(Unknown Goddess POV)

The soul I am watching is called William Harlton, he is 20 years old and is currently studying Engineering at collage. He has no family as they all died when he was 15 and has been independent ever since. To save up for collage Will started working at a marquee company, and earned enough money to go to college, he has been studying for two years now and still works for the company during his summer vacations.

Will had been working at the marquee company helping putting up and down marquees for 4 years now, working there since he was 16 while he was on summer vacation. Now he is just coming back from a site which he and 5 others, had just taken down one of the larger marquee available from the company.

Jumping out the van he told the young newbie to help him signal the lorry as it backed round into the unloading bay. But the thuggish looking teenager ignored him and started to walk off towards the break room.

[Disrespectful bastard!] – Goddess

“Oi! Jack get your ass over here and help me” – Will

He shouted this as the boy ignored his initial request, the young teenager scowled at him but did as he was told. I smiled to myself

It was quite obvious that the scowling teenager didn’t like Will what so ever, but due to Will being 5 years older than him and the fact he was monstrously strong caused Jack to slightly fear him and this was more than enough to make him obey Will.

“What!?” – Jack

“Help me guide the lorry back then we shall unload” – Will

Hearing this the Jack let out a groan, unfortunately for him Will heard it and shot him glare.

“Uh!!” – Jack

Harry jumped and quickly proceeded to start helping him. As the lorry started to reverse into the unloading bay my faced darkened as poor Will was about to die and it was a very painful death. Suddenly the back wheel hit the high curve and the lorry’s cargo slipped off it back straight on top Will crushing him, one of the metal supports pierced his chest filling his lungs with his own blood and severing an artery near the heart, thankfully though it was a quick death and he did not need to suffer. Suddenly I realise.

[He is still alive…he didn’t die instantly! Wow poor child] – Goddess

Instead of an instant death which I had been expecting, he had survived the initial impact from all the falling cargo off the lorry, and now was dying slowly as he was suffocated by his own blood.

Lying under a pile of metal rods and boards is Will with one of the metal rods piercing through his chest. He is dying, and there is nothing anybody can do. I wanted to do something to ease his pain, so I sent some of my divine energy to elevate some of his pain.

[Why is there resistance?] – Goddess

I was trying to suppress some of his pain with my divine energy but he was resisting me, this shouldn’t be possible but he is resisting my magic. I sighed and stopped, I looked at him and thought to myself

[What an interesting soul!] – Goddess

As I watched this child lying there dying I prepared myself, after 20 years of waiting the soul I need is in my reach.

Shifting as I watched excitedly I slowly started to approach the boy so I can take his soul to my domain. I feel sorry for him as dying is not fun, so I am told as I have never experienced it. The boy’s life-force is starting to fade I can feel my excitement boiling over.

[Finally its time!] – Goddess

******

(Will’s POV)

[Dying is meant to be a scary thing, something everyone fears when they are young but why as I am lying hear dying do I not feel any fear, regret.]

It was a normal summer’s day at work Jack was being an ass as usual and I have been crushed and pierced by the lorry’s load.

[Even though I am laying here slowing bleeding out without any chance of rescue] – Will

…...I feel as if I am….not alone….someone is here I just thought I heard someone say “finally its time”

[But why can’t I see them….no I….don’t understand…...] – Will

I was so confused as it was a female voice and it sounded ethereal. Then my co-workers arrived and started shouting and trying to get me to respond to them. I thought about trying to say something but I have no family to morn me, no real friends, no real reason to hold on and I knew there was nothing they could do to save me.

Tears start to form in my eyes as my confusion increases and the pain increases as my so called rescuers attempt to remove some of the cargo crushing me. I could feel as I started to leave that world the light started to fade from my eyes but at the last second I sensed something and realising what it was I thought to my self.

[…..no I know this is not my end……] – Will

“Oh…this young one can sense my presence….and partially sense my intent....hahahaha excellent I really have found an interesting soul” - (Unknown Voice)

As I faded I thought I heard someone say something but they darkness had already rolled in and I lost all sense of everything there was only darkness!

******

In the eternally darkness I felt as my consciousness started to slowly fading back to me, I slowly felt myself coming back, I could feel my body but it felt strange, something was wrong but I could not put my finger on it at all.

Slowly I opened my eyes, and the light seeped in.

“I am not dead...No I am dead but where am I? Am I facing judgement?”

“Ha not many so easily accept their death as you child, and to answer your questions you are in my domain and no you are not facing judgement.” – Ethereal feminine voice

Turing my head I realise I am in a beautiful room, and sitting on a throne like chair in front of me is a girl who looked between the ages of 12 and 14. She had a wry smile on her face and looked to be twitching with excitement. She was wearing a beautiful dress not modern mind you but still lovely, she had nothing on her feet bar an ankle type bracelet thing on one of her legs.

She was very beautiful, she had light delicate skin with golden eyes and long fiery red coloured hair that looked as if it was actually fire that flowed down her back. Blushing slightly I turned and started to walk away from her, while thinking and looking around.

“Where are you going? You can’t leave you know” – Girl

I jump slightly and realise I have been ignoring her, I answer while continuing to admire the architecture of the room.

“Nowhere, was just looking around. You’re a god aren’t you?”

“Goddess!”

She said with a slightly annoyed tone of voice. While I continue to look around the room nonchalantly.

“My name is Athreal Goddess of Fertility, Strength, Fire and soon to be a Patron goddess of a new species!”

I stayed silent as I could tell there was more coming and what a weird name!

“You I have brought here so I can resurrect you in the world of Abraitera as the first of my new race I am about to create and your soul shall be reborn, do not worry there are plenty of other sentient races on Abraitera, Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Demi-Humans, every god apart from me had put their chosen creation on Abraitera, but now I shall put mine there and ‘YOU’ shall be the very first!”

Again I stayed silent trying to soak everything in, and after a few seconds I suddenly jumped round shouting,

“WHAAATTTTT?!?!?”

Half in excitement over the other races and half in shock over that I was not going to be human. My shout caused Athreal to jump slightly. She repeated everything she just said, there where so many emotions running though me, excitement, shock, fear, happiness I sat down with a bump. Because of the shock the goddess had just given me with her statement I completely forgot my nervousness of her.

I was sitting there shacking slightly inaudibly mumbling to myself trying to rap my head around everything. I mean I have read in many light novels and manga of something like this happening it was so cliché that I almost bust out laughing but I didn’t.

What caused me the most shock was the fact that I was not going to be human, I mean I wouldn’t mind being an Elf or a Demi-human but I don’t even know what the race looks like, and that is what scared me the most.

I was standing there with an open mouth, there were so many questions in my head but the most important one came out first.

“Glup…erm what will I look like?”

Suddenly the goddess jumped up from her thrown with massive excitement all over her face. She looked like a child about to open her presents on her birthday.

“Ooo…hahaha my new species look so cool, all the other gods will writhe with jealousy!”

She stepped towards me stuck out her virtually non-existent chest smiled and clicked her fingers

“That is what you will look like fully grown!”

She pointed behind me, I turned and saw what she was pointing at and only one word could come to mind….monster! It was huge standing about maybe 2.5m tall with huge horns curling over its head, ears pointed like an elves but bigger and a bit longer. Facial features were mine except I had large fangs and all my teeth were pointed.

The body looked humanoid but was slouched over and had longer arms, the arms had what looked like gauntlets and of bone growing over each hand, along with long claws coming out of each finger.

‘I will not be reincarnated into this!’ I thought to myself.

“You will look so cool, your impressed aren’t you, I bet you can’t wait to try it out!”

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

I shouted as loud as I could, Athreal looked shocked and jumped back.

“w..w.whats wrong?” she asked with slight tears in her eyes.

“I will NOT be reincarnated as that, it looks like a demon gorilla!!” I was angry and walked towards the goddess and I lean in close to her and say with a calm and cold voice

“Let me change what it looks like!”

“what..” she looked shocked and slightly angry but she looked like she didn’t know how to respond.

So I walked over to the demon gorilla and started to think what I would change. I was not going to completely change it as it was her creation.

As I started to think what I would change I noticed that the body changed to what I was thinking,

“so she is letting me change it” I whispered to myself

First of all I made it 2m tall, it was still tall but a little closer to normal, I then sorted out the body proportions so that they were normal for someone that height, then removed the horns and the bone gauntlet type things. At this point the goddess gave a little whimper but I ignored it and carried on.

Next was the face, I set it back to look similar to my face from my old world I made the fangs shorted to the point where the just looked like long canines, the ears I shortened and dulled down massively, I set them so they looked similar to my old worlds idea of a half elf.

I stood back and glanced at the goddess to get an idea of what she thought, she had utter misery on her face along with a bit of shock. I thought I need to do something to it to make her a little happier, with it.

I stood there scratching my chin,

“….fire!!!”

I whispered to myself, suddenly all over his chest, shoulders, upper arms and back tattoo like markings started to appear they twisted around the body and looked amazing in my opinion, stopping about halfway down the back, they twisting black flame marking made it look really ferocious.

Stepping back with a smile on my face I was pleased with myself.

“……..It looks like an elf’s and a demi human’s love child!”

The goddess had a very annoyed tone of voice.

“it looks awesome though and the fire tattoos shown that it is related to you!”

“I will admit that the markings look really good and I wish I had thought of it myself, but the rest is just soooo plain. Can’t we just give him the horns and bone hands back?”

“No… unless”

A thought popped into my head and a give a slightly sinister smile.

“Unless what”?

The goddess had a hopeful glint in her eye

“Unless you can make it so I can freely attach and detach the bone gauntlet things, a bit like a skill or magic” the goddess looked a bit confused so I continued, “you know like I can summon them and they will grow or appear on my hands and then when I am done I can dismiss them so they disappear and I can have my regular hands back”.

“hmmm……ok I can do that and it is better than nothing I suppose, are you sure you won’t put the horns back on???”

“no they make it look like a demon”

“I suppose your right, and Durggh would not be happy if you looked like a demon”

“Durggh?” I gave her a questioning look

“Oh he is the patron good of the demon race, speaking of which be careful of them, there males are very aggressive and love to kill and the females are very single minded when it comes to finding a mate and will stop at nothing once they find the one meant for them, and that not something I or any of the gods can control so try and avoid the demons please!”

I shivered slightly imagining a female monster demon chasing me wanting nothing else except what is between my legs.

Suddenly I realised ‘why was she letting me do this’ she is a goddess and should have final say on what it looks like, so why was she letting me change it.

“The reason is that even though I will create you in your new body, your soul has to accept it, if it doesn’t then it is impossible for any god to forcibly reincarnate a soul. Normally when we reincarnate a soul the soul just accepts it as they are too caught up in their death, where as you have accepted your death and unconsciously sensed that you could change they body.”

The goddess while saying this got up from her throne and walked towards my new body. She sighed and looked at it for a minute, nodding to herself like she had accepted it.

“You can read my mind?”

“Of course what kind of goddess would I be if I couldn’t do something as simple as that?”

“so I don’t even get the privacy of my own mind…..ahhh….well fine fine I don’t care and not surprised. So anything else I should know before you send me off?”

“hahaha well yes one more thing, have you ever played one of those video games back on your old world where you had to level up and improve your stats?”

“ok let me guess…..in this new world I can level up and improve my stats making me stronger a bit like those light novels I have read back on earth!”

“Yes exactly. You are much smarter than I thought you were.”

“Ha well it was pretty obvious really you basically just told me by asking the way you did”

I glared at the goddess, I knew she was trying to butter me up so I would allow the horns

“awww no fair…….please the horns were so cool and they will be different to demon ones.”

I didn’t even give her an answer as she already knew what my answer was. She started pouting and returned my glare. Is she really that hung up on the horns, my goddess she is such a child.

“…crap”

I forgot she could read my mind. What should I do I can see she is really pissed off how should I calm her down…crap crap crap and then it came the eruption suddenly everything was covered in flames.

“I AM NOT CHILDDISH!”

I stood there unable to move. I could feel her anger and the vast power she could wield and even though I did not have a body I still felt cold sweat running down my back.

For the next 20 minutes she was fuming and was screaming at me like I was the child. And to be honest I did feel like I was in front of that. Finally after calming down she walked up to me.

“I will forgive you if you allow the horns!”

That’s what the last 20 minutes were about, the fucking horns, what is her obsession with them, I really don’t want permanent spikes sticking out of my head.

“you still would allow them.”

Damn her mind invasion trick. She look at me with a pleading look but nothing would change my mind.

“no I will not allow any horns and never will”

“Fine I can’t give you a body you don’t accept, I suppose I should send you off now”

“Wait how will I be born if I am the first of my kind, who or wat will be my mother?”

“hummm oh you will be born from fire, and then I will find you a suitable family to raise you and love you as one of their own. Ok it is now time for you to be born into the world, good luck and if you are in trouble pray to me and I might send you help.”

I started to feel my consciousness starting to fade, I had so many more questions but no more time. The last thing I saw was the goddess looking at me with a gentle smile, then everything was black and my consciousness left me.

******

“Are you sure he can survive, you know what awaits him down there” – (Unknown God)

“I know…........He will survive I am sure of it, he must. – (Athreal)

“Let us hope it is true then. I shall take my leave.” – (Unknown God)

******

Ok that is it for the prologue I hope you like it.

Please comment and tell me your thoughts, and please remember this is a working progress and is subject to change.

Peace