“So what was it you wanted to talk about?” Ameliyn asked, sitting down between Kailey and Riley.

Refix stood behind the three girls as Reivyn took a seat across from them.

“Well, I already explained it to dad, but I wanted to let you know before I completely forgot about it,” Reivyn said. “It has to do with my past life.”

“Uh huh,” Ameliyn nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“Wait!” Kailey sat up straight, holding her hand out.

“What’s this?” Riley mimicked her sister’s movements on the other side of her mother.

Ameliyn glanced at the two girls in confusion for a second before comprehension came over her face.

“Oh yeah, you don’t know about your brother’s memories,” she said.

“Memories?” Kailey asked.

“Of a past life?” Riley said.

“Well, more like dreams,” Reivyn nodded his head. “There’s a Skill and everything. It’s called Dreams of the Past.” He gave a little shrug.

“You’re going to have to do better than that,” Kailey said, rolling her eyes.

“How long have you two known about this?” Riley looked at her parents suspiciously.

“I don’t know. A couple of years?” Ameliyn looked back at Refix for confirmation.

“We’ve always known that something was up with Reivyn,” Refix reminisced. “He’s always been just a bit too mature. Just a bit too knowing for his age. But we didn’t know for sure what exactly it was until not that long ago.” Kailey and Riley gave him a deadpan look. “Relatively,” he amended.

“I’ve had snippets of dreams all my life,” Reivyn clarified. “They were strange and I didn’t fully understand them for a long time. I didn’t come to grips with the truth myself until recently, accepting them for what they are.

“Basically, I have vague recollections of my life as a different person in a different world. I had a wife and kids and everything.”

“Does Kefira know about that?” Kailey asked with a slight smirk.

“I’m sure she’s thrilled about that,” Riley added.

“She does know,” Reivyn nodded his head.

“So what? You were just not going to tell us?” Kailey crossed her arms and glared at her brother.

“So we’re the last ones to know? Who doesn’t know at this point?” Riley threw her arms in the air.

“You’re not the last ones to know,” Reivyn tried to calm his sisters down. “Just our parents and Kefira. Well, Serilla probably knows, but that’s just because she never leaves Kefira’s side.” Reivyn waved his arms in front of himself. “That doesn’t matter.

“We weren’t intentionally keeping it from you. For a long time, the two of you were too young to have this conversation, and there hasn’t really been a good opportunity to have it since you’ve been old enough. I guess we kind of forgot that you didn’t know.”

“Don’t fret, sweeties,” Ameliyn patted her girls’ hands in comfort. “Your brother is still your brother. He’s not some other person wearing his body.”

A slight tension left Reivyn’s sisters shoulders. Reivyn’s eyes widened in understanding and he quickly clarified for the two of them.

“It’s not a possession,” he said. “As far as I know, it’s reincarnation. We already know that the sparks floating outside the Realms are souls. Usually, the memories of one’s past life are wiped out before being born again. We don’t know why, but for some reason, some of them simply lingered for me.

“I’m still me.”

“Better be,” Kailey muttered.

“Good,” Riley echoed.

“Anyway,” Ameliyn glanced back at Reivyn. “What is it about your past life you wanted to share?”

“It’s not really about my past life,” Reivyn shook his head. “It’s tangential. I discovered an interesting thing while we were in Theyaih. Honestly, I should have realized it sooner, but I had never thought to ask about the name of our Local Group before.”

“It’s Terran Three,” Kailey piped up.

“Even we know that,” Riley snickered.

“Yes, well,” Reivyn coughed into his hand to hide his embarrassment. “Anyway, that alone might not have been enough to trigger anything, though it likely would have, but hearing the name of the adjacent Local Group connected through Theyaih really hit the nail on the head.

“The other Local Group is called Orion Six.”

The three girls just looked at Reivyn, waiting for him to reveal the mystery. Refix just smiled.

“Is that it?” Kailey asked.

“Do those words mean anything to you?” Reivyn asked back.

“No,” Kailey shook her head.

“They’re just sounds, like any other city name,” Riley shrugged.

“Wrong,” Reivyn shook his own head. “Terran means Earth, and three is the number three. Orion was the name of a constellation, and six is the number six. Those words are English, which is the language my past self spoke.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’re not the only one who remembers their past life?” Ameliyn quirked an eyebrow at Reivyn.

Reivyn shook his head.

“That’s not it at all,” he said. “Think about it. How long have people been living in these Local Groups?”

“Millions of years,” Ameliyn said.

“And in all that time, it’s been named Terran Three, right?”

“I think I’m starting to see what you’re getting at,” Ameliyn nodded.

“What?” Kailey/Riley asked, looking back and forth between Reivyn and Ameliyn.

“Not only that, but it wouldn’t have just been one person naming the Local Groups,” Reivyn pointed out. “It would have been agreed upon by everyone. There had to have been a huge number of people who all spoke the same language.”

“So you’re saying there was a gathering of people who all remembered their past lives?” Keilay asked, tilting her head.

“That must have been difficult for them all to come together,” Riley said.

“Not unless they all came together,” Reivyn said. The two girls frowned, not understanding what he meant. “I’m saying they weren’t born here with their memories. They came here from Earth.”

“Oooh, I see,” Kailey nodded her head. “But…”

“So what?” Riley asked.

Reivyn was taken aback.

“Excuse me?”

“Why does it matter?” Kailey asked.

“Are you planning on finding a way back to your past life’s home?” Riley added.

“Well… no,” Reivyn admitted.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Does this information solve some sort of problem?” Kailey continued.

“Is it important?” Riley added.

“I just thought it was interesting?” Reivyn glanced back and forth between the two girls. He looked at his mother, but she just had an amused expression on her face. Refix was openly grinning at him.

“Look, I just wanted to share the information with you all,” Reivyn said in exasperation. “And you needed to know about my past life for the context. It may or may not be important, I don’t know. I’m not looking for a way back or anything, and even if I found one, I wouldn’t go. There might not be an easy way to get back, after all.

“It’s just an interesting piece of information that might have a bearing on the truth of our past.”

“I’m not sure the events of millions of years ago will have much bearing on today,” Kailey was unimpressed.

“The war with the Abyss was only several hundred thousand years ago,” Reivyn pointed out. “There might have been reasons from even earlier that were the cause. It might have relevance.

“Plus, the instigator of the Vynn Dungeon Breaks told me straight up that he plans on starting another war between our Realms.”

Kailey and Riley stared at Reivyn with wide eyes for several seconds.

“You go on and on about this connection to your past life’s world, but you didn’t think to inform us about this?!” Kailey asked.

“What are we doing? Don’t we need to prepare for something like this?” Riley asked. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

“That’s one of the reasons I decided to start the mercenary company,” Reivyn answered. “And the reason I suggested Wispan involve themselves so heavily in the wars. In the short-term, it will help prepare them in case the local enemies decide to invade. In the long-term, it will prepare us for any future Realm wars.

“I don’t have the power or reputation to do more than that.”

“Did it ever occur to you that’s what the invaders are doing?” Kailey asked.

Reivyn opened his mouth and raised a finger to reply. He stopped and closed his mouth as the thought fully circulated in his mind. He looked up at Refix who had a surprised expression on his face.

“Wow,” he exclaimed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Hmm, it’s possible,” Reivyn nodded his head. “Though considering their actions and some of the other things going on in the Region, if they are doing that, it’s only for themselves. They’re not helping us build up our own strength.”

“Still,” Kailey shrugged.

“It’s something to consider,” Riley ended.

“Yeah, it is,” Reivyn agreed. “I’ll have to relay that idea to Kefira and her family. I’m not sure what else we can do at this point.

“Anyway,” Reivyn sat back and looked at his family, “I just wanted to share that little snippet of information with everyone.”

“Thank you, Reivyn,” Ameliyn said with a smile. “It might come in handy one day to have that knowledge in the back of our minds. Do you have anything else planned for the rest of the day?”

“I’m not planning on going out, if that’s what you mean,” Reivyn said.

“Yay!” Kailey jumped up.

“Time to play!” Riley followed her sister.

The two of them ran out of the house in short order. Reivyn chuckled.

“I still have a bit of thinking and meditating on my plan to consolidate my Skills, but I think I’m getting close,” Reivyn continued. “I’ll need dad’s help with some of it when I’m ready.”

“I’m available whenever you need me,” Refix said.

“Okay. Well, we won’t keep you,” Ameliyn smiled at her son.

Reivyn smiled as he stood up. He walked over and gave his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He waved to his dad as he made his way to the stairs to go to his room. He still had a spot in one of the guest houses in Kefira’se courtyard, but he was spending his time with his family.

It had been a long time since his mother had as much influence over his life and schedule, but he had volunteered for it. He didn’t feel suffocated or anything like that. He knew it was only temporary and he would resume his post as the head of his mercenary company soon. In the meantime, he willingly shackled himself to just his identity as his mother’s son and his sisters’ brother.

He loved his family, and they deserved to have some of his uninterrupted time.

Reivyn made his way to his room and sat on his bed. He entered a Meditative state and once again contemplated his path to consolidating his Skills.

—

Reivyn stood across from his father in the training area of their courtyard. He was wearing his heavy armor with his shield, and he held his sword at the ready. Refix held his own sword at the ready in front of him.

“Are you sure you need a sword for this?” Refix quirked an eyebrow at his son.

“If everything can be a weapon, why can’t everything be a shield?” Reivyn asked back. “Parrying is a thing.”

Refix shrugged his shoulders, conceding the point.

Without further ado, he launched himself at his son. Reivyn sunk into the rhythm of the fight. He only focused on defending himself, though.

The first step Reivyn had come up with was treating his heavy armor like it was medium or even light armor. His incredible Physical Stats were both a boon and a hindrance in this. He had long grown strong enough that the heavy armor didn’t put any strain on his body, but that made it difficult to envision it as the different type of armor.

To that end, he had borrowed a pair of the prisoner shackles to restrict his Stats. Refix was likewise shackled, and they two were focusing purely on their Skills. Even with their Stats and active Skills restricted, their sparring match was a sight to behold.

Their Transcendence abilities with their weapons bled over to their entire being when they fought. It wasn’t just how well they were able to use their weapons, but how they moved and anticipated the flow of the battle.

Reivyn’s Meditation Skill wasn’t high enough that he could use it while fighting, but he had made enough strides in the Skill and being more active while using it that he could sink into a quasi state. He was able to focus his attention on a specific task and drown out everything else. Tunnel-vision was often a bad thing, but in this specific circumstance, it was exactly what he wanted.

Reivyn tried to incorporate his ideal that everything was a weapon into everything was armor. The function of his armor was to protect himself from harm. Likewise, dodging, evading, parrying, and blocking were all forms of protecting himself from harm. He sunk into a state where even his breathing was used in his dance to avoid his father’s strikes.

Refix thrust forward with his sword and Reivyn spun aside in his intricate movements. The sword brushed against his stomach as Reivyn breathed in, bringing his chest up and stomach back as he took a deep breath, causing the sword to miss him by a hair’s breadth. If he hadn’t timed his breath perfectly, the sword would have sliced a long line across his midsection.

Reivyn batted his father’s weapon aside with his own, parrying the strike away. His father was slightly overextended, and it would have been a great opportunity for a counter-attack, but that wasn’t the point of the sparring session.

The two of them reset their stances and continued the match. Reivyn fell more and more into the rhythm with his Dancing Skill incorporated into this style. His mind was hyper-focused, but his body also seemed to aid him on its own.

Drawing inspiration from something he had done with Teilon previously, Reivyn danced them around the yard and actively used the terrain in an attempt to obstruct his father’s attacks. Little pebbles and indentations in the ground were used to slightly alter the trajectory of Refix’s attacks. His father was far too Skilled to allow himself to be tripped up, but the little tricks did cause slight variations in the height and positioning of his strikes that Reivyn took advantage of.

Everything is a shield, Reivyn repeated in his mind.

Even the terrain itself was something to be used in his favor.

A moment of epiphany struck Reivyn as his father once more slightly overextended. Instead of parrying the strike away after dodging, Reivyn bullied his body up against his father’s and twirled around him. Refix was surprised by the sudden maneuver, and he ended up getting his own feet tangled together.

It didn’t cause Refix to trip or fall, and the delay in recovering his stance was only a fraction of a second, but it was significant in the context of their spar. Such a blunder in an actual fight could have been fatal.

The culmination of Reivyn’s maneuvers and understanding of how to defend himself using all of the methods available to him coalesced together. He felt the ambient Mana gather. A part of his soul could feel the System descend.

A loud, resounding bell sounded in his mind.

Achievement! You have learned to defend yourself using a wide variety of means. It doesn’t matter what form of protection it is as long as it serves the purpose of preventing harm. It is you yourself that is important.

Skills Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields, Evasion, and Danger Sense have merged. Skills synergized with Athletics, Balance, Dancing, Acrobatics, Ambidexterity, Pain Resistance, Battlefield Awareness, Blind Fighting, Mana Shield, Poison Resistance, and Spatial Awareness.

The Path has already been set.

New Skill Unlocked!

Tier 5:

Protection Prodigy (68)

Further Synergy has been detected between Skills.

Insufficient Skill/Enlightenment.

Refix stood to the side watching Reivyn. He had immediately stopped the sparring session as soon as he noticed his son’s concentration get pulled from the match. He was obviously focused on a System Notification. He waited until Reivyn seemed to dismiss the notice with a slight frown.

“What’s the matter?” Refix inquired. “Did it not work out the way you hoped?”

“No, it’s not that,” Reivyn shook his head. “It just seems too… simple? It’s also the first time I’ve seen the term ‘enlightenment’ in the System. I’m trying to figure out what it means in context.”

“Well, I could guess what the System means by ‘enlightenment,’ but considering you mentioned the context of it, we’ll have to talk about that further.

“And simple?” Refix quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “The process of successfully combining your defensive Skills together was too simple? I mean, if you succeeded so quickly, I can see how you would think that, but you had a very deep foundation to begin with.”

“No, no, no,” Reivyn waved his hands in denial. “Not that. The name of the Skill seems too simple. All of my Skills combined, and they synergized together with a whole bunch of others to form a Skill called Protection Prodigy. What’s that? Protection Prodigy?”

Refix burst out laughing.

“Son, of course it’s simple!” He chuckled. “What’s the name of your other Skill?”

“Weapons Master.”

“Exactly. What could be more simple than that. It’s a return to form. Too complicated of a Skill name would be too specific. A consolidated Skill encompasses a huge range. Protection seems about right to me.”

“Yeah, I guess. It just feels a tad anti-climactic.”

“Look at this kid. Not satisfied with the naming sense of the System documenting his accomplishments. You realized you’ve gone a step further than me, now? I haven’t merged my defensive Skills, yet.”

“Reall?” Reivyn looked at his father in surprise. “Why not? Knowing you and what you know, it seems like something you would have done a long time ago.”

“Eh, I was too focused on merging my offensive Skills, then I was too proud of myself for doing so, then I didn’t have the time.”

“Well, what’s stopping you now?”

Refix smiled at his son and reset his stance.

“Nothing.”

Reivyn grinned as he tossed his shield aside, getting into a ready stance himself.