Last Life

Book 8: Chapter 5

THAT EVENING, AS USUAL, I fed a dozen big bruts to the parasite who had so brazenly taken over my energy system, then laid down to sleep. Having tasted rich black energy for the first time, the beast suddenly seemed a little bored with what I had to offer. I found myself picking out the biggest crystals with the highest concentration of mana I could find.

I had already dismissed the lunari and told her to go relax. I wasn’t planning any meditative practices that night — just sleep, and nothing more.

As I lay there on my back, I stared up at the ceiling. I couldn’t help thinking about the bewildered look on van Klausen’s face when I stipulated my conditions and demands for him. It seemed that after hearing the figure of 500,000 gold Imperials, very little else of what I said actually registered with him. So much the worse for him... To be honest, though, even if they were to agree to my demands, they would only get the Citadel itself back. Chateau Gardien would be staying with me.

I knew, of course, that nobody was actually going to pay me half a million in gold. That much was already crystal clear. I had only demanded such an outrageous sum to keep the Guild Council from getting suspicious. Quickly agreeing to 50,000 gold and the vague promise of an alliance would have put their guard up immediately. Money like that could certainly buy a nice mansion in Herouxville, of course, but it would have to be one in the Old Capital.

Basically, it was a situation where the potential buyers were knowingly offering a ridiculously low price, while the seller was asking for far more than would ever be feasible (even if the price had been the only condition, which of course it wasn’t).

Van Klausen had probably already received my full list of demands by that point. I figured that by the next morning, a rider would already be racing toward Romont with a letter for the Guild.

Hans had said that negotiations like this often lasted for months, sometimes years. Somehow, though, I felt pretty certain that we would have a deal before I left for my Margraviate. Maybe by the end of spring, at the latest.

The current Council of the Sapphire Guild had lost many of its masters — who, as I mentioned, had never made it out of the mountains. Only the gods knew what might have happened to them. Maybe the collapse that had closed off the entrance into the secret tunnel was bigger than we suspected. Maybe the bodies of everyone who had tried to flee the Citadel were now entombed beneath a thousand tons of stone?

Whatever the case, the Sapphire Guild was undoubtedly going through a crisis of leadership. Whoever was currently at the helm would realize that their position could be significantly strengthened by successful negotiations to buy back their Citadel — where, they no doubt imagined, their Guild’s collected wealth was still sitting undiscovered and intact in the treasury.

I’ll admit, by the way, that the news about the delegation that had been sent to Herouxville came as a pretty unwelcome surprise (assuming, of course, that it wasn’t all smoke and mirrors, and that such a delegation had actually been sent). It meant I would have to find a solution to the problem quickly. Carl would almost certainly try to profit off the affair if he could. I knew he would immediately make one very important conclusion: the fact that the Guild was requesting the return of the Citadel, when they had proven beyond all doubt that they couldn’t control it effectively, could only mean that the main treasury was still intact (or believed to be so).

Even if Carl didn’t make the conclusion himself because of his illness, Kiko would certainly clear it up for him in short order.

Later on, once everybody realized that the treasury had already been cleaned out, that might mean legal trouble for me with the King, as well as with the Guild. After all, I was pretty clearly the only person who could have done it.

And even though the trophy was rightfully mine, the powers-that-be might decide that I had snapped up too much loot during the course of the war, and that I should really share some of it.

True, there was another option available to me. I could simply deny everything. Make them prove it was me, and not the fleeing mages, for example.

In any case, they could certainly try to pressure me all they wanted. If they did, well... We’d just have to see how that turned out for them, I guess. Given the current circumstances, I felt very confident that the King wasn’t about to get on my case about some far-off guild’s treasury. He just wasn’t in a position to do it, and it wouldn’t have been worth the effort anyway. He had bigger problems at the moment. Someday in the future, though? Without a doubt. This incident would certainly be brought up against me at some point, even without any hard evidence whatsoever. But the King would have to live long enough to see that day come.

And on that note, the second-generation potions that Lord Gray had delivered to the King from me were on a whole new level. They had all undergone transformation by golden mana. I was confident that they would be much more effective than all the Royal Healers combined. Added to the fact that I had already successfully healed the Duke de Clairmont from a similar malady... Well, let’s just say it seemed likely that a rider from the King would be arriving in the near future with orders to return to the capital immediately. I’d have bet my right hand on it.

I chuckled to myself. I won’t lie: I was already thinking about what to request from Carl in exchange for healing him. Provided, of course, that I actually ended up doing that.

Heh... And to think, he still hadn’t rewarded me in any way for capturing Bergonia and saving Prince Philippe. I’d have to remind him about that when the time came. Not at a personal audience, of course, but through Kiko... And I made a mental note not to forget something else, too: namely, that the last order I had received from the King certainly seemed to suggest a lack of trust in a man who had been fighting honestly and bravely under the Royal banners. A man who, more importantly, had brought His Majesty victory over the Atalians...

The thoughts kept rolling around in my mind. Slowly but surely, sleep began to overtake me, promising a period of long-overdue relaxation and calm.

Alas, I never actually managed to fall asleep. In the blink of an eye, my entire body suddenly twitched violently, and I opened my mouth in a silent scream as a blinding pain suddenly burst into being inside me. It felt like molten steel was flowing down every one of my blood vessels.

Before losing consciousness, I switched to true vision and realized that the pain was coming from my energy channels, rather than my blood vessels. And it wasn’t molten steel causing the pain, but a powerful current of bright, golden magic...

The breakthrough was instantaneous. When I opened my eyes, I realized that my bedroom — along with Gondreville and the world in which I had awoken less than two years before — was suddenly very, very far away.

It took me a few moments to realize that I wasn’t in Max Renard’s body anymore; instead, I was hovering in midair, a few yards above the ground, like some kind of cheap theatrical ghost. My energy body was still with me, complete with its new web of golden energy channels. That said, I had completely lost control over it. I found myself relegated to the role of passive observer.

I didn’t feel any fear or worry about this. Irritation and anger — yes. More than anything, I was angry at having been unceremoniously wrenched from the body I had spent so much time and effort improving.

And if my previous rebirth was any indication of what to expect, my current energy body probably wouldn’t be changing for the better as a result of whatever was happening. Everything I had achieved in that life was wiped out when I was reborn.

More urgently, though — was that actually what was happening? Was I actually about to be reborn? After all, that being who spoke to me from the darkness had made it quite clear that this life would be my last.

Did that mean that what I was seeing was the beginning of the next stage of existence? And by the way, I thought... Where is this mysterious benefactor hiding? Or is somebody else about to take over my case?

As I thought about these strange twists of fate, I had a chance to look around. Below me was a vast desert valley, stretching endlessly out into the distance. All I could see were rocks and sand. And silence...

The sky had taken on a pale yellow color like that of pollen, and this color permeated the entire vault of the sky out to its unfathomably-distant horizons. The sun was also shining with an intensity to which my eyes were unaccustomed. It had a thick, dense quality to it that seemed to be causing the yellow sky around me to sparkle softly in the silence. The air itself seemed to be glowing, and its light somehow seemed alien, yet at the same time dimly familiar and long-forgotten.

What really grabbed my attention, though, were the fiery-red clouds drifting lazily across the yellow sky. The blurry blotches were so thick and massive that it seemed like they might plummet toward the ground at any time.

Like molten metal, they kept changing shape and moving, assuming all sorts of fantastic forms — at first, they looked like big tongues of flame, and then before I knew it they morphed into strange, otherworldly beings whirling in an endless dance.

My energy body sensed a light vibration in the air, and the movement of these clouds seemed to be its source. Suddenly and unexpectedly, I realized that this world was trying to merge with me — to become part of me. It also dawned on me that the sky wasn’t simply a big, empty expanse: it was a living, breathing creature, full of golden fire and primordial power.

My body tensed up and instinctively tried to resist invasion by this foreign body.

As it did so, the vast silence was suddenly disturbed by the whispering of many voices, which sounded like they were coming from everywhere at once. Soon, a number of pale, faceless shadows began to appear around me. There were dozens of them, maybe even hundreds. Long and short, fat and thin... They were all facing me, but none of them seemed to be in any hurry to approach.

At first, I couldn’t make out a single word, but then I realized that these shadows were speaking in the ancient tongue. Basically, they were all asking me to share my energy with them.

Some were asking with urgency in their voices, but nevertheless sounded polite. Others were openly begging. Still others were making their requests with obvious threats in their voices.

The behavior of the latter prompted an intuitive response in my mind: I knew that I must not, under any circumstances, enter into conversation with these shadows. Even though my first instinct was to say something back to them. To ask them to explain what this place was...

Suddenly, the whispering choir of shadows around me disappeared as five faceless, golden human silhouettes appeared in front of me. They slowly drifted over to me, forming a semicircle with the biggest of the five shadows in the middle. This one was emanating a deeper, more saturated light than any of the others.

“You did well in keeping your silence.” The voice was that of a stern-sounding old man. He was speaking the ancient tongue. I’ll admit, there were a few words whose meaning I had to figure out intuitively, because I didn’t understand them right away. “You must keep your silence now as well. Say a single word, and you’ll accelerate your fusion with this world. And then the scavengers will gut you like a fish. You’ll become as they are: shadows, drifting around in search of life energy.”

One of the other silhouettes, farthest to the right, suddenly moved, and I heard a dissatisfied female voice speak up.

“Judging by his reservoir, he only recently underwent initiation.”

“And he’s already found the path to this world?” I heard a surprised voice burble off to my left.

“Obviously, there was some sort of energy ripple, which must have brought him here by chance!” Another female voice interjected. This one sounded clear, and noticeably interested in what was happening. “What else could explain his presence in this world without a mentor?”

“Look closer at his energy system,” the silhouette in the middle admonished them.

“Oh, Great Gods of Light!” The first female voice explained. “So what — he allowed his gift to develop independently? Like some savage from the Age of Darkness?”

As I listened to the conversation between these beings, I was torn between an instinct for self-preservation and a burning feeling of curiosity. These creatures obviously knew what was happening to me, and I had so many questions for them that I felt like I might actually burst open. At the same time, I was trying to heed the warning given to me by the biggest of the five spirits. Or whatever they were...

Soon, the head spirit (I got the impression that the one in the middle was somehow in charge) began to move, and drifted in a little closer to me. For some time, everyone else fell silent, and I realized that they were all scanning me — without any ceremony or dignity, as if I had been some kind of lab-bound moth. A familiar feeling. It felt like I was standing in the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle.

Finally, however, the head spirit stirred again.

“It seems we’re all close to the truth. I don’t see the mark of a mentor on him at all. Although there was one at some point, it seems to have vanished. The trace is still fresh. He underwent initiation recently, and the gift is indeed developing independently. But he’s trying to rein it in. And surprisingly, he’s already made some progress in doing so.”

As if on command, the other spirits all drifted in closer.

“Pff...” I heard a disdainful scoff from one of the spirits to my right. “Like a chicken trying to write. Look at this gnarled mess of a pattern... The channel bores are uneven... The joins have been reinforced to some extent, somehow... But these energy nodes? I mean, just look at them! I don’t even understand how he’s still alive!”

In my mind, I just chuckled. So, I thought... I’m still alive. Already a little bit of good news...

“I couldn’t agree more!” I heard the first female voice exclaim.

“I like this boy, though,” replied the second, louder female voice. “Most importantly, he hasn’t given up. He’s still struggling with it. In fact, all his energy system needs is a few minor modifications. And then the pattern will stabilize.”

I was spellbound by what they were saying.

“Minor?” The first female voice scoffed. “A few? Several dozen of these joins would have to be re-edged and redirected. You think this savage is capable of that?”

At that, a vaguely arm-like tendril extended from the body of one of the short silhouettes and stretched out toward me.

“Here, look...” The louder female voice said. “His reservoir volume is already sufficient to allow strengthening of the connection to the root node. From there, by establishing proper grounding and stability, he’ll be able to get to work on his balance node.”

“Agreed,” the head silhouette replied. “This secondary node will balance and stabilize the energy flow coming in from outside. Judging by the particles of unprocessed mana in his reservoir, this savage has access to manacrystals. If I were him, I’d move on to the remaining secondary nodes after that. Particularly the Reasoning Node, Defense Node, and Healing Node.”

I felt like a museum exhibit that someone had wheeled into a big lecture hall. I could only hope they didn’t plan on dissecting me...

“Excellent strategy!” The second female voice exclaimed. “By ensuring himself such a firm foundation, he’ll be able to move on safely to his main nodes. By the way — you pointed out how well-developed his Intuition and Perception Nodes are. Especially the latter. I once saw nodes like this on a shapeshifter.”

“I wonder who he is in his world?” The first female voice mused aloud. “How much mana must he have devoured to facilitate such rapid transformation of his reservoir? He apparently has access to an unlimited supply of mana crystals.”

Heh, I thought... If only...

By the way, speaking of the Perception Node. I had been so absorbed in listening that I didn’t immediately sense a gentle, but constant, pressure on the top of my head. It felt like something was trying to pull me upward. Before long, the urge to turn and see what was pulling at me became overpowering.

In the end, though, I didn’t have time to do it. The head spirit began to speak again, and his words virtually froze me in place.

“Oh! This savage really is full of surprises! Look at this — he has no mentor, but somehow he’s acquired an assistant from among the first-born.”

“Judging by the pattern, it’s one of the lunar spirits,” said the louder female voice. She had identified my lunari pretty quickly. “Very weak, but also very determined.”

There was no doubt about it: Selina had sensed something was wrong, and she was trying to bring my energy body back from within this strange dream. Yet again, I said a mental thank-you to the nisse for bringing the fairies in to see me on that fateful day.

The head spirit just grunted, then turned to address me.

“Focus on your assistant’s current, you fool. Otherwise your first-born will die of exhaustion.”

I stopped resisting immediately, and slowly began to drift upward. As I watched the golden silhouettes get smaller and smaller below me, it took every ounce of willpower to keep from speaking. Yes, I had a lot of questions. I was almost catastrophically short on information. But I simply couldn’t take the risk. Because after all, it wouldn’t be taking a risk just for myself: the lunari was still stubbornly pulling me upward, and she might also end up getting hurt if something happened to me.

As if reading my mind, the head spirit turned to address me one final time. This time, his voice sounded very close to me, almost as if he had been whispering in my ear.

“Get stronger, savage. Return to us if you survive. And if you do, I’ll answer your questions. But be prepared: nothing comes for free...”

No sooner did he finish speaking than I suddenly found myself back in my bed. It was already light outside. Gondreville was waking up. I could hear the shouts of the citizens outside, mixed in with the sounds of neighing horses and barking dogs.

I shuddered. An icy chill swept across my entire body. My mind was still in a fog as it tried to wrap itself around what had just happened. Thankfully, though, the searing pain was gone. All that remained were occasional pangs, which were much less intense. I didn’t care about that... The main thing was that I was alive... Again...

Selina, my faithful lunari, had been by my side the entire time, staring down at me with eyes wide. Her chest was rising and falling feverishly; by the time I finally came to, her breathing had grown ragged and heavy.

An unpleasant sensation of cold crawled down my back as I thought about how close I had come to losing her.

“Thank you,” I croaked. “You saved me again...”

“What happened?” She asked as she stared worriedly down into my eyes. “You started having really scary dreams... It was incredibly difficult to get through to you.”

With a heavy sigh, I turned and sat up on the edge of the bed, where I tried to calm my trembling hands. It seemed that she was right: the whole thing already seemed like some sort of very strange dream.

“I don’t really know what it was yet... But I’m definitely going to figure it out...”