"Consciousness?" Nemeris's eyes widened, his thoughts going crazy. "Wait, so the creature doesn't have a consciousness? How...does that work?" Nemeris sounded very confused, looking the male traveler up and down. "The creature has no consciousness but runs on survival needs. Even without consciousness, it still has a soul that isn't thriving much, meaning it is a life without control," the male traveler explained, crossing his arms.
"...Interesting enough. How long is 5 soul years?" Nemeris asked, sounding eager to leave this place and reincarnate. "10 human years," the male traveler replied sternly. "...So you've been here for 4 years?" Nemeris asked once again, his eagerness dying down. "Yup. I've seen everything about you and your family," the male traveler crossed his arms proudly. The male traveler then stood up and dusted his clothes with his hands before walking towards Nemeris.
"Everything, you say? So you must know how my mother died?" Nemeris looked into the male traveler's eyes, eager to know the cause of his mother's death. "The same way you died. The creature," the male traveler then walked towards Nemeris's mother's corpse. "...If I managed to get a chance at rebirth, surely my mother did too?" Nemeris followed behind the male traveler, looking around for his mother.
"Unfortunately, your mother is too old to rebirth. Anyone past the age of 30 has no chance of rebirth at all. You look like you're in your mid-twenties so you have a chance," the male traveler explained before quickly covering his mouth. Personal information should never be leaked.
"...My age counts as personal information!?" Nemeris's eyes widened, looking down at his fading hand. "Surely the creature can't disperse your soul with just an age..," the male traveler nervously chuckled. "My hand is literally fading, what do you mean!?" Nemeris showed the male traveler his left hand that was fading.
"...That just means that you won't be able to use your left hand when you reincarnate," the male traveler said simply. "How are you saying that so calmly!? I need my left hand!" Nemeris yelled out, enraged. Not everyone wants to lose a limb.
Does the male traveler not understand? Or he just doesn't care because he's not human? One wrong move and this turned into a back-and-forth argument. After hours of arguing, they settled. They settled a soul life of never talking to each other. Until 2 soul years later, the male traveler decided to break the silence that bothered them for the entire 2 soul years.
"Look, can't we just let it go? I only have one soul year left before I reincarnate. I don't want to spend the rest of my soul life in utter silence," the male traveler tugged on Nemeris' shirt, feeling annoyed at his stubbornness. "...Fine. Only because you're leaving," Nemeris turned around, looking down at the male traveler.
The rest of the next soul year (two human years), Nemeris and the male traveler slowly bonded over the smallest things, their friendship getting better by the day. With the day of the male traveler's reincarnation coming up, Nemeris couldn't help but prepare to miss him.
The day before the male traveler's reincarnation, Nemeris started to tear up. The male traveler was resting peacefully, in Nemeris's arms after a fun day. "I don't want to lose you. Not yet," Nemeris muttered under his breath. He treasured his friendship with the male traveler a lot.
As expected, the male traveler wasn't in Nemeris' arms anymore the next morning. His soul reincarnated, Nemeris felt happy for him but also sad now that he was alone. He looked around as he stood up, noticing a note on the floor. Nemeris bent down and took the note. Standing up again, he read out loud, 'I'll wait for you! :)".
"...You'll wait for me. But what if we don't end up reincarnating in the same world?" Nemeris muttered to himself. He knew the chances of being reincarnated in the same world as his friend was low. Nemeris placed the note down on the floor and walked around the house aimlessly.
Once again, alone. For the next 2 soul years, Nemeris took care of himself with only one goal, hope to reincarnate into the same world as the male traveler. Then it was Nemeris' turn. His reincarnation day was today. Nemeris took a deep breath and sat patiently, waiting to be reincarnated but nothing happened. "...Does it take a long time?" Nemeris asked himself, looking around.
His surroundings weren't any different and he stayed seated on the floor. Nemeris stood up and looked around, confused. "...Did I count the time wrong? Surely not...," he looked out the window but the outside didn't look as different. "I guess, this was a dream. Or, I'm stuck here forever for all eternity?" Nemeris started to panic and overthink, tons of possibilities rounded up in his head.
Nemeris started to walk around the house, trying to find a clue. The only last trace of the male traveler was the note he left Nemeris. Nemeris then went back to where he placed the note, thankfully, it was still there. He inspected the note, then noticed a clear tape.
Curious, Nemeris ripped the tape and found an opening. He opened the note up and there were instructions on how to reincarnate. None of which required to stay for 5 soul years. "Did he lie to me...?" Nemeris spoke quietly before reading the instructions.
{ How to Reincarnate }
A note to self on how to reincarnate. I told a soul that they needed to stay for 5 soul years in order to reincarnate but you don't have to. It's pretty salty of me but I needed someone to befriend. In order to reincarnate, I need to use a corpse. With the physical body, I am granted the ability to use the body as a sacrifice in order to have a body to reincarnate in. Once you touch the corpse, you say these words, "Kuma la swae-la." -Jalken
"...So, he lied to me," Nemeris slightly clenched the paper before placing it down on the counter. I walked over to my mother's bedroom, only to find her corpse gone. "And he used my mother aswell!?" Nemeris made his hands into a fist, enraged.
He looked around the house, in search of a hint but found nothing. Sighing, Nemeris sat down on the floor, running his hand through his hair stressfully. "Where am I supposed to find a corpse? Most of all, I don't know if I should risk walking out the house or not."
...
Don't exit. Just basement.
YOU ARE READING
Cultivational Rebirth
AksiNemeris, a normal guy in a..not normal world. His neighborhood felt suddenly weird, and his mother was nowhere to be seen. The cause? He has yet to find out and how to escape.
