Name: Denizen
Age: 30
Birthday: 2nd September
Gender: Unspecified
Class: Freelance*
Subject/Work: Self-defense, Armaments, Mathematics, Foreign/Ancient languages.
*Can teach any grade and class, teaching classes that the faculty assigns to him. Will most likely be of different grades.
Appearance Description:
At first glance Denizen would not be the most imposing person, with his lean built and 6 ft of height. His movement and how his muscles move under his skin, would suggest he takes good care of his body.
His raven hair is combed back and ends at about neck length, yet due to its unruly character it is hard to comb properly, leaving many strands of pointy hair tufts standing out at the back of his head. Looking at his face, what immediately catches one’s eyes are his heterochronic eyes, his left eye being golden and right crimson. Though he usually tries to hide them behind glasses.
One might have issues discerning if he is male or female due to his androgynous face, the only hint is his small goatee growing from his chin. Another curious thing would be his slightly pointed ears, giving him a slight inhuman vibe. His small lips are usually without expression or slightly curled down, though he can have a refreshing smile on his face.
His muscles are visible while not clearly defined or being overly big, though his body is strong and durable thanks to training. While he has numerous scars, most of them are hidden underneath his clothing. Though he prefers to wear looser clothing, he does wear his grayish black lab coat most of the time. That with the addition of his combats pants and shirt, not to mention the comfortable shoes he wears, makes him look a bit more like a field researcher, than anything else.
A thing of note is that he usually wears darker colors, mostly blacks, reds and purples. There are occasions where he will wear a suit or training clothes, but all of them abide by that color scheme. Aside from his round glasses, which cover most of his eyes, his only other accessories would be the silver necklace and bracelet. Not counting the utility belt he usually wears, or the mask he sometimes has. Though one might find him wearing his tool belt while working. All of his clothing, no matter what kind, is durable and easy to move in with a lot of pockets.
Mask: Foxdemon
A dark silver fox mask with crimson markings, multiple eyes adorn the face with a big one embedded in the middle of the forehead. The symbol of greed inscribed into its cheek. Looking at it or touching it does not allow for discerning what kind of material it is made out of. It feels smooth to the touch, while at the same time the details don’t look carved, but like a natural part of the mask.
Appearance: Common clothes
Personality Description:
Usually with a friendly maybe even goofy disposition, he usually doesn’t open up, despite being friendly and caring about others. In a pinch, he is able to become calculating and merciless. At the same time he can be vengeful. His emotions can be unstable, so he can go from being hostile towards one person while friendly to another, all in a span of seconds. He is also really irresponsible, as he doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions most of the time.
Powers:
Denizen’s powers come from what his essence is. With being a multiverse reincarnator, he is reborn in a different reality each time, with what he becomes, race, gender, appearance and powers being entirely random. There are no restrictions as to what he can become. Furthermore, he retains his memories and knowledge from his previous lives.
His powers have grown exponentially with each successive incarnation, making his spirit swell, as his previous lifetimes were added to the one he got born into. Unbeknownst to Denizen, each time this happened there was a price he had to pay. At first it was not noticeable, however after this process repeated for tens maybe hundreds of times, his mind could not handle the weight of his own powers. He succumbed to insanity, not only making him loose what control over his abilities, but also his own personality and consciousness.
Fortunately with a chance meeting with a small demonic creature, he was able to find a solution to his problems. He managed to retain his knowledge but most of his powers became sealed in the form of small vampire bunnies, critters from the underworld that made the return of his sanity possible. Each one of them is a part of his soul or essence. They are a part of him as they are his powers. However neither of them can access the abilities that were sealed, which is the cost of staying sane.
Transcendent Spirit
With the accumulated knowledge about technology and magic from countless worlds, he is able to see many worldly phenomena as complex mathematical formulas and patterns. This knowledge allows him to better understand the technology and magic around him. Furthermore, by utilizing what he learned in his past lives he is able to create devices that combine both tech and magic. However due to the partially conflicting nature of the knowledge he has obtained from different worlds, there is a possibility he might mistake similar phenomena and thus interpret them incorrectly.
Due to the fact that his familiars and himself are connected at the spirit level they are able to share their senses and minds. Despite having this link, Denizen is unable to keep a connection with one, maybe two, bunnies at a time, while also becoming vulnerable due to having to process more information and not focusing on his surroundings as much. Furthermore the further away his familiars are from him, the more he needs to concentrate on the link, with a few hundred meters being his upper limit.
This bond also allows Denizen to always have his pets with him, removing the need for a place to keep them. That is because his familiars stay inside of his body most of the time, after all they are one being, separated into many minds and forms. When he wants to release then, they usually emerge from his body or from his shadow. The familiars can also share their energy/mana reserves with Denizen, replenishing their powers when needed, this ability works both ways.
Transcendent Body:
Throughout his many incarnations, Denizen took many different forms. Each was influenced his spirit and left a mark that would be always there, making his soul neither male nor female, but also both at the same time. As a result he is able to take the guise of his past forms. However, this ability to shapeshift is limited in some regards. This is mostly due to most of his powers being sealed in order to preserve the sanity of his mind.
While his powers may be limited, he is able to access some of the abilities of the two forms available to him, the Fox Demon and Masked Dragon, while transformed. While he has two forms he is able to only use them one at a time. This means that if he would want to use the characteristics of the form he is currently not in, he will need to transition, thereby opening a short window where his powers are “off”.
Both of his forms have their natural frame and while that is not the limit of their size, it is the point where it becomes less energy efficient to maintain. In theory he could become two or three times their size, but at the same time maintaining a form that big would drain his energy at a pace where he would be unable to fight in minutes if not seconds. However at the same time Denizen can also decrease their size by up to half of the original, making it more natural to use them at the height of his own body, slightly lessening the burden on his energy reserves.
Denizen is in tune with his transformations to the point where he is able to concentrate enough and manifest some of their characteristics. This does not include powers and is mostly cosmetic. It allows him to manifest ears and tails, cover his body in fur or scales, turn his fingernails into claws, change his hair or grow wings out of his back. While being for example covered in scales or fur might seem like a good idea defense wise, in reality they do not offer any protection and have more of the natural characteristics of hair or skin than anything else.
Biography:
-1-
Born as a normal human in a less threatening reality, Denizen lived his life like any other man. He was part of a middle class family, he couldn’t complain though, his parents were amazing people, friendly and caring for everyone. He had a calm personality, though he was easy to anger when you knew which buttons to push, a trait his brother abused often. Still the both of them would go through water and fire for each other. It was a happy life.
Going to school to get education was the natural course of the world, there he also met the woman of his dreams, an exchange student. Fortunately she had feelings for him also and soon enough they were a couple. While he had a knack for computers she was more of an artist. Their paths diverged from one another, but that is only on the educational level and even after she went back home, they talked daily. After they finished their education, they moved in together and married soon after.
Their life was not easy, but filled with a lot of love and caring. Their children, the two daughters they had were their treasure. Watching them grow up was bliss to the couple and Denizen felt happy. After all who would not watch their offspring grow and make families of their own. In their old age they often said that if one were to disappear, the other would follow soon after. While they were mostly joking, there was still that childish longing in their eyes.
Denizen and his wife passed away in their sleep one after the other. It was funny really, they were inseparable in life and the same in death. He had hoped that if he was reincarnated that he would get the chance to see her again. Closing his eyes for the last time he didn’t expect that after he died, he’d ever open them again…
-2-
Death was brief, there was no light, no tunnel and for certainly no heaven or hell. It was just a calm darkness, embracing his soul, as if he had finally returned home. Even though he had no awareness or senses, he soon started regaining both. Denizen felt being pulled not too long after, feeling the air entering his lungs, pain assaulting his body, yet soon he felt the warm embrace of someone’s arms.
Even though his eyes were closed he saw it was light around him and as he opened them, what he immediately noticed, was that those around him had different forms than those he was used to, he couldn’t explain it and thought it was a dream at first, an illusion created by his mind as it was dying. Who would not think that, after all he was surrounded by anthromorphic animals.
It was no dream though, as he soon learned he was reborn as a fox, or rather a kitsune, in a different reality from his own, where the laws that governed the world were unlike those he knew, yet at the same time, contrary to a usual rebirth, at least those you can learn about, he retained all of his past memories and knowledge.
His new life was a struggle for him, after all his previous life had no magic in it, so his understanding was lacking to say the least. Yet after many tries and hardships he finally learned how to use it, his knowledge of mathematics was helpful, despite making him run in circles numerous times, as once he figured out a the trick behind magic, he was able to figure out how to use the spells that were shown to him.
Denizen’s peaceful days did not last forever though. At first nothing seemed to foretell the hardships ahead. Truthfully, no one knows who was the instigator, but the result of it was a global war. Many different countries started fighting one after another, there was no one who could stop it truthfully. Almost all of the many school thought they were in the right, with some small guilds trying to stop the fighting. Nothing could be done at that point though.
In the end, the mass of spells that raged over the battlefields, the countless spells unleashed upon the world, all of it combined was the final nail to that worlds coffin. Nobody was left standing and the planet was devastated, just one more burnt out rock in the universe. Denizen of course shared the fate of his world, family and friends. His death was swift and he almost felt no pain, as the city he lived in was vaporized into oblivion in mere seconds.
-3-
Once more he was embraced by the darkness, his quiet and painless haven after death. His stay was short, as he got pulled into another incarnation once more. Yet before that happened, he felt himself slightly ‘bigger’ or rather his spirit’s volume increased. He didn’t have much time to think about it then, even when the concept of time did not exist there.
With each successive incarnation, he had that same feeling, each time after he died and before he was reborn, he felt his spirit growing, This was not an issue at first, but with each incarnation he understood more what was happening. His soul merged with each of his next incarnations, which enabled his memories to transfer with him, but at the same time his mind got muddled, it came to a point where he had no grasp on who or what he was, the many personalities, memories and knowledge mixing together as one.
What was the biggest issue though, were his powers, each successive incarnation had their own and they stayed with him over the course of that life and the ones after. All those abilities, powers and skills had a bad influence on his mind, they drove him insane to the point where he would be unable to function as a being in any incarnation, he would become a monster each time no matter how hard the little speck of his original self that was left tried. Fortune smiled on him though, the next incarnation would create a possibility, but only time will tell if he’d take it or not.
-4-
Denizen was reborn as a demon in the underworld. There his insanity and bloodlust were more of a sought after trait than not. His daily life revolved around fighting and slaughtering whatever was in his way, no matter if it was man, woman or child, innocent or guilty. He didn’t care, his mind was too far gone to tell any difference between what was right or wrong. Fortunately for that world, he was unable to access most of his previous lives’ powers, as even though they were the reason he was insane, at the same time they required logical thinking to be accessed and used. Yet even without them, he was able to cause great mayhem wherever he went.
His life would be like that till the end of his days, if not for a meeting with one of the lowest creatures in the underworld. A small critter belonging to the race of vampire bunnies.
Denizen was resting in his lair, his body was tired after all the slaughter he did that day. Normally there would be nothing that dared to approach his dwelling, most were too terrified and those that were strong enough to fight him, thought it was too much hassle, not to mention a waste of resources for virtually no gain.
One can only imagine the demon’s surprise when a small while ball fell down from the ceiling. Denizen looked at it, trying to decide what to do with this small intruder. One can only imagine what went through the demon’s mind as the ball of fluff stood on its hind legs and looked him straight in the eye. Denizen took it as a challenge and reach out to the small bunny with the sole purpose of erasing this intruder from his lair.
The bunny was almost in the demon’s clutches, the big hand slowly wrapping around the bunny. Yet there was hesitation in Denizen’s movement. He couldn’t comprehend why the little creature stood so fearless in front of him, neither trying to run nor attack. This slight hesitation created an opening, which the little bunny used to bite the demon’s hand and drain the energy out of Denizen’s body. After all that little bundle of fluff was a vampire bunny, a being living off of other creatures and plants by draining their energy to fill its belly.
Denizen could have easily crushed the bunny then and there, but somewhere deep in his mind there was something stopping him. It was due to the bunny draining his powers that some of his sanity returned. It was not at the point of his personality wholly resurfacing, but it was enough to shift his focus from killing everything around him to something else. Mainly to gathering more of these little fluffy creatures.
Denizen didn’t understand this shift in priorities, nor did he try, his mind was too far gone for such thinking. Yet at the same time he did notice a change, but dismissed whatever it could imply. Setting out on his new mission, he took the bunny with him. If he didn’t he’d possibly, no, he’d most likely go back to being the ruthless killing machine he was before, but it was not something he knew or could figure out at the moment, his newfound instinct which made him seek the fluffy creatures out prevented him from leaving the one he already had behind.
Finding the vampire bunnies was an ordeal like no other. The little creatures were quite easy to scare, not only that, it seemed like they also were a target for lesser demons and bigger critters living in the underworld. Because of this it took a lot of time to find the second one. Once he had it and the bunny went to work like it’s sibling, the demon could feel more of his essence draining away, but at the same time his mind cleared, if only ever so slightly. He spent days, weeks or could it be months finding and gathering the bunnies, soon enough he had quite a lot of them, and having them with him all the time made him look more like a sheep than fox.
For the first time in decades his mind was clear and focused, he felt liberated somehow. Yet at the same time he knew that this would not last long. He knew that if he would be separated from these little creatures then he’d lose his mind once more. Not to mention reincarnating, he would be without an option like this for no idea how many lives he’d live.
Searching through the memories he accumulated through his past lives he found some peculiar spells. One was the familiar spell, but it was not a conventional one, as it allowed for the souls of the master and servant to become one. The other spell was where you could seal your power or at least part of your soul inside of a vessel. This may be the answer Denizen was looking for, though it would need some modifications and tweaking for his idea to bear fruit.
Denizen used all his power and knowledge to make pacts with the bunnies and seal his powers inside of them. This took a while, however one by one the bunnies became a part of him as he became a part of them. Once the ritual was complete he could still feel calm and his mind was clear despite the little fluffy familiars no longer draining his energy. There was one final ritual he had to do, it was to ensure that both he and his new friends would be always together. Denizen ushered the bunnies inside of him and once the last one was within, he set the final spell in motion.
The last ritual obliterated his lair, its vicinity and also himself. Denizen ceased to exist that day, as for the bodies and souls to fully merge they needed to be wiped out and reborn anew. He only feared that it would not work, despite all his efforts. In his heart though, he felt the little ones encouraging him, even as they were atomized by the spell.
-5-
After opening his eyes once more, he felt relieved and elated. His mind was intact and there seemed to be no anomalies in his thought processes, furthermore he could feel all of his familiars within him. Though there was something out of place, his mind was more analytical than before, so there was something going on at least in this form. As he looked around, the first thing he noticed were the many colorful orbs and crystals all around him. It seemed that this time he incarnated…. as a sentient rock. None of his previous incarnations was even remotely similar, he could only try living to the best of his ability.
Living as a sentient rock was not really that bad of an experience. Granted it might sound silly to humans and other humanoid races, yet once you get down to it, you could be compared to a sentient, magical golem, just shaped like a rock. Furthermore the magic and technology they used was quite advanced, yet really simple at the same time.
The whole society had no desires or any enemies, they did not have any divides and while each and every one of them had a function, they had no qualms as to what they did. Not one of them was judgmental, or prejudiced. Death was also something that was foreign to them, they had a set lifespan that is true, however when one was nearing the end of their time they simply decommissioned themselves as otherwise they would be unable to fulfill their necessary function.
This society was quite idyllic, but one could compare it to a well-oiled machine instead of a society like you would find on other worlds. One might think that they had no emotions and were like golems or machines, yet that would be untrue. While from the outside it might look like that, once you get down to it they just had different values and principles. For them doing their work to the utmost of ability was the pinnacle of happiness. Same with relations between them, each and every one lived quite happily without strife, always seeking to improve themselves for not only their own benefit, but also for the future of their kind.
Living among them, Denizen learned a few things, more magic he could use, how a being without desires or greed but with a drive to fulfill a purpose operates, not to mention the ability to link minds together, like a giant hive mind. Not to mention the maybe unnoticed ability to just find happiness with the simplest things. The will to improve despite getting anything in return, not to mention the drive to fulfill one’s duty would be helpful in the future no matter where he would incarnate.
Denizen’s end came without any feelings of regret or sadness, he knew he would just be reborn, but also he knew he fulfilled his task and the one replacing him would do a good job instead of him. The still and calm mindset he acquired was also helpful in this transition, filling him with hope at what would come next. For the first time in centuries, he felt happy. His end came about just like it did to any member of that race – obliteration by particle ray cannon. He wished he could see the look on his face when it happened.
-6-
His next incarnation was a curious one, it was a species that was different from anything before, yet strangely similar and familiar. Awakening in the water or rather being reborn in the water for the first time would be a traumatizing experience, yet due to the previous incarnation as a sentient rock, Denizen’s mindset easily accepted the change. However this time there was something different. He could not put his finger on it, though he could feel that some of his bunny companions were asleep, maybe that was where the feeling came from.
From what his body was telling him, it was he was some kind of dragon, though there was something else, memories that were imprinted on a genetic level. From that Den figured out that he was one of the Masked Demonic Dragons of Yomi. But the name of the species was not the only thing that was retained, also the life cycle was recorded in his genes. His body was already developed enough to survive, despite being just born. He understood he had to spend a hundred years in the sea and mountains each respectively, which would not be that bad, nor long, after all he was not alone now, and in comparison to how long his ‘life’ lasted, not to mention the dragon’s natural lifespan, those two hundred years were only a drop in the ocean.
The first few years were quite uneventful, aside from needing to find a proper place to stay as his body grew. There was no place that would be sufficient, but fortunately the demon dragon had the ability to use magic, so creating a lair took some time and effort, but in the end it was worth it.
Though one thing should be mentioned, while most of the bunnies were awake, some still slept, though the more time passed and Denizen’s body grew, so more and more bunnies awoke. There is a thing that needs to be mentioned about the bunnies though. One is that they love swimming and look adorable while doing that, two, they forgot they cannot breathe under water. For some reason though returning back into his body lets them take breaths, which last for quite a while, seems they have quite the lung capacity. Despite that though, the dragon cast a spell that allowed the little ones breathe under water. Due to this he got a new past time, watching the bunnies swim and dance in the water.
Denizen was curious about a few things, but before he did not have any means to find things out. With his bunnies able to go up and about in water, he figured he’d at least find out his appearance. Though as soon as he looked at himself through his bunny’s eyes he needed to blink a few times, he just couldn’t believe his eyes so much. His body was that of a sea serpent, a greyish mane adorning his back and shoulders and darkish purple scales covering most of his body, with crimson ones on his stomach and chest. His face was a mask, granted it was shaped like a head, but its appearance was what .actually surprised him the most.
Den knew the face quite well, it was the same face he had in one of his previous incarnations, it was the same as his demon self, the one when he regained his sanity. What goes around comes around as they say. Though it had also a lot of likeness to his first reincarnation. It seems at the time he was also a type of demon without him realizing.
What was peculiar though, was the symbol of Greed etched into his cheek. Recalling some of the information he had, it was the symbol that represented his vice, the one that he was closest to and he knew each member of his species were governed by a vice that was closest to their essence. Having Greed as a vice made a lot of sense though, after all he was living life after life, gathering new powers and abilities was indeed greedy, not to mention the fact that he has lived for centuries and his deaths had no real consequence and had become something akin to a reset button. Not to mention there were no real consequences for him anymore.
This indeed answered some of his questions, but also created new ones. One thing was certain though, Den needed to finish the cycle before he would be able to understand or even learn more of the world. Fortunately he did not need to work much for provisions, as going out to hunt was easy, especially with the horde of bunnies swimming around. They were quite capable in aquatic combat. Thanks to that, the dragon could concentrate on gathering his power, as well as learning about his new body through meditation. Being able to live by consuming energy, like the bunnies did, was really helpful in staying dormant in meditation for months, even years, before needing to replenish it.
The first hundred years went by quickly, expanding the lair into a literal maze of passages and rooms, while engraving runes and magic arrays along the surfaces made for quite the research opportunity. Thanks to some of the spells he knew, the dragon was able to slowly make its way towards the mountains, while still keeping himself in the oceans.
Though there have been some unpleasant surprises along the way. Molting was one of it. He didn’t know that each time he would get bigger and due to that, he had to widen his lair countless of times. After all, he nearly got stuck the first time as he didn’t account for the increase in size. That was not the only thing, the ravenous hunger was also something he wanted to never have to live through again.
Once the hundred years passed, he could finally move to the mountains. Thanks to his careful planning, he only needed to dig up of a few thousand meters, which might seem like a lot, but going from deep under the sea to the mountains would be a long way to go. Despite being capable of moving massive amounts of rock and dirt with magic alone, not mentioning the strength of his arms, it still took quite a while before he was finished. Though once there, he started working on another project, or rather his greed made him want to mark these mountains as his own, thus he erected a temple. One where both he and his little ones could spend the next hundred years in peace.
The second hundred years was rather peaceful, granted some monsters and humans tried raiding the temple, yet one look at him terrified them to such an extent that they ran without even trying to fight. Fortunately not all visitors to the temple were hostile. A group of monks started building a settlement close to his temple about ninety years after he himself settled there, normally he wouldn’t bother them if not him regarding the mountains as his private property.
Denizen planned to drive them away, yet before he was even able to set out, they came to his temple instead, bringing offerings and words of peace. They talked about their religion and although he was irritated at first, the dragon quickly understood that their beliefs were similar,. Not only did he let them stay, but he also agreed to let them use the temple as a training ground. They would have to earn their keep though.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and the dragon found enlightenment. It was nothing breathtaking though, he understood that all that he believed was actually true, all his guesses about himself and the race as a whole, all of that was made clear on that day. Though with clarity came change, his body shrunk and became more humanoid, turning him into a human It was one of the abilities the race had, yet there was one thing that was bothering him. Despite his mind being clearly that of a man, the human form was that of a woman. Granted, some of his past incarnations were female, yet their mind was also like that.
Denizen decided it was time to move on, after all, after a hundred years in the mountains one would like to see the world. Before leaving, he decided to leave the monks in charge of caretaking and keeping the temple in order. At the same time to mark it as his own, he left a statue of his human and dragon form there, so that no one would even think of claiming it belonged to them.
For the rest of his lifespan, he would travel the world, gathering trinkets, researching magic and whatever interested him at the moment. It was quite a collection of treasures, though he kept it hidden in a place one would least expect it to be. His lair was a great hiding place, it had the proper measures to keep them preserved, but also safe. Not to mention no one would really expect a temple full of monks to be on top of a hoard of treasures.
His final moments were quite uneventful, he just stopped in his sleep. His body dissolving to nothingness as that is what he wished for. The temple was left to the monks, they would be able to do with it as they saw fit, though one could see that they loved that place just as much as he did.
Leaving everything behind, Denizen gave himself to the gentle embrace of death, leaving behind nothing, but a legend.
-7-
Denizen was used to awakening for the first time in a new body. After several hundreds or thousands of times that would be considered normal. Yet this time it was different. Normally there would be some kind of sensation, this time, there was just darkness. He could possibly try looking around through his familiars eyes, yet he did not want to risk it. Without knowing what the environment around him truly was he couldn’t be sure that it was safe for them. Instead he slowly but steadily started building a surveillance array in the air, trying to weave a web as stealthily as possible. He managed to succeed yet he wished he wouldn’t, as what he found out terrified him. A feeling he has not had in centuries.
He couldn’t feel any sensations due to not having a body, rather he was only a brain, kept alive in some kind of cultivations liquid. This was terrifying mostly due to his self only being reborn, so his life only began and he was already in this predicament. He had no explanation, nor idea for why this happened. He could have tried sending his bunnies out, but that would be impossible at this point, and building the web larger, would most likely give him away. He could only wait for an opportunity to gather information.
He had no idea how much time passed, was it days or months? He had no clear indication of time where he was. On a day like any other, something changed, he felt like a connection of sorts. It was similar to being connected to a body, yet at the same time the information that slowly started flowing into his memory was more artificial. It seemed he got connected to a computer of sorts.
After a few initial small bursts of data, which was mostly testing the receptive faculties in his brain, a concentrated stream began to flow. It was the history of the planet he was reborn in. Information about what he was, what his task would be and everything connected to it. It also explained why children were born in this way, cultivated as brains. What he learned filled him both in amazement and dread.
The advances that were made could be only dreamt about. This society he was born into was one of the most advanced by far, not only that it not only had technology, it also had advanced magic. But the crown jewel was the synthesis of both, MagiTech. One could only imagine what marvels they had created. Nanomachines that healed any illness from within, allowed for the body to be healed in seconds, not to mention strengthen it by magic just by willing it. Golems, maybe it would be better to call them robots, that were able to cast spells yet were able to sustain themselves indefinitely, with power rivaling an army, but used for domestic tasks. Magical armor, which could withstand spells to a degree, but also conventional projectile and laser weapons.
One might think that it was an idyllic place, however the pursuit of advance and knowledge was what inevitably doomed them. Due to an unforeseen accident, or maybe it was what they wanted to achieve, there are no records left, they opened a portal to the plane of Eldritch gods. Despite closing it immediately, one still managed to cross it into their world. A war broke out, it had two goals, to survive and repel the monster they let through the portal. It was an uneven fight, the inhabitants of this world were losing, as their enemy could summon minions from his realm, not to mention those killed or defeated were converted into that monster’s minions.
To combat it and replenish the dwindling population the elders and scientists resorted to breaking a taboo, something that was never supposed to be touched. Through magical and technological means, warriors or rather children would be mass produced and their brains would be inserted into golem like bodies to create a force to repel the invader. The whole process was insane execution, they created the brains by growing them from spliced DNA and later imprinted them with information about their assigned task and purpose. The same process that happened to Denizen after his rebirth.
From the data that he acquired, only 1% of the people survived till now. This number included all of the humans created after the war broke out. His rough estimate was that his current existence would be short lived, as the average life expectancy of synthetic soldiers was one maybe two years at most. That just showed how overwhelming the enemy was. With that in mind it could be clearly seen why they resorted to breaking a taboo. Denizen decided to see how things work out, because for now, he would need a body to escape. Though he wondered if there would even be a place safe enough to escape to.
It took about ten days to imprint all of the data and information into a brain. During that process a personality would also be calibrated and inserted, however due to Denizen’s personality already being there, the process failed without anyone noticing. After that was completed, the brain would be installed into a specially created body, which had functions and specifications needed for the task a unit was created for. Denizen was probably lucky, as his task would have more to do with maintenance and construction, rather than combat. However each unit had the basic combat specs so it could be deployed at any given time. Even with the war raging, no even more due to it, there was a dire need for mechanics, engineers and scientists so that the soldiers could keep fighting for the survival of their race.
After his brain got inserted into the new body, Denizen could finally open his eyes and look around without causing any suspicion. This would allow him to gather more data, so not only would he learn more about the world, but maybe even find a place he could run away to. Finally he could see how he himself looked like. Denizen sighed inwardly, the body he was in was clearly female, pale skin, blue cybernetic eyes, quite lean but with muscles visibly flexing due to minute movements and he was bald. There was a bar code on the back of his neck.
After testing if everything worked properly, he would be sent to his workplace, if he played his cards right, he’d be able to make his move, possibly towards freedom.
The following weeks were spent on lab work and minor engineering tasks. Den’s workplace was a R&D lab, with the focus on producing new weapons against the Eldritch Horrors. Multiple scientists were working there. Most of them had a similar barcode on their necks, but he saw at least three people without one.
Denizen’s data gathering yielded few results. It seemed like there were not many humans fighting, and most of combat was left to the synthetic humans. However there were still those that despite being crippled continued fighting thanks to cybernetic augments. At the same time it needs to be said that synths were treated as comrades or at least equals. There was also almost no prejudice against them. One could say that after the war there should be no problems with synths and normal humans living in harmony.
The next few months were filled with lab work. Denizen managed to improve many of the current designs due to the knowledge from his past incarnations. Yet it was still not enough, he came up with a way to combat the eldritch beings, but it was risky. He could utilize the same method his bunnies used to acquire food to drain the enemies’ energy. Still without a proper foundation or similar technology, it would be insane to propose something like that.
The more days passed, the worse the war got. Den could do nothing to prevent the deaths of his comrades, but he felt compelled to try, maybe it was the programming that influenced him, or seeing just how hard they fought to survive. It may also be the influence from his previous incarnation. Greed. Yes, he felt that he should be the one to take the planet, not some eldritch horror or god. He and he alone was good enough to take this place as his own. These thoughts both scared him, but also seemed exactly what was needed.
While sorting through pre-war materials, Denizen found some schematics for projects that had a very similar principle as his idea and with some tweaking he could implement it for combat use exactly as he envisioned it. When he proposed it the other scientists were skeptical at first, though they changed their mind quickly after Denizen explained his idea properly. The whole lab was in an uproar soon after, as everyone was driven by that glimmer of hope they saw. The device was even further improved thanks to that.
Even with all of the researchers working on the project, it still took months to make a working prototype and even more time to get it approved for testing afterwards. Once it was first used though.... let’s say what was left of the Eldritch God’s minions was not anything that could fight. The device had a very interesting side effect. Those that were captured and transformed while still alive, after being exposed to the weapon returned to their original form.
This was not the end of the war, but the tide has turned, now the Eldritch God was on the defensive. Many people died, but in the end, after weeks of gruesome fighting the war was finally won. Everyone rejoiced, yet at the same time they remembered all the bloody sacrifices they had made. Now it was time for every being to find their own path in life, to rebuild what was destroyed while making sure that the same mistake would not be repeated ever again.
As for Denizen, he or rather she, decided to find a quiet place to live out her remaining lifespan in solitude. While she did help others rebuild and hind their path. People followed her example, and a small following formed. In the end, she removed herself from the public eye and headed for the most deserted places she could find to continue her research and creating many new technologies in the process. Her only hope that future generations would not repeat the same mistakes. After twenty years Den passed away in her sleep, alone, but happy.
-8-
Denizen’s current incarnation is in a world similar to the one he was born into initially. One that had not that much of a technological advancement, that is when compared to the places he incarnated in the past. There was no magic, or rather if there were any psychic abilities or magic, then they were most likely hidden from the general populace. He felt that this was the world he was originally born into, maybe even right after his death.
He didn’t feel anything like nostalgia due to homecoming, but he slightly wondered if his children were doing fine, sadly he had no way to check that, or even be truly certain that his was his original world. He decided to live his life quietly, a needed change from what he lived through in his past incarnations.
Currently Denizen was reborn as a man, in reality his mind didn’t identify as one. He felt neither male nor female, due to reincarnating so many times he gave up on trying to adjust. Male, female, things like that had no meaning anymore, he was who he was, having traits of both at the same time. Being gender neutral had its downsides but also many perks.
His childhood was quiet and peaceful. Living in a small, rural town most of his time was spent working on the family farm. Sadly this way of life was cut short when he was eight years old and soon he had to take care of himself. Both of his parents died due to a fatal car accident. Left orphaned he would normally be sent to an orphanage, but instead he talked to people who would legally take charge of him, while he himself would move on to finish schooling as soon as possible.
Moving out of his hometown he left everything behind, most of what he owned would be taken care of by his caregivers. He left all of the property he inherited to his caregivers, he thought that it would only slow him down, but at the same time he didn’t want to just sell it. It was his home, yet it was just another place which was not special in any way. He honored the memory of his parents in a special way, but it was not something he would ever share with anyone.
Going through the various levels of education as fast as he did caused quite a stir. He used what he knew from his past lives and the information he acquired up to that point to quickly finish all of his base education. Getting a scholarship was also easy, after all with finishing everything up to high school in two years he wouldn’t need to worry about not being accepted by any school. What he did though was pursue his inborn interests in mathematics and languages, getting a doctorate in both in a really short time.
Even though he planned to live his life quietly, deep down it was not what he truly wanted, as he felt his life was… a bit boring. Despite that, in the next years he started giving lectures at various universities around the world, he liked it and even if he got envious stares, many of his students took his teachings to heart, working harder on their studies as a result. It was easy to make an atmosphere like that, after all, people liked to listen when things were easy to understand, not to mention the professor being a kid who liked to fool around when teaching, while still talking about the subject so passionately helped too.
The feeling he had only grew larger over the years. Denizen felt he was missing something, granted teaching was fun but he thought that maybe looking in some kind of military career would give him at least some of the feelings he lacked. With that in mind he stopped his lecturer career at the age of eighteen. He joined a military corp, that was not connected to any country. Using any means available, he checked the information very thoroughly.
At first they did not want to let him join, their tune changed after he beat some of them up. Afterwards he got accepted and put through hard and rigorous, according to them at least, training. What he liked the most were CQB combat training as well as tactics. Though he had no qualms about using any other weapon available, he still preferred to get up close and personal. After five years he once more left everything behind. Leaving the group was a bit hard, after all they had become like family in those few years. Still even then he felt he was lacking something.
For the next five years he travelled around the world, exploring temples and ruins. Going to places no human has ever been before. Each place he visited, enforced his belief that there was something hidden. Something unnatural, at least in that worlds societies’ standards, and hidden away somewhere. After all many accounts and artifacts he discovered could not have been made with the readily available technology. Not to mention there were many traces of magic strewn all over the world.
Ultimately his travels led him to a peculiar island. One that was not only hidden from any maps, but also gave him the feeling of peace. It was not an easy thing to get there though, as to other people felt dread towards it. It seemed as if it drove away those that were not supposed to be there… To him though, it felt like home. What he found there was a place where he could live in peace, teach others and create what he desired. But that is a story for another time….
Additional Information:
Companion (pet) character: Vampire bunny.
Age: 30
Birthday: 2nd September
Gender: Unspecified
Class: Freelance*
Subject/Work: Self-defense, Armaments, Mathematics, Foreign/Ancient languages.
*Can teach any grade and class, teaching classes that the faculty assigns to him. Will most likely be of different grades.
Appearance Description:
At first glance Denizen would not be the most imposing person, with his lean built and 6 ft of height. His movement and how his muscles move under his skin, would suggest he takes good care of his body.
His raven hair is combed back and ends at about neck length, yet due to its unruly character it is hard to comb properly, leaving many strands of pointy hair tufts standing out at the back of his head. Looking at his face, what immediately catches one’s eyes are his heterochronic eyes, his left eye being golden and right crimson. Though he usually tries to hide them behind glasses.
One might have issues discerning if he is male or female due to his androgynous face, the only hint is his small goatee growing from his chin. Another curious thing would be his slightly pointed ears, giving him a slight inhuman vibe. His small lips are usually without expression or slightly curled down, though he can have a refreshing smile on his face.
His muscles are visible while not clearly defined or being overly big, though his body is strong and durable thanks to training. While he has numerous scars, most of them are hidden underneath his clothing. Though he prefers to wear looser clothing, he does wear his grayish black lab coat most of the time. That with the addition of his combats pants and shirt, not to mention the comfortable shoes he wears, makes him look a bit more like a field researcher, than anything else.
A thing of note is that he usually wears darker colors, mostly blacks, reds and purples. There are occasions where he will wear a suit or training clothes, but all of them abide by that color scheme. Aside from his round glasses, which cover most of his eyes, his only other accessories would be the silver necklace and bracelet. Not counting the utility belt he usually wears, or the mask he sometimes has. Though one might find him wearing his tool belt while working. All of his clothing, no matter what kind, is durable and easy to move in with a lot of pockets.
Mask: Foxdemon
A dark silver fox mask with crimson markings, multiple eyes adorn the face with a big one embedded in the middle of the forehead. The symbol of greed inscribed into its cheek. Looking at it or touching it does not allow for discerning what kind of material it is made out of. It feels smooth to the touch, while at the same time the details don’t look carved, but like a natural part of the mask.
Appearance: Common clothes
Personality Description:
Usually with a friendly maybe even goofy disposition, he usually doesn’t open up, despite being friendly and caring about others. In a pinch, he is able to become calculating and merciless. At the same time he can be vengeful. His emotions can be unstable, so he can go from being hostile towards one person while friendly to another, all in a span of seconds. He is also really irresponsible, as he doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions most of the time.
Powers:
Denizen’s powers come from what his essence is. With being a multiverse reincarnator, he is reborn in a different reality each time, with what he becomes, race, gender, appearance and powers being entirely random. There are no restrictions as to what he can become. Furthermore, he retains his memories and knowledge from his previous lives.
His powers have grown exponentially with each successive incarnation, making his spirit swell, as his previous lifetimes were added to the one he got born into. Unbeknownst to Denizen, each time this happened there was a price he had to pay. At first it was not noticeable, however after this process repeated for tens maybe hundreds of times, his mind could not handle the weight of his own powers. He succumbed to insanity, not only making him loose what control over his abilities, but also his own personality and consciousness.
Fortunately with a chance meeting with a small demonic creature, he was able to find a solution to his problems. He managed to retain his knowledge but most of his powers became sealed in the form of small vampire bunnies, critters from the underworld that made the return of his sanity possible. Each one of them is a part of his soul or essence. They are a part of him as they are his powers. However neither of them can access the abilities that were sealed, which is the cost of staying sane.
Transcendent Spirit
With the accumulated knowledge about technology and magic from countless worlds, he is able to see many worldly phenomena as complex mathematical formulas and patterns. This knowledge allows him to better understand the technology and magic around him. Furthermore, by utilizing what he learned in his past lives he is able to create devices that combine both tech and magic. However due to the partially conflicting nature of the knowledge he has obtained from different worlds, there is a possibility he might mistake similar phenomena and thus interpret them incorrectly.
Due to the fact that his familiars and himself are connected at the spirit level they are able to share their senses and minds. Despite having this link, Denizen is unable to keep a connection with one, maybe two, bunnies at a time, while also becoming vulnerable due to having to process more information and not focusing on his surroundings as much. Furthermore the further away his familiars are from him, the more he needs to concentrate on the link, with a few hundred meters being his upper limit.
This bond also allows Denizen to always have his pets with him, removing the need for a place to keep them. That is because his familiars stay inside of his body most of the time, after all they are one being, separated into many minds and forms. When he wants to release then, they usually emerge from his body or from his shadow. The familiars can also share their energy/mana reserves with Denizen, replenishing their powers when needed, this ability works both ways.
Transcendent Body:
Throughout his many incarnations, Denizen took many different forms. Each was influenced his spirit and left a mark that would be always there, making his soul neither male nor female, but also both at the same time. As a result he is able to take the guise of his past forms. However, this ability to shapeshift is limited in some regards. This is mostly due to most of his powers being sealed in order to preserve the sanity of his mind.
While his powers may be limited, he is able to access some of the abilities of the two forms available to him, the Fox Demon and Masked Dragon, while transformed. While he has two forms he is able to only use them one at a time. This means that if he would want to use the characteristics of the form he is currently not in, he will need to transition, thereby opening a short window where his powers are “off”.
Both of his forms have their natural frame and while that is not the limit of their size, it is the point where it becomes less energy efficient to maintain. In theory he could become two or three times their size, but at the same time maintaining a form that big would drain his energy at a pace where he would be unable to fight in minutes if not seconds. However at the same time Denizen can also decrease their size by up to half of the original, making it more natural to use them at the height of his own body, slightly lessening the burden on his energy reserves.
Denizen is in tune with his transformations to the point where he is able to concentrate enough and manifest some of their characteristics. This does not include powers and is mostly cosmetic. It allows him to manifest ears and tails, cover his body in fur or scales, turn his fingernails into claws, change his hair or grow wings out of his back. While being for example covered in scales or fur might seem like a good idea defense wise, in reality they do not offer any protection and have more of the natural characteristics of hair or skin than anything else.
Appearance:
Standing at about ten feet tall the fox demon’s figure is one to behold. Lean with toned muscles underneath his fur, he is strong, yet that is not the core of his strength. His greatest advantage comes from his speed and reflexes. Covered in dark silver fur, with scarcely any clothing covering him, a torn cloth wrapped around his waist, hanging loosely and covering lower body, held in place by a rope with a mask attached on the side. His only armor being the one covering his shoulders.
Walking on his hind legs he would be more akin to an anthromorphic animal than a demon, maybe the closes comparison would be a werewolf. What sets him apart from one are his clearly fox like features, with a long flowing mane draping onto his back and a multitude of foxtails instead of one.
His eyes are a deep golden in color, with a glow that seems to radiate from within. His canines protrude from his upper jaws, going at least half way down his chin.
Both his hands and feet are adorned with sharp claws, yet their length shows that they are not used for slicing or ripping flesh. His hands show the wear of someone using edged tools to fight, but are also covered in scars. His hands and even the rest of his body are covered in rune like patterns, yet it is hard to make out what they truly show as they are hidden underneath his fur.
Visual representation
Abilities:
The main boost this form gives is the increase of speed and reflexes, yet at the same time there is also a minor increase in strength. This allows for better uses of melee weapons, preferably swords. With its focus on speed this form is not to be trifled with, as the combination of fast melee strikes can be quite deadly to an unprepared opponent.
In this form it also becomes available to use Black Foxfire as an attack. Despite being akin to a flame it doesn’t as much burn but erode or dissolve. This can be used either as a thrown fireball or to enhance damage while striking. This works by enveloping the weapon with the flames. While this also works with his bare hands and feet, it is preferred not to be used this way as it might cause injuries if concentration slips. Black foxfire has the nature of erosion instead of burning
Standing at about ten feet tall the fox demon’s figure is one to behold. Lean with toned muscles underneath his fur, he is strong, yet that is not the core of his strength. His greatest advantage comes from his speed and reflexes. Covered in dark silver fur, with scarcely any clothing covering him, a torn cloth wrapped around his waist, hanging loosely and covering lower body, held in place by a rope with a mask attached on the side. His only armor being the one covering his shoulders.
Walking on his hind legs he would be more akin to an anthromorphic animal than a demon, maybe the closes comparison would be a werewolf. What sets him apart from one are his clearly fox like features, with a long flowing mane draping onto his back and a multitude of foxtails instead of one.
His eyes are a deep golden in color, with a glow that seems to radiate from within. His canines protrude from his upper jaws, going at least half way down his chin.
Both his hands and feet are adorned with sharp claws, yet their length shows that they are not used for slicing or ripping flesh. His hands show the wear of someone using edged tools to fight, but are also covered in scars. His hands and even the rest of his body are covered in rune like patterns, yet it is hard to make out what they truly show as they are hidden underneath his fur.
Visual representation
Abilities:
The main boost this form gives is the increase of speed and reflexes, yet at the same time there is also a minor increase in strength. This allows for better uses of melee weapons, preferably swords. With its focus on speed this form is not to be trifled with, as the combination of fast melee strikes can be quite deadly to an unprepared opponent.
In this form it also becomes available to use Black Foxfire as an attack. Despite being akin to a flame it doesn’t as much burn but erode or dissolve. This can be used either as a thrown fireball or to enhance damage while striking. This works by enveloping the weapon with the flames. While this also works with his bare hands and feet, it is preferred not to be used this way as it might cause injuries if concentration slips. Black foxfire has the nature of erosion instead of burning
Appearance:
With a body covered in darkish purple scales on most of its body, with the stomach and chest covered in deep crimson ones, the dragon measures about fifteen feet from head to tip of its tail, though it would be about ten feet in height as he moves on two legs, similarly to his other form. However scales are not the only thing covering the body. The shoulders, back, wrists and ankles are adorned by a mane of greyish hair, which seem to perfectly sit in place.
The dragons head is a mask, shaped like the head of a fox demon with the symbol of greed on its cheek. Four small eyes where one would normally have two, with a much larger one embedded in its forehead. A slender neck connects it to the body. With a large chest and arms with rippling muscles, hands adorned with claws same with the feet, the dragon looks menacing, especially when it spreads its large leathery wings. The tail is adorned with a tuft of raven hair, with contrasting white hair growing from its head and ending at about neck length Usually draped in a dark robe which covers it’s shoulders chest and legs, with the wings, tail and arms clearly visible.
Abilities
This form is mostly about power and defense. Its speed leaves a lot to be wished for, but the scales allow for deflection of most conventional weapons. However enchanted edged weapons as well as high caliber piercing weapons can bypass the natural protection of the scales and cause damage.
This form is also able to use a breath attack, causing those hit by it to be slowed, but also take damage from being burnt. The movement decrease is due to the flames becoming more solid or rather heavy once they start burning something or someone. The downside is that the effect doesn’t last long, as the afflicted is only slowed as long as the flames are burning them.
With a body covered in darkish purple scales on most of its body, with the stomach and chest covered in deep crimson ones, the dragon measures about fifteen feet from head to tip of its tail, though it would be about ten feet in height as he moves on two legs, similarly to his other form. However scales are not the only thing covering the body. The shoulders, back, wrists and ankles are adorned by a mane of greyish hair, which seem to perfectly sit in place.
The dragons head is a mask, shaped like the head of a fox demon with the symbol of greed on its cheek. Four small eyes where one would normally have two, with a much larger one embedded in its forehead. A slender neck connects it to the body. With a large chest and arms with rippling muscles, hands adorned with claws same with the feet, the dragon looks menacing, especially when it spreads its large leathery wings. The tail is adorned with a tuft of raven hair, with contrasting white hair growing from its head and ending at about neck length Usually draped in a dark robe which covers it’s shoulders chest and legs, with the wings, tail and arms clearly visible.
Abilities
This form is mostly about power and defense. Its speed leaves a lot to be wished for, but the scales allow for deflection of most conventional weapons. However enchanted edged weapons as well as high caliber piercing weapons can bypass the natural protection of the scales and cause damage.
This form is also able to use a breath attack, causing those hit by it to be slowed, but also take damage from being burnt. The movement decrease is due to the flames becoming more solid or rather heavy once they start burning something or someone. The downside is that the effect doesn’t last long, as the afflicted is only slowed as long as the flames are burning them.
Biography:
-1-
Born as a normal human in a less threatening reality, Denizen lived his life like any other man. He was part of a middle class family, he couldn’t complain though, his parents were amazing people, friendly and caring for everyone. He had a calm personality, though he was easy to anger when you knew which buttons to push, a trait his brother abused often. Still the both of them would go through water and fire for each other. It was a happy life.
Going to school to get education was the natural course of the world, there he also met the woman of his dreams, an exchange student. Fortunately she had feelings for him also and soon enough they were a couple. While he had a knack for computers she was more of an artist. Their paths diverged from one another, but that is only on the educational level and even after she went back home, they talked daily. After they finished their education, they moved in together and married soon after.
Their life was not easy, but filled with a lot of love and caring. Their children, the two daughters they had were their treasure. Watching them grow up was bliss to the couple and Denizen felt happy. After all who would not watch their offspring grow and make families of their own. In their old age they often said that if one were to disappear, the other would follow soon after. While they were mostly joking, there was still that childish longing in their eyes.
Denizen and his wife passed away in their sleep one after the other. It was funny really, they were inseparable in life and the same in death. He had hoped that if he was reincarnated that he would get the chance to see her again. Closing his eyes for the last time he didn’t expect that after he died, he’d ever open them again…
-2-
Death was brief, there was no light, no tunnel and for certainly no heaven or hell. It was just a calm darkness, embracing his soul, as if he had finally returned home. Even though he had no awareness or senses, he soon started regaining both. Denizen felt being pulled not too long after, feeling the air entering his lungs, pain assaulting his body, yet soon he felt the warm embrace of someone’s arms.
Even though his eyes were closed he saw it was light around him and as he opened them, what he immediately noticed, was that those around him had different forms than those he was used to, he couldn’t explain it and thought it was a dream at first, an illusion created by his mind as it was dying. Who would not think that, after all he was surrounded by anthromorphic animals.
It was no dream though, as he soon learned he was reborn as a fox, or rather a kitsune, in a different reality from his own, where the laws that governed the world were unlike those he knew, yet at the same time, contrary to a usual rebirth, at least those you can learn about, he retained all of his past memories and knowledge.
His new life was a struggle for him, after all his previous life had no magic in it, so his understanding was lacking to say the least. Yet after many tries and hardships he finally learned how to use it, his knowledge of mathematics was helpful, despite making him run in circles numerous times, as once he figured out a the trick behind magic, he was able to figure out how to use the spells that were shown to him.
Denizen’s peaceful days did not last forever though. At first nothing seemed to foretell the hardships ahead. Truthfully, no one knows who was the instigator, but the result of it was a global war. Many different countries started fighting one after another, there was no one who could stop it truthfully. Almost all of the many school thought they were in the right, with some small guilds trying to stop the fighting. Nothing could be done at that point though.
In the end, the mass of spells that raged over the battlefields, the countless spells unleashed upon the world, all of it combined was the final nail to that worlds coffin. Nobody was left standing and the planet was devastated, just one more burnt out rock in the universe. Denizen of course shared the fate of his world, family and friends. His death was swift and he almost felt no pain, as the city he lived in was vaporized into oblivion in mere seconds.
-3-
Once more he was embraced by the darkness, his quiet and painless haven after death. His stay was short, as he got pulled into another incarnation once more. Yet before that happened, he felt himself slightly ‘bigger’ or rather his spirit’s volume increased. He didn’t have much time to think about it then, even when the concept of time did not exist there.
With each successive incarnation, he had that same feeling, each time after he died and before he was reborn, he felt his spirit growing, This was not an issue at first, but with each incarnation he understood more what was happening. His soul merged with each of his next incarnations, which enabled his memories to transfer with him, but at the same time his mind got muddled, it came to a point where he had no grasp on who or what he was, the many personalities, memories and knowledge mixing together as one.
What was the biggest issue though, were his powers, each successive incarnation had their own and they stayed with him over the course of that life and the ones after. All those abilities, powers and skills had a bad influence on his mind, they drove him insane to the point where he would be unable to function as a being in any incarnation, he would become a monster each time no matter how hard the little speck of his original self that was left tried. Fortune smiled on him though, the next incarnation would create a possibility, but only time will tell if he’d take it or not.
-4-
Denizen was reborn as a demon in the underworld. There his insanity and bloodlust were more of a sought after trait than not. His daily life revolved around fighting and slaughtering whatever was in his way, no matter if it was man, woman or child, innocent or guilty. He didn’t care, his mind was too far gone to tell any difference between what was right or wrong. Fortunately for that world, he was unable to access most of his previous lives’ powers, as even though they were the reason he was insane, at the same time they required logical thinking to be accessed and used. Yet even without them, he was able to cause great mayhem wherever he went.
His life would be like that till the end of his days, if not for a meeting with one of the lowest creatures in the underworld. A small critter belonging to the race of vampire bunnies.
Denizen was resting in his lair, his body was tired after all the slaughter he did that day. Normally there would be nothing that dared to approach his dwelling, most were too terrified and those that were strong enough to fight him, thought it was too much hassle, not to mention a waste of resources for virtually no gain.
One can only imagine the demon’s surprise when a small while ball fell down from the ceiling. Denizen looked at it, trying to decide what to do with this small intruder. One can only imagine what went through the demon’s mind as the ball of fluff stood on its hind legs and looked him straight in the eye. Denizen took it as a challenge and reach out to the small bunny with the sole purpose of erasing this intruder from his lair.
The bunny was almost in the demon’s clutches, the big hand slowly wrapping around the bunny. Yet there was hesitation in Denizen’s movement. He couldn’t comprehend why the little creature stood so fearless in front of him, neither trying to run nor attack. This slight hesitation created an opening, which the little bunny used to bite the demon’s hand and drain the energy out of Denizen’s body. After all that little bundle of fluff was a vampire bunny, a being living off of other creatures and plants by draining their energy to fill its belly.
Denizen could have easily crushed the bunny then and there, but somewhere deep in his mind there was something stopping him. It was due to the bunny draining his powers that some of his sanity returned. It was not at the point of his personality wholly resurfacing, but it was enough to shift his focus from killing everything around him to something else. Mainly to gathering more of these little fluffy creatures.
Denizen didn’t understand this shift in priorities, nor did he try, his mind was too far gone for such thinking. Yet at the same time he did notice a change, but dismissed whatever it could imply. Setting out on his new mission, he took the bunny with him. If he didn’t he’d possibly, no, he’d most likely go back to being the ruthless killing machine he was before, but it was not something he knew or could figure out at the moment, his newfound instinct which made him seek the fluffy creatures out prevented him from leaving the one he already had behind.
Finding the vampire bunnies was an ordeal like no other. The little creatures were quite easy to scare, not only that, it seemed like they also were a target for lesser demons and bigger critters living in the underworld. Because of this it took a lot of time to find the second one. Once he had it and the bunny went to work like it’s sibling, the demon could feel more of his essence draining away, but at the same time his mind cleared, if only ever so slightly. He spent days, weeks or could it be months finding and gathering the bunnies, soon enough he had quite a lot of them, and having them with him all the time made him look more like a sheep than fox.
For the first time in decades his mind was clear and focused, he felt liberated somehow. Yet at the same time he knew that this would not last long. He knew that if he would be separated from these little creatures then he’d lose his mind once more. Not to mention reincarnating, he would be without an option like this for no idea how many lives he’d live.
Searching through the memories he accumulated through his past lives he found some peculiar spells. One was the familiar spell, but it was not a conventional one, as it allowed for the souls of the master and servant to become one. The other spell was where you could seal your power or at least part of your soul inside of a vessel. This may be the answer Denizen was looking for, though it would need some modifications and tweaking for his idea to bear fruit.
Denizen used all his power and knowledge to make pacts with the bunnies and seal his powers inside of them. This took a while, however one by one the bunnies became a part of him as he became a part of them. Once the ritual was complete he could still feel calm and his mind was clear despite the little fluffy familiars no longer draining his energy. There was one final ritual he had to do, it was to ensure that both he and his new friends would be always together. Denizen ushered the bunnies inside of him and once the last one was within, he set the final spell in motion.
The last ritual obliterated his lair, its vicinity and also himself. Denizen ceased to exist that day, as for the bodies and souls to fully merge they needed to be wiped out and reborn anew. He only feared that it would not work, despite all his efforts. In his heart though, he felt the little ones encouraging him, even as they were atomized by the spell.
-5-
After opening his eyes once more, he felt relieved and elated. His mind was intact and there seemed to be no anomalies in his thought processes, furthermore he could feel all of his familiars within him. Though there was something out of place, his mind was more analytical than before, so there was something going on at least in this form. As he looked around, the first thing he noticed were the many colorful orbs and crystals all around him. It seemed that this time he incarnated…. as a sentient rock. None of his previous incarnations was even remotely similar, he could only try living to the best of his ability.
Living as a sentient rock was not really that bad of an experience. Granted it might sound silly to humans and other humanoid races, yet once you get down to it, you could be compared to a sentient, magical golem, just shaped like a rock. Furthermore the magic and technology they used was quite advanced, yet really simple at the same time.
The whole society had no desires or any enemies, they did not have any divides and while each and every one of them had a function, they had no qualms as to what they did. Not one of them was judgmental, or prejudiced. Death was also something that was foreign to them, they had a set lifespan that is true, however when one was nearing the end of their time they simply decommissioned themselves as otherwise they would be unable to fulfill their necessary function.
This society was quite idyllic, but one could compare it to a well-oiled machine instead of a society like you would find on other worlds. One might think that they had no emotions and were like golems or machines, yet that would be untrue. While from the outside it might look like that, once you get down to it they just had different values and principles. For them doing their work to the utmost of ability was the pinnacle of happiness. Same with relations between them, each and every one lived quite happily without strife, always seeking to improve themselves for not only their own benefit, but also for the future of their kind.
Living among them, Denizen learned a few things, more magic he could use, how a being without desires or greed but with a drive to fulfill a purpose operates, not to mention the ability to link minds together, like a giant hive mind. Not to mention the maybe unnoticed ability to just find happiness with the simplest things. The will to improve despite getting anything in return, not to mention the drive to fulfill one’s duty would be helpful in the future no matter where he would incarnate.
Denizen’s end came without any feelings of regret or sadness, he knew he would just be reborn, but also he knew he fulfilled his task and the one replacing him would do a good job instead of him. The still and calm mindset he acquired was also helpful in this transition, filling him with hope at what would come next. For the first time in centuries, he felt happy. His end came about just like it did to any member of that race – obliteration by particle ray cannon. He wished he could see the look on his face when it happened.
-6-
His next incarnation was a curious one, it was a species that was different from anything before, yet strangely similar and familiar. Awakening in the water or rather being reborn in the water for the first time would be a traumatizing experience, yet due to the previous incarnation as a sentient rock, Denizen’s mindset easily accepted the change. However this time there was something different. He could not put his finger on it, though he could feel that some of his bunny companions were asleep, maybe that was where the feeling came from.
From what his body was telling him, it was he was some kind of dragon, though there was something else, memories that were imprinted on a genetic level. From that Den figured out that he was one of the Masked Demonic Dragons of Yomi. But the name of the species was not the only thing that was retained, also the life cycle was recorded in his genes. His body was already developed enough to survive, despite being just born. He understood he had to spend a hundred years in the sea and mountains each respectively, which would not be that bad, nor long, after all he was not alone now, and in comparison to how long his ‘life’ lasted, not to mention the dragon’s natural lifespan, those two hundred years were only a drop in the ocean.
The first few years were quite uneventful, aside from needing to find a proper place to stay as his body grew. There was no place that would be sufficient, but fortunately the demon dragon had the ability to use magic, so creating a lair took some time and effort, but in the end it was worth it.
Though one thing should be mentioned, while most of the bunnies were awake, some still slept, though the more time passed and Denizen’s body grew, so more and more bunnies awoke. There is a thing that needs to be mentioned about the bunnies though. One is that they love swimming and look adorable while doing that, two, they forgot they cannot breathe under water. For some reason though returning back into his body lets them take breaths, which last for quite a while, seems they have quite the lung capacity. Despite that though, the dragon cast a spell that allowed the little ones breathe under water. Due to this he got a new past time, watching the bunnies swim and dance in the water.
Denizen was curious about a few things, but before he did not have any means to find things out. With his bunnies able to go up and about in water, he figured he’d at least find out his appearance. Though as soon as he looked at himself through his bunny’s eyes he needed to blink a few times, he just couldn’t believe his eyes so much. His body was that of a sea serpent, a greyish mane adorning his back and shoulders and darkish purple scales covering most of his body, with crimson ones on his stomach and chest. His face was a mask, granted it was shaped like a head, but its appearance was what .actually surprised him the most.
Den knew the face quite well, it was the same face he had in one of his previous incarnations, it was the same as his demon self, the one when he regained his sanity. What goes around comes around as they say. Though it had also a lot of likeness to his first reincarnation. It seems at the time he was also a type of demon without him realizing.
What was peculiar though, was the symbol of Greed etched into his cheek. Recalling some of the information he had, it was the symbol that represented his vice, the one that he was closest to and he knew each member of his species were governed by a vice that was closest to their essence. Having Greed as a vice made a lot of sense though, after all he was living life after life, gathering new powers and abilities was indeed greedy, not to mention the fact that he has lived for centuries and his deaths had no real consequence and had become something akin to a reset button. Not to mention there were no real consequences for him anymore.
This indeed answered some of his questions, but also created new ones. One thing was certain though, Den needed to finish the cycle before he would be able to understand or even learn more of the world. Fortunately he did not need to work much for provisions, as going out to hunt was easy, especially with the horde of bunnies swimming around. They were quite capable in aquatic combat. Thanks to that, the dragon could concentrate on gathering his power, as well as learning about his new body through meditation. Being able to live by consuming energy, like the bunnies did, was really helpful in staying dormant in meditation for months, even years, before needing to replenish it.
The first hundred years went by quickly, expanding the lair into a literal maze of passages and rooms, while engraving runes and magic arrays along the surfaces made for quite the research opportunity. Thanks to some of the spells he knew, the dragon was able to slowly make its way towards the mountains, while still keeping himself in the oceans.
Though there have been some unpleasant surprises along the way. Molting was one of it. He didn’t know that each time he would get bigger and due to that, he had to widen his lair countless of times. After all, he nearly got stuck the first time as he didn’t account for the increase in size. That was not the only thing, the ravenous hunger was also something he wanted to never have to live through again.
Once the hundred years passed, he could finally move to the mountains. Thanks to his careful planning, he only needed to dig up of a few thousand meters, which might seem like a lot, but going from deep under the sea to the mountains would be a long way to go. Despite being capable of moving massive amounts of rock and dirt with magic alone, not mentioning the strength of his arms, it still took quite a while before he was finished. Though once there, he started working on another project, or rather his greed made him want to mark these mountains as his own, thus he erected a temple. One where both he and his little ones could spend the next hundred years in peace.
The second hundred years was rather peaceful, granted some monsters and humans tried raiding the temple, yet one look at him terrified them to such an extent that they ran without even trying to fight. Fortunately not all visitors to the temple were hostile. A group of monks started building a settlement close to his temple about ninety years after he himself settled there, normally he wouldn’t bother them if not him regarding the mountains as his private property.
Denizen planned to drive them away, yet before he was even able to set out, they came to his temple instead, bringing offerings and words of peace. They talked about their religion and although he was irritated at first, the dragon quickly understood that their beliefs were similar,. Not only did he let them stay, but he also agreed to let them use the temple as a training ground. They would have to earn their keep though.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and the dragon found enlightenment. It was nothing breathtaking though, he understood that all that he believed was actually true, all his guesses about himself and the race as a whole, all of that was made clear on that day. Though with clarity came change, his body shrunk and became more humanoid, turning him into a human It was one of the abilities the race had, yet there was one thing that was bothering him. Despite his mind being clearly that of a man, the human form was that of a woman. Granted, some of his past incarnations were female, yet their mind was also like that.
Denizen decided it was time to move on, after all, after a hundred years in the mountains one would like to see the world. Before leaving, he decided to leave the monks in charge of caretaking and keeping the temple in order. At the same time to mark it as his own, he left a statue of his human and dragon form there, so that no one would even think of claiming it belonged to them.
For the rest of his lifespan, he would travel the world, gathering trinkets, researching magic and whatever interested him at the moment. It was quite a collection of treasures, though he kept it hidden in a place one would least expect it to be. His lair was a great hiding place, it had the proper measures to keep them preserved, but also safe. Not to mention no one would really expect a temple full of monks to be on top of a hoard of treasures.
His final moments were quite uneventful, he just stopped in his sleep. His body dissolving to nothingness as that is what he wished for. The temple was left to the monks, they would be able to do with it as they saw fit, though one could see that they loved that place just as much as he did.
Leaving everything behind, Denizen gave himself to the gentle embrace of death, leaving behind nothing, but a legend.
-7-
Denizen was used to awakening for the first time in a new body. After several hundreds or thousands of times that would be considered normal. Yet this time it was different. Normally there would be some kind of sensation, this time, there was just darkness. He could possibly try looking around through his familiars eyes, yet he did not want to risk it. Without knowing what the environment around him truly was he couldn’t be sure that it was safe for them. Instead he slowly but steadily started building a surveillance array in the air, trying to weave a web as stealthily as possible. He managed to succeed yet he wished he wouldn’t, as what he found out terrified him. A feeling he has not had in centuries.
He couldn’t feel any sensations due to not having a body, rather he was only a brain, kept alive in some kind of cultivations liquid. This was terrifying mostly due to his self only being reborn, so his life only began and he was already in this predicament. He had no explanation, nor idea for why this happened. He could have tried sending his bunnies out, but that would be impossible at this point, and building the web larger, would most likely give him away. He could only wait for an opportunity to gather information.
He had no idea how much time passed, was it days or months? He had no clear indication of time where he was. On a day like any other, something changed, he felt like a connection of sorts. It was similar to being connected to a body, yet at the same time the information that slowly started flowing into his memory was more artificial. It seemed he got connected to a computer of sorts.
After a few initial small bursts of data, which was mostly testing the receptive faculties in his brain, a concentrated stream began to flow. It was the history of the planet he was reborn in. Information about what he was, what his task would be and everything connected to it. It also explained why children were born in this way, cultivated as brains. What he learned filled him both in amazement and dread.
The advances that were made could be only dreamt about. This society he was born into was one of the most advanced by far, not only that it not only had technology, it also had advanced magic. But the crown jewel was the synthesis of both, MagiTech. One could only imagine what marvels they had created. Nanomachines that healed any illness from within, allowed for the body to be healed in seconds, not to mention strengthen it by magic just by willing it. Golems, maybe it would be better to call them robots, that were able to cast spells yet were able to sustain themselves indefinitely, with power rivaling an army, but used for domestic tasks. Magical armor, which could withstand spells to a degree, but also conventional projectile and laser weapons.
One might think that it was an idyllic place, however the pursuit of advance and knowledge was what inevitably doomed them. Due to an unforeseen accident, or maybe it was what they wanted to achieve, there are no records left, they opened a portal to the plane of Eldritch gods. Despite closing it immediately, one still managed to cross it into their world. A war broke out, it had two goals, to survive and repel the monster they let through the portal. It was an uneven fight, the inhabitants of this world were losing, as their enemy could summon minions from his realm, not to mention those killed or defeated were converted into that monster’s minions.
To combat it and replenish the dwindling population the elders and scientists resorted to breaking a taboo, something that was never supposed to be touched. Through magical and technological means, warriors or rather children would be mass produced and their brains would be inserted into golem like bodies to create a force to repel the invader. The whole process was insane execution, they created the brains by growing them from spliced DNA and later imprinted them with information about their assigned task and purpose. The same process that happened to Denizen after his rebirth.
From the data that he acquired, only 1% of the people survived till now. This number included all of the humans created after the war broke out. His rough estimate was that his current existence would be short lived, as the average life expectancy of synthetic soldiers was one maybe two years at most. That just showed how overwhelming the enemy was. With that in mind it could be clearly seen why they resorted to breaking a taboo. Denizen decided to see how things work out, because for now, he would need a body to escape. Though he wondered if there would even be a place safe enough to escape to.
It took about ten days to imprint all of the data and information into a brain. During that process a personality would also be calibrated and inserted, however due to Denizen’s personality already being there, the process failed without anyone noticing. After that was completed, the brain would be installed into a specially created body, which had functions and specifications needed for the task a unit was created for. Denizen was probably lucky, as his task would have more to do with maintenance and construction, rather than combat. However each unit had the basic combat specs so it could be deployed at any given time. Even with the war raging, no even more due to it, there was a dire need for mechanics, engineers and scientists so that the soldiers could keep fighting for the survival of their race.
After his brain got inserted into the new body, Denizen could finally open his eyes and look around without causing any suspicion. This would allow him to gather more data, so not only would he learn more about the world, but maybe even find a place he could run away to. Finally he could see how he himself looked like. Denizen sighed inwardly, the body he was in was clearly female, pale skin, blue cybernetic eyes, quite lean but with muscles visibly flexing due to minute movements and he was bald. There was a bar code on the back of his neck.
After testing if everything worked properly, he would be sent to his workplace, if he played his cards right, he’d be able to make his move, possibly towards freedom.
The following weeks were spent on lab work and minor engineering tasks. Den’s workplace was a R&D lab, with the focus on producing new weapons against the Eldritch Horrors. Multiple scientists were working there. Most of them had a similar barcode on their necks, but he saw at least three people without one.
Denizen’s data gathering yielded few results. It seemed like there were not many humans fighting, and most of combat was left to the synthetic humans. However there were still those that despite being crippled continued fighting thanks to cybernetic augments. At the same time it needs to be said that synths were treated as comrades or at least equals. There was also almost no prejudice against them. One could say that after the war there should be no problems with synths and normal humans living in harmony.
The next few months were filled with lab work. Denizen managed to improve many of the current designs due to the knowledge from his past incarnations. Yet it was still not enough, he came up with a way to combat the eldritch beings, but it was risky. He could utilize the same method his bunnies used to acquire food to drain the enemies’ energy. Still without a proper foundation or similar technology, it would be insane to propose something like that.
The more days passed, the worse the war got. Den could do nothing to prevent the deaths of his comrades, but he felt compelled to try, maybe it was the programming that influenced him, or seeing just how hard they fought to survive. It may also be the influence from his previous incarnation. Greed. Yes, he felt that he should be the one to take the planet, not some eldritch horror or god. He and he alone was good enough to take this place as his own. These thoughts both scared him, but also seemed exactly what was needed.
While sorting through pre-war materials, Denizen found some schematics for projects that had a very similar principle as his idea and with some tweaking he could implement it for combat use exactly as he envisioned it. When he proposed it the other scientists were skeptical at first, though they changed their mind quickly after Denizen explained his idea properly. The whole lab was in an uproar soon after, as everyone was driven by that glimmer of hope they saw. The device was even further improved thanks to that.
Even with all of the researchers working on the project, it still took months to make a working prototype and even more time to get it approved for testing afterwards. Once it was first used though.... let’s say what was left of the Eldritch God’s minions was not anything that could fight. The device had a very interesting side effect. Those that were captured and transformed while still alive, after being exposed to the weapon returned to their original form.
This was not the end of the war, but the tide has turned, now the Eldritch God was on the defensive. Many people died, but in the end, after weeks of gruesome fighting the war was finally won. Everyone rejoiced, yet at the same time they remembered all the bloody sacrifices they had made. Now it was time for every being to find their own path in life, to rebuild what was destroyed while making sure that the same mistake would not be repeated ever again.
As for Denizen, he or rather she, decided to find a quiet place to live out her remaining lifespan in solitude. While she did help others rebuild and hind their path. People followed her example, and a small following formed. In the end, she removed herself from the public eye and headed for the most deserted places she could find to continue her research and creating many new technologies in the process. Her only hope that future generations would not repeat the same mistakes. After twenty years Den passed away in her sleep, alone, but happy.
-8-
Denizen’s current incarnation is in a world similar to the one he was born into initially. One that had not that much of a technological advancement, that is when compared to the places he incarnated in the past. There was no magic, or rather if there were any psychic abilities or magic, then they were most likely hidden from the general populace. He felt that this was the world he was originally born into, maybe even right after his death.
He didn’t feel anything like nostalgia due to homecoming, but he slightly wondered if his children were doing fine, sadly he had no way to check that, or even be truly certain that his was his original world. He decided to live his life quietly, a needed change from what he lived through in his past incarnations.
Currently Denizen was reborn as a man, in reality his mind didn’t identify as one. He felt neither male nor female, due to reincarnating so many times he gave up on trying to adjust. Male, female, things like that had no meaning anymore, he was who he was, having traits of both at the same time. Being gender neutral had its downsides but also many perks.
His childhood was quiet and peaceful. Living in a small, rural town most of his time was spent working on the family farm. Sadly this way of life was cut short when he was eight years old and soon he had to take care of himself. Both of his parents died due to a fatal car accident. Left orphaned he would normally be sent to an orphanage, but instead he talked to people who would legally take charge of him, while he himself would move on to finish schooling as soon as possible.
Moving out of his hometown he left everything behind, most of what he owned would be taken care of by his caregivers. He left all of the property he inherited to his caregivers, he thought that it would only slow him down, but at the same time he didn’t want to just sell it. It was his home, yet it was just another place which was not special in any way. He honored the memory of his parents in a special way, but it was not something he would ever share with anyone.
Going through the various levels of education as fast as he did caused quite a stir. He used what he knew from his past lives and the information he acquired up to that point to quickly finish all of his base education. Getting a scholarship was also easy, after all with finishing everything up to high school in two years he wouldn’t need to worry about not being accepted by any school. What he did though was pursue his inborn interests in mathematics and languages, getting a doctorate in both in a really short time.
Even though he planned to live his life quietly, deep down it was not what he truly wanted, as he felt his life was… a bit boring. Despite that, in the next years he started giving lectures at various universities around the world, he liked it and even if he got envious stares, many of his students took his teachings to heart, working harder on their studies as a result. It was easy to make an atmosphere like that, after all, people liked to listen when things were easy to understand, not to mention the professor being a kid who liked to fool around when teaching, while still talking about the subject so passionately helped too.
The feeling he had only grew larger over the years. Denizen felt he was missing something, granted teaching was fun but he thought that maybe looking in some kind of military career would give him at least some of the feelings he lacked. With that in mind he stopped his lecturer career at the age of eighteen. He joined a military corp, that was not connected to any country. Using any means available, he checked the information very thoroughly.
At first they did not want to let him join, their tune changed after he beat some of them up. Afterwards he got accepted and put through hard and rigorous, according to them at least, training. What he liked the most were CQB combat training as well as tactics. Though he had no qualms about using any other weapon available, he still preferred to get up close and personal. After five years he once more left everything behind. Leaving the group was a bit hard, after all they had become like family in those few years. Still even then he felt he was lacking something.
For the next five years he travelled around the world, exploring temples and ruins. Going to places no human has ever been before. Each place he visited, enforced his belief that there was something hidden. Something unnatural, at least in that worlds societies’ standards, and hidden away somewhere. After all many accounts and artifacts he discovered could not have been made with the readily available technology. Not to mention there were many traces of magic strewn all over the world.
Ultimately his travels led him to a peculiar island. One that was not only hidden from any maps, but also gave him the feeling of peace. It was not an easy thing to get there though, as to other people felt dread towards it. It seemed as if it drove away those that were not supposed to be there… To him though, it felt like home. What he found there was a place where he could live in peace, teach others and create what he desired. But that is a story for another time….
Additional Information:
Companion (pet) character: Vampire bunny.
