Chapter 2: Death of Heroes
Alex finally opened his eyes and saw only darkness, for a moment he was frightened. He thought that maybe, his consciousness was still stuck in that miraculous space of light.
"Mom, Alex opened his eyes," whispered his sister, who was right next to him.
"Good, good…" said their mother, but her voice was distant and somehow cold.
"What's happening, where are we," Alex slowly asked, his voice was a little bit sore.
"Keep silent, brother," sad voice of his sister stopped Alex from questioning.
The mother and her children stood next to each other, nothing except for their breathing could be heard. Darkness was the only thing in front of their eyes, Alex felt warm and comfortable staying in it.
"Mom… Where did Dad go?" finally Judith wasn't able to hold back.
"Somewhere far from here…"
"Will he come back? Who was that uncle who came?" a series of the question was poured out by the young girl.
"Stop asking… One day, he'll be back."
"Mom! Why did he leave!"
"I told you not to ask…"
"Mom, but why?!"
"Stop!"
Silence followed for a second and then quiet sobbing sounded.
"Mom, where are we?"
Their mother sighed and pushed back the cupboard above, light broke into their eyes.
"Judith helps your brother get up, I need to see someone."
"Mom, don't leave us!" shouted the girl with tears all over her petite face.
"I won't, now go help your brother."
Their mother left the old wooden house, children didn't notice any changes in her appearance, only her strange behavior.
"Judith, don't cry, she will be back soon," consoled his younger sister Alex and coughed afterward.
"I can't stop thinking about Dad!"
"He will be back too, don't cry, please."
They climbed out of the underground storeroom and went to the nearest bed. Alex didn't have any strength in his body, he thought it was an effect of awakening.
"Judith, give me a minute, I just need some time to rest," Alex said and closed his eyes again.
His sister didn't answer.
His mind fell into a mysterious state, he could see strange images flashing in front of him, sometimes they were very vivid. Pictures were distant as if watching a video or a film, those images reminded Alex of a time when he could freely watch TV, although he was only 4 years old back then.
"Alex!" suddenly a man's voice, which he heard back in the star space sounded.
"Hypnos, it's you!"
A dark shadow in a human form appeared in front of Alex.
"Of course, who else could it be, ha-ha."
"For example, me…" another man's voice appeared out of nowhere then the second shadow popped out of nowhere.
"Who are you?"
"He is another personage of your previous life."
"Amazing! So, I am one of those talented geniuses, who awakened more than one life!"
"Geniuses you say, it's more appropriate to call them lucky ones," commented Hypnos.
"Right, its just luck… So, how can I call you, sir?"
"I have a lot of names, boy, some people called me Long Hai, others called me the Royal Long. However, the majority still named me as the Heavenly Dragon or Nine Dragon Palace Master."
"So smug and majestic," added Hypnos's voice.
"Hmph!" snorted Long Hai.
"Nice to meet you, sir Heavenly Dragon!" greeted Alex full of excitement.
"You can just call me Long Hai."
"Ok!"
"Why didn't you call us! I also want to see something interesting!" shouted an unknown woman's voice.
"Queen of Mages."
"Hello, your majesty the Queen!" said Alex and wanted to bow, but then realized he couldn't, there was no ground beneath him.
"Oh, here is a new face! Are you dead too!"
"Ha-ha, you, stupid woman, how can you call yourself the Queen of Mages, the Lady of Wisdom!" laughed Hypnos.
"How dare you! Old fool! If you call me a stupid woman, then you yourself are a stupid woman too!"
"Ha-ha," Hypnos continued to laugh.
"Don't argue over such stupid things, let's greet our young reincarnation."
"Right-right! Then nice to meet you young me!"
"Nice to meet you, miss…" Alex didn't know how to react. It was his first time to meet a person with a temperament as wild as the storm.
"Call me Sherill, I am not much older than you."
Alex's face was blank, he needed time to process their conversation.
"Old woman, stop messing with the kid!" interjected the Hypnos's voice.
"I am not old!"
"Can you both stop?" a calm voice of Long Hai prevented both shadows from fighting.
"Ok, let's stop. Alex, right now, we need to explain to you everything we consider of vital importance for you," said the first shadow and flew a little closer to Alex.
"Hypnos, I will remember everything!"
"Good, so… First, welcome other two personages of your previous lives."
After those words were said, two additional human shadows took form.
"Hello, kid, my name is Subutai, the Genghis Khan's greatest strategist, the one who decides the defeat and victory on this earth!" the voice was calm but arrogant.
Another voice added," There are the Four Dogs of Temujin. They have foreheads of brass, their jaws are like scissors, their tongues are like piercing awls, their heads are iron, their whipping tails swords… In the day of battle, they devour enemy flesh. Behold, they are now unleashed, and they slobber at the mouth with glee. These four dogs are Jebe, and Kublai, Jaime, and Subutai. As it said in The Secret History of the Mongols."
"Well said!" shouted the voice from earlier.
"Thank you… Well, nice to meet, Alex. I am sorry that I cannot tell you my name, well, because I don't have one. You can just call me Null."
"Nice to meet you, Null."
"So, when we are all got acquainted with each other, let me pass to you a short summary of our lives."
A vast stream of memories entered Alex's mind, they were very different from each other, some of them caused a wave of great anger to appear within his soul, others made him smile.
"Hypnos, I am happy to fight shoulder to shoulder with you."
"Same, let's crash these demons!"
Two mighty giants floated in the stormy sky, surrounded by a thousand of savage and hideous creatures. A few moments later they fell…
Hypnos the God of Dream died in battle, age unknown.
…
"Your Majesty, the Tang clan seems dissatisfied with your decision…"
"What can they do? Just ignore them."
"Ha-ha," a crazy laugh resounded within the palace.
"Tang Shuyu!"
"Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting, but your Nine Dragon Palace is doomed!"
Thousands of humans appeared behind the intruder, all of them were prepared for a bloodbath.
"You have colluded with the Netherworld Palace!"
"Ha-ha! Not only Netherworld Palace but a few more clans!"
Long Hai, the Heavenly Dragon died in battle against the Tang clan, the Netherworld Palace and a hundred more clans of different strength, age unknown.
…
"Old bitch how are you feeling now! Do you regret your decision back then?!" shouted a woman with a wrinkled face and skeleton hands.
"Go f*** yourself!"
"How dare you! Die!"
Queen of Mages, Sherill died from poison, age - secret.
…
Near Tuul river, secluded house with an old man inside.
"That was a prominent life…"
Hero Subutai passed away at the age of 72.
…
A mountain of corpses.
Suddenly a few bodies at the top shook and rolled down, a hand broke through the gaps between unidentified corpses.
"A second less and I would've died… Well, its time for me to go."
BOOM!
The earth trembled and dust rose into the sky.
Null, the ultimate killer died from the explosion, at the age of 35.
…
"How are you feeling?" asked all of the five stars simultaneously.
"Fine… I am fine…" answered Alex in an exhausted voice.
"It's ok to feel weak after memory transgression, you need some time to get used to it."
"Ok... Thank you…"
"No worries, well… Now, you should get some rest, don't tell anyone about awakening five reincarnations, ok?" said Hypnos in a concerted manner.
"Ok, don't worry, I will be careful."
"Also, don't forget to conceal the speed of your improvement, because others may deduce the number of your incarnations in your soul through it."
"Wait, I thought that people can cultivate Ren on their own?" asked Alex in bafflement.
"You are right; however, it doesn't take into consideration your dimensional plane, Alex. Your world was rather unique, if I remember correctly, it was a place for the tired soul to rest and… Well, it's still too early to tell you that… Nevertheless, the constitution of people from Earth prevents them from cultivation or magic advancement, back in the day, when your planet was just born, creatures in your world had spirit root, how cultivators call it, or magic core, as it's called in magic society."
"But I heard there were people who could cultivate even without so-called 'spirit root'. How did they do it?"
"After the humanity was transported to Wenrin, your bodies were influenced by Ren and the longer you get influenced by it, the more changes you notice in your constitutions. So, it's not strange to find one or two humans who were able to sense Ren and open their Soul Stars, as you now know the Spirit Root makes you able to cultivate but Soul Stars determine how fast you can accumulate Ren in your Dantian or Heart Formations. Now after the awakening, your body opened the Soul Stars, which were cleansed in the circle of reincarnation, and got connected directly to the world, so you can get energy even without Spirit Root."
"Ok, I understand now, although I've never heard about Soul Stars or Spirit Roots, I still understand what they mean and posses knowledge about these terms… How strange."
"Thanks to our cumulative memories."
"Thank you again."
"No need. It's time for you to exit meditation."
"Ok, see you later!"
Back in the room.
"Judith, where are you?"
"I am here, brother," sounded a voice from the main room.
In the main room, there was a small dining table, with a few stains on it. Alex's sister decided to cook something and at the same time try not to think about her Dad's departure.
"Judith, don't worry, I will return Dad home," consoled her Alex.
"I know, Alex…"
"Well, let's have some food."
He took a metallic bowl and poured a portion of vegetable soup for his sister and then for himself.
"Let's wait for mom…" whispered Judith.
"Of course!" Alex smiled.
An hour later, when the soup was already cold, the streets were dark and only one small lantern on the table between Alex and Judith was ignited, the door creaked, and a woman came in.
"Mom!" shouted Alex and Judith but then looked at the woman strangely.
Their mother was different, her eyes were cold and hair turned white, for some reason, Alex felt chills all over his skin.
"Children."
"We… Waited for you to have dinner Mom," weakly said Judith.
"You shouldn't have…"
They started their dinner.
The next morning, Alex woke up first, he was refreshed and full of energy, he was able to sense Ren all around him in the world and with each breath, his body got healthier and healthier. He slowly got up from the bed and opened the door, his sister's bed was in their parent room, so he decided not to disturb his mother's and Judith's sleep at the same time and waited.
'Well, if I still need to wait, why not try cultivation?' he thought and sat cross-legged on the old brown couch.
'I have a lot of cultivation techniques and magic advancement routes in my memories, which path should I take?
[Nine Dragon Sky Technique]
[True Sun Sutra]
[True-False Zither Heart]'
'Why don't I ask my predecessors?' an ingenues idea came up to him.
"Seniors, can you advise on which route to take?"
"Ha-ha, boy, you became careful and cautious after obtaining our memories," laughed Hypnos.
"It may not be a good thing for his Dao-heart, though," whispered Long Hai.
"Who cares about your Dao-heart?! The important thing to start inscribing magic circles on your real heart!" shouted Queen Sherill.
"I don't have any knowledge about cultivation or magic, however, I may give you some advice kid," added Subutai.
"Even though I was a martial artist back in the day, I know nothing about Ren, so I may not be helpful," commented Null.
"Nevertheless, I will be still grateful to you seniors!"
"Alex, tell us, what are you planning to achieve in this life, maybe this way it will be easier to choose a path for you."
"I want to protect the ones close to me!" resolutely said Alex, "I want to take father back home and also prove to everyone, that you cannot humiliate me just because you are stronger!"
"Well said, kid, then why not try cultivating and research magic at the same time?" asked Hypnos with a mischievous smile.
"Both?!" shouted Long Hai and Sherill at the same time.
"Yeah, why not, he has five Soul Stars, so it will be way too easy for him to pursue only one path."
"But isn't that too much?"
"No! Right now, humanity is struggling for survival, he needs strength to dominate the demons and humans."
"Well, if you say it that way…"
"Seniors let me take both of the paths, I am sure I will succeed. I am not afraid of hardships!"
"It's not that we doubt your determination…"
"Then let me do it!"
"…" four other stars were a little bit confused; Alex became much more domineering than before.
"Ok, it's impossible to stop you."
"Then, let us choose a cultivation technique first."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone