[Arc 1] Chapter 1. Reincarnation

'Where am I…?' I thought to myself, looking around as nothing but darkness surrounds me; there were no sounds at all; it was like a vacuum in space which felt strange, I couldn't move my hands, nor could I even open my lips.

'Is this the afterlife…?'

It felt strange… I couldn't feel my head at all, almost like it was chopped away but even then… I could still think which felt super strange; I couldn't feel any of my limbs at all, it was as if my entire body had vanished altogether.

I soon started panicking inside, there were several possibilities of what had happened. It was either that I had turned into what most people would call, a spiritual body or otherwise called a soul or all of my body parts were chopped off which is impossible… all of these reasons should be impossible… right?

'Hahahaha… I must be trying to escape from reality… right… I must have already died, the afterlife doesn't exist at all… no heaven nor hell, there is only darkness after death, huh?' I thought to myself, feeling as if something inside had broken apart.

It was as if my sole consciousness had surrendered, it couldn't even last a few moments of trying to escape from reality… this place felt too lonely… if life on Earth could be described as a dungeon then this place would definitely be hell… there was nothing at all that could be seen, nothing a single atom… it was dead silence.

'I wonder if this is what Mom is seeing right now… simple darkness, no stars, no light, just darkness… it feels so lonely here; you can't move, nor could you even feel… you couldn't touch nor could you hear… this place has nothing at all…'

All of a sudden, amidst my thoughts… a feminine voice suddenly echoed inside my mind, the voice was that of a teen like me, "Is this the end… am I finally going to die?"

The voice struck somewhere inside me, it felt nostalgic; I couldn't remember where this voice came from but for all I know, it felt like I had heard the same words in the past… a sense of weird nostalgia almost like a past life.

"Mom… Dad… Why?" the voice murmured.

'Where is this nostalgia from…' I thought deeply before a tale came to mind, it was the last tale Mom had whispered into me… a tale that was engraved deep inside my heart.

"Why can't I simply die quickly?" the voice asked as the sound turned rough.

'Should I stop her… wait… that's not a question at all! The real question to be asked is whether I can actually stop her… after all, I couldn't move nor could I even speak…. How can I even stop her if I can't do anything?'

'What should I do…? What would others do in this situation?' I thought before the voice started groaning, the voice was started to grow weak with each passing second… I felt powerless, weak… I couldn't think at all what to do.

I feel powerless… I wanted to speak once more, to save at least one person… to not be incompetent anymore! To relieve this endless sin of mine that caused the deaths of hundreds…

'I… what…. What should I do…?' I asked myself many times inside, listening to the groaning voice as it grew even weaker and weaker. I felt a stab inside my heart as I tried to open my mouth before all of a sudden, a tiny mumble left my mouth, "St…"

A glimmer of hope soon arose inside me as I continued forward, recalling how to speak as I shouted at the voice of unknown origins, "It… It's not over yet! You can still live!" before a few moments passed by as no response could be heard.

I felt like something inside of me cracked… it felt painful… I wanted to cry but I couldn't cry at all…. What was I thinking? To let a small glimmer get ahead of me… I was still and will forever be the incompetent person, no matter what…

"Who?" the voice questioned, taking me by surprise as a lough cough echoed inside my mind as a lonely, sad, and dry voice asked once more, "Who— who are you?" which made me feel sympathetic… it felt like I had a connection with this person.

"Can you hear me?" I asked.

"Who are you?!" the voice answered back before a loud sickly cough followed, causing me to feel pained inside.

"Are you okay?" I inquired before a sudden powerless feeling reverberated around my mind… it felt like it was reminding me of my powerlessness, it reminded me that even if this person could hear me… it doesn't mean I could even lend her a single hand…

"Are you sure you can't do anything? Please look at yourself more clearly! Understand yourself more!" a voice echoed inside my mind; the voice was angry almost like a deity was sending a divine punishment towards me.

'What do you mean?! If I can't understand myself then who can understand me better?! I am myself; I understand myself more than anyone, more than you as well!' I responded before a sudden slapping sensation echoed throughout me.

"You are clearly an idiot, look at yourself! What a disaster, are you still the same person who wished to help the people in need?!!!" the voice responded.

"Who are you?! I am me! I can be who I wish to be, not what others wish of me!" I fought back before a sudden chuckle echoed inside of me.

"I wish I could be as useful as a grimoire… remember?" the voice said before a plethora of information entered inside of me; from memories of my childhood to the last words I spoke, all of them rushed inside of me like a tsunami.

I felt a sudden burst of courage enter inside of me as I laughed out loud inside, 'Who am I kidding? I had clearly strayed away from myself just then… thanks for the reminder, idiot…'

All of a sudden, a sudden happy sensation could be felt in front of me… it was as if the person who was talking to me had smiled as it slowly dissipated, turning into another truckload of information from simple magic, information on how to survive a jungle and all those useless kinds of details but among them, there was a certain special spell.

Restore Vision and Contract were the two special spells that were together with the plethora of information, the two spells were as straightforward as they could be. Restore Vision is a spell that allows one to restore a single person's vision while Contract is an ability that permanently binds me to a single person for eternity but in exchange receive an infinite amount of possibilities and benefits.

Amidst the sudden joyous occasion, the voice that I heard from the start suddenly echoed inside my head; the voice sounded sad, tearful, and mocking.

"Hahahaha! You abandoned me as well, huh…"