Iskar stood as the question echoed in his mind. He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew what he didn't, he didn't want to stay here. He looked at the Unnamed Speaker.
"You mentioned reincarnation," he said. "Can you explain more?"
He understood the basic idea, but he needed the rules. A wish made blind was a gamble he wouldn't take.
"Of course," the Speaker replied, its voice even and measured. "Reincarnation is the purification of the soul and its transmission into a new life. It is a chance to begin anew, free from the attachments of the past."
Iskar listened. "What kind of world am I going to? Is it random? Is it Earth?"
"No. The world you will enter is distinct from your own. It is a place of humans, vampires, and dragons."
Vampires and dragons. Iskar didn't dwell on the impossibility. His mind fixed on the implied danger. That, at least, was a constant he understood.
"I can offer no further detail," the Speaker continued. "Make your wish. You will be transported to your new life, and your gifts will be unveiled."
Iskar considered it. He could wish for power, for a grand destiny. But the Speaker's words sounded again, 'a fresh start'. A suspicion hardened in him.
"Will I keep my memories?"
"No."
There it was. He saw the logic, a clean slate, unburdened by pain. But to lose his memories was to lose the very thing these trials had forged him into.
The endless fights, the solitude, the final brawl, they had carved the man he was, let alone the experience of life he had on earth.
Forgetting them would make him vulnerable. It would strip him of his only real advantage.
His decision was immediate. "Then I wish to keep my memories."
The Speaker showed no reaction. Its hand rose and touched his forehead. A cool clarity washed through his mind, settling the fractured noise into a distant hum.
"As you wish," the Speaker said. "I will also heal your broken mind." It withdrew its hand. "Now, Iskar. I wish you a good journey. May life have mercy on your soul. May we never meet again."
His vision went dark.
After a while, he expected some light, but it was still dark. He could feel his body now, physical and solid. The darkness was different from before. The last one had been like an empty, starless space. This felt like being inside a dark room or having his eyes shut tight.
He tried to move and was successful, but he felt closed in. His hands pressed against a rough, wooden surface just inches from his face. 'I'm in a box or something.'
He pushed and hit the wood until it gave way. He fell out, landing on a hard, stone floor. He looked around. He was in a room made of rough stone and sand. Other coffins were lined along the walls.
'Where am I?' He had thought reincarnation meant waking as a newborn baby. It seemed he was mistaken.
He looked down at his hand.
'Bandages?'
His whole body was covered in them. He touched his face and felt the same rough cloth. He pinched a loose end on his hand and tried to pull it off.
He regretted it instantly.
"Aghhhhh!"
It felt like he was ripping his own skin off. He stopped, staring at his hand.
'I'm a mummy.'
He looked around the tomb for any clue, confused. Why had he come back as a dead, wrapped body instead of a living baby?
Suddenly, a sound rang in his head.
[Ding]
[Awakening World Status]
═════════════════════
Name: Iskar Sirius
Age: 1[Body] 10000[Soul]
Race: Primordial Undead [Mummy]
Level: 1 (0%)
Overall Tier: 1 [F](Lower Realm)
═════════════════════
Physical Power: 15 [F]
Magical Power: 17 [F]
Spirit: 10
Energy: 100
═════════════════════
CLASS: N/A(Reach level 10)
═════════════════════
INNATE ABILITIES:
Decay
Absorb
Evolution
AFFINITIES:
Sand, Fire, Death, Darkness.
[Gifts Info]
...
A holographic screen appeared in front of his face. He was surprised. 'Am I in a futuristic world? But it mentioned dragons and vampires… maybe it's both futuristic and fantasy.'
He wasn't deeply familiar with fantasy from his time on Earth. He knew of it, had casual knowledge, and had watched a few movies while preparing for a job, but he'd never become a real fan. Now, it seemed he was going to live in that kind of world.
He focused on the information, trying to understand what it all meant. Before he could read further, another message appeared.
[The World System is a connection to this world's core, allowing its residents to see their path and make a rough calculation of their strength in terms and numbers.]
He read it carefully. So, everyone here had these screens. And "rough calculation" made sense, it wasn't an absolute measure, just an estimate.
He returned to his status. His age was strange. His body was one year old? How was that possible? It clearly looked like an adult mummy's body. Maybe they created it a year ago.
Then his soul age made him pause. He knew a lot of time had passed in the Limbo, but 10,000 years was far more than he had thought. It made sense why he had gone so insane.
His eyes moved to the next line.
Race: Primordial Undead [Mummy]
So it was true. He wasn't human anymore. What was a Primordial Undead? He sighed, but didn't linger too long on not being human. Even though he had spent so much time alone, he still hoped the natives of this world wouldn't be appalled by an undead.
Next was Level and Tier. He wasn't a gamer, his past work as a mercenary had required to focus on that, but he did understand the concept of leveling up in gaming, that you got stronger by increasing your level.
'So it might be like a game..'
It seemed he could level up here as well. And the Tier… he guessed that was the power ranking, though the exact difference between Level and Tier was still confusing.
Below that were his stats: Physical Power and Magical Power. He wondered how these numbers were calculated and how strength was measured here. Both were marked with [F], just like his Overall Tier. It was a bit unclear.
'Interesting'
Then there was Class, which said it would unlock at Level 10. That was straightforward enough, but the real question was, how did he level up? Maybe the rest of the screen would explain.
The next items on the screen were his innate abilities.
'Are these the gifts the Unnamed Speaker spoke of?'
Decay
[Your touch is rotting. It can age and accelerate the decay of an item or being.]
Absorb
[You can siphon energy from the living, the dead, or even items, gaining stats and energy from it, 1% Chance of Absorbing traits or abilities.]
Evolution
[When your body deems it suitable, you undergo an evolutionary process that improves your body and abilities.]
These abilities made his dead jaw drop. They sounded crazy. Most importantly, it seemed he had found his way to grow stronger—'Absorb'. But aside from that, he had a feeling these kinds of abilities weren't something everyone had. Maybe a few in this world possessed something similar or equally powerful, but he felt that, due to the Limbo, these were unique and exclusive to him.
He saw his affinities next. It seemed he was compatible with a lot of those aspects. He wondered how he got 'Death', though.
Finally, he got to the [Gifts Info]. He focused on it.
[Congratulations on your reincarnation, Child of Limbo. The Limbo rewards you for your completion of the Trial, granting you abilities to contend with the natives. Your talent is beyond comprehension as long as you struggle and work hard enough. A body created by the Limbo grants you unique benefits.]
[Primordial Limbo Physique]
A body existing for the first time in existence, existing in the in-between of life and death.
Abilities:
Dual Existence [Locked]
Supreme Absorption - [Body able to absorb any form of energy, and passively absorbs ambient energy.]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
...
He finally reached the end, and he was both amazed and overwhelmed by all these abilities. It was a lot of information to process.
He looked around the stone room calmly. He couldn't help but feel excited, and most of all, ambitious. If he had all these tools, what was stopping him from reaching the top? He wondered if he could ever reach the level of that Unnamed Speaker.
'Well, I should get out of here first'