About 5 minutes earlier:

It had been a pretty normal day – waking up, making some coffee, lying to himself about making a good breakfast, and still somehow having to rush out the door. The drive to work wasn’t really all that interesting until the car stalled out. Luckily, the brakes still worked, and he, along with everyone else around him, coasted to a stop.

He could hear the sounds of a few collisions nearby, but that didn’t bother him all that much compared to the fact that the sky had changed color. The red light now illuminating everything was not the scariest thing; no, that was the pillar of light his car appeared to be in. Looking around, he could see a circle surrounding him and the car, symbols appearing on the ground.

The moment the lights stabilized, he was still holding onto the wheel of the car, unable to believe that he wasn’t in a dream. But the pain as he felt his body dissolve was real. Starting with his feet, it was like when he burnt himself on the stove, only a thousand times worse. His screaming changed as his lungs and chest started to dissolve until there was an odd mechanical sound left hanging in the air. What was left of the car was just the passenger door and some of the trunk, the rest of the vehicle gone like someone punched a hole into reality.

He could feel stretching as he was pulled through something tight and small. He did like spelunking as a scout, and this felt like he was deep in a cave, barely able to fit through an entrance. Then the feeling of popping out occurred. He was in a vast space, but able to sense others around him. Like he was in a dark room, waiting to pop out and scream ‘Happy Birthday’ with thousands of friends around him.

The people around him were odd; he couldn’t see anything, but he could feel them. How each one was different, and how they had their experiences tied into what made them, well, them. But, whatever was happening, he was losing something of himself while he was traveling. Even more was lost as he felt himself pushed up against another small opening. Wherever he was going wasn’t really built for whatever was happening.

As he entered the tight tunnel, he could feel more of himself left behind; whatever made up his thoughts and experiences didn’t seem to be able to fit into this space, and he was sad for a moment as he lost everything else. But there was something else added, a sense, a purpose, he could feel something tying him to the elements, to life as he moved through energy unlike anything he had felt before.

As he exited the tunnel, he could feel that energy building him a new body, trying to find his pattern in his memories, but it wasn’t able to. What it expected to find didn’t make it through the transition. He could feel a basic pattern being set and then applied to his body. A sense of satisfaction outside himself was intruding on his thoughts.

"This isn’t a normal soul. You are not part of this world’s rebirth cycle. Nor were the standard rituals in place to move you from the tower. You are recognized as a candidate, but that should be impossible. What are you?"

He felt lost, like a newborn, unable to put anything into thoughts or even remember who he was.

"Saddened and unfortunate lost one. Well, you have a home here if you would like. Since you are not part of the normal cycle, we will have to expend some energy to finish your transition. Do you have a preference for your starting area?"

He had no idea what a starting area was. He didn’t even know how to respond to whomever was speaking.

"Very well, I will assign an angel to deliver you to somewhere civilized. They should take care of their own. I will send a quest to make sure you are picked up."

He could feel movement now. Arms holding him, hands wrapped around his body. They must be huge, or he was small. Something soft was wrapped around him as he could feel air passing by. The sounds of air rushing past, of something fluttering in the wind. A huge rush of air came as he felt feathers brush against his face. He wanted to speak, scream, yell, but all that came out was a small voice, crying.

“Hush little one, not much longer. The caretaker of this place has been granted a quest to take you in, as she takes in all lost children here. You will have a home.” The voice was young, female, and yet there was something ethereal about it. Like it wasn’t really a voice, but someone speaking from all around him.

As he felt the ground beneath him, he stopped crying, opening his eyes. The world seemed huge to him, unlike anything he knew. Above him was an angel, her wings spread out so far he didn’t know if there was an end to them. As he reached out to touch them, he could see a small hand in front of him, and he could feel his fingers move.

Looking closely, there was a glow within the angel above him; it was something that wasn’t tied to her body, and he could see colors in it. She giggled as he had a frustrated look on his face.

“I’m sorry little one, I must go. Your caretaker is arriving and she shouldn’t see me here. You will be watched and know you are loved. Your former trials have been removed, but I can see their shadow on your thoughts. Forget them, forget me, live the life you have been granted and be happy.” As she lifted in the air, her body faded. He could still see the glowing figure, and there was a feeling of peace and safety tied to it.

Reaching out with something that wasn’t his hand, he grasped onto her. A glowing part of her broke off, making her flight shake, and he pulled that light inside of him. It felt like it belonged alongside his own internal light, and its presence wrapped around him.

When the door opened, the kindly young priestess looked down at the young child laid at her doorstep. She felt the energy granted by her guiding light for picking up the child and bringing him into her orphanage. Not that she wouldn’t have done so otherwise, but the insistence of her guide did wake her to come quickly to the door.

The blanket it was wrapped in felt like it was made of air itself, and the child’s eyes appeared to be glowing. Looking around for the expected donation, none was to be found, but the drive within her didn’t really care. She closed the door and brought the newborn child to rest in a crib.

“Well, let's see if you were left with a name.” She carefully unwrapped the blanket, marveling at the feel yet again. Noting that it was a boy in front of her and seeing no note or any other form of identification, she sighed.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“So, which demigod would fit you? I know, Maluk, the light that leads you to the afterworld. Welcome to the Stonebridge Orphanage of the Holy Light. I have a feeling that you will be something special.”

—

“Maluk!” A raised voice echoed from the yard behind the orphanage.

He winced at the call, knowing that Mother would punish him rightfully for running off.

“Are you sure?” He spoke to the air.

"Yes, there is mana nearby attuned to death. It wasn’t there yesterday; the quest is valid." The voice had always responded, as far back as he could remember. It reminded him of wings.

“We better hurry before it dissipates then; I’m going to be in trouble for not finishing the laundry.” He crawled over the school's fence, sliding down the other side. He wished he was like the other boys, all strong and agile, but for whatever reason, he was skinny, and his skin pale. If it wasn’t for Mother, the other children would have been sure to pick on him.

He got his feet under him and started running again. Several houses down, he slipped alongside the building and into the backyard, following a vague sense of purpose. It was odd, kind of like that feeling he got when he knew he was supposed to do his chores. He winced slightly at the feeling that he should really be back at the orphanage instead.

Finding a small shed in the yard, he dropped down low and found the hole that rats must have made in the side, or maybe something worse. Squinting, he could see the death-aspected mana floating out of the hole once his vision blurred.

“You sure they are all dead? Don’t want to deal with another bunch of bites like last time.”

"Totally dead; the woman here laid out poison just last night, and she got lucky. I diverted her quest to pick up the remains."

He pulled out a small set of worn gloves, more suited to gardening than to the collection of bodies. Reaching into the hole, he found the first soft body.

“And you are sure she is gone? I don’t want to repeat what happened with that stable master.”

"Yes, she had other quests that her light would have taken her on today. Now, she could be ignoring them."

He could hear the giggling coming from his light. She was different from everyone else's as far as he knew. First, he was too young at 16 for his light to even function; it shouldn’t have started to affect him until his naming day, and that was a few months away. And, no one else seemed to be able to speak to their guiding light.

He pulled out the third body and felt the tingling that was tied to a completed quest. Not that his body actually changed or gained anything yet. While he could finish them, the rewards were still not granted beyond the feeling of completion.

“Anna, is that it?” He wrapped the bodies in small clothes made of burlap and put them carefully into his side pouch.

"Yes, and I won’t be able to do that again for a while. But that death mana should be useful for your studies as well. Don’t miss the chance to watch their souls depart. I still can’t believe you are able to see both mana and souls. But the effort at changing the system to give you this opportunity is going to force me to sleep for at least a week. Don’t bother me unless you have to."

He could hear how tired she was and nodded. Turning around, he headed back to the orphanage. Slipping in the gate at the side of the building, he quickly slid into the gardening shed he called his home.

He had a bed in the main house, but here is where he ended up sleeping most days. A repaired table and a set of tools and equipment covered the table. He pulled the small bodies out of his pouch and laid them out. Focusing, he let his sight blur again, and the death mana he could barely sense came into focus. Unlike the elemental mana, he could also see small wisps of air, earth, and water mana floating around; this was clearer to him, it moved when he passed his hands over it. Anna told him he probably would awaken on his naming day with an affinity for death mana.

Feeling like his eyes were crossing, he started to see through the tiny bodies before him. Somewhere inside, he could see a small white glow. This is what he really wanted, and as he concentrated, he could feel a part of himself reach out and touch the first body. As he finally reached that glow, he could feel it respond and flee. Acting like his presence had startled it.

His frustration mounted as the glow faded, quickly disappearing like all his experiments before. Trying the second body, this one was female, and the light was brighter. It actually seemed stuffed with the glowing substance, and as he looked down, it had been pregnant. As his probe entered the body and tried to interact, the glow once again broke up, this time almost shattering into many different pieces before it dissipated.

The last rat was the youngest; it also had the most death mana of the three. While he could see that the other two bodies were still producing mana, without that glow, it was slowing down, just vapors compared to when it was there.

Given it was his last chance, he went carefully, attempting to touch but not push the glow inside the body. As his presence finally reached it, there was a startled response as before, and he was instantly depressed, knowing he had failed yet again.

The glow didn’t disappear this time. There was a feeling of hesitation, and then the glow reached back out and touched his probe. Being careful, he expanded his senses, and the glow in the rat responded, almost cuddling into his touch. He had no idea how long he was working with the dead body, but finally, his senses wrapped around the entire glow, and he was able to slowly pull it out.

Hanging, trapped in some hidden sense of his was the glowing light that had been inside the rat’s body. Hundreds of failed experiments were part of his compost heap, but this one was different, and this was the first time he had a positive reaction. The glow even had the vague shape of a rat, although it wasn’t very stable.

He could feel a pull on it now, either it or something outside of it was trying to pull the glow away. Clamping down, he could feel the fear coming from the small rat’s form. But instead of losing it like before, the small glow ran at him, jumping into his body. He lost track of it instantly, and then smiled. The pulling force was gone, and he could feel the small rat moving around inside him. There was a warmth and connection, almost like the one he could feel from Anna.

A few seconds later, the glow appeared again on his shoulder, the head just poking out of him.

“Anna, did you see that?”, he shouted excitedly.

A barely awake grunt was all he got in return.

“I did it, I finally was able to touch it. It is a soul, isn’t it?” He was almost bouncing around the room now. If there had been room to bounce.

Another grunt, this one more frustrated was the response.

“Fine, but what can I do with it now? Is it like you?” The responding laughter at that made him wince a little.

"That is nothing like me. In fact, rest assured I’m pretty sure nothing like me has ever existed before. You have the ability to manipulate souls, the one constant untouchable force, you can both touch and maintain unlike anyone I am aware of. I lost most of my former knowledge when we connected at your arrival here, but I’m pretty sure about that. Now, play with your rat."

He chuckled at that. Looking back at the table, the bodies of the three rats were falling apart rapidly. Having seen this before, he watched the death mana spike as all the living parts of the body rotted away. There was a small clatter as the bones were all that remained. He could almost feel a connection to the three small clusters of bones, even more so to the ones formerly tied to the rat.

But now that he looked around, he couldn’t find that glow anywhere. Either it was also gone, or it was lost somewhere inside him. Shaking his head, he moved to throw all the bones into the grinder to make bone dust. But the third set, the one tied to the one soul he had been successful touching, he decided he would keep those.

Taking the burlap cloth, he wrapped the bones up and put them into his side pouch with his other personal items. Maybe later he would string them together and make a rat skeleton statue or something; it would be sure to scare and excite some of the other children.

“Maluk, are you in there? Mother says you need to finish your chores if you want to eat.” A small voice spoke outside his shed. He turned and headed out the door.