Chapter 4: The Return to Modern Day
---𝗔𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗼---
...
It was dark.
Of course, the man who had just died should've expected that, as he can pretty much assume he was dead.
Now that's out of the way, he can finally ask himself a question.
Why is he still thinking?
The process of reincarnation or drifting to the afterlife should be happening right now after that burst of light he had seen. He can't even move at all. Not a single finger. No one seemed to answer him; no one seemed to reach out to him; no one seemed to actually heed him.
The man felt he was drifting through the darkness, engulfed in it. It was similar to being embraced in a strangely warm, yet old blanket.
...
The man waited for quite a while. He had enough time to wait. Why not any more?
...
The man finally decided to try something.
And something did.
He felt something move. It was his finger! However, it only twitched.
With this, a new piece of the puzzle appeared. Had he reincarnated already? If so, then it's terrible luck.
He had wanted peace, and instead found himself given an unneeded gift:
The gift of life.
The man really wanted to sigh-he really did want to die! Truly! After his last life, he sorely needed rest, and the Almighty Lord, Our God, seemed to deem him worthy of living.
Or fate loved dancing him like a marionette with strings.
'...'
Why was he talking to himself?
If the man was able to open his mouth, he would've snorted. He had gone mad! Wait, he had always talked to himself…
'Ah, so I'm already mad.'
That does beg the question...why does he talk to himself?
After going through a tragedy, meeting trauma and betrayal, he had grown cold.
The answer was quite simple, actually. He disliked talking.
Not just to people, no. He actually hated talking with his voice. There was no use for it after all, not since-
'...'
Moving on. As the years had gone by, he gradually stopped using his voice, and he now remains a cold and quiet statue.
It also helped that talking and thinking to himself acquired him the ability to go through bothersome, troublesome, and bored times. He can keep himself awake because he talked to himself.
The unfortunate side effect was that he wasn't able to really sleep, as his brain worked in overdrive in tandem with his imagination.
A gift and a curse. Not all things come with benefits he supposed.
If one were to want an example of the benefit of talking to himself, then it had already shown. After an uncertain amount of time, he had finally achieved success within the darkness.
With great effort, the man moved his hand. If he were able to see, then the hand would be right in front of his face.
Pushing his hand upwards, he felt an object. He continued to push further, and the object softly and slightly sunken in. The texture was like a blanket, yet if one pushed much farther against it, one would feel more resistance.
'...'
It looks like he wasn't a baby in the womb of some poor mother.
Since he had touched something, he began trying to feel the rest of his body. Trying is key, as he can barely move around at all.
So the man tried to push harder against this strange cushion. An indeterminable time later, he heard a small crack. Excited, he attempted to try once more, but a sudden wave of exhaustion came over him.
'...'
It looks like it'll be a while until he breaks free if he tires this fast.
...
Time goes on, and every time the man had enough strength, he attempts to break free from his cage.
Each time he attempted to break free, a slight crack was heard, and more light seemed to filter in through the darkness. He can still barely make out anything, but seeing something within the darkness was...strangely exhilarating. It was the feeling of achieving something productive for once in my life.
Seeing it filled the man with a strange energy, and with it, he kept going at it, attempting to break out..
Only to fall exhausted once more.
The man has been barely keeping track of the time, and it seems like it has been two days since he had begun to break free. One would assume a person becomes bored from the rinse and repeats the act of breaking free, but thankfully he had his gift and curse. The man was used to the monotone way of doing a single action for days on end.
...
It had already been a while since he had started pushing against this cushion, blanket, veil-whatever it is, and being in the darkness truly disheveled his sense of time. He didn't even know when he became conscious within the darkness.
If the man were to begin counting the seconds when he first felt his finger twitched, then it should be around...
Four days at least.
During this time, he attempted to use channel mana once, but he barely felt anything. It didn't really matter right now, because whatever was keeping him caged has almost been broken.
'Now, just one more push.'
So, with as much strength as the man mustered, he pushed against the strange blanket...and it gave way. The light shined into his current and temporary abode, as if welcoming him to his new life.
A huge forest opened before him. The morning light filtered in through the treetop's leaves and branches. A bit to the left of a forest was an old house. It seemed like it was a one floor house.
It was...a strangely familiar yet aesthetically pleasing old house.
He took a brief glance around, and then himself. Unlike the black armor the man used to wear over his body, all he saw was a translucent and transparent pale white body.
'...I guess beings like me don't receive a good ending after all,' the man thought to myself, shaking his head in disappointment.
He did expect this sort of outcome, and yet...
Why must he surrender himself to fate? Wait, did he just think that fate wants him to live earlier, and now die once again?
How cruel.
While the man was looking around, he was met with the harsh reality of life as he felt a strange pain. He looked down on himself, and he noticed he was fading.
'...'
Perhaps he should be glad to have a new lease on life after all.
Sighing and being renewed with the energy to live, the man looked around, trying to find something to sustain him. Magic was not an option. It was unfortunate that there was barely any mana in the air at all, in terms of quality and quantity.
Mana fuels magic, allowing it to be sustained and condensed into the world. Since magic wasn't an option, he had to look for a suitable source...
Something filled with energy.
Not the life force of nature, but a different kind. Some say mana is the most basic of energies that can power magic, but there are other energies that can be replaced.
Looking around, the man saw what seems to be the remains of a soul floating around. Remnants of souls can be easily used as energy, since it is not able to defend itself. It basically means he did not have to use more of his own energy than necessary,
Broken souls are just random memories and personalities bound together. They're defenseless.
'Judging by how it looked, it seemed that this soul has some attachment to this place. It would be the perfect nourishment for me to survive for just a little longer. Not including the fact that just the first few seconds, I had already found out that something is strange with the world as it is. I guess there is something to do in my new dull life.'
The man floated closer, and he reached out for the broken soul. As he reached out, the soul seemed to have felt his presence. A soul would normally try to escape, but to his surprise, instead of trying to flee, it nudged itself towards his outstretched hand.
He immediately felt something was off, and so he flew backward. It was a pity that he was close enough to the remnant of a soul that it automatically was absorbed into him.
Well, one does not take a gift for granted. The man began to absorb it unwillingly. Unfortunately for him,as he had expected, things don't go as well as he wanted them to be.
As he continued absorbing it, a memory appeared in his head randomly. Like with all things, there is no benefit without a consequence. Which means problems existed in absorbing a remnant soul.
Normally, when one would absorb a soul, and with preparations, one would gain its energy, which is also accompanied with its knowledge.
However, if the soul is somehow connected to the person in some way, shape, or form...or the broken soul is compatible with the person's soul...or if the person was actually just a weak soul that couldn't really do anything else, the soul would fuse without hesitation.
The result of this was a creation of something new.
One of the conditions were met, and the remnant soul was easily absorbed into his transparent body.
Once again, like he thought earlier-there can be no risk without a big reward.
So in his unusually strange carelessness, and with no proper preparations, by absorbing the soul, he would also gain the soul's leftover energy residue...
And it's memories.
As well as the emotions contained in those memories.
Before I let go of the soul, the memories flooded in. The memories of this life. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 life.
'𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.'
It came as an unstoppable flood, and he couldn't do a thing but writhe in pain and agony. He clutched my head, shaking in agony. It was too late to regret. As the pain began to reach unbearable heights, the pain abruptly vanished. It was replaced with...
'...'
Tranquility and clarity.
Laying back into the coffin the man was originally in, in the comforts of his gray and dull white robes, he closed his eyes, deep in thought.
After a couple of minutes, the man-the old man opened his eyes, and he stared up at the treetops of the forest. The light seemed to have glowed much brighter, stinging his eyes that shouldn't even feel pain at all due to having no physical body.
"...why is this happening to me, oh Lord Almighty?"
...
Many yards away from the suburban town was an old house, and in the backyard with the dense, lush forest was where he was currently at.
Morning arrived, and with the dew glistening on the leaves, the sun rose, bringing new life. Winter has passed, and with the snow melting, it signifies that spring has come.
The old man phased through the shodai, the sliding door, and into the familiar, dark old house. He was only able to even see anything due to the sliding door being semi transparent. The house was caked in dust, mostly over the top of the furniture. It seemed that no one had lived here for some time...
At least around a year or so, judging by the amount of dust.
He moved past the old familiar TV, the old familiar tables, the old kitchen...just like he did in his memories.
Being in a silent place, alone, helps one with thinking. His gift and curse has come back in full strength.
'In my past life, the world was never truly mapped out, and many places were unknown. That meant I didn't really know where the continents were at, but isn't this almost exactly the same as Earth in my past past life? No, Palamicia has larger continents than Earth, but it has only four continents.'
Could this be a parallel world kind of situation?
It truly astounded him that this world and his first life's world are extremely similar in terms of history and technological advancement.
Now, there were more pressing matters than feeling nostalgia. Before getting the answers in which he seeks, he must find a more efficient way to prolong his unfortunate life.
The old man can feel that this soul of his is still dying. He should have at least from a couple weeks to a month left of life if he did not move around too much. He could prolong it with the slight bit of mana that is left in the air, but it won't be enough for the long term.
Although this may seem like something to be scared over, he didn't really feel the slightest bit of panic whatsoever.
It had to be said the old man had died twice. Once in his old world, Earth, and one on Palamicia...which is the world he's currently in. Almost a thousand years into the future.
Speaking of his old life, it turns out there was a reason why he was intricately connected to the remnant soul. It's not because it was just compatible with him...
That soul was actually his reincarnation.
'To think I reincarnated...well, it's to be expected. Reincarnation should mean that each life would have my memories.'
The old man felt even more tired.
If it wasn't for that condition of compatibility, then this form of his would be in conflict, causing his existence to fade at a more rapid speed.
There are so many, yet so little coincidences that take place in the world...and with him fusing with this other life's memories of his...
It couldn't be just a coincidence.
'How did I come to be in this form? Is this really the will of the Almighty Lord, or is it that damned Goddess delaying me from meeting my loved ones in death?'
The old man felt his much needed and justified irritation.
'I got an answer, and received two more questions in return. As of right now, there is something that I must test out first...' the old man looked in front of him, and focused on the little bit of mana he had left.
'If this is Palamicia, then...'
He mentally said a word that was once common throughout the world in the old age.
'𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴.'
"..."
The old man waited for a blue screen to pop up in front of him, but it didn't appear. Pausing for a moment, he felt a contradiction as he slowly went through his memories once more.
He did confirm that this is indeed Palamicia he knew , and he can sense mana in the air. Is it that the mana levels are so low that he can't even access the status screen?
A long, long time ago, about a thousand years ago, the status screen can be accessed by every sentient being in the world of Palamicia. Strangely, the status magic that was once so common had somehow disappeared.
Another surprise was no evidence of a status screen in history.
If one were to attribute his status problem with another problem, then it would be that his form could not produce a status at all.
The old man can only come up with a few theories, but nothing truly made sense. Conclusions such as that the mana that was once abundant is finite, that humanity and many other species has used up almost all of it, or that it was drained somehow.
'If this is true, is this why we-'
He stopped his train of thought, mentally shaking his head. The habit of him questioning almost everything really makes him stressed. This gift of his truly is a terrible curse .Although the habit did help him in times of need...these memories in particular were too painful.
It's time to move on.
Looking around, he tried to think of something to distract himself. Then he just delved into his memories.
The old man looked through his memories with the intent to find and predict any other immediate problems to make him distracted. One piece of memory surfaced, and...
The old man was truly surprised. Yes, reincarnation and time travel to a future is a surprise, but this was a much bigger one.
It was the biggest surprise yet.
'...it couldn't be...'
It turns out that the old man...had a family. A family that's related to me by blood. A family that's still alive! Not his own line of descendants, no, but his brother's family.
In his memories, his nephew gives the impression of disliking me. He took care of the little child at the young age of ten, when his parents, his older brother and wife died. So the old man took care of him as the best as he could.
Our relationship was more like a contract-the old man took care of him, and the nephew would be polite and help him at times.
It truly can be said that personality can be brought over to a new life. All his life, he was never social, and this made him seemingly cold and indifferent to worldly matters.
Even when the nephew had grown up, even though he appeared to be cold to the old man, he was still quite filial and brought his family to come visit only during spring break.
In those visits, the old man noticed their daughter, his granddaughter, was...distant.
At the young age of four, she appeared to be very mature, but as result, she was very introverted.
At times, this granddaughter of his appears silent. At times she appears to be in pain. At times, she appears to be sad, crying.
Every time the old man saw her, his heart ached. The only time she appears happy is when she was living with him during the spring, when her parents dropped her off with me.
Still, we were happy, the both of us.
Her parents are unfortunately workaholics, and based on what he remembered, they were negligent towards her.
The old man didn't know if he preferred workaholics over abusive parents.
They weren't bullying or abusing her-this past life-self of his made absolutely sure of that. He knew for a fact that his granddaughter felt alone in the world, feeling unwanted by her parents. The old man knew this feeling well.
As a result, her feelings are most likely exponentially increasing as she grows older.
'She really takes after me,' the old man shook his head, sighing.
He looked at the wall nearby, and he saw the same old calendar he used eight years ago. It had been eight years since then, based on the calendar that was marked by his family.
The old man couldn't help but wonder if this granddaughter of his was truly happy now, but that was just a fool's dream. Based on the look in her eyes and her personality that it wouldn't be true. She seems to be experiencing what the old man once did in his past and first life, and from this body's memories, this life as well.
Could it be that fate had deemed it so that he would always be punished for being alone? For being unloved?
The old man looked at his hands. He'll fulfill this body's-no, his wish, and with the amount of time he has left, he will guide her through this life. A life where she would be happy.
'...'
However, a small part of him truly does feel responsible or duty bound. Yes, it's partly because of the memories of this dying old soul.
However, it's not just that. The most important reason is because...
'I made a promise to her.'
A promise of all things. The old man really did hate himself.
A promise from eight years ago...a promise that the old man would come back to her. She probably would've believed me at her age, but now...she must hate him for leaving her.
For leaving her alone.
He sighed once more, placing a hand over his heart.
A promise must always be kept, no matter what.
No matter what.
'...'
From his memories, and judging by the day, they should be coming here during the spring break. It's tradition, which means they should be here in a few days...
Spring break seemed to be longer here, as well as summer and winter break. The days of the calendar on Palamicia is the same standard 365 days, with the same twelve months also giving the same amount of days.
Palamicia, however, was much larger than Earth.
He guessed the planet was just orbiting at a much faster pace due to the moon, exerting a stronger pull.
'...'
Once again the old man had digressed.
So much time had passed, and this granddaughter would've surely experienced many things.
In all his life, the old man could say for sure that it's a terrible experience to go through life with a personality extremely similar to his own. His granddaughter, being twelve years old, has truly pulled the short end of the stick.
He sighed with defeat.
With this dying soul, he will strive to help her. Of course, the old man will continue to try finding alternatives to live, no matter what. After that...
'...'
The old man shall find the answers to my questions.
In the meantime, he shall prepare a way for himself to enter her life without causing too big of a disturbance...
It probably will make a disturbance anyways.
Who would think that their dead relative would rise from the grave, in a world where magic is seemingly long gone?
'It's time for me to prepare...' he thought.
With that done, the old man floated back to the large forest through the untrimmed backyard, akin to a ghostly figure haunting the forest.
Which was actually currently happening.
And so, his preparations and plan began.
...
Three days later. It was just enough time for his preparations to be mostly complete. Within the first hour, he had found an alternative.
It was near afternoon, and the sun had almost reached the highest peak in the sky. The winter season seemed to be giving out its last death throes, as the wind was still chilly. The clouds slowly floated across the sky without a worry in the world as the birds twittered and flew about with envious freedom.
Then, the sounds of a car approached the old house.
A brand new car came driving up to the front of the house where the old man was in. He waited inside the house, looking at the approaching car from the window.
He sighed.
They've arrived.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DaoistofBoredom
DaoistofBoredom This fic is HEAVILY INSPIRED by a movie made by one of my favorite anime studio.
Edit: I fixed MANY THINGS, and changed a lot of things.
Weekly Power Status
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