Courting Death System-Chapter 80: Story

"Jewl, it’s time. Let’s go to the ancestral lands, that’s where you’ll receive your Gift. Now there’s a few things you must know, one, don’t be ungrateful, once you’ve received your Gift, thank the Gods and leave the ancestral lands without causing a commotion. Two, don’t forget the first rule, three, after your Awakening, you will join the army in the city. Bring glory to our family name."

"Yes, father."

Two men of similar height walked side by side, well, one was a teenage boy and the other was a grown man. Both had refined bodies with bulging muscles that were like God’s creation. Their bodies exuded immense physical strength and their eyes sharp, indicating their vast combat experience and honed skills through the years.

Soon, they reached their location. It was a ruin with massive wooden doors.

"Go." said Jewl’s father.

Jewl nodded and approached the doors, he touched them and was about to use his strength to open them but the doors opened with a slight push. This caused Jewl to lose balance and almost fell face first on the ground but with quick reflexes, he avoided embarrassing himself. Once inside, the doors closed behind him and in front of Jewl was a big statue of a brown skinned, white hair and eyes man with a cold temperament.

"Please bestow a powerful Gift to me, the type to help me reach your level." said Jewl with greed while kneeling.

{Okay.} sounded a voice inside Jewls’s mind, shocking him greatly.

"You can talk?! Aren’t you just a statue?!" asked Jewl.

{So you’re the talking type, how unexpected considering your Greedy Nature. Anyway, I gave you a powerful Gift, now leave.} said the statue in a cold tone.

"Thank you, I promise to send the Invaders back to where they came from, and for my help, I want a satisfactory reward."

{What does saving the world have to do with me?}

"Aren’t you the God of Humanity, the World Guardian?"

{No, I’m the God of Creation, everything here was created by me including the Invaders. And they are also invading this world because of how I created them.} answered the statue.

"What? Why?" asked Jewl, completely shocked by this revelation.

{At first, the plan was to create the best warriors but now, I want the best of the best. Either you or the Invaders win, I don’t care, only the one who comes out on top will receive a reward from me so work hard. Now leave.}

Jewl had many questions but before he could ask them, he found himself outside the Ruin with his father waiting for him there.

"You’re out, what Gift did you receive?" asked his father.

"I don’t know, I haven’t checked." answered Jewl.

"Then check, say status and it will appear in front of you.

"Status."

...

Name: Jewl Cross (LvL 1)

Race: Human

Blessing: Time

Title: None

Stats

Strength: 99

Stamina: 99

Agility: 99

Perception: 99

Mana: 50

Skills:

1.Time Acceleration (Lvl 1)

2.Time Deceleration (Lvl 1)

...

"Wow!" exclaimed Jewl in excitement.

"What is it?" asked his father.

"Overpowered, completely overpowered! Hahaha, with this, I can definitely come out on top!" said Jewl in excitement.

"What did you obtain?"

"Time Manipulation Skill."

"What?!"

"I know right!"

...

"Please spare me some change or buy me something to eat."

"Please spare me some change or buy me something to eat."

"Please spare me some change or buy me something to eat."

An old man in tattered clothes sat in a corner of the street and begged. He hadn’t taken a bath in years so he reeked and no pedestrians wanted anything to do with him. While the old man held his small metallic bowl, someone threw a few banknotes inside the bowl.

"Sir, this is too much, please take it back, please take it back." said the old man in fear and reluctance.

"Old man, you were the one who asked for some spare change and now that you have it, you don’t want it anymore? Just take the money, to me, that’s really some spare change." said the person who gave the old man the money.

The man wasn’t that old, probably in his late twenties to early thirties, he was wearing a black suit and overcoat, leather gloves and smoked a cigar. If one looked at him northerly then you’d think he was a businessman but if you carefully analysed everything, you would definitely call him a gang boss.

"That’s true." said the old man while hiding the money in his inner pocket.

"Thank you for your kindness young man, great things are coming your way." said the old man with an amicable smile.

"Old man, don’t you ever grow tired of your current life of begging in the streets. Don’t you want a warm place like a house, and where’s your family? At your age, you might die at any time and no one will bother with you since you live on the streets." said the cigar man.

"That’s true. If I were to superbly die, my body would probably be thrown in a random garbage site and that would be the end of it. And I do have a place to go back to but I don’t want to go there. Now, my question to you is, why do you care?" asked the old man.

"Old man, don’t you know, when you’re about to die, you should be surrounded by people who love and care about you or you should die in a place with good memories, that way, you can rest in peace."

"Hahaha, who told you that nonsense?!"

"Old man, this is general knowledge, look it up and you’ll see what I’m talking about."

"So, someone went around asking living people what it’s like to die and these people who are alive gave these answers which are complete nonsense."

"Oh, then what happens when you die?"

"Your body shuts down forever, hehe. That’s what happens when you die or am I wrong?"

"Well yeah but..."

"Since you agree, there’s no need to say more. Now, let me ask you a question, if you were to die now, what would be your biggest regret?"

"... My biggest regret... it would be disappointing my mother which led to her death and causing my wife and child’s death.

"Oh, tell me about it."

"You’re weird, usually, people steer away from such topics."

"I am curious and I will only get an answer if I ask, so tell me." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Well, my mother tried her very best to raise me right. She fed me, clothed me, made sure I had a roof over my head and even took me to school. She wanted the best for me, she always wanted the best for me... but I had different plans in mind. I always craved attention, I always wanted to stand out and I wanted to be special so I did horribly things to the kids in school. I caused problems for her but got what I wanted.

I got the attention, I stood out and I felt special. Girls flocked to me, begging to be my girlfriend but they didn’t interest me. As I grew older, my sexual desires started to develop, that’s when I met my first love, Chloe. She was much older than me, extremely sexy and mature, I was infatuated with her but she was a prostitute but I didn’t care, I loved her.

In order to free her from her sex worker life, I joined a gang and with their help, I managed to free her. Then I introduced her to my mother but she didn’t approve of her but I married her anyway. Once married, she got pregnant and when things went south. A rival gang member who also had a high social status tried to use me as a spy but I refused to do such a thing, I was loyal to my gang.

Later that day, I returned home only to find my wife’s mutilated body. In a fit of rage, I went back to the gang and told them everything that happened and they helped me kidnap that man’s family and recorded myself torturing them before cutting them to pieces like he did my wife. The cops caught me and took me to trial. My mother had hired a lawyer for me because she was sure of my innocence but once she saw the video....

It was too much for her to take in and she died from a heart attack. I still remember the look she gave me before she passed away, like she didn’t know me. It was in prison that I learnt the truth, my own gang had mercilessly murdered my family because they saw me chat with that guy. That’s how I ended up in this situation."

"I see. You know, throughout my centuries of living, I learned one crucial point about life. It’s not the circumstances we’re born in or experiences that shape our future, it’s the decisions we take. My family didn’t like me and my siblings and relatives often bullied me. If I’d chosen the path of revenge, who knows where I’d be right now, maybe I would have died a long time ago. Chris, in your next life, I want you to make better decisions. I open your eyes to see the world for what it truly is, Hell." said the old man while touching the man’s forehead.

"Your hands stink."

"I know."