Exile Gear Chapter 1: Prologue
All right, new story time. I've had this story in my mind for the better part of this year now but shit kept happening and I kept getting writers' block.
Anyway, give it a read, tell me if it's fun. I'm definitely having fun reading it.
Synopsis: (Not final yet)
To be made into the only person with the hope of standing against a multiversal force that spans an endless number of realities was definitely not on Orion’s bucket list for his second life.
He wasn’t yet sure if he wanted to be the messiah of the universe, but he was still planning to live his second life to its fullest.
However, his first goal was to survive being besieged by hundreds of zombies, naked with nothing but a sword in his hand.
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Okay, so what to expect? It’s going to be a multiversal Gamer-esque story with a LitRPG system that everyone gets except for the MC, who has a different system. The start is a little slow with me rambling on with character intros and the like, but it quickly starts getting fun as I ramp up the numbers and abilities.
The first world is a crossover with multiple different slice-of-life anime characters, all in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Let me know if there are any specific ones you want. I’d love to incorporate them, too.
As is usual for my stories, there will be a number of explicit scenes sprinkled throughout the book with many different characters, including Patreon exclusives that are too spicy to be posted outside. It won’t be an exact harem situation since I don’t want to tie everyone down in generic tropes and relationships. Instead, it’s going to be more of a ‘with benefits’ kind of situation that gives all of the characters plenty of freedom for growth and exploration.
All right, let's get to the meat of the story.
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Exile 1: Prologue
We stand here today in the presence of the almighty Father to mourn the loss of Orion Vaelor. He was many things: a son, a brother, a friend. At an age of merely twenty-two, Orion’s journey had only just begun, yet to be cut short like this is nothing more than a tragedy. There is no way to make sense of such a loss. It is okay to feel lost, heartbroken, or even furious. The Scriptures remind us in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to weep and a time to mourn. And today is that time …
“So that’s it, huh?” A translucent figure floated above the coffin that held the body of Orion Vaelor. Its face was identical to the man inside, with brown hair and striking blue eyes that he got from his mother, but the clothes were covered in dust and blood, and its limbs were mangled. The only unblemished part of the translucent figure was its face. “I’ve already come to terms with my death, God! I don’t have any lingering attachments to this world. My mom and brother can take care of themselves. Just send me to heaven or hell or whatever… If burying my body isn’t going to do it, then what is?” The ghostly figure seemed disheartened after screaming out into the air. “I guess I just have to haunt people until someone exorcises me.”
It seemed as if his non-threatening threat had worked when he felt a pulling sensation. His eyes widened as he exclaimed in joy.
“Two whole weeks! Finally!” He immediately lost control over himself and was yanked away into the sky. Feeling his consciousness blur, he exclaimed loudly, “Don’t glorify being a ghost. It’s a shit experience!”
An inordinate amount of time later, his mind finally stirred, as if waking up from a long sleep.
When he regained his consciousness, he found himself in an endless expanse of white, save for four faceless ghostly figures around him. The five of them stood in a semicircle, facing a blindingly bright source of light that seemed impossible to look directly into even for ghosts.
As he took in the parts of his surroundings that he could see, black text flashed across his vision.
World Assignment: High School DxD
Species Assignment: Klyntar
Species Trait: Biological Manipulation
Specialization: Tantric
Primary Skill: Hijack Contract
“What’s going on…” He mumbled confusedly. “Isn’t High School DxD that trashy anime that’s filled with mostly fan-service… Hey, you know what’s going on here?” He called out to the ghostly figure beside him, but there was no response, making him feel as if the figure was petrified. Feeling a little defeated after receiving nothing but silence from all around, he sighed. “If this is your idea of hell, the joke’s on you. I liked that show… At least the first season. I didn’t watch anything beyond that. God? Anybody? Come on… I know I wasn’t always faithful. Okay, I was never faithful, but I did my duties and went to church every Sunday, even though it was only for the sake of my mother… Come on, I think I deserve an answer at least…”
A sudden shiver went down his spine, making him widen his eyes as he turned around. He caught a glimpse of a claw moments before being stabbed right in the chest. His vision blurred, and he felt his ghostly body being yanked away from the white area.
When he came to his senses, his chest was in immense pain, as if he were about to have a heart attack. But he was still mesmerized by the new view before him. The white expanse from before was replaced by the endless void all around him, illuminated by countless stars. When he turned to his right, his breath got caught in his throat, and the same shiver went down his spine. The pain in his chest suddenly magnified to the point that he couldn’t stand straight anymore. The only reason he was conscious was that all he had was an ethereal body. As for the view?
Two planet-sized reptilian heads stared at him as if he were nothing more than a tiny speck of dust in front of them. One of them, red, he noticed, had the body of a western dragon, with four clawed feet and a massive wingspan, even longer than the length of its body. The other seemed more snake-like, closer to an Eastern Dragon, with an endlessly stretching tail, the end of which seemed too far away to be comprehended.
Orion Vaelor… He doesn’t look that impressive.
He heard a slightly flat voice with a hint of femininity in it. He couldn’t identify which of the two dragons was speaking, but was too occupied with the pain in his chest to bother.
Unfortunately, he’s the best option we have for now. Time is running out. It is already hard enough to snatch a candidate from the Tower of Chaos. He is our best bet.
This one was much deeper, with what seemed like a hint of agitation in its tone.
If we could capture even a single nodal point for Primordial Earth. All we would need is one person compatible enough…
Maybe he might come to surprise us. That is, if he survives the integration.
Orion, who was feeling his consciousness grow hazy, panicked upon hearing the words of the masculine dragon, still unsure which was which. Still, hearing the dismissive words and the general disregard of his life seemed to fill him with defiant rage as he glared at the two dragons, forcefully enduring the pain in his heart and standing up straight.
Not afraid?
He snorted at the query, not bothering to question how he was even able to hear himself speak in space, with no air to speak of.
“I’m already dead. What more could happen? At most, you kill me. I, at least, want to prove you wrong before that.” His words had much lower impact as he kept shifting between the two dragons, unsure which of them had asked the question.
He has drive, I’ll give him that. The feminine voice spoke.
I am the Dragon of Dragons, Great Red. The one beside me is the Infinite Dragon, Oroborous.
“What’s going on?” He finally turned to the red western dragon with difficulty, identifying the two colossal creatures. “Are you the same ones? From the world I was supposedly assigned to…”
In a way, yes. But also no. As for the reason that you are here…Look down. Congratulations.
Orion frowned and lowered his head, looking at his chest. There was a tattoo on his skin, one of both Great Red and Ophis coiled together. He also raised his brow upon realizing that he seemed to be completely healed from the damage of his death. His dusty clothes had disappeared, leaving him stark naked, but his limbs were no longer mangled, nor were there any of the scratches all along his torso from before. Feeling self-conscious in front of the two seemingly eldritch entities, he couldn’t help but cover his crotch with his hands.
To think it would abruptly accept him…
Ophis’ words confused Orion further.
“What’s going on?” He asked again.
We need your help. Our Verse is currently under the threat of collapse. Don’t ask too much, you won’t understand even if I told you everything. What you now have is the Exile Gear: Infinite Dream. A tool made by the combination of our Laws. We need your help.
“I’m assuming it has to do with the other four guys being sent to your world,” he said, trying to connect the dots from what he knew. “I’m not completely ignorant about the concept of transmigration and the like.”
Close, but there’s more. For now, you will be sent to a dying world. You are not strong enough yet. Not without their system.
“I don’t get a system?” He asked, sounding disappointed.
Their system is a trap. What Gear can give you is far more than what their system can. It is made with the combined power of Infinity and Dreams, allowing paltry amounts of Origin Energy to create matter from scratch.
“What’s Origin Energy?”
You will come to understand everything in time. Right now, I want you to imagine activating the Exile Gear. There isn’t much time left for us to stay here undetected.
Orion nodded at Great Red’s words and closed his eyes, imagining activating the Gear. Immediately, familiar lines of text appeared in his mind. Unlike before, where they seemed to be floating in front of his eyes, this felt deeper.
Name: Orion Vaelor
Exile Gear: Infinite Dream
Specialization: Creation
Origin Energy: 10 Units
Physique: 0
Matter Limit: 0 KG
“This looks interesting…”
Origin energy is what the gear runs on. You can create a certain amount of matter by simply imagining it. Beware, you need to know the accurate principles behind what you create, down to the molecules. The gear has no will of its own and is nothing more than a tool that you need to harness. For now, I will support you in creating a weapon, anything you want. In the future, you must rely on yourself.
“This could have been so overpowered, you know? I could simply imagine a nuke and destroy everything…”
Focus, we don’t have much time. Weapon.
“I want a sword. And since we need an atomic level of precision, I want the sword’s edge to be the same, capable of slicing through anything by directly splitting things on an atomic scale. Can you do that?”
Close your eyes and imagine the sword in your mind. I will guide you.
“Man, someone with aphantasia could never use this gear,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and imagining a simple katana with the sharpest edge possible. He felt a sudden intrusion in his mind, as if there was another person in his head. At the same time, the image he had formed of the katana solidified in his mind, forming a pitch-black blade with the handle wrapped in slightly coarse black leather and an oval guard. The design was minimal, allowing him to perfectly picture every single detail about the katana, down to the atomic edge that he had imagined. Then came further details, its weight—eight kilograms, far more than he’d expected. He frowned, but trusted Great Red’s judgement and followed along, imagining the matter compressing to form the imagined shape. He even pictured the atoms moving around to form multiple familiar and unfamiliar elements as their names appeared in his mind—Titanium, Tungsten, Chromium, even Carbon. Some elements were even beyond the Periodic Table that he knew of, dense enough to have two hundred protons—he wasn’t sure how they were stable enough, but it seemed to have something to do with multiple different elements working synergistically. More than thirteen different kinds of elements came to his mind, with four of them going far beyond the elements from the periodic table that he knew of before melding together to form a perfect alloy with no inconsistencies that took shape into the blade.
His eyes opened with a complex look in them as the tattoo released a slight glow, and the very sword that he imagined appeared, floating in front of him.
“You couldn’t make creation easy, huh?” He said while looking at the sword. With a thought from him, it disappeared and then reappeared before disappearing again. “I don’t think I can even recreate this sword even if I had a month to prepare. All I can do is to let it sit inside the gear’s internal space.”
Creation is the most taboo of all laws in existence, with more stringent requirements than anything else. Worry not, however, you will have the option to sacrifice some Origin energy to communicate with me. I will allow you to dream, giving you as much time as you need to master a certain concept or item. It may not be the same as this, but you will not be left to fend for yourself.
He nodded thoughtfully, looking over at the gear’s status panel.
Name: Orion Vaelor
Exile Gear: Infinite Dream
Specialization: Creation
Origin Energy: 2 Units
Physique: 0
Matter Limit: 8 KG
“This matter thing…Can I reforge my sword in the future?”
Yes. The Matter Limit is the limit of how much mass the gear can create. With the power of Infinity behind it, reforging requires no energy.
“Also, I know I shouldn’t doubt you, but I don’t think I can effectively wield an 8-kilogram katana. That’s almost eighteen pounds.”
That is why I left two units of the initial Origin Energy for you. To create your new body. Do not worry.
“If you say so,” he shrugged. “What about—“
Ah. While I would love to continue chatting, our time is up, young Orion. Goodbye. While Ophis may not say it, both of us have great expectations from you.
Orion suddenly felt his consciousness blurring, feeling the yanking force once again, leaving him with nothing but Ophis’ final words.
Good Luck.