The next afternoon Alex rushed to Tabulan. In his shoulder bag were the pearls he took from the dead bodies of his fellow sailors as well as the sack of gold coins he took as the ‘payment’ from the caravan.
After spending the night in the Qi pond he realized that the technique Nabia shared with him was immeasurably more valuable than the one he gave her in exchange, but she never pointed that out. He didn’t have anything else he could repay her with, therefore he was forced to lower himself to giving a girl the most cliché gift of them all – jewelry.
Since he didn’t have much use for money, Alex gladly payed the artisan all the gold coins he had, even though he provided the materials himself. In return the man worked the whole night and the next day Alex could receive the finished product. Both parties were happy with the deal, especially Alex who for some reason was expectant to see the look on Nabia’s face.
The first reaction disappointed him though – the girl looked back at him with furrowed brows awaiting explanation.
“This is nothing special.” He defensively said, “Only a couple of earrings, neck piece and a simple bracelet. To compensate you for the differences in the techniques we exchanged and to show I’m not a complete idiot.”
“Where did you get these!” She angrily shouted, “Do you even know how much purple pearls are worth?”
“Ye, the jeweler told me yesterday.” Alex awkwardly scratched his head, “When I found them I thought the black one was the most expensive one since it’s bigger …”
“You found them?” Nabia asked in disbelief.
“Mhm. After our ship sank. Few months before we entered the academy.” Alex explained, “Why – do you want to check my memories again?”
“No … it’s just … these are beautiful!” She said and Alex sighed in relief.
“Phew. I thought you didn’t like …” But before he finished, she called him an idiot and left.
Of course, since she took the gift with her, Alex didn’t mind. The more he conversed with this girl, the less he understood her. And that was despite him being a girl in his previous life.
The next months went by in a monotonous routine, although it was much more pleasant than the one Alex had during the past years.
Thanks to him ‘guiding’ the sexually troubled youths of academy, most of them became friendly with him. The girls at first were full of hate though, but seeing his close-ish relationship with Nabia, with time softened up. The actual relationship with the latter was purely based on common interests – in the mornings they sparred and from time to time discussed some techniques they came upon in the library or while listening to the lectures.
The rest of the time, except the one he lie in the pond, Alex spent working in the library. His hard work payed off and in the beginning of the fifth academical year he finally finished Adil’s task to copy everything that was in the library.
Truth to be said, Alex was disappointed regarding the amount, but definitely not about the content. Besides the theoretical knowledge and techniques, even the essays of the students on the fifth and sixth floors contained hidden gems now and then. Thus even though there was not that much reading material, some of it was of a really high quality, especially considering the fact that the academy was still young.
Adil kept his word and rewarded Alex with the information as they agreed. The old guy turned out to be one of the rare saints who were capable of seeing the soul particles, therefore his knowledge and opinion on them was particularly valuable.
One had to note that the soul particles and the techniques regarding their cultivation was one of the main focus of the teachings in the academy and Alex thought of himself being relatively knowledgeable. But to his great surprise he got something completely different from what he expected.
Adil began his explanation by drawing a human, but in the middle of, in place of the spine, he drew something that resembled a DNA chain Alex had seen in his first life. From the center he drew few more chains that spread through extremities, head and genitalia, and afterwards continued onward like thin lines, according to Adil, to infinity.
“My theory is that these chains of soul particles are connected to something, most likely to other beings.” Adil said, “I once found a pair of conjoined twins whose chains were interconnected, but they died before I could do more thorough experiments. Afterwards, like after any other person’s death, the soul particle chains faded out from my vision without dispersing.”
“What about the soul particles that we gather and cultivate?” Alex asked.
“Oh? Those pesky things?” Adil waved him off as if they were speaking about mosquitoes, “Those are the loose soul particles not belonging to any particular chain. We gather them and keep them around using the Qi techniques, but in the end they are useless, except for when we use them in a soul brand, of course.”
“That means the soul branding is an extremely important endeavor.” Alex said.
“Obviously! You brand your own soul! How can it not be important!” Adil snorted in return.
“In that case, please let me make an assumption.” Alex said and pointed at the picture Adil drew earlier, “This is what you actually mean when you say ‘soul’, right? And when we ‘brand’ it, we add the loose soul particles to it, correct?”
“You’re not so dumb after all.” Adil nodded in satisfaction, “Another decade or two and you might actually become useful.”
“Alright!” Alex said ignoring the last part, “Then the main significance of the soul brand is to connect our consciousness to those chains, by organizing the soul particles in our consciousness first and then attaching them to the ones that we are basically made of?
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“Oh?” This time the old saint was genuinely surprised, “I guess I’m too good of a teacher for you to think of this by yourself.”
“You are truly modest, old man.” Alex grinned back, “What is your theory – should we really create the soul brand? And if yes – what should it look like?”
“Now you disappoint me. Oh, well, I guess I was expecting too much from a country bumpkin like you.” Adil shook his head while sighing, “Do you wish your current consciousness to become connected to your soul or is it fine for it to get a new one the next time you are born?”
Hearing this Alex froze. The old man was the first person in all of his lives, apart from the Old Tony, of course, who seriously implied that the concept of reincarnation existed.
“You look strangely pale, my young friend.” This time it was Adil who widely grinned, but then he got serious again, “Unfortunately this is as far as I’ve gotten. The laws of the universe who rule over the soul particles are strange and I’ve spent over a century trying to decipher them, but, truth to be said, I don’t think I’ve had any progress. The last advice I can give you – create the soul brand according to what you want to carry over to your next lives. There is no limit on how complex it can be and you can continue to upgrade it throughout your life. Cultivation is boundless endeavor after all.”
Alex looked back at the old man not knowing how to thank him. He hadn’t seen or heard even a part of this knowledge previously, but for some reason the saint gladly shared it with him.
“You’re not dying, are you?” Alex suddenly asked, genuinely worried.
“What the hell? Who asks things like that to a young man like myself?!” Adil pretended to be furious, “Wanna die yourself?”
“Oh? I thought you were over hundred years old!” Alex smiled at him, “Although I would never give you more than ninety eight.”
“No wonder everyone in the academy wants to kick your ass! You talk too much nonsense!” Adil retorted, but it was too obvious he liked the simple compliment, “Alright, you can ask one more thing and … ask the one that bugs you the most – you know which one.”
Since Alex learned Adil could see the soul particles, he guessed that the reason why the old man was so nice to him was related to his soul chains, not the talent and, obviously, he was curios what it was exactly. Adil with his plethora of experience easily guessed what went on inside his mind and was willing to tell.
“What did you actually see?” Alex simply asked, but the saint immediately become angry.
“Not ‘did’ – ‘do’! I’m not blind yet, you damn idiot!”
But after the fake outburst, he began to draw again. Around the heart region of the human silhouette Adil drew earlier, he made a circle, then another, bigger around it and then two more each bigger than the previous. Then, from the center of the smallest circle he drew six thick lines that stretched into different directions.
“This much I can discern.” Adil explained, “But there are some symbols in-between these circles and I have no clue what those mean. The whole thing is made of soul particles, but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Alex stared at the drawing speechlessly. Contrary to the saint he knew what it was although the drawing was faint and the object it represented Alex hadn’t seen since his first life.
He weighted his options while looking at the old man in front of him and meanwhile Adil patiently waited.
They stared at each other for several minutes and in the end Alex sighed and asked, “Are you in a rush?”
“Nah, I still have few years left.” The old man waved him off jokingly, “Should I make us some tea?”
Few minutes later Alex began to tell his story.
“What you drew is a picture from a religion called Buddhism, portraying the cycle of life and death. Six lives ago I was killed on an ancient object that was made after it. This is my seventh life, or rather – the seventh I remember. Unfortunately, because of various circumstances even if one counted all my lives together I’m still younger than you, old man.”
“That’s because of that terrible character of yours! Obviously people want to kill you!” Adil interrupted, but it could be seen by the fire in his eyes how excited he was to hear what Alex said.
The latter made a sad smile actually agreeing with what the saint implied and continued, “Since you are so old and can die any moment, I’ll tell my most important deductions and conclusions first. The main important rule is – no matter how bad the situation is, never ever commit suicide. My theory is that it somehow leads to the degradation of your soul and you might be reborn as a lower being, like some kind of an animal. Trust me, it’s terrible. Second – you are completely correct even though you joked. Personality is somehow related to the body’s age and gender … ye, don’t look at me like that – I had boobies in my last life. You have no idea how much having to pee while sitting down sucks!”
Alex drank some tea and then continued, “Anyway. The most important thing is – no matter the situation or the circumstances, always be ready to focus on the thing you want from your next life. This is my latest theory, but it looks as though it works. I have what I call a ‘plan b’ and focus on it under critical circumstances. For some reason the last focus of our consciousness give the souls some kind push in a particular direction and helps to be born accordingly.”
“Then why the hell did you get here?” Adil snorted, but Alex laughed in return.
“You won’t believe me, old man. This is by far the most advanced world I’ve been born to. From the cultivation perspective, of course.”
They continued to talk for hours. Obviously Alex was the one who mostly talked, but Adil didn’t shy off to constantly interrupt him. The old man got upset when after the sunset Alex refused to go on, but when he came back the next day, they picked up where they left.
Even though Alex always thought his lives were uneventful and short, their discussion lasted almost two months during which both tried to approach the question of rebirth, soul and life in general from all aspects they could think of.
After another month Adil requested the permission to retire directly from the emperor. Because of his lengthy service and since he didn’t actually intend to leave the academy, but only to stop supervising the library, the permission was granted and Adil began the last and the biggest project of his life – reconstructing his own soul brand. Only two people knew about his real reason for the retirement and the same two people continued to come together for an hour a day to discuss the theories of reincarnation.
Alex got a new job though. Adil kept insisting on making him the assistant librarian and the academy council gave in at the end. After all, while Alex was not the most beloved person in the academy, his academic performance during the years was respectable and he actually had worked in the library for the most duration of his studies.
This allowed Alex to stay in the academy even when the rest of the students dispersed around the world to complete their final tests – different assignments from the empire. Alex’s assignment became the work at the library and that fit well with his plans and also Adil’s.
One person was displeased with such decision. After hearing about Alex staying in the academy, she demanded an exchange of pointers during which he got seriously abused for over two hours. Before leaving she only said few words, “Don’t you dare to do anything perverted!”
Alex, of course, didn’t even intend to, but her attitude made him realize she might view their relationship differently from him. On the other hand, they would not see each other for several years, maybe even never again, thus there was no reason to think too much about it.