《New Soul》 chapter 1 My POV Okay I think I died¡­ It¡¯s funny how easy it is to say that line when you¡¯re dead, except you can¡¯t really say anything. At the moment I¡¯m impaled on a branch. Right through the chest where my heart was moments ago¡­ It seems like time has slowed to a stand still, considering i can think up such a long monologue before I fade from existence¡­ ¡­ Well I¡¯ve got plenty of time, so why not tell the story of my life¡­ My life started with me walking out of my mother¡¯s womb and then promptly saving the world¡­ Okay maybe not, but if it was in some crappy xianxia story it would be quite describing. My life was kinda ordinary, with normal friends and family. I wasn¡¯t a king or anything fancy, but i figure i lived the life anyway. If i had to name any regrets it would be to believe in my own immortality, but i guess that¡¯s normal for young people¡­ I mean, is it so wrong to believe that traffic accidents only happen for everyone else? Strictly speaking, it wasn¡¯t me who crashed. It was my friend. But what does it matter when you¡¯re sitting on the front seat with no seatbelt on. When your friend is dead drunk, but you¡¯re not any less sober the idea of getting more booze is ALWAYS the best idea¡­ Guess we shouldn¡¯t have taken the car¡­ I can feel myself fading, so I guess there¡¯s no more time for reminiscence.. Weird how instead of fading to dark everything it seems like all is going white. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.Okay, I guess I¡¯m not fading anytime soon¡­ Waiting sucks. Why can¡¯t it just get over with? I¡¯m going crazy by the wait¡­ It must have been hours since i died, but who knows when times doesn¡¯t really flow. Wait, am I really impatient enough to go crazy by only a few hours of wait? Guess i am¡­ ¡­ FINALLY!!! Something is happening¡­ I can hear a heartbeat! Wonder if it is my own, but last time I saw it, which is quite disturbing by the way, was on a branch outside my own body¡­ I guess reincarnation is a thing. Well¡­ I for once know I won¡¯t be like in the stories where they do amazing things when they¡¯re only just born. Who in their right mind sends a child on the front line anyway? I sure do hope child labor isn¡¯t a trend in my new world. Fuck waiting sucks¡­ I mean, yeah I¡¯m not conscious all the time, but it¡¯s still dull in here. Time to contemplate on my coming life, what are my goals? What strategy will I follow? Guess I¡¯ll sleep a bit before deciding¡­ Ups, times up and i didn¡¯t even plan anything¡­ Being born hurts. Wow people look big when you¡¯re just born. I guess I better cry to look normal though ¡°WAAAA WAAAA¡± How¡¯s that for a convincing performance! The people do look rather worried though, so it might not have been convincing enough. Oh well, I guess I¡¯ve got plenty of time to convince them later on¡­ chapter 2 Adams POV Oh god, I¡¯m going to be a dad! I can¡¯t contain my happiness! I sure hope it¡¯s gonna be a strong child I can help grow up splendidly! Why is the child crying? Am I going to be father to a retard? Oh god what do I do? ¡°Umm, is children supposed to cry?¡± I had to ask¡­ ¡°Well, it is usually a sign that it¡¯s a new soul¡± the midwife dropped the bomb on us. My wife looks just a shocked as I do, or at least I hope I don¡¯t look more shocked than her. New souls isn¡¯t exactly rare, but they sure are uncommon. I mean, there¡¯s a few thousand born every year. I had just hoped my child would¡¯ve been strong enough to go on adventures with me and such. ¡°Stop looking so sad, you¡¯re making our child cry¡± my sweet wife told me, so I guess I was more shocked than her. ¡°Yeah yeah, I was just a bit surprised¡­ I¡¯m okay now¡± I lie through my teeth. There is no point in showing how disappointed I am, it¡¯s not her fault, and I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be okay in the end. ¡°So I guess we will go with Richard since it¡¯s a boy?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± We had decided to name our child after the king. He is a great man, and there¡¯s something about great names gives power to the soul. ¡°I¡¯ll notify the officials that your child is a new soul. You can expect to be visited in a few days by the local teacher to help you with how to deal with a new soul and what to expect. Furthermore, the teacher will also tell you which public services there¡¯s eligible.¡± The midwife informs us. It¡¯s nice that someone knows what to do, because I sure as hell doesn¡¯t! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richards POV It¡¯s has been five years since I was born, and I¡¯ve learned a lot of things. The languages in this world is fucked up, at least in my opinion, but I guess when you¡¯ve no choice you learn faster. I took me around 3 years before I realised that I¡¯m indeed not a normal child, but not in the greater than usual way. This world seems to be a world where almost everyone reincarnates, so the other children have thousands of years of memories and experience to rely upon. And when i say experience I mean it in the RPG way. Not that I have been able to see my own exp until now, but I heard my parents talk with their friends about it, and about their children who apparently were some former heroes. When I turned five, my parents celebrated my first birthday party. It¡¯s the norm in this world to wait until five, because that¡¯s when the stats gets unlocked. Yeah I said stats, as in a list that shows what¡¯s you¡¯re good at and such. Another new thing this year is that I¡¯m starting to go to school. I¡¯m strangely excited by it, considering it¡¯s a school for five year olds¡­ what can they possibly teach me that I don¡¯t already know? I¡¯m not sure what I expected anymore, but this school is not where people sit inside and learn stuff all day long, where you slowly feel you die inside, and recess is the only bright spot in your life. This school is more like get strong or die trying. No wonder it¡¯s called POWERLVL INC ¡­ Seems kinda lame, but it apparently it¡¯s a system set up so you don¡¯t have to go through the dangerous levels alone. Essentially people help each other level up faster. That¡¯s the case for all other classes than my own at least. I¡¯m in the class called NEW SOULS. Wonder why¡­ anyway we do sit inside most of the time and learn the history of the world, how skills, classes, achievements, and such work. Yeah it does seem like some computer game. The other children in my class is also new souls, like me. They¡¯re also reincarnated from some other world to here¡­ I guess there¡¯s no real child in this world. It is quite strange that we all look like eight year olds when our personality is from anywhere between twenty to fifty years old. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Yeah it¡¯s been three years since I started in school. In our class I¡¯m the third strongest. I¡¯ve always had a competitive spirit, so when I learned we all started at roughly the same stats I got fired up and did my best to come out ahead. Yeah I¡¯m only the third, but hey, we are around five hundred in our class. Now you might think, isn¡¯t that around a quarter of all new souls? The answer is yes, yes it is. There¡¯s around six institutions like this one in the world, but POWERLVL INC is located in the eastern part of the continent, where the population density is the highest. In my class we¡¯re all human, but it¡¯s not uncommon to see other races. Apparently all new souls are born human. Al teast all sentient souls are. Seems like you can choose other races when you reincarnate, but you have to unlock them by doing achievements. So far I¡¯ve unlocked elves by reciting some embarrassing poem, and halflings by loving food quite a bit.. It¡¯s actually only about five percent who unlocks halflings, because it¡¯s random how people react to different food. Anyway the more important achievements is the ones that boosts physical, mental or magic capabilities. So far I¡¯ve gained +5 stamina by running for a cumulative time of 100 hours. It took me a few years, and I¡¯ve gotten in a pretty good shape either way. ¡­ It is frustrating that the strongest in our class is a girl. It¡¯s not purely because she is a girl that it is frustrating, but more because she rubs it in my face. I mean, why does she have to choose to spar with me every time we have martial arts class? Couldn¡¯t she beat some other weakling and make them look bad? It¡¯s not like she is in the same league as the rest of us. Stats wise there¡¯s not much difference between the top ten, other than her. I mean, between me and number two there¡¯s only about five stat points difference, so if we compete it¡¯s usually either a draw, or I win because of tenacity. But her? She got almost twice as high stat points than me. Apparently she comes from some high class family so they helped her get some cheat achievs from the beginning. ¡­ IT¡¯S INFURIATING! I gotta get some of the more strength and dex oriented achievs myself to even it out! ¡°Hey teach, is there any manageable achievements i could do to boost my physical stats?¡± ¡°You could climb trees and jump down.. That would at least increase your dex and str.¡± ¡­ guess I¡¯ll start climbing trees now. ¡°Uhh.. how long does it take to get the achievements you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I think it¡¯s about climbing and falling 2km, so it all depends on how fast you climb¡± Shit¡­ it will take a while to get it over with. I have to learn how to land properly unless I want to get hurt while doing it. Might as well challenge Jack to see who gets it first. It will surely help with my motivation and if he gets it too, we might be able to beat Sarah if we gang up on her. Okay that was just a sad thought¡­ Anyway better go see if he is up for the challenge. ¡°Hey Jack, wanna bet who gets the Free Fall and Tree Climber achievements first? I bet a spar against Sarah that I can do it faster than you!¡± ¡°You sure you¡¯re up for it? No backing out when you¡¯re about to lose!¡± It¡¯s not the first time we¡¯ve had a duel like this, and we usually bet that whoever loses, have to take the next sparring match with Sarah¡­ it¡¯s kinda like if we bet nut shots or something stupid like that, but atleast we do have a chance of minimizing our injuries if we do well against her. Last challenge we had were doing 10k pushups¡­ he won by a few hours and I had to challenge Sarah to a sparring match. Of Course I lost. It hurts my pride as a man to lose to an eight year old girl, but I guess that¡¯s a feeling I should shrug it off at some point. chapter 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Richard Is life at school ok? You should write home more often! Your dad is worried that you might have difficulty making friends, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do great. You have made a lot of friends right? More than just Jack and Sarah you¡¯re always talking about? Your dad thinks you should do the achievement about doing handstand for two days in a row, but I still think you should focus your studies. Your dad and I have gone on an extended vacation. We do not plan on coming home until next spring. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richards POV ¡°Hey Rick, wanna join our party for the upcoming dungeon dive?¡± ¡°Sure Jack, who else is in the group?¡± ¡°So far it¡¯s just me and Sarah, if you join we only need two more to count as a group.¡± We are going to have an excursion next week where we are going to explore a dungeon. It¡¯s an easy dungeon and our teacher checked it yesterday to make sure there¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary, we are after all me and Jack are only level five where as Sarah is level seven. Now the problem is, we don¡¯t really have a lot of friends in the NEW SOUL class. I¡¯ve heard some people say we are the monster trio¡­ might be because most of the class is only around level two. They¡¯re simply way too lazy.. I mean, it¡¯s not hard to get the achievements to boost your exp gain.. You just have to do put in some work! It¡¯s not like you have to do the two days of handstand for an exp boost. actually , I don¡¯t know what bonus I would get from doing that particular challenge, but I haven¡¯t been able to do it yet. ¡°Any idea who to invite for the last two spots? I think Jessica would join if you asked her, Jack. I¡¯ll go and ask Evan if he would like to join.¡± Our teacher told us to form groups ourselves, or we would be put together by random. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t talk with anybody else than Jack and Sarah, it¡¯s just that most other people seems half assed. Like running for one hundred hours is not hard.. Run for half an hour once a week and you¡¯d be done in four years. Still, not even half has it. Oh well, here goes nothing. ¡°Hey Evan, wanna join our group for dungeon diving?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡­ ¡°You sure? It¡¯s good exp and it should be quite safe?¡± ¡°Still no thanks, I¡¯ve no intention of suiciding by going to some dungeon if I don¡¯t have to¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you the least bit interested in seeing what a dungeon is like? Didn¡¯t you play any games about exploring dungeons in your previous life?¡± I¡¯m a bit surprised he didn¡¯t agree to join us, but I guess not everyone is like minded ¡°I didn¡¯t really play computer games, that kind of meaningless entertainment is a waste of time anyway¡± ¡°... how old were you?¡± ¡°I lived to the proud age of 78 before I died from cancer¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not the least bit excited about getting your youth back?¡± ¡°Of cause I am, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll do something stupid like exploring a dungeon meant to kill you, even if it¡¯s deemed ¡®safe¡¯¡± ¡°So what are your plan for this life then?¡± ¡°I plan to introduce sci fi to this world! I haven¡¯t seen any literature like it, and it has always been a hobby of mine to write fan fic about starwars¡± ¡°... not about Jar Jar Binks right?¡± ¡°Why do you say that? He is the character with the most personality and depths in the Star Wars universe!¡± Okay this guy is crazy¡­ ¡°Well have fun then, I think I¡¯m needed somewhere else¡± I should not get caught up in his craziness, who in their right mind thinks Jar Jar is the best character in Star Wars anyways¡­ it¡¯s clearly Ren who is the greatest Sith! I wonder who we could get to join us now that we failed to get Evan to join. chapter 4 Looks like Jack persuaded Jessica to join us. Huh? There''s a kid i haven¡¯t seen before¡­ looks like a five year old or something like that¡­ Someones little brother? ¡°Hey Jess, nice of you to join us. And who is this?¡± I point a the kid ¡°Yeah Jack promised me we would take it slow enough for me to keep up¡± ¡°I¡¯m Michael, your teacher asked if I would help you through the dungeon as a guide and support.¡± ¡­ The kid is supposed to be a guide? ¡°Umm okay? Aren¡¯t you a bit young?¡± ¡°Age is irrelevant when you¡¯ve got the stats i have, I¡¯ve cleared the dungeon yesterday just to make sure there¡¯s not anything I¡¯ve forgotten about it!¡± Reincarnation is some weird shit¡­ ¡°Guess we¡¯re all set with five people for the party then? Anything we should prepare in advance Michael?¡± ¡°It should only take four to five hours for us to clear the dungeon, so some food and water, but mostly snacks is needed. You should consider preparing a first aid kit just in case one of you get a sprained ankle or something like that¡­ Other than that shouldn¡¯t be necessary for this dungeon.¡± ¡°The school have already provided first aid necessities, so snacks and drinks it is¡­ See you all monday¡± Guess I should write a letter to my parents¡­ maybe next week¡­ Ah fuck it, if I don¡¯t do it now, I¡¯ll probably just forget about it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi mom and dad I''m having a great time here in school :) I¡¯ve made a lot of friends and next week we¡¯re going to try our first dungeon! I''m so excited! Dad, what is the bonus from the handstand achievement and is there any trick to doing it? Did you have a nice vacation? I know you won¡¯t see this letter until you¡¯re home anyway. Oh by the way, next winter there¡¯s going to be a competition between us new souls, and the parents are invited to watch, so I¡¯ll send the invite with the letter Love Richard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stolen story; please report. Okay that was harder than I thought.. Weekends are long when you don¡¯t drink booze all night friday and saturday¡­ It¡¯s amazing how much you can accomplish when you simply use all the time without a hangover. I mean, I¡¯ve done my homeworks about the political situation on the Kremish continent, which sucks by the way, and I¡¯ve managed to do a full body workout¡­ Couldn¡¯t monday just come a bit faster? Garfield would kill me if he heard that¡­ ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Finally we¡¯re going to start! ¡°First we got to pick a party leader. I don¡¯t mind, but you any of you are up for the job it would be better.. I¡¯ve got all the achievements I can from leading parties anyway.¡± Either our guide is full of himself or he is quite amazing¡­ could be both. ¡°I¡¯ve got Tactical Mindset achievement, so I would like to be the leader if it¡¯s okay¡± I guess it wasn¡¯t just for fun my dad played strategy games with me for years¡­ ¡°Okay so Richard is going to be the leader. Any objections? Nice. Do you know the spell for forming groups?¡± ¡°No¡­ Is it hard to learn?¡± ¡°Not really, you can ask your teacher to help you¡­ weird he didn¡¯t do that already. Anyway I prepared a scroll of partymaking, so you can just use that for now.¡± ¡°How does it work?¡± ¡°You simply ask if we wish to join your party and then the scroll does the rest¡± Okay here goes ¡°Wanna join my party?¡± ¡°You have to ask in a more precise way, first say the name of the one you wish to invite. An example would be: Richard, do you wish to join my party?¡± ¡°Okay then.. Sarah, Jack, Jessica, and Michael, do you wish to join my party¡± Huh? There''s a visual effect? Kinda cool that we are all glowing, but it seems kinda counterproductive to make people glow. Oh there it stopped. ¡°Alright we¡¯re all set. Let''s start the dungeon dive!¡±