The wind ran cool on Priestess Lira’s cheeks as she fled through the tall grass of the Oskerdian Plains. She quickly ran through the taller patches of grass with her head low to avoid detection. Luckily, the wind stirred the grass, making her imprints harder to trace. It was no doubt the influence of the South Wind’s blessing.
Still, Lira and her bodyguards had been circling the area for hours to find the hidden entrance to the tomb tucked away in the plains. They had thought the tall grass would hide them.
They should have thought of what could be hiding in it instead.
The Obelisk Kingdom had placed two detachments of crossbowman along with some short spearmen in the plains. The ambush proved fatal. Only Lira and her most trusted guard got away, but that was when the real threat of the trap was revealed: a fully geared Obsidian Knight. The villain cleaved straight for her, but her guard… no, friend defended her.
Lira remembered looking back towards her friend. The coarse black armor of the Obsidian Knight had already been stained with her precious friend’s blood. She fled. She was too weak to do anything.
“What if the tomb isn’t…”
She shook her head to free herself of the guilt and reminded herself of her precious friend’s words:
“You must find the tomb. Find the weapon. You… you must prove the value of our lives! Go!”
Lira tripped and fell. She quickly cursed herself for getting lost in her thoughts. But then she noticed a small gap in the grass. Curious, she turned to see what her foot hit. She found an engraved cobblestone, one typically used in the temples that worshipped the Four Winds.
“I must be close!”
Frantically, Lira scrambled to search the surrounding area for the entrance. Hidden in the grass a little distance off, she found it. A small hole, that could fit at most 1 lightly-armored person at a time. It was unlikely the Obsidian Knight with full plate armor could fit through… but the rest of the troops likely could. Lira entered quickly, praying to the Four Winds for time.
Lira had little visibility upon entering the cramped tunnel. She did not want to use her already low mana supply to create light. She had already exhausted her reserve crystal in her amulet trying to save her companions. Her hands guided her along walls of a rocky moss-covered path. Then it began to widen and widen until she found herself lost in the darkness with no light from the outside to guide her. There she was forced to cast a spell for light.
[Ko the South Wind, please grant me thine light!]
Suddenly her surroundings were revealed by the small floating pale green orb of light that rested just above her right shoulder. Encased in the earth was a plain tomb, with only two crude stone pillars visible supporting the entryway. The rest were either crumbled remnants or encased in the rocky soil. The priestess rubbed her eyes for a moment. Above ground, the odor of her deceased companions rode the warm air. But down here… the air was unnaturally still. Lira couldn’t quite understand why, but she actually felt less safe down here.
“I must press on.”
Lira shook her head from petty distractions and continued forward. Through the temple opening, she came upon what appeared to be a small room. But as she stepped into the center, the room lit up revealing glowing streams of dull green, sky blue, amber, and light purple streaked in random patterns around the room. Lira stood amazed, simply gazing at the magical phenomenon. There were many lights, but Lira quickly recognized them as characters of the Skyborn language. Though she could not read them, the symbols proved that she was on the right track. She cancelled her [Light] spell to conserve mana and relied on the glowing symbols in the room.
She approached a stone vault door on the other side of the room. With what little remaining strength she had, Lira pushed against the stone door and just barely opened it a crack. She slipped through and the stone door swung closed swiftly behind her, leaving her in utter darkness.
She had regained only a meager amount of her mana after relying on the glowing carvings in the tomb, but it was enough to cast [Light] once again.
[Ko the South Wind, please grant me thine light!]
As the pale green glow revealed the room, Lira’s eyes immediately rested upon the stone casket. Though surface of the casket looked to be transparent, the crystalline top glowed a dark grey light that made it impossible to see through.
If there was anything left behind, it had to be in this room here. Her research indicated that the Skyborn buried their treasures with their dead. However, there was nothing in the room but the casket... The priestess sighed. She prayed for the Four Winds’ forgiveness, for she was about to turn from priestess to tomb robber.
“SHE’S GOT TO BE HERE SOMEWHERE!! KEEP LOOKING, YOU PISSANTS!”
The priestess flinched, but calmed herself. The loud voice caused her to panic for a moment, but she kept her cool realizing the tomb could carry voices far off in the distance. Although there was still some distance between them, there was no doubt that they had found and entered the cave entrance. The interruption of her prayer reminded her of her carelessness. Her prayers would have to wait. Gritting her teeth and steadying her resolve, she placed her hands on the glowing crystallized lid of the casket....
And pushed the lid off clear onto the floor.
“AAAIiiiiieEEE-!”
Lira tumbled screaming into the casket, but her voice was quickly muffled. She had landed on something soft. She was mortified.
“I’m a tomb robber and a corpse defiler now…” she thought to herself, “Worse! I’ve given my position away. Oh Gods! I must hurry!”
She lifted her head and could not believe what she was seeing. She wasn’t even sure if she was thinking straight. Below her rested a man. Not a rotting corpse, not a preserved mummy, but the fully intact body of a young man.
And he was looking right at her.
“Wh-wh-wh-what!” stammered the priestess.
The young man began to blink and rub his eyes. Then he winced and squinted his eyes at her several times. He continued to stare at her, blinking several more times. The priestess was shaking uncontrollably from the shock. Her mind couldn't process what was going on.
“Why is there someone in the Saint Sage’s casket? Is this… the Saint Sage? Im-impossible…!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The young man winced yet again and appeared to be quite annoyed. He then gave what could only be interpreted as a death-glare at the priestess and asked her:
“Exactly how long are you going to keep your hand there?”
“Hmm?” Lira briefly broke eye contact to look at her hand placed flat on the man’s crotch.
Realization was delayed for the already overwhelmed Priestess. When it suddenly dawned on her, Lira’s head turned bright red. She clumsily leapt off the man and prostrated herself with her head bowed to the stone casket.
The man gave a sigh of relief as he stood up. He turned to her with a raised brow as she panicked. He looked sternly at her, and then his eyes softened. But only slightly.
The Priestess, who had yet to lift up her head, could not stop trembling, “Forgive me, my Lord. I did not mean to trespass on this holy ground.” He tilted his head sideways at her reply. With her face was still flushed after jumping from the casket, she hastily responded, “My sincerest apologies! Master Skyward Saint-Sage, Guardian of the Soaring Sanctuary.”
----------------------------------------
The Saint-Sage gazed blankly at the girl bowing in front of him. He was unsure of what the exact situation was.
“She believes I am someone called the Saint-Sage? Who is that? And how did she come to this conclusion?” he thought to himself.
{Informative: She discovered you in the Saint-Sage’s tomb. Naturally, she believes you are the Saint-Sage, which you are.}
“This voice… is familiar… when I was in that dark space… Analise?”
{Proud: I am here to serve, Saint-Sage!}
The Saint-Sage felt just slightly more secure having someone familiar with him. Or within him rather. It seemed Analise had no physical presence as the Saint-Sage realized she was speaking in his head.
But he was still confused as to what the situation was.
“What is up with this girl? Why is she bowing? Why am I in this strange bed?” asked the Saint-Sage silently to Analise.
{Clarification: First, that “bed” is a casket.. Second, your rank is higher than hers in accordance to your blessings, thus why she calls you master. Finally, You have reincarnated into the body of the Saint-Sage, a legendary hero of the Skyborn in times of old.}
The Saint-Sage paused and looked at his hands. He then examined his clothing. He was wearing a gray sarashi which was bound around him from his upper torso to his lower torso. He had loose-fitting trousers on as well as a long white robe with short but wide sleeves.
He then wondered what he looked like before his reincarnation.
Almost if on queue, Analise asked the Saint-Sage:
{Query: Would you like me to search your reincarnation data? Although recovery was only partial, there may be some data pertaining to your previous physical appearance.}
A mental nod was all that was required for Analise to begin searching.
The Saint-Sage wondered for about two seconds how long the search would take before Analise quickly replied.
{Search Completed. Result: 99.9% of data related to prior physical appearance was corrupted.}
The Saint-Sage sighed. If he could not even recall his previous appearance, then just what would he be able to recall from his past? The Saint-Sage was about to grumble when Analise interrupted his thoughts.
{Optimistic: I did find something that should be useful, however!}
He mentally nodded again for her to continue.
{Informative: Your previous body’s hair color was black.}
That really did not tell the Saint-Sage much, so he dismissed the information. However, he did become more curious of his current body’s appearance
“And what of this body? What hair color do I have now?”
{Informative: I am unable to answer that.}
“Huh? That should be easy, right?”
{Explanation: As your [Reincarnation Assistant], I can only analyze and assist with mental functions and information that is already in my database or I have seen through your eyes. The previous Saint-Sage’s hair was white, but due to the reincarnation process, this might have changed.}
“I better not be in the body of an old man! Well, I’ll just yank a strand out then-”
{Suggestion: Perhaps you could just ask the priestess?}
“Oh. I guess that makes more sense” said the Saint Sage as the he patted his head, quickly discovering, to his great relief, that he had a full head of hair.
The Saint-Sage turned to look at the girl. She was visibly shaking with her eyes making fleeting glances between the ground and him. He couldn’t tell why she was shaking. Perhaps she was cold…?
The Saint-Sage shifted his full attention to her and said plainly, “Hey. You.”
“YES!”
The Saint-Sage stepped back startled by her quick and rather loud response. He almost tripped on the casket behind him. He thought for a second that he had heard Analise laughing in his head, but decided to focus on the matter at hand.
“I have a question for you.”
“YES!”
Again, the girl replied loudly. This time it was more annoying than shocking. The Saint-Sage gritted his teeth and said as gently as his temper would allow for her to shut up. Her eyes went wide and teary and her face flushed. She bowed her head and profusely apologized. It seems she realized her mistake. After waiting a bit for her to calm down, The Saint Sage asked his question:
“What color is my hair?”
“Huh?”
“...”
“…it’s white, Saint-Sage.”
Despair filled his heart. White hair? The Saint-Sage cursed his fate. He was reincarnated into the body of an old man. He gripped his face in agony.
“What’s wrong!?! Master Saint Sage?!?” asked the girl worriedly
{Critical Alert: Sound outside the burial chamber was heard. Most likely multiple hostiles en route. Estimated numbers: 12-15. Objective: Protect Priestess at all costs and reach the Windhaven Nation’s capital.}
Now, the Saint-Sage cursed his fate once more. At least his old body would soon rest once more.
{Urgent: Please activate ability [True Mana Vision].}
“Master Saint-Sage! The Obelisk Kingdom soldiers!”
The girl had also heard the soldiers’ footsteps it seemed.
{Impatient: Activating [True Mana Vision] will enable you to fight.}
“What will saying [True Mana Vision] do for...me....” wondered the Saint-Sage to himself.
No sooner had he said the phrase that his eyes suddenly began to filled with various-sized red magic circles. They filled his eyes so abundantly with light that a faint red glow could be seen emanating from his eyes. The circles themselves were filled with small runes that spun in different directions within them.
His eyes themselves, however, were not the problem. The problem was what they were seeing. A collage of colors was bombarding the Saint-Sage's eyes. Multicolored glowing entities floated around his vision, twisting and turning all around.
“This is overstimulating. So many colors are glowing around me, it’s hard to focus. How are these colors supposed to help me, Analise? I don’t understand.”
{Informative: the various colors you are seeing are the different energies of the Four Winds’ Auras. You can call upon the Auras to help you defend yourself, but you need to concentrate. With [True Mana Vision], you can also detect the Auras of other users outside of your faith, such as the soldiers. Normally, you can only detect Auras from a God that has granted you its most basic blessing, the [Essence]. Right now, it may be overstimulating for you, but after your eyes have adjusted themselves, you will be able to learn how to use these Auras more easily.}
“Well, my eyes seen to be slowly getting accustomed to the swirling lights around me. They’re not as bright as before at least. But they're still making me-”
“THIS MUST BE WHERE SHE’S HOLED UP! GET THAT DOOR OPEN, MEN! I WANT THE FIRST TASTE OF THAT GIRL!”
The Saint-Sage's thoughts were interrupted by a gruff man outside the room. The men outside had finally reached the stone vault door. Their intentions were obviously malicious. The girl sat sobbing in one of the corners of the room. It appeared she was overwhelmed by the situation unfolding in front of her.
It was up to the Saint-Sage to handle the soldiers.