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Spirits, a concept that I've seen on the many planets I had once visited in my previous life. Usually, spirits were the materialization of an element. Most of the time, they were made completely out of elemental mana.
However, this time around, these spirits were clearly different. This planet, whatever planet it is, feels and looks different as well. I had never visited a planet where people were naturally born with such a thing as a Spirit Orb inside their chests.
Even though there are many planets with many different people with their own types of abilities and powers, they always followed the same rules at the end, and still were all Mana-based. Sometimes there were things such as the Mana Core, which was the materialization of mana that helped someone to conjure magic more easily and accumulate extra Mana there.
But Spirit Orbs? I did not know of such a thing before. The only thing that comes closer were Spirit Stones, which were special stones that grew in areas with large concentrations of spirits, and were infused with elemental power.
But Spirits and Spirit Orbs in this world seem to follow completely different rules. First of all, people are born with a Spirit Orb, and it grows to maturity around five to six years of age, where they usually awaken their Spirit through a Spirit Awakening ceremony.
Each person has their own unique spirit, but they're usually cataloged through certain types… but I haven't been able to learn anything about it, talking is hard and my parents seem oblivious even about common knowledge. Perhaps because they were never taught anything and what they know is what they see. I suppose they lack whatever education this world might give.
After someone awakens a Spirit, according to them, their Spirit Orb grows stronger and can utilize mana to form Spiritual Essence, which helps in "Cultivating" this power, somehow, I don't know how that goes, but they said that there are certain techniques to use Spiritual Essence with Mana.
This actually means that until I reach five or six, I won't be able to use Mana! Agh! So frustrating! I want to conjure some magic already!
If this world follows the same rules as the entire universe, then I could conjure over a thousand spells from the get-go as long as I can use Mana. I had been living for thousands of years, and I had accumulated great amounts of knowledge in magic formulate creation. Conjuration of magic is nothing hard for me.
But that's not all, with Mana, I could also relearn my previous techniques, fighting techniques, weapon techniques, martial techniques, and everything I've ever learned. As long as I can acquire the usage of Mana, I will be able to slowly climb to the top with all my previously gathered knowledge.
If I can reach the top of this world, I will be able to finally move out of it and go back to the Outer Universe to take back my Intergalactic Empire. I don't even know how many years it has been since I died… I am rather concerned about those I left behind.
However, there is also another side of my mind that is growing every day, every week, and every month that passes, one that says that I should relax, lay back, and live a life here…
And such thoughts had begun to be reinforced every day the longer I live with my parents. I've begun to grow very close to them…
I've been mostly laying in my cradle. Without Mana, I cannot do anything extraordinary, and my body is that of an ordinary human, so I cannot train anything yet as I am a baby. If I overexert my body, I might even break a bone.
Due to this, I cannot do much more than admiring the window and the scenery outside. I've been trying to ask my parents to bring me outside, but they're just amazed by my tiny words and laugh it off, often caressing me or kissing me.
Ugh! I am an Intergalactic Emperor! Obey me!
…
Of course, it won't work, and certainly, I cannot go revealing my identity to them. At the end, I must lay low and accept my new life and fate as a baby…
A human baby.
And it has already been a year since I was born.
"Happy birthday, Blake!"
"Happy birthday, dearie!"
"Happy birthday, little Blake…"
Aside from my parents, there was another old woman at my side. This was my grandmother. She was my mother's mother. She's a gentle woman, and rather nice to me too. She often takes care of me whenever my parents are busy working in the fields.
Her name is Matilda, and her Spirit is "Golden-Horned Goat" a similar Spirit to my mother, as it has golden horns and is kind of like a bigger sheep… it has a stronger attitude though, and she's often carried by it whenever she goes as she has a hard time walking by herself now.
This goat can't produce wool, but it produces rich milk. However, it costs my grandma mana, so she cannot produce it infinitely without growing tired. But usually, she gives me three cups of goat milk every day, saying that it will help me grow stronger.
In front of me, there was a small cake covered in goat milk cream and colorful fruits sliced over it. I don't know where they got the money to make such a fancy cake, but I can tell that grandma did it, she's the best chef here. My mother still has a long way to go.
"Twanks…" I said. I had to be grateful for my family. I've been reborn and I don't see any point in not accepting them as my people. I've already embraced them as my family.
A dumb smile emerged on my lips… It has been a long time since I've felt this happy before. My past life was so filled with wars… I never had time to truly celebrate with those I love.
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"MEEE!"
The next day after my birthday I woke up to a goat licking my face. I opened my eyes rather disgusted by the smell of its saliva, as I looked into the creature. Grandma was sitting over its back while smiling. She was very old to the point her entire face looked like it was filled with wrinkles. Her once youthful cheeks were now falling, and her eyes seemed tired from living.
I don't know how much time is left for Grandma, humans live very little time compared to other races, their lives are fleeting like the breeze, without realizing it, they've already gone…
"Gwandma?"
"Little Blake, come with me while your parents are still sleeping, I want to show you something."
Grandma held me with her weak and tired arms, as her goat walked out of the house.
The door opened as a beautiful scene greeted my sight.
Wondrous greenery like I had seen only through the windows. The beautiful grasslands expanded over several kilometers making small hills. It was as if there was a sea of grass.
The breeze was strong this morning. It felt a bit chill, but it was not so cold either, the warmth of the bright sun atop the skies comforted us.
The sky was mostly clear, although there were a few clouds going on here and there. The beautiful scenery reminded me of a few planets I had visited with similar scenery.
They were often soothing to the mind and soul.
I had once thought about retiring… with Eleanora and coming to one such planet to spend the rest of our lives in peace and finally make a family.
Now that it has all ended, I feel rather regretful I never had the chance to do it.
Eleanora… I wish you could be seeing this with me.
"It's pretty, isn't it?" asked grandma, waking me up from my daze and deep thoughts.
"Pwetty!" I said.
"Right? Heheh… This is the world outside, little Blake! Your parents don't want you to look outside yet because you were born a bit sickly and think you might catch a cold… but I still wanted you to show you the world we live in… The Nature, the Skies, and the Sun… Everything always fits together so wonderfully… It feels like it is a work of art, a beautiful painting, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yeah…" I said.
Indeed, it all fit perfectly. In my previous life I never had the opportunity to just sit down and admire… the world we lived in, the beautiful planets I visited, and the cosmos beyond.
Our house seemed to be placed in a large village. There were many houses like ours all around the place, each one closer to a farm with a few cattle and crops growing out of the ground.
The village was mostly protected by a large wooden wall all around us, but there were many farms outside the walls too. Our house was luckily inside, and so was our farm.
We didn't have cattle though, but I guess my family's spirits produced wool and milk to sell, so there's that.
To the distance there was a large mountain range, and- Eh?
There was also a tower.
A massive, scarlet-red tower.
Without even needing any power within me, I could already tell that this tower emanated a powerful presence… a demonic aura within it.
It was incredibly far away, perhaps hundreds of kilometers, but it was so big I could see it even from here.
That was… a Demonic Tower.
Demonic Towers, I know what they are… they are constructions made by Demons from the Gates of Hell, portals to their Dimension which can let them bring forces from Hell itself.
Usually, I fought against them and destroyed them in my previous life as they were focal points where many Demons spawned, invading entire Planets.
I had not fought against Lucifer just because. The forces of Hell had been trying to conquer the universe for a long time, I wanted to deal with him and end this stupid Universal war once and for all.
I remember having destroyed hundreds of these things, but now, this thing seemed unreachable… and it crept me out. I felt a sudden shiver down my spine only to imagine if the Demons were to ever come out of it and invade this planet…
And take away everything from me again.
"Blake? What's wrong?" asked my grandma, as she noticed I was looking at the scarlet tower in the distance.
"Oh! You're looking at the tower? That's the Tower of Demons. It is a millinery tower where all the evil and malice of the world was once sealed millions of years ago! Ah well, now it's called a Dungeon too, and people go inside to hunt Demon monsters for resources…" said my grandma.
"Wha…?!"
These people actually sealed the tower and now they're using it to hunt demons?! What kind of insanity is this? Do they know they're playing with fire?!
"It is said that there are stronger demons the higher you go… but people had only been able to explore a few floors… It is a dangerous place." Said my grandmother.
If it's so dangerous, why do they keep going there?! Are they stupid or something?!
And the Demons… what are they planning? Why are they not doing anything yet? They let themselves be sealed and now they're lying low?
Or… is this world's top superpowers even capable of fighting off Demons…
"The world of Spirits is very big! I've never explored everything as I've barely gone around the country, but it is said that there are four other Towers like this one all around the world." Said my grandmother.
"WHA?!"
This is indeed bad news. Whoever was able to deal with them must be long dead by now if that was millions of years ago… Are there people in this world… strong enough to seal these five towers again before the demons come out once more?
I don't know but… something deep down inside of my heart is telling me that this tower… is overflowing with power.
Perhaps in a few years… it might finally release this power and break its seal.
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