WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 43

My training had been progressing well ever since the cloaked woman began teaching me about alchemy. The first thing I did was refine Body Forging Pills, which increased my strength many over times, exactly like she said they would. However, we didn’t just stop there. Durability Pills. Three Way Spiritual Widening Pills. Spiritual Recovery Pills. Some of these helped enhance my physical abilities like the Durability Pill, but there were others that helped me increase the amount of Spiritual Power I possessed, or they helped increase the amount of Spiritual Power I could use for Spiritual Techniques.

I knew the Alchemist Association had created some of these pills, having seen them used by many people in the past. Even Tungsten and Erica had used them. However, me and Kari were some of the few people who had never once used alchemy pills that enhanced our physical abilities or Spiritual Power.

It wasn’t that we were sticklers for the rules or fair play. We honestly just never considered using them.

At the moment, however, I was not practicing alchemy.

The cold water from the lake threatened to crush me as I sat the center… at the very bottom. I had created a protective layer of water over my body, which not only kept me from getting wet but also from being crushed. Not only was I protecting myself from the incredible pressure of several tons worth of water, I was also creating a small pocket of air that went all the way to the top, allowing me to continue breathing.

I had been told by the cloaked woman that I should learn more about my element. She said that attaining a more intimate connection with my element would help me when I began trying to break through the bottleneck I was currently in.

“At present, you simply don’t have a strong enough connection to your elements for the Yin-Yang Pills to have any real effect. What you first need to do is journey deep inside of yourself, search for the place where your power resides, and then feel the connection between you and your two elements.”

I was currently trying to do what the cloaked woman suggested, going to the bottom of the lake where the water element was at its strongest so I could be closer to it. While meditating at the bottom of the lake sounded extreme, the cloaked woman had approved. She said she had done something similar when learning how to control her element. I was honestly shocked she’d been able to get that far in her Spiritualism, but apparently, she was a lot more powerful than I gave her credit for.

If I was being perfectly honest, I didn’t know exactly what I was searching for here. How did someone search for the “place where your power resides” anyway? Despite not knowing exactly what I was supposed to be searching for, I continued diligently meditating. I hadn’t left this lake in so long. It felt like days had gone by, though I was sure this was just an illusion brought about by doing nothing for several hours.

As time crawled by at a snail’s pace, I finally began feeling something odd… or rather, I began feeling nothing. The feeling of water pressing against me disappeared completely. My eyes, which I had closed during meditation, suddenly snapped wide open—and I discovered nothing but an empty void stretching out in all directions.

What… what was this place?

I turned my head left and right to find that nothing but darkness greeted me. This place was strange, but I also felt like I knew it, or like I should know it.

While floating through this void, I eventually came upon something interesting—a swirling nebula that reminded me of the Spiritual Power being emitted by a Warp Gate when it activates. It was a bright swirl made of pure white strands that emitted outward before dissipating. A tremulous hum ran through my body as I realized this was my Spiritual Power. I could feel it overflowing from this nebula, which meant this must be the place where my Spiritual Power resided.

There were three other objects near this nebula. They were all spheres. One of them was a pale yellow, another was blue, and the last was a dull copper color. I frowned at the dull one. If I were to believe this place was where my Spiritual Power resided, then the blue and yellow spheres were obviously my water and lightning affinities respectively. So, what was this dull sphere the color of copper? Was it also an element? I thought I only had two.

Despite knowing I should have gone to the blue sphere, I ended up floating toward the copper sphere, drawn there like a Demon Beast to prey. I reached out and touch the sphere.

The entire world suddenly lit up with a brilliant golden color!

This was…!

Before the thought could fully form, I was yanked back into reality as my body began choking and the pressure from the lake broke through my barrier. I choked and sputtered, doing my best not to inhale anymore water as I launched myself upward, breaking through the surface and coughing several times, exhaling massive globs of water.

“Ack! Hack!... ha… hack… ha… ha…”

After recovering a bit of my ability to breathe, I swam back toward the shore and pulled myself up. I was still too shocked by what just happened. My body hadn’t recovered yet, so I sat down, placed my arms behind my back, and took several deep breaths. The cool pebbles beneath my hands were smooth and soft. They helped relax my mind and allowed me to think about what I had seen.

That brilliant golden light… I had felt this light a few times before, but I hadn’t known what it was at the time. Yes, I remember. During my battle with that large Demon Beast in Nevaria, I had felt this powerful light come to me. There was also the time during my battle against the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain. Now that I had touched the sphere, touched my link to that element, I understood what it was.

The light element.

I didn’t know how it was possible, but I had somehow gained an affinity for light.

Having recovered from my previous shock, I stood up and held out my hand, willing the water on my body and clothes to gather above my palm. A small ball of water formed above my hand. I let it fall to the ground and, my body now dry, I made my way back to the cave.

A smile worked its way onto my face as I entered the cave.

“I’m back, and you’ll never believe what just happened,” I began. “I’ve somehow managed to…”

I trailed off when my eyes didn’t immediately catch sight of the cloaked woman. While she did sometimes leave to collect herbs, I had been doing that job for her recently, so she normally stayed indoors now. Did she run out of ingredients? So soon? But I had just gotten her some several days ago.

It wasn’t until I saw the lump on the floor that I realized what happened.

“Oh, no! Hey! Are you okay?!”

I quickly ran over to the woman and turned her over. The cloak somehow remained in place, so I couldn’t see much of her face, but I did catch a glimpse of her chin, which was covered by a pulsating black bruise.

“S-shit! What should I do? Should I heal her?” I thought about that before quickly shaking my head. “No, she said it herself. Healing someone with Spiritual Poisoning using the water element doesn’t work.” I bit my lip as frustration welled up inside of me, but I tried to push it back. I couldn’t afford to panic. “Bed. I should put her in bed first.”

I lifted the woman in my arms and carried her to the bed. She was lighter than I expected. I wasn’t sure how heavy a normal woman was supposed to be, but she felt positively ethereal, almost like she wasn’t even there. Wondering if she was malnourished or if this was the effects of being in an advanced stage of Spiritual Poisoning, I set her down, pulled up a chair, and sat by her bedside.

Minutes ticked by as I sat there, wondering what I should do now. Should I get her pills? How would I feed them to her? Mouth to mouth? I had no idea what to do in a situation like this. For the first time in a really long time, I felt completely helpless.

Just as I was about to begin panicking again, a dry rasp drew my attention to the woman.

“A-are you awake?” I asked.

“Yes… I am fine.” Despite obviously still being in pain, the woman didn’t seem bothered as she sat up and glanced around before her hood tilted toward me. “It seems I collapsed and caused you to worry. You have my apologies.”

“Don’t apologize for something like that,” I said. “Anyway, what about you? Are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I’m afraid not,” the woman said. “It seems this body is finally breaking down, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

“Is it because of your Spiritual Poisoning?” I asked.

“I’m not surprised you realized what’s afflicting me.” There was a prolonged pause that I didn’t dare interrupt. I waited on baited breath for the woman to continue. “When I was just a girl, I became afflicted with Spiritual Poisoning. None of the doctors knew how to cure it, and it looked like my situation was only going to get worse. In desperation and fear, I left and traveled into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to search for a cure. It was… an incredibly stupid thing to do.”

I didn’t say anything as this woman spoke, listening to everything she said with the attentiveness of a student listening to his master.

“The Demon Beast Mountain Range was more dangerous than I could have ever imagined. I nearly died so many times that my body has become permanently disfigured. However, against all odds, I somehow survived and eventually discovered the books on alchemy, which included knowledge of how to cure my Spiritual Poisoning… but it was already too late. By the time I found the cure, my Spiritual Poisoning had progressed to a stage so advanced nothing could fix it.”

Listening to this woman speak caused intense sorrow to well up inside of me. I couldn’t even imagine how difficult this woman’s life had been. She had spent decades inside of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, fending for herself, surviving in this harsh environment with no one to help her, and she’d done so while suffering from Spiritual Poisoning.

Even though my life wasn’t always pleasant, and even though I had lost a lot, I at least had several happy memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I had memories of Kari traveling with me every step of my journey. I had memories of the times I played with Kayli. I remembered Erica, Tungsten, and all the others who had helped me. Compared to this woman who had nothing, my life was downright pleasant.

However, beyond the pity I felt for this woman, a deep seated respect and admiration caused my heart to beat faster. This woman was strong. She’d done something that would have broken me, accomplished something that I couldn’t fathom, and she’d done it all by herself.

As these thoughts swirled around inside of me, the woman continued speaking.

“I managed to prolong my life all this time by reaching the Fourth Stage of Spiritualism and continuously consuming a vast number of Great Spiritual Elixirs… but these are only stopgap measures. It’s like trying to plug a hole in your boat with your finger. My Spiritual Poisoning has progressed to a point where no amount of spiritual enlightenment or alchemy pills can cure me. I’ve been slowly dying this entire time. I doubt I can go on for more than another year at the most.”

“I… I see…”

“Why are you crying?”

“Am I crying?” I reached up and tried to wipe the tears flowing down my face, but no amount of wiping would fix this. I could have probably used the water element to remove my tears, but I honestly didn’t think I had the control right now. “I’m sorry… I just…”

“Do you pity me?”

“A little,” I admitted. “But I also can’t help but regret not meeting you sooner. I can’t help but wonder if maybe I could have done something if we’d met earlier.”

“There’s no use asking ‘what ifs’ like that,” the woman said, taking a deep breath, holding it, and then releasing it. “We can’t change the past. In either event, I do not mind dying now. I’ve been living with this pain for so long, and I’ve often wondered why I kept struggling, why I didn’t just succumb and let go. I didn’t have an answer back then, but I think I have one now.” Even though she was wearing the hood, I could tell she was looking right at me. “It was all so I could meet you. After all this time, I’ve finally met another survivor of Nevaria. I thought I was the only one. However, after learning that you were also from Nevaria, I’ve felt a peace that I can’t describe with words alone. Meeting you has made me so happy.”

If I hadn’t already been crying, I think that would have broken me. I felt tears and even snot flowing down my face. I probably looked like a mess, but no matter how hard I tried to stop, I just couldn’t.

“Look at you,” the woman sighed, though it sounded like she was also chuckling. “You’re such a baby.”

“S-sorry.”

“It is okay.”

“Hey…”

“Yes?”

“Can I… hold your hand?”

I felt stupid asking to hold her hand. I wasn’t some simple-minded and pure teenager asking his crush to hold hands, but that was what I felt like just now.

Despite my words probably sounding stupid, the woman shifted and raised her hands. They were covered in gloves, but she removed one of them, revealing the dark bruise pulsating along her entire arm. It seemed I wasn’t just imagining it. The Spiritual Poisoning had probably spread through her entire body.

“Here,” the woman said, and despite her hand looking horribly disfigured, she held it steady as I reached out and clasped it with my own.

***

Things proceeded much more smoothly after I protected Siv from a pack of Werewolves. It was clear to me now that she did not like violence, fighting, or anything to do with the intentional harming of others. I found it odd that a Dragon would abhor such things. The few Dragons I had met were all battle maniacs, but perhaps Siv was like this as a result of what happened to her father. I knew how hard it was to watch a member of your family die.

I did run into a few new problems regarding Siv, though I didn’t know if I would call them problems. That was overstating the matter a bit. It wasn’t like this was a big deal. However, after Siv realized that all I wanted to do was protect her, she became… well, clingy. She used every opportunity she could to hug my arm. When we were traveling, she would grab my sleeve as though afraid I would disappear.

Because I was now actively using Spiritual Perception to keep us from running into Demon Beasts, I didn’t really have a problem indulging her, but problems did arise during the night.

Siv wanted to sleep with me.

I didn’t mean that in a sexual way. She never tried to tear my pants off and do the deed, but she would also snuggle close and hold me tight. Again, it seemed almost as if she was beginning to become dependent on me, which I didn’t think was healthy. I also knew there wasn’t anything I could do at the moment to stop her.

In many ways, Siv was dependent on me. She was strong. Given her incredible strength, I was sure she had already reached the Third State of Spiritualism. However, because she didn’t like violence, she couldn’t fight, which meant she had no choice but to rely on me. Once we got back to Nevaria, I was sure she would eventually settle down and become more independent.

Well, that was my hope.

Our travels continued, and I had to wonder how big this forest was; we had already been traveling for well over seven days, and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. I was honestly getting worried. Had it taken this long to travel to the Morkdypt Ravine when I was traveling with Herleif? I couldn’t remember. Also, where was that old man? I hoped he was still alive. I didn’t want to have to be the one who told Kari that her grandfather was dead.

During what had to be our eighth day, Siv suddenly stopped walking. She was grabbing onto my sleeve. While this would have normally ended up with me pulling her off balance, Siv was still a Dragon, and her physical strength was such that I was the one who nearly fell over.

“What is it?” I looked over my shoulder at Siv.

Siv cocked her head to the side. What was she doing? It took me a moment, but I soon realized that she was likely listening to something.

“Sounds. Footsteps. Many.”

Siv still couldn’t speak in complete sentences, but she knew quite a few words and could at least string them together. I was able to easily understand what she was saying. Somewhere ahead of us there were a lot of people marching, but that didn’t make any sense. Why would there be so many…

I took a deep breath as a thought occurred to me. I hoped I was wrong, but if I wasn't, then this could spell trouble.

“We’re taking to the trees,” I said.

Siv didn’t seem to understand, but that was okay because I scooped her into my arms without warning, though she didn’t resist even after I’d done this. She wrapped her arms around my neck and relaxed almost completely. The level of trust she showed in me now was pretty impressive considering how badly I had scared her after killing that Werewolf.

Using the Jump Step, I took to the air, ascending until I landed on a branch high above the forest floor. I ran quickly along the branches, leaping when I needed to, but mostly doing my best to hide from any prying eyes down below.

I think my idea was pretty good. As I moved across the branches, the sounds that Siv had been hearing became louder and louder, until it was all I could hear. What’s more, the trees seemed to be shaking.

Setting Siv down on a thick branch, I knelt and crawled over so I could peer down from above. What I saw stunned me. Sekbeists. Thousands of them. I couldn’t get an accurate estimation thanks to the trees, but there were definitely around several tens of thousands marching down there. It wasn’t just Sekbeists either.

There were many Demon Beasts among this massive army. I could see everything from Saber-toothed Tigers with their orange striped fur and powerful bodies to even a few Greater Behemoths like the one I’d fought in my past life. Not only were these Greater Behemoths moving alongside the Sekbeists, they were carrying massive carriages filled with more Sekbeists on their backs.

“This is… a massive army,” I whispered in shock.

“Ar… my?” Siv tilted her head.

“Yes. Army.” I didn’t look at Siv as I stared at the group of Sekbeists, trying my best to get as accurate of an estimation about their numbers as I could. “It looks like there are definitely over ten-thousand Sekbeists and even more Demon Beasts. I estimate there might be around thirty thousand. No wonder me and Herleif didn’t see a single Demon Beast down in that Morkdypt Ravine. They were probably all being controlled by those claw-shaped implants.”

I was using a lot of words Siv didn’t understand, but I couldn’t focus on her now. I needed to know more than just numbers. What kind of Demon Beasts were being used, how many of each were there, and did they have any S-rank Demon Beasts among their ranks? From what I saw, it didn’t look like they had anything above an A-rank. I hoped that was the case.

As I was looking at the massive army, someone at the front caught my attention, causing me to frown. This person was not a Sekbeist or a Demon Beast. He stood on two legs, had a head full of blond hair with gray streaks, and appeared to be in relatively good shape. I didn’t know what age I should put him at. He somehow combined a youthful demeanor with the appearance of an older gentleman. However, that wasn’t important.

What was important was that this man looked like he was leading the army of Sekbeists.

Standing next to the human male was a Sekbeist Shaman, who I would bet anything was the same one that sicced the Basilisk on Earland, Geirolf, and Mykkel back in Bucharest.

“We can’t get to Nevaria this way,” I said, leaning back at last to hide myself from view. It didn’t look like anyone had noticed me, but better safe than sorry. “We’ll have to find another way of reaching Nevaria, and we need to hurry.”

“Need? Hurry?” asked Siv.

“Yes, we need to hurry,” I said.

It was obvious to me that this army was heading toward Nevaria for the sake of ransacking the city. I was sure they were also responsible for what happened to Nevaria in my past life, though I had no proof. But everything fit. The Demon Beast Invasion must have been Dyr’s powers being activated. After the Demon Beast Invasion, the Sekbeist swept through Nevaria for reasons I was unaware of. When the Demon Beasts attacked the small stronghold myself, Kari, and a few survivors had lived in, they must have been controlled by the Sekbeist to attack any humans on sight.

How and why the Sekbeist had launched an attack on Nevaria were things I didn’t know, though I suppose they could have just wanted to destroy us. Even so, I felt like there was a reason Nevaria had been targeted beyond simply wanting to annihilate humanity. I didn’t know what it was, and standing here thinking about it probably wasn’t going to help me.

While I was thinking, Siv seemed to have done some thinking of her own.

“If need hurry. Fly?”

“Fly?” I snapped back to the present and looked in Siv’s direction. “Do you mean you’ll change into your Dragon form and we’ll fly over the landscape?”

Siv nodded. “Need directions. Siv fly past scary green people.”

“If you can fly me to Nevaria, I would be very happy.” I stood up and offered Sif my hand, which she took so I could pull her up. “Let’s get further away from that army and find a place where you can transform.”

Siv and I quickly traveled away from the Sekbeist army, journeying across the treetops until the sounds of thousands of footsteps disappeared. We landed back on the ground and I used Spiritual Perception to see if there were any enemies. It looked like we were in the clear, so I gestured to Siv and had her follow me.

We didn’t find a clearing, but we did eventually end up at the edge of the forest. I was not exactly sure where we were since Mount Himmellyn was nowhere near us. The area up ahead was craggy and covered in cliffs. It didn’t look quite like a mountain range, but there were several smaller mountains spread across this vast desert area.

The air had suddenly turned arid. Breathing in the dry air, which contained the scents of sand and rock, I looked at Siv.

“Can you transform here?”

“Big enough,” Siv said with a nod. “Stand back.”

I wasn’t sure how far away I needed to be, so I stepped several meters back from Siv as she closed her eyes. It looked like she was meditating while standing up.

A minute past by in silence. The only sounds were the wind blowing through the cliffs. But then another sound soon arose, a crackling that reminded me of snapping bones. The sounds were coming from Siv, whose body was suddenly growing larger and changing shape. She grew so much that her clothes tore apart.

Scales sprouted from around the scales that looked like they had been grafted into her skin, expanding across her arms as her middle and index fingers merged together, transforming her hands into massive claws with four fingers. Similarly, her arms and shoulders suddenly grew thousands of glistening green scales. Her legs transformed into the hind legs of a reptile as a tail sprouted from her back.

Siv’s neck grew longer and the horns on her head gained a noticeably more menacing appearance as her hair turned into ridged spikes that grew along her neck. Her nose and mouth grew outward into a reptilian muzzle with a row of incredibly sharp teeth. Powerful brow-ridges protected her rhomboidal green eyes, which were large, glowing with power, and contained a single black slit for a pupil. The wings that had been sitting on her back also grew to an astonishing length. They had originally been maybe a meter across, but now it looked like they were ten or maybe even fifteen meters. Of course, Siv’s body was now easily ten or fifteen times larger than me. She towered over me like an Útgarðar.

Craning her neck to look at me, Siv released a roar that only someone who’d learned Dragon speak would ever understand.

I walked up and leapt onto Siv’s back. Her scales were very smooth and soft, but they also felt hard beneath my feet. Dragon scales was one of the toughest substances around.

Finding a place to sit near the front, I grabbed onto the nearest spiked ridge as Siv flapped her wings, creating a powerful updraft that lifted her into the air. The wind pushed against us as we ascended. A loud howling sound filled my ears.

I had flown around plenty of times in the past after reaching the Fourth State of Spiritualism, but this was something that felt altogether different. I’d never ridden on a Dragon’s back before. Dragons were a proud race who descended from the Drakvar, a powerful race from Vindenket, the eighth realm in our world. They didn’t let anyone ride them. Yet here I was, riding a dragon.

And it was amazing.

I knew I wasn’t supposed to get excited. The situation was quite dire, but even though I felt a sense of urgency, I could not contain my joy at flying on a dragon. I felt the smoothness of her scales underneath my hand, marveled at the powerful shoulders muscles I was sitting between, and admired the sight of Siv’s beautiful wings. I didn’t feel much air resistance after our initial takeoff. I suppose that was because Siv was a wind dragon. She had likely manipulate the wind to decrease wind resistance.

Glancing down, I realized we had already traveled quite far. I actually recognized where we were now. This was the same area where I had fought against the Giant Rock Golem, or at least very close to it.

A smile worked its way onto my face. It wouldn’t be long before I could return home. I had to warn the people of Nevaria about the dangers heading their way.