Chapter 3: Whispers of Yemen
Unknown to my soul body , the village had fallen into an eerie, suspended hush.
From the mangled remnants of bodies and the charred husks still smoldering in the pyres, pale orbs of light began to rise, three hundred gentle white souls, neither blinding nor faint, drifting upward like lanterns released into a starless night. They hovered for a breath, trembling with residual sorrow, before an invisible force tugged them downward.
My bones, still blackening in the heart of the flames, pulsed once, twice, then violently. Like a starving maw, my ribcage drew every last orb inward, swallowing them whole. The souls poured into me, merging with marrow and sinew. From absolute nothingness, flesh rebuilt itself layer by agonizing layer: muscle knitting over bone, skin sealing over wounds, veins threading like crimson rivers. My hair, once black as midnight, bled slowly to stark, ghostly white.
Yet the scars across my ruined eyes remained, deep, ugly gashes that refused to heal, as though the Abyss itself had decreed they must endure forever. A brand. A reminder. A vow etched into flesh that hatred would never be forgotten.
The Abyssal Sword, Anki, watched the violent fluctuation of my soul with silent intensity.
"Even if such vast hatred burns within you," it's voice echoed inside my mind, calm yet grave, "you must understand this truth: this resurrection is your final one. Should you fall again, there will be no third awakening. Death will claim you utterly."
I let out a hollow laugh, uneasy, brittle, devoid of warmth.
"Even with all this hatred… I exhibit no emotion at all." Another mirthless chuckle escaped me. "Haha… I am no longer human anymore."
I tried to lift my hands, to gaze upon them, but only darkness greeted me. The void where my eyes once were mocked every attempt.
Then came a pull, so fierce, so absolute, that resistance was unthinkable. Reality snapped taut.
I awoke inside my own body once more.
Flesh. Breath. Heat.
With raw, trembling strength I clawed my way free of the ash pile that had been Yemen's final funeral pyre. Soot and cinders cascaded from my shoulders as I rose, reborn, yet forever marked.
I could not see. My eyes taken away by a vermin of a woman.
Something cool and sinuous crawled across my wrist, small at first, then hardening, coiling into the shape of a sleek black bracelet etched with faint violet runes.
"Child of the Abyss," Anki's voice resonated directly into my skull, soft yet commanding, "from this moment forward, I shall serve as your eyes. Your guide. Your companion in the dark."
I offered no reply.
Instead I pressed one palm flat against the scorched earth and pushed myself fully upright. A sudden gust swept across my face, carrying the thick, coppery stench of death and the lingering cries of the slain. My mind remained strangely empty, no tears came, no screams rose. Only feeling. Over three hundred lives extinguished in a single night; their heavy, grieving presence still saturated the very air.
I extended my hand forward like a blind man would and began to walk, cautious steps feeling for obstacles.
"It is fine," I whispered to myself, lips curving into a sad, fragile smile. "I will be fine."
Anki remained silent, simply observing.
Before we ventured farther, its voice returned.
"Why don't we allocate your points first? Ten points remain from your rebirth reward."
"What are stats?" I asked quietly.
"Stats, are the quantifiable measure of your capabilities," Anki explained patiently. "Higher numbers signify greater strength, speed, comprehension, senses, stamina, mana. As the value rises, so does your potential in that domain."
I remembered the Anki call my stat earlier on.
"Anki," I said calmly, "add seven points to Senses. Three points to Strength."
Points allocated successfully.
Instantly my perception sharpened to a razor's edge.
Every vibration of my bare feet against the ground sent invisible ripples outward. Within a seven-meter radius I could feel the pulse of every living thing: the frantic heartbeat of a field mouse beneath the soil, the slow throb of sap in nearby trees, the distant wingbeats of night insects. Sounds bloomed into crystalline clarity, the crackle of cooling embers, the sigh of wind through dead branches, even the faint drip of blood still seeping from unseen wounds.
My palm brushed the rough bark of an ancient tree. I traced the veins beneath the surface, feeling life thrum in quiet defiance.
A gentle, sorrowful smile touched my lips.
"Anki… do you know what they call this forest before me?"
The bracelet pulsed once, as though considering.
"I sense deep connection here," it murmured, almost to itself. "No, I do not know. What is this place to you, sanctuary or grave?"
"Raksha Forest," I answered softly, memories of Father's stories flooding back unbidden. "Land of the Lost."
I turned back toward the ruined village one final time.
Bowed low. Coldly.
"Please watch over me."
Then I leaped forward, into the shadowed embrace of the trees.
With my heightened senses guiding me, I moved slowly at first, running my fingers along every trunk I passed. The trees shivered faintly each time I brushed their veins, as though acknowledging a kindred spirit. Deeper I ventured. Eyes, hundreds of them, tracked me from every shadow: insects skittering across bark, serpents coiled in hollows, dire wolves lurking at the edge of perception.
Then something darker prickled at the corner of awareness. Ominous. Hungry.
"Duck."
Anki's command came sharp and immediate.
I dropped low without thought. A heavy club whistled through the space where my head had been.
Before I could process the attack
"Jump!"
I launched upward, landing lightly, balanced.
"Child of the Abyss," Anki intoned, voice now carrying the weight of a quest, "two goblins stand before you. Both below Level 2. Rank E. Kill them. Absorb them whole."
One was already charging forward.
It's crude club smashed toward my skull. I leaped backward several paces, clutching my head as pain flared bright.
This time Anki fell silent.
Instinct took over.
I turned and ran, deeper into Raksha Forest.
The goblins gave chase, snarling, feet pounding earth.
But I was not fleeing from fear.
No.
I wanted to embrace this new sensation blooming inside me, cold, precise, alive.
I slowed deliberately.
They closed the distance.
By pure instinct the Abyssal Sword materialized in my grip, black, weightless, humming with restrained violence.
I stepped sideways.
Two crimson points of killing intent blossomed before my inner sight: one slashing high toward my neck, the other low to shatter my knees.
I heard nothing but the whisper of souls.
The sword came down in a single, perfect arc.
Both lights extinguished.
The goblins crumpled without sound, bodies bisected clean, blood misting the air.
"What… the hell was that?" Anki's voice trembled with genuine shock. "How did you know exactly where to strike? This precision, it surpasses your current stat limits by leagues."
"Rak: Bronze Rank, Race: bottomless pit"
"Stamina: 5,
sense: 7,
strength: 8,
comprehension: 7" the Abyssal sword called my current stat
I answered calmly, breath steady.
"I don't know. While I ran… voices spoke inside my head. They told me what to do. Then I saw the lights."
The bracelet shimmered. Anki unraveled into its true serpentine form, coiling swiftly around my arm before stretching upward until its crimson eyes hovered level with my face.
"Tell me more about these voices."
I met its gaze, though I could not see.
"The souls of Yemen. They whisper their secrets to me."
Anki stared, stunned.
"That explains the abnormally high Comprehension stat at rebirth." Its tone grew reverent, almost fearful. "He did not merely devour their souls. He devoured their talents… and worse, an Ego."
It laughed once, low, delighted, disbelieving.
"Hahaha… this one is utterly beyond my expectations."
Then, more seriously:
"Child of the Abyss, have you ever heard of what we call Egos?"
I shook my head.
"Good. Listen well. Egos are weapons of myriad calibers, each imprinted with a soul fragment of extraordinary power. Every living weapon wielded by superhumans bears an Ego of some grade. I, the Abyssal Sword Anki, was once Mythic-grade. Now, after your rebirth process, I have fallen below even E-rank."
Anki continued its lecture, voice weaving knowledge like silk.
"Egos are ranked from E to N. Each possesses a unique soul and grants vast, singular abilities to its wielder."
I listened in quiet awe, drinking in every word.
Anki then pulled my arm towardsthe goblins corpses, I could feel a soft dangerous energy chanel, power from the origin of my flesh it pulled at my skin but before Anki's eyes the abyss spilled from my arm flowing gently with dark energy, Anki used himself as a channelling point since I could not use Mana, devouring the goblins corpses whole.
"Reward for first swallow: 15 points" Anki spoke to me, but i didn't say anything, decided to horde my points.
Anki fell silent, lost in thought as we pressed deep into the forest.
"I can hear a river nearby," I said suddenly.
"There a cave lies ahead, behind the waterfall."
I increased my pace, now actively practicing, dodging low branches by their subtle sway, sidestepping roots by their faint tremor beneath the soil, weaving between living presences without collision.
Moments later the roar of cascading water filled my ears.
I tore away the last scorched rags clinging to my body.
Naked, reborn, I sprinted forward and leaped into the icy lake below the falls.
The moment I struck water.
Two heavy slashes of pure blade energy cleaved toward me.