Chapter 1: Sword Of Beginnings
I was dead.
I died from one simple, extremely dumb slip-up. It's strange how fragile human life is—something so precious yet so easy to take away.
Well, I wonder what happens now. Is it possible that I'm going to hell or heaven?
I look around, still in thought, to find myself in a purely white room. Well, room was not exactly accurate: no boundary could be seen in this physics-defying realm.
I even had a body and was able to move. Nice!
I moved my arms like I was a child, finding it amazing that I could move again. Being in the hospital sucked, especially when you could not move. Thank God, that wound killed me.
Anyway, what now? Where's my fancy doorway to heaven?
"Sadly, you will not be given that option, young one."
A calming yet authoritative voice permeated my eardrums, his voice seeming to have a gravity to it as my mind found no fault in his speech.
"Instead, you shall be reincarnated. Now I know you may not want this, but..."
"WHATTT? Did you say reincarnated, like into a fantasy world?" I immediately interrupted. This was my chance at glory; I could be a protagonist.
Whoever wrote those web novels was correct. In front of me stood a grandfather with a long, wistful beard that gleamed a bright white, and his eyes spoke of untold wisdom.
Yet his eyes seemed lost at my answer; he was clearly shocked at my outcry, and he stood in confusion for a few seconds.
"So you do want to reincarnate?"
"Yes, yes, and yes."
I was not letting this amazing chance slip by.
"Alright, then simply spin this race wheel, and I will send you on your way."
Huh, what's a race wheel, and why do I get a funny feeling I got scammed?
I looked at the wheel that appeared before the man and found it to be littered with anything one could even imagine having a conscience.
From rocks to trees to even the bloody planet itself, it was clear I could literally become anything. But why were there no normal options, like, I don't know, human?
"Excuse me, god?"
"You can call me that if you like."
"So why are all the options inanimate objects and not actual races?"
"Ah, that's because we're having population issues, so these are the options now. We even had to add the random part as nobody was picking the bad ones."
What? So only I have to spin the wheel, and everyone else chooses. That's not fair!
"Well, I'll pick the planet option then." At least then I would not die to some passing wind, and who knows? I could build up a few civilizations. I was always a fan of those kind of games.
"Sadly, you can't pick that. We decided that, to increase the number of volunteers reincarnating, we should add a few mythical options."
Wait, this sounds so bad. They are tempting people with an exaggerated reward to scam people into spinning the wheel.
"Can I not spin the wheel?"
"No, you have already decided, when you agreed earlier."
Okay, I give up; I have already signed up for this scam; I may as well try my luck; it's not like I can back out.
Welp, wish me luck.
And, like that, I spun the dodgy wheel. The god hastily disappeared once I had completed my decision, leaving only a few words of good luck.
I didn't think gods could be busy, but I guess a lot of people die every second, so that makes sense.
"Tick, tick, tick."
My fate was being decided right before my eyes, and I was powerless to do anything. Life really sucked like that. There were no options; you were forced to do whatever fate decided, much like being caught in a riptide.
If I ever got into a position where I could take control of my fate, I swore that I would take that chance and drag it to my grave.
"Tick... tick... tick."
That was it for my new life. I was 1 off the planet option, obviously. May as well rub it in my face, stupid fate. This was my karma for my bad actions. Actually, let's not talk about karma.
Sentient Sword.
That was the new life I would lead. Honestly, it was not the worst option; at least, I was not some pebble.
Everything went black: no sight, smell, vision, touch, or taste. Feeling nothing reminded me of when I died.
It was as if I were suspended in a dark void of space, paralyzed, and yet I felt even worse. My body was non-existent, and the only reason I had for thinking I was alive was the fact that I was thinking in the first place.
Considering everything, I was shockingly calm. Well, I did die a few hours ago. That may have mellowed me out a bit.
Like the light of dawn, a light brought hope to my depressing abyss.
[Name: Nameless] [Lvl1: 0/10]
[Species: Sentient Wooden Sword]
[Rarity: Common (Growth type)]
[Abilities: None]
[Note: The users Abilities such as running from earth has been hidden as the user can no longer apply those abilities in your current form. Note that abilities are the practical usage of knowledge so all knowledge is kept.]
Ah, holy hologram here to save the day. It seems I am not lost forever in this dark abyss. It also seems that I have a system and a growth-type mechanism to help me grow.
Now that it the fantasy genre I signed up for.
So what do I do now?
Um...
...
...
...
...
Hello, anyone. Where is the action, my immediate growth arc? When do I get my cheat system?
Back to silence.
So, what should I do now? I guess I could try and feel myself, wow that sounded dodgy. Anyway. So, I put all my focus into myself, trying desperately to feel anything, and after repeated efforts, I found it.
[Ability gained: Sense Self, lvl: 1]
Nice! I even gained experience points for it.
Now my senses could pick up on what I looked like, and I could look at myself better. It was only a blur for now, but I think I could safely assume that it would get better as it levelled up.
Well may as well do that, not like I have got better things to do.
[Ability level up: Sense Self lvl: 2]
[Ability level up: Sense Self, lvl: 3]
[Ability level up: Sense Self, lvl: 7]
[Ability level up: Sense Self, lvl: Max]
[Level up]
[Ability gained: Sturdiness, lvl: 1]
Finally, that felt like forever. Having no time or clock is really not handy.
[TIME: 1 month, 2 days]
A MONTH, WHAT? I spent an entire month just trying to feel myself (that still sounds really bad). The time went by way too fast; is this perhaps a benefit of becoming a sword?
Looking at the clock and seeing the seconds fly by, it did seem that time was awkwardly fast or slow.
The level up was also nice, and that new ability looked useful for a sword. But how on earth do I level up hardness. My next upgrade took 20 XP, which was also rather daunting.
Luckily, dragging me out of my thoughts was the feeling of being touched. Someone was holding me.
Theo Errendel, initiate of the Azul School For Swordsmanship. (POV change)
As I was looking at the swords I could pick to become my new practising partner, I spotted a particularly odd one. This one seemed more dense than the others, having a slightly darker tone than the rest.
Today was an important day of my initiation and would begin my journey of swordsmanship, and I needed a partner to begin my journey.
Sword grandmasters claimed that having a bond with the sword would help those on their swordsmanship journey, so the sword partnership was born. So here I was picking out a sword.
I picked up the interesting-looking one and gave it a good swing around. It had a good weight to it, and the reach was good for my taste.
Around the dojo, others were all practising with their new swords, so I decided I would give some practise a go. I hadn't practised in a while since I left home, but I should still know the basics. Speaking of home, I hope they are all okay; I miss them.
I swung my negative thoughts away, the melodic swishing keeping my mind calm.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheSwordOfWriting
TheSwordOfWriting If you see any errors please point them out in the paragraph comments. It would me much appreciated.
Have a nice day,
Author.
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