Chapter 1: A Whole New Game

Without even opening his eyes, Noah knew that something had gone wrong. His body was still the same size, and he could feel the weight of his limbs, the stiffness of the dried blood on his clothes, and the chill of the hard ground underneath him. This didn’t make sense. At this moment, he’d normally be experiencing his own rebirth, coming out of the womb as a newborn baby. So either he survived his suicide attempt and had been moved while unconscious, or he broke into another timeline without properly reincarnating, something which had never happened before.

His hand was still over his face, but just moving it took a tremendous amount of strength. He felt his neck, but there was no wound, and it seemed his blood was replenished, though he was still weak. He opened his eyes and stared up at the blue sky. It was late in the afternoon when he killed himself, but it looked to be midmorning now, and he was lying on an unpaved road in the woods.

He got to his feet and staggered, struggling to breathe. There was no strength in his limbs, and his thoughts were getting weaker by the second. This fatigue was similar to anemia, like he had grown a new muscle and it was hoarding all the oxygen in his blood. If this feeling didn’t dissipate soon, he’d pass out again. What in the world? He looked down and realized that he wasn’t casting a shadow. The fatigue must have been messing with his vision. Now that he thought about it, his left eye was itching a bit. He gave it a rub, and the fatigue vanished as if that extra muscle had settled, and when he looked down, he saw his shadow.

‘That wasn’t blood loss. It must have been some kind of leftover trauma from my suicide or this glitchy rebirth. But where am I?’

He had his wallet and phone with him, but there was no service, and the road was unusual. The ground was packed, but the sediment seemed native to the spot. In the modern world, even unpaved roads were made with at least a layer of sand and gravel to prevent them from being overgrown.

A sound reached his ears, one he rarely heard outside of movies and TV. He looked over his shoulder, seeing two adult men on horseback approaching him from down the road, escorting an old man driving a horse-drawn wagon. Behind the wagon, over a dozen men and women of varying ages were bound in chains, wearing rags for clothes and walking barefoot.

This strange caravan came to a halt in front of Noah, and the three men stared at him in confusion. “You’re blocking the road. Get out of our way before you end up like them,” the driver barked.

It had been a long time since Noah saw a slave shipment. He usually only found them in post-apocalyptic timelines, when society had broken down, or timelines where the south won the Civil War and other such occurrences.

“Did you hear me? Get out of the way!”

“Boss, look at all of the blood he’s covered in,” one of the men on horseback said.

Noah looked at them. Their clothes were shoddy wool not woven by any kind of modern machinery, and their coats and boots were made of primitively-treated leather. Maybe he had been reincarnated to a third-world country?

‘If this was a post-apocalyptic timeline, then whatever happened wasn’t manmade,’ he thought. ‘It happened before the Industrial Revolution, some kind of natural disaster that halted mankind’s development. A meteor?’

“I don’t think he understands us. He’s got some weird clothes. He might be the son of some noble,” the other horseman said.

They had sheathed swords but no signs of any guns. ‘So, this is an era before the invention of gunpowder. Medieval? It sure seems like it.’

“If he’s a noble, we can ransom him back, and if not, he looks healthy and strong enough to sell for a good price. Chain him up with the others.”

One of the men got off his horse and approached Noah with a length of rope. None of them were aware that he still had his knife on him. As the man reached out to grab his hands, Noah slashed him across the throat. It wasn’t the pinpoint jab he had given himself earlier; this was a bloody smile stretching from ear to ear. It had been ages since he last killed someone, but it was something he was very well-practiced in.

A fountain of blood sprayed forth, and Noah threw his knife at the wagon driver, catching him in the chest. Before his first victim could drop to his knees, Noah ripped his sword from its sheath and charged toward the other horseman, already drawing his blade to avenge his coworker. Noah deflected the oncoming attack and pierced the man’s heart.

“Fireball!”

There was a flash of light in his peripheral vision from the old man, and Noah’s instincts made him jerk back as a sphere of energy shot by his face. It struck a nearby tree and exploded, spraying fire in all directions like a Molotov Cocktail. Noah looked back at the old man, one hand outstretched while the other covered the stab wound in his chest from Noah’s knife. A holographic ring of crimson light floated around his wrist, marked with letters that Noah didn’t recognize.

“You can’t be serious,” Noah muttered.

“Fireball!” the old man shouted again.

Fames appeared and condensed in the old man’s hand, then shot at Noah like a burst from a flare gun. Noah dodged and rushed in to close the distance. The first fireball had forced him to let go of his sword, and the second drove him back before he could grab the second man’s. He’d have to finish this with his bare hands.

The horses were all throwing tantrums in fear from the fighting, but the old man continued to launch those mysterious shots. Noah circled around the horses, jumped, and tackled the man. He grabbed him by the throat and began beating him with his fist with a rapid pace of controlled savagery. His current body wasn’t trained for combat, but he kept it healthy and strong and knew how much force he had to muster to get the job done. Blood started spraying with the third punch, and the old man soon blacked out. Noah promptly retrieved his fallen knife and finished him off.

Noah took his time to catch his breath while he wiped off the blade, folded it up, and stored it in his pocket. He took those few moments to quell his annoyance. He was used to being reborn as a baby after every death and considered those early years to be his vacation between each new life. He used the time to time to dispose of old memories, catalog useful knowledge, and mentally deal with loose ends. No one depended on him, and he usually had a parent or caregiver to look after him, giving him time to rest his mind. Now he had to jump back into a survival mindset and start from scratch in a world with new rules.

Those fireballs the old man had launched were undoubtedly magic, something that he thought only existed in fantasy stories. He had never seen magic before, not in any of the timelines he had already lived in. Under the belief of the Multiverse Theory, there was a timeline for every possible subatomic event, so was it possible for even magic to exist? What did this timeline have that all the previous ones lacked?

The old man would have been a valuable source of information, but with his subordinates now dead, he would never willingly tell Noah anything, and it wouldn’t be worth the time and trouble to interrogate him. Oh well, the answers would come in time, and patience was something Noah learned long ago.

He turned his attention to the slaves, staring back at him with uncertainty. They weren’t rejoicing at the death of their captors, fair enough. After all, Noah hadn’t killed them to free the slaves or anything like that. As far as they knew, he was about to kill all or sell them himself. Each of them was a variable, possibly benefiting or dooming him. It would have been best just to let them go, but he decided to get some use out of them first. The slave traders had spoken with an accent that he had never heard before, but it was English, though they probably didn’t call it that. These slaves must also speak it.

“All of you, I give you permission to speak. Do you all understand what I’m saying?” They didn’t verbally respond but nodded in the affirmative. “Are there any among you who are familiar with this area?” None of them answered.

Possessing knowledge could either make them valuable or a liability. They didn’t want to expose themselves unless they knew what awaited them. Noah sighed and returned to the old man, patting him down until he found an iron key, likely going to all of their collars. He held up the key for all the slaves to see.

“I need one of you to guide me to a safe area with a source of fresh water, off the road where I won’t be seen. Whoever volunteers will get their collar removed and can ride in the wagon. Once I’m brought to a suitable location, you will all will be set free.” Six slaves raised their bound hands. “You.”

He had selected a girl that looked to be around his age. She was dirty and underfed, but appeared healthy enough to be useful to him, and he could undoubtedly overpower her if she tried to betray him. It was hard to gauge her appearance in this state, as she had a pitiful look permanently etched into her face, like a basset hound. If he cleaned her up, she might be a real cutie, but right now, she was so dirty that he couldn’t even tell her natural hair color.

“What is your name?”

“Tin, sir.” She didn’t make eye contact. None of them did.

“Do what I say, Tin, and you’ll earn your freedom. Go against me and I’ll kill you.” He unlocked her metal collar but left her wrists bound. “Now help me take care of these bodies.”

Noah searched the corpses of the three slave traders, taking everything of value. Along with their swords, he got a couple daggers, some cord, and three makeshift wallets. They were snake skins with stacks of coins inside, tied to their belts.

“Tin, is there any danger of wild animals in these woods? Anything that I should worry about?”

“Monsters will surely be drawn by the smell of blood here. It would be best if we moved on now.”

Noah huffed in annoyance. Great, now he had monsters to worry about. This certainly was a world unlike any he had seen before. “Very well. Remove the clothes from the bodies and put them in the wagon.”

She wordlessly obeyed, proceeding to strip the corpses without unease or discomfort. Most girls her age would be too squeamish to do anything like this. As she worked, Noah searched the wagon and found a canvas bag, smelling too rancid to be used for food. He soaked it with a wineskin, and while it wasn’t ideal, it was good enough for him to use to put out the fires that the old man had started.

He and Tin completed their tasks, leaving three naked bodies on the road and a few charred trees. Noah retrieved one of the swords, just a crummy machete, but sharp enough to get the job done. He showed no discomfort in decapitating the bodies and storing the heads in the canvas bag.

“Drag these bodies into the woods, out of sight from the road. That should satiate any beasts that search this area.”

There was no telling what the value of these slave traders was. If they were even slightly important to someone, their disappearance might lead to an investigation. On the other hand, three nude, headless bodies devoured by monsters wouldn’t leave any evidence. They couldn’t even be identified. Plus, if they were criminals, then their severed heads could be used to collect a bounty. He had been in a lot of bad situations and chaotic timelines, so this mindset was a skill he knew he could rely on and use as he needed.

Once the bodies were dealt with, Noah took his seat at the front of the wagon, and Tin joined him. The two extra horses were tethered to the wagon’s sides and would follow along. Noah cracked the reins, and the horses pulling the wagon began moving forward.

“There is a suitable place several miles down this road. I will show you where.”

“Until we get there, I have questions that I need answered. Where am I? What country is this?”

“This is the Algata Province of the nation of Uther.”

“How large is Uther? How much of the continent does it take up?”

Tin bowed her head. “Please forgive my ignorance. I do not know the size of this country, nor what a ‘continent’ is.”

Her speaking made it clear she expected punishment, but her answer didn’t surprise him. A slave educated in geography would be an unusual find. He needed to get his hands on a decent map, though that was probably a lot to ask for in this era. In a world with magic and monsters, there was no telling what the planet’s topography looked like, even the arrangement of the continents. He had traveled across countless earths, but much of his experience was now obsolete.

“Relax, I’m not going to hit you for not knowing something. Just keep answering my questions as best as you can. Uther, is it a rich country?”

“I ... don’t know for sure. Perhaps there is wealth in the capital, but this is the countryside.”

“Does it operate under a monarchy? Or do they elect their leaders?” She looked at him like he had spoken in gibberish. “Does it have a king or queen?”

“Oh, yes, sir. There is a royal family, but I don’t know anything about them.”

“What do they use for currency?”

“Metal coins, like silver and gold.”

Noah retrieved one of the snakeskin coin purses and emptied it out onto the seat between them. It was about a dozen bronze coins and a few silvers. He expected the other two held a similar amount.

“How much would you say this is? Would you say it is a large amount of money or not much?”

She looked at the coins with her glum expression. “I don’t know. I’ve never handled money before.” She picked up one of the silver coins and showed it to Noah. “This is what I’m worth.”

‘Well, that’s a depressing thought.’ “What season is it currently?”

“Mid spring.”

That was good for Noah. To get a foothold in this new world, he’d need ample time with the chances of survival at their highest. Winter would hamper his mobility and possible actions, and make life much harder. Had he appeared in this world a few months earlier, he could have easily frozen to death before reaching civilization.

“You spoke before of monsters. What should I be cautious of in this forest?”

“The biggest danger is the wolves. They travel in packs and kill whatever they see. There are also bears, large spiders that hide in burrows, and goblins.”

‘Giant spiders and goblins? This world is getting more fantastical by the second.’

“Tell me about the goblins.”

“They are small, only about the size of children, and maybe as smart. They have weapons and often ambush travelers.”

“The old man, what was that technique he used? I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

“That was magic.”

‘Thought so.’ “Tell me everything you know about magic.”

“It is the blessing of the gods, letting people call down divine retribution upon their enemies. It can create fire, control water, make you stronger, and do all kinds of things. There are many different kinds of magic users. I’ve heard of some of them; mages, paladins, warriors, shamans, but I don’t know much about what they can do.”

“What kind was the old man?”

“A mage, I think.”

“So can anyone use it? Or is it passed down through the bloodline?”

“I don’t know.”

That was a problem. If it was an ability passed down from parent to child, he was screwed. His glitchy reincarnation left him with the normal genes of his last parents. Life would get exponentially harder if magic couldn’t be learned or acquired. Then there was the mentioning of gods. He had spent several lifetimes searching for signs of the existence of God, some presence of divinity that might explain his existence, but he always came up short. However, in a world where magic existed, perhaps gods might as well.

As they continued through the woods, Noah thought about the slaves walking behind the wagon. Letting them go might be a liability. They knew he had killed three slave traders and where he would set up camp. The slave traders mistook him for the son of a noble, so if the slaves went into some town and started blabbing about him and what he had done, people might come after him.

‘Perhaps it would be better to dispose of all of them? No, the chances of killing them all would be low and leave me with a lot of corpses to deal with. Also, killing them might get me in trouble. To think my laziness would compensate for my withered conscience... ‘

They passed a hill with trees blocking much of the view, and all of the horses flicked their ears to it. Noah didn’t miss that tick and reached into the wagon. When searching earlier, he found a bow and a few arrows, none of which seemed very well made. He took aim up the hill, spotting a shadow moving among the trees.

Archery had been a hobby of his around four or five lifetimes ago, so he was understandably rusty. The released arrow veered off course as it flew between the trees, but where skill and equipment failed, luck succeeded. Noah didn’t see what he hit, but there was a shriek of pain that he did not recognize and the sound of multiple entities running off.

“What was that?” Tin asked.

“I assume that was one of those goblins you mentioned.” This was getting dangerous. “You stay here,” he told Tin. He brought the wagon to a stop and went back with his knife and the key. He cut the slaves’ binds and unlocked their collars. “You’re all free to go, get out of here. But don’t even think of trying to follow—”

They ran off before he could finish his sentence. Good, that would make him less of a sitting duck, and they’d draw the attention of anything that might want a piece of him. He returned to the driver’s seat and turned to Tin, holding up one of the coin purses.

“Get me to that safe spot and this is yours.”

The forest thinned a bit, the trees spreading out far enough for the wagon to go off the road and head toward the sound of running water. Finally, they arrived at a clearing where a waterfall thumped on exposed rock. It was isolated, just the place Noah needed. There was even a cave behind the waterfall where he could hide from predators. However, they were not the only inhabitants.

“Tin, what are those things?” he asked, looking at the four barrel-sized creatures sliding across the ground. At first, he thought they were giant slugs, but realized they were translucent.

“They are slimes. They like damp places. Their undersides are like huge mouths, devouring whatever they crawl over. Their bodies are covered with a thin skin, and if you tear it, its insides pour out and change the shape of its body.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“Yes. Anything that their undersides touch will melt, same with anything you stab them with. The bigger they are, the faster it happens, and the faster they can move.”

“How do I kill them?”

“You have to hit their brains.”

The slimes hadn’t noticed them yet, so Noah aimed with the bow at the nearest one. It was hard telling the front from the back of these things, but he spotted an apple-sized lump of solid tissue floating inside. He released the bolt, missing the creature’s brain by several inches. It rumbled in pain, and its gelatinous insides spilled out of the wound like a runny nose. Upon contact with the air, the viscera began to congeal and develop a layer of skin. It formed an extension of itself, like a second tail, now searching for what had injured it.

‘So, that’s what she meant when she said it changed the shape of its body.’

Already, the arrow was halfway dissolved, with smoke wafting from the entry wound. That thing was like a giant moving stomach. He would have preferred to take care of these monsters from a distance but didn’t have enough arrows to risk losing. It would also get dark soon, and he didn’t want to try and look for another spot.

He turned to Tin, cut her binds, and then handed her one of the coin purses. “You’re free. Go wherever and do whatever you want, but don’t even think of taking anything from the wagon.”

He got up from the wagon and approached the waterfall with one of the slave traders’ swords in his hand. It was the worst of the two, useful at least for experimentation. He approached the slime, already back to full health after being shot with the arrow. It didn’t appear to have eyes.

He picked up a stone from the creek and threw it, sending it bouncing a few feet away. It pounced on the rock with surprising speed, smothering it with its body and absorbing it. If it could see, it was probably short-ranged, based on movement, or more likely, it could sense vibrations in the ground.

He took another rock and threw it at the slime, ripping through its fragile skin and spilling its guts. The blow stunned it just long enough for Noah to sprint over and slice through its brain. Then, as quickly as he attacked, he darted back. He had learned through numerous occasions always to expect an enemy to get back up. Plus, he wanted to avoid getting sprayed with any guts.

Originally a nauseating yellow, the monster turned gray, and its exposed insides began to smoke and dissolve. Unfortunately, smoke was also coming from his sword. This really was a nasty acid. Noah wiped the blade on the grass and then rinsed it in the river to clean it. Unfortunately, it had undergone severe corrosion. Hopefully, it would last until he killed them all.

One thing made him happy, though. When he killed the slime, numbers didn’t appear in the air, displaying experience points earned. He started having concerns as soon as that first fireball was launched at him, and when Tin said it was a slime, he thought he had been reincarnated into some kind of RPG world. If, at any point, she used the word ‘level,’ he would have permanently lost the ability to keep a straight face and take anything seriously.

He repeated his strategy with the other three slimes. A fist-sized rock thrown with sufficient speed and accuracy could pierce the monsters and stun them long enough to deliver a fatal strike. After the third slime, his sword broke in half, the end completely melting off. There was one slime left, but it would be tricky. It was slithering behind the waterfall, unaware of what had happened to the others. The vibrations of the water would probably mask Noah’s movements, but he didn’t want to take the chance.

He crept behind the waterfall and threw another stone, striking the slime near the brain. Its body curled up like a slug sprinkled with salt, and Noah rushed over. This time, he thrust the broken blade straight in. Noah managed to stab the brain, but the sword slipped into its body. He pulled away before his inertia could send his hand plunging into the acidic muck, but several drops splashed him, and he could feel his skin dissolving. Noah thrust his hand into the waterfall and steadied his breathing as the pain faded. That was too close for comfort. He’d have to find another way to stop those things if he reencountered them.

The area was secure, now to set up camp. He stepped out from behind the waterfall, and to his surprise, he saw Tin standing by the wagon, waiting for him.

“What are you still doing here? I told you, you’re free.”

“I ... don’t know what that means. I don’t know how to be free.”

“I gave you money. Take it to the nearest town and buy yourself something to eat and some new clothes. Look for anyone who will hire you, hopefully offering room and board in exchange. From there, start your new life.”

“Is that an order?”

“No, it’s advice. You don’t have to take orders from me, I’m not your master. I hired you to be my guide, you got your money, and our contract is complete. Now we part ways.” She continued to stand there, looking like a puppy in the rain. “You can have one of the horses. You’ll be able to get to town faster and outrun pursuers.”

“Does that mean you want me to prepare for your arrival into town?”

“You don’t have to do anything for me. You’re your own person now.”

“But I’m not. I’m yours,” she whimpered.

This girl was needier than he would have liked, but her subservience made her more trustworthy than anyone he could expect to find in this world. Maybe it would be good to have an extra pair of hands to help him, at least until he got out of this forest. Besides, it wasn’t like this was the first time he had owned a slave. There were many dark timelines when he followed the rule of ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans.’

“Fine, I’ll be your master. What skills do you have?”

“I can count to one hundred, I can write some, and I can tend to livestock and work fields, as well as perform household chores. I am also very experienced in pleasing men, so I can service you whenever you desire.” She bowed her head as she spoke, not seeing Noah raise his eyebrows at her last sentence.

Depressing as her words were, he wasn’t one to turn down an offer for sex from someone so willing. On the other hand, nothing about her current appearance stoked his libido. He was standing twenty feet away and could smell her like it was twenty inches. Sitting next to her in the wagon had been very unpleasant. Just letting her bathe in the river wouldn’t get the job done.

“Let’s get camp set up and then we’ll talk. You said you can tend to livestock, correct? Then I’ll leave the horses to you. Get them watered and fed and then remove these dead slimes. I imagine they’ve lost their acidity in death.”

Tin obediently went to work while Noah gathered all the chains and collars used to lead the slaves. There was also plenty of rope in case their binds broke during transport. Noah snapped the collars off the chains and used them as hammers to break the weaker links and separate the chains into multiple short segments.

He split the rope into thinner strands, set up a perimeter around the campsite, and then hung the collars and chains like Christmas ornaments. Any intruders that tried to enter would hit the tripwire, and the jingling chains and collars would give them away. The horses were the second detection line, and if they started acting up, a threat was nearby.

“I’m going to go collect some firewood. If any monsters approach, just holler for me and yeet some horseshit at them. The smell will drive them off.” He then stopped and chuckled to himself. That’s right, he no longer needed to use modern slang.

Tin seemed to gist of what he was saying. “Yes, Master,” she said with a bow.

Noah set out into the woods with his only sword and a satchel the old man had been carrying. He didn’t want to stray far from camp, but he had to check out the area and ensure there weren’t any imminent dangers. He was especially cautious of the giant spiders that Tin had mentioned. She said they hid in burrows, so he kept a close eye on his footing, avoiding any suspicious areas that could be a possible ambush. Webbing on the ground was a telltale sign, proof that he wasn’t the only one using tripwires to detect enemies.

The first thing he did was gather pine boughs from around the site, accumulating a large pile that they would use for bedding. Then he gathered all the firewood he could carry and filled his satchel with medicinal plants and edible mushrooms. In every life, he learned and relearned survival skills to keep the information branded into his mind, so even if he had forgotten their names, he still recognized herbs that could be useful, but he’d have to test them later. This world was very different from what he was used to, but most of the trees and plants appeared to be the same.

As Noah moved, he had a strong feeling that he was being watched and knew what was watching him, especially when he found one of their dead. It was a wolf, larger than any he had ever seen. His nose led him to it, the carcass reeking of death and rot. The meat was well beyond eating, and its fur and bones weren’t worth the effort to harvest, especially with all the maggots and flies, but there was something that he could make use of.

The sun was starting to set by the time he finished, but luckily, dinner was already taken care of. The slave traders had packed enough food for themselves and their cargo. It was hard bread and dried meat, something that Noah’s spoiled taste buds would not appreciate, but he’d seen enough hard times to know how to be grateful.

Before doing anything else, he removed his hoodie and t-shirt. He had kept them on as an added layer of protection in case anything attacked him, but the blood had hardened into a hard crust, and he was glad to be able to take them off finally. Had he known he would reincarnate like this, he would have gone home and hung himself, preferably with his pockets stuffed with useful tools. He laid out his shirt and hoodie under the waterfall, directing the spray right onto the blood stains. He pinned them down with stones so they wouldn’t be washed away.

He noticed Tin watching him like a curious feline. She had never seen muscles like his before. Men needed great strength to survive in the countryside, and muscle mass naturally accumulated, but not evenly. Noah’s appeared more defined, as he had focused on improving the quality of his muscles instead of just chasing after the vague definition of strength.

“Tin, take off your clothes.”