《Number Of Virtues》 chapter 0 - I am... Iknownobounds. Iknownolimits. There was never one like me, but frommyhands, all willbecomemykin. Iamtheonethat changes. And Iamthe only one that can do so truly, thatknowthe way tobring to what is already . Theyaccusedme ofcorruptingminds.Icalledthemfoolsandfoolstheywere. Howlongittookthem tounderstand, that I neverchangedmindsbut always theworlditself? Tolong,fartolong. Iam victorious. Ihaveseenthroughpast present and future.Ihaveseenmyvictoryand in themomentwhenIhaveseenit, in awayitalready happened. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Manycalledmy change evil.AgainIcalledthemfoolsandagainfoolstheywere.Willtheyever comprehend that myonlyofferisabsolute beliefintheyowncapabilities?This absolute faith, that is keyfor real, never stained selflessness? Doubtful,theyhadso muchtimealready... I amfullofpiety.Frompietybornwasmylovefor .FrompietyIdesireto grand . Ihavenoenemies.No onecan trulygoagainst what onecannotunderstand.That is why, I do hate no one.HowcanIhatethemwhen theylackof understandingisnot their fault?HowcanIfaultthemfromnotunderstandingsomethingbeyond all?HowcanIhatethemwhen theystruggleis so meaningless? Icannot, soIdohateno one. Iamyourworstnightmare, you shallfearas allfearchange.And thereisnochangelike mine. Iamyour greatest hope,enjoy, as there wasnevermoredoorsfor you toopen. Yes, fear Yes,enjoy. Cry smile loveme hateme admire detest cheer panic bedelighted despair doubt relish... Look... I amcoming. chapter 1 - Altered Paths (1) ¡°dingding¡± Mark sighed deeply using familiar sounds of wind bells tied to thedoors, toregainhiscalmness. And then he steeled himself for the upcoming battle. Hecouldfeel, how hismusclestensed andfisttightened,almostwithout any conscious thought. Therewasnothingstrangein it, asthiswasalmostaritualatthispoint.An exhausting battle of will, thatheunderwentalmosteveryday, duringlasthalf ayear, whenhediscoveredthisplace. How many hislosesthisbuilding hadalreadyseen?Definitely more thanvictories¨Cguyswere simplytoogood.From whatheheard, theyhaddecadesofexperience,not evencounting supposedlyhundredsyears oftradition. Andhe?Hewasjust youreverydaystudent¨C fine maybe a little more than everyday¨Cthere were probably not many second yearstudentsofphysics, that feel confident ofpossessingall knowledge needed for their bachelor degree. Butheknewwell, thatthiskindofknowledgewas useless here, stillthisdidn¡¯t mean thathewas willing tojustgive up. Hisparentsdid notraiseacoward, damn it all! Hisheartthumped loudly, whenherealizedthat allthisthinking made his preparation timevanishin the blink.He wasalreadystanding before his todays opponent.Muscular man face was expressionless ¨Cclearlysignof aveteran, even hiseyes¨C Markknewthislook¨Cthiswereeyesthattoldyou''no hard feelings boythisisnothing personal'' while body won¡¯t show a shred ofmercy. Therewasno moretime.Thiswasit¨Ceyefor an eye,bloodforblood,fleshforflesh¨Cnothing but animal desire that left your soul bare all thewayto itscore.To apointwhereyoucouldnearlyhearthecryof aprimordialmonkey insideyou. ¡°One chocolate donut please.¡± ¡°Dollarand twenty-two.¡± ¡°I willpaybycard.¡± ¡°Thank youvery much.¡± *** Marklefthisnewfavoritebakery in good mood.Not only theystillhave "chocolate standard" event quite rare as late as hislessonsended in Tuesdays.Buthealso managed to steel hisresolveenough to buy only one. Nowhejustneededtokeepthis up and maybe add some exercises, andhewill definitely lose these ten pounds, thathegainedafter discovering place, that turned out to be the best bakery in thecity. Physics studenttookabiteandsmileddelightedby a snacks taste¡­ Just a secondbefore giant ''BANG!''soundof a crashed carknockedhim down and nearly tore hiseardrums. Shocked young manblinkedfewtimesandtriedtostand.Hewasnotcompletelysure, buthedidnotfeelanypain, sohewas probablyfine.Theworldaround seemed weirdly blurred, but fast check reassured him thathejustlost hisglasses.Markshookhisheadtrying tofindthem, but it didn''t seem that they wereanywherearound. Nomatter, his eyesight was good enough without them. Anddirectlybehind him, he couldseea midsized delivery car, with the completely crashed front, that hitstraightinto thewallof abuilding. Less than fifteen foots from him. Mark blinked by full five secondsimplystaring, before his sight fall on few unconscious people, that clearly did nothaveso muchluck. Therewasalotofred¡­blood? Thiswasamainstreet of abigcity, who thehellwasridingthis, and what he or she wasthinking?! Physics studentfeltunhealthy calmdescendingupon him, whenoldmemories about lessons teaching first aid and proper behavior duringaccidentskicked in. First¡­wascaronfire?He shouldrunif it wasright?Because¡­there canbeexplosion¡­but¡­no, therewerenoflames¡­ next¡­shouldhecallforemergency?Or look for victims first?Ugh¡­why wasn''t he more cautious inschool, all theseyearsago?You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. But hisearsseemed a little better, and in thismoment Markcouldhearfewpeoplearound talking nervously.Hisheadstill hurt, and constant ringing sound in hisearswas irritating, but he coulddifferentiatewordslike: "accident" , "come fast" and "6th Ave." So emergency was already called¡­ and thenextstep should be first aid, to the victims right?At leastheshouldcheckifhecouldhelpsomeone stop bleeding¡­therewerebodies¡­but surely not all were¡­d-dead¡­ Just fewstepswere enough tobringMark to closest person"body?"lyingdirectly next to thecrashed car.Theviewwas¡­farfrom pretty, butstudentclenched histeethandtriedtocheckthepulse¡­ Hisbrainnever actually managed toprocessthe giant flash oflight, that occurred right in thatmoment. And then there was nothing. *** Darkness¡­ Everywhere, as far as aneyecouldsee, there was nothing butdarkness. How long he washere? Day?Year?Minute? Nothingness¡­ Therewasnolighthere, nor floor or walls¡­nothing excepts from him. ActuallyMarkdoubtedthat there wasevenairhere.Or hisactualphysicalbody come tothinkof it. Therewassimplynothing. Nowait, that was incorrect¡­ Therewascertainlynolight, nothing "material" buttherewas¡­security. As much as Mark had no idea where or what thisplacewas, hecouldnot help but feltsafelike¡­there wassimply nothing here, thatcouldharmhim¡­ Granted, that from what hecouldsee, there was nothing in thisplaceat all¡­but thepointstill stands right? Don¡¯tjudgehim.He just died okay? ¡°Yes¡­that much is rather clear.I¡¯mdead.¡°Student¡­well now former studentcouldfeelthat his though got much clearerthan in last moments of hislife. ¡°come tothinkof it, I didn¡¯t hear any sound of breaking before thiscarcrashed¡­andif Idiedin aninstant¡­explosion?But thecarwas noton¡­¡°At this point realizationhithim like ahammer¡°Terroristattack?!Ugh¡­yesobviouslythiswasterrorist attack¡­therewasnowaythat someone woulddrivesofastin the middle on thecity¡­and if the carexplodedwhenIwasrightnext to it then there wasnowaythatIwouldsurvive.Ugh, a hundredtimes cursed religious fanatics!Did they not care at all about innocentpeople?For all gods sake, there couldbechildrenhere,peoplethat werereturningto theirfamilies!Peoplethatjustwanted¡­toeat¡­a donut¡­ugh¡­stupid,stupid!What an utterly nonsensical death,Ishouldjustrun Ishouldguess¡­¡° Tobefrank Markactuallyknew that he wastooharsh to himself¨Cterrorist attack was certainly one of thepossibilitiesof such astrangeaccident, but definitely not the only one.Adrivercould¨C forexample¨Cfaint orgetaheart attack, or car brakescouldjustfail¡­ Grantedthat last case wouldn¡¯t explained sheer speed, achieved byvehiclein themomentofaccident, but it is not like young physicistwasin the ideal position for drawing a properconclusion¡­ On thecontrarynowdespite his inside rumblings he felt unexpectedlycalm¡­too calm perhaps, for someone whojustdied. ¡°Isthis because I don¡¯t haveaglandsresponsible foranger?¡±somehow he didn¡¯tthinkthat¡­whatever his current formwas¡­Soul?Astral projection?Hadanequivalentof adrenaline. ¡°fine so again -I''mdead¡­canIdo something about it? -Obviouslynot,IamsurethatIwouldhearifpeoplecouldrisefromdead¡­Iwas not THAT of a shut-in¡­So thequestionis¡­what now?¡° Justlike itwasasignal, or perhaps suchthough really was one?EverythingEVERYTHINGstarted toburn. Theworldof,previously,darknesswasnowtheworldoffire, where wasnothingness,nowappeared flamesbeyondeverythingthat Mark hadevenseen,beyondeverythingthat he could ever imagine. Theywerebeautiful,theywerepowerful,theywerelikeoceanof the flowing gold, concentrated, focused, giganticbeyondall scope, more than that - infinite.Theywerelikesea,likehurricane,likeearthquake,theywerewater,theywereearth,air,lightning,thunder, metal woodbronzegoldsilverblastflowersmell¡­ Theyweresafety. Thisonethough,thisoneconfidence,that young soulfeelfrom themomentof hisappearancein thisweird afterlife didn¡¯t change.Thissecurityseemed tobea certain metaphysical quality ofthisplace, and that didn¡¯t change even after materialization ofthis¡­whateverthiswas, becausecallingTHAT afirewould be as adequate ascallingsun a firefly. Thatsaid, thisembodimentof everything that fire couldbeindeed did nothurthim. Oh, it was not, however, like it did nothing.Quite theopposite, Mark couldfeelchange instantly. He began to disappear. chapter 2 - Altered Paths (2) Or rather ¡°Mark¡± began to disappear. There was nothing wrong with his ¡°soul¡±, with his ¡°I¡±, but everything that was ''¡±Mark¡± ¨C his memories, experiences, knowledge and skills, was to be burned without trace. What he feel first was fear, or rather its shadow, a mere reflection, as it seemed that real fear did not have access to this place. It was burned first, in mere moment, and then there was only pace remaining. And it was within this pace where, with greatest astonishment in his existence, he comprehended that there was nothing wrong with what was happening. That this was¡­ proper, even if this meant that he will lose everything that differentiate him from others¡­ No, wrong. There was not even that. It was not like he will suddenly become one of the countless identical beings. There was more than that. He knew, he KNEW, that he would still be himself, unique in a way that only conscious being could be. Even if he did not understood how, even if this was illogical, there was such a confidence in him¡­ that there is something more. Sometimes, there are moments in people life that just could not be described. Moments that are impossible to spoke of, to close into any form, less they lose what made them so special. The feeling ofthesanctum, somethingsacred. This was what Mark experienced. Life starts. Continue. And ends. Al life. Endlessly. And yet¡­ THERE IS SOMETHING MORE! And let''s leave descriptions here. Anything more would be an insult. In the future being known once as Mark, would return in his thought to this moment many times, in many moments of his life. And yet no mater how powerful he will become, how many secrets he will get to know, or how far his sight will reach, he will inevitably think about this very moment as a both, tuning point and the real beginning. Because right in the middle of his vanishing, in this moment of euphoric enlightening something very deep in himshifted. The feeling was¡­ like putting last of ten thousands pieces of puzzle, like a millions, billions of parts belonging to machine complicated beyond any understanding, could finally work together in perfect harmony thanks to a single last cogwheel finally put in its place. Even if Mark did not understand what was going on, nor why, or how, but he could tell two things. First something very wonderful happened. Something that filled his heart with joy, and delight beyond anything that he ever felt.Beyond anything that he thought possible to feel. Second he now had a choice to stop vanishing. No this was also more complicated¡­ It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t have such a possibility earlier, it was the very act of deciding that was now possible to him¡­ like the books in the library that are allowed to read for everyone, and yet you can''t use them if youdon¡¯t know how to read. By short moment Mark was tempted to not make use of this new possibility. Such alluring was comfort offorgetting, of beingpurified, that even eternally curious student found it hard to reject this gift. Yet ultimately, curiosity won and flames backed of with haste. They did not vanish though, endlessly patient in their infinite eternal existence. Their presence making Mark realize that this was not a one-time decision, but rather something that he could revoke at any given moment. As long as he stayed at this place at least. The Flames backed further and blackened a little. Newly freed space reformed itself into shape that Mark found far more familiar. A stone pavement and road made from asphalt appeared under his foots¡­ because yes in an instant and without any warning he seemed to have a body again¡­Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. This place truly seemed more and more inconsistent, and crazy, and fascinating¡­ yes that too. Creation of¡­ environment that Mark supposed was next¡­ stage of whatever was happening, ended as abruptly as it started. Former student looked around with his newly regained body, only to see that he was¡­ on thebusstop.Yes certainly, as much as it sounded like madness, he was indeed at a very normal bus stop.It was not even in the city. As far as he could see, it was only this small building a single road and green meadows that seemed to stretch upon the horizon itself.Truly someone could think that it was just real world, that somehow he had managed to return from the dead¡­ if not for the complete lack of the sky. Indeed right to the line of the horizon everything seemed normal, green and bright like in the middle of day. But right above it everything went black.Sky was far darker than even during night, without any visible celestial body. The only shining thing was thin ring of familiar orange and gold Fire, constantly burning with its calming light, seemingly surrounding entirety of this new place. Mark stood here passively, right beside the road. Was he supposed to just wait here, until something will arrive to pick him up? This seemed so¡­clich¨¦. But somehow he knew that this was exactly what he should do and¡­well let''s say that messing with primordial powers of life and death didn¡¯t seemed to sound anywhere as funny when it was your soul at the stake. Besides whoever planned this entire place played quite fair, at least from what young man have seen up to this point. With safety and even gentleness being top priorities, or so Mark thought. There wasn¡¯t any way to measure time here, yet Mark felt that it was probably around half an hour before indeed despite how ridiculous it seemed, a bus arrived. It was actually quite plain in Mark opinion, toned green and blue in color and rather small. Well, he was going to be the only passenger anyway. Or so he thought. And oh, boy was not it a surprise? *** ¡°So I suppose I¡¯m dead now, huh?¡± ¡°Certainly¡± This was definitely one of the weirdest beginnings of a dialogue in Mark life, but this was definitely something he was set dead on to confirm. No pun intended. And yet he was here now, sitting in comfort in Yes! Let''s say this clearly again - a bus. Or maybe this wasThe Bus¨C Some kind of metaphor of a Journey or something¡­ Whichever deity was responsible for it He or She ¨C definitely lacked imagination. He tried to look outside, through the window on his left side, but could see only darkness, with the faint orange glow in the horizon. Indeed environment, that was earlier as bright as during midday (despite lack of any real source of light) changed itself into a night time in moment when bus started to ride. Without a driver just so you know. Anyway thankfully it was not the unpleasant kind of darkness, but rather a calming one. He always liked riding at night especially as a passenger. There was something pleasant, nearly hypnotizing in silent voice of an engine and slow, delicate swinging of a vehicle. Some of his best memories consisted on sitting like this. Mark shook his head, to broke from unnecessary thoughts and focused on the only passenger here besides of him. the Girl was more or less his age, maybe a little younger? Or at last she looked like this. She was beautiful with her brown hair and slightly tanned skin, though rather in cute than gorgeous way. Her face was¡­ expressionless perhaps even bored. Fact that make Mark thankful for her not forcing conversation during last few minutes. Giving him time to calm himself. Because maybe the truth of an existence of the after life was reassuring, but after being welcome in the after life byendless sea of fire, even he needed a moment to get a hold of himself. ¡°but analyzing THIS memory is something better left for another time. Assuming that there will be another time for me.¡°Thus his thought returned to the girl. Mark read more than enough stories during his life to not suspect at least who she might be and yet¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t really look like a god, no offense intended.¡± ah, he was not to rude right? ¡°Non, taken¡± Girl voice was lively and very¡­ earthly, not suitable even to her expressionless face, and even less to some kind of highly supernatural origin. ¡°and when there is nearly infinite number of meanings by which a word ¡°god¡± can be understand, I would certainly no suit most of them. No doubt I am nor the ¡°creator of existence¡± nor ¡°omniscient, omnipotent being.¡± And no, I don¡¯t know if someone like that exists, and I¡¯m also not serving as any kind of administrator of reincarnation process. ¡± While not unexpected for Mark this response was¡­ disappointing. ¡°¡­ So no Great Mystery of the Universe or Meaning Of Life from you?¡± Mark decided to spoke after short moment of silence. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry-¡° To his great surprise girl bowed deeply in the gesture of apology. ¡°N- no it is fine rell-¡° ¡°-but this information is classified¡± ¡°YOU MEAN YOU KNOW?!¡° ¡°That was a joke.¡° Mark was left speechless for a moment.¡°So or really bored, or just weird¡±he thought. ¡°Did you feel better now?¡° ¡°or maybe just considerate¡± Ex-student punched himself mentally for being judgmental. Besides she was actually right, it was amazing how much few peaceful sentences and one moderately competent joke could help in stabilizing his mental state. chapter 3 - Altered Paths (3) ¡°I know well that seeing Gehenna Flames can be quite traumatics, for ones that managed to remain conscious and hold most of their memories. That said, even with help you seem to accustom yourself fairly well¡± Girl stopped for a moment before taking a water bottle from the seat on the right from her. This made Mark look right to his pair-seat. There was exactly the same bottle there. It would probably make him wonder if not for a fact that, considering his situation, he probably should not care about physical laws to much. Still possibilities that it opened¡­ ¡°besides¡­ praise, expectations, and something to hold myself to¡­ ¡° it was like speaking to a psychologist¡­¡°and I definitely didn¡¯t miss the reincarnation keyword, but that is ridiculous, I¡¯m not some main character from the isekai novel! " ¡°Or maybe it is not surprising at all?¡° Girl continued to speak after taking a sip. Did he actually even ask for her name? Mark rewinded conversation in his mind, before acknowledging that he indeed did not. ¡°Wait, then why exactly you are there? You don¡¯t want to tell me that you are just human like me right? If so then there is no reason that we are the only two people here. And if you could tell me your name-¡± ¡°Levi¡± ¡°mhm?¡° ¡°That is my name. I am¡­ The closest possible answer in your tongue will be "Sentient Spell Matrix. "¡° ¡°You are¡­ a kind of magical AI? ¡° Mark looked at her surprised.¡°Speak about uncommon things really.¡± ¡°While that is not completely incorrect, I was born as a living being, and I always tried to stay¡­ a living being, so I would oppose the word "artificial." ¡° This was probably a delicate subject, so Mark decided to not get drawn into it. ¡°I was always tolerant, so it is fine for me either way. Nice to meet you then Levi, and I am wrong with assuming that you are avoiding rest of the questions? ¡° what have happened after that was long while of silence before Levi finally spoke silently. ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t actually know where to start¡­ ¡° Again long while of silence. ¡°then start from beginning¡± Mark smiled ¡°I know nothing about this place, but I at least can feel that we have a time¡­ enough of it¡± ¡°Enough¡­ yes, that is a good description. Not to long, not to short¡­ enough, there is always enough time in this place¡± His conversation partner did not responded with a smile but rather with a scowl. But finally she seemed to continue. ¡°you must understand that where your soul-forming was a given- no, please do not stop me I will respond on your questions later¡­ when it was given, chances of you holding to your memories and being conscious during next part was astronomically small. I used advices from few psychological corses ¨C conscious archives ¨C on the beginning of our conversation, but that was never part of the plan. And now I have to think how much I should tell you. And before you ask for it I can not tell you everything. Maybe I never will¡­ in the original plan you should know nothing upon being born. And in a way it would be for the best. Perhaps, you will grow faster with your memories but if you know to much to early it WILL be disastrous¡­ as it would be if I won''t tell you enough, and you decide to perceive me as an enemy. Because I am not your enemy, not now and at lest not in foreseeable future. That I am certain, since someone like you will sooner or later find yourself on the same side as me¡­ as one¡¯s that created me¡­If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. I said to you, that I am no God, and that I don¡¯t know if someone like that exists. This, are both truths. However, if you ask me if I believe¡­ then I don¡¯t. I have no faith left from time longer that you can imagine. Yes, if you ask about my own opinion then we are alone. Ah, I can see that you disagree with me, that is fine, I am not here for this kind of discussion. What I want to say is... there may be, or may be not God, but there surely is, a struggle, and pain, that you agree to feel for others, and heart full of desire to protect¡­ And sacrifice¡­ there were once entire races that given themselves for this and I¡­ ¡° she opened her arms just like she wanted to show herself fully. A girl nearly, but with eyes of steel that shined with pride and wisdom. And something... else. ¡°¡­ I am their struggle.¡± Former student looked at his conversation partner while straightening himself. There was definitely power in her words one that make him nervous. All of this didn''t seem like a laughing matter. ¡°This is a lot to take on¡± he responded ¡°But you actually did not explain anything, if it really is so important-¡± ¡°- just think about it as, me trying to set the atmosphere¡± Levi smiled sadly when breaking into his sentence.¡°After all it would be very clich¨¦ to tell you, that you are going to be reincarnated into the world of so-called "swords and magic"¡± Hearing such a ridiculous sounding words Mark send the young woman uncertain smile, while thinking that it would be much more funny if not for the still gloomy atmosphere. ¡°Too defeat the demon king? Or something like that?¡±that could be interesting. While Mark was not a warrior nor a child, he always loved heroic stories. ¡°Demon kings are not really a problem, do what you want with them. I shall not say why and against who I am sending you. This is one of the things that must remain a mystery... for now at least¡± He sure though too optimistically, hoping for straightforward answer, did he? This entire matter seemed more and more shady with every moment.Young man sighed and took a thinking pose. ¡°And my cooperation will be guaranteed by... ?¡± He remembered to not sound too rude. Antagonizing someone capable of manipulating reincarnation itself was usually very bad decision. ¡°Nothing¡± she shook her head ¡°your participation was never in question, this was one of the reasons why we have altered paths. Mark Taylor ¨C as you are now ¨C or even as you will become in the future, will not be able to go against us and still stay as himself.¡± ¡°so you want to say that my... character itself is your guarantor? You must know awfully lot about me...¡± - Young man tried to make his voice stay indifferent. ¡°I know just enough¡± - he heard a response.¡°The main reason why you were chosen was different though¡± For Mark this was actually quite obvious. He may have a good character, maybe even nearly heroic one, if granted proper circumstances, and be very intelligent. But the same could be said of many other people, even just on his own planet... well now his former planet. Certainly if he could think about something special about him then... ¡°This is about what happened right after I died right? This... enlightenment? I really don''t think that I could name it properly...¡±He waited for answer eagerly. he was worried but he was curious as well, what exactly happened in that moment? ¡°Yes, Your soul finally forming was predicted long time ago, and arrangements to take advantage of this situation started appropriately.¡± ¡°Advantage?¡± He noticed. Levi sighed.¡°Actually I have done a lot less than you are probably thinking now. Your death was natural. There was no need to speed anything, not only it would introduce an unneeded variable. As weird as it may sounds to you, altering time flow between two dimensions is actually easier than influencing one of them from the other, even in the most minimal way. All that I have done was to make sure, that you will be reborn in the proper time and place. Don''t misunderstand, you WILL be reborn anyway I just... ¡± ¡°Altered paths?¡± He ended instead of her remembering that she used this expression a moment ago. She just smiled slightly in response ¡°Yes, and now to give you some explanations. And this is where my role ends¡± ¡°But¡± he groaned ¡°you really are very skimpy with it. You did not say anything about this soul-form, was this not supposed to be most important of all?¡± That said the last few sentences made him feel less uneasy. At least it did not seem that Levi ¨C and whoever was beside her ¨C had any bad intentions. And If what they expected of him was something that he would want to do regardless... Then does it even matter? He wondered how much of this reaction was planned, as Levi already acknowledged that she had access to psychological "programs". chapter 4 - Altered Paths (4) ¡°...It is very important¡± He finally heard girl reply. ¡°but I am still trying to think how much exactly I should tell you.¡± Visible struggle on her face made Mark heart ache a little. ¡°Then just say as much as I could easily learn when I will be reborn... you know from books and all...¡± But girl only shook her head again. ¡°Most information that you could ¡°easily¡± find about soul-forms would be or completely incorrect, or merged with so many assumptions and suppositions that they would be useless... rather than lie, it will be better if don''t say anything.¡± She stopped for a moment probably considering doing exactly that. But finally tanned girl spoke again ¡°let''s start from that... I believe that I don''t need to convince you about existence of both souls and rebirth? He just smiled and nodded. There was nothing to add considering his situation. ¡°Once a representative of intelligent species is born, it is born with a pure soul. During his, her... or it, since intelligent species are not limited to one''s possessing gender... life, all memories, experiences, everything that make a person...¡±person¡± is ¡±written¡± into the soul. From the beginning to the end, and in difference to memories stored in a brain it will never fade or vanish... Since souls itself are absolutely indestructible and impossible to affect by anything with a single exception. And now we will come to it. You see Mark, when life of a person with soul will end, the soul itself is going through a cycle of rebirth. A mechanism... could it even be called that? Existing outside of space, time or laws of any dimension. Before It will be reborn though, as an another life, it needs to be ¡°purified¡± from life that has already ended.¡± ¡°Flames¡± Mark murmured, conclusion being obvious. ¡°Yes, Gehenna Flames ¨C And before you ask, this is just translation of a name given to it by race that created me. No one knows its true name... or rather it most likely doesn''t have anything like that. Anyway, Gehenna Flames are responsible for purification of the souls. They look terrifying, but like you have just experienced, process itself is not only not painful, but borderline pleasant.¡± ¡°At least that much mercy from the universe huh...¡± Mark joked, and Levi smiled kindly. ¡°I suppose. But please listen for a moment longer, I am going straight to the most important part. You see this is where things are starting to become tricky. Apparently, not everything is getting purified. And I did not mean any leftover memories or similar cases, they are something completely different. It is more like... the shadow of shadow, of what you have done properly, while with agreement with your soul itself... It is... a little like karma but only a good one...ugh.¡± She tightened her lips with clear irritation. ¡°It is more difficult to explain it with only human language than I thought. Human mind may be barely capable of understanding the idea, but nearly all human languages are lacking in basic concepts... Fine it is not exactly that, but lets stay with this ¨C as long as you are working hard to better yourself, stay in agreement with your soul, and restrain yourself from self ¨C destructing behaviours, something that many would call ¡°doing evil¡± your soul with each next incarnation is collecting changes on itself, layer upon layer. And in certain moment, in proper circumstances this changes reach critical mass and... the soul takes shape.¡± again Levi stopped while looking even more irritated than earlier. ¡°It is immeasurably more complicated obviously, actually what I have just said is nearly half a lie... But I really don''t know how to explain it better.¡± She growled. And Mark made sure to just sit politely and didn''t complain. Transcended magical existence was one thing, but you don''t criticize a girl when she is that irritated. ¡°Anyway,¡± the girl said giving up on exploring the subject. ¡°once soul is formed, it is like ascending into completely different level-¡± ¡°Wait! Wait a moment! I don''t feel anythink like that, though?¡± It was true. He had though that it will be like that from the beginning, but it really sounded like a big deal, so why Mark hadn''t felt different at all? The person sitting in front of him didn''t look surprised, though. She just raised her hand and started count on her fingers.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°First,¡± she continued ¡°there is no real difference between knowledge possessed by newborn of a cat or a human right? This change is more about potential than immediate effects.¡± ¡°Two,¡± she raised a second finger ¡°you are now not even alive, this place ¨C It exists outside of both time and space, and even rules of cause and effect. To truly change you first need to live. And you are not alive now. Even this body of yours, ¡± she glanced at his silhouette ¡°is nothing more than a force of habit an interface created because you believe that you should stay... constant? Whole? This place itself is like that too ¨C a metaphor created on basic of your previous world logic. It doesn''t truly exist. ¡± she stoped for a second. Mark tried to hide his embarrassment, after he remembered how he thought about a person that created a bus as a way to reincarnate someone as clearly lacking imagination. ¡°three...¡± Levi hesitated again. ¡°or maybe I should say two and half ? The point is, that while act of shaping a soul is strictly connected to it, and thus "outside" of any kind of influence. By an act of existing in living being, formed soul is inevitably affecting a dimension itself. The effects... vary according to dimension you are in -¡± ¡°And in this one that you are sending me?¡± Mark could not restrain his curiosity. But a moment later he felt disappointment when Levi shook her head. ¡°I will leave this one as a surprise. You will know soon enough anyway ¡± She looked at him for a while longer likely thinking about something.¡° Well this are not really hard data or anything¡± She spoke ¡°just very probable theories of people that created me. Since pure amount of examples is far to low to truly understand phenomena itself... Well, this is it I suppose. I have probably said all that I should.¡± Again a short moment of silence, but this time it certainly didn''t looked, like she was going to add anything. ¡°Could you at least tell me more about the world where I will be reborn?¡± This was crucial information. If he was going to be safe and successful, then he needed to know how he should behave and- ¡°Discover it yourself.¡± Aaand it was useless. Mark growled silently. But he did not give up. ¡°Then something about circumstances of my rebirth?¡± ¡°You will know soon enough.¡± He heard and Mark could not help but though that rejection of girls were always merciless. Well, it was not like he was completely without information. Considering the claim of a girl before him (he still was not completely sure, if he should believe in here every word just on the face value) of only altering what was natural, he was pretty sure that he will be reincarnated as a newborn baby... irritating but hopefully give him time for gathering informations. He smiled, if he was capable of thinking like this then he must have finally calmed properly and accepted what was happening. It seemed that both his intellect and his adventure spirit were back with him! Granted that it was adventure spirit that up to this point was used only in PC games but it was besides the point! Anyway back to conversation. ¡°Could you really not tell me anything more?¡± he asked with hope. ¡°Nope¡± Levi voice was silent but firm.¡° And it does seem that our time is ending anyway.¡± ¡°huh?¡± Mark looked around trying to see any difference ¡°didn''t you said that we have enough time?¡± ¡°Enough¡± she nodded ¡°just enough, and now this ¡°enough¡± is ending¡± indeed in this moment Mark could see like everything inside ¨C and outside, like he noticed after looking through the window ¨C was vaporizing into white fog. It seemed that it indeed was time to said goodbye. ¡°So putting it bluntly,¡± he decided to summarize everything ¡°you, or people that created you... not really important at this moment. Well, you discovered that on certain point in the future after my death, I will obtain a ¡°special power¡±, or something similar and decided to make sure, that I will be reborn in their world. All of that while not telling me why, but ensuring my cooperation simply by fact that I will do what they want me to do by my own will anyway...¡± What was he though again, quite creepy considering that they would need a very exact psychological profile to make this kind of sure-thing assumptions... But then again, he doubted, that people whose actions needed words like ¡°dimensional manipulations¡± and ¡°outside of cause and effect¡± to be described properly will have problems information-wise. ¡°Masterful summary,¡± Young girl nodded in appreciation ¡°it is as full of holes as it possibly could be, but it really is the best that you could do with your current knowledge.¡± ¡°If so then it does not sound so bad for an afterlife¡± Mark said with a thoughtful face. White fog already vaporized everything outside of a bus and most of its insides as well. Right now only not-white space consisted of seats and small fragment of a floor. Former student looked at the girl before him, but it did not seemed, like she intended to speak again. If someone told him yesterday that soon he would find himself in situation straight from some kind of novel he would... well he would probably just ignore it and go his way... But since it have happened, since he really was now in some kind of isekai-like story, he could as well act as a hero of one. Or at least one, that behavior he appreciated. So before nothingness of change finally devoured everything, he had reached out with his hand. ¡° It truly was nice to meet you. I hope that this is not the last time.¡± Mark was surprised, when girl responded instantly squeezing his hand without hesitation. And then there was nothing. Again. If Mark would still posses his mouth in that moment he would probably smiled. Her hand, after all, was warm exactly like a human should be. chapter 5 - Altered Paths (5) Levi ¨C now alone - sat staring at her hand. She did no longer sit on a simple chair, though. Environment rebuilt itself right after her "guest" (could she even call him that? After all it was her that wandered into his private space) vanished. Right now, it was a simple room, and seat changed itself into a comfortable armchair. The subject of her though was obvious. All this reincarnation matter was not one where errors were acceptable. But knowledge that no plan can withstand reality was ancient, and outcome was far from the worst. There were also no big deviations, no matter how many times she checked. Acceptable. This was... acceptable. Subject maintaining most of his memories was unexpected but acceptable. Psychological portrait and attitude were acceptable. The stowaway was expected, he would probably make contact with this young man about now, but things that he could do were very limited. And it was impossible to track soul to a place where it will be born. Not even the "crazy sage" will be able to do it. Or should she now call him a clock after his endeavor succeded? Poor man, even if what he had done to himself won''t destroy him, it will sentence him for great pains. Next reason why she should not worry about his premature interference. And without possible danger, his contact with young man could even be beneficial. This was acceptable. She tightened her hand into a fist. Stronger and stronger until she felt pain. And then opened it, single drop of blood concentrating in the center from injury made by her nails. Cuts closed and vanished instantly, even before drop finished to form. Moment later small, but perfect red orb levitated into the middle of the room. It swelled in moment into many times it size and exploded. Created red fog formed multiple shapes, thirteen bigger orbs, one with the greatest diameter in the center and tweleve others rotating around it, themselves and around their own axis. This twelve had various sizes, the greatest being maybe half as big as the central one, where smallest was maybe one hundred as large. Their rotation itself was incredibly complicated, something that could even be called beautiful by a person that liked this kind of things. Levi had seen it far to often to care. Seven other symbols that appeared were far more important to her. They levitated around five places on a few orbs, and had completely diffirent shapes. A clock, that looked like a pocket one. Figurine of a warrior with a shield - a guardian. A sword, with truly beautiful ornaments. A small orb similar to one in center, of this entire construct but one that was shining with golden light, despite being made from red blood. The sun. And finally a chain. Simple piece of work without any addition. Levi sighed and complicated model shrunk and levitated between her hand. Oh how she hated this view. This was Taihon, star system that was one of the three piercing ¨C worlds. Or anchor-worlds. To have it closed between your hands, almost like waiting for your action. To have all most important figures to it present, and future showed strigh before you... For a lesser, being it could be extatic. Worse person would probably think about itself as a puppeteer, controller. She did not have similar illusions. And If she ever had, then they vanished thousands of years ago, when sword and guardian rose to power. She knew well that there was point in time, where they almost decided to kill her and certainly had a possibility to do so. One more time, she felt annoyed at her creators for their decision to close her existence in the body of a young woman. Oh, she did understand well, why she had to be living and sentient creature, she could also understand choice, of a human ¨C the most common, most diverse, and potentially the most powerfull species. Lastly, she had nothing against women at all. But the young part angered her for thousands of years. Because this was youth exactly, what made her so afraid of death. With enough time someone old can accept that he will die. The same could even happen to people in middle age, with enough wisdom, but someone whose body was barely an adult? No matter how old was she, her body, her brain, her spirit always feared to die. And that was why from thousands of years, from time when she was almost killed, she hated her role and hated this view. But it was not like she ever had a real choice. Oh, she was not forced. It was far worse, she just know exactly what will happen if she will fail. So she waved her hand and model divided. Most of it flowed at the side, leaving three newest addition alone on it previous place. In woman mind this three were of similar, great importance, even if each of them characterized different circumstances. Chain was destined. Clock expected.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Sun was a surprise. Levi bite her lips. There was little that she could do about a clock, and she "cared" about the sun for more than half a year already, despite danger associated with it. Taihon was a world of immense importance, and inhabited by more than just two beings capable of posing a threat to her. She did not intended any harm, but maybe it will be better to leave further tampering to Protection... Levi smiled a little when she remembered this part of her conversation with Mark. Struggle, Pain, Protection, Sacrifice. During her talks with the reincarnating boy she named every one of them. How funny it was, when the boy treated it as some kind of metaphor, when the truth was so much more...direct. But then again, the boy itself was the most important at the current moment. She did not know what kind of form he will take, but optimal place and circumstances of his birth were already decided. Chain was an interesting shape, but there was no need to change anything. No, it was more than interesting... It was no special... well speaking about formed souls as not special was probably completely mad on its own right, but it was no more special than others. The problem was why... why chain? This was something that she was unable to comprehend. Each soul always takes completely unique shape, but it must be something that will somehow show its... "meaning" its "essence". The Sun was the most ideal example, you just needed to look at her, and there will be nothing other that you could truly compare this child too. And she only barely started to crawl. She looked at the image of a chain once more. If at least this was chain used to connect things, more like a cord, she could understand... But no, image clearly showed something made from solid hard metal, that would rather be used to tie a dangerous criminal than to connect anything. It was not that such a form was impossible, but boy did not seemed like one that could take such a shape, not at all. And Levi had a lot of experience, she refused to believe, that she would not be able to recognize character of a brat with barely two decades of memories and knowledge at his side. And that was why this shape bothered her. Variables were needed, but it doesn''t mean that she liked them. They were needed but also dangerous. Well, there was nothing that she could currently do to solve this riddle. ...No, this was not exactly true, it could be a little dangerous, but there was something that she could do. Actually this was something possible only now. She tightened her teeth. There may be no other location, so she needed to work fast. The sun and clock flowed on the side leaving chain alone between her hands. Her palms and fingers moved so fast that they blurred, and after a moment the same happened with her lips. Thin ribbon-like stream of blood flowed from her forehad and covered her hands, before she delicately touched symbol of a chain. While it was not flashy at all, what she was trying to do now, in this room beyond normal space and time, was an absolute peak of magic. In the first place manipulating someones soul was something wildly know as both impossible, and extremely dangerous. While souls could not directly influence anything, their power itself was quite literally infinite, and when they themselves were indestructible. They were possible to change. Paradoxical it was actually why trying it was so dangerous. Souls didn''t like to be changed in any way except the natural one, and they showed they anger on the mind of any caster that would try it in very VERY violent way. Activating a natural defense mechanism of a multi-dimensional construct with nearly infinite power, was basically as stupid you could get, expecially when manipulation af a mind, could bring mostly the same result, without nearly as much danger. Obviously what Levi tried to do now was not manipulation ¨C even leaving aside danger, she would never decide, on something like that purely do to ethical concerns. No, what she was trying was investigation. Even this would be immeasurable dangerous in a normal situation, but present time was far from normal. The key point was that Mark still yet not incarnated. Whatever clock was using him for it was taking a while. And until he incarnated, his soul had existed in this OTHER place and was protected not only by its own power, but also by natural laws of reincarnation. Ironically it was this additional protection that made Levi decide that trying to investigate his soul was safe enough. Like a human slumbering in safe place, or child looked by its parents, souls had they protective reactions dulled for as long as they remained here. She was sure that she wouldn''t provoke any response, as long as she will only watch. So she touched. And immediatelly pure hatred burned her fingers to the bone. She did not scream, pain was to sudden for this. Instead, it made her thrust all air from her chest while all blood-constructs around exploded into mist. She was not a being of battle and was not used to this kind of pain, later she even wondered if she ever felt something similar in the past. A second later when recovering-sub systems activated regrowing her fingers instantly, and when she regained clearness of mind one thought appeared here instantly. "What was that?" She was sure that it was not act of self-protection, or it won''t end with just destroyed fingers. Attack would be mental, and it will take days for her to regain her full mind capabilities. But if this was not conscious response, then what have happened was, somehow, result of her body just making contact with Mark soul. But that was a nonsense, while not strictly impossible, that would mean that young man soul taken its shape around hate... What would partially explain strange shape... But the very concept of soul shaped through hate was ridiculous, not only there was nothing in Mark life that could lead to such a result (and this included not only his recent life but many, many previous up to the point when his soul was found countless of years ago) but hate itself was almost as self-destructive feeling as you could get, it should rather make shaping harder, than serve as its core. So the most obvious conclusion was impossible, could she try to uncover more? Levi though for a moment while considering her possibilities. But no... She couldn''t try soul-investigation again. Even in this place doing it more than once on the same soul was far too dangerous... And she didn''t delude herself, that she could uncover from studying Mark previous life more than programs that worked on it by millennia. Did it even change anything? Again no, it was very unexpected but do to their unique circumstances chance of soul-shaped existence being danger to her creator plans, were almost nonexistent. ¡°Just like existence of THIS kind of soul form¡± She rejected this though instantly. Still according to preliminary analysis as incomplete as they were, sun and chain would only have a positive effect on each other, up to the point were plans leading to this two meeting, were already made. Just in the case, maybe she should request of speeding this up even more. chapter 6 - Altered Paths (6) seconds that Mark found out that something was . Having your caught by a strange with a smile is a indicator, especially when you in on its own.alive ¡°Can I a of your young man? send a down his . He didn''t feel in , but could end , for him at least. he the face up close, and what truly shocked him. This was visibly in , no just in , .lot if shaking facial muscles and visible drops of sweets any indicator. suffer so much HERE?suffer at all HERE?moment of his instinctual confidence about of this .be in here.also impossible to be hurt here, so how this could in such a ? young man , if won''t stop might get .¡± You are , whatever are , it is probably for , have no idea ¡± THIS him ¡°, mister Mark my private matter, don''t worry about it.you before . difference before ''will '' and '' to ''.He briefly wondered if other have nearly as much troubles with them being reborn as .probably sleep through rest of the after the Flames. Lucky bastards. Well, it was not was really as made himself sound was inside his own head) always about things, but as a born physicist to from the basics and all the up to the most complicated formulas. was someone that somewhere there could an entire library of a completely new science subject, only to nothing more than few most complicated equations, without any basics for to hold to. So me to before I reincarnate?¡± Yes¡± have to ? There no to .harm him when was already dead right? strange man''s seemed to prove differently, but was it something that him specifically.he was to any other possibility. call me by the .¡±Stranger smiled and for a little moment young man thought that he didn''t looked anywhere that old, actually. Mar-¡± Forgive me for unnecessary to retrieve something from Ideal¡± Mark for unknown man into his ¡°Ideal a specifical on the of , and non-existence, well this like that too, but Ideal is a little more into side...are...complicated, and even I don''t them completely.long time ago I there something very precious to me, looks like ¡± man...Koeth his , and three-dimensional illusion instantly appeared abov, presented like a tube made from teen-odd rings was barely ten centimetres long, and maybe two centimeters wide.were movable parts.Every of hexagon a glowing letter...Painted , but Mark was somehow to how this looked exactly. just need this .More or less , in your , and won''t be to .it I will my on .You reincarnate with a with ...way.care how , or if to from , consider this as a for me retrieve .you that one day I would ring again. You that children aren''t naturally born with metal parts?coul-¡± I ''in a him once ¡°don''t underestimate me, it will be .¡± I am if can just belive ¡±Still it didn''t like other choice, so to comply anyway. But before former student opened mouth to it growled threateningly. you ?¡±Older man face contorted into the somewhere between and pain.more and more of sweet on his forehand.I don''t what she you, but would no in any of or of from such a ¡±remained silent while his conversation partner few deep breaths.I have broken and defeated people ¡±continued, already a little calmer.girl even worse than them, she someone, that had given up. that in .you really can NOT me anyway.you are willing to stay here until my will , and this . Well, I to agree anyway¡± Mark the doubtful look in his new acquaintance eyes.full speed. Koeth'' could lie, but he somehow that...did not promised him anything, what was best proof that this , at the least didn''t know the entire situation, nor even as of their .just this?make someone negative towards another , that to her as someone who had ''given up''. knew that, then this before him probably as well... Then I will you off.probably won''t meet for quite a time. forced to his when his and he was instantly sucked into the colorless whirlpool of light-bending power. It quite a particular experience, at least as far as art sense could , the itself seeming like blurred a of the itself... border of his , as most of was by thoughts. Snap a ?guy as one with arrogance ¡± *** he agreed to easily. considering Thank !) indeed still completely , and under careful protection he already to was to all between their . he severely underestimated how different this ''Ideal'' will .he certainly was far from direct definition of its ... Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. was no here.instead in the , you could three gigantic radiating with light . Yes . bells?fact that nearly half of the bell-free sky was covered by multiple wings from the tree, visible somewhere far in the . actually make the third gigantic figure ¨Ckind shaped tower that something that was half-melted and few to much, almost normal in . not want to think about snake-shaped void space that to your very sight whenever you it. assume, this reincarnation ¨Cspace that he while strange was a destined for...well living, for the of words. Ideal¡± was not.plants here, but no .At least not a one'', and could that every around different than them previously. was only the next reason, why should to work fast. problem with that as well. Since he could clearly feel not one but two in his .make or with accordance to an of the , him by , in . not be .He was seriously starting a here, as nothing with him and reincarnation seemed to be straightforward.At least . he then go only for the or for this other thing too?quite obvious, a to himself and to something in completely safe, though strange environment was without any . Not telling, that , that up to this him sure that if to be reincarnated into and '' world, would to be able to the of over his . Well, was relatively , that the time flow and , were something that ¨Ceven nearly in this world , but if already was involved with like that, then it only more to up , and later work hard to better his . journey to first, image-independent instance briefly wondered if this what Levi thought when she about him '' anyway''.example Mark simply imagine throwing into all fantastical things that '' and '' world probably offer. journey itself was actually .In the first it did seem that of '''' in this was the same as what he was to.Here it seemed more ...intend than . environment, somehow lost a to look around after pseudo ¨Cliving with many, TO many .Rocks were to have eyes.not supposed to at you they were hungry as well. journey he was , that was to him showed to a completely normal-looking one-handed sword. Of was for Mark that there was that any normal weapon.it was not a where could anything normal even if .Yes, the surely was hiding its own secrets. took a ''s , flashed with a light and vanished. Surprised, Mark take a step back, but nothing suspicious , both and his to it disappearing without a . Almost, since he clearly could something...additional in his hand.So he and indeed on the inside side of his there was a visible scar. it , Mark decided that not the and that he would to left researching this scar for later. not being actually was helpful as well.concerned it have around of an and two with , and a group of something that a and what golden points of that somehow was still visible, despite not any size, to his and hopefully ¨C crater that found here was on the good mile, and deep on at least a hundred , Though sincerely speaking already somewhat accustomed himself to many in this being made far that they should.crater itself was clearly with that long already reclaimed what was most likely barren land many ago.made Mark uneasy that of his clearly in its centre, since this was where you could that , well...cause of a ... He , but again, didn''t have any clue what exactly was going on. Once, into inside and closer to ''s ¨Che , at least until would '' name - around ring itself there were sparkling points someone spilled a glass here. He didn''t consider strange that they were in was probably nonsensical expect in a that completely existed, at least if what said to him was true.this when anyone could in they . words themselves when understandable, didn''t compose into any sensible sentence.around ring in apparently random intervals, Mark for a to all of them. felt slight shiver running through his . knew of some , like Odin runes, that where as much mystical, as they were a part of a .were some difference, this words here, were similar to supposed meanings of these . ¡°, ¡± his to ¡°Things on the showed to me by this guy, were , as well, and if these their , then it is somehow connected to in my world...I am into it to much...let''s , that things have a tendency to...universe to another, am that once read about such a , if these runes ...¡± he refused to any thing ¡°Then it would not be to strange for some of them to in ...different . ring.look it closely, he , that actual number of lesser twelve, with glowing on entire with a faint light, They indeed similar to one'' in his , at leat as much as someone who had them barely few in his .rune on each of a hexagon it seventy-two overall.there twenty-four around, and am that this alphabet consisted from twenty-four '''' on Earth as well, so or some , or is something that don''t .¡± know...and how much did he know ? Shaking his touched ring that flashed and flowed his hand.He didn''t have time to in his as with this flash everything blurred and vanished him alone black nothingness. last thought, lost , at least not will even be actually born. chapter 7 - interlude - a single example What can be called a species diversity, or at least intelligent species diversity in the universe is both greater and lesser than most people think. As much as Mark theory about universes intruding and leaking into each other wasn''t entirely untrue, much more important to the lesser part of this sentence is fact that all things seek the most efficient form. In terms of normal physical matter, it shows itself by taking form most energy efficient. This is why both soap bubbles and stars are always more or less round-shaped. In terms of living beings it is more complicated. Impossible is, to actually describe what it is that life exactly seek and even assumption would probably need an entire lifetime to just try to understand it properly. And yet we can safely assume that there exist some kind of life-equivalent of energy efficiency, some set of laws responsible for fact that humans, or at least human shaped beings are far to often than any kind of convergent evolution could explain. And seriously, especially humans, there is FAR TO MUCH of them, they are like some kind of multi dimensional cockroaches... if you add fact that metaphysical qualities of this kind have a tendency to influence mind as much as reality, then you won''t find it strange, that so many worlds this real and this created only for stories are filled with humans, elves, dwarfs, fairies and so on, and so on... On the other hand life is far more stubborn than physical matter, and in some cases it can get downright ridiculous. For example, in certain universe exist a species of beings living on the verge of a black hole''s event horizons. These creatures are build from just one cell and their ''life'' is based on particular case of extraordinary perception. They are capable of observing the surrounding universe far better than by any earth made telescope and didn''t need any physical anchor to their thoughts or memories, keeping them in the higher dimension or perhaps completely different plane of existence. Real bodies of these creatures exist in the physical realm though, and it is also here, where they are ''living'' they . Let''s try then accompany a representative of this species let''s call them horizon travelers through one ''day'' of its let''s call this particular one as Clark life. Obviously we won''t witness here a moment when Mr Clark is waking from bed, we won''t accompany Mr Clark, as he is worried about how his children are doing in school, or if he has enough time to end project for work.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. No Mr Clark ¡°day¡± start when everything around him is speeding up. That is basic nature of Event horizon from an outsider''s perspective time of object closing to it is slowing down, up to the point of being infinitely slow- or as close to infinity as it is physically possible. Obviously from the perspective of object itself in this case Mr Clark time of the entire universe is instead speeding up. It doesn''t even take that long first there is nothing special to observe, then occasional flash, slowly turning into parade of colors, when time speeds so much that intervals between super-novas become so short that even for such a powerful supernatural cell like Mr Clark it is becoming impossible to fully process information of one before another will happen. And after that again all colors vanish when Entropy finally claim its victory over the universe. And Mr Clark is finally touching the very horizon and... then Mr Clark is again on the very beginning with time slowly speeding up, all that happened up to this point, changing into barely a premonition, information accessible only for him. so on and so on... every single being of this species is constantly experiencing endless passage of time, and then turning it into just a ''vision'' of the future. They exist both, through entire infinity, and in only one single point in time. Even process of their multiplication is more similar to new units being created by hawking radiation, in a way similar to first cells being born in primordial soup on earth. If this very large entry in this particular fragment of this history had to serve something, then it is to emphasize how different, how impossible to understand some living beings could be. Horizon travelers for example exist in a way where even if they would posses enough intelligence, it would be almost impossible, for them, to understand concepts of ''past'' or ''future'', simply because they perceive time in completely different way. Similarly, in case of a particular being that we will look at now. We will find it sealed in the planet-sized crystal-like sphere in the universe where our main hero was sent to. This being once born as a human, and as this is something inevitable there will come a day when he well let''s use this pronoun since he was born as a man will wear a human again. And yet even then he still will have even less in common with humans than even ''horizon travelers''. That is why it is impossible to describe, how he reacted, when he felt a special of the day Mark reincarnation, finding of the ring of , and even reappearance of a certain unique sword. It is impossible to put his comments into words as well. But if we had to try anyway for the good of the story then... ¡° and my friends¡± he would whisper smiling ¡° and ¡±. chapter 8 - How to be born strong and healthy (1) Once he regained consciousness former student... well he should probably stop calling himself that, since he was not even sure if there were universities in this world... Once again then, when Mark regained consciousness, first thing that assaulted him was a feeling of possessing a body. Not long ago ¨C at least in his perspective - he heard that people often are unaware of their body if there is no proper stimulus. It can be both pain, or pleasure but some kind of feeling is needed to be conscious, truly conscious of your own flesh. But now Mark knew that the very existence of a body could be shocking enough, at least when you had to spend some time without it. Especially if we connected it to the fact that he clearly was now in a womb of his mother. Complete blackness, and warm safe feeling as well as body placed in the fetal posture were enough of a clue. Being a baby not even born, was... indescribable experience. It was also obviously not something that he could just imagine. And so there was also kind of finality in this feeling, some kind of ''well I suppose it was not a dream after all'' type of conviction. Well maybe letters flowing behind his eyelids would prove distracting enough until he would accustom to this new situation properly. Initializing... Researching... Connecting... Connection to the system complete... ¡°Well lets forget for a moment why they are in English...¡± There was probably completely logical answer for that, as well as one that he would probably not like very much. However... this was surprising. So he was reincarnated into a world that possessed some kind of game-like system? ¡°Probably part of this ''find it by yourself'' huh...¡± Mark tried to sigh but it didn''t go well, because... you know... still a fetus and all that. Special circumstances detected. Soul-form detected. Soul-form ''Chain'' acknowledged. Benefits allocated. Oh, and here was all this soul-shape thing... well he probably would need a lot of time to figure that out. Still... Chain huh... This was weird, this was not really word that he would use to describe himself. But then again he had no idea how this soul-things really worked in the first place, even if he doubted that this was some random allocation. Well this was also for later term. Special intervention detected. Safety check... Safety check passed. ''Pillars Of Heaven'' unique skill acquired. And this was something that Levi definitely didn''t mention. On the other hand the only thing that she was not really trying to hide was that she was hiding a lot of things. ''Pillars Of Heaven'' are accessing your existence. ''Pillar Of Wisdom'' unlocked. ''Pillar Of Faith'' unlocked. Well he was the last person that would boast how smart he was, but then again he did spend most of his previous ¨C as short as it was - life on learning, so it was nice to have something that appreciated that, even if it was just unique skill of a different world system... Fine it was decided, as fast as he will stand on his own legs, he will work hard to become more sociable person than in his previous life.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. From what however this ''Pillar Of Faith'' had come? He wasn''t a non-believer, but sometimes even he was not sure into what, he actually believed. And Levi... he was not so stupid to even suppose that she was not somehow connected to this, and she did not make an impression of particularly spiritual person as well. Uh... well as far as he knew it could mean something completely different anyway. What even this skill was supposed to do? And even more importantly, since he already was in a world with system then how it exactly worked? Were there levels here? Some kind of attribute points? How he could even use this? Well... in the first place he should try to call character sheet, or some kind of status. He was not really in situation where he could speak but maybe mental commands will be enough? ¡°Status¡± Name: N/A Surname: N/A Species: human Age: 5 months (Unborn) Sex: Male Life Force: 0,073 Magical Power: 0,061 Spiritual Strength: 127 Jobs: N/A (0.02%) Skills: N/A Unique: Soul-form: Chain Pillars Of Heaven - Pillar Of Wisdom - Pillar Of Faith ¡°... it worked¡± Even if he partially expected this it still was quite amazing to have letters appearing beyond your closed eyes just like that. Excited, Mark read through his sheet carefully. So... this system, didn''t recognize his previous name as his current one... well that was quite fair, after all there was not really big probability that he will be called Mark in this new life as well. And while he still planned to think about himself like that before he will obtain a new name it was mainly because thinking about himself ''it'' was simply weird. Beside that he already come to terms with his death didn''t he? This last though actually made Mark stop for a moment and think about it further. He was pretty sure that he should have far more trauma after everything that happened him. In the first place for him to not even feel guilty about leaving his parents alone... Wait what exactly was his mother''s name? In the very short explosion of panic Mark started to go through his memories, he was capable to remind himself that his mother name was Sophie, but only after considerable while. The amount of memories that he possessed about his private life was pitifully small, he somehow remembered his closest family ¨C his parents and younger brother, but even these memories were blurred. Briefly he thought about someone messing with his head, before remembering particular fragment of his conversation with Levi. ¡°I know well that seeing Gehenna Flames can be quite traumatic for ones that managed to remain conscious and hold to most of their memories.¡± Well... Mark understood now that ''most'' and ''all'' were very different. But then again perhaps this was not a very bad thing, in the first place forgetting about everything was more of a natural way of starting new life, and when Mark was thankful for opportunity to partially continue rather than completely start a new, he understood that clinging to past in such a situation was... nonsensical. At least he remembered that he didn''t have any girlfriend back in his old life. It was good as it would make this new situation much harder to accept Finally calmed Mark returned his attention to his status. It actually already vanished during his momentary freak out, so he called it again. The surname column under the name one, was showing N/A as well with reasons being obviously the same as with previous column. Mark briefly wondered if this was world with a society where only high standing people had a surname. Unfortunately there was no any way for him to obtain such information, so he put it aside for the time being. Next column did inform him not only that he was going to be born as human ¨C this was actually quite reassuring, but also that this system was capable of influencing other species as well. How widespread this ''system'' was.... It was an interesting question for Mark as he could think about both ¨C Every living being having, access to it, as well as it being somehow specific only to him. There were also all possibilities between this two. Unfortunately again there was no way for him to confirm his suspicion. For a person like Mark who even now still possessed scientific disposition it was very irritating. Next column was actually main reason for his inability to do anything. If pregnancy here lasted as long as in his previous world (and it probably did) then he would have to spend around four months not being able to do anything. Sighing ¨C through only in his head do to not even having air to sigh ¨C Mark tried to mentally point one of the first column, in hope of obtaining more information, but unfortunately it was useless. Fifth column didn''t inform him about anything but, it was nice to have confirmation that this one thing didn''t change. The three next though were fascinating. Life force, magical power and spiritual strength... names were quite intuitive, but what they exactly mean? And they were quantified by numbers, with life force and magical power being vastly smaller than spiritual strength... Was the last one something that connected to mental knowledge and maturity? If yes then this large number would have a sense, since it would be something that he possessed thanks to his previous life. But then again there were no attributes... Should he call this three like that? After wondering about it briefly Mark decided that, yes for now he would call them attributes. But why there were only three? Was it enough to properly describe all of person qualities? But then he didn''t have idea how vast field was covered by any of this three... At least he knew that he had magic power no matter how tiny it was. This actually made him excited. chapter 9 - How to be born strong and healthy (2) As for the jobs column the percentage on it was also something interesting, especially that... Jobs: N/A (0.02%) ¡ú (0.06%) It had actually increased... Will he be able to choose a ''job'' once it will reach 100%? And why name was in plural? Was this possible to have many jobs? Next column showing skills was obviously hollow and there was nothing really that he could learn from it, except the very fact that there were skills in this world at all. The last one fragment of the sheet though...finally made his persistent mental pinpointing worth it. Soul-Form: Chain Grants great increase to your current spiritual strength, make it easier to obtain and double all spiritual strength obtained Grants the highest level positive correction to all skills and actions related to your soul-form, all skills related to your soul-form will grow far easier. Skills directly related to your soul-form can be obtained extremely easily, and even new skills can be created. Automatically grants one of the two conditions for ??? Grants greater mental fortitude? All possessor of the soul-form are free from self-destructing behaviors? It is easier to cope with hardships? Grants absolute protection for being forced to go against your own convictions? Grants ??? Pillars Of Heaven Pillar Of Wisdom - Grants increase to all your talents - More powerful the more wisdom you posses Pillar Of Faith - Grants correction to your destiny. More powerful the more ??? Warning! Information granted by the System can be limited by subconscious choice of medium, your own understanding capabilities or cognitive abilities of the System itself. To see more exact data broaden your horizons and/or find a way to increase capabilities of the system itself. To put it bluntly, for Mark both ''unique'' skills seemed like a guns. Only, once more... Why chain? What he was supposed, to do with it? Well, perhaps fighting with chains could be cool but wasn''t it kinda... limited? Or maybe not? He probably should not think like that before even trying. After all it was being positive, and having open mind that was key attitude to use someone full potential. And why there was only ''correction'' to his destiny in the pillar of faith instead of ¡°positive correction¡± like in second bonus from his soul-form? Did it mean that it won''t always be beneficial for him? for the last warning he didn''t really ind it strange. From the moment when he learned about Soul-Forms from Levi he suspected that this field was a lot like quantum physics not really something that could be naturally understood by human, or even any organic being''s brain. Still, In his previous life he managed to understand quantum physics, even if only to a certain excess, so he believed that there will be time when this other field won''t be beyond him as well. Still fragment about increasing capabilities of the system itself suggested that it was something more private than widespread. Maybe this system was only for people who were reincarnated like him? If yes then it was good, since he wouldn''t need to hide information, in case that his status will be different. Unfortunately even if now he had some glimpse of what he should go with his future development, and a lot of questions to search answer for it would take months before he will be able to really start. Or maybe there was something that he could do even now? Trying to think about noticed a certain conviction in himself, that if he really tried and imagined it properly he should be able to conjure some sort of construct as long as it was chain-shaped. Obviously he gave up that idea instantly, even if it would really worked doing something like this in his current situation could be extremely dangerous. Mark didn''t even want to think about how many things could go wrong while trying to materialize metal object while still in the mother''s womb. But the very fact that he probably could do so make him think about different possibilities. According to his status he had three different kinds of energies in his body, and if he could use at least one of them, then shouldn''t he be able to somehow feel and manipulate them directly? There was a silence here, and he didn''t have anything beside it to do, so at least trying wouldn''t hurt right? The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Three weeks later... Mark wanted to scream with frustration. It was here, It was HERE, he could feel it so why it was so difficult to do anything with it? Finding both life force, and magical power, proved to be quite easy, first was... like everywhere in his body, like the strength of muscles, he just needed to focus on feeling his body strongly enough. Magical power was, even easier, it was more of a brain thing not really willpower, as it was still something material, like impulses wondering through his nervous system. A very small amount of it was also all around his body. Spiritual strength was so nowhere around that he decided to give up for now, probably around the end of first week. Actually fact that it take him two full days to grasp first two was rather slow in Mark opinion, he was in ideal circumstances here, was working practically all time, excluding sleeping, and there were bonuses from his unique skills too. He suspected that it would take more than a week if he worked... well ''outside''. Still, even if he had no idea if it was long or short, two out of three was not a bad core, so he was satisfied. he tried to do something with it. His line of thought was simple, he didn''t want to mess with life force, since he didn''t know how important its ''life'' part was, and using magical power externally could be dangerous... so why not use it internally? After all it was in his body anyway and it seemed to react to his will to a certain extent so why not take a very small (safety first) part of it and dissolve it beyond his nervous system into the rest of his physical body? There was some of it here anyway so it should not be dangerous right? During next two weeks Mark learned three things. One It indeed was not dangerous, at least as long as he used only very small amounts, it just spread harmlessly even if he lost control. Two Magic in this world was actually somehow imagination based. Three Imagination based magic in real world was hellishly difficult. It was up to the point, where Mark wanted to return to his previous world just to punch in the face all authors that described it as easy, and created characters capable of miraculous feats right of the bat. In reality Mark needed not only to exactly imagine, the amount, density, vector of movement and way how his Magical energy should dissolve into his body, he also needed to perfectly ''mark'' of course through imagination, borders of moving energy (or it will completely leak out before it would even reach anything.) He also needed to do all of it AT THE SAME TIME if just one thing slipped from his head, all power will leak out, explode (It really scared him at first thanks god that amounts that he operated were too small to do any damage, beside a strong tickle), start to go into completely different direction, flow together with his blood and so on... Putting it bluntly, even simple actions needed one to divide his/her attention and have a strong mind discipline. That or he was just untalented. Still, Mark always believed in self-improvement being key to happiness and as stubborn as he was, he refused to give up. Besides as hard as it was it still was true magic. And after over two weeks when he finally was able to do it more or less proficiently, his hardships were rewarded. Skill ¡°Magic Power Manipulation 1/10¡± granted. Magical power + 2.5 Spiritual strength + 0.5¡Á2 Sub skill ¡°Inner Manipulation ¡ñ Strengthening¡± delivered. Magical power + 2.5 Spiritual strength + 0.5¡Á2 Eager Mark tried again, this time finding reserves of magic in his body many times greater than a moment ago. Despite that he found moving and dissolving it into rest of his physical body considerably easier. ¡°Status¡± he commanded. Name: N/A Surname: N/A Species: human Age: 5 months (Unborn) ¡ú 6 months (Unborn) Life Force: 0.073 ¡ú 0.143 Magical Power: 0.061 ¡ú 5.35 Spiritual Strength: 127 ¡ú 135 Jobs: N/A (0.06%) ¡ú (98.12%) Skills: ¡°Magic Power Manipulation lvl 1/10¡± - ¡°Inner Manipulation ¡ñ Strengthening¡± Unique: Soul-Form: Chain Pillars Of Heaven - Pillar Of Wisdom - Pillar Of Faith All three, of his statistics grew, however as interesting as it was that they could grow with obtaining skills (and probably leveling them too) it had become clear that they could grow by themselves to. Especially his magical power putting skill boon aside it had become considerably bigger than his life force, and Mark could think only about one explanation training. He trained/used his magical power a lot during last weeks, while he didn''t use life force (could he even use it, it clearly worked on different principle that magic power) and in result his magical strength outgrow his life force. Though this actually left spiritual strength as something of a mystery, he didn''t use it so why it grew anyway? In the beginning, when he noticed it during last weeks, he even though that it was actually spiritual strength, instead of magical power that he was using, but he rejected this thought almost instantly since energy that he trained with was clearly similar in amount that his life force, at least back then. Putting this aside however, information, that this technique of infusing body with was capable of strengthening was interesting, as he could not notice this kind of result without any possibility of movement. It was also pleasant, since Mark never liked physical exercises, so fact that he could replace physical strength with magic, even if only partially was nice. Unfortunately trying to point into skill names didn''t give away any additional information. Lastly he was truly excited about what will happen when ¡°Jobs¡± counter will reach 100 %. This counter itself was something that he though a lot, unfortunately only interesting thing that he noticed was, that it seemed to grow in steady pace. Until the current moment that is, when it jumped by nearly 40%. The only explanation, was him getting his first skill, but he was still unsure how it exactly worked. Oh, and it didn''t grow nearly at all when he was sleeping. ¡°And speaking about sleep, I probably should use some of it¡± It was still impossible for Mark to yawn in reality, so he done it only in his imagination, before going into the land of dreams. chapter 10 - How to be born strong and healthy (3) Jobs: N/A (98.12%) ¡ú (100%) * ¡°Finally¡± Mark smiled. During last few days he continued to train inner manipulation, and strengthening, but when he indeed could do it much easier with a skill, further progress, while existing, was slow. In the firs place, it had taken him weeks to learn first level, so who know how long second level will take? And there was ten overall... So he welcomed warmly change brought by jobs counter reaching 100%. Noticing a marker appearing beside it, Mark pointed it mentally. Choose a single job from below: Unborn, Soul-formed, Apprentice Magician, Apprentice Farmer. Warning! Remember that you can''t choose a new job without previously completely assimilating your previous one. Without thinking too much Mark tried to point each of job''s name. Unborn No attributes reward. Can only be chosen by one that obtained sentience needed to use the system while still in unborn state. This choice will vanish once you are born. Once you are born, process of this job assimilation will be automatically completed with the system aid. Grants strong positive correction to easy and safe delivery, grants better health to person bearing one in possession of this job. Once fully assimilated grants slight increase to all talents Once fully assimilated grants you instinctual knowledge about your parents language. Soul-formed No attributes reward. Once chosen any action is considered as accomplishment to assimilation. Once fully assimilated grants best suited skill to your soul-form. Slightly increases some of the benefits of your soul-form. Apprentice Magician +8 points of Magical power and +2 points of spiritual power at the moment of choosing this job. Slight positive corrections to learning and leveling skills affiliated with magical power. Very slight positive correction to learning all things affiliated with magical power, even if they are not expressed with skills. Slight positive correction to all actions related to magic power. Apprentice Farmer +7 points to life force +1 point to magical power and +2 points of spiritual power at the moment of choosing this job.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Slight positive corrections to learning and leveling skills affiliated with farming. Very slight positive correction to learning all things affiliated with farming even if they are not expressed with skills. Slight positive correction to all actions related to farming and to all harvests. All of these jobs were quite interesting and packet with information, still where he could guess from where first three came... why farmer? He definitely didn''t do anything that would justify it...Still, choice was rather obvious as ''Unborn'' was only job with a time limit, and certainty, that he will be able to ''assimilate'' it... whatever it meant... So without unnecessary thoughts Mark made his choice. Name: N/A Surname: N/A Species: human Age: 6 months (Unborn) Life Force: 0.143 ¡ú 0.151 Magical Power: 5.35 ¡ú 5.37 Spiritual Strength: 135 ¡ú 136 Jobs: N/A (100%) ¡ú Unborn(00.00%) Skills: ¡°Magic Power Manipulation lvl 1/10¡± - ¡°Inner Manipulation ¡ñ Strengthening¡± Unique: Soul-Form: Chain Pillars Of Heaven - Pillar Of Wisdom - Pillar Of Faith Yes no doubt, it was the right choice. In the first place, Mark tried to not think about all this ''labor'' issues, as it worried him a lot. After all, even in advanced technologically Earth accidents during childbirth were still happening. Having something that would help here was worth a lot, even if you didn''t count other benefits. From which automatic understanding of his parents language was very tempting by itself. Satisfied from his choice Mark returned to training his magic power manipulation. three months left. *** Around one month later... Last day Mark felt very uncomfortable, he didn''t know exact reason, but he suspected that something bad happened outside. Fortunately, it didn''t seem as it had any permanent negative effect (as far as he could feel) but he still was worried. He even though about infusing his magical power like during his ''strengthening'' into his mother body, but ultimately rejected the idea. He didn''t know if infusing not your own magical power could have any negative consequences. After all if you try to transfer blood with a wrong group it would be tragic even if you use a minimal dose. And his own mother was definitely not someone that he wanted to test it. ¡­ And one more month later. Skill ¡°Magic Power Manipulation¡± reached 2! Magical power + 5 Spiritual strength + 1*2 Mark smiled, lately his face muscles finally developed enough for him to do it in reality and not only in his mind. Still, it had taken him two months to reach second of ten levels... was he really that untalented? Or maybe he was doing something wrong? Well I didn''t really matter now, every bit of progress was welcome. Interesting thing, were bonuses to attributes from skills doubled with each level? Fortunately, whatever it was that made him feel uncomfortable month or so ago, passed without any repercussion. He probably was worried without reason anyway. Putting it aside moment of his birth was probably coming close. And some more time on the future. It was happening. It really was happening! He had to remember to not panic! He needed a clear mi- Oh God, it was really happening! Should he do something? Or just let nature take its course? Some time ago his position reversed, what was proper if anything that he read in his previous life books was true in this world as well. It was, right? It had to be! And he had this job that helped in safe delivery too... Surely it will be alrig- Mark thoughts were broke by strong feeling of pressure from most of the directions around him. It was strong to the point of being painful. Oh, God! It really was happening! Mark current status: Name: N/A Surname: N/A Species: human Age: 0 Life Force: 0.231 Magical Power: 10.7 Spiritual Strength: 157 Jobs: Unborn (82.11%) Skills: ¡°Magic Power Manipulation lvl 2/10¡± - ¡°Inner Manipulation ¡ñ Strengthening¡± Unique: Soul-Form: Chain Pillars Of Heaven - Pillar Of Wisdom - Pillar Of Faith interlude - Emli In one of 12 planets of a gigantic world ¡ª star system called Taihon, there is a country called Old Inard Kingdom. Actually ¡°Old¡± part is not an official fragment of its name, but this one stuck around for so long that currently basically all its citizens add this habitually. This is a large and rather powerful country, one of three largest on the entire planet (called Fenker), and one that claim most of habitable space of its biggest continent. This is also rather peaceful country that didn''t fought in any war for more than few hundred years, and even then it was more of a series of skirmishes, do to influence of the Church of Menkoth that resulted in ultimate abolition of slavery in the entire region. None of it really matter though to people living in one of many villages on this country outskirts, consist only of village, ones around it, few wondering merchants and sometimes the closest big city. And similarly nothing more really interest Emli ¡ª young woman, really, still in her late teens, that just woke up in her home, in one of such small villages called Erreg. First thing that anyone could see looking on this woman would be her gigantic, mess of hairs. They were brown, they were curly, long, and they were ultimately disobedient. Every day Emli needed considerable effort to keep them in check, not easy when you live in a village quite a distance from any bigger center of civilization. She was not unhappy about that though, especially lately, in last months when a lot of good things happened. And here we are coming to second most visible thing about Emli ¡ª she was pregnant. Existence of a child in her, far more than visible, since it was already seven months, despite that she still felt great, and as a pious girl she was very thankful for that. There was no third thing that would especially stand out, Emli was nor tall, nor short, rather pretty, strong and very healthy girl. Girl that had a very busy last few months. After waking up she dressed up and went to make a breakfast. She didn''t finish though before another person went into the room. Korrak ¡ª her husband, almost fifteen years older than her winced with irritation. ¡°I told you-¡± he started, but Emli broke into his sentence right away. ¡°that I should rest more in my condition¡± she said with irritation, but a joyful one. ¡°I know, you told me it so many times already... but I feel really great, especially lately. And resting when I am so full of energy is a torture.¡± She put her hand on her stomach ¡°And child behave to. She must be very smart, she will be special I just know it.¡± ¡°You don''t know if it will be a girl!¡± ¡°Huh... do you perhaps have anything against child being a girl?¡± Emli tone darkened, And Korriath could feel sudden drops of cold sweet forming on his back. ¡°N- no I just said that you can''t know for sure...¡± ¡°I can, boy would move far more, My mother said, that when she was pregnant with my older brother he moved non-stop. It surely is a girl.¡± Korriath looked at her doubtfully before sighing. ¡°Well maybe, but more importantly...¡± He took more serious tone ¡°Emli, I know that you may have a bad experiences after you had seen how many problems your mother had during her pregnancy with Taia, but she was old back then already. For women in your age, it is normal for pregnancy to be easy, it doesn''t have anything to do with a child being different... ¡± ¡°Always a skeptic Kor, really.¡± Emli shook her head. During this talk she already finished breakfast and put one portion before her husband. ¡°You will see that I am right, It will be a girl, and she will be amazing! I only don''t know how exactly, maybe she will be an amazing beauty, and will marry a prince? That would make as royalty!¡±(In her stomach a certain child destined to a great things felt a cold shiver) Korriath just looked at the ceiling and sighed deeply. Emli smiled seeing that. Even if she didn''t completely about her child, she also knew that behind her husband denial was a kind reminder, that he would love her and child no mater if they would be special, or not. Emli took a double portion of a breakfast for herself ¡ª she needed to eat for two after all- before she suddenly frozen, and started to wave her hands in the air. ¡°Hmm? Something is wrong?¡± Her husband voice was clearly concerned. ¡°No, nothing, just... my cooking leveled up ¡± ¡°Really?¡± Korriath stopped eating and looked at her with a surprise. ¡°But it was already, at a level three. It is amazing! Most people never reach level fourth, in any of their main skill!, And you only took an apprentice ¡ª level job, that that is affiliated with cooking.¡± ¡°Well, I do help my mother in kitchen from... as long as I can remember actually. And beside, you to have Farming at a level four didn''t you? Farming is much more useful than cooking.¡± ¡°I don''t know... I definitely like you having high cooking though¡± Korriath grinned. ¡°And I have it only from two years anyway. But, no matter the skill, leveling up is always good, attribute points, points after all.¡± Emli nodded. ¡°Actually¡± Korriath said after a moment of silence ¡°I heard that Anik and Teia, are going to visit your parents later today ¡± Anik and Teia were Emli older brother and younger sister. Entire family was actually from a neighbor village. Do to their parents rather bad condition though they moved here after Anik married a woman from Erreg. Actually her older brother wanted entire family to move together, but her parents disagreed and only tell him to take his two younger siblings. In the first place they still had two of their children around back there. Besides distance between both villages , hour by a carriage, so it was not like they didn''t visit their parents often. ¡°And you didn''t tell me?¡± she looked at her husband with slight irritation. ¡°As much as I admire your brother hardworking for building a carriage all by himself, you know how much it shakes, if not for your level up I would probably keep it a secret...sorry¡± He added last word after Emli send him a sharp glance. It was reasonable though, every time when a person leveled a skill their attributes will rise, with amount doubling with every level. Having two main ¡ª growth type skills at level three in her age, Emli was probably the most talented girl in the village, something that she never let her husband to forget. You need to work on your investments after all! Still, for loving husband to be over concerned about his pregnant wife was pretty normal, so she decided to not do anything more than a look. ¡°I would go though, I really want to ask Mother for a few advises about childcare¡± Her husband agreed, and they ended breakfast in the atmosphere of bliss. *** Few hours later Emli sat together with her younger sister in a carriage driven by Anik. One thing she had to give to her husband ¡ª carriage, indeed shacked a lot, not to a point where it will be even close to being dangerous (or she will never decide to go) but enough to feel uncomfortable after few dozens of minutes. With her younger, nine years old sister dozing of on her arm, Emli though about last few months of her life. Her future husband she meet when she was nine, when she moved into Erreg. Back then he was married though ¡ª his wife passed away year later do to sickness, though from what Emli knew she always had a weak body ¡ª that was the reason why Korriath didn''t have any children. Even now, despite how young she was back then ¡ª ten years old. She still remembered how devastated he was, most of his friends, convinced that he won''t ever marry again. Heavens wanted different though. Korriath was one of their new neighbors, and Emli wouldn'' even be able to clearly describe when she had fallen for him exactly. Still even after many years she had to work a lot to finally pull her beloved from his shell. The last push being probably her pregnancy. Emli sighed remembering wedding that had to be rather hurried, and not really in ideal season for weddings. Besides that, people, especially women, were talking a lot... But then again people were always talking, and her mother personally said that this old grannies should rather be thankful to her for giving them topic for rumors. And wasn''t the most important of all fact how happy she was? , yes the last year was probably the happiest in her life... Emli thoughts were interrupted when Anik head popped out from the veil on the front of a carriage. She sobered instantly seeing his worried expression. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I... don''t know... hm... better just see by yourself¡± Emli stood, and patted Teia head in calming motion, hoping that she won''t wake up. At the moment when she looked out from the carriage, she knew what was speaking of. ¡°Smoke?¡± ¡°Yea...probably fire...¡± Emli hesitated for a moment ¡°Should we go back and call for help?¡± But Anik shook his head ¡°Even if we do so... it will be more than an hour before anyone could come... in the summers like this one, fire would already burn everything... ¡± He stopped for a moment ¡°Emli... I... I want to go fast and see if there is anything I can help.¡± Pregnant woman looked at her older siblings. She was always very proud from having him as a brother. He might not be the fastest person around, but he was very hardworking, kind and always tried to be helpful. It must have been very hard decision for him considering her state. Emli looked at the smoke again and wavered for a moment. There was one more possibility, far scarier than a fire, something that both she and Anik feared to even think about. ¡°Do you think¡± she started cautiously ¡°That it could be... bandits?¡± Anik was silent for a moment, but didn''t stop the carriage. ¡°No I don''t think so¡± he said ¡°Our villages... can be on the outskirts, but it is still Old Inard territory... it is still under guilds influence, and country''s discount for hiring adventurers so... bandits raids are very rare.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Emli calmed a little, she knew that her brother was right. She didn''t say though that very rare didn''t mean non-existent. Still, probability was indeed ridiculously small and their parents and siblings could be in danger, or need a help with saving their wealth from the fire... ¡°Then hurry up the horses, just be careful.¡± She returned inside and sat. She should control her emotions, too much negative feelings could be bad for the child. *** Everything started to take a really wrong turn when five minutes later Anik looked at her with truly terrified expression and said one word. ¡°Bandits.¡± More than that, there was more than one group or rather group seemed to be divided, and one that Anik actually noticed was behind them. This was a nightmare, Emli felt her heart thumping, and breath accelerating when she desperately tried to think about the safe solution. ¡°We... need to hide in remnants of the village ¡± Her brother said in a scared tone¡°We... will have to abandon carriage, with a little luck they won''t search for us where they already had been¡± He looked at her. ¡°I will look for Tia, you go first... I''m sorry, that I involved you-¡± ¡°Oh, shut up ¡± Emli said angry ¡°We will be fine. All of us, surely. And you didn''t do anything wrong, but we will go together!¡± ¡°Mhmm. Are we here already?¡± A girly voice of their younger sister broke into discussion. Instantly Tia made a worried expression seeing her siblings serious faces. ¡°W-what happened?¡± ¡°Good, go into the village, through forest... we are close enough so it will be safe¡± Anik said looking at Emli again. ¡°I will scare the horses, take Tia, and we will join you right away ¡± His younger sister nodded and patted Tia again. Always polite girl scared greatly, but silent, after understanding, that they were in some great troubles. Emli got off the carriage, and ran into the forest. She knew this parts of it well, as she often played here with other children. Anik was right ¡ª as usual ¡ª This was to close to the village to meet any dangerous animals, or monsters. Hunters in the villages always watched over such close neighborhood. She felt tired after a few running but pushed herself, until she reached borders of area with buildings. Village was burning. Yet still there was a few remnants where she believed that she could hide safely. There were clearly people here ¡ª she heard voices, including cries and they were rare and seemed to only come from central square. Anik was probably right ¡ª they most likely finished, and wouldn''t bother with checking entire village once again. She hated this thought. This meant that her parents was probably dead already. And yet she had to think about her child above all else. She could not put it in danger. Emli went into one of the better preserved houses. She blessed fact that people here almost never used locks, even if most of them ordered them from the blacksmith. ¡°Mister Cnig¡± she though remembered that nice man sending time building locks in his free time. He was probably dead as well. She wanted to throw up, but only take a few deep breaths and forced herself to stay silent. She felt hot tears rolling on her cheeks and thought about windows. They were probably open ¡ª normal thing on summer, and on the different side of the house... They also had a view on the central square. She knew that it was stupid, moronic even. Child was most important of all, definitely. But this were her parents. She needed it, she needed to go there and see what was happening. Next scream broke the silence. There was so much fear in this sound so much despair. Emli could no longer withstand it. Everything would be better than just standing and waiting. So she crossed the room and tried to stealth her way to the window. It was more crawling than anything more though, she was too afraid that someone could see her to keep her head above the window line. When she looked out though... Men stood on the burning central square, swords in their hands. There were maybe three dozen of them surrounding few still alive villagers. And few that seemed to have different job around, It was obvious that they were no average bandits, they were too... She could not really express that, but they didn''t look like a collection of wild men, that she always imagined bandit groups to be. These ones here were well armed organized and confident, not like it changed anything ¡ª Emli was very talented, and she could even have considerable advantage in terms of attributes against a single normal bandit, but she didn''t have any battle-type skill or job, not even telling about her condition. But the bandits quality wasn''t the most shocking thing, nor was it the reason why Emli pressed hands to her lips trying not to start sobbing. Right on the center of village''s main square there was pile of dead bodies. Streams of blood flowed from it and bathed entire place in red color. From the size of it, it was obvious that most of the people living here were already lying on this heap. ¡°Why?¡± Emli thought, her brain barely being able o process what her eyes had seen. ¡°Why? It doesn''t have sense why would they just kill them all? Such a mindless slaughter?!¡± Like in response to her thought. Two men take another of the villages ¡ª an older man visibly to scared to even try to do anything and dragged him before man staying the closest to the pile of bodies. This one seemed to Emli as even more dangerous than rest. He didn''t really look different than others, but something in his figure was speaking, about both power and cruelty. One of the five only still alive villagers finally started to wake from his catatonic state, and tried to break of. It was obviously useless, dangerously looking man stretched his hand and caught his head. He drew old man body to himself like it was a hollow doll. Emli clenched her teeth once again hearing scream of pain and despair. Then dangerous man raised his other hand and Emli could see something shining with red light in his palm. Man gave a sign and other bandit beside him slit villager''s throat. Blood spat in streams, and scream turned into a shriek, For a short moment brilliant red light flashed in bandit palm and old villager body seemed to completely lost all strength. He was dead. Dangerous man didn''t even look at him again throwing body into the heap with casual ease before making a sign to other men. Emli felt her legs loosing strength when the next villager ¡ª two survivors now, was taken next. It was absolutely the most horrifying experience of her life, and yet somehow she just couldn''t stop looking, like it was the only thing assuring her about her safety. Like if she didn''t see it then they could go here and take her next. So she watched. In almost catatonic state, as it was the only thing that she could do now. She watched like the fourth last survivor was killed, and then like the third last meet the same fate. the dangerous man killed the second last she heard a weak broken shriek right beside her. She almost fainted from fear, first fearing what have made it, and when she turned around to see her terrified sister and her brother closing her mouth to stop any voices, that someone could hear them. She clung to the wall, watching as Anik did the same with him and his sister on the other side of the window. Cautiously, very cautiously she looked through it from the side and nearly cried looking as one of the bandits ¡ª the one that from the beginning stood the farthest from entire place and the closest to the building ¡ª looked in their side suspiciously. She had seen as he raised his hand and terrified observed blue glow of magic turning itself into flat disc pulsating with short burst of light. Was this bandit a mage? It looked like he was whispering something, the disc being more and more clear... And then right before it was complete, the spell exploded. Mage cursed hideously While shaking slightly injured hand. He murmured something that Emli was unable to hear, before ¡ª to her despair ¡ª starting to cast spell again. At this moment however... ¡°Gani ¡± The voice, that clearly come from bandit that Emli named as ''dangerous man'' was not loud, and yet somehow resonating. It was powerful voice, that didn''t tolerate any opposition nor disagreement ¡°We finished, stop playing and do your job.¡± Mage didn''t answer but reacted instantly, blue light vanished, and he took out some kind of small bottle from purse on his arm. Emli felt like he was about to faint from relief, but tension kept her awake. She looked like mage was whispering something again before giving a signal on which all bandits backed off from the heap of bodies. Then magic user throw bottle onto the pile, what resulted in bright flash of fire covering it instantly. Emli though for a moment that it must have been very hot as even bandits being considerable distance away had unpleasant expressions. And the fire only seemed to burn stronger in every moment. ¡°We are going¡± Again she heard a powerful voice of a dangerous man and all bandits quickly started to withdraw in an organized manner. *** What had happened later Emli remembered only like through thick fog. She could barely recognize Anik voice telling her that entire village was catching this strange very hot fire, and that they needed to run. She could barely remember fact that Tia was unconscious, what she had accidentally seen being too much for the young, shy girl mind. could barely remember like Anik constantly repeated that they needed to tell about all of this to . It was open secret that village and teacher was also a powerful mage (though no one know exactly how powerful.) And Anik seemed to keep his sanity by holding to a thought that they would be safe, ass long as they would return. She didn''t remember the way back. She knew that they had to go on feet, and that it had to take at least few hours, she knew that they must have had a lot of luck to not meet any monster on the way, she also knew that the road itself must had been very unpleasant experience ¡ª many scratches and even shallow injuries, especially on her legs were enough of a proof. Still, she just could not remember it. Like in one moment she was still in this building looking at a closing fire, and in next in the village church''s room for sick people, listening to her older brother''s shaking voice with a gloomy and visibly angry face. And she and Tia being examined by old woman that served the role of a midwife, and herbalist in the village as well as usually dealt with diseases together with . She remembered though that in this one moment when she finally understood that she was safe, when she finally could squeeze Korriath hand with her own she started to cry, almost hysterically and could not stop. Only when Korriath hugged her tightly she managed to calm herself enough to go through examination. ¡°She is not really hurt¡± Herbalist woman whose name was Geina said and Emli could hear her husband sigh of relief. ¡°But she is greatly shocked, best do not let her out from the house by next few days.¡± ¡°And child ?¡± asked with much calmer but still tensed tone. Geina her lips before looking at Emli with a little uncertainty. ¡°It... seems fine, I can''t see anything wrong with it. Do you still not feel it moving at all? ¡± ¡°No, not at all s- she is still very well-behaved.¡± Emli put hand on her stomach and caressed it warmly. But when she turned her head to see Kor, he was looking at older woman with concerned gaze. ¡°Like I thought¡± he spoke silently ¡°it is not really normal right?¡± In response Geina looked at pregnant woman unsure of how much she should say. ¡°It is not... but it is not necessary anything bad as well, I can hear child''s heart well enough and it is strong. Worrying won''t help you at all so just have hope.¡± ¡°I am not worried!¡± Emli broke into conversation with clearly angered voice ¡°She is good and well I know that! She is just special, she is unique!¡± For a moment she had seen like Geina send her very irritated gaze, but it softened almost instantly. ¡°Yes, surely you are right.¡± She took a cup of something steaming and not really healthy looking from a table beside her. ¡° I brewed something for you, just to calm you and for a good sleep, it tastes good, don''t let it look deceive you. ¡± She gave a cup to Emli before looking at her husband ¡°I will speak with you for a moment, about medicine and proper behave to a pregnant .¡± Emli looked with irritation as her husband got taken aside by herbalist, she knew about what they would probably talk. About her ''delusions'', and Geina will probably tell Kor to ignore it at least until child will be born. On the occasion she will also reprimand him for letting her go onto a trip during the advanced pregnancy in the first place. No matter, he would cope with it and it didn''t really matter if they believed her or not. Actually it didn''t really matter if she was right or not in the first place. But she knew that she was, and she wasn''t going to lie. Emli sat on the bed to drink her medicine. She looked at her brother and priest still discussing something. looked at her like feeling her glare before taking her brother and moving him out of the room. Being for a moment alone and drinking the steaming mixture, Emli thought that Geina was right about its good taste. She also returned in her memories to this one moment when the bandit-mage spell exploded in his very hand. From what she knew about magic it was very dangerous art, and so she probably wouldn''t put any more thoughts in it if not for a message that appeared on her view at that moment. Unsure if she probably just imagined it Emli opened her system log to see her massages history. And here in the last place right after of her leveling the cooking skill it was. : the of a . Yes... certainly it was going to be a special child...