1 A New World?

Today was supposed to be just like any other day for our mc Edward. He was going to go to school as usual, hang out with his friends as usual and then go to sleep as usual. But unfortunately for Edward, the gods had other things in store for him, things he could never even imagine to be possible. He had started the day out as usual, putting on some clothes, brushing his teeth after having some breakfast, and then reading a little before heading off to school.

In school everything also proceeded as usual at first, he had math, biology, and art, before it was time for lunch. That's where it all went wrong. The menu for today consisted of fish and chips as the main dish, and then some other vegetarian option, Edward didn't know what it was though, and he didn't care either. He was a big fan of meat, so he never really cared for vegetarian or vegan food, he could understand their point of view, but he still disagreed with them. He believed in the law of the jungle, the strong survived, while the weak were preyed upon.

But he still thought that animals should be respected and cared for to a certain degree, some of the things people did to animals were far too cruel, and Edward hated people like this. People who abused their powers and bullied the weak, just because they were too afraid to mess with those stronger than them, both literally and figuratively. Normal people wouldn't think about stuff like that too much, but Edward was different, he hated people like these with a burning passion, and this was because of his past.

Edward actually used to have a lovely family when he was younger, both of his parents loved both each other and Edward deeply, but one day, his father got cancer. Because of the medical advancements at the time, as well as the fact that they found out too late, Edwards dad quickly passed away. Edward was three at the time, and he didn't really understand what had happened until a bit later, but that wasn't the end of it. You might wonder why he started to hate people who abused their power to bully the weak because of that, but it was all really simple. Because they bullied a weak person, namely his mom.

His mom was devastated when her husband had suddenly left her behind, but she still tried her best to provide her young son with the best life and future possibilities. It didn't go all that well though, she was being pressured in her job almost every day, and this wasn't some form of pressure stemming from stress or anything, this was pressure from her higher-ups. Edwards mom had always been a natural beauty, she didn't have to put much effort into looking good every day, and therefore there were people who sought to use her husband's death to their advantage.

They usually tried to blackmail her with her son, and therefore she made a decision, one which would change Edwards life drastically, she left him behind, and ran away. But even though it sounds harsh, she did it out of love, because Edward quickly got adopted by a very caring family, in which he would spend the remainder of his youth. The only downside to this plan was that Edward didn't know why he had been left behind by his mother, it wasn't like she left behind a letter or a message, containing any sort of reason for her to do this.

But Edward was a strong kid, he didn't get depressed, he didn't feel like he wasn't needed, he didn't feel like he was a waste. Or well, to be exact, he got over it in a single week, then he got it all together, even though he was just a little kid. And now he had turned into a youth of about 14 years of age. He was a bit taller than most of his classmates at about 1,78 meters tall. Since he liked to do some light strength exercising pretty often, his body was well-built and robust. You could also see how he had clearly managed to inherit some of his mother's looks, turning him into someone who would make the girls turn their heads when he walked past.

He himself had never been that interested in girls though, simply because almost none of those he had met seemed to arouse his interest. But Edward didn't see that as a problem at all, it was actually quite the opposite, from what he had heard from his friends, relationships seemed to be a hassle.

Once he had entered the schools dining area, Edward had a weird feeling, he didn't quite understand it at first, but after seeing his friends, he figured something was off. First, he decided to wave at them, yielding no reaction at all, seeing this, Edward's heart rate sped up. He then decided to go up to them and exchange a few words, but when he started talking to them, he froze, they didn't react at all! It was like they didn't even notice him at all.

Seeing how things were developing, Edward started to hyperventilate, it was like he was in a different dimension. The air was stale and heavy, weighing down on his lungs, and constricting his respiratory system. Since Edward was hyperventilating, he quickly became light-headed under the circumstances of the heavy air, and therefore he also passed out. And while this was all happening, an old man was standing by and watching it all, it was weird how Edward had not noticed such an old man standing right in front of him, but of course, nothing in this world is ever that easy.

....

Suddenly waking up, Edward sprung into a sitting position, his face was clearly a bit fear-stricken, but he quickly tried to calm himself down to analyze the situation he was in, and when he did, his mind went blank, about as blank as his surroundings. That's right, he seemed to be in some sort of enclosed space, of about 20 meters square, but the scary part about his surroundings was the fact that Edward couldn't ascertain which colors were which. Everything looked the same to him, but he didn't know what it was, which freaked him out. The space felt so surreal, he didn't know which direction was which either, and everything in this enclosed space seemed to be shrouded in complete mystery.

"Now, hello there Edward."

Hearing a voice in his head all of a sudden, Edward's face quickly contorted. And when he looked around, all he could find was an old man, sitting in the corner of this enclosed space, watching him. The old man had no face, or it was more like, the more you looked at it, the less you would remember. From Edwards point of view, he just looked like a regular old man, a long grey beard, shoulder-length white hair in a ponytail, and clad in white robes. But when Edward thought a little more about it, there was another fact that was very scary, this old man knew his name.

Edward didn't get enough time to process anything that was thrown at him right now, and so the old man opened his mouth to speak once more.

"Now I know you are confused and all that, but hear me out for a little while."

"You, as a human, probably know me as God, but remember Edward, everything happens for a reason, and you, my friend, is special."

"To be completely honest with you, you were chosen, even though it might be a little selfish on my part."

Speaking up to this point, the old man suddenly stopped to let Edward process what was going on. Which was the correct thing to do, as Edward looked like a big question mark right now. [God? Really? I'm not dreaming am-]

"No, you are in fact awake right now."

"You can read my thoughts?"

"Yes indeed"

"So let me get this straight, I'm not dreaming, you are God, and I was chosen because I'm special?"

"Yes"

Hearing this, Edward's soul shook a little bit, he wasn't really sure where to proceed from here on out. Apparently, he was chosen by a God, but to do what? Since pondering on it would bring him nothing in this situation, he decided to ask him directly, he also wanted to know if he could go back where he came from, to his friends, and go about life as usual.

"So, what was I chosen for, and why?"

"You were chosen to defend a certain world from calamity, and why, you ask? Simply because you have the talent to do so. As I said, you're special."

Having confirmed what he was chosen for, Edward's head was spinning in circles, this situation was too weird! He didn't really know what to say in response either since he had no idea what the so-called "God" meant. What type of calamity? Talented in what exactly? He still wasn't entirely sure if this was a dream or not, but whatever the case may be, he would take it seriously, just in case.

"What type of calamity?"

"Unfortunately I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"I can't interfere too much with the world I'm sending you to, sending you has already almost crossed the line."

Hearing this Edward pondered for about a second before he continued to question God.

"What do I have the talent to do, exactly?"

"Cultivate!"

This response shocked Edward yet again, as cultivation was something out of fantasy, and not something real, at least in this world. But then again, he was now talking to God, so who knew what was real or not anymore. Using this mindset, Edward managed to calm himself down, he was about to ask another question, when God started talking again.

"Unfortunately we don't have any more time to speak, I must send you on your way now."

"Wait for a second! I still have questions to ask!"

"No can do, the power holding up this space is running out, and I can't sustain it anymore."

When he heard this Edward was a bit surprised, wasn't God supposed to be some kind of omnipotent being?

"I might be omnipotent in this universe, but the one you are going to is governed by another God, and therefore it cost me a lot of energy to be able to send you there. So don't waste the opportunity I have given you!"

This was the last thing Edward heard before everything around him suddenly disappeared, all was black. All Edward could feel was cold, and a weird pain in his stomach, as if it was being twisted from the inside, but weirdly, it didn't hurt that much. This feeling, fortunately, didn't last long, being over in but a fleeting moment. But then he suddenly felt a bang in his consciousness, bringing with it a soul-tearing pain.

This woke him up from his sleep, which once again shocked him, but he didn't have the time to think about that though, as his mind was currently being invaded by unfamiliar memories, and an indescribable pain, Edward couldn't process anything during this period, he was just constantly trying to cling onto his consciousness. After about ten minutes of pain and profuse sweating, it finally stopped, and it left behind both memories, as well as emotions.

But right now Edward didn't think about these memories for a couple of seconds, because he had arrived in another world!