《Return From Fantasia》


 Chapter 1 - Fantasia

    On April 1<sup>st</sup> 2025, I fell through the floor on my way back from university into another world. I was 18 years old at the time. Fantasia; the world was called. I learned that a later. A world of sword and magic. A true fantasy. Many might think that a new adventure awaits them. A brand new world to explore. And more importantly,,,MAGIC! Who wouldn¡¯t be excited to use magic? The dream that every child had at one point or another.


    ¡­


    Too bothersome


    ¡­


    And besides, when you don¡¯t get summoned by the goddess of the world as a hero you get no cheats. Meaning that you don¡¯t get to magically know the language. You don¡¯t get any advantages in terms of skills or spells. Your body is the same and is not altered to adapt to the world. Everyone in this world is physically stronger than those on Earth. They live in a environment filled with magic in the air. They soak in it. And magic particles, mana, as it¡¯s called, runs through their veins since their bodies have adapted to the environment through the ages. So, in a nutshell, they are organisms that evolved to fit into the world.


    I lived on the streets for 5 years at first. I didn¡¯t know the language and didn¡¯t know much about the world. I picked my fights well when it came to scavenging food. I stuck to people who stayed alone in the slums with no greater connections with any groups there. I tried to stay away form stealing from mothers and children. I had to kill for the first time on the third month of my arrival to the slums, I learned that it was considered quite lucky of me to not have killed, or been killed within the first three months as they are usually the most chaotic period when people live in there. I tried surviving as much as possible, my body lost the fat it had with the first year and I turned from an overweight guy to an underweight one. Through these five years I stole money from those I killed to survive, but I fucked up on the third year and one of the guys I killed was related to the slum lord. So I was sold to a brothel. The only reason I was not killed was that they were lacking men in brothels in those parts, and my looks were ¡®exotic¡¯ for those parts of the world. I had an Arab heritage even though I was in the UK at the time I fell through worlds, I had a brown afro with brown eyes at the time, and my skin was slightly tanned. That was a rarity to those who went to brothels at those parts. The majority of my visitors were women, but some men came occasionally. I don¡¯t swing that way, so I struggled when the first guy came to visit and since he was my first visitor coincidentally, I had my left arm cut off by the slumlord as a warning. He didn¡¯t take kindly to me kicking the visitor¡¯s crotch; bursting his balls. Didn¡¯t detract from my value though, but added to my overall atmosphere according to the visitors.


    At the end of my stay at the slums I was diseased and broken mentally and physically. I had learned the language in my stay there. Understood it well, but couldn¡¯t speak it well at all. I tried begging on the main streets after that as the slums became too much for me to endure. My body was originally weaker than the Fantasians and now even more so. The sight of a 180cm tall, 23 years old, one armed sack of skin and bones ended up with me thrown outside the city. I had dropped in the slums by sheer luck in the first and couldn¡¯t do anything beyond that since even signing up at the adventurers guild would require an identification. Identification was checked on exit and departure of the city as well and if you were found to have no ID in the first place you would be jailed or killed on the spot for suspicion of being a spy. Retarded I know, but apparently the political situation in the human territories at the time was strained and there was a demon lord starting out an invasion.


    When I was thrown out the city, they had wanted to kill me at first, but a newly summoned hero, one brought to prepare for the upcoming invasion was passing at the time. She was a Japanese high schooler called Mirai Kurosaki. First name Mirai that is. She asked guards about the situation as she had the common language translation cheat, so she could converse properly. She came like a ray of hope into my life.


    ¡®Hey! You! Are you from Earth?¡¯ I cried out in English. She was struck dumb at first, she knew a bit of English so we had a sorry excuse of a conversation. I learned that I was in a world called Fantasia, a world of sword and magic. In a human country with a name I couldn¡¯t understand since I was still terrible at the language. I managed to get my point across though and she said she would do her best to help me out. Her best ended up with me having my insignificant life spared and being thrown out the city that turned put to be the capital of the country I was in. It wasn¡¯t much, I was not cured. I was not given food to eat nor water to drink. But I had my life still.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    I had to live. I had to live to return back home. To my parents who were across the ocean. To my 10 year old sister who I treasured dearly. I had to live to return. The hero was newly summoned and could return after her quest was fulfilled. She did not know about cases like mine and the guards could not be bothered to care about my case since they had more important things to care about. They wanted to get on the hero¡¯s good side so they handled the situation swiftly, per the instructions of the guard captain.


    I took my battered body and walked away from the gates of the capital in the rags I still had from my days at the slums. The thing about this city was that it was surrounded by a forest on all sides with a roads going in the four cardinal directions through the forest. The fact that the road was maintained to a certain extent meant that the forest was not that dangerous, so I headed North. The forest was not that dangerous¡­but to me it was the most dangerous place I¡¯ve been in in my entire 23 years of life. Had to take the risk though. Need water and food. Had to live. Must live to return.


    Returning was always my goal. It was always at the back of my head. But survival took precedent, so it was my final goal than my current one. My current goal was not to die.


    I walked for three days and nights. Tried to hunt but couldn¡¯t. Not enough experience nor strength to hunt. Tried looking for a water source but couldn¡¯t find any. As for sleep¡­I didn¡¯t dare to since I was too afraid thinking I would not wake up. So I walked and walked. Till I arrived at an overturned carriage, there were cages scattered everywhere. I saw a pack of wild beasts eating who seemed to be the owner of the carriages and the guards. I hid an observed till they left. The two longest hours of my life passed. I couldn¡¯t pass out due to the situation and my hear was pounding in my chest. The crunches I heard sent shivers down my spine. I had eaten rotten food. I had eaten dirt and rocks at time. I picked whatever I could from the garbage at times and stole whatever I could from .


    Two hours of waiting passed by and the beasts left. I moved cautiously to the leftovers and knelt over the remains and was stuck in deep thought.


    ¡®Should I do it?¡¯


    ¡®Must I do it?¡¯


    ¡®Must I lose it? My humanity?¡¯


    ¡®Is it worth it?¡¯


    I narrowed my eyes and whatever little humanity I had left was gone as my survival instincts took over. The light in my eyes died.


    I must survive!


    I have to survive to return!


    I¡­ must live¡­ I¡­ Must eat!


    I ate whatever leftover flesh I got my hands on. Tiny fragment of flesh. I felt like throwing up the moment the flesh made contact with my tongue. The metallic flavour of blood. The soft sloppy texture of whatever part of what used to be a living breathing human a few hours ago that was. I felt my eyes blur and my stomach churn but I swallowed the flesh whole. No need to chew. Just swallow. But¡­there was no flesh left to eat. Whatever little that was scattered I ate, and all that was left were broken, snapped skeletons with pools of blood on the ground. I stuck my tongue to ground trying to drink whatever I could. I had no care for illnesses for I was already ill. I had no care for my humanity for it was gone with my survival instincts flaring. I drank what I could but was not satisfied. Thoughts raced through my head. I squeezed my shrunk-up brain thinking of what I could salvage from the remains. Anything. I must eat anything. Rather than what can I eat, I thought, ¡®how can I eat?¡¯ I grabbed small pieces of bone and swallowed them whole. It was painful. Extremely painful with how dried up my throat was. But the little blood that covered the inside of my mouth and throat helped me swallow. Not enough. Must eat. And then a bulb turned in my head. How could I not think of that earlier. It must be because my brain had shrunken up from years of malnutrition and brutal abuse at the brothel. Bone Marrow! I grabbed a broken femur and looked inside. Not hollow! I sucked with all I could and felt a disgusting texture in my mouth. I swallowed immediately and before I could throw up I grabbed another bone and repeated the process. I sucked and swallowed like I was forced to do in the brothel. I was forced then and I am forced now I thought. For survival I thought. What seemed like an eternity passed, but it was only a few minutes in reality. I was still on my knees. Staring at what remained of a brain I had removed from a cracked skull laying on the side. What remained of a brain I just took a wholesome bite off in my haze.


    I cracked a wretched smile then¡­everything was a haze. I remember hearing wretched sobs that sounded like laughter at times. Sobs that came from the soul. Sobs that seemed to have come from a distance. Later, I learned that I was the one who was crying. That was the second time I cried in this world. The second of three cries I had in this world. The first was on my first day of the brothel. After my arm was cut and I was forced to ¡®entertain¡¯ dozens of customers a day with no rest.


    This was the second.


    The third, they were cries I had at the end of my time at Fantasia. Right before I returned.

 Chapter 2 - Archdemon Uriel

    I open my eyes. I know that I must have passed out at some point. The sun is still up so I must not have slept for long. I feel like shit. I feel that something crucial is missing within me. I am no longer whole. Something is missing. What is it? Ahhhh¡­I remember, must be something related to what happened earlier. I get it now. I am no longer whole; but a broken human. There is this hollow within me. But it had to be done. It had to be done for I must return. And to return I must survive.


    I push myself off the ground and straighten my back. My bones crack and I feel the exhaustion flood once more. I guess that was expected after having the first ¡®decent meal¡¯ in a while. Eating too fast after a period of starvation is bad for the body. Or so I read at one point back on Earth. I think for a while and plan to loot what I can and carry on moving. The dead are not going to miss their belongings. I step over the remains I ate from. I walk slowly around the carriage. I count seven corpses total excluding the corpses in the cages. Two I ate from, left as nothing but skeletons on the ground. Two squashed beneath one of what I counted to be five scattered cages. ¡®Unlucky bastards¡­they died before they could even do a thing¡­.the beasts must have rammed the carriage from their opposite side.¡¯ A male human mage with only his head squashed by the cage with a what looks like a female swordsman on the opposite end of the cage. I can tell the first Is male by the shape of his body, while I can tell the second is a female by the features of her half eaten decapitated head which lies in front of the cage. Her arm is torn at the elbow holding a sword. The rest of her body is beneath the cages, crushed by the weight. The mage must have been the first to die by the cage with the woman having her body crushed before the cage tilted over her neck, cutting her head off.


    ¡®¡­must have been an instant death¡¯


    Besides these two I find three torn to shreds by the beasts on the other side of the carriage. There is still some flesh hanging on their bones. From what remains on the their body one seem to be a human female priest. Another seems to be an Elvish male archer, which the third being what looks to be a tank. I can¡¯t tell his race or gender since he¡¯s the most destroyed out of the three. His face was eaten off and his massive shield lays besides him covered in dents with a large axe with a broken handle laying on his other side.


    ¡®They must have been rookies¡¯ I deduce, ¡®or else the mage and swordsman would not have died before the fight even started.¡¯ They did not have a scout with them and they must not have noticed the beasts coming.


    I return to the skeletal remains I ate from. the carriage is directly behind them. The mage and swordsman lay under one of two cages to the right of the carriage. The three other party members on the left side of the carriage with two other cages on their sides. I can see half of the fifth cage laying behind the carriage. I take a closer look at the cages. They are quite small cages considering the number of people inside. A 3x3 meter cage with at least 5 people inside. Probably more. Considering that the inside of the cage is felled with mangled compressed flesh with some heads poking out of the bars that were not meant to fit the heads in the first place.


    ¡®Odd¡­ why would a slave trader hire these rookies to guard his carriage, when he¡¯s transporting that many slaves.¡¯


    From what I see none of the slaves with still recognizable features are human. I see a few Dark Elfs and Beastmen in the cages. I can¡¯t recognize any of the rest. I managed to determine the Dark Elf since she had the same ears as the dead Elf, but had dark brown skin. While I recognize the Beastmen since I saw a few back in the capital. The have bodies covered in fur with long digitigrade legs. For example, Cat Beastmen are basically human sized cats that walk on two legs. If they reproduce with other species like humans, the child would have digitigrade legs and arms covered in fur with their claws and padding as a cat would have, they would have a tail and cat ears with the rest of the body looking like that of a human¡¯s. Then, if the half Cat Beastman was to reproduce with a human as well, only the cat ears and tail would remain as a symbol of the Beatsman heritage, while the rest of the body would be identical to a human¡¯s body.


    Anyways, I looted five silver coins in total and stored it in a purse I found inside the upturned carriage. I then took the sword that the swordsman had in her hand and had to hold it on my waist with a cloth I cut off from what remained of the cages¡¯ covers. tying the cloth and placing the sword in a comfortable position that would not hinder my movements took me a full hour. ¡®Doing this with one arm is a major hassle¡­ the tying is fine but the sword positioning has took ages¡¯ I sighed.


    The only thing I found that could cover my body properly was the tattered remains of the mage¡¯s robe. It had turned a pale brownish color after mixing with the dirt and blood of the previous owner. It¡¯s not high quality material by all means, but anything is better than these rags I had.


    I look up at the sun and think that it must be around noon time. I decide on storing some cracked bones inside my robe to snack on the marrow when I get hungry. Safest option in terms of things that wouldn¡¯t rot.


    I must leave. I feel this sense of unease growing inside. The situation is here is too weird. The carriage owner¡¯s actions make no sense. I must leave. I finished packing everything I wanted. Took me a total of one and a half hours from when I woke up till now. Hopefully nothing bad happens.


    I drag my tired body and walk onwards. Thinking that I must get a fast away from here as possible. The other carriages start arriving in a few hours since people in Fantasia tend to eat lunch around this time. Furthermore, I think I heard something about a festival being held at night to celebrate Mirai¡¯s summoning, so merchant¡¯s will open their shops later on the usual.


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    After I pass the fifth cage wanting to continue onwards, I take a few steps and then hear the creaking of a metal door opening. Cold swear breaks down my back. I turn my head looking back at the fifth cage seeing minced flesh and guts falling out. My body trembles. Then standing within the cage stands a Dark Elf with light brown skin. Her hair is silver white contrasting with her skin tone. The whites of her eyes are a terrifying light consuming black. Her pupils and iris are the opposite, they shine the same as her hair, a dazzling silver white. Her body would drive men to madness, she was wearing black skin-tight pants with knee high black leather boots. Had a tight, white button up shirt on with a black cloak covering her with the hood off. She was wearing elbow high black gloves and held a book in one of her hands and a pen in another, writing down notes on god knows what while maintaining eye contact with me.


    I remain stuck in place, my mind blank, not knowing what to think about this country ruining beauty that came out of a cage holding dead minced, squashed slaves without a drop of blood on her. After who know how long she places the book in a pocket inside her cloak and shuts the book with one hand. The sound of the book goes off like a thunderclap in my mind. My eyes blur and I fall on knees. I feel my soul shake. Something feels horribly wrong. Worse than that time when arm was cut. Worse than when I lost my virginity in the brothel. Worse than when I had to serve dozens of people a days with no rest. Worse than the constant exhaustion caused by malnutrition. Worse than the unending pains caused by the diseases that ravage my body. Worse than when I had to eat just a few hours ago. Worse than the hollow that spreads boundless cold within my soul. Instinctual fear grasps my heart and my body shakes uncontrollably.


    ¡°Human.¡± She speaks in a language I do not know but somehow understand. She speaks with her mouth closed. As if it is not my ears that hear¡­ but my soul. I try to avert my eyes. I can¡¯t. ¡°Jin¡± she says, ¡°Jin Harb¡± she speaks in a playful manner. Her black as coal lips slightly crack open revealing the slightest bit of her white teeth, showing a slight amused smile, as if watching the playful nonsensical actions of a child. A smile that shines like the dazzling sun. but a smile that does not engulf me in the comforting rays of the sun, but a cold that quakes my soul.


    ¡®HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME!?¡¯


    ¡®HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME!?¡¯


    ¡®HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY FUCKING NAME!?¡¯


    ¡®NOONE KNOWS MY NAME IN THIS WORLD! NOONE! MIRAI ONLY KNOWS MY FIRST NAME AND NOONE ELSE KNOWS A THING ABOUT ME!¡¯


    ¡°Lost Jin Harb¡± images of my days in Fantasia go through my mind ¡°Lonely Jin Harb¡± five years of mental isolation goes through my mind. Imagies of my friends and family on Earth goes though my mind. ¡°Broken Jin Harb¡± I relive what I had been through but a mere couple of hours ago in a fraction of a second within my mind. ¡°Ho~me~less~Jin~Harb¡± images of my home on Earth. My mother and father¡­ my sister¡­ my friends¡­ my dorm room at the university¡­ days wasted in peaceful splendour goes through my mind. ¡°Lost~Jin~Harb¡± I fall through the ground. Wake in Fantasia. Survive in the slums. Steal. Kill for the first time. Kill some more. Get my arm chopped. Return to the brothel. Relive my years at the brothel. I am ill again. I am beaten again. I endure again. I am on the brink of death again. I survive again. I am thrown out again. I am begging on the streets. I meet the Hero. I met my Hero. I survive again. I leave the capital. I devour to live. I break again.


    ¡­¡­..¡­.


    I am Hollow


    ¡­¡­..¡­.


    I am Lost


    ..¡­¡­¡­.


    I am Broken


    ¡­¡­..¡­.


    I am Homeless


    ¡­¡­..¡­.


    I.. am.. Lost


    Countless thoughts of endless despair goes through my mind. I see them. I live them. I believe them. My soul quakes with despair.


    Her words spoken playfully. Her eyes narrow slightly and her smiles widens. Knowing my thoughts.


    My heart is clenched. My breathing fastens. My shaking intensifies. I gasp for breath. I hyperventilate. My eyes blur further. Black spots color my vision. My ears are ringing. My soul is shaking. Her eyes narrow further. Her smile widens further. The best smile I ever saw. The most terrifying smile I ever saw.


    ¡°Join us? ¡± she asks in a hopeful manner. As if my rejection would crush her heart and make her cry.


    My shaking stops. My heart is light. My vision is clear and there is no more deafening ringin in my ears. The endless blizzard that her smile engulfed me with turns to the endless warmth that one would expect from a smile like hers.


    Countless images of a new home go trough my mind. I see myself among Dark Elfs, Beastmen, Oni, the occasional human, and two horrifying Black Dragons that would each be capable of exterminating the capital on their own. I see a 5 meter tall chivalric man covered in Black Armor sitting on a magneficent throne. I see his majestic black horns. I see his piercing red eyes and pitch black hair. I cannot see the faces.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    All I see are the eyes filled with love, devotion, and trust. Eyes I missed for the past five years. I see war. My heart is clenched. I see myself fighting. Using magic that knows no bounds. I see myself weilding a blade the cuts through space. I see myself battling the the Hero Mirai, a friend I saw many times in images I have not seen. I see Mirai dead at my feet with a warn smile on her face. I see myself weeping. I see the capital on fire.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    I see a great victorious march filled with joy and sorrow combines headded towards a land of constant dark. I see the Dark Elf standing next to me in most images. She is the only face I see. In some we are talking. In some we are sitting enjoying the scenary in silence. In others we are fighting back to back amounst countless enemies¡­ amoungt Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, and Dragons. In some images we are hugging. In others we are arguing. I see us laughing. I see us crying. Mourning the loss of friends I¡¯ve seen prior.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In a couple, I see us embracing in bed. I see¡­ I see her cheerfully smile with a swollen belly. I see a child¡­ a toddler with slightly curly white hair, and brown eyes with normal white sclera and slightly dark skin and Lips as black as coal. A toddler that shines with the radiance of the moon. I see her talk¡­ I see her walk¡­ I see her grow¡­ I see her as an adult having grown horns and grown till she was 5 meters tall¡­ I see her sit on a magnesficent throne like that of the of the chivalric man. I see myself and the Dark Elf shed tears of joy. I see us grow. I am but a weak, wrinkly old man aged 150. The Dark Elf is as youthful as ever. the girl on the throne is as youthful as ever. I see myself lying on a wide bed embraced by the Dark Elf that had tears in her eyes and a gentle smile on her face. I see the 5 meter tall girl standing by the bed crying. I see many surrounding the bed smiling gently with tears of sorrow in their eyes. I cannot tell the faces. Time passes slowly¡­ I see myself die.


    I am on my knees. Every fiber of my being demands¡­ begs for me to nod my head and promise to join¡­ my body begs¡­ my mind begs¡­ my heart begs¡­ my soul begs¡­ but a fierce objection ends the hope before it rises. The hollow within my soul demands¡­


    ¡®RETURN!! WE MUST RETURN!!¡¯


    The hollow of my soul consumes the images and seals them. I remember nothing but snipits.


    ¡®RETURN FOR MOTHER!! RETURN FOR FATHER!! RETURN FOR SISTER!! WE MUST RETURN!!¡¯


    My eyes moisten, my heart shatters, my soul quivers. I know something important is forgotten but I cannot force myself to remember¡­ I cannot force myself to remember for I must return. I force myself onto my feet and force my shaking hand to the hilt of a blade that I know not how to use. I stare at the Dark Elf and ask ¡°Who¡­ are¡­ you?¡± a mournful smile unknowingly shows on my face.


    I see the Dark Elf¡¯s eyes slightly widen as her smile vanishes for an instance. I see despair flash through her eyes. Despair that the hollow of my soul devoured and sealed.


    Her eyes narrow again. I see joy showing on the surface as her smiles adds colors to my colorless world. I know that she I hiding something behind her joy. Something I should know but cannot allow myself to know.


    Words flow in a voice that touches the soul and brings comfort to all who despair, ¡°I am Uriel. Archdemon Uriel.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Soul Seer

    {Jin Harb PoV}


    Words flow in a voice that touches the soul and brings comfort to all who despair, ¡°I am Uriel. Archdemon Uriel.¡±


    Her words brought comfort and my body relaxed. The shaking was gone. My body falls into an unreasonable state of ease that it simply cannot keep up. The cycle of terror and peace caused exhaustion to flood once more, stronger than ever before, and I see my vision darkening as I fall into unconsciousness.


    .


    .


    .


    {Uriel PoV}


    I stared at Jin as he collapsed on the ground unconscious. The smile on my face disappeared and was replaced with a look of unease. I know that I must be looking noticeably paler than before. My breathing was laboured, and I could feel two distinct trails of blood going down my cheeks. My eyes hurt and my vision was slightly blurred. I knew that if I were to look in a mirror, I would see the veins of my eyes forming intricate webs over my black sclera. I had indeed pushed myself too far this time. The original plan was to infiltrate the Holy Empire with the slaves and leave as soon as I set foot in there to search for the Hero. It has been rumoured that the Holy Empire of the Light Faction wanted to summon a Hero to end the ongoing war with our Demon Faction¡­to exterminate the Demon Faction most likely, ¡®That Goddess of Light wouldn¡¯t change her goals so easily, and would be willing to achieve them by any means necessary; even if it meant to erase a few races altogether¡­she¡¯s always been like this.¡¯ I smile nostalgically for a bit but shake my head trying to keep focus on the issue in front of me.


    I wipe the blood from my face and approach this man called Jin. I crouch next to him and lift him up on my shoulder ¡®Truly skin and bones, as light as an undead skeleton soldier. Even with my relatively weak constitution I can carry him and forget about him from how light he is¡­ It¡¯s decided. He must go back home with me, to the lands of the Demon Faction.¡¯ He will be necessary for the upcoming war. There is no need to look into the Hero any further. This Mirai is still too weak to pose any threat against the main force of our armies and for now, the war is centred around the weaker members. Both factions need to get their newer, weaker members trained, so who better than the enemies¡¯ army to train them against? Wins and losses at this stage mean nothing, and numbers mean nothing to us. The undead legion alone will make up for any losses we take in terms of pure numbers. I walk Southwards through the forest, getting as far away as possible from the main roads leading to the Capital of the Holy Empire. I walk for a couple of hours then find a spot to set up camp. I lay Jin with his back on a tree and sit next to him. I think back again¡­ ¡®I can handle myself well, but¡­ but this man Jin¡­ I must take him with me at any cost. He¡¯s too dangerous to leave to his own devices. If he acts under my watch and guidance it¡¯ll be safer.¡¯


    If left alone, he¡¯ll end up dead, or a potential liability in the future, especially if the Goddess of Light gets her hands on him. I doubt she heard about him yet. Considering that he was in Fantasia even before the Hero and she still went with a Hero summoning ritual. I¡¯d rather risk him being on our side than killing him right here and now.


    ¡®But this¡­is odd. It¡¯s true that his soul comes from another world, but the mana expenditure was truly too large. If my mana pool didn¡¯t reach this level in terms of pure quantity, I would have overused my mana without a doubt. Even the Demon King would not have been able to sustain this level of use. But I guess my mana level being the largest in the Demon Faction come to show its uses in situations like these. Strictly from experience, the only one who managed to overdraw my mana to this extent through the was the Goddess of Light.


    How peculiar, it must have something to do with the corrupted fraction of his soul. It acted as if it had a conscience of its own¡­Calm down¡­ there¡¯s no use in panicking over this. Let¡¯s analyse this properly. When using my ¡®Soul Antiquity¡¯ spell to see into his soul¡¯s past the mana expenditure was as usual. The ¡®Showcase¡¯ spell I used to show Jin his soul¡¯s past was fine as well since the mana use was the same as usual. The issue must have been with my ¡®Soul Divination¡¯ spell¡­ the mana use was insane and the level of resistance that showed up when I reused ¡®Showcase¡¯ sucked my mana dry¡­ as if an external factor interfered and tried to block my spell by increasing the mana cost to a point where the castor would die before the spell is even finished.¡¯


    I grimace realising how close to death I actually was. Any other castor on the continent would have died ten times over with the insane speed and quantity that the mana was being consumed at. But still, I think that this is truly unnatural, there was no one else in the area and there was no signs of external interference in the area. Moreover, I¡¯ve never seen anyone interfering with a spell by means of mana drain.


    ¡®Could it be? Yes! It must be! Nothing else fits the criteria, it must be the irregularity I detected in his soul. The fragment that he sacrificed and willingly corrupted to survive!¡¯


    I rethink Jin¡¯s past, and focus on the emotions he felt. I rethink his potential future and focus on the emotions he felt. The soul link that forms thanks to the Soul Seer related skills help in giving me a better feel over his state. I stand up, close my eyes and focus¡­.


    My ¡®Recollection¡¯ spell activates.


    .


    .


    .


    [Soul Link:- Soul Antiquity ¡®Recollection¡¯ begins]


    ¡®Focus! When using the spell to see into the past and future of a soul, you are no longer Uriel. You are the target. Yes. I am Jin. In the past I lived on Earth until I fell into Fantasia. Appearing suddenly in the slums¡­ no one to communicate with¡­ no one to help me know left from right¡­ no ID without money¡­ no money without a job¡­ theft in the slums would barely keep me alive and no matter how much I steal, I will never afford an opportunity to change my situation. But still, I will survive¡­ survive to return. I lose my arm and slave away in a brothel for years¡­ my body is destroyed from the inside and out by whatever diseases I got from who knows who and when¡­ but I survive for I must return. Years pass and I meet someone I can connect with. Someone who can understand my plight. I meet Mirai. I feel relief thinking that with her I can finally be free of this miserable lifestyle I¡¯ve been living. But I realise that even though she¡¯s the Hero. She has no control so I manage to get out of the Holy Empire¡¯s capital with my life intact. That¡¯s the best I¡¯ll get but anything is better than being stuck there. I could not afford the exit fee and being thrown out is better than living as I was. I walk. I see corpses torn to shreds. I see a carriage on its side with cages thrown all around it. I see corpses. Food. Yes. I eat and eat till I have my fill. With every mouthful my stomach is fuller, and I feel something break within. Yes. It must be something important. I feel it slipping with every bite. It¡¯s gone. It¡¯s cold. I feel something is awfully wrong. But, I feel content for I must sacrifice anything and everything n order to return. This world is ruthless and I must be ruthless to others from now on. To be ruthless to others I must be ruthless to myself. My goal can never be achieved otherwise.


    Return? Improbable. An infinitely small percentage of success. But I managed to get here so I can get back. Mirai was summoned so her way back is my way back. Then I feel it. The coldness that consumes me from within, the corrupted fragment of my soul. As if it has developed a sense of self. I feel it burning with a ruthless determination that could engulf the world. A calm twisted version of my voice that speaks in a calm manner with an unshakeable will. Voice calm and steady. But resounds like yells in my heads. ¡®Waiting for a miniscule chance to return is foolishness! Waiting for Mirai is foolishness! To return I must act! To return I must struggle! To return I must give it my all to gain as much strength as I can! Strength that will give me the chance to return and have no one stand in my way. The Goddess of Light summoned the Hero and is capable of sending her back?! She will send me back whether she likes it or not! The one who can summon people¡­ the Goddess of Light who summoned Mirai as her champion knows how to return them! She will send me back whether she likes it or not!¡¯


    [Soul Link:- Soul Antiquity ¡®Recollection¡¯ ends]


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    I open my eyes and take deep breathes. Calming my heart and reminding myself that I am Uriel. ¡°Madness¡­ pure madness¡­¡± I murmur. Having goals and struggling to achieve them is fine but deluding yourself to the point of having the audacity, to even think that you can ever compete with the woman who was the most talented and promising Goddess of Light candidate. The one who used to be named Lumin, the only candidate to be titled Incarnation of Light by the Light Faction; she who killed the Demon God candidate and refused to absorb his mana to ascend quickly, but chose to ascend by feeding on the mana of Dragons and Evil Dragons alike, bringing the Evil Dragon population down from thousands to a mere two is nothing but idiocy. Thinking of competing with someone like her that build her might in no less than 500 years within a single human¡¯s lifespan is at best idiotic.


    I think of Lumin, the current Goddess of Light, the one I know best in this world. I think of the massacre that will descend on the Demon Faction if she wins this war, and the even greater chaos that will erupt if she gets her hands on Jin. Having a Hero with a abilities that will grant them an ability close to hers is bad enough, but a wild card like Jin, who more than likely has a potential just as high as the Hero¡¯s, but with an inhuman determination that is close to insanity as one can get, when is comes to achieving an unrealistic goal is a worse case scenario. Not mentioning the fact that Lumin can only return the Hero because she was the one who summoned her in the first place; so someone like Jin who came through untraditional means will require an untraditional method to return as well.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°¡­Fuck¡± I can¡¯t help but cuss out as I prepare myself to recollect the potential future lines of Jin¡¯s soul. ¡°This is gonna be tricky¡­¡± I frown trying to focus on the future my ¡®Soul Divination¡¯ showed. The best possible future that Jin could potentially live. This was the future that I decided on using to try to get him to willingly join the Demon Faction. It was mostly a gamble I was willing to take since I know Lumin the best. There was no way in hell that someone like him would get a decent future by following her. I gambled that the best future that he might have would surely be connected to me. I swayed his thoughts towards myself when ¡®Showcasing¡¯ his past and had myself linger in his thoughts. So I know for sure that this future would have something to do with me as well. I feel it. I know it. So, I brace myself¡­ I shut my eyes once more¡­ and focus¡­


    My ¡®Recollection¡¯ spell activates again


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    [Soul Link:- Soul Divination ¡®Recollection¡¯ begins]


    All I see are the eyes filled with love, devotion, and trust. Eyes I missed for the past five years¡­


    (Uriel¡¯s Thoughts) <A few blurred images pass by. I cannot make out their content¡­> I see myself throwing flame spells that burn my enemies to ash¡­ <I see flames and corpses thrown about everywhere and I can see a body laying at my feet. Someone I know? I feel tears going down my face. It all goes by in a blur.>


    I see a victorious march¡­ <A few more blurred images go by¡­> I see myself standing next to a Dark Elf. I see us smiling, arguing and crying¡­ <¡¯Isn¡¯t that me?¡¯ I start to panick.> I see time go by and I walk towards a certain bedroom¡­ <The next part is blurred. I feel its importance. I feel it has something to do with me> I see a toddler with slightly curly white hair, and brown eyes with normal white sclera and slightly dark skin and Lips as black as coal. A toddler that shines with the radiance of the moon. <I feel my soul shake. This has never happened before. This future must be deeply tied with mine. I focus on the toddler. I notice the similarities. A mix of Jin and I¡­ I feel my heart sink. Many images go by in a blur once more¡­> I see myself old and wrinkly. Lying on a bed with many surrounding me smiling gently with tears at the rims of their eyes. I cannot tell the faces. Time passes slowly¡­ I see myself die. <I hear it. A yell. The source of interference is here.> The deepest part of my soul demands..


    ¡®RETURN!! WE MUST RETURN!!¡¯


    ¡®RETURN FOR MOTHER!! RETURN FOR FATHER!! RETURN FOR SISTER!! WE MUST RETURN!!¡¯


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    My sacrafice is for returning. Not for adapting to this world. My ruthlessness is for going back to my home¡­ not for creating a new home here. I survive and struggle to return. <I hear his thoughts one last time>


    [Soul Link: Soul Divination recollection ends]


    My eyes snap open. My eyes hurt. They hurt as if they were pierced by a blade. My vision is blurred. I feel blood gushing out my eyes. My brain turns to mush. My head about to burst. I collapse from my seated position next to Jin and try my best to maintain consciousness. I am on my hands and knees. I throw up. Exhaustion takes over and I feel myself about to faint. I shake my head violently trying to stay awake. ¡®How could the backlash be this intense!?¡¯ I think as my consciousness falls into the dark.


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    I open my eyes and push myself off the ground. My head hurts and my eyes are blurry. I look next to me and Jin is still asleep. The sun is still up and I must not have been out for long. My headache is less intense than before I passed out, but I know that it will take a few hours for it to go by.


    I take out one of my water bottles from my Spacial Ring and down a quarter. I then spill as little water as possible on my hand and wash blood that did not get the chance to fully fry of my face. My eyes still hurt and I know that the backlash this time is going to be bigger than anytime I used my spells before. You see.. looking into a soul does not only come at the expense of mana; but each time I use any Soul Seer spells to look into the past or potential furute of a soul, my eyes get damaged. This means that as long as I use the spells that come with my class, I wil slowly, but surely, go blind.


    This would not be a problem if Souls Seers could use other types of magic, but no, one of the restrictions of the Soul Seer class is that no other types of magic can be used. It¡¯s not as bad as I make it out to be. Well, it¡¯s true that there can be only one seer at any time in each faction. It¡¯s true that it¡¯s a lineage type of class, where the class is inherited by blood. It¡¯s also true that Seers are doomed to be born blind, and must inherit the only pair of eyes from their Seer parent. It¡¯s also true that Seers will have weaker bodies that would require extensive training to remain healthy. But you know, we have the advantage of looking into people¡¯s souls. In a battle, a well execute Soul Antiquiity will not only reveal a person¡¯s past; but the Seer will gain knowledge and unserstanding of their weaknesses and habits, good or bad, since Soul Antiquity deals with the soul¡¯s past in its entirety. Moreover, even though we will enivitably go blind we are blessed with extraordinary vision to balance out the slow decline that comes with the class. Seriously! At best we can see in pitch black darkness as if it was in the middle of the day, and we can see things several Kilometers away with the clarity of things at our fingertips. At this point, since I¡¯ve been alive for around 700 years, and had my class for 600 or so, my vision is nowhere near as it once was, and the Divination I did on Jin had a backlash similar to the one I had when I used my spell on Lumin after she became the Goddess of Light¡­


    My sight was shot down from 1 Kilometer of clear vision to a mere 500 meters¡­ This is going to be slightly tricky to get around. But.. ¡°Demon King Lucius was correct.. it¡¯s good that I listened to him. I should not over rely on my vision and it was good that I trained my other senses. But now the strain on my other senses is going to basically double.¡± I mutter while planning what I should do now with the situation coming to this point.


    I carry Jin once more and continue South towards the border. The sun starts going down after two hours of walking and I find a good semi-open, circular area to set up camp for the night. I set up my tent and sprinkle some wild beast repellent around it just in case. I would rather not move in the night with Jin in his state. Things might get too dangerous if we¡¯re attacked. I¡¯m not in my best state after the backlash I suffered, and in desperate need of mental cleansing. ¡®We¡¯re going through the Kingdom of F¨®lkvangr on our way to the Demon Faction¡¯s Hel. I will get Nigel to cast a mental cleanse spell as soon as we get there.¡¯ I make a mental note of this.


    I lay Jin in my tent and get ready to sleep but I stop for a moment. ¡°Better safe than sorry¡±. I tie Jin up and put him back down. I lay next to him. ¡®I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll wake up before we start moving tomorrow, but I wouldn¡¯t want him running away if he wakes up at night.. not that I won¡¯t be able to tell he woke up even if I¡¯m asleep. My senses are too sharp to let something that clear escape. But¡­ this is odd.. I don¡¯t feel anything wrong when sleeping next to him. I don¡¯t feel anything against it. Even though I¡¯ve never had anyone sleep in the same area I sleep in since Lumin. For some reason I don¡¯t feel all that against it when it¡¯s him. As if I¡¯ve been next to him for a lifetime. Must be because of the Soul Divinaiton. The Soul Link this time was too strong. There are still some remanent thoughts and emotions.. I¡¯ll stop using the ¡®Sight¡¯ spells till we get to Hel. The remanents should not einterfere as much by then.¡¯ I shut my eyes and fall asleep. Deeper than I intended.


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    I wake up early next morning. Jin is still asleep. I eat some of my rations, drink some water. Use some to wash my face and freshen up and down the rest of the bottle. I have many other bottles in my ring and I don¡¯t like acting conservative with my food and drinks. ¡®Holy shit! This headache won¡¯t go away! And the remenants of the spells are being annoying as well so early in the morning! ...mood swings!? Really!? So this is how it¡¯s gonna be?¡¯ I refuse to be dragged by these annoying factors so early in the morning. So I take out my special solution. A solution I keep hidden inside a spacial ring that I keep stored inside my main spacial ring. A most wonderful bottle of wine! Not any wine, but wine made by the Oni of the Demon Faction. With high enough alcohol percentage to match the Dwarf¡¯s wine! Hehehe!! God thing my tolerance levels have one up with my hundreds of years of alcoholism! Maybe one of the best gained unexpected quirks of my class!


    I untie Jin and start walking once more. I walk from early morning, around 6:30am till around 12pm, so midday with occasional breaks scattered here and there. As I finally find a good enough place to rest and have lunch at, I feek Jin start moving lightly on my shoulder. I turn my head slightly over my shoulder and make eye contact with him. I see his face twist in shock and then he purses his lips and all his eyes show are confusion. ¡°Good morning¡± I speak with a wry smil on my face. ¡°¡­Good morning¡­¡± He whispers back. ¡°Ummm¡­ can you put me down please¡­ and stop groping my ass while your at it if you can.¡± He whispers again and I notice a slight shade of red crawl up his neck. ¡°Ass?¡± I murmur and notice that I indeed had my hands on where his ass should be¡­ if it wasn¡¯t dehydrated and malnourished to the point of non-existence that is.


    I seat him down with his back against a tree and sit right across him. I take out some of rations and water and eating and drinking. I see him eyeing my rations but not making a sound. His caution levels must be pretty high so I decided to use food to lower his guard slowly. I keep eating ignoring his stares until he makes this pitiful face that¡¯s on the brink of tears.


    ¡°Want some?¡± I extend my half eaten sandwich. He snatches it with a speed that I never thought his wrecked body would be capable of producing and he devours the whole thing in seconds.


    ¡°Slowly.. Your body is still not used to normal food.¡± I remind him gently and offer one of the water bottles I have in my ring. He chugs the whole thing down and looks up at me as if asking for more. I smile gently and flip my wrist. A sandwich and water bottle lands infront of him while another sandwich lands in front of me. I resume eating and take occasional swigs of my wine while he slowly eats and drinks with some tears going down his face every now and then. I feel my heart ache for him ¡®Must have been ages since he had normal food. Even these rations are delicacies to him.¡¯ I freeze and realise what I just thought and felt. I lower my head to hide my eyes and the shock of the conflicting emotions and unreasonable thoughts I just ha. ¡®Even though we ust met yesterday.. these remenants are starting to get out of hand.. to think that they would actually affict me to this extent. The only one who afficted me to this level was Lumin, and that was because I¡¯ve known her since chieldhood and we¡¯e been friends for 300 years¡­ This¡­ This might be bad. It must have something to do with that corrupted fragment of his soul. It must have influenced me through the Soul Link to have a better view of the original to help in achieving his goal. This is the most likely reason. The second I can think off is the fact that the potential future I saw was deeply intertwined with mine. This Mix-blood Dark Elf toddler that keeps popping in my head must be the other reason.¡¯ I fall into thought and decide on how I will can use this lingering effect left by his corrupted soul to my advantage. Waiting it out will take who knows how long, so I must use his goal to rope him into our Demon Faction. As for the todler and the potential future.. the more I think about it the more inconsistancies will show up in the future. ¡®I do not know what will happen in the future, but the mere act of looking into is enough to change it. So I will go with the flow. Help the Demon races avoid getting massacred, and stop my best friend from doing the massacring.


    I raise my head and make eye contact with Jin. Noticing that I iscovered him staring at me in a daze, a slight blush crawls up his neck all the way to his cheek. I raise an eyebrow and chuckle slightly causing his blush to intensify. He forcefully clears his throat and carefully says, ¡°Ummm.. I believe we have a few things to talk about.¡±


    I flash the most dazzling smile that my Dark Elf being can muster and reply, ¡°Indeed we do.¡± I see him noticably lower his guard and prepare myself to bind him to me.. us.. yes¡­ us.. for the rest of his stay here.