Mark was laying down on the snow staring at the stars above the night sky. He was lying down by the top of the Vault which had become a common place for him to spend his time when he wasn't running missions for Professor Sara. The rest of his Knights were sent off to various sites to maintain communication while he was left back here on Honshu for safety reasons.

The stars are different compared to back then. Mark thought to himself as he felt the presence of someone causing him to quickly roll to the side with Arthur ready to fight.

"Show yourself, I may be young but I've had my share of fighting Mages." Mark bluffed as he was hoping that he should be able to trick them into standing down. But to his surprise the very fabric of reality began to crack and break like was standing in the middle of the glass and standing at the epicentre was a being formed out of light, this prompted Mark to switch to Rhongomiant and throw the spear but to his surprise the spear didn't make contact. Instead the spear stopped in midair as though everything around him was stopped.

It's as though he was stuck in a stasis.

"What do you want?" Mark asked with a sigh of defeat, he knew that he was cornered and he was too inept with Magic as there are no ways for him to learn magic on this continent. Eventually, the figure then formed to reveal to be the same hooded figure from before, this time she appeared to be older like a woman in her twenties but she continued to keep her hood on likely to prevent him from learning her identity.

"I came here to check on you, consider me as your Guardian Angel." She said with her lips curling into a smile walking towards him as Mark took several steps back weary of her.

"Guardian Angel huh? I'm far from a good child for you to be keeping an eye on." Mark replied dryly causing the hooded girl to let out a laugh.

"I couldn't agree more." She said as she snapped her fingers to reveal a handful of scenes in his first life as Marchosias that comprise of him mostly razing cities to the ground with the power of his magic. Mark couldn't help but smile at the nostalgia of being able to pull those off, this made him miss the days when he can conduct magic.

"Are you smiling, what are you a sociopath?" She joked amused at the fact he is smiling at what is more or less an atrocity in the past, Mark just smiled in amusement as he was rarely this amused by what she is accusing him with.

"My apologies, I was reminiscing about better times. Those times gave me a rush and well it was a time to be alive." Mark replied with a chuckle slightly embarrassed that he was caught thinking of such a thing, this further made the Hooded girl laugh once more.

"Well, I guess in your time it was considered a fond memory but the others not so much." The Hooded Girl said with a somewhat amused tone in her voice. "Now then to business, I'm sure you have many questions after all."

"I have only one question, why was I reincarnated? And even if reincarnation is possible why was I able to retain my memories?" Mark immediately said crossing his arms towards her as he walked towards Rhongomiant and tugged at it trying though to see if he can grab it. The woman was silent for a moment as though she was finding the right words but she finally spoke.

"It's a funny story." She said snapping her fingers once more giving him a retrospective on what happened.

When he had died he had tied his life force to the Core of the world, where it allows Magic to be performed, so if he were to die then the very core of the world would cease to function. Something that the Revolutionaries learned too late. It was true that reincarnation is a common occurrence, what isn't was the fact that he carried a massive amount of energy thus allowing him to retain his memories but not his powers.

"That would explain why I can retain my memories," Mark commented in a low voice after watching the entire thing as he proceeded to look at his hands. "Blast, if only I know how to harness the energy in this world."

"But what do you want from me in that case?" Mark asked turning towards the hooded woman. "Are you here to ensure that I finally die without my memories?"

"I'll admit, I have the power to kill you here and now as punishment and hopefully this time you'll forget who you are." She walked towards him and extended her hand turning it into a gun gesture as a sphere of green light manifested around the tip of the finger like a bullet made of pure energy but instead, the gun was replaced with an open hand as though she was offering a handshake.

"Ever heard of the Saying 'A deal with the Devil'?" She told him with a smile.

"Which one of us is the true Devil I wonder?" Mark said with a chuckle. "But first I need to know something."

"And what is that?" She tilted her head in mild confusion.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" Mark asked narrowing his eyes on her. This was something that bothered him, ever since that night in the Northern Vault he couldn't help but wonder who or why is this mage following him. Even more so as she changes her appearance as time passes by.

"I can't divulge all of what I know just yet—"

"—why?"

"Just know that I am on your side." She told him with a smile while placing a finger on her lips. Mark just frowned, he hated being someone's puppet but if it meant getting his powers back then it was worth a shot.

Guess it is a deal with the devil.

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[The Second Advent]

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Sitting in the slightly dusty library was Mark, currently pouring over maps and books about the history of Neogea. Now that he had learned his current circumstances this would further allow him to find more ways to reach a higher standing in this world.

But isn't just going to reach a high status while avoiding the mistakes of his past as it was clear that in his first life, he had made many mistakes that lead to his first death which is why he would try and learn from his past mistakes so he can become a far better person, at least on paper. This would also mean that he would have to work hard under the wing of the Hashira Enterprise and become a Scout Ranger, that would be his first step toward his goal.

"Shouldn't you be studying for your classes?" Professor Sara walked towards him with pair of mugs with coffee.

"I already finished my classes earlier I'm just going to conduct some extra homework for myself," Mark answered looking at the map of the world of Ortus and then pointing at this. "How are you able to create such an accurate map if I may ask?"

"We have these machines that fly up to the sky," Professor Sara said taking a sip of her coffee while Mark took a sip of his and winced at the taste. "And those machines allow us to observe movement within the world, well most of it anyways."

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"Most of it?" Mark asked, Professor Sara reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small Tablet and after swiping and tapping on the screen revealed the world but only the continent of Neogea and an archipelago are seen while the rest are shown to be distorted as though something is causing interference. The energy in that area must be dense that Cameras can't be used on it. Mark speculated, but then he tapped on the screen on the archipelago.

"What's this?" He asked pointing to the archipelago.

"We haven't named that continent yet but we do know that it's a continent," She said explaining that half of the continent is hidden due to having the same energy field that Vakaria has.

"How far have you gone on the research on Magic?" Mark asked her, he speculated that they might have only scratched the tip of the iceberg on Magical Energy research.

"That my friend is classified information," Professor Sara said with a smile. "If you want to learn more about it then you must become an Agent of Hashira."

"So that's how it is going to be huh?" Mark smiled back as he watched her walk away. "Fine, I will play your game."

Mark didn't fault her, after all some information that if they were to be leaked could potentially harm the organization as a whole so of course restrictions must be made for newcomers to not have immediate access towards these documents. At the same time, they would serve as an incentive to ambitious and knowledge-hungry vermin such as him who only joined Hashira for their connections.

Later in the afternoon he would go and spar with Zion or Shinobu for the sake of passing time, which is why he found himself facing off against Shinobu who was carrying her Mordred in her hands while Mark had armed himself with Arthur Caliburn instead.

"I thought you were taking classes today?" Mark asked Shinobu as she ran towards him and performed a vertical slash with her Mordred but he blocked it using Caliburn with ease causing both of them to immediately lock blades.

"I'm skipping classes today," She told him as she overpowered him with another vertical slash this time it was downwards. "I'm too tired to be handling my classes."

"You need to attend classes," Mark said dodging the swings and then rolled to the side and swung in a horizontal arc causing Shinobu to take a step back and release a blast of electricity in an attempt to disarm him just like before.

"If I wanted to attend classes I want to take Agriculture classes," She said swinging her sword as she took a deep breath.

"You want to take up farming as a side hobby?" Mark asked with a raised eyebrow, he knew she'd try and take it after all she came from a desolate place where the soil is barely fertile but he wanted to get the answer straight from her.

"I'm just thinking ahead when I retire—"

"—if they allow us—"

"—if they allow us to retire I'd probably start a small farm someplace warm." She told him with a small smile on her face. "I spent my first fifteen years in that cold wasteland I've dreamed of being able to grow plants."

"Is that why you're always by the Greenhouse on the upper floors?" Mark asked her as he planted Arthur Caliburn on the ground.

"Yeah, it's a lot warmer there and I'm able to surround myself with plants." She said with a very wide smile as the two of them went to the side and took a seat. "And it's not just my dream, it's my people's dream."

"To find a fertile land and settle there?"

"Yes, that's cause we're nomads, wandering the northern regions to find fertile lands," Shinobu said unlike her usual stoic self she had an adorable smile on her face as she went into detail about her love of farming and how she and her people wanted to settle down. This made Mark think about his end goal. What would he do once he was at a high status and in theory a ruler? What then? He'll just end up making the same mistakes in the past and die again and who's to say he won't end up in an advantageous position?

"Mark?"

Mark snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Shinobu with a worried look on her face.

"Sorry I was thinking of what I'll do once I grow up that's all," Mark replied with a smile on his face.

"You don't have to worry about that for now." She said taking his hand with a smile as Mark let out a sigh of resignation.

This question would take some time for him to find an answer.

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[The Second Advent]

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Mark stood from afar as he watched his family do their daily duties from their home in Fenrir. He smiled as his two sisters were playing around while their Father walked by and kept an eye while their mother and grandfather prepare for work as the Master of the Fenrir Settlement. All of this was seen from a distance as he was hiding behind some shrubs all the while wearing dark green and black clothes with grass and leaves covered across his body, a ghillie suit as Troy calls it which was designed for subterfuge in locations with high nature.

"You don't want to approach them?" Troy asked him wearing the same set of clothes as he was wearing.

Can I? Mark pondered as he held onto the binoculars that he used to spy on them from afar. It was on his mind now that he was here when he suggested he see his family while the rest of his team go off and continue their studies as they were preparing for Ceryx. Some time had passed since they started working for Hashira and while the rest of his team go off preparing and continuing their studies in various Schools that have been supported by Hashira, Mark opted to not study and focus more on working a handful of odd jobs for Hashira in exchange of pursuing a General Education Degree.

"No," Mark said taking off the headdress of the Ghillie Suit and turning to Troy standing up. "I'm satisfied with the way things are."

"Do you have problems with your family?" Troy asked with curiosity.

"No, I just think I don't have a close tie with my family," Mark said still distrusting his family after everything that was given to him.

"You're a handful aren't you," Troy said standing up and walking away. "I'll meet you back at the Rotorwing, well if you're not walking towards them let's get going."

"Yeah, I'm coming," Mark said turning one last look to his family which was enjoying the morning.

But as he was making his way towards the Rotorwing he sensed Reality breaking once more, instead of being afraid or at the very least concerned he just sighed in defeat and turned to find the hooded woman before him with a smile on her lips while still keeping the hood on.

"One of these days you're going to tell me your name and show your face," Mark said with an amused look on her face. "There have to be better ways for me to communicate with you."

"All in due time my friend," she said walking by his side. "Patience pays off after all."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Mark asked raising an eyebrow at her then as he crossed his arms. When these events happen that would mean that the Hooded Woman wants to discuss something, usually something important regarding his choice going forward where she would make certain comments on where he is heading.

This made Mark speculate that she could be from the future, and the moments where she would keep tabs on him are the events that could change the future and she is steering him into an ideal path. This means Mark can go through two paths, follow her suggestions or go against them. Each one has their merit, following her suggestion could lead to him regaining his powers earlier than expected but would make him indebted to her. Go against it would no doubt end up getting under her skin but he would have his sense of freedom and autonomy.

As much as he'd like to rebel against her ideal path out of spite, he was currently powerless to go against her as this would mean she'll end up killing him. For now, he decided to play her game and focus on getting his power.

"Nothing I just felt like seeing you, is that not a crime?" She said as she started sitting down while floating at the same time.

"I highly doubt that you're here to just see me," Mark said chuckle causing her lips to form a pout.

"Hmph, don't you feel a little bit lonely with that lone-wolf mentality of yours?" She said with a frown.

"Not really, once you get the hang of it then being alone with no one to trust has become the norm," Mark responded, he had spent his first life not trusting anything it was highly unlikely that he'll learn to trust someone now.

"That's a sad life you're living," She said floating towards him and running a hand through his hair, causing him to swat the hand away in mild annoyance. "Deal with it," Mark said turning to his family which was frozen in place thanks to the spell that the two of them are in.

"You are stubborn that's for sure," She said with an amused smile. "For now I'll leave you be, I'll see you when a see you."

"There has to be a better way for us to communicate," Mark said with an amused smile but all she did was stick her tongue out at him and smiled as she faded away and returned Mark to his current situation.

As soon as she was gone, Mark let out a sigh and walked his way back to the Rotorwing.

To be continued.