, myyyyy naaaaaameeee iiiisss Raaaaaayyyyy!"
'I can speak again!'
It had been so long since I last heard my last voice that I had a hard time remembering it, but as the words slowly, very slowly, flowed out of my mouth, it all came back to me. But for some reason, no matter how hard I tried, it appeared that I couldn't talk at a normal pace anymore, with my words coming out almost in slow motion.
'Did I get a speech impediment from my last life?! Why would that transfer over to another life?! Shit!'
"Fuuuuuuuuuuckkkk!"
Even my rage-filled shout sounded incredibly silly, as the stream of sound once again stretched into infinitum. But I had no laughs to show the world as my anger kept rising, enough for me to yet again put strength into the muscles that hadn't moved for years to start working hard to raise me into a sitting position in the bed.
Rising...! Rising...! Rising...?
This time I could physically feel and see how my upper body was slowly going upwards but the problem was just that... slowly. Incredibly slowly. But at some point, I had finally managed to get myself upright and was able to see my arms and hands.
*Puuuuuuuunch!*
Throwing a straight right I could see my arm slowly going out until it finally stretched out as far as it could, only to start the slow retract back to my body.
'I know that I was never fast even in my last life, but this... No, something is definitely wrong.'
Then, due to the movement of my punch, it happened. The white blanket slowly crawled its way off the bed, not only showing my scrawny legs wearing a pair of boxers but also showing me a piece of evidence that would lead me to the truth about my situation.
'The blanket... is slow?'
Yes, even the blanket, an inanimate object that was obviously not part of my body, was also moving incredibly slowly as it sank to the floor.
'Everything is slow in this world?!'
Clenching my fist as fast as I could, over and over again, my mind was slowly starting to accept reality.
I had been reborn into an absurd world, a world of slow motion!
"-No, silly. The world isn't slow at all."
Suddenly, a voice echoed out, not in the room but in my head. A voice that I somewhat remembered from the darkness of the void, but at the same time had no recollection of ever hearing.
"Gooooood...?"
"-Not quite. But please don't try to talk with me with your voice, because I have also slowed down my perception of time in order to match you so it sounds... Pffft!"
"Heeeey! Doooon't laaaauuugh aaaat...!"
"-Please stop! Hahaha! I can't take it! Hahahahaha!"
So with that, I had no choice but to sit in silence, waiting for the god(?) to finish his/her hearty laugh. And after some time, they finally did. Funnily enough, as their laughter died down in my head, I could somehow make out that their non-existent cheeks reddened.
"-...that's a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"
'Yeah, pretty embarrassing. Not like I would ever say that to a god though.'
"-I can hear that, you know?"
'Ah... Sorry.'
"-No need to apologize. I understand that you must be pretty confused so there's no need to worry about proper etiquette right now. More than that, we don't have time for that anyway."
'No time?'
"-Correct. We only have a couple of minutes until our connection disconnects and after that, I will have no way of contacting you since this world is not under my jurisdiction."
'Connection??? Your jurisdiction???'
"-Don't worry about it. Anyway, I managed to get your transfer to this world accepted through a deal with the one who has authority in this world. And that deal consists of two parts."
To this, I didn't ask any questions. Because just like a boxer in the ring wouldn't question his coach in between the rounds due to time constraints, I knew that if I wasted time here I would surely regret it.
"- The first part of the deal is simple. You are not allowed to reveal to anyone that you come from another world."
'That's... not that bad. What's the second part?'
A brief moment of silence filled the room... or rather my head, as the deity tried to find a good way to explain the situation to me.
"-That's... you have to make a significant contribution to this world or you will be cut out from the cycle of reincarnation. And therefore the ruler of this world decided that you would not simply be reborn in this world, which is why you haven't been born as a baby as well as the reason as to why you got to keep your memories."
'A significant contribution? As in erasing poverty or eradicating disease?'
"-No."
'...no?'
"-No, well... I guess if you managed to do that it would count as a significant contribution but that's probably not what he wants from you. To be honest, he didn't tell me exactly what he was expecting from you but..."
'But?'
"If you want to live a happy life, I am afraid that you will have no choice but to... fight."
'Okay. So what do I have to fight?'
A sense of déjà vu settled in as the one I know had for some reason identified as a goddess went quiet again.
"-You're... not afraid?"
'Why would I be afraid? I have dreamed my whole life of being able to fight in the ring and to now hear that I will not only get to do it but have to, shouldn't I be excited?'
I had trained my whole life to be a boxer, or at least attempted to train, so why would I be unhappy that I now got the chance to fight?
"-The ring? Do you think you will be fighting in a ring in this other world?"
'...Yeah? How else would you fight?'
"-I brought an idiot to another world... shit!"
'Hmm? What did you say?'
"-Nothing. Anyway, I'm sorry to say that boxing doesn't exist here, and even if it did that isn't the kind of fighting I'm talking about."
'No boxing?! Then how do you fight?!'
"-With swords? And magic? You know, transported to a world filled with magical phenomenon and wonder?"
'But boxing is magical! The way Ali danced with his opponents or how Marciano swarmed his enemies with a relentless barrage of punches!'
"-Idiot! I mean like actual magic! Like people casting fireballs, creating ice spikes from the ground from nothing or even conjuring huge thunderstorms!"
'Oh... that's cool... but I still think Julio's fight with Meldrick is cooler... he won in the 12th round you know? With a TKO as Meldrick simply couldn't put up with Julio's tenacity...'
"- Argh! It can't be done... this is impossible Abassi... I'm sorry, but I sent you a pure-blooded moron..."
'I can hear you, you know...?'
"-Anyway! Time is running out! All you need to know is that you have kept your old name and that you will join the Academy of Heroes tomorrow, a place of education that fosters some of the strongest individuals that humankind has ever seen. Here you will be able to make your inherent powers prosper and learn how to control them."
'Powers? Like... my right straight and my short left hook?'
"-NO! I MEAN THE MAGICAL POWERS THAT YOU GOT FROM MY BLESSING WHEN I SENT YOU HERE! Aaaaahhh! Here! Take this and circulate your mana!"
*Poof!*
Out of nowhere, a small crystal ball was created out of nothing and fell into my lap and before I even got the chance to ask, the goddess spoke once again.
"-Just circulate your mana and see for yourself!"
'Circulate my mana? What's mana?'
"-I'll do it for you!"
For some reason, my body started heating up, and I could feel something crawling around in my blood, something that I had never felt before. And then, it happened. A small, almost see-through screen popped up from the ball. And on it was:
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