Death, Vince learned, was not sudden, it was slow.
It crept in quietly, hiding behind familiar faces, warm smiles, and promises spoken too easily. It waited patiently while you lowered your guard.
While you trusted, while you believed that loyalty meant something in a world where everything had a price.
And when it finally arrived, it did not announce itself, it simply pushed.
***********************************************
The rain fell in sheets that night, turning the cracked asphalt into a mirror of broken neon reflections.
The city never slept, not truly, but it did grow quieter after midnight. Quieter enough for secrets to breathe. Quieter enough for betrayal to sharpen its blade.
Vince pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he stepped into the abandoned parking structure.
The concrete walls loomed overhead like a ribcage, damp with years of neglect. Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, echoing in hollow, rhythmic taps that set his nerves on edge.
He checked his phone.
11:47 PM
No signal, of course.
He exhaled slowly, steadying himself. You're being paranoid, he told himself. He'd walked into worse places than this. Places where men didn't bother hiding their intentions behind polite smiles and coded messages.
Still, something felt wrong.
"Relax," he muttered under his breath. "Just another job."
That was what this was supposed to be. Another job, another step closer to finally getting out.
For years, Vince had lived in the cracks of the city, doing work no one wanted to acknowledge but everyone benefited from. Information retrieval, security consulting, occasionally, things that crossed lines he preferred not to think about.
But he had rules.
No kids, no civilians, no unnecessary blood.
Rules didn't make him clean. But they helped him sleep.
Tonight was supposed to be simple. A data exchange, sensitive information changing hands quietly. Enough money to disappear for good.
Enough to start over somewhere far away from rain-soaked streets and flickering lights.
Enough to buy freedom.
The footsteps behind him were soft, deliberate.
Vince stopped walking.
His hand drifted closer to the inside of his jacket, not reaching yet, just close enough to remind himself that he wasn't helpless.
"You're late," he said without turning around.
A familiar voice answered, smooth and amused.
"Traffic."
Vince turned.
Marcus stepped out from between two concrete pillars, rainwater dripping from his hair, his expression relaxed. Too relaxed.
They'd known each other for nearly a decade. Worked together on dozens of jobs. Survived situations that should have killed them both.
Marcus was the closest thing Vince had, ever had to a friend.
"You picked a terrible place," Xander said.
Marcus shrugged. "You always say that."
"That's because you always do."
They shared a brief smile, automatic, practiced. A habit formed over years of shared danger.
"Where's the buyer?" Vince asked.
"Running late," Marcus replied. "Wanted privacy."
That was the first red flag.
Vince's eyes flicked around the structure. Shadows pooled between the pillars, deep and impenetrable. Too many blind spots, too many places for someone to hide.
"You should've told me that," Vince said quietly.
Marcus met his gaze. Something flickered in his eyes.
Regret.
Vince felt it then, a cold weight settling in his stomach.
"You trust me, right?" Marcus asked.
The question landed wrong, too heavy, too deliberate.
Vince didn't answer.
Marcus sighed. "I was hoping you'd say yes."
The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed space.
Pain exploded through Vince's side as the bullet tore through his flesh. The force knocked him off balance, slamming him hard against the concrete floor. His breath left him in a strangled gasp.
He rolled instinctively, reaching for his weapon.
Another shot.
Then another.
Each impact sent white-hot agony through his body, stealing more strength, more air.
He collapsed behind a rusted sedan, blood soaking through his clothes, pooling beneath him.
His hands trembled as he pressed them against the wound, warm liquid slipping through his fingers.
"Marcus…" he rasped.
Footsteps approached slowly, unhurried. Marcus came into view, gun lowered but still ready, his expression tight, not cruel, not angry, just tired.
"I didn't want it to be like this," Marcus said.
Vince laughed weakly, the sound wet and broken.
"You always say that… too."
Marcus flinched.
"Why?" Vince asked. "We were done. After this, we were done."
Marcus looked away. "They offered more."
"Who?" Vince demanded.
"Does it matter?"
Vince stared at him, rain mixing with blood on the concrete. Ten years, ten years of trust, reduced to a transaction.
"I would've walked away," Vince said quietly. "You know that."
"I know," Marcus replied. "That's why it had to be you."
Vince felt something crack inside his chest, not bone, but something deeper.
Understanding.
He coughed, blood flecking his lips. His vision blurred at the edges, the world dimming as his body began to fail.
Marcus crouched beside him.
"For what it's worth," Marcus said, voice low, "you were the best partner I ever had."
Vince's fingers twitched, not reaching for a weapon, not anymore.
"Then you shouldn't have missed," he whispered.
Marcus frowned. "What?"
Vince smiled faintly.
There was a click.
Marcus's eyes widened as he noticed the small device in Vince's hand, a compact detonator, hidden beneath his sleeve.
"No—!"
Vince pressed the button.
The explosion rocked the parking structure, shattering concrete and metal alike. Fire bloomed outward, consuming everything in its path.
Pain vanished.
So did sound.
So did light.
Darkness followed.
Not the comforting darkness of sleep, but an endless void, heavy and suffocating.
Xander drifted.
He wasn't sure how long he floated there. Time felt meaningless, stretched thin and distorted.
Memories surfaced and dissolved like smoke, faces, voices, fragments of a life abruptly cut short.
Is this it? he wondered. Is this death?
There was no tunnel, no light, no welcoming presence.
Just emptiness.
The last thing Vince felt on Earth was the sensation of falling endlessly into cold darkness.
But the darkness did not end, Vince expected oblivion.
Instead, he awoke.
Just an infinite, silent void.
He was floating, no body, no breath, no heartbeat, only awareness.
"What… is this?" he thought.
His voice had no sound here.
He remembered dying. He remembered Marcus's gun. He remembered the explosion.
So why was he still conscious?
Was this the afterlife?
He tried to move.
There were no limbs to obey him.
Then, a light appeared.
Blue, brilliant and unnatural.
It formed directly in front of his consciousness, shaping itself into glowing letters suspended in nothingness.
[System Initialization Detected]
Vince froze.
System?, Letters?
He focused harder.
More text unfolded.
[Host Soul Compatible]
[Reincarnation Protocol Available]
[Would you like to sign the Ascension Contract?]
"Am I hallucinating after death?" Vince wondered.
The interface pulsed as if waiting for his answer, he had heard about designing digital platforms, he had heard about UI logic, he knew structured prompts.
This felt engineered.
Deliberate, but not divine.
"Who are you?" he demanded mentally.
The system replied instantly.
[I am the Mana Ascension System]
[Purpose: Growth of Host Across Magical Cultivation Stages]
[Current Status: Soul Form Only]
[Rebirth Opportunity Pending Confirmation]
Rebirth!!.
The word shook him.
Another life?, a world of magic?
It sounded ridiculous.
And yet he was already dead and reading glowing blue text in a place without physics. Ridiculous had become normal.
"What happens if I refuse?"
[Refusal = Oblivion]
The answer he received was direct, cold, and ruthless.
Xander almost smiled.
Even in death, threats remained.
"And if I accept?"
[You will reincarnate in the world of Eldoria]
[You will begin at the lowest stage: Sparkless]
[Tasks will be issued to grow talent, Mana, and classification mastery]
[Fast Progression Path Enabled]
A magical world… ruled by mages.
A system that rewarded growth.
It was like the second chance, he never had on Earth.
"Do I keep my memories?"
[Affirmative]
That settled it.
A man who had lost everything once would never refuse a chance to try again.
"I accept."
[Contract Signed]
[Reincarnation Beginning…]
The void exploded.
Vince Hale died.
Vince Hale was reborn.
And then, pressure came.
An unbearable weight pressed down on him from all sides, crushing, suffocating. He tried to scream, but no sound came, he tried to move, but his body didn't respond.
Panic surged.
Something invaded him, heat, energy, something vast and alien. It burned through him, searing his very essence.
He felt himself being pulled.
Dragged, torn apart and stitched back together again.
Pain returned with a vengeance.
Then, a scream came.
High-pitched, raw, not his, but it was.
Light assaulted his senses, blinding and overwhelming. Air rushed into his lungs violently, forcing another scream from his throat.
His throat?
His lungs?
He gasped, choking, as unfamiliar sensations crashed into him all at once, cold air on skin, rough fabric, hands gripping him firmly.
He came into existence screaming.
The scream had sound this time.
Real lungs, real pain, real life.
He was an infant, wrapped in rough cloth, held by trembling hands.
A woman's tear-streaked face hovered above him.
"Look, Aron!" Breathe! He's breathing!" She cried.
Voices, strange accents, unfamiliar words.
Vince's vision swam as shapes moved above him, faces blurred and indistinct. Everything felt wrong, too sharp, too loud.
He tried to speak.
What came out was a wail.
Panic surged again, stronger this time.
No, No, no, no—
Memories flooded his mind in a chaotic rush, his childhood, the streets, Marcus's face, the gunshot, the explosion.
He remembered dying.
And yet, he was alive.
Barely.
Someone wrapped him in cloth, pressing him against a warm body. A woman's heartbeat thudded rapidly against his ear. He felt small, fragile, and helpless.
The realization hit him like another bullet.
This isn't my body.
The woman sobbed softly, clutching him tightly.
"He's alive… thank the gods, he's alive…"
Gods?
Vince tried to focus, to understand. The words didn't sound like any language he knew, yet he understood them perfectly.
Fear crept in, cold and insidious.
This isn't Earth.
Vince looked around wildly.
A small stone house.
Strange clothes.
A world completely foreign.
The system had kept its word.
[Host Successfully Reincarnated]
[Welcome to Eldoria]
The text appeared in the corner of his vision.
Only he could see it, he almost laughed again.
Even as a baby, the interface followed him.
A new wave of sensation washed over him, something heavy, oppressive, filling the air. It pressed against his skin, seeped into his lungs, vibrated through his bones.
Power, raw, overwhelming power.
Instinctively, something inside him recoiled.
The pressure intensified, forcing a cry from his tiny lungs. His body trembled as the unseen force tried to invade him, tried to enter him.
The woman stiffened. "Why is he crying like that?"
A man's voice responded, tense. "The Mana… it's reacting strangely."
"Mana".The word echoed in Xander's mind like a tolling bell.
"Magic".
The pressure grew unbearable, like being submerged deep underwater. His chest burned, his limbs spasmed. Something inside him resisted violently, pushing back against the invading force.
Then, it shattered.
The pressure vanished abruptly, sending a shockwave through the room. The candles flickered wildly, some extinguishing outright. The air crackled with residual energy.
Silence fell.
The man swore under his breath. "That shouldn't be possible…"
The woman looked up at him, fear in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
He hesitated.
Vince felt it then, an emptiness inside him. A vast, hollow void where something should have been.
The man swallowed. "He has no Mana." " he is Sparkless".
The words struck harder than any bullet.
The woman's face drained of color. "That's… that's impossible."
"No," the man said quietly. "It's worse."
Vince's tiny fists clenched instinctively.
He didn't understand this world yet. Didn't understand Mana, or gods, or magic.
But he understood one thing perfectly.
Even here, even in a new life, he was defective, unwanted and disposable.
The woman's grip loosened slightly, her sobs turning to something brittle. Something uncertain.
Vince stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, his infant mind already sharp with fear and clarity beyond his new body.
So this is my second chance, he thought grimly.
A world ruled by magic.
And he had none.
As exhaustion finally dragged him into unconsciousness, one last thought burned itself into his soul.
If this world runs on power… Then I'll find another way to take it.
Vince clenched his fists.
Then the system awakened again.
[Main Quest Unlocked]
[Task 1: Survive in a Ruthless Magic World]
[Reward: Talent Growth Shard]
The story had truly begun.