Cage thought about the events that just transpired but couldn't come to any conclusions. 'I'm too D*mn tired. I can barely even keep my eyes open. Too much is going on; I need to sleep and then figure out a plan. I need to figure out a way to survive this...'. He then promptly fell asleep while still floating because of the old man's magic.
While Cage slept, the old man began to talk. **"Seems like the binding process drained his energy," The old man remarked.
The old man turned to the two people accompanying him, "**You two can go; there is still much to be done."
**"Yes, sir!" They said in unison. They then turned to leave and walked out of the dirt room.
After the two guards left, the old man turned back to the woman, and after making sure no one was around, he said **"I'm sorry for having to order you, but they can't know."
Sighing, she said, **"It's alright, it's just a bit of pain."
He picked up Cage gently and handed him to the woman. The old man then looked up in thought and said **"In three years, we will be able to finally get the message to them."
The woman nodded and said, **"Yes, I hope he can complete our agreement."
**"Tricia, Make sure you don't tell him who the father is... it would make things complicated and risky. It's good that he will be getting most of your traits."
**"I know, I won't mention or talk about it. I'll be leaving in 3 years if nothing happens, and I want him to grow up self-reliant so he can be strong." Tricia paused, **"He will probably hate me in the future, but it must get done. Otherwise, he will die in here."
**"Talking like this reminds me of our days in the military back when the civil war was going on," He said with a wry smile.
**" Says you," she said with a smirk.
-=-=-
Cage was floating around in the void he was in earlier. Looking down, he found himself in his old body. He was surprised and thought, 'Oh shit, did I die in my sleep or something?'
"HEHAHA- *cough* *cough* No, you didn't. If you died again, you would have been in your new body," Said a voice from behind.
'That cough... It's somewhat familiar...'
Turning around, he saw an old man in a tattered brown coat with grey, shriveled hair.
"I feel like I know you..."
"Bah! No, you don't," he said with a smile.
Thinking back to how his old world had religions, he thought there was a chance the man in front of him was a god or something. After all, the old man did just read Cage's thoughts. "how did you read my thoughts? are you a god or something?" He asked.
"I am no god by any means, Just an individual. As for why I didn't help you, it's because I can't directly interfere with the mortal worlds."
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Wait, so are you th-"
The beggar cut him off and said, "Yes, I'm the one who fragmented your memories. I did so because your new body can't handle the information. Your past will be sealed until your soul reaches stage three.'
The old man was deep in thought; he didn't want to accidentally give too much information. "Let's just say that you need to get stronger. I could just make you stronger, but that would ruin the fun..."
"Are yo-"
The old man chuckled, "And yes, I'm also the one who reincarnated you."
"Wh-"
"Why you ask? Because I was bored. I have been alive for a very long time, and I want entertainment." The man said with a smirk.
"So I died because you were bored?"
The man pulled a book out of his pocket and got on his side. while floating around, he began to read while brushing off the question and said, "Anyways, I am just about out of time to talk as you're about to wake up. "
"Hey-!"
"Be sure to do something interesting..." The man said teasingly.
Cage slowly opened his eyes to see he was still in the dirt room. He quickly noticed that the woman was holding him. 'He kept cutting me off! I don't care if he can read my thoughts, but that's annoying and rude. That damn geezer...' After calming down a little, 'Hmm, I'm kinda hungry. babies normally cry when they are hungry or need themselves cleaned, right?'
Cage then began to cry. After getting fed by his mother, he closed his eyes to think and tune out the surroundings. Looking at his soul, which got ensnared by the blood-red chains, he began to wonder what they were.
'I can assume that the cuffs are what cause my mother to bend down on her limbs. If the cuffs are related to the chains, then I can also assume that the binding of my soul means I will be forced to do something if they want it.'
While he was in thought, he felt some momentum and opened his eyes. He saw that his mother held him in one arm and held out her hand.
**"sorry for waking you," she had an apologetic look, **"this will just take a second..."
Realizing that she was about to perform magic, he began focusing on the environment around him. The world energy began converging to her. Focusing intently, he could notice the world energy converging to a point in her body. After about five seconds, she bent down and placed her palm on the soil. Much to his amazement, the soil rose to form a crib.
Smiling, Tricia thought that Cage looked cute with his stunned expression.
**"Alright, it's time to go to sleep. I'm going to need to get back to work starting tomorrow." She said.
She then placed him in the crib and went to her bed, that is, if you could call a pile of straw a bed. After his mother went to sleep, Cage remained wide awake. He was still trying to feel the world energy around him and hold on to the feeling of his mother gathering it at a point. After staring blankly at the roof of the dirt room for some time, he closed his eyes went to where his soul was.
'I should try to gather the world energy to a point as she did, but there is one problem... how do I gather it?' Pondering for some time, he eventually decided to give up and go to sleep. After all, man didn't invent the wheel in a day.
A couple of hours later, he got awoken by a voice echoing in his mind. Of course, as he couldn't understand the language, it meant nothing to him.
**"Attention all Laborers, you are to report to the registry in 20 minutes. Failing to do so will result in punishment of 1st degree..." Said the voice.
His mother promptly got up. It seemed like she heard the voice as well. After getting up, she straightened her hair a little with her hands and picked Cage up.
Cage didn't even realize it, but he had soiled himself in his sleep. Noticing it, or better to say smelling it, his mother placed him on the ground and took off the rag acting like a diaper. She began channeling the energy around her. Seeing her do the phenomenon, Cage once again began focusing on how she was doing it. His mom took no notice of her son deep in thought and proceeded to cast another spell. She pointed her index finger at him and said **"[Water beam]." His mother controlled the pressure, and a low-pressure beam of water shot out of her finger, washing away the feces from him. she then changed targets and changed the pressure to medium, and began power-washing his diaper.
After taking care of Cage, she picked him up and left the dirt room. Stepping outside, he found himself in a tunnel that led downwards. The tunnel was about 4 meters tall and 6 meters wide. It was quite bare without any defining features other than the occasional hole in the wall, which was presumably a room for other slaves. Cage found it strange that the houses were so far from wherever they were going.
'Wouldn't it be more efficient to be closer?'
His mother walked for a little more than 10 minutes. Eventually, the tunnel opened up to a large cavern. The cavern was a sight to behold. It was so big that he wouldn't be surprised if a 20 story building could fit in it. From the top of the cavern down to the floor, a massive skeleton of some type of now dead beast could be seen. The skeleton made up the walls of the cavern and even though it was dead, it gave off a mystical aura. Natural stone pillars were protruding from the walls and floor. The natural formations went at various angles making the cavern seem all the more mystical. Glowing blue crystals also grew on various surfaces. They seemed to be very similar to the crystal that the old man used to bind him to the cuffs, but they weren't as refined and seemed murky in comparison.
'Incredible, this cavern looks like something out of a piece of art...' Cage's mouth was agape with shock and awe.
Concentrating on the environment, Cage felt that the world energy was several times denser than in his mother's dirt room. Wondering what caused it, he figured it was either that the crystals gave off a lot of world energy or the large skeleton gave off the energy. He assumed the latter because the crystals were also forming on the skeleton which means that the skeleton came first. Cage also guessed that the beast was very old, old enough to be buried deep underground.
Still traveling on the now open tunnel, His mother continued downward to a group of buildings.