The Real Monster

It started a few hours ago. In the morning of my usual day, I was lazing around our house since I have everything I need in there. My parents have stable jobs and provide for us well. I"m done with my studies and just taking a break from life meaning I"m jobless at the moment. My hobbies include but not exclusive to reading novels, anime, manga and other such with fantasy as their settings. I just love being immersed in the world that other authors make for their protagonists. I also like it when the author makes it as realistic as possible and true to life, without breaking off from his genre of fantasy, a balance of both so to speak. Anyway, I also like superhero stuff from the DCee and Marvle Universes, especially the stuff about Wolverine and Deadpool. They are people with unG.o.dly regeneration abilities. Well, I knew they are just works of fiction so I really do just admire their stories.

So then, it was the start of the day but I kept hearing a chime in my ears and asked my parents about the sound. They told me it must be one of those sounds in my ear that would go away if let be. And true to what they said, it went away after a few seconds. When I went to take a bath, it returned and I ignored it. Then again it returned when I was having game-time playing Witchy 3: Wilde Hunt. Still I ignored it.

When night came and I was about to go to bed, as opposed to normal hobbyists, I do take care of my body. So I sleep early. Anyway, it was then that the chime became louder than the previous times that day. So I rubbed my ears furiously to make it go away. However, as if being challenged by my action, it grew louder and louder until I felt my head ringing. Then suddenly, I could hear a voice in my head.

[...ith the pow.. of thy glori... n.me I invoke.. Otherworld Summoning!]

Otherworld Summoning? Haha! I seem to have read too much of these books that it makes me a.s.sociate the loud chimes as a premonition to being summoned to another world. Hahaha!

*chuckle*

I chuckled as I could not actually laugh out loud and be seen as weird even more by my parents right? Then suddenly, when I finally settled to close my eyes as the sounds were gone as well as the voice, I could not move, at all! I struggled to move my limbs but I just could not and my mouth would not open. Even my eyes could not open. What"s going on!

I felt a breeze hit my body and then it was gone. Every sound and every kind of breeze that would touch my skin normally were gone, the sound of the crickets and the humming of electricity on the lamp, all of it gone. What remained was utter silence. Just silence. It was creepy as h.e.l.l.

I struggled to open my eyes and mouth to speak or shout for help. What is this? Is this one of those? It"s the paralysis or something when asleep right? But I have no history of ever having it! This is the first time and I"m currently panicking. If I don"t get to move now, I might soil my pants!

Shoot! Please let it be a dream. Please let it be a dream.

[Open your eyes young one. I"m sorry for taking you o a detour before you go to your original destination.]

"WhWhat the... W-Who"s there?"

[Please calm down. I cannot release you from your bind but if you can hear me, then that"s good. I am sorry that we have to meet this way, but I need to impart to you something for your journey.]

[And on that note, I need you to be calm and know that you are going to be alright. Just that I need you to speak so I unbound your mouth.]

"Whwhat"s happening?"

[You might already have an idea, but you are being summoned into another world. What you heard before all this was the beckoning and call. Then they invoked the name of the G.o.d they worship to make their spell work.]

[I am called Imhoteph, Guardian of Gates or to some Guide to Souls. In your world, I would be called a G.o.d, however, we despise being called such, for such a t.i.tle brings honor only to specks of dust.]

[You have been chosen to be summoned, randomly. It was not out of any great feat or whatever you have done in the past but rather pure randomness. The reason why I am intercepting you is to grant you one wish you have before letting them have you. Your soul is powerful, as befitting of people descending from a great power. So I can stuff your soul with power equivalent to how much it can take.]

[Normally, I would just give you strength far surpa.s.sing the people of the otherworld, however, that kind of method has proved to be rather inefficient for how many times now. They may have used their strength for defeating adversaries, yet I am frustrated at how they turned out in the end. Abuse of their power has led to uprising of numerous peoples and the annihilation of races and even an entire era.]

[What that world needs right now is someone who would lead them towards a fate, different from the past. However, know that I do not have much hope for you as well. So you might as well just do what you wish and I will still watch over this world without interfering too much. The only way I can interfere is when they try to summon who they would call "Heroes" into their world.]

[To me, it is foolish, but to them it is salvation. I do not care what they think of it, and even if they do not worship me, I will remain as the Guardian of Gates and Guide to Souls, so I will not lose a wink of sleep.]

[Now, as I have talked at length, surely you have calmed down some?]

"Y-Yeah, I guess. Thanks."

[No need. Now that you have calmed down, I am now to impart to you whatever you wish for. If you wish for absolute strength that can shatter anything apart, then I can and that would fill up your soul. If not however, you can name abilities and I will find something corresponding to it and tell you if you can handle it. Are you ready?]

"Please wait a minute! If I chose something to be my ability, then do what I"m supposed to do, will I be able to go back home after?"

[Good question. The answer is, you cannot, unless you"d have enough power to fuel the magic for it. You see, calling takes about 100 years of acc.u.mulating magic energy to use. Return spells would need even more as the mana needed to pierce the defense of dimensions would cost 500 times the normal cost compared to calling. Plus, it is still up to me to open the gates or not.]

[Now, if you have no more questions, I will proceed to letting you think of your ability.]

"Please wait! I have another question!"

[Speak.]

"You see, I am just a normal easy going guy, and well, what would I be entrusted with is the fate of the world they live in right, the people who"ve summoned me? The question is if I decide I don"t want to help them, what will happen to me?"

[Basically, they will surround you and make you into a slave as soon as you appear, because your power would still be bearable for them. And even if they can"t make you a slave, they would convince you of your worth to them and as your ego is inflated, they will make you into a "Hero" and you will do their bidding. However, if you refuse, then you will be arrested and made into a slave. That"s how desperate they are. Either way, you will turn into a slave collar or not.]

[I"m telling you this as a caution, since it has already happened once or twice in different worlds. If you fall into that kind of fate, you will definitely begin to hate everyone and once you come free, and you will eventually, you will become the plague that they would wish they never summoned. So to oppose you, they would have to summon another hero and the cycle would repeat. That"s how ugly humanity is.]

[So I advise you to think about what ability you"d want. Here are the list I can grant you. Please have a look and think about it carefully, right now, you have the time of your life.]

So he presented me with a list. You"d ask how, but it went directly to my mind even though my eyes were closed, I could see it clearly. I could scroll up and down with a thought and look at descriptions. The Absolute Series were there. You know, the Absolute Strength; Absolute Offense; Absolute Defense; Absolute Speed; Absolute Magic; Absolute Knowledge; Absolute Perception; and so on. There were also the Ultimate Series. Ultimate Magic Talent; Ultimate Swordsmanship; Ultimate Spearmanship; Ultimate Marksmanship; Ultimate Fire Magic Talent; Ultimate Earth Magic Talent; and so on as well, which focused on talents and training mastery category. The Absolutes were more of the basic stats focus. There were also oddball abilities like the Superhero Series. Abilities of Super Heroes in comics were there. It was awesome to read through them all. Super Man"s Genes are the best of them all, after all. Anyway, there were too many desirable abilities and while I was being excited with them all, Imhoteph would tell me how much the ability would cost which really made me realize just how limited I am in reality.

It seems the Absolute Series would mostly take all of my Soul to have, which would force Imhoteph to erase some of my memories to make up for some that would exceed. It"s risky but it"s absolute and cannot be topped. I was really tempter with Absolute Power and Absolute Strength which had different descriptions.

Absolute Strength

«Ability to do anything that would require strength of one"s physique»

Then there was Absolute Power which intrigued me as this cost more than Absolute Strength. It would enable me to harness power. Literally just what the description said. Here"s the full description:

Absolute Power

«Ability to harness any power unlimitedly»

And the cost for this would be to wipe most of my memories and all of my Soul"s capacity will be filled. Tempting isn"t it?

The Ultimate Series were also good and desirable but those are of the talent tier, so really, if I want to have mastery over something, it"s more fun to advance slowly and steadily than have it from the start. On that note, the rest are the Super Hero Series.

The thing that"s most desirable for me to have would be Super Man"s powers right? However, I don"t like having the laser and frost breath or whatever. There"s also the power of Deadpool which is unG.o.dly, of course minus his tumors. I want it. Different from the comics, the description of abilities are clearly stated, its limits and strengths.

Deadpool"s Regeneration

«Ability to regenerate; Cut off limbs can grow to full adult state in a day. Even if the head is cut off or reduced to ash, it will regenerate. Small wounds are healed at a rate visible to the eyes.»

Super Man"s Genes

«Absorbs sunlight to alter the body"s structure; Cells are strengthened at the atomic level when exposed to sunlight. Body functions are enhanced without limit to potential as long as a sun is present. Other factors may affect the rate of absorption»

And the costs for the two is well, most of my soul"s capacity. It"s relatively cheaper as it"s not an absolute ability. It is a matter of potential how the bearer will grow, or so Imhoteph says. He made an example that if I were to get Absolute Power, what I would wield can potentially cause universal upheaval. It was a scary thought so I put Absolute Power out of my mind. The question now was if I were allowed to mix and match the two abilities. When I thought of that question, Imhoteph also answered promptly.

[You are able to as you say "mix and match" these abilities. Without worrying about side effects as it is your soul which will receive the abilities and incorporate them into your body.]

"So then if I decided on these two, I will have no more s.p.a.ce for other abilities?"

[Yes, but if what you mean to ask is if you"ll be unable to learn anymore skills and abilities in the world you"re to be in, then that is not so. What we are dealing with here is the capacity of your soul. As if your soul capacity is left alone, Demonic Spirits will be able to possess you quite easily. That is the reason of us, convening here to decide on what to do with your soul.]

"Oh! So if I chose one that would not fill up the capacity, then will you still not let me go?"

[Yes.]

An immediate answer; I can only open my mouth wide. So then, that"s it? He really is a Guide to Souls huh? True to his work description, thank you!

[No need for thanks. I am merely fulfilling my "job description" as you say.]

Should I choose these two then? Although Super Man"s Genes are good, I would be a late bloomer if I came to that world with it right? Oh well, I"ll trust in the Guide to Souls and Guardian of Gates, Imhoteph"s guidance.

"Are these two suitable for me?" I asked directly

[It is your choice. I cannot interfere in your decision. However, if you chose those two, a small portion of your soul will still be void. Let me eliminate the excessively costly abilities and show you a list befitting of the excess capacity.]

So he showed me anew list. In there he showed the abilities that could fill my soul to the fullest and be worry free. He showed me minor abilities like Cooking Master; Alchemy Master; Smithing Master; Weapons Master; Farming Master; and so on.

i really don"t want to work but for me to survive in that otherworld maybe I have to. Tsk. Since I need to, I have to. Let"s choose something which would make me the most influential of all. A person who decides whether one would live or die. Choose any era and you"d find healers as people who would gather the most influence. Faith would be gathered towards any healer. That"s what history dictates.

So "I choose Alchemy Master." With its description being:

Alchemy Master

«One is a master over herbs and the chemical relationship of substances on an atomic level while also having mastery over concoctions and decoctions. Having a certain level of mastery over Heat is also required to have this t.i.tle and Ability»

And since I would have this ability at the ready, it"s like hitting two birds with one stone. Mastery over heat and alchemy, Jackpot!

[If you have chosen your abilities, then let us proceed to have you granted these. Brace yourself, this will be soul-rending painful. You might faint and wake up just to faint yet again in this process. This process will last a long time. So prepare your heart and mind. Do not give up, I caution you.]

"W-What? There"s pain? I thought it would just be snap of your fingers and all will be alright?"

[This is not so. I can "snap my fingers" for destroying worlds, as you say, but a soul is far more resilient than any world combined, especially a soul like those from earth. A soul just cannot be destroyed. Are you ready?]

"Y-Yes, I guess. But really, will it be very painFUL!!!!"

"Argh! Dammit! IT hurts! ARGH!!"

[Please bear with it.]

"NO! AH! It hurts so much!"

It"s like my insides are bare and someone is cooking stew on my chest, then stirring it with needles and razors, furthermore, going to the extent of heating me up to stir fry some other things. What have I gotten myself into! AHH! s.h.i.t! My consciousness is fading. It"s just too painful!

"AH...!"

[So he"s fainted. That"s his first. He will experience this a few more thousand times. You will surely emerge as a new being. Fufufu]