Chapter 3: Soul

"Aurken's POV"

"Shiiiiiiit !!!!" I shouted.

That kuishinbo nearly killed me, damn!

"There are still many kuishinbos!" Simon shouted as he fled. "Stay alert!"

"Fuck! " On the other hand, Shiro is killing the devourers, also known as 'Kuishinbo' "Sir! This is bad! What are supposed to do?"

Shiiiiit,  considering the situation, we might all be finished, it's not right, I just ranked up, it can't be, I need to think of something.

"Call the tanks!" We will not win if we are scattered. I have to devise some sort of formation. "Fighters! Lure all of the kuishinbos here!" I looked at the fighters, and they nod. "While tanks! As the kuishinbos are being brought here, absorb all the damage! We will retreat for the meantime as you build three rows on the frontline!" All of the tanks agreed.

This is a typical hunter group. We are assigned to hunt kuishinbos to gather their ashes that is essential in forging weapons. We have three fighters, three tanks, three damage dealers, and one support, making us a total of a ten-man team.

It is not easy to be 'Iideo' or captain of each group in a raid. Their lives depend on me. One wrong move, all dead, so whatever my command is now, it's all or nothing.

'We lack the manpower, but even so ….'

"Damage dealers!! Stay behind the front line." I commanded as I slowly raised the sword.

Three of my fighters rushed and attacked all of the kuishinbos in front. Kuishinbos will prioritize attacking all those who attack them. They will chase you and won't stop until they seize you. They are incredibly fast. However, all three of my fighters are agile and fast enough to evade the attack of kuishinbos while attacking five of them at once.

As soon as three of my fighters successfully lured all kuishinbos, they ran towards us, and the tanks raised their shields to absorb all the attacks from them.

"Damage dealers! Ready!" All of us launched our attacks from behind while some attacked the kuishinbos head-on.

When we noticed that kuishinbos are being held back, we stepped on the back of the tanks to jump, and all of us stab the kuishinbos in their weak spots. These weak spots are random on each kuishinbo. They are detected by me ahead of time to gather information.

Kuisinbos are creatures that are either living things or non-living things. They are like zombies. 'Kuishinbo' means devourers. Once they get close to you, they will swallow your whole being. Nothing will be left. Your entire existence will be eaten, and that is why they were also called existence eaters. However, kuishinbos cannot devour their own, and that concept is used against them. The ashes left by the kuishinbos when they are killed are used to make weapons, construct houses, clothing items, and such. These ashes are mixed with the usual raw materials to create something that can ward off kuishinbos. The more ashes that a thing has, the more defense it could have, but of course, it comes with a great price.

On the other hand, kuishinbos are creatures that have no distinct shape. They can take on any form they want to. They are known for their ability to adapt to their surroundings, so they have abundant numbers on the planet. These creatures are tough to deal with, no one knows where they came from or how they come into existence, but ever since I woke up from the deep sleep and got reborn, these creatures are already existing.

*****

'Mission accomplished.'

"Casualties?" I looked around and smiled. "None,"

"Good job, Captain!" Shiro patted me.

"Never thought you'll come up with such a great plan? Great work!." Simon shook his head as he clapped.

"I thought we're about to die." Others said.

I just smiled at them, even though I was surprised by the outcome of my plan.

I was about to leave when I looked up and saw someone in the abandoned building, not so far from me.

'A guy?'

It must be a reborn. I have to go there immediately. The guild now needs new recruits.

*****

"Damian's POV"

It was a very long dream…

'But is it really just a dream?'

I could remember my last glance at my office and those scenarios from my past life. I was in pain, in anguish, in despair, and in sadness. But the moment I woke up, all of those negative feelings were gone. Just like my surroundings right now, what I feel is...

Nothing.

I was slightly taken aback by that thought.

I thought I was dreaming, but did I dream while I was dreaming? Why am I here?

'Is that a light?'

I have to go there, but how?

I started to slowly take a few steps towards the light. However, It feels like I am just floating. Maybe this is what it feels like lurking in the solar system? Or perhaps I am dead? Is this death? Everything around me is dark except for that light. I don't know where should I go.

I feel like I'm advancing, but why can't I even get close to the light? My legs were tired, so I gave up voluntarily. I shouted a lot of times, but the only voice I could hear is the voice inside my head.

At that exact moment, the light I saw earlier was slowly absorbing me. My body is being malformed by some malignant force. It felt like forever. But in a blink of an eye, I found myself sitting on a throne in a white room facing my reflection by the mirror.

But is that really me? My body is lighter and smaller like a teenager.  The person I'm facing is me, in my teenage days.

'Which one is real?' I asked myself.

I was surprised when the mirror's reflection suddenly changed to 'me' in my middle-age years. Back to what was flashed from a piece of memory while I was dreaming, it was me back then. Tall, athletic, well-built, wearing a tuxedo and holding a briefcase. That reflection began to materialize as a different person and walked towards me, and it smiled.

"Who are you?" I feel shivers in my skin and my voice trembled. I fixed my posture and stared right into its eyes to look brave when the truth is, my knees are already shaking.

"I am you. Don't you remember?"

"W-what? I don't understand." I insisted.

"I am you." He smiled again and approached me. "I am your desires, your wishes, your aspirations, and your inhibitions."

"I am you, Damian." He added.

"I'm confused." 

"Let's just say, every person has their own god, everyone is a slave of their own desires and aspirations, the stronger your desires are, the stronger your god will be." He answered while looking up as if thinking.

"But how did you come to existence? Why do I see you? How? Is everyone like this?"

"No, even I don't know how I existed. Desires are thoughts, right? So basically, I am your thought-made flesh because I am you. I also own this body."

"What are you saying?"

"Hmmm, how do I explain?" It even scratched his head. "So basically there are three versions of you at the same time, that body you are using is you on your teenage days, while your current thoughts or let's say your soul is you in your original age by the time you were devoured, and I am also you in your middle age. Your souls are separated by each age."

"Okay, I'm slowly getting it, but how'd you know all of this?"

It giggled, "I knew I'm a hella' genius. I got that right away."

"Not funny." I scorned.

"Easy, grumpy old man! I know this because I've been awake while you are sleeping, and because we are both smart, I tried to study the reason this happened by looking through thw windows of souls. If I was not there when you were asleep, this body would have rotten already."

"You mean you're there? While I was in my past?"

"Yep"

"I am the one who made that for you."

"That's to keep your soul healthy and to make you remember who you really are."

"Why do you have to do that?"

"You will be reborn Damian, the world you know is not the world you're about to face. Souls are important to contain powers. I think they call it quarks."

"Quarks?"

"Yes, these quarks,  are strange quarks that are combined with your normal quarks. They are called necros. The more necros you have, the stronger you will be."

"And?"

He rubs his chin as if he's thinking, "Well, I want you strong when you're reborn, so I consumed a large piece of your original soul for me to exist and help you remember who you are and assist you, especially you are a third-class reborn. People will have expectations from you." He stared at me and flashed a weird smile. "I don't want you to forget who you are because the moment you do that, I will be gone, and I won't get to see you-" He stopped for a moment, "Which is basically me as well. you need all three of us to rise up to the top which is my goal and also your goal, right?"

"I have five questions for you," I asked to get his attention. He immediately redirected his attention to me. "Who originally owns this body? Where was my soul during my teenage days?"

"Oh! I forgot to mention, souls like me and you are only formed when a desire is unaccomplished. The reason why you don't have a soul during your teenage days is that you accomplished your desires during that time." He started to walk around while speaking, just like I do whenever I explain something profound to someone. "The original owner of this body is your soul in your teenage days, but since it is gone, by default, you are the owner."

'I see.'

But I don't get it. This is so fuckin complicated. How can I understand something that is beyond a human's intellect?

'Wait! Human's intellect? '

"Second, where'd this body came from? Is everyone like this? I mean, are they like this too?

"Those are two questions already, but since it is for our own good, I will answer them." He even slightly bit his lips. "Apparently, we are all in an alternate universe, everyone, when they woke up from the original world to this alternate universe, was reborn as an infant, as their former selves or half of their original selves, but that, of course, will depend on them. I don't know what certain conditions must be met, but obviously, you are reborn with half of your age, but that is only manifested in your body. Your mind, and soul is your former self, and that is what I meant with the third type reborn that I mentioned earlier. And then, of course, you have two souls that inhabit your body. Which totally makes you different." He smiled a bit. "We're different, Damian. Don't you think we're lucky? I mean, come on, two souls in a body? That's just insane!"

"Third, why me? And who? Who gave me this, well... 'ability? If I should call it that way."

"Well, we both believe in god, right? But the god we know on earth is the god of our universe. It was clearly stated in various holy books, right? So how about the god in another universe? And the god who created the gods of these universes? "He smiled suspiciously as if he's arousing my interest. "There is a God who created the god we know, and he gave it to us. I don't know the reason why, but I'm sure we can benefit from it."

"How can you be sure about that?" I am quite inquisitive about the gods he was mentioning.

"Is that your fourth question? But okay, well, that god appeared of me in a form of silhouette and told me everything. He also gave me something like a  shining sphere, I don't know what is that for and why he gave me such a 'precious' thing just my inquisition, but I know there's a good reason behind it. " He even grabbed his chin as he remembered the incident. "Actually, I'm not sure if he really is the god of everything, but since I also do not know what he is and what he should be called, I suppose we should call it a god."

"Since I said that I will only have five questions for you, this will be my last question." I stood up from the chair and faced myself on the mirror heads on. "Am I really you?" I know this is a stupid question, but it doesn't feel right.

"Of course I am you, we are just the same, everything I know you also know but just not yet. We share the same thought and all, you have nothing to doubt. Well, you should learn how to use me. That'll be your greatest power..." His voice is slowly disappearing like a cloud of smoke from a candle. "The moment you return to reality, you will understand." His reflection from the mirror vanished like a bubble. He's gone, but I know he's here within me cause, after all, he's me.

I was just about to shout so loud because I really don't know what to do now in this darkness.

When suddenly...

'This again?'

Here we go again into another feeling of being dissolved into pieces. This isn't surprising, by the way. I think I'm getting used to it?

'What now?'