Reborn: High Strung | ONC2024

Chapter 9

Two years had passed since Jekuthiel had been reborn into layer six, Voltara. His growth had come quickly; it took only four months to hit inferno, and in the remaining twenty months, he had reached the peak of his power level as an inferno. At only fifteen years old, he was the strongest member of the Roc tribe by far; his fire sethra could bring anyone to their knees here. Jekuthiel learned much living among the tribe; none of them knew how to reach Nova; the only Nova in Voltara was the sethra beast they treated as a god, Razerin. The beast was a thirty-foot eagle that was seemingly made of lightning sethra. He had only seen Razerin twice, each time on the annual Roc tribe festival, in which Razerin was worshiped and given offerings of food and lesser electric sethra beasts at the top of the mountain they lived inside of. Everyone referred to the mountain as the Roc. The members of the tribe were all power-hungry soulkindlers who shamed the weak and praised Jekuthiel for his strength. They all reminded him of King Erez in that way; he hated it, but he kept those feelings internal. Gavriel and Ziva were the two strongest infernos next to him, and they would do anything at the snap of his fingers. By all means, he was the leader of the Roc tribe now; his world had been flipped upside down so quickly.

Jekuthiel was sitting in a large stone chair, looking down at his notes; they were sprawled out around his desk, ink stroked around the pages in frustrated passion. His new room was the largest among the tribe, adorned with fine fabrics and decorations depicting Razerin's wings, the crest of the Roc tribe. Jekuthiel was a bright boy, and with the help of the best healer and most knowledgeable of the layers, Natan, he learned many things about the layers above. Jekuthiel already understood traversal thanks to Natan; he had even practiced a few times making his way up to layer five, Loch, which was easy at his current power level. If only he could figure out what hump was keeping him from attaining the power he truly wanted: "Razerin, help me!" He throws his ink well against the wall, shattering it in anger, and shoves the research papers to the floor in a flurry of smoking cinders.

Natan rushed into the room. He was a young man, twenty years old; he was the kindest of the tribe. The others tolerated his traits, seen as weakness, due to his rare life sethra, which allowed him to heal others. Natan goes to Jekuthiel's side and puts a hand on his back. "Calm yourself, Jekuthiel." His soft voice floated around the room like the melody of a mother's lullaby.

Jekuthiel takes a few deep heaving breaths, looking over to his only true friend in this world. Natan's forest green short hair was frazzled from running through the silk sheet that hung over the doorway. After a moment of composing himself, Jekuthiel nods to Natan and says, "Sorry, Natan. I just don't know how those bastards did it. How did they reach beyond inferno? Is Nova just an illusion?"

Natan laughs a bit, catching Jekuthiel's confused slight glare before nudging his shoulder. "You know, when you first arrived here, you would have never had this confidence. All the stories of Nova's I've ever heard of on the higher layers say it took them decades to reach Nova."

"I know that already, but the longer it takes me to ascend, the longer Erez can keep torturing people that are like me." His shoulders stayed stiff even as they lowered slightly.

"Were like you. You're the strongest inferno, maybe on this entire layer now."

This made Jekuthiel smile with a sense of pride. "And that's exactly why I can't stop, Natan. I will change this world forever. I will scorch the head of the beast."

Natan gives a short nod and says, "I believe you will. Even just spreading the true nature of burnt souls. It could change the whole system of the top layers."

Jekuthiel looked down at his burnt notes all over the floor. The pages started to resemble bodies laying limp. "For better or for worse, it would. Natan, bring me mountain gear."