Greetings, dear readers
Taking notes from another story, this wall of text will only be present at the start of the first chapter. Any subsequent chapters will not have it. Keep these in mind.
"Talking"
'Inner Monologue/Dialogue' (This will be elaborated on in later chapters)
[Different Language Dialogue] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)
{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}
(PoV)
(Flashback, including the text)
I hope you enjoy reading this fanfiction.
(Line Break)
(3rd person PoV)
"Mom, what do we have for dinner today?" A young man said. He was rushing down the stairs in a hurry, hunger gnawing at his stomach. He just finished binging his homework and studies for the exam, and the hunger he accumulated from the morning just became apparent to him.
For all his excitement, he was met with silence. When he entered the kitchen, there was no-one there. On the table was a warm bowl of mashed potato, a smaller bowl of grated cheese with a bit of chili pepper bits and a note.
"From mommy,
I'm sorry we can't eat together. Something urgent came up. As an apology, I prepared your favorite.
Eat well, son.
See ya later!"
"Mom, I'm old enough to drop the mommy thing now" He rolled his eyes, smiling mirthfully at his mother's joke.
He sat down at the table and started eating. while eating, a loud crash reverberated throughout the house. The suddenness of it startled him. Once he calmed his beating heart, he noticed that the tightness in his chest was not due to his heart but to him choking. The feeling came back to him. When he got startled, he wanted to scream, opening his airway. That allowed the bite of food to pass down the wrong hole.
He started coughing. He knew that his siblings were yet to come back. The cruel clock beside him made sure to remind him of the time. It was at least an hour before any of them return. As for his parents, he did not know. His mother normally prefers to leave her car parked and go out to buy necessities with his father. And if not that, his father would still be on the way from work by now.
'Is this how I go?' His eyes went down. Before it was too late, he remembered that he could try clearing his airway himself. Problem, there was nothing close enough that could be used as a substitute for another person.
'This is how I go, I guess. Good thing my falling on my head as a child blunted my panic responses' As he closed his eyes, he got curios of what lies ahead. 'As an atheist, where do I go from here? Would a god really exist somewhere? Or is there even afterlife at all? I can only wait and see'
The young man closed his eyes while anticipating what would come next.
(Somewhere between worlds)
"Hey, you should open your eyes already" Our protagonist heard an unknown voice calling for him.
"What?" He sat up, or attempted to. He simply did not feel anything under him, nor did he feel any gravity anywhere. That only made him more curios. "Where am I?"
"You are in the space between worlds, and on your way to reincarnate" The stranger said.
"Do I get any reincarnation perks?" The young man said enthusiastically.
"You read far too many stories, didn't you?" The stranger said rhetorically. "No, there are not any perks for that. You need to earn those things"
"Then, what now?" The young man asked in confusion. If there was nothing to be given, why was he talking with this stranger, talking with this supposedly higher being?
"Because it was amusing, I used my authority to have you retain your memories. Now, is there something you are willing to give me in exchange for a perk or a power?" The stranger said.
"Do I have the time to think about it?" The young man asked worriedly. He did not want to run out of time and be sent away without anything.
"Yes, you do have time. Take as long as you want, but I advise you to hurry. Staying here for too long might warp your mind permanently" The stranger said before their presence disappeared.
"What do I have to give?" The young man thought. "Well, since I was about to lose all that was me, what if I only traded my memories? I wouldn't want to feel too old for love once my body is actually old enough" The young man decided which memories to keep and which to give up. When it was time, he called for the strange higher being.
"What will you give? What do you want in exchange for it?" The higher being asked.
"Can I give up most but not all of my memories?" The young man asked.
"That works. Tell me what memories you will give up and what you want in return. I will tell you if the cost for the thing you want is met or not" The higher being said.
"I will give up all of my conscious memories and most of my subconscious memories. The ones I'll keep are the subconscious memories that make my core, especially the ones about my mother" The young man stated his concession. "What I want for that is red lightning, and the form of a dragon of which the scales act as mana storage, collectively totaling to twice that of the body's reserves. My skin would be navy blue and my scales appropriate shades of green"
There was a moment of silence before the reply came in.
"I cannot give you that. The memories you gave were not enough" The higher being said.
"Sadly, I have not achieved much to present here. Then what about keeping only the feeling of attachment to my mother?" The young man said with a sad voice. He did not want to give up that much, but it was better than not. The moral dilemma he would have faced if he kept his memories was something he wanted to avoid.
"The cost has not been met" The higher being said. Before the young man got the chance, the higher being gave him some tips. "What about introducing limitations? Limitations on the power allow you to lower its cost"
"Oh, that is helpful! Thanks!" The young man said excitedly. Now, he got a way to not lose his core subconscious memories. "What about placing access to them behind a god's will and their strength behind a system? And since I can use restrictions instead, can I make it so the dragon form is a skill in the system as well? I also want to be able to give up my life's essence to give to another if that is possible at all" The young man said without much consideration. He was just thrilled to use them, even though he wouldn't be the exact same person as he is now, nor that he would remember this excitement.
"That is possible, but only if you give up everything but your attachment to your mother" The higher being said. "Is there anything else?"
"Can I have my memories temporarily restored when I come here next?" The young man asked.
"Since it does not affect your life directly, you could. Just remember that you cannot exchange them anymore, and that you would only have them back once, only once" The higher being said before sending the young man on his way. He gave no further chance to talk.
The young man's memories were wiped nearly clean except for his dearest memory, the memory of his mother's love and care.