After some unknowable amount of time in his peaceful void, Leven watched his Stamina rise
Name: N/A
Race: Human (Fetal)
Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
HP: 2/2
MP: 2/2
SP: 1/2
Stats:
Physical*: 2
Mental: 12
Spiritual: 10
Magical: 11
Affinities:
Kindness: Mid-Rare, 27%
Wrath: Low-Uncommon: 77%
Soul: Low-Common: 0%
Inner Skills:
Kindness: Pandora’s Box (Contained) (50) (34/2000), Call for Help (9)
Wrath: Pandora’s Box (Unleashed) (2), Growing Pains (16)
Outer Skills:
None
‘Okaaay, time to see if [Growing Pains] will grow to be a pain’ he laughed inwardly, happy that nobody heard that.
He kicked his leg out-
And the most visceral pain he had ever felt shocked him. He still couldn't move, but even if he could, he’d be paralyzed. It felt like his soul got whiplash, which it probably did. The pain was manageable, especially with his pain tolerance, but the jarring sensation of his soul wiggling in pain sent his system into shock.
He felt a shiver deep within him, in his soul, that stopped any attempts at thinking.
With his mind frozen, more time passed in the void, until he was able to mentally work himself out of his stupor
‘Well, that's not good.’
And it really, really wasn't. He realized that, as a fetus, he had an excuse for lack of movement, but when he was born, he would need to move, if only to cry or make cooing sounds. He needed to find a way to fix this, before being born, or he was in trouble.
In his mind there really was only one path, to work the spell out until it stopped doing that soul shock thingy to him. Why? Because that was literally the only thing he could do. He didn’t base it on anything, but it sounded like as reasonably decent a plan as any.
Before that though, he needed to check something that had been tingling the back of his mind. It didn't appear as a blinking box in his vision, just a slight pressure that told him he needed to look at something, his notifications if he was interpreting the System-crammed knowledge correctly.
[Wandering Soul attempting full rebirth detected]
[ERROR! Attempting Manual Cleanse]
[Manual Cleanse Overridden, Manual Cleanse canceled]
[Full Rebirth facilitated]
[Incompatible spells detected, body partially rejecting spells]
[Interface updated to new spell levels]
[Attempting to manually correct rejection]
[ERROR! Primary Directive violated, preferential treatment detected, violation undone]
[Well, I tried.]
[Rebirth complete]
Looking at the cleanse he dodged, Leven had to say, he was pretty happy with everything so far. Even if he had some rejected skills to try and fix, he was still alive, and that was all that mattered.
‘Well, “alive” isn't exactly right, “re-alive?” I’m still intact. Yea, intact.’
Looking over his character sheet one more time, he saw a few relevant things
[SP: 2/2]
[Affinities:
Soul: Low-Common: 2%]
Firstly, his stamina was back to full. That wasn't as important as his affinity for soul raising, though. It was easy to see where it came from, and that was from the backlash of using his broken spell, which he think caused some slight soul damage.
He felt like that was actually pretty good, because even if he didnt know what affinities were, he thought they were pretty good. After all, both his previous affinities gave him spells, and a spell from his soul affinity sounded pretty good.
‘Oooookay, here goes nothing’. He thought, before moving his arm slightly, going into a stupor instantly.
He knew it was coming this time though, and tried to fight himself out of it- it completely did not work at all. Even if he could move his muscles, he also knew in his sleepy mind that it wouldn't have worked, but why didn't it work.
Suddenly, he snapped back into attention and could think clearly again. Checking his Interface once more for changes
[SP: 3/3]
[Soul: Low-Common: 3%]
He was confused for a second, but saw something else that made more sense
[Physical*: 3]
‘Ahh’ he thought to himself ‘I don't know how long I was out, but seems some time has passed’
There wasn't much else to do, so he decided to try something new. Instead of fighting to get out of the stupor, he wanted to see what was causing it. There wasn't much in his inky black void, so he mentally attempted to look inward for his soul. He couldn't see anything right now, but when he kicked his leg again-
It appeared before his vision, he could see it, almost, but not quite. His soul shape looked like… something, everything. Everything that he was, contained within an intangible space. It had no shape, but was every single memory, sensation, and idea that he ever had. It reminded him of when the System said the word [Leven]. It had not actually said his name, he just interpreted it that way, instead it spoke into existence his entire perceived reality, as well as everything that he was.
That's what a soul was, he was now sure. The compilation of his Physical, Mental, and Magical stats compiled together into his soul, into his Spiritual stat. In his weird contemplative stupor, he heard a ding and felt a notification in his mind, but couldn't be bothered to open it.
When everything snapped into place again, though, he quickly opened it to see what it said
[Affinity Strengthened:
[Soul: Low-Common: 3%] has strengthened into [Soul: Mid-Common: 23%]]
‘Holy shit!’ he wasn't even going for that! How did that happen? Well clearly, understanding of the soul granted him a strengthened affinity for soul too. Maybe it was both the knowledge of what the soul was, as well as the feeling of it too? After all, while he could say to someone that the soul was a compilation of his body, mind, and magic, was that the same as understanding it? As experiencing it?
That was the key to this understanding. He suspected that in order to really gain an affinity for the soul, you needed to be intimately familiar with the soul's shape. Was that how affinities worked in this world? He previously thought of affinities as in-born traits that gave him access to spells, because that's similar to how it worked in the video games he had played, and that's all they’d done for him. What if, instead, they were connections to certain concepts? Perhaps it was his measured understanding of something, and he could subconsciously use that understanding to piece together spells from everything he knew about something?
Leven couldn’t be sure, but he felt like it was right. He didn't think that he had an affinity for soul until after he’d died and spent time as a [Wandering Soul] as the System had called it, and now his affinity strengthened when he actually understood what his soul shape looked like.
He also didn't think that his situation was easy to come by at all. He might be increasing his affinity because he was presented with a rare opportunity. How many times would someone be able to lose their body, then live again? How many in this new world had spells that their body rejected? He had to say, probably not many. Those that could do both of those things were most likely to be strong enough for it to not matter anyway either, such as liches, who already most likely had strong soul affinities.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
‘This could be a rare opportunity to strengthen an affinity!’
Suddenly, he found himself much less tense than he was a moment ago, as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
‘My last life wasn't for nothing. It wasn’t meaningless’ he knew it was ridiculous, but the heart doesn’t listen to logic. Even if his previous life gave him spells and intelligence from a young age in his new life, it didn't feel like he’d gained anything from the transition between lives. He felt worn out, tired in ways he couldn’t express after everything had happened to him, but his time in this darkness left him nothing else to do, and a lack of sensation really made him want to do anything, which was how he started working to correct the issues he would face before being born.
With a new route for development, and a bonus to his affinities from being born again, he felt like a new man
‘Well I suppose I am, aren't I?’ If he could crack a grin, he would. The darkness around him didn't seem quite as oppressive anymore because, as silly as it sounded, he felt special.
With renewed fervor, he checked his interface again and only looked at the two most important things on it right now
[SP: 3/3]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 23%]
And he kicked again, studying the shape of his soul.
[SP: 3/3]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 45%]
And again
[SP: 4/4]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 53%]
And again
[SP: 3/4]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 60%]
‘Hell yea!’ He now had tangible proof that it was getting easier! His Stamina Points hadn’t had time to rejuvenate completely! The pain was becoming easier to break himself out of. Not wanting to waste any more time, moved another limb
[SP: 3/4]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 64%]
‘Well, the returns are diminishing, but maybe that's a good thing? Maybe that means that im taking less soul damage?’ he thought, but it didn’t feel good.
‘Maybe I can do something a little more… reckless’
He had a new idea, stemming from the fact that his soul wriggled when he was faced with soul damage. On his journey to his new body, his bare soul was out in the world with nothing to support it, and it did completely fine. What if, instead of letting his soul settle, he tried to escape his own body?
It was a completely idiotic idea, but not one without merit. He could imagine something similar to this in the media he sometimes read about online, ‘Astral Projection.’ What if Astral Projection was something he could actually do? After all, his soul could definitely survive without a body, as long as nothing tried to eat it.
On his way to his new body, his soul had automatically taken him out of his universe, through the void, and into this new one, as if it knew the path it needed to take, but he didnt think that the automatic process would happen a second time. He wasn't dying, and Leven didn't exactly think he would consciously try to escape his universe and go somewhere else, so he couldn't imagine he was going to run into any more entities within the void.
Ultimately, all he was doing was reasoning out what he was about to do, but he felt like his reasons were still pretty good.
With his new goal in mind, he checked his [SP] and [Affinity] one more time
[SP: 3/4]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 65%]
‘My Soul Affinity went up? That’s a good sign if I’ve ever seen one. It probably means my idea has merit!’
Without further ado, he tried to move another limb again, and suffered more backlash. This time, in his weird, disconnected stupor, he tried to gently rock himself back and forth, trying to build up momentum. It was hard to find the motivation to do so, as he felt absolute contentment, but there was also a nagging sensation of what his mind knew he would want to do if it was still in control.
So, gently, he rocked himself back and forth in his body for a bit, before losing motivation again and laying contently until his soul snapped back into place again.
His waking mind felt a bit frustrated that he couldn’t quite break through the soul damage to keep moving himself. It felt like his mind was underwater, and everything was just a distant problem as he sunk deeper into sleep.
It felt dangerous too, like he could just sit there forever and give up.
He checked his Interface again
[SP: 2/5]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 70%]
Nice! Last time he had gained four percent, this time he gained five! He might start running into an issue with his [SP] soon though. With each trance lasting a shorter amount of time, he wasn't recovering stamina fast enough.
This time, instead of moving at full force, he tried to just nudge his muscles.
The same as his previous trance, Leven felt that his soul really did try, for a short time, before lazing about for the rest of the time that it was loose. When he woke up this time, he looked back on his memories and felt like it was for longer though. It might just be placebo, but controlling different aspects of his soul felt like it was getting easier.
He checked his stats again
[SP: 2/5]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 77%]
He was disappointed that his stamina hadn't gone up from last time, but not surprised. After all, the dexterity of a fetus was probably not good at all. It was more likely that he still used full force to kick or swing his arm as he usually did.
What was good news though was his soul affinity going up faster. ‘One step closer’ he thought, before continuing his exercise.
[SP: 2/5]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 84%]
[SP: 1/5]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 92%]
[SP: 1/6]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 99%]
[SP: 0/6]
[Soul: Mid-Common: 99%]
Hmm, it didn't seem like crossing the threshold was going to be as easy as gaining percentages within the threshold. He decided to wait until his [SP] was full this time around before going again, and in the meantime he would try to hype himself up and see if that did anything.
He mentally cheered himself on, trying to fill himself with energy without moving at all. He swore a few times in his head and mentally shouted at the top of his lungs. His anticipation built as he saw his [SP] go up, and he was on the edge of his seat as it hit [SP: 5/6].
When he saw it cross into [6/6], he let out a mental roar before kicking with all his might! (admittedly not much).
The backlash of this one was more extreme than all the previous, and he felt his soul reel. Instead of pausing though, he quickly pulled on all the willpower he could to MOVE!
He felt something reverberate across his soul as he moved outward, and he sleepily realized that he had successfully escaped. Where previously there was darkness, he saw the stone walls of a circular room. Turning around, he saw a pale woman with bright red eyes and white hair, sitting contently on some sort of couch made of animal fur while contently rubbing her heavily pregnant belly.
‘That's my mother? Cool. She looks pretty far along too, should be just a few more weeks’ he stood in place, quietly observing everything around him. Looking down, he was in a transparent white-ish version of himself, wearing the clothes he wore before his death.
At the thought of his death and the entire situation that led up to it, he felt something in him stir. Before his very eyes he watched as his body changed color from white to red-ish, but the red coloration was quickly pulled deeper into his body, somewhere he couldn’t see at first. Looking closer though, he realized that he could see where the red color was being pulled. There were two visions superimposed over each other in his mind. The first was vision, like with eyes, but the second was a conceptual sight that showed him something else.
Studying it further, he realized he could hear too, a hustle and bustle outside of the room he was currently in of people talking in some unknown language.
Comparing the two, he realized that the sight with his eyes was incomplete, and that when he looked at his mother, he could see so slightly more when he saw the concept of his mother. He could see her worry, happiness, and a hope for the future. He could partially see how healthy she was too, and it looked like she didn't have any health issues at all. Some things were hidden from him though, and he couldn't look too deep. With his own soul, he could see his entire life, from start to finish, but it felt like there was a fogginess below the surface for his mother that he couldn't see past.
After watching his mothers emotions for a bit, he spontaneously woke up again, and quickly started swiveling his head around the room, before looking back to his hands with widening eyes.
“It WORKED!” he heard himself say. “Woah, a voice. My voice.”
It was odd, he thought that the stupor was from his soul being disconnected from his body, but now to him, it looked like it was more from soul damage than anything. That was good, because it meant he wasn't going to have to fight his own laziness every time he astral projected.
Speaking of, he realized he had notifications that he didn’t previously care to open.
[Stat Gained: 1 Spiritual]
[Skill Gained: Astral Projection]
[Affinity Strengthened:
[Soul: [Mid-Common: 99%] has strengthened into [Soul: High-Common: 0%]]
His first notification was, surprisingly, him gaining a single stat point in Spiritual. It wasn't surprising, now that he thought about it, but he also had not intended for that to happen
Next was his new skill, Astral Projection. It was listed as a skill, but he was pretty sure it was a spell. When he was talking to the System, it had even referred to things listed under his [Inner Skills] section as spells. Perhaps they were the same? But the descriptions of them used the word the Spell, too, so maybe there was a difference. He would figure it out later.
He also managed to strengthen his Affinity at the same time! The grading scale of everything seemed to be pretty intuitive too. Low, Mid, and High were the three scales within a… rarity, he would call them until otherwise told, because so far he had Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Going off of the games he had played before, there might also be a Peak tier within each rarity, but he would have to see for that one, as it might simply jump straight to the next rarity.
He wanted to look around the new room he was in, but decided it would be prudent to pull up his full Interface to go over the entire thing before he continued to explore.
Name: N/A
Race: Human (Spiritual)
Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
HP: 6/6
MP: 6/6
SP: 0/6
Stats:
Physical*: 6
Mental: 12
Spiritual: 11
Magical: 11
Affinities:
Kindness: Mid-Rare, 27%
Wrath: Low-Uncommon: 77%
Soul: High-Common: 0%
Inner Skills:
Kindness: Pandora’s Box (Contained) (50) (35/2000), Call for Help (9)
Wrath: Pandora’s Box (Unleashed) (2), Growing Pains (16)
Soul: Astral Projection (1)
Outer Skills:
None