Chapter 1: The Pact That Changes Fate
Excuses are just lies. Lies that will haunt you throughout your life.
Ty Gregory had lived 29 years—but most of them were spent running from the man he was supposed to become.
There were the days he wandered off during school hours, claiming he needed snacks from the corner store.
The mornings he never left bed, letting entire class periods slip by like storms on the horizon.
The long, lazy afternoons wasted in front of glowing screens, as the world moved on without him.
They weren't just habits.
They were who he was.
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Throughout school, his report cards bled with D's and F's—a steady decline that mirrored his motivation.
Laziness wasn't a phase for Ty. It was a lifestyle.
When responsibility knocked, he met it with a shrug, a sigh, and his signature phrase:
"I'll do it later."
But later never came.
He drifted through his twenties like a ghost through a mall—dead-end jobs, broken alarms, clock-ins too late to matter.
When he finally got fired from his last gig, there was no backup plan. No family to lean on. No dream worth chasing.
Just the streets.
Frail. Unshaven. Hollow-eyed.
Ty wandered sidewalks, begging for change and collecting bruises from the world's indifference.
Each night brought hunger.
Each morning brought regret.
He scoured trash bins for scraps, slept curled on cold benches, and avoided mirrors.
He couldn't bear to see what he'd become.
What if I had studied instead of skipping that exam?
What if I hadn't faked being sick just to sleep in?
What if I had tried—really tried?
The questions clung to him like frostbite.
And they hurt worse than the cold.
He once lost one of the only friends he had—because he promised to help when it mattered…
…and never showed up.
A favor asked. A "sure" given.
But he never came.
That was the moment he understood:
His life wasn't ruined by mistakes.
It was buried under excuses.
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Ty Gregory – POV
I remember the night it all changed.
It was late—maybe 8 PM. I was walking along the riverbank just outside the city.
The air was cool, the sky dimming.
The moon shimmered on the lake, its light spilling across the water like liquid silver.
Quiet. Still.
Too still.
I didn't even hear the car at first.
Not until the roar of the engine tore through the silence.
Headlights flared.
A black car came around the bend—fast. Reckless.
I barely had time to move.
It missed me by inches.
The wind slapped my face. Gravel kicked up, stinging my legs.
I stumbled back, breath caught in my throat.
The car didn't stop.
Just vanished into the night like a curse whispered in anger.
My legs were trembling. My heart thundered in my chest.
That could've been it, I thought.
Dead. Forgotten. Another nobody on the evening news.
I looked out at the river, still calm…
and wondered if anyone would've even noticed if I was gone.
"I guess this is my life now," I muttered.
"If only I'd been smarter. If only I'd realized how laziness would ruin everything… maybe I could've made better choices."
But regret doesn't fix what's broken.
And this… this was the cost.
No second chance.
No rewind.
Just silence.
The kind that sinks deep into your bones.
The kind that makes you hate yourself.
I stood there a while.
Then something changed.
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The wind shifted.
The lake rippled.
The air grew thick—charged.
And then—
A streak of light split the heavens, blinding white and silver.
Not a star. Not lightning.
Something else.
It wasn't falling.
It was aiming.
Right at me.
I couldn't even scream.
The impact hit like the hand of a god.
Everything vanished in white-hot silence.
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The Void
I was floating.
Weightless.
Nowhere.
Everywhere.
An infinite darkness stretched around me—silent, endless, still.
No pain. No heat. No sound.
Did I just get nuked? Seriously?
My voice echoed into nothing.
That's when she appeared.
A radiant figure emerged from the void—glowing with soft silver light.
Her form was elegant and otherworldly, her eyes twin moons, full of cold knowing.
She wasn't beautiful in a mortal sense.
She was inevitable.
"Do you want a second chance at life?" she asked, her voice calm and strange.
"One where you can fulfill your true potential?"
Is she a god? I thought.
"Yes," she answered plainly. "I am the goddess Felix. I heard your regrets. I offer a contract."
"A… contract?"
"Indeed. A pact with the divine."
"What kind of offer?"
"You will be reborn in a world of magic—one steeped in mystery, danger, and ancient power.
You will receive the Blessing of Intelligence, one Minor Blessing of your choice, and several tools to begin your path."
"But in exchange," she said, her gaze narrowing,
"You must build the greatest kingdom the world has ever known."
My breath caught.
"A kingdom?"
She nodded.
"But not through blood.
Not through war.
You must build it through brilliance. Innovation. Wisdom. Strategy."
Her voice echoed like prophecy.
"You will be its architect—not its conqueror."
I stared at her. Speechless. Terrified. Thrilled.
"Do I even deserve this?" I asked, my voice small.
Felix tilted her head.
"Deserve?" she echoed. "Deserving is irrelevant. The thread of fate has brushed against you.
The question is only this—will you rise, or fall once more?"
The silence after her words was heavier than stone.
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"What exactly does the Blessing of Intelligence do?" I asked.
She smiled then—just a hint.
With a wave of her hand, the void around us twisted.
A massive puzzle of constellations and starlight unfolded before me.
I didn't think.
I solved it instantly.
My mind raced—clearer than ever before.
Memories surged back with crystalline precision.
She chuckled softly.
"That… is your new mind. Sharp enough to rival a god."
My heart pounded.
"A god…"
She stepped forward.
"But power without purpose is wasted. So here is the task, and the cost."
The stars dimmed.
"You must complete your kingdom by the time you turn twenty-eight in this new world.
If you fail…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"…you will be imprisoned in the Void. Forever."
The silence that followed chilled me to my core.
"But if I succeed?"
She smiled again.
"Then you will become a legend. A force. A ruler who changes the very fabric of the world."
The stars stirred.
A desk of pure light formed before me—crafted from moonstone and shadow.
A parchment glowed, swirling with runes.
A quill hovered above it, silver-tipped, black as night.
I stepped closer.
The Contract read:
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In exchange for the Blessing of Intelligence, a second life in a world of magic, and one Minor Blessing of your choosing,
you agree to build the greatest kingdom ever known.
This task must be completed by the age of twenty-eight.
Failure will result in eternal imprisonment within the Void.
You may think of this pact, but speak of it aloud—and punishment shall fall upon you.
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I stared at the parchment.
I didn't flinch.
I didn't hesitate.
The man I had been—the coward, the slacker, the waste of potential—he died in that explosion.
This was my reckoning.
This was my rebirth.
I took the quill and signed.
The ink shimmered gold.
The parchment burned.
And I felt it—power flooding into me.
My mind sharpened like a blade.
My heartbeat slowed. Focused. Controlled.
I was no longer Ty Gregory.
I was the man who would rise.
I was the mind that would build an empire.
I had a purpose now.
I could see through the flames.
Now I just have to reach them.
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