WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 9

“Close your eyes!” I ordered Kari immediately upon spotting the scaled creature that coiled itself around the Sekbeist Elite.

Kari did as I ordered. As she shut her eyes, I stomped my foot against the ground and created a massive wall of water between the Basilisk and us, and then I raised my right hand and unleashed a powerful lance of lightning. It struck the wall to my left, blasting a hole clean through it.

The Basilisk sprang forward like a spring and crashed head first into the wall of water, only to bounce back. A grunt escaped my lips as the water undulated after the powerful strike. This creature was strong, and I had put up that barrier hastily, so it was weaker than it should have been.

“A water barrier, is it?” the Sekbeist Elite murmured as he took a step forward and tapped the barrier with his hand. Ripples spread along the surface. “And quite sturdy too. I guess that’s the power of a half-breed. Even though it looks like you’ve only reached the Third State of Spiritualism recently, your powers over the elements are impressive—ah, but you can’t control all the elements, can you?”

I ignored the creature as he chortled. While I was curious to know what he meant, now was not the time.

After hefting the unconscious Geirolf over my shoulder, I grabbed Kari’s hand and raced through the hole. I could hear the Basilisk pounding on the water barrier with more fervor than before.  

“Eryk? Can I open my eyes now? I can’t see where we’re going.”

“Yes, you can open your eyes.”

Kari blinked several times as she opened her eyes and studied the tunnel we were running through.

After blowing a hole clean through that cavern, we’d ended up in another section of the sewers, which was covered in vines and plants like the rest of the sewers. This particular tunnel we found ourselves in wasn’t as large as some of the other areas. However, it wasn’t small either. I judged it to be at least a dozen meters wide.

“What should we do now?” asked Kari.

“First, we need to get as far from the Basilisk and his master as possible,” I said. “I believe he found us thanks to the noise Geirolf made when he was being healed. We’ll get as far as we can, find a place to lay low, and then come up with a plan.”

Kari nodded as I let go of her hand, and the two of us soon disappeared within a Flash Step. We quickly traversed through the sewers, using the Flash Step over and over to travel at speeds nobody else could match. I had no idea where we were. We’d gone deeper into the sewers, which had changed from a water-filled passageway full of plants to grimy stones covered in algae. The water located in the channel didn’t even come up past his feet.

We moved as far as we could, until we came upon a section of rounded tunnels. It was still made of stone, but the shape and feel was different, making me wonder if this section had been built by different architects or perhaps even crafted from before Bucharest was built. Maybe another city had existed here long ago.

“We’ll rest here,” I said in a soft voice.

“Okay.” Kari didn’t argue with me as she walked over to the curved wall, sat down, and placed her ranseur in her lap.

I walked to the same spot and set Geirolf against the wall. The unconscious man’s head slumped forward, but he didn’t move otherwise. At least his breathing was still even.

Sitting next to Kari, I leaned back and closed my eyes for a moment, just allowing myself to relax. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting much of that soon.

However, much as I wanted to relax for at least an hour, I knew we couldn’t.

“We need to come up with a plan,” Kari said.

I nodded. “I actually have one, if you want to hear it.”

She sighed. “I don’t need to hear it. I already know what your plan will be.” She turned her head and looked at me with a surprisingly deadpan stare. “You’re going to tell me to take Geirolf and leave battling against the Basilisk and his master to you, right? That’s what you’re going to say, isn’t it?”

“You know me too well.” I gave her a helpless smile, but then I shifted my face into a serious frown. “The Basilisk hasn’t yet matured. You can tell by how small it is. An adult Basilisk is about 30 meters long, but that one was only about 15. Taking care of it shouldn’t be a problem if I use one of my more powerful attacks. As for the Sekbeist… it looks like he’s a Shaman.”

Skygge had also been a Sekbeist Shaman, but it seemed like this one specialized in a different branch of Spiritualism. Skygge had used shadows to attack and travel like most Sekbeist Shamans. This one seemed to be capable of controlling Demon Beasts, though I had no idea how such a thing was possible. It could be that he was using some kind of device. I remembered how the Sekbeists in my previous life had been able to control several young dragons. Was it a branch of their powers, or did they have a magical device of some kind that could control them.

I had no answers. However, I knew this was something I needed to find out… for everyone’s sake.

“I don’t like the idea of you going up against those two by yourself,” Kari said at last. I said nothing as she sighed. “But I also understand where our priorities should be. I’ll take Geirolf and get out of this sewer, while you deal with the Sekbeist and his pet Basilisk. I… I trust you.”

“Thank you,” I said.

It was clear that Kari was worried for me, but she was still willing to put her trust in me despite this. That made me feel good. Warmth spread through my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms and make love to her… though I resisted. Having sex in a sewer was not my idea of a good time.

We didn’t plan on moving just yet. I thought it would be easier for us to begin our plan if we could wait for Geirolf to wake up. Kari was strong, but I didn’t want her lugging around her brother’s dead weight since she used a weapon that relied on two hands to wield.

While we waited, I decided it was finally time for me to do a bit more training.

My training had come to something of a standstill. I could not reach the Fourth State of Spiritualism at the moment, but there was something I could do that I haven’t tried yet. To be honest, part of me was afraid to try it. Even so, even though I was nervous, I knew that in our current situation, it would be good to have a trump card ready.

Closing my eyes, I centered my breathing and slowly sank deeper and deeper into my own subconscious. The world around me vanished. The sound of Kari’s and Geirolf’s breathing, the dripping of water, and the creaking of iron all disappeared from my sense of hearing. Even my sense of smell had vanished.

I soon found myself floating in eternal blackness. It was like I had entered a void. As I floated in this void, several lights suddenly appeared within the distance, and I willed myself toward the lights.

What I found upon reaching the light source was a swirling nebula being orbited by several spheres. I felt a smile appear on my face. How long had it been since I’d gazed upon my Spiritual Core? Even back in my previous life, it was not often that I traveled deep into my own subconscious. However, while I was feeling a little nostalgic, a frown soon crossed my face as I realized something was different between this time and the last time I had been here.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I looked at the five spheres orbiting around the nebula that represented my Spiritual Power. There was an electric blue one that crackled with power, a deeper blue sphere made up of rolling waves, a golden sphere that seemed a little dull, a brown sphere that similarly looked dull, and a sphere that was so black it looked like a black hole.

Three of the five spheres were dull. While the electric blue and cerulean blue spheres were glowing with the brilliant luster of their respective elements, the gold, brown, and black spheres seemed dead.

I crossed the arms of my spirit avatar and frowned.

I had been expecting the golden sphere to be inside of my subconscious. During the battle against Hagan Leucht and Skygge, I had briefly activated the light element when Kari was in danger, but the other two spheres were a mystery to me. They were definitely representations of an element. However, I had no idea which element or why they were inside of me.

Shaking my head, I dispelled those thoughts and floated to the golden sphere. The only way to figure out what was going on would be to activate these elements and see what they were. However, first, I wanted to activate the light element.

I reached out and placed my hand on the golden sphere. My spirit avatar’s body shuddered as I closed my eyes.

In my previous life, just before she died, Kari had somehow managed to give me her elemental affinity, though I had no idea how she accomplished such a feat. However, when I was training to become more intimate with my elements, I journeyed into my subconscious like I was doing now and discovered this golden sphere. Upon activating it, I had been able to use Kari’s element for myself.

Pushing my Spiritual Power into the sphere, I watched as it began glowing. A vibrant humming filled the void as the elemental affinity activated. It felt like this void was being filled with light. In fact, the world around me seemed to grow brighter with every passing second.

I was just about to nod in satisfaction, but then the sphere fizzled, sputtered, and died out. I frowned and tried pushing more Spiritual Power into it. However, no matter how much I put into the sphere, the elemental affinity refused to activate.

Sighing as I realized I couldn’t activate this affinity for whatever reason, I floated over to the next closest inactive element. It was the brown sphere. I studied this sphere curiously before placing my hand on it. Before activating it, I decided to use Spiritual Perception on it.

This sphere was hard as a rock, sturdy as a mountain, and contained a dense Spiritual Power. Yet it also felt warm and nurturing. I see now. This sphere was a representation of the earth element, but how could I have gotten this elemental affinity? I hadn’t done anything to—

The answer came to me in a flash of insight.

Lin.

As a Lamia, Lin was able to use the poison element, which was actually a combination of earth and darkness. Lamia were natural dual-affinity users. Few, however, seemed capable of using each element separately, so many often mistook their elemental affinity as a simple poison affinity, but poison was more like a sub branch similar to my storm techniques, which combined lightning and water.

Recalling the first time Lin and I had sex, I remembered how that symbol had appeared on her chest. It was still there. Did that symbol have something to do with why I now possessed the earth and darkness affinities?

With naught but a thought, I pushed some Spiritual Power into the brown sphere and watched as it became luminescent. It didn’t light up like the light element sphere should have. Instead, the sphere became filled with life. The brown sphere rippled and moved, forming mountains and valleys. It did not take long before I could feel the strong and sturdy earth element entering my body.

However, now I was confused. The earth element seemed to be working fine, but the light element was refusing to activate. Was it because of the symbol on Lin’s chest that I could activate the earth element but not the light element? And if so, how come that symbol remained on Lin after we had sex but not Kari or Fay?

I was so confused, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get any answers right now. Aside from that, we were in a dire situation, one that wouldn’t allow me to meditate on this matter.

Floating to the final element within my subconscious, I placed my hand upon the darkness element, feeling a moment of hesitation. In many ways, this element was a representation of my greatest enemies, second only to the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain. I didn’t know if I wanted to activate this element.

But then I remembered that this element was from Lin, a girl whom I loved with all my heart. This was her element too. I should not be scared of it.

Channeling Spiritual Power into the black sphere, I watched as it gained a strange glow that was unlike anything I’d seen before. No ripples appeared on the surface. Nothing seemed to have changed outside of this strangely gentle glow. However, I could feel the darkness entering my body. Oddly enough, the ominous and terrifying sensations I was expecting to feel did not appear within me.

Now that the two elements I could activate were activated, I had no reason to remain inside of my subconscious, so I quickly willed my mind to return to my body.

Opening my eyes, I could tell that not much time had passed. Kari was still sitting next to me, looking as vigilant as before, and Geirolf was still sleeping soundly. I frowned and wondered how long it would be before he woke up.

Reaching into my pouch, I pulled out the two Azoth Pills and handed both of them to Kari. She looked at me with a curious frown.

“These alchemy pills are a powerful type of universal medicine meant to cure numerous ailments, including powerful poisons and petrification,” I explained. “The effects last for about five hours. During the five hours after you consume this pill, you will be immune to the Basilisk’s venom and gaze—at least in theory.”

“In theory?” Kari raised an eyebrow.

“Very few people have ever fought against a Basilisk, and even fewer have lived to tell about it.” I shrugged. “The Azoth Pill was made to combat and cure life-threatening conditions and effects. It’s already been tested, so I know it will cure you if you get poisoned, and I know the medicinal ingredients will remain within your bloodstream for five hours. Whether that means it will protect you for five hours or grow too weak to adequately protect you after you’ve consumed it, I couldn’t say. However, it’s better than nothing.”

“I suppose… you are right,” Kari agreed.

“Once Geirolf wakes up, take that pill and make him take the other pill. Then get yourselves out of these sewers,” I instructed.

“What about you?” asked Kari.

“Me?” Giving Kari a grin, I decided that a little bit of bravado was necessary here. “I’m going to find that Sekbeist Shaman and his pet snake and make them regret ever coming to this city.”

***

Kari didn’t say anything as she watched Eryk disappear into the darkness. She merely bit her lip as frustration welled up inside of her.

Eryk was going off to fight against the Sekbeist Shaman and the Basilisk, alone, without her, and it was so frustrating that she wanted to scream. She hated how even now, she still wasn’t strong enough to stand by his side. He was shouldering everyone’s burdens, taking all of the difficult tasks onto himself, and she couldn’t even help him.

Wiping the frustrated tears from her eyes, Kari promised herself that she would train harder when they returned home. For now, however, what she needed to focus on was getting out of here. Of course, she needed to wait for Geirolf to wake up before she could do that.

Time passed by at a snail’s pace while she waited, but eventually, a low groan escaped Geirolf’s lips, and she turned her head to see the man lifting his head up and glancing around him with confused eyes.

“What… where… is this?” he asked, disoriented.

“Geirolf,” Kari said.

“Kari?” Geirolf blinked several times. “What are you… doing here?”

“I came to save you, obviously.”

Geirolf didn’t seem to understand, not at first, but his eyes gained more clarity as the seconds ticked by. Did he remember what happened to him?

With a startled yelp, Geirolf looked down at his newly regrown arm and leg. His eyes were so wide they were practically bulging from his sockets. He stared at his leg and arm, first in horror, then in confusion.

“What… my limbs? They’re—”

“Eryk gave you an alchemy pill that regrew them,” Kari said, completely neglecting to mention how Eryk had given him this alchemy pill. There was no need to go into details. “It’s called the Immortal Phoenix Pill. I don’t know how it works, but it regrew your arms and healed all of your other injuries.”

Geirolf checked himself over as if authenticating her words. Once he realized that she was right, that all of his injuries from the smallest cut to his missing limbs were healed, he scowled.

“I didn’t ask him to save me.”

For the longest time, Kari had put up with Geirolf’s words, let them slide because he was stronger than her, better than her, and she lacked the confidence to stand up for herself. Back when they were younger, Kari was just a caged bird unable to spread her wings, while Geirolf was a mighty tiger who could travel wherever he wanted.

However, that was back then. It was before she had met Eryk. Now that she was stronger, Kari had no intention of letting Geirolf speak like this, especially not about the man she loved.

A loud smack echoed through the tunnel. Kari made sure not to use her full strength, but even so, a large red mark appeared on Geirolf’s cheek as his head spun around.

“Don’t you dare speak ill of Eryk,” she hissed. “You might be my brother, but I refuse to let you insult my fiance.”

“Tch.” Geirolf lifted a hand to his stinging cheek and winced. Despite the pain he must have been experiencing, he still glared at Kari. “I don’t care if he is your fiance, or if Mother favors him. Ever since that man showed up, nobody even pays attention to me anymore. Our fathers can only ever talk about him. Even Valence has nothing but good things to say about him. It’s bad enough that I’m constantly being compared to our brothers, but now they’re even saying I should act more like Eryk! I hate it!”

Geirolf had always had an inferiority complex. It started when their three fathers had expressed disappointment that he lacked Rainer’s intelligence and Earland’s strength, but it kept growing as the three pushed him, demanded more of him, told him to be more like his two older brothers. Kari knew of this. They lived together, so it was impossible for her not to know. Even so…

“You’re constantly looking at everyone else and holding yourself up to their standards, when the person you should be looking at the most isn’t the people around you.” Kari stood up and held her ranseur aloft. “You keep looking at others and seeing the qualities you lack, but you don’t know what sort of hardships and struggles those people faced to get where they are now. Maybe if you stopped looking at everyone else and started looking at yourself, you’d be able to figure out what you need to improve and become stronger.”

Geirolf looked at her with a strange face, which was twisted in a combination of denial and confusion, but Kari didn’t pay attention anymore. She popped one of the Azoth Pills into her mouth. The liquid gushed down her throat and entered her body. It had surprisingly little flavor. However, she could feel a strange warmth emanating from her gut and spreading through the rest of her body.

Once she was sure the pill was working, she tossed the second one to Geirolf. Startled, he caught it but didn’t do anything.

“Take this,” she instructed. When Geirolf continued to stare at the pill, she became impatient and snapped. “Hurry up! That pill will protect you from the Basilisk should we prove to be unlucky and run into it.”

Geirolf finally popped the pill into his mouth. Then he stood up and looked at her. His expression was still complex, but he seemed to have decided that listening to her was the wisest course of action.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“To the surface,” Kari said.

Kari didn’t know exactly where they were in relation to the surface. How deep into this sewer were they? What level was this? Where was the nearest set of stairs. She had no idea. That was why she began walking in the opposite direction Eryk had disappeared to. Not only did she want to avoid where he had gone so he could concentrate on his fight, but she wanted to find an exit that they hadn’t used.

Geirolf followed her. He didn’t say anything. Aside from yelping a few times when his bare feet got cut on something, he remained silent.

That reminded her, Geirolf was practically naked. His clothes had been nearly destroyed when they saw him. At the moment, all he had on were his pants and a few strips of clothing from his shirt. His boots, socks, armor, and gauntlets were all missing.

As they moved, a loud rumbling suddenly echoed from the way they had come. Geirolf snapped his head in that direction, but Kari continued moving, forcing the man to catch up.

“What was that noise?” he finally asked.

“That was probably Eryk,” she answered. “I imagine he’s battling against the Basilisk and that Sekbeist Shaman.”

“Sekbeist… Shaman? The heck is that?”

Kari didn’t answer the man’s quizzical stare, not because she couldn’t, but because several creatures had appeared before them.

They looked like a cross between a human and a Demon Beast. Strange black spots covered their pale skin. Their faces were sunken in, making them look more like a skull with flesh pulled over them. Two slits ran through their skin where the nose should have been, their eyes were pure black except for their crimson irises, and their hands were covered in thick claws that blended into their fingers.

“What… are these?” asked Geirolf, his expression horrified.

“I think… these are Sekbeists,” Kari informed him. “They’re strange monsters, but they aren’t Demon Beasts.”

“I’ve never heard of these Sek… whatevers before,” Geirolf said.

“I only learned about them recently,” Kari admitted, but then she noticed the Sekbeists were closing the distance between them and spun her ranseur around. “Stand back, Geirolf.”

She didn’t give her brother time to reply before she launched herself forward. Blasting off the ground, she sprinted toward the first Sekbeist, thrust out her ranseur, and impaled him through the throat. As blood gushed from the wound, she yanked her weapon out and spun the blade over her head.

Light emitted from the blade of her ranseur, leaving streaks of golden Spiritual Power in their wake.

One of the Sekbeists lunged at her. She sidestepped its clumsy attack and brought her blade down, splitting its head open like an overripe fruit.

Not waiting for the creature to fall to the floor, Kari took a single step forward and felt Spiritual Power explode underneath her feet. To the average eye, it would have looked like she disappeared as she used the Flash Step to appear behind a Sekbeist, who had no idea she was even there before she impaled him through the back. A loud squeal erupted from this creature. She yanked her ranseur out, spun the glowing blade around her body in an intricate pattern, and cut off the creature’s head.

Kari didn’t know how long she fought for or how many Sekbeist’s she killed, but she eventually realized there were none left. She blinked several times. Still feeling a bit of the battle frenzy pulsing through her, she shook her head and turned to Geirolf.

“Come on,” she said to the man who was gawking at her like she’d suddenly grown ten meters tall. “Let’s keep moving. I’m sure more of these things will come if we stick around.”

“Um… right. Yeah. Okay.”

After searching this floor, they eventually found a set of stairs that led up to the next level. Their journey continued, and they didn’t run into anymore Sekbeists, making her wonder what they had been there for. Had they been guarding something? She was curious, but not curious enough to go back.

“You’ve… become really strong, haven’t you, Sis?” Geirolf said suddenly.

“Yes.” Kari acknowledged his words with a nod. “I have. Thanks to the alchemy pills Eryk made for me and my own daily training, I have become strong enough that I can travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range and even defeat B-rank Demon Beasts on my own.”

“I see… so you… had help…”

“There’s nothing wrong with getting help.”

Kari glared at Geirolf, but he just raised his hands in a warding gesture.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was criticizing you. Your words just… got me thinking is all.”

Frowning at the man for a few seconds longer, Kari eventually decided that he hadn’t truly meant his words as an insult and looked away.

They continued traveling for what felt like several hours. Kari didn’t know if they actually spent hours down there, or if it just felt like that, but after climbing numerous stairs and traveling through multiple tunnels, they eventually reached an exit. The door opened with a squeal of rusted hinges. Kari needed to close her eyes briefly as the light struck her retina. She’d been inside that dark tunnel for so long that it felt like the light was burning her eyes. Geirolf had it even worse.

Walking up the stairs in front of them, Kari observed their new location. It looked like they were on a road next to a small canal. There was a bridge several meters in front of her, though it was crumbled and unusable. All the buildings were also packed closely together, though again, many of them had crumbled and were just barely standing. It looked like this place had been a peasants district or something similar.

“What do we do now?” asked Geirolf.

“Now we wait,” Kari said as she walked over to a root jutting from the ground and sat down. “Eryk will defeat the Sekbeist Shaman and the Basilisk, and then come and find us.”

Even though she was worried, Kari had confidence in Eryk. She couldn’t explain it. Of course, she knew that Eryk was strong, but what she felt went beyond mere acknowledgment of his strength. The faith she had in him was something she couldn’t explain with words. All she knew was that she trusted him implicitly.

Geirolf looked at her like she’d said something weird, but he eventually found a place on the ground to sit. He leaned against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes. Perhaps he was still tired.

Silence descended upon them. Kari glanced at the sky. It was such a bright and sunny day.