"Our suffering has finally ended. I have avenged my clan and my son. Thank you very much."
Ashley hugged her from behind as she also had a few tears. I couldn't help but smile.
"You're welcome."
3 Days Later, Winchelin, Mercenary Guild, Braza Branch, Midday
Ashley, Amiri and I were visiting the guild after 3 days of 'weeping' for the citylord's death. Naturally, I was asked to take over the newly vacant position but I politely declined. The position instead went to the son of the previous citylord. He had went into hiding for the last 400 years, helping anyone who had been mistreated and had helped sneak people out of the city. The festivities had gone on for 3 long days as the head of Yijo was hanged around in the town square. As we entered the Mercenary Guild, we were warmly greeted as people bowed down in respect, expressing their sincere thanks. I went to the receptionist who was an old man with short white hair and wore glasses. He slightly bowed his head.
"I greet Sir Blake."
I looked at him and noticed his name tag.
"Same to you Mister Picard."
"Oh please. Call me Ouvar. Sir doesn't need to use honorifics with me."
"No. You're older than me. Naturally I have to respect you."
Ouvar smiled.
"Well then. What would sir request of me."
"Issue us a guild card."
"Are you both joining the guild sir?"
"We're simply interested in it so we'll dabble for a while."
"As per regulations, you'll start at F-Ra-"
"Make it B-Rank."
He looked into my eyes and smiled. He knew I was serious.
"Then I'll have the guild cards ready for you in two days."
"Then I'll come back in that time..."
As I walked away, I turned around and spoke to him telepathically.
{...guildmaster.}
Both of us vanished and appeared on the roof of the citylord mansion. Ashley spoke as we sat down.
"Why did you make it B-Rank and not higher?"
"It's simple. If I make it A-Rank, some annoying nobles will start coming and try to recruit me. Also, if something like a monster horde appears, people will pressure me to defend the city. I think we both know what'll happen if I'm annoyed."
Ashley laughed.
"You got anger issues you know?"
"Maria said the same thing. She's the one who told me to become B-Rank. People won't look down on me but also won't expect too much of me."
"Will we continue staying here?"
"No. I plan on leaving this place as soon as I get the cards"
Ashley stood up.
"I see then. I'll be leaving for Linchestin. You coming?"
"I can't. I'm massively low on chaos mana. I can't expend it however I want now."
"Can't you just absorb it from the air."
"There's barely any chaos mana in the air. I have to manually produce my own chaos mana."
"How do you do that?"
"I absorb the normal mana in the air and convert it into chaos mana. It's an extremely slow process and at this rate, it'll take me roughly a month to restore my magic."
Ashley sighed.
"Well...see you then."
With that, she teleported away. I was left alone on the roof.
"I guess I really need to start working on my word magic again."
Word Magic is unique. It doesn't require me to use my own mana as it allows me to manipulate the mana in the air to do much bigger things than I could do with my mana. I could create a volcanoe out of the blue or make a tornado. That's the possibilities with word magic. It is believed that the planet is a living being so if you want to use word magic, you must share as close a bond with it as possible. The only requirement is that you must be close to nature. I sighed.
"This is going to be really hard. Even amongst the Elves who are rumoured to be very close to nature, only 1 in 1 million can use word magic. I don't even want to think about the possibility for humans..."
It then struck me.
"Hey Karina. I'm not considered human anymore right?"
She appeared in front of me in her full size version.
"Honestly, I don't even know what to call you. The fact that you have chaos mana running through you already seperated you from humans so...to simplify it, we'll say you're a chaos human but..."
She giggled.
"...it gets even more complicated now since you've fused with me. Should we say you're a fox-human?"
"Let's leave it at chaos human. Anyway, the point of this is, can you use word magic?"
"Not really. There was one in my race who could though."
"Thanks. That's all I needed."
She put her hands on her hips.
"Why did you ask?"
I stood up.
"Because I wanted to see if there was any merit in me continuing to pursue word magic."
I stretched.
"It's been quite a while since I researched word magic. I stopped when I found it impossible since this world's principles rejected me but since I'm a no longer considered human, this world should accept me right?"
"But shouldn't you choose another place first?"
"Right..."
I vanished and appeared in an area deep in the Blanca Forest. I was on the branch of a very huge tree. Karina spoke.
"The mana here is very dense...and pure. It reminds me of my home. This warm...comfortable feeling."
"Wait. What's happening? Karina?"
Karina began glowing in a shining golden light. My body also reacted the same as golden aura also emanated from me. It felt...warm. Like I could bathe in this warmth forever. My legs felt weak as I slid down the trunk and sat down on the branch. The feeling reminded me of the days when mom would hold me as we sat into the bath together. As she put me in the water, she'd support my body from underneath as I gently floated around, her hands warmly supporting my back as I fell...asleep.
"ISAAC! ISAAC!! ISAAC WAKE UP!!!"
"Hmm?"
"GET UP YOU IDIOT!!!"
My eyes slowly opened.
"Who...are-"
"DAMNIT GET UP!!!!"
I opened my eyes to see...myself. The me from before I reincarnated was standing right in front of me. I looked at the scrawny high school kid standing in front of me. Bowl cut and clothes that screamed nobility from 1950. He was wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt with straps over his shoulders.
"Who are you?"
"I am you."
I sighed.
"Let's get to the point."
He smiled
"What point?"
I glared at him.
"What's happening and why are you appearing in the exact same clothes I wore when I killed myself."
"..."
I grit my teeth.
"Who...exactly...are you?"
"Like I said. I am yo-"
"YOU'RE NOT ME!!! THE ME FROM BEFORE WOULD NEVER ACT LIKE THIS! THE ME FROM BEFORE WAS A COWARD, A FAILURE AND AN IDIOT!!! THE ME FROM BEFORE WAS WEAK AND PATHETIC!!! SO DON'T YOU DARE ASSUME MY PREVIOUS FORM AND SAY YOU ARE ME!!!!!!!!"
I was angry. The last thing I wanted to see was in front of me. The splitting reminder that I was pathetic. The truth that the thing in front of me was once me hurt. That appearance is a scourge in my heart.
He smiled.
"Accept it. This is who you were. Accept it."
"How can I? How can I accept that this worthless piece of shit is me? That person died. I am a new person now. I have gained power. I run an empire from behind the scenes. I have hundreds of powerful warriors at my disposal. I have two women that love me dearly. I have a happy family that cares about me. I have amassed a huge fortune and have enough power that can allow me to take over an entire continent if I wished for it. Do you get that? I am thousands...no, millions of times better than Shawn Dillon. Shawn was picked on at 10. Isaac dominated demons, a hidden race at 10. Shawn died at 17. Isaac became a hidden king at 17. There's a vast difference between us. I am Isaac Blake. Now and forever.
"You are also Shawn Dillon."
"NO I AM NO-"
The person immediately touched my forehead. A white light shined as hundreds of images of myself as Isaac flashed through my head. I was viewing myself but...it also wasn't me.
"This is how you would've grown if Shawn Dillon never existed. If you never had that past, this is how you would've turned out."
I was disgusted. The Isaac I saw never trained a day in his life. On that day when he was ten, when father called him, he never noticed Leo was a demon. Father personally killed Leo in front of Ashley and him. Like me, he took Isaac and Ashley for assassin training at the Assassins Guild. The Isaac there soon grew arrogant since his father was the guildmaster. He refused to do any simple missions and he always failed the ones he chose since they were way above his skill level. Ashley was already well known in the guild and was looked up to. Even father eventually came to look at her as his successor. After a few years, he announced that fact to the guild. Isaac was angry as he adamantly quit the guild and began devising plots to kill Ashley. Father cut of his arm and kicked him out of the house after he was caught slipping poison into Ashley's food. Isaac still didn't give up as he went and hired assassins to kill Ashley. He never knew the assassins he hired worked for his father. Eventually, he was deemed a liability and was almost killed but mother protested. He was instead imprisoned for life.
"I don't understand. What does this have anything to do with me? Obviously this is Isaac's life without me having reincarnated."
"No. This is you but without your past as Shawn Dillon. This is how you would've lived your life."
"NO NO NO! THIS IMPOSSIBLE!!! HOW SURE ARE YOU THAT I WOULD TURN OUT LIKE THIS! THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE PROBABILITY RIGHT?!?! THERE'S NO GUARANTEE I WOULD'VE TURNED OUT LIKE THIS!"
"But that's exactly what happened."
"What do you mean? I'M HERE AREN'T I?!".
"I'm the God of Time. In millions of realities, there were only two who matched with the life you experienced. Both those two died at the same time as you. There were two key differences. The first is the way they died. The one you saw, commited suicide but didn't keep his memories as he reincarnated. Only the feelings of hate. That's why he had too much hatred. The other kept his memories but not the hatred. He simply knew what happened but he didn't act. He lived his life doing the bare minimum since he was born into the prestigious Blake family. His father never sent him for training at all since he knew it would be pointless. Right now he's 18 like you and is attending the academy, still doing the bare minimum required to survive. If he's in danger, he uses the Blake name to shield himself. In short, he's the coward version of you who hides behind his family name."
I held my head in my hands as I felt embarrassment and disgust.
"What's the second difference."
"Your feelings as you died. One wanted to forget everything, the other wanted peace and you..."
"Vengeance and power. I remember when I died. I wished I had power to trample over them. I will never forget those feelings."
"That caused you to keep both your memories and your will for power. In short, you reincarnated as the complete version of yourself. Shawn Dillon is Isaac Blake. The current you is the fulfilled wish of the past you. If Shawn Dillon never existed, the current Isaac Blake, would be no better than the other two."
"I...see."
A 14 year old version of me appeared in front of me.
"You don't have to love your previous self but accept that the past you shaped the you you are today. That desire for power stemmed from experiencing the bottom of weakness. I ask now. Do you accept yourself?"
I hugged myself.
"I do."
The younger version of me vanished into fine mana particles. I looked at the God of Time.
"Is there a possibility of me returning to my previous world?"
"Yes but, we'll come back to that once you become strong enough."
"Thank you. I am content now."
A huge burst of light golden aura erupted around me like a blazing flame. I slowly floated into the air. The golden aura was thick as it engulfed me entirely. I slowly started turning into a fox as the features of my body changed. Nine tails also protruded from me. I also increased in size to the size of a large lion. I walked on all fours along the thick branch and roared as my tails violently shook. In that moment, hundreds of flowers bloomed in the forest. I have succeeded in word magic.