"Neighbour?"
Now that Ogden thought about it Zerem introduced himself as his neighbour but Ogden chose to ignore it since it seemed like a weird way to describe himself and thought maybe Zerem didn't know his language but what if that was not the case?
"Yeah, neighbour. Since you are getting the gist of things let me ask you a question. What do you think is the greatest vice for a reincarnator?"
Ogden thought about it for a second. Since a reincarnator was an immortal existence what could be their downfall? They were not afraid of death because they didn't truly die. They probably had no need for money since it wouldn't be useful in their next lives. As for greed for power, they just had to live long enough and with experiences from countless worlds they would naturally get stronger even if they didn't try to. Then what could be their poison?
"... Boredom" Ogden closed his eyes as he answered after hesitating. This was the only thing he could think of.
"Hahahaha! Great! My neighbour seems to be somewhat smart! Yes, boredom! There are infinite worlds out there but despite that freaks like us are still rare. Right now, give or take, there are about a hundred reincarnators at most. Since we have infinite lives we do everything from becoming heroes to being the devil himself. And that is all for a single reason, to stave away our boredom.
You are fine since this should be your first time but what about thousands of lives or even millions? You would do anything just to experience something new and that's why newbies like you are extremely important sources of entertainment for us"
"I don't get it. If you are looking from a teacher standpoint you must have done that countless times why would a newbie be important for you guys?" asked Ogden since he found this point suspicious.
"Obviously it's because even if we can't live new things you can and through your experiences, we can relive them through you and your stories. Even conversing with you and teaching you about Underworld is fun for me and I wish it never ends! That's why being a newbie's neighbour is a right instead of a job or a chore" when Zerem said so Ogden could feel the madness in his eyes. He was truly enjoying this.
That was the moment Ogden became scared of his future. Was he going to end up the same as this Orc?
"Um, then how do you decide who gets to become the newbie's neighbour?" Ogden asked curiously.
"By beating them all into submission of course!" Zerem started to laugh boisterously.
"Does that mean you are the strongest reincarnator?"
"Not really, there are others going through their currents lives so they were absent and who knows someone might pick up a new trick in their current lives that could beat me. Only thing I can say I am currently the strongest reincarnator right now and right here"
"Tricks? Like magic?" Ogden asked curiously. From the moment he saw that Zerem was an orc Ogden wanted to know if magic really did exist and if it did how could he learn it.
Zerem looked at Ogden before speaking.
"You are from Earth right?"
"You know about Earth?"
"There are a lot of worlds that call themselves Earth but they are not really popular among us. Most Earths are dying due to human poising with wastes and what not so supernatural powers are either not present or very weak there, granted it's not an apocalypse scenario, so if you are a fighting maniac like me you wouldn't like it there. Though among those who dislike fighting those kinds of worlds are very popular"
"Supernatural powers! That means I can also get them in the future right?"
"Obviously, be it spiritual cultivation, magic, psychic power, ESP, a system and so much more. Though just to remind you the moment you die you will lose your powers and cultivation. So don't think that you can cheat your way with something like soul cultivation and you will automatically have the same soul power in the next world.
The powers related to your body like ki cultivation are gone as well. But if a power comes from your soul you can carry it to the next world but its level drops down to zero. The only place this restriction doesn't apply is Underworld. Your powers will be always at their peak even if you didn't train them back again in your last life.
Oh, just a reminder some powers are restricted in some world and will be severely weakened while some of them will be completely unusable. I don't know, rules concerning which power will be usable while which one is banned is convoluted. You won't know which powers are carried until you try them. You will figure out which power is suitable for which world as you go through more reincarnations"
Ogden nodded at Zerem's world. It was every men's dream to fly in the sky like superman or kill a monster with a single punch just like a certain caped baldy.
"Then what do I do now? How do I reincarnate?" knowing that he could be a superhuman Ogden was extremely excited about starting his next life. He would be just like the protagonists he wrote in his books. Most importantly he wouldn't even be afraid of death since he was basically immortal.