The King of Man 1 - Inheritor

The King of Man

Chapter 1 - Inheritor

By theMadLad

Beta’d by Oofwa and drasombo

It was the year of 1995, 4 short years since the establishment of the small country of Macedonia, located in Southeast Europe after a secession from the communist state of Yugoslavia shortly before its collapse.

Following the country’s new found independence, many children were displaced while families had too many mouths to feed with not enough food to go around. A few kind people who wanted to provide a place for these young children to grow without too much worry established an orphanage with the help of the new government’s support.

Although the new republic was only able to hand over some meager funds, they were just thankful their new country was able to get out of the now collapsed socialist Yugoslavia without much conflict right before shit hit the fan.

At the orphanage there were a bunch of children playing around a worn-out playground in excitement while some caretakers watched from the sides as they played.

Away from all the children playing however, was a small but strangely muscular child with bright red hair and an unnaturally cute face, who was alone off to the side exercising.

The caretakers watched him as he continued his exercises with the same intensity as each day before, it was strange seeing a child so focused and methodical—as if he was a man within a boy’s body.

But those notions were discarded thanks to his childish fantasies and ambitions.

Some of the caretakers still remember the day they had just started teaching the children to read and decided to ask them what they wanted to do when they grew up.

There were mostly normal answers most children gave such as ‘I want to be a doctor!’ or ‘I want to be a cosmonaut!’ with the occasional ‘I want to be rich and get back at mommy for abandoning me!’

But little red-haired Alexander’s answer deviated a bit too much from the norm, leaving the presiding caretakers speechless.

‘I want to take over the world!’

…At the very least they could respect the boy’s ambition.

(Alexander POV)

I don’t remember much of my last life—sometimes I even forget that I had one at all—but then again, that’s probably because I have been too focused on things lately to think about it.

I felt my tiny arms ache in pain as I performed one last push up before collapsing on the ground with a groan. My body was still too weak and small, but it was fine, I was still young and I’d eventually grow in time.

It was strange being reborn in the past, especially since I was born even earlier than my previous life, in Macedonia of all places!

In my past life I didn’t even know Macedonia was a country or even a language! It was hard adjusting at the start, learning this new language in this new place—hell, I still think in English after all.

At first, I thought I was in some place in Greece, but nope! Macedonia was a brand new country right above it. Ironically, the country was established right on my birthday in this life—September 8, 1991.

Well, at least I thought it was ironic. Then things started adding up. Too many coincidences—once was an accident, twice a coincidence, but three times? A pattern.

My looks were the first red flag, they were unnatural, not only supernaturally attractive but so different from those around me. With bright red hair and striking silver eyes, I looked very abnormal.

So I thought, ‘Ok, perhaps I have some kind of eye condition? Probably nothing too weird.’

Then the second red flag, my name—Alexander.

I only know one famous Alexander, and he was also from Macedonia.

Alexander the Great, one of the greatest kings in history. He had conquered a large portion of the world and was one of the most accomplished and charismatic leaders of all time.

Honestly, he only fell short to Genghis Khan in regards to conquering. But, there’s a reason one was called ‘the Great’ and the other a barbarian.

I tried to stop myself from jumping to conclusions, it was a stretch after all. I mean, what were the chances I was some kind of ‘speshul’ modern day Alexander or something? It seemed silly, but I had been reborn after all, any shred of skepticism had been stripped from me since and I was pretty much willing to accept anything.

Then the third red flag came, the dreams.

In those dreams I was seeing things from someone else’s eyes, but not like living a memory, more of a movie with an outsider's perspective.

…at least at the start.

It was a bit foggy when it had started but there were some things I occasionally remembered from it. Eventually, as the dreams grew stronger and the memories I received from them stuck firmer each morning, some of the emotions from the person I had been spectating started to gradually seep through.

The teachings of a great mentor, the death of a father, the weight of an empty throne, the thrill of conquest, and finally the mourning for an ambition unfulfilled.

As time passed, the dreams kept gradually clarifying and eventually the fog shrouding the memories seemed to unexpectedly lift and suddenly the true gravity of them hit me all at once.

It was Alexander the Great’s life—his memories, his feelings, his ambition.

‘So, I am his reincarnation of some sort.’ I thought to myself with a deadpan face. I didn’t quite like having his life story shoved into my brain but…then again, I also noticed some things that really stood out like…

‘Holy shit, Olympus is real?!’

The memories showed magic and wonders I had never seen before, blessings from gods and nations at war with them.

I remember thinking it was honestly both terrifying and exhilarating, then eventually…

“It was. But, I was not alone.”

…that voice appeared.

The voice had been that of a man, whispering right next to my ear.

The dream faded away, blurring into the background as I began to hear large footsteps approaching. I turned to see a large man, who absolutely dwarfed me in size. He had tanned skin, red hair with a beard, and large muscles covering his frame alongside a regal red mantle flowing from behind.

But that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the metaphysical presence the man gave off, like someone quite literally larger than life.

The man looked at me before his stoic face shifted in favor of a wide smile, “Rejoice inheritor! You are in the presence of a king! I am Alexander the Great!”

I was in awe.

Stuck between ‘What the fuck?!’ and ‘Holy shit, it's Alexander the Great!?’

He just chuckled while my mouth dropped to the floor.

“Now boy, I know you are older than you appear. So, I want to ask you a question…what do you wish for in life?”

Huh? My heart admittedly dropped a bit at the time as he most definitely knew about my reincarnation, something I had hoped to take to the grave.

But, I ignored it, suppressing it down and distracting myself with the thought about how it should be about time for him to explain what was going on!

“Oh. Actually, that would be a good start.” He responded with a feigned embarrassed smile.

Can he read my mind?!

“Yes but no. It is less me reading your mind and more me being a part of your mind...or more accurately your soul.” He affirmed.

“…Could you explain more?” I asked hesitantly.

“No need to be so shy boy! I am a part of you after all. To explain further, I am not one of your past lives or anything of the sort, but instead more of a faded soul latching on to your own.”

My mind blazed with possibilities, was he perhaps a body snatcher? How could I prevent it? Or was it something else?

“Don’t worry, I’m not something so malicious. This is a rare circumstance, as this meeting could be considered my boon.” He spoke before continuing on with a sigh, “I had passed away at the height of my empire, with my conquest leaving behind a kingdom that spanned entire percentages of the world. Upon my death, my soul had entered Elysium, bringing great glory to the gods.”

I listened intently as he spoke with a kind of magnetic attraction, directing my attention like a master musician with his greatest instrument.

“I was to be rewarded with a single request for my efforts! I had died of something as feeble as sickness, something which should’ve been impossible with the numerous blessings contained within my person. It was obvious foul play was involved, …perhaps a dispute between the gods?” He spoke seemingly to both me and himself, murmuring towards the end.

“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask.

…To kill him after he had brought such glory? Why would they do such a thing…?

He sighed before a grin crossed his face, “Does it matter? Perhaps I am irritated, but if I were to say I had any regrets?” His grin took his lips wider as he spoke further, “No! I have no regrets! My life was one lived to the fullest! A glorious life of a king!”

“For my reward, I asked to live once again in order to challenge the endless horizon once more! And with nothing but my body, defy heaven and earth to finally succeed in my conquest! My ambition!” He declared with a mighty laugh.

“But the gods had refused me. Disappointed, I was unable to do anything but compromise. If I were unable to complete my conquest, I would need another to do it in my stead.” He spoke as he turned, pointing to me.

“M-me?!” I stammered out.

“Indeed, I had asked for someone to inherit my spirit, the will of the conqueror! An heir to reach my impossible goal in my place!” He declared in a shout as he gave me a profound gaze before asking me his prior question, “Now, I ask of you…what do you wish for in life?”

I couldn’t answer, as I had know idea. I had died shortly before I turned 20, I hadn’t even managed to live two decades but fortunately through some kind of impossible luck……another chance had come my way.

But that wasn’t an excuse for lacking ambition, the man in front of me had lived only barely a decade longer than me and took over a portion of the world. What did I do? Nothing of note, just another name in the obituary.

“I-I want to be someone….someone without regrets.” I spoke, barely having the words come out before turning towards the towering man with conviction, “Someone like you.”

“Good, that dissatisfaction in you is a sign……that somewhere inside you, lies the heart of a conqueror.” He spoke in satisfaction before speaking once more but with a smirk that sent warnings down my spine, “But, your ambition is still too…SMALL!” He shouted before slapping my soul's avatar into the floor.

“Small?!” I shouted from the ground he had slapped me into.

“Indeed! You said you wanted to be somebody without regrets, and that’s all! That’s a goal, you need ambition to reach it!” He had responded, “Your ambition is too small!”

I contemplated his words as I sat up, he wasn’t…wrong. I had only said I wanted to be someone strong but didn’t expand on it. I dug up some of the memories Alexander showed me of battles between armies with blessings from gods.

This world was probably different from my own, more dangerous.

“I…want to be strong enough to take my fate into my own hands, strong enough to decide how I would want to go out—not from the whims of another.” I finally replied with ‘like you’ not needing to be said.

“Is that all?”

“I guess?” I replied hesitantly.

“SMALL!” He yelled again before slapping me back into the ground.

“Then what’s supposed to be big?!” I yelled in frustration.

He grinned before asking, “You said you wanted to be like me?”

“Yeah.” I affirmed, he had lived a fulfilling life without regrets, I was envious.

“Then I have a big goal for you.” He stated before staring into my eyes with a myriad of emotions before they slowly settled down into just one, conviction.

“Surpass me.”