WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 1 Page 15

  The most basic of training methods was meditation. It was the simple act of sending your conscious inward and feeling the flow of your Spiritual Power. Once a Spiritualist could feel the Spiritual Power flowing through their Spiritual Pathways, they could begin manually circulating it through their bodies. By doing this, a Spiritualist learned more about their own power and how to properly control it.

  Since I had already gotten a handle on my Spiritual Power using the waterfall method, I could now use the meditation method. I sat cross-legged in the center of the training ground and released my Spiritual Power again. It flowed out, once more engulfing me in a powerful aura of crackling lightning and swirling water. I didn’t think anyone would be able to sense it now since I had contained it to just the area around me. However, if someone were to wander by, they would be able to feel it so long as they were sensitive enough.

  The Spiritual Power flowing through me was much calmer now than it had been when I first tried this. It moved like a gentle stream through my Spiritual Pathways. As I sank further into my subconscious, I extended my will into this flow and began manually adjusting it, slowing it down, speeding it up, making it pause before moving again.

  Time was practically meaningless while I was in this state. Most Spiritualists lost track of time after reaching a spiritual state like this, where their souls were lost within the flow of their own Spiritual Power. Through this state, I was able to gain more control over my own power. If I were to open my eyes, I was positive that I’d see the aura surrounding me diminishing.

  Sometime while I was meditating, a loud noise jerked me out of my spiritually aware state. I opened my eyes and tilted my head. The noise came again. It sounded like the angry squeals of several wild boars.

  My curiosity got the better of me. I stood up and followed the sound, passing several boulders, and soon came upon an odd scene.

  Several boars were surrounding a large snake with colorful black and yellow scales, a long body of about five or six meters, and a face that seemed strangely expressive for a reptile. The snake had raised its body and flared out its neck as it hissed in a threatening manner at the boars. I noticed right away that it was injured. There was a large gash running along its body, from which red blood leaked out and formed a puddle beneath it. From the manner in which the snake bobbed its head as though dizzy, I could tell it wouldn’t last much longer.

  I think some part of me pitied the snake, which was why I decided to intervene. I released my Spiritual Power and let it flow over the boars.

  Animals were far more sensitive to Spiritual Power than humans. They had a natural Spiritual Perception that they were born with, whereas most humans had to train to use Spiritual Perception to sense the power of others… unless I went all out and manifested my Spiritual Power as Spiritual Pressure. Then even someone who wasn’t perceptive would feel it.

  The boars immediately went stiff as my Spiritual Power washed over them. Even the snake paused when it felt my power. While the boars ran off, the cobra twisted its head in my direction, and I found a pair of pure black eyes staring at me.

  I walked toward the cobra, who eyed me as though wary. I guess my Spiritual Power was causing it to react like this, so I quickly stopped releasing it, but the snake didn’t relax even after my Spiritual Aura disappeared. Well, it was an animal, so I guess it just didn’t like humans.

  “Easy,” I said to it. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to heal your injuries.”

  I felt a little silly talking to the snake. It was a snake. They couldn’t understand human language. I think I was talking to keep myself calm.

  As I approached the snake, it tried to coil up, but it must have reached its limit. The snake’s front fell onto the ground as it released a pitiful hiss. I think it was dying.

  Wearing a frown, I approached the snake and knelt next to it. Spending a moment to observe its injury, I realized that the gash had probably come from the tusk of one of those boars. I put my hands over the injury, not touching it, but letting them hover a few centimeters above the snake’s body. Taking a deep breath, I channeled the water element through my hands and into the snake.

  A weak hiss escaped from the snake as it raised its head, but I ignored that as I stared at the gash, which was slowly closing up. The flesh along its split body healed right before my eyes like I was watching time reverse itself. It was a good thing healing wounds like this was easier than using techniques. With my current lack of control, it would have been too hard if healing required anything more than just covering a wound with the water element.

  The wound soon healed completely. However, before I could sigh in relief, the cobra I had just saved lunged forward and bit me!

  “Ouch!”

  Its fangs sank deep into my right hand, right around my pinky and ring finger. I flinched at the feeling. Cobras were venomous. However, the expected burning sensation of poison flowing through my body didn’t come. Soon after it bit me, the cobra unlatched its teeth from my hand and darted away. I watched it slither off into the bushes, and then looked at my hand after it had disappeared.

  There were two large puncture marks just below my ring finger. Blood oozed from the marks, but the normal blackness that came from poison being injected into my body wasn’t there. I sent my subconscious into my body and tried to search for any trace of the poison. There was nothing. I sighed in relief.

  “Maybe something happened to its poison gland,” I said. “Could someone have removed it?”

  There was a sect in Midgard called the Poison Sect who specialized in poisons. They had a menagerie of poisonous animals, including several types of snakes, which they raised for the sake of extracting the poison glands from and performing surgery to insert the gland into themselves. I didn’t think that was what had happened here, but perhaps someone had removed it for another reason.

  Either way, I guess it wasn’t really my business.

  Looking at the sky, I noticed that it had begun getting dark. The two moons had already appeared and the colors of twilight spread across the sky-

  I walked back over to where I had been training, grabbed the bag of Three-Way Spiritual Widening Pills, and began the journey back home.

  Chapter 10

  Weighted Clothes

  I wasn’t sure how long the two of us walked through the forest far from Nevaria. The wound over my eye had healed, but it had become a scar. It was now a pale gash of ragged but healed flesh.

  Our days were spent miserably, dodging Demon Beasts whenever we could and fighting them when we couldn’t. The nights were even worse. During the dark hours when the sun had gone down, we were forced to hide in caves, under bushes, and wherever we could. I barely got a wink of sleep.

  Of course, I say “we,” but I really meant “she.” I had no fighting ability to speak of. Kari was the one who had done all the fighting.

  Kari was the only reason I was still alive. While I cowered behind her, unable to do a single thing, she fought against the Demon Beasts. Her beautiful, elegant figure moved to a rhythm of death. During this time, my admiration and respect for her soared to heights I had never believed imaginable. At the same time, I felt completely useless. She was carrying the burden for both of us. Meanwhile, I could offer nothing in return.

  Late one night, I was sitting close to the entrance of the cave, staring into the vast forest beyond. We had found this little place while searching for somewhere to spend the night. It had been home to a pack of Dire Wolves. Kari had killed the Dire Wolves, skinned their corpses, and taken this cavern for herself.

  I had offered to keep watch. I’d actually had to argue with her about this. Kari had been adamant about letting me sleep, but I could tell she was nearing her limit. She had not slept once this entire time outside of a few small naps. There were bags under her eyes, she had stumbled several times during her fight against the Dire Wolves, and she had become exhausted more quickly during the fight than was normal. She needed to sleep.

  Besides
, right now, keeping watch was all I could do.

  As I sat there, wondering if there was anything else I could do to help Kari, a soft cry came from inside the cavern. I recognized that voice! Panic spread through me as I stood up. I rushed inside, prepared for the worse. I was expecting some kind of unknown Demon Beast to have appeared and attacked Kari while she slept. No such thing happened. After searching the area and finding nothing, I sighed in relief.

  My relief didn’t last long.

  Kari was thrashing in her sleep. Her cries and struggles were growing increasingly more violent. I rushed to her side and tried to shake her awake. I cried out when her fist struck me in the cheek, but I ignored the pain, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her as I called her name.

  “Kari! Kari! Wake up!”

  Her eyes opened with a snap. Trembling orbs of the brightest blue leaked tears that appeared nearly translucent. I watched in horror as one trailed down her cheek and dripped off her chin, neck, and collarbone before sliding off.

  “E-Eryk?” she asked with a tremor in her voice. I felt shaken, but I didn’t let her know that.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Shaking her head, Kari sat up and pushed me away. She wiped the tears from her eyes as I watched with a growing sense of helplessness. Then she smiled at me, and my heart lurched.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Sorry to worry you.”

  My lips involuntarily twitched into a frown. “You are obviously not fine. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Kari looked away.

  The frown grew. “It is not nothing. You were crying in your sleep.”

  When Kari said nothing, I could only grit my teeth in frustration. She had been like this ever since rescuing me. Kari was burdened by something heavy. I didn’t know what it was, but I believed it was more than just the destruction of our home. However, she was putting on this strong front, and I knew why.

  It was because of me. It was because I was weak.

  Moving closer, I did not give Kari a chance to push me away again and pulled her into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. Kari stiffened.

  Given her strength, she was more than capable of pushing me off, but she didn’t. Her arms hung loosely at her sides like soggy noodles. Her body seemed to have lost all its strength as she collapsed into me. I wasn’t very strong, so the dead weight was almost enough to send me on my back. Only the little amount of pride I had kept me from falling.

  “Kari,” I said with my chin resting on the crown of her head. “Please tell me what’s wrong. I know something is bothering you. It’s been bothering you this whole time. I want to help you. Please let me help you.”

  She remained silent, but I didn’t rush her. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in years since she married Grant Leucht, I liked to think I knew enough about her that I could tell she was close to speaking. She just needed time to gather her thoughts.

  “M... my mother… is dead.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. It was obvious that her mother was dead, given what happened. However, if she was telling me this, then it meant her death likely had nothing to do with the Demon Beast Invasion.

  “She was poisoned,” Kari continued. “When the Demon Beast attack happened, I rushed into my mother’s bedroom to inform her of what was happening. I…” She paused to choke back a sob, took a shuddering breath, and then continued. “When I entered the room, my mother and all of my fathers were dead, and standing over their corpses was Grant Leucht and this strange man wearing a dark cloak. He… he told me that Nevaria was finished, and then he tried to convince me to come with him.”

  My arms tightened around her shoulders, but that was all the physical response I would give. I didn’t like hearing about that man. He had forced the woman I love into an arranged marriage. He had torn me away from her. I did not know what Kari’s life had been like with that man, and I didn’t know what kind of man he was since we’d only met once, but I could not imagine that her life was pleasant, especially with the information she had just revealed.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I naturally refused,” Kari said. “That bastard not only killed my family, but he dared to try and take me as his own. I think he was upset by the fact that I never let him touch me again after our wedding night. In any case, he and that cloaked man attacked me when I refused. I managed to injure him and flee the Imperial Palace. After which, I searched for you.”

  “I see.”

  I wondered how it was possible to feel both incredible guilt and joy at the same time. What happened to her was something that caused my gut to clench, but the fact that the first thing she did after escaping was to search for me filled my chest with warmth. That, too, made me feel guilty.

  “Kari… I love you so much.”

  Those words left my mouth before I could stop them, but I didn’t take them back. They were true. I had more or less confessed these feelings two and a half years ago when she told me she was marrying Grant Leucht, and those feelings had not dulled with time. If anything, her absence from my life had made them burn even more fiercely.

  I think my words caused something inside of her to break. Barely a second passed after this confession left my lips when Kari, whose body had stiffened in shock, suddenly broke down. My ragged, smelly, and torn shirt became soaked with tears. Kari cried into my chest, bawling in a way I’d never seen before. It was as if all the emotional turmoil and hardships she was dealing with had been walled up by a dam, and now that dam had broken.

  Time passed. I didn’t speak as Kari cried. I held her close, allowing her to release the feelings she had long since pent up. Her tears eventually stopped, though she still sniffled occasionally.

  “Are you feeling a little better?” I asked.

  “Yeah…” Kari’s face was still buried in my chest, so I couldn’t see it, but I imagined it was a mess. I could tell that some of the liquid on my chest was not tears. “I’m sorry.”

  I shook my head even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “I think you needed this.”

  “Yeah…”

  Kari grew silent again, though I didn’t mind. Even though I was covered in two different kinds of fluid, I was happy. I was not strong. I couldn’t protect anyone. Up to this point, I had to rely on Kari for everything, but at least now, I could do something for her. All I wanted was to be of some use to the woman I loved.

  Weakness.

  I frowned as that thought penetrated my mind. I was weak. However, I didn’t think I could remain weak. There would definitely come a time when Kari’s strength alone wouldn’t be enough to protect us both. If she and I were surrounded by Demon Beasts, she would undoubtedly use all of her strength to protect me so I could run, but there was no way I could do that. If something like this scenario occurred, then both of us would die together.

  I wanted her to live.

  “Kari?” I said after a while.

  “Yes?”

  “Will you train me to become strong?” I asked.

  At those words, Kari lifted her head and stared at me. Her blue eyes were red, the rims around her eyes were puffy from crying, and there were streaks running down her pale face. There was even some snot dripping from her nose. Even with all that, her eyes still had the power to leave me breathless.

  I’m not sure if she was searching for something, but whether she was seeking something or merely trying to decide what she should do, Kari eventually gave me a slow nod.

  “Yes,” she said at last. “I will help you become stronger. However, you should know that given our current situation, your training will likely be very… rough.”

  The way she trailed off toward the end, as if trying to find a delicate way of putting it, let me know that there would probably be a lot of hardships in store for me. I didn’t care. If it would make me strong enough to watch her back when danger struck, I would gladly throw myself into a pit of lava.

  “That’s fine.” I hardened myself. “In fact, t
hat couldn’t be better. I’ll do whatever it takes to get stronger.”

  For the first time since we’d fled from Nevaria, a glint appeared in Kari’s eyes. “That’s good,” she began in a slow, deliberate manner. “I’m glad you have such determination. You’ll need it.”

  I didn’t know how true those words were at the time, but I would come to find out very soon that Kari was a cruel taskmaster.

  A very, very, VERY cruel one.

  I snapped my eyes open and found a familiar ceiling above me. It took me a moment to remember where I was, but when I realized this was my small, shoddy room in Nevaria, I closed my eyes and pressed my palms against my eyelids.

  The dream I’d just had detailed a memory I had long since forgotten the specifics of. I remembered the moment, but certain things about it had been less important at the time… such as the fact that Grant Leucht had killed Kari’s family. It hadn’t been important to the situation, so I hadn’t thought too deeply on it. I think part of me assumed he’d died during the Demon Beast Invasion.

  Well, now I had a new goal to add to my list of goals: Kill Grant Leucht and his entire family.

  With that new goal etched into my heart, I climbed out of bed and began my day.

  I did not work today. Aside from myself, Ms. Nadine had two other workers who helped her out. They were actually her sons. Both of them were a year younger than I was and attended a basic school that taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. They only helped her out when they could because they were also apprenticed under her husband. I was her main worker and the one who spent the most time at the library.

  As I walked toward the Merchant’s District, my mind went to Empress Hilda—Kari’s mother. I knew nothing about her beyond what everyone else did. She and I had never met in my past life. That said, she’d made a lot of sweeping changes after ascending the throne. I thought her changes were for the better, but I knew it caused friction among the nobles. Kari once told me that a lot of noble families did not approve of the empress or her ideas. While part of that was because of her ideas, the other part probably had to do with the fact that Empress Hilda had been a peasant before her rise to power.