Rebirth-Transcending All Beings-Chapter 2: Rebirth

’Is this what death feels like?’

’Strange... almost comfortable.’

"Did I finally stop falling?" he rasped, yet his voice was swallowed whole.

The pain he’d known. The rage, the agony, the gnawing envy.

All of it slipped away.

All that remained was a gentle pull, drawing him forward. Endless. Directionless.

If he had ever felt his mother’s embrace,

Perhaps it would feel like this.

Warm and endless, yet cruelly late.

His body, or what remained of it, felt as if it had dissolved into a vast ocean, moving with the flow.

Yet an uneasy sensation lingered, a cold certainty that peace was something he didn’t deserve.

Then a face resurfaced.

Something felt amiss, and he didn’t know why it frightened him.

’What... no, who are you?’

The warmth pressed closer, heavier now as if it was strangling him.

Then the urgency collapsed and the face slipped away.

Not forgotten.

Taken.

"Dost thou have any regrets?"

The voice was gentle and unknown to him.

The question echoed throughout his mind. He could not give an answer. He couldn’t remember what regrets he had.

"Who’s there?" He tried to speak, but his voice scattered like dust in the vastness around him.

"Thou who hast forgotten it." The presence stirred again, closer this time. Its tone was soft, making him want to answer.

Vergil couldn’t tell what the voice wanted from him. Yet everything was slipping away.

"Remember."

And then–realisation hit him.

A longing–something he desperately begged for.

"I... wanted another chance," he whispered, the need in his voice startled even him.

"Another is granted unto thee. Wouldst thou make the most of it?"

The word tasted bittersweet, yet his pulse quickened. He had wasted his previous life.

Struggling to only die miserable, yet his desire to live overtook him.

"Yes... Give it to me," he whispered.

The void around him shuddered as it spoke once more. Light and darkness collided, and his senses fractured into chaos.

"As thou wishest." The voice grew vast–almost tender.

And everything shattered.

-----------

"And so we meet." A voice spoke.

Vergil squinted and saw a figure standing before him. Tall and still–too still. As if the space around him paused in awe of every word.

The man’s short white hair stuck out in a way that made his face look almost too perfect.

His skin glowed faintly. The smile he wore felt like a mirror, and Vergil’s gut tightened. He felt the man knew more about him than he knew himself.

"Where am I–no, the better question is, who are you?" Vergil’s head throbbed as he spoke up.

Each step the man took sent a ripple through the clear white beneath him.

"Weaver," he said with a smile as his voice echoed throughout the space.

The sky stretched endlessly around them. There was no wind, just stillness.

A hoarse, hollow laugh slipped out, before he had even realised. "What a dream this is," Vergil whispered, pressing his forehead to the cold ground–hard.

Thud.

Pain shot through him, reminding him that this was real, and that he was still... here. Alive.

"Are you some kind of god?" Vergil rasped but his voice didn’t echo.

"Something along those lines." His grin slanted. "But don’t mistake me for a friend," Weaver stated as his gaze pierced.

"The land beyond heaven and earth," Weaver moved closer to him. "This is what I’ve come to name it."

Vergil looked the other way only to find him there too.

He stepped forward, arms spread.

"You desired, and we gave. I would like you to have an ability of your choosing." Weaver spoke as the ripples that moved went in illogical directions that defied what he knew.

"You have one chance. The world you will enter knows no mercy."

Vergil’s knees wobbled as he stood. Was he calm or just too empty to care at this point? It felt like exhaling the last of his humanity, but he had to make a choice.

An invisible pressure settled over his shoulders as he stood before Weaver, making Vergil feel exposed–like a newborn baby.

His instincts screamed for him to kneel, to avert his gaze, yet Weaver’s eyes pinned him in place.

It wasn’t out of hostility but indifference to Vergil’s actions.

He moved closer. Yet he realised the space beneath him didn’t ripple.

The idea of another chance still felt like a dream to him.

’What ability would be most useful to me?’ Vergil questioned himself.

Something began to whisper inside his soul as he began thinking.

Predation.

The word surfaced unbidden, and he felt it smile back at him.

’Was this truly the right choice?’ Vergil had a feeling that it was an incredible ability. And a strange certainty filled him.

"Are you sure about this?" a voice whispered, unrecognisable yet loving.

Vergil only smiled and that was enough of an answer.

The silence shifted.

It didn’t speak, it had no voice to give. It wasn’t hostile either, only looking back at Vergil.

And in the stillness, he finally understood. Predation hadn’t found him, he had found it. It had waited long for him, with a patience of something that never needed to hunt.

’I see,’

No answer came, but the watching never stopped.

Meeting Weaver’s eyes once more, he spoke before his fear gripped him.

"I’ve decided. Predation."

Weaver watched him, his face indifferent.

"Can you make it grow?" Vergil asked, curious.

"It can," he said, eyes unreadable. "But what it’ll cost..." he trailed, deliberately not finishing the sentence.

He lifted a hand. "When you arrive, you will see it."

Light surged, swallowing Vergil’s body.

Vergil glanced back, was he really getting a second chance? Yet Weaver only smiled.

Then there was nothing but blinding white.

Weaver’s lips moved as the light consumed him. Vergil couldn’t hear what he said. Maybe he was never meant to.

Then Weaver turned away, already done with him.

The pull dragged him from darkness, as lightning filled his eyes.

The world was revealed. Crooked houses came into view. The air smelled strange yet clean as he took a deep, unsteady breath.

He felt his heart.

Beating.

He stared at his hands, feeling the wind. He was alive, and that was all that mattered to him as he glanced at the sky.

The land that surrounded him was unknown to him as his eyes flickered — looking at this so-called new world. The houses were like a transition between medieval and modern housing.

Stone and wooden walls sat between iron-framed windows.

Then a panel appeared into existence.

Name: Vergil

Spouses: None 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Race: Human

Tier: 0

Level: 1

Title: Commoner

Lifespan: 65 years

Equipment: Basic Clothing

Active Skill: Authority of Predation (???)

Confidants: None

[Welcome, user. I am the system designated to guide you.]

Vergil blinked in disbelief at the surprise that Weaver had given him. ’I never thought I’d see the day I’d get a system.’

His stats blinked in: Strength 6, Constitution 8, Dexterity 7, Intuition 6, Magic Power 3.

’So Weaver really wasn’t lying when he said I’d see it.’ Vergil laughed inwardly.

’But it seems the world hasn’t changed at all... Measuring people by their worth.’

The information from the system kept pouring in.

"Slow down," Vergil muttered, trying to keep up with all the information as he rubbed his head.

[You have one active skill. No passives. Confidants unlock effects, skills, and more. False relationships give nothing.]

[Skills are ranked from F to EX. Your Authority exceeds normal standards. It can evolve under special conditions.]

"And what are these conditions?" he asked.

[Unknown. You will be notified when eligible.]

’There’s so much to remember.’ Vergil thought to himself.

[When you consume another lifeform using Predation, absorbed stats depend on the target.]

"Makes sense... no weaklings," Vergil muttered. He would never feel powerless again.

[To analyse others, say "Analysis."]

[Good luck. May the blessing of Eternia, the most loved world, be with you.]

"The most loved world, huh. I wonder about that."