Chương 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..." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"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?!"

"Hahaha, Vilkie is only joking. Human sacrifice is very much frowned upon these days," Aren said, while she stuck her tongue out beside him.

"Besides, from what I understand, only a small fraction of spiritual energy can be absorbed that way, and mortals have very little to begin with. It's not efficient at all."

"Not to mention that whether your spiritual energy is absorbed by the world or by a god, the result is the same," Vilkie added.

"Either way, the soul returns to the Silver Sea empty, in its pure state."

"Mm..."

"Nerez, if we manage to become gods, and friends, will you tell us why that Goddess of Fate cursed you?" Aren asked, more serious now.

"I keep telling you, I want to know too. Truth is, some of the memories are blurry... it was my first life, after all... in a world called Earth..."

"I know it may be a very personal question," Aren said.

"But that 'curse' intrigues me quite a lot."

"Exactly. Not even a god should be able to interfere with the Silver Sea or its rules," Vilkie added.

"There's a very good chance the real nature of that curse is something else entirely."

"All right, all right! But can we stop talking about the Goddess of Fate for a moment? I feel like we're about to summon her."

Zorovan had just stepped into a room with no walls at all. Before him stretched a black abyss. But the abyss was not empty. It was lit by different suns and planets reflecting their light. He began climbing an ethereal staircase whose steps widened and narrowed at will. At times they even turned invisible. But his stride remained steady and sure. In the distance, remote suns became pulsing points of light and, with their glow, wove constellations and clusters framed by colored nebulae.

At times, his ascent seemed threatened by the occasional comet crossing his path. But Zorovan paid them no mind.

"Congratulations, Zorovan. It seems your granddaughter has quite a future ahead of her."

"You're one step away from three consecutive generations of supreme gods."

"We'll be keeping an eye on you, though, so don't think you can shower her with favoritism, hahaha." At the top of the staircase stood a group of gods gathered around a table suspended amid the stars.

"My granddaughter can stand on her own. She doesn't need my help," Zorovan replied as he took his place at the table.

"Though even with my help, it would not be easy."

"Any other candidates catching your eye?"

"Several," Zorovan replied seriously.

"Especially two."

"But Lirien is definitely a prodigy. I find it hard to believe taking control of that world would prove difficult for her..."

"What if I told you it is possible that a god of time may be born in Eryndea?" The rest of the gods fell silent. Some looked at one another, while others lowered their heads in thought.

"That... would certainly be an event," one of them finally said.

"And that's not all..."

"Don't tell us... a god of fate?" A nervous tension began to spread through the air.

"Let's hope not... All I can say is that not even I was shown anything beyond the name."