In a large room that looked like it was for some royalty, an old man appeared. he looked at the king-size bed in which a 15-year-old boy was lying. The boy was asleep with a straight face as if nothing in the world mattered. he had fair skin and a pale complexion, and a handsome but dignified face. 

The man extended his hands and an invisible barrier appeared over the room cutting it off from the external world. right after, the shabby-looking ring on his finger disintegrated.

'tch, there goes my precious artifact, and it was one of a kind too. not even a god will be able to butt in for at least a few hours now.' The man thought. 

he looked at the boy one more time with hesitation. a look of contemplation appeared on his wrinkled face before quickly disappearing. it seemed he had made a decision.

'I will first see if you're worth saving, boy.' The man said under his breath and extended his ring finger and tapped the boy's forehead, some sort of energy went into the boy's brain.

The old man closed his eyes and began looking into the boy's memories. one moment he smiled with satisfaction and another moment he frowned. after some time he removed his finger from the boy's forehead.

'hmm, not bad. he's a genius in magic, he has the determination to do what must be done... but.' the old man sighed. 'he's too prideful and arrogant... and perhaps this is the reason why he was targeted. alas, how many geniuses are there in this world? but only a few of them can survive, but not all of them are fortunate enough like you to have an ancestor like 'him'. if not for the promise I made with him to protect his descendants once from completely being destroyed then you too would be on the list of geniuses who couldn't survive.'

'tho you are arrogant and prideful, at least you have a good heart deep down... and you also have some potential. hmm, I wouldn't do anything for you if you were one of those pretentious pricks.'

Now then, let me see what's wrong with your body. The old man thought as he enveloped the boy with his divine sense.

"Oh? there is the residue of some poison here... hmm? but it is not harming the body... could it be?' the old man was inspecting carefully and then he suddenly exclaimed.

'damn! it's the fu*king 'Soul Slumber Poison'. anyone who has taken this poison will lose their soul energy and eventually, the soul will be consumed itself! how vicious! and not to mention that only divine senses can detect the anomaly. now, how do I cure this? his soul needs a catalyst to regain the lost soul energy but it's already too late. I don't have the cure right now, who could have thought that they used such a unique method.... what to do...'

The old man thought for a while and finally came up with a solution. he looked at the boy again and thought.

'If I do this, your life will be changed. not to mention that this kind of thing has never been done before. although I'm also curious how you will handle this. alss, there's no choice.'

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The old man suddenly wore a severe expression and he began the process.

'Good thing I have this item, he took a huge scroll with a hexagram and runic patterns on it and some sacrificial offerings out of his dimensional space'

With a solemn face, he began reciting the incantation.

[ I, Sirus Kronius Crontan. Request the lord of Underworld Yama to open up the passageway of death! I sacrifice thee! Soul Summoning! ]

The massive quantity of spiritual energy gathered in the room but no one knew about it because of the isolation barrier. The surroundings darkened and an oppressive aura descended. A vortex of energy appeared with a black hole in the middle. 

                                  --------------------

While the Old man was performing 'Soul Summoning Ritual'. On Earth, in a dark alley of the slums. A 15-year-old boy was lying on the ground while the life in his eyes was waning as the time went by. The boy was called 'Karna', he had no surname because he did not know what it was. For as long as he knew, he was an orphan. He would try his best to survive in the cruel world but one day a local hooligan broke his hands and legs because he was caught stealing. From then on the boy couldn't fend for himself. He had no money to get the treatment either. so he starved and starved until the day when he finally collapsed, now on his deathbed.

Hopeless thoughts were spinning in his mind. if only I was born into a good family, he thought. 

if I get another chance to live I will do my very best to live as freely as possible. he thought. and with that, the life In his eyes finally disappeared.

And before he knew it, he found himself going on an ethereal way with countless others. there were two ways, one in which people with ugly expressions. it seemed they were going to hell and the other way in which Karna was going. this one must be going toward the heavens, he thought.

God knows how much time passed, and Karna finally reached his destination. there, souls had the option either to reincarnate or stay in the heavens for eternity. some chose the first option while others chose the second.

But when it was his turn, suddenly the surroundings began shaking. A portal appeared from which Yama himself came out. All souls including Karna instinctively became terrified. Yama looked around for a second and then casually pointed at Karna, a white pillar descended in which Karna got sucked in.

he then heard a deep voice.

"umm, listen to you. someone prepared a huge offering so I have to send a soul there, so you will be going. As compensation for not having a choice, I will bestow you with a small gift, otherwise, those gods will say I am bullying poor souls. Whahahahaha. now get lost."

"Damn it, I wanted to live as freely as possible but I don't even have a choice even before the new life!" Karna cursed his bad luck.

'But he said he gave me a gift? The gift from the King of the underworld shouldn't be small right?"

And with that, he lost his senses.

                           -------------------------

The vortex got bigger and bigger. The old man frowned a little. the influx of spiritual energy was massive. suddenly the black hole opened up and a wisp-like form came out of it. The old man quickly guided the soul into Rudra's body. the surrounding became silent as what happened a few moments ago was nothing but an illusion. the old man sighed again.

'I hope you won't disappoint me, it would be a pity if you stupidly lost your life again after I have done all this.' thinking this the old man removed a ring from one of his fingers and hide it under the pillow on which Rudra was sleeping. after taking a good look at the boy he finally left.