《Life Essence: Cultivation》


 Prologue: I died

    ¡°Grahhh!!!¡± I gave one final battle cry as a spear stabbed through a gap in my chainmail created mere minutes ago, into my chest. Blood spurted from the no-doubt lethal injury, and I gritted my teeth, my Estoc steady even through the pain. With one final leap, I brought my Estock to his eye, then, as the light began to depart, through it.


    Void. Darkness. Nothingness. I was surrounded by pure nothing¡ªthe only living being in an endless abyss. Or¡­ Could I even be called living now? Damn, the memory of dying felt so distant, almost asif a hundred years had gone by. It was as if I was in a sensory deprivation chamber, lacking a body. There was no sight, no touch, not even sound ¡ª Hell, I didn¡¯t even have a body ¡ª and yet I found my mind starting to wander, my thoughts branching out from the original. The void was cold and foreboding, even without a physical body to feel it with. Is this where you go when you die? With no clear indicator of time, I began counting, each second an eternity with nothing but my thoughts to focus on.


    Then, from the depths of the primordial nothingness voices started to appear¡ªno, that wasn¡¯t quite right. It was more akin to a mix of cheers, wimpers, and cries. Five portals appeared, one white, one purple, one green, one black, and one gold.


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    ¡°Choose.¡± A voice thundered throughout the entirety of the abyss, not heard physically, ¡ª sound left this place eons ago ¡ª but mentally.


    ¡°Any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°The path of voided eternity will bring only madness. Choose.¡±


    ¡°And which one would that be?¡± C¡¯mon! Seriously! You won¡¯t even answer me? Well¡­ The black was likely the path of voided eternity, whatever that meant.¡± Th¨C


    ¡°--CHOOSE!!!¡± The voice screamed asif in pain.


    Dark entities, swirling writhing masses of shadows emerged from the portal, each defined by shapes that seemed to twist unto themselves, a distance nothing could traverse, yet always see. Non-euclidean shapes, I realized. I needed to go.


    The white and gold paths likely lead to heaven or something but¡­


    I dove through the purple portal. I was a warlord, and I lived for fighting. For the battle. For the ever-so-sweet victory against an opponent you had no right to challenge.

 Chapter 1: Sarvalee, the most annoying wisp in the universe. Page 1.

    I awoke in a cold sweat, not in the body of a young warlord who lived to see 23 years, but a finely dressed, healthy looking¡­ Noble?  I wore black and gold robes, a thin Urumi hanging at my hips. An interesting weapon. Although the flexible, whip-like sword could be a powerful weapon, it was completely ineffective against even the lightest of armors. So¡­ Did I get reincarnated? I remember childhood heroes like Zefrose Infernus, Zavack, Xinthgard, Zeninth and so many more who always got Isekai¡¯ed away.


    I was lying on a straw bed, one hand withered and shriveled up. I was in what appeared to be a cage, an elderly man peering down at me. His face broke into a grin a second later, and he clapped his hands together.


    ¡°You survived!! I shall notify the head immediately!¡± The man said, ¡°I always knew you were special, just not how special!¡±


    If it was rare to survive from whatever had happened to me, would acting like I was in a coma arise any suspicion at all?


    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    He snorted. ¡°House Cyderia, my Lord.¡±


    ¡°Cyderia?¡± I didn¡¯t know much, but I knew enough for my plan to work. ¡°I¡ªall I remember is pain and¡­ ¡° I trailed off, finally speaking again after a long pause, ¡°speak to me asif I know nothing.¡±


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    ¡°Ah, a common plight among survivors, my Lord. Your education shall commence shortly, champion,¡± he said with a bow, long strides carrying him out of the large room.


    Hello, champion Ash! I am your wisp, Sarvalee. My job is to educate you on this world, warn you of things that will likely impede your progress, and show you exactly how strong you are. I was sent by the Progenitor, a god as your world would call it. He chose you and many others to be reborn for the strength of your soul, making you the perfect tool to destroy void creatures and battle the Voidborne infection! Yayyyyy! Now, I was instructed to let you figure out the brunt of the information Ash! We are going to have soooo much fun together!


    Words floated into my vision, accompanied by a moving image of a pink ball of light. ¡°Okay?¡± I asked, skeptical. If rebirth was possible, so was a screen that magically appeared in front of my face. Of course, then there¡¯s the possibility I was just hallucinating, but there was nothing to lose by just playing along, and everything to lose by just ignoring it and trying to wake up. ¡°And how do you know my name?¡± I said mentally with a grimace.


    That¡¯s pretty obvious! Ash!


    It replied, its tone lace with a borderline painful amount of playfulness. I was a warlord, couldn''t I get a break once in a while? I had leveled cities and razed civilizations to the ground, so it was pitiful to be at a loss of words to¡­ The wisp?


    You know I can hear you!


    Again, painfully playful.