Ten days later, a certain man finally woke up.

“Where…”

His eyes opened to a familiar ceiling.

He thought back to the moment just before his collapse; that firm hand, providing peace to his wavering soul.

This man was the very same lookout that survived the initial corruption breach.

“Papa!!”

Two little girls rushed into his room and immediately broke his train of thought. He embraced them with a silly smile, one in each arm.

“My precious angels! Wow I’m so happy to see you!”

“Papa, papa, did you know? The man on screen said that there’s a war right now. He said that the world is going to end!”

The younger girl shook his arm and rapidly spoke her mind.

“The world is going to end? Haha nonsense!”

His calloused hand stroked her hair.

“No it’s true Papa.”

The older girl interjected.

A serious look decorated her face, one that seemed to tell the whole story. The man knit his brow together, but before he could respond, the younger child blurted out once more.

“Oh and there’s a man here to see you! He says it’s about your job!”

She pulled on his sleeve to lead him away.

“He’s out there in the living room! He’s there right now! Let’s go, let’s go!”

The man chuckled and let himself be dragged away.

“Okay, okay, settle down. We’ll go meet this man.”

Eventually he found himself staring at a handsome man in a suit, who was currently sharing a cup of tea with his wife.

“Oh sweetie, you’re awake! This kind young man has been visiting every day asking about you.”

“I’m sure that’s why he’s been visiting…”

The father grumbled as he eyed the young man’s handsome looks.

His wife stood up and offered him the seat.

“I’ll let you talk with him, it seems important… Come on kids! Give your father some privacy!”

She lead the kids out of the room.

The moment he stepped into the room, the father never took his eyes off the young man’s face. The man lightly smiled the entire time, but that smile evaporated the moment the girls exited the room.

What replaced it was a pensive frown as he stared down at the tea before him. An awkward silence set in as the former lookout guard waited for him to speak.

“This is good tea… You have a nice family, Khal.”

The young man finally looked up and stared in his eyes.

“Thanks? So what’s all this about?”

The guard, Khal, replied and leaned back into his chair.

“Well… I just realized how lucky we all are to have this lifestyle. I understand you just woke up. So you probably don’t know much yet, but the basin that you were stationed at has been destroyed. Only a corrupted wasteland remains.”

Just as the young man said that, the guard received an unwanted flashback. One of deep red eyes peering at him through the crack in space.

His breathing became irregular as panic set in.

“Calm down.”

The young man reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on his arm.

“What you’ve been through would normally result in death. You were fortunate enough that Commander Tyras was able to reach you in time. If he had been a second later, your soul would have turned to corruption… forcing you to become a mindless monster that only seeks to consume.”

The guard collected himself before replying.

“I-I see…”

“There’s a chance that might still happen… if the commander fails to take down that being.”

The man’s eyes flickered downward as he revealed a tablet in his hands displaying the ongoing war effort.

“What… is all of this?”

Khal stared intently at the chaotic battleground.

“This is the war on corruption. Although, this is the first time since ancient history that the war has ever been brought into the Ancestral plane. Most people have never seen the active war effort, but that has now changed.”

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The young man patiently explained.

“You mean, there’s more wars like this?”

“Yes and no. The most accurate answer is yes, there are more wars like this. However there are no other wars like this in our world. There are many worlds and many planes of existence in our universe space. Not all worlds are peaceful like ours.”

The young man paused to view the battle on the screen before continuing.

“In fact, there’s no world that’s like ours. The universe that we know is currently fighting against corruption at a magnitude that we can’t comprehend. Worlds that become corrupted need to be defended and purified, and that’s where we come in.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

Khal folded his arms across his chest while he also observed the screen.

“One of the unique things about the Ancestral Plane is that we’re able to connect to all the other worlds. Almost as if we’re the center or origin point.”

He took a sip of his tea.

“In ancient times, it was discovered that if a world becomes corrupted entirely, then the world spirit will also become corrupted.”

“So if a world isn’t purified, then that world’s spirit becomes corrupted?”

“Something like that.”

“What happens then?”

Khal finally tore his eyes off the screen.

“Well, we’re watching that right now.”

The young man murmured and gestured toward the war below.

We’re watching it?..’

Khal gazed at the shadow entity that was conducting a concert of carnage.

“No…”

Khal finally realized something crucial.

“That’s a corrupted world spirit?!”

He blurted out as his eyes became serious.

“Yes, that’s the first corrupted world spirit in hundreds of thousands of years.”

“And you’re saying it’s possible for there to be more of these out there?”

Khal finally understood the gravity of the situation.

“Mm.. what I’m saying is that there are many worlds, and a few of these world’s are actively battling corruption. If a world fully succumbs to corruption, then this happens. Understand?”

Khal swallowed hard.

“I understand. If that’s the case… then how can I help?”

The young man wore a serious expression.

“We’ll be making the process for joining the war effort open to the public. Our organization will be creating a merit system in accordance with the different world spirits. Basically… currently only our men and women are out there fighting.”

“It’s expensive and dangerous work with many people dying each day. However, what I’m asking you to do is to pioneer a new system, the World Purification System. It will use soul transference to create a usable avatar instead of physically going there.”

Khal nodded his head and spoke up.

“So you’re saying you want me to be a test piggy to see if your new system will actually work.”

“Something like that, yes.”

“How exactly does this system work?”

The man crossed his fingers together.

“The world that you get transferred to will form a core that will host your avatar. You’ll be able to increase or decrease the strength of your avatar, and merit points will be given or taken as you participate in the war effort. Naturally, these merit points may be exchanged for credits on any world including here, the Ancestral plane. Essentially, you can treat this like a new job offer.”

Khal finally understood the purpose of all of this.

“You guys couldn’t purify a world in time, which resulted in this corrupted world spirit.”

“Unfortunately, it is so.”

“And that corrupted world spirit used its connection with our world, the center of everything, to come cause havoc.”

Khal leaned back in his chair and continued.

“To prevent this from happening again, you want to change how the wars are fought. Although I don’t know how you fought the wars previously, you want to use this… soul transference nonsense, correct?”

“We do like intelligent people.”

“I accept your offer.”

Before the man could say another word, Khal held up a halting hand.

“But I have some questions.”

“Anything.

“How dangerous is this soul transfer? Will I be able to come back whenever I want? What happens if I die in that world?”

The man nodded.

“Those are very good questions. As far as we know, from our own experience, there is no danger in the soul transfer.”

“For your second question, yes you’ll be able to come back after you’ve formed a connection to the avatar in that world. Essentially, we use the world’s energy to form the avatar, which you’ll be able to use as extensively as if it were your own body. In fact, the avatar is essentially a replica of yourself. If you get stabbed, you will bleed. If you mate with a local… you understand.”

Did he forget Khal was married? There was a brief awkward silence before the man cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, once the connection is formed, you’ll be able to call upon that same connection to return your soul back to your home world, this world. The avatar that is in the other world will disappear. This is because the core is stored here in the Ancestral plane, and not in the host world. Connecting to that world is a different matter, but you’ll be using a device that is connected to our system.”

The man took a sip of tea, his expression solemn.

“As for the matter of death… There is potential for both immediate and permanent damage to occur to the soul after a death. While a single death wouldn’t be the end of the world, multiple deaths would be a problem, with the end result being the erasure of your soul. Essentially, your soul will be too weak to continue existing.”

“My soul could be erased?”

“Simply put, yes. The immediate damage to your soul will require a few weeks to restore itself on your first death. The damage becomes more extensive the more times you die, requiring more time for it to be restored. During the time that it’s being restored, you won’t be able to connect to your avatar.”

Khal contemplated his words.

“So how many deaths could someone go through before it’s too dangerous to die again?”

The young man tapped his teacup in thought.

“It depends… for you, at least three, which is above average. From what we’ve seen, most souls can experience at least one death and come out with minor damage; the stronger ones can experience two or more. I should also mention that there’s ways to restore the soul, but you’ll have to discover those on your own. Of course you could also buy soul restoration items using merit points as long as you have the status.”

Just as he was about to continue speaking…

“CRSHHHHH----”

The feed on the screen was lost.

“What happened-“

The ground rumbled and shook. A deafening boom rocked their ears!

“Ahhh! Papa!”

“Honey!”

A shockwave passed through the house, shattering anything made of glass and eliciting screams from the women in the house.

Khal picked himself up off the floor, at some point he had fallen out of his chair.

“What in the world…”

He muttered to himself with concern.

“Shhh.”

The man across shushed and stared intently at the screen before him.

“CRSHHH---I repeat! The Queen of Ruin is down…CRSHHH…Maelstrom is carrying her to safety. Both are severely injured! All traces of the enemy have been eliminated. Requesting assistance!”

The screen flickered with footage of a broken man shooting through the sky.

The backdrop was a wasteland of destruction. Meteors rained down from the clouds while thick lightning bolts struck with indiscriminate hatred.

Within the man’s grasp was an unconscious and feeble looking woman who appeared to be missing an arm. A sea of blood could have been formed from the amount that was dripping from both bodies.

“Ahem.”

The young man turned off the screen while clearing his throat.

“The good news is, the world is safe. The bad news is… our heroes have been severely injured. If you’ll excuse me, I must report to my superiors.”

The man got up to leave.

“Wait a second! You haven’t even told me your name, and what was that explosion just then?!”

Khal stood up with him.

“The explosion? I’m not sure myself…”

The man shook his head.

“At any rate, the device will show up in a few days. All of your questions will be answered in time, also my name is Kendrick.”

He escaped the house in a hurry without another word, leaving behind a bewildered family.