Naiad

I don't know why I expected training to be hard.

As a spiritual being, I have no biological needs like sleep or using the bathroom, and I also never get tired. All my training consisted of controlling karma, which was easy as pie.

Deity insisted we find a quiet spot to train, so I wondered through the forest. I constantly had to keep in mind that this wasn't Earth anymore as everything looked so familiar; the scents, the trees, the animals. My heart constantly longed for any resemblance of home, any sign of familiarity, but all I got were some familiar looking deer that pranced just ahead of me.

It had been a few days since my reincarnation, and while I was still getting used to it, it wasn't as bad as I figured.

"Are you sure we're not on Earth?" I asked. "If this really is another world, why does it feel so familiar?"

"I dunno," Deity said. "You're probably still reeling from the shock of reincarnation, don't worry, happens to everyone,"

I stopped floating in surprise. "Everyone? You mean I'm not the first to reincarnate? That means there are others out there just like me then!"

Deity chuckled. "Of course people reincarnate! And no, you are the only one of your kind. I can explain it to you while we search for a spot,"

Learning more about the functionalities of this world was crucial in the endgame of finding my sister and Tsagi, so I gave Deity the thumbs-up to explain everything he knew. And 'SUPERCOMPUTER' is a beast of a power, I was able to completely understand what he was saying; even if it was concepts I had never heard of before!

I'll dumb it down: When a person from my world dies, they are evaluated of their karma. After evaluation, if there is more evil karma than good, they end up in Hel. However, if one was a good person all their life, they can choose to go to Heaven for all eternity or live another life in this world. Most people go to Heaven, but select few reincarnate here.

I am an exception, having a perfect balance of karma, I cannot go to either realms so reincarnation was the obvious route.

I floated through the woods, taking in the scenery. Although this world was eerily similar to mine, there was something unnatural about it that set them apart. This world was more colorful and ethereal than Earth, and everywhere I looked reminded me of a landscape painting masterpiece with the golden sunlight being the cherry on top to all of it.

"Hey Deity,"

"Yeah?"

"Is it possible for people who reincarnated to have… lost memories of their previous lives?"

Deity sighed and went quiet. I might not have had a heart, but I felt something deep within me sink into despair. I couldn't even feel sad, I saw this coming. Obviously if someone reincarnated, they wouldn't need unnecessary memories of their past lives.

Tsagi and Chloe wouldn't need unnecessary memories of me.

It was a bitter truth to accept that I would never see my best friend and sister again, but reality wouldn't change itself for my wishes, so I was forced to keep swallowing these disgusting bitter pills. I so wanted to cry, absolutely bawl my eyes out, but in this accursed spirit form, all forms of expression were destroyed. Why was I so powerless to do anything?

I never made friends because I was scared that people wouldn't like me for who I was, and that even if I did make friends, I wasn't deserving of someone's love and charity. I was a loner, taught by the people around me that I wouldn't be anything if I didn't conform to their stupid mold.

Tsagi was the only person who didn't care about that. He genuinely wanted my company, my ideas, and my being. He always strove to be better than his past self, and because of that, it influenced me as well.

Chloe was someone that made getting up in the morning worth it. Even if our relationship seemed sour, I loved her. I wanted to show her that her big brother was always a lighthouse she could come in at any moment. That she could trust and confide in me, which drove me to always be a better person so I could leave that imprint on her.

And now, they're both gone. Slipped between my fingers.

〔ANSWER: Memories of a person upon reincarnation are broken into pieces and scattered throughout the world. These memories float around the world as shards.〕

My non-existent heart jumped! Was 'SUPERCOMPUTER' suggesting there was a way to bring back their memories if I find them? Even Deity seemed stunned!

"What shards is it talking about?"

〔What do these shards look like?〕

A chance to bring back the people I lost? No chance I'm blowing this massive opportunity! Hope slowly began to surge back into me as I eagerly awaited my skill's answer.

〔ANSWER: Shards of reincarnated one's memories take the form of a glowing spherical mass of light, usually the size and diameter of a small stone. They are extremely common in this world and refereed to as: Spirits〕

Spirits…? That would I'm just a floating mass of memories… so is the original me still dead?

"No," Deity answered my thoughts. "You only reincarnated as a spirit because you could not reincarnate as any other being, due to your karmic balance. You are a spirit, yes, but since spirits are just shreds of dead or reincarnated people's memories and consciousness: it fits you entirely,"

Phew, I was about to have an existential crisis.

Deity continued though. "But that skill… even I didn't know the power spirits held…"

Up until now, I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings. I had been zoned out and talking to either my skill or Deity, but the loud sound of rushing water broke me out of it.

Hey, Deity! I called. Is this a good place to train?

Standing before me was a gigantic waterfall covered with flora and fauna. The water that came from it cut through the forest and created a long and wide river that stretched down south. Using 'HIGHLIGHT', I sensed no animals so it was pretty secluded. A perfect place to train!

"Should do," Deity said. "Now, float closer to the waterfall,"

I would've protested if I hadn't realized, for the 40th time since I reincarnated, that I wasn't a living being anymore. So I obeyed and floated closer to where the water was crashing down on some boulders, then I used 'PROCESS' to tune down the noise.

Finally, class was in session. Except the teacher was a voice in my head.

"First things first, let me explain what karma is," Deity began. "Karma in this world determines your entire existence, because it is the feedback of your will pressed against the world,"

What does that mean?

"For example, if someone wanted strength, they'd simply go punch a rock over and over. Now to you, this may seem ridiculous, but in this world the more you put in, the more you are assured the world will put out."

I get that, but I still don't understand the punching rock thing… why not do some basic training and stuff?

"…good point. But what I'm trying to say here is, karma is essentially the world's way of acknowledging your wishes and handwork. That's why you received these skills: the world simply sensed your will to essentially become smarter and handle more mental tasks. Although, it does seem overkill on why it gave you THAT specific one…"

So because I was distressed, the world gave me these skills to work with? Like a genie?

"Nonono, not like that. It's not like the world is a genie that'll grant your wishes, but it does sense when someone truly deserves something. You have a 100% chance of gaining powers you wish for upon birth, and there is a rare case among reincarnation to still retain their memories, personality, and even IQ. So when they are reborn, whatever they are wishing for the most in that moment of reincarnation, the world will provide…"

Woah… so if someone was really wishing for the power to destroy everything, the world will just give it to them!? Then there will just be a bunch of wickedly overpowered people walking around trying to kill everything!"

Deity chuckled. "There will be balance. But yes, the world will grant them powers of destruction. Ironically, they'll just end up destroying themselves,"

Why?

"You think of skills like this is an MMORPG or something, scrap that idea from your head. Think of skills like the a recipe, adding the wrong recipe will destroy the entire dish. You are the dish, and the wrong skill will destroy you,"

So a skill hurts you if you use it?

"No, karma does. The more world-changing a skill, the more karma a person receives. Too much of one karma can destroy someone, so even if you tried to use a planet-killing skill, you're body would be destroyed by the sheer amount of karmic energy entering you,"

I was really learning a lot about how this world worked. Again, thanks to 'SUPERCOMPUTER', I could process and understand all this information 20x faster! All that was left is to put it to practice.

〔ALERT! ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY IS NEARBY!〕

Do you feel that…?

"Yeah, I do. be on your guard and be ready to dash out of here when needed…"

Deity's words rang in my ears again: even in a place as beautiful as this, there's something out there that I don't want to meet. Something bigger, meaner; and something I definitely won't be able to win against.

Out the corner of my vision, I saw a soft, ethereal blue glow.it wasn't blinding or anything, but it wasn't faint enough to be ignored. I turned around, quickly assessing the source of the light with my new ability. It didn't take long for everything to be analyzed.

〔ANALYZING COMPLETE: The anomaly before you is a-〕

"-Naiad" Deity answered, even faster than my skill. "It- I mean she- is just a naiad, no need to get worked up,"

As the glowing figure got closer and wrapped it's light around me, I started to panic. Deity had said not to worry, but my internal instincts were telling me to run. Unfortunately, the blue light had already surrounded me and trapped me within it's light. Somehow, the light acted as some kind of barrier that prevented me from moving.

Shit, I'm trapped!

What the hell is this thing!? I tried to move, but found that my body were stilled within the light. My thoughts became jumbled and incoherent. It was like TV static in my brain; maybe the light was causing this.

"Calm down kid," Deity said. "She's not gonna hurt you… I think.."

How are you so sure?!

"100%, she won't do anything unless you show her you're not a threat,"

Why was he referring to this glowing creature as a "she"? Was he seeing something I wasn't? And how was I supposed to prove I was not a threat to get this thing to stop messing with my head.

Uhh.. I don't know if you can hear me ..but I promise I am not a threat to you..

I know.

WHAT THE-

I didn't expect for the glowing spirit-creature to have the ability to talk, much less sound like a girl. Her voice had a little echo and reverb that made her sound and look all the more ethereal. Still , with the intense blue light around me, I couldn't even tell what she looked like.

Uhh, can you tell me your name …?

The naiad girl was quiet for a moment before answering me, maybe she didn't trust me that much yet. But what could I do? I was just a tiny little spirit, what harm did she think I could bring to her?

My name is Joana, she said. Can you tell me what you are?

What I was? I mean, it was pretty obvious what I was.

I'm just a little spirit, that's all.

The spirit girl enveloped me in more and more of her light, almost analyzing me in a sort of way. I felt as if eyes were curiously watching me was the light moved and danced around me hypnotically, analyzing my every move.

You don't look like a spirit, the girl said. Plus, spirits like you can't talk, much less emit such an aura

I had an aura? It must be some aura to peak this girl's interest.

I emit an aura?

I heard what could be described as a giggle, or maybe a chuckle.

Yes, it's pretty strong to be coming from such a tiny little thing like you.

I used "HIGHLIGHT" to try and see the aura she was talking about, but to no avail. Every skill in my arsenal also failed the task, so I had nothing else but this girl's word to go off of.

"Why can't I see my aura?" I asked Deity in a hushed tone.

Deity's reaction was that of surprise. "You mean this little spirit girl can see auras?!" he whispered back, sounding caught off guard. "If so, we're not dealing with just any ordinary naiad then…"

"So then what are we dealing with?"

Deity took a deep sigh. "This is just a hunch since we still can't tell but based off the clue that she can see and read auras," he started. "We may have just run into one of the most powerful entities in the forest-"

…what? Who is she?

"She is the Goddess of Water," Deity said, his voice calculative and dark. "She is, by my guess, the Prae Aqua."