Chapter 5: The Shadow of Destiny (II)

Aren and Vilkie exchanged another bewildered glance. Vilkie pulled a small engraved mirror from her pocket and handed it to Nerez.

“No way…”

“I’m an old man!”

“…”

“…”

“No, wait… it’s shiny and silky… Not that bad… Mm?”

It wasn’t just his hair. His eyes were now deep gold and seemed to have symbols inscribed in them.

He recognized that image. It was exactly like the light at the far edge of the sea of souls, or the Silver Sea, as Aren and Vilkie called it.

He had always dreaded reaching that light. He wanted to escape the cycle of reincarnation, but for some reason, passing through it had never felt like a real option.

So instead, he had slipped past the barriers of mystical green light surrounding the Silver Sea.

Though he could only swim a few hundred kilometers toward the barrier before the waters dragged him under and he was reborn in a new world. He had to live out an entire life before he could swim again and try once more.

But now that he thought about it, that light was similar to the one emanating from Lirien, the Goddess of Life and Zorovan’s granddaughter.

“Nerez?” Aren called.

“It’s nothing… I was just realizing I’m a complete freak now,” Nerez replied, forcing himself to look away from his own eyes, those perfect reflections of that terrifying light.

“Is it your appearance? I think you have rather mysterious, attractive features,” Vilkie said.

“Thanks… But I don’t take compliments from girls with boyfriends.”

“You’re relentless. And so petty,” Vilkie grumbled.

“Haha, returning to the topic at hand. All those reincarnations would explain how dense your aura is,” Aren said, resting a hand on Vilkie’s shoulder to calm her. “When you die, your spiritual energy returns to the world, either when you are reborn or when you depart for the Silver Sea. But you’ve gathered spiritual energy from every life you’ve lived and every world you’ve visited. I don’t even want to imagine how much you’ve accumulated.”

And I don’t want to say it, to be honest…

“But Nerez,” Aren continued, “spiritual energy is just that, energy. You still need to learn how to use it… together with us!”

“Speaking of relentless…”

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“I think we’ve talked more than enough about the secrets of our faction in the middle of the crowd walking through the gates of Eferion,” Vilkie pointed out. “Why don’t we head to the dormitories already?”

“Our faction? I don’t remember agreeing to anything…”

“Don’t be like that, Nerez. You already let us call you by your nickname,” Aren said, resting a hand on his back to guide him along. “We’re practically friends.”

“I strongly disagree with that. But I do agree on one thing: I want to get to those so-called dormitories already…” Nerez said, allowing himself to be led without much resistance. “I assume there’ll be dinner there, right? What do gods eat?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of gods of wine or harvest?” Aren asked. “Gods can eat the same things mortals do.”

“Though some gods prefer to eat souls,” Vilkie said, trying to make a frightening face. “To absorb their spiritual energy, of course. Haven’t you heard of sacrifices to the gods?”

“Seriously?!” Nerez blurted out, startled as he glanced around. “Do you think that goddess was fattening me up so she could feast on me?!”