1. A Guide to Rebirth

Hyras Loran has died once, but if he is told to choose, then he would say that the resurrection was more painful than the death. At least with death, he was expecting it, was able to brace himself for the pain, yet with the resurrection, it was like being suddenly plucked into the sky, travelling at high speeds and breaking countless sound barriers. Which in a hindsight, is probably what really happened, though sound barriers could be replaced by Realm Barriers.

He felt his soul being tugged left and right before finally settling down once more, as calm as it was during the afterlife, but with a strange buzz that seemed too lively and aware for it to be the stillness of death. Furthermore, he was drenched in a strange darkness that wasn't there before, where it was bright and quiet.

When Hyras Loran woke up once more, he was lying on a circle of runes that was uncomfortably familiar. Blinking sluggishly, he pushed himself up with great effort, straining his eyes to observe the rune circle carefully. He recognised it as one of those twisted Kamori runes he had created, each stroke of the runes deeply ingrained within his memory.

"A summoning slate," he muttered quietly, picking himself up from the ground. The runes were deeply drenched in Kamori energy. Even after so long not manipulating the evil energy, he could still feel the tendrils of it beckoning to him like an old friend. He bent down to observe the neatly drawn runes, either drawn by inks or Kamori energy. Impressive, if it is the latter. "Whoever did this must be quite skilled indeed."

There were many different variations of the 'summoning slate' but each involved calling on the soul of a dead person, or perhaps one of the monsters from the Void. Most of it involved summoning only fragments or ghosts. Hyras's creation, however, allowed the caster to bring back people from the dead. He had never finished his summoning slate however, before moving to other projects in fear that it would fall into the wrong hands and in fear of further messing with the natural order of things. This had been before he went insane on the Kamori energy. Whoever completed his work must be very talented, or at least proficient enough in the theory of runes to be able to create energy slates and finish his work. Not only that however, but they must also be a skilled user of the Kamori energy, and Hyras could name only one at the top of his head, that being him.

Hyras looked for where his works ended and where the work of another began, and found out that had it not been for the fact he knew exactly where he had left off, the blend of runes was so seamless that had he not worked on it personally once, he would've never guessed it. Though the majority of what few Vakari runes there were made by Hyras, from what he could see, so was most of the Kamori energy. In fact, there were exactly three runes that he did not recognise.

Hyras placed a hand over the summoning slate, breathing deeply and watched as his hand glowed with Vakari energy from his internal reserves, wiping the energy slate clean, erasing any trace of both Kamori and Vakari with it. Speaking of which… he examined his reserves, gasping in surprise and elation when he found it to be just as pure and vast as it was before he'd started his use of Kamori energy.

"Perhaps death really had its uses," Hyras whispered in wonder, too caught up with his admiration to think of anything else. Around the time of his death, his internal reserves had been mostly corrupted by Kamori energy, so the powers granted to him by the Vakari energy had been almost impossible for him to use. And, because he wasn't aware of it until it was too late, he wasn't able to use Vakari energy to rid himself of it, like he would've been able to had he realised the corruption sooner.

Hyras slowly got up, and it was then did he realise how… indecent he was. It wasn't that he was naked or anything (even though he was hardly even covered, wearing traditional Akari funeral garbs consisting of simple white robes that hardly covered his chests and left his arms and legs rather bare), but it was the lack of cuffs to wrap around his arms that unnerved him, revealing the rune bands marking his arms. Rune bands were sacred to the Akari, a symbolic representation of their connection to Vakari energy.

They were almost always covered by bandages, cuffs or long-sleeves from the moment an Akari got them, the runes carefully applied by the Akari themselves. Usually, an Akari only had it uncovered when cleaning themselves up and, theoretically, for punishment of public humiliation. However, the funeral robes he wore had no sleeves, hardly traditional and he suspected that it was done on purpose, the last declaration of condemnation before he was sent off. Rune bands were sacred, to leave it out in the open like this was like spitting on the bond an Akari had with their Vakari energy. It was… sacrilegious, almost. Even he, who'd allowed his internal reserves to be corrupted, wore his cuffs all the way until his death.

Hyras whistled. "Their opinion of me must've really been bad, to go this far." Even though theoretically, punishment by forced revealing of rune bands is there, it has never been used, at least, not until he came around and started to mess with Kamori energy.

Hyras picked through the area, what seems to be a relatively small but empty warehouse with plain grey walls, metal rafters and dim lights hanging from it. Aside from the ominous energy slate that was once in the middle of the warehouse however, the warehouse was pretty bare with nothing else to it. He did however, find some more decent clothes; simple trousers and a strangely engineered buttonless, long-sleeved shirt, made out of a soft and stretchy fabric, as well as clean-looking socks and proper shoes. He changed quickly, shedding his robes and tossing them aside.

It felt depressingly sad to be in here, he thought. Regardless of the emotions he had of the place, he can't deny that it was a good place to be summoned, far away from prying, accusatory eyes that would no doubt remind him of his past actions. Not only that however, but it would also allow him to slip away into the night. No one has to know that he has returned. In fact, it was probably better than no one knows. As Hyras paced the room, thoughts swarming with the next course of action, he could feel the tell-tale anxiousness that arose every time he sensed danger. Hesitant to trust his impaired senses, Hyras flicked his wrist, a dozen knives made out of a material that seemed to be glass popped into existence, hovering languidly in the air.

'Prismblades,' he thought fondly. 'They're just as useful as ever, fragile and weak as they might look.' For most Akari, whenever they went on Hunts for the Kamori beasts, Prismblades, alongside runes and the occasional energy slates, were their main weapons. Vakari energy had a lot of uses, but mainly it focused on the enhancement of an Akari's body and healing capabilities, rather than actual destructive capabilities like Kamori energy. As such, few Akari have ever been able to use the true destructive powers of Vakari energy.

The slight up and down motion of his knives stilled suddenly, the air becoming suffocating with the heavy scent of Kamori energy. The warehouse's doors blasted open, a black blur flying through the air and crashing a few metres away from Hyras. He had barely been able to dodge in time, and now had his Prismblades trained on said black blur, which was-

A dead Kamori beast.

A prismblade stuck out of its chest, glowing faintly with Vakari energy the same way every other prismblade did.

Hyras recognised the prismblade. Oh, he'd never forget that sword, with all the beautiful engravings and delicate vines decorating its hilt and blade.

After all, it was the blade of his once-lover and killer.

So, Hyras ran.

In the end, he didn't even know how far he'd run, only that he'd run far, far far away from wherever it is that he'd reincarnated into, only stopping when he believed he was far away enough to not be followed, hunted down and killed again. His back was pressed against the walls of a plain grey building, breathing heavily despite not feeling tired or even a little out of breath. He took in a deep but shaky breath, shaky fingers combing out the sweaty tangles of his dark hair.

'Calm down,' he told himself, 'Just calm down. You're not dying just yet right after being reincarnated. You're not gonna waste the efforts of whoever brought you back just like that.' And indeed, Hyras did start to calm down. With strength suddenly returning back to his legs, Hyras started to walk further away, head bowed low as if to hide his face from prying eyes.

First order of business, he needed information. After all, he's been dead for who-knows-how-long, and was in desperate need of catching up to how things are at the present.

At the very least, he thought to himself, not too much has changed. Those familiar metal buildings were still scattered about. Huge moving mechanical parts were still visible throughout the city, and he could see dark ropes connecting it to the solar panels, larger and more conspicuous to be sure, no longer powering just the runes protecting the houses. Carriages remained to be drawn by mechanical horses.

Yet, despite the lack of change, everything felt much bigger and grander than it once was and Hyras felt a strange sorrow, regret for not being there to see the growth and witness every little thing, but at the end of the day, the blame for that fell on him, didn't it? He'd been the one to let his pride and arrogance get the hold of him, and in keeping silent, in turning to Kamori energy out of all the stupid things he could've done… he was the one who sealed his fate, who inadvertently caused his own death. All the pain and suffering he'd caused to his fellow Akari, as well as his sister and friends had been his fault.

Shaking his head to rid himself of all the depressive thoughts, Hyras set forward in determination. He needed the information desperately after all, and he'd better start figuring out how to get his hands on it.

_____

Darius grimaced in disgust as he watched Taralynn poke around at the Kamori beast, the squelching sound of blood and slimy skin making him shudder. He stepped closer to the beast nonetheless and inspected the prismblade wound that ended up killing it.

"Fucking hell this beast stinks!" Taralynn swore angrily, placing her hand on a small, spherical device at her waist. It made a small beep before detaching from her belt, floating into the air and emitting a blue light. Taralynn's hands glowed with Vakari energy and seconds later, the device was scanning every inch of the warehouse as well as the beast, a series of holographic screens projecting out the gathered data once the scanning was complete. Right after, the device, Mimi, Darius reminded himself, sped off into one corner of the warehouse.

Watching Taralynn's talent manifestation work its magic is truly glorious, he thought as several more of the mechanical and technological devices that Taralynn carried with her detached itself from the various belts and pouches that she wore, joining Mimi in its inspection of the warehouse. Well, in general, the talent manifestation of any Akari is impressive, considering how rare it was for any Akari to even reach that point. As far as he knew, the only person who was also able to talent manifest was Hyras and his sworn brother was… well, it's safe to say that as of current, Taralynn alone was the remaining talent manifester.

He watched in silence as Taralynn got holographic screens hovering into the air around her, scans and reports being relayed to her in real-time. "Well, got anything?"

A contemplative look took over Taralynn's face. "Darius. When you got here, was anyone in the warehouse?"

He racked his brain to recall anyone running out of here, but the only thing he remembered was the vague flash of someone running away. "I did, but I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, by the time I got a good look at the place there's no one left in here."

"I'm going to need to perform a full scale investigation on the warehouse," Taralynn said right after. She pressed one of the holographic screens and gestured towards it. "I'm going to get the data processed. You stay here to help with the clean up."

"Hold up, I'm not cleaning up that beast corpse," he spat out, pointing furiously at the corpse. By that point however, Taralynn had already disappeared, leaving naught a sign of her behind.

Groaning in both exasperation and disbelief from Taralynn, Darius grudgingly started drawing the communication rune on the floor, throwing a little trinket, a simple gold pendant over it. He watched as it glowed vibrantly with Vakari energy and as the projection of his elder sister appeared. She was bent over a desk, furiously scribbling something onto a huge length of paper that spanned across the dress and spilling over it.

Like Darius himself, his sister had the vibrant blue-green eyes of every other Alfheim before them and the same dark locks and sharp cheekbones. Unlike he however, Darla Jocerah Alfheim held herself in a stricter, more composed manner, at least in public. One knows that in the privacy of their homes, Jocerah lost herself in Clan-related paperworks that their father neglected in favour of going on Hunts for Kamori beasts.

"Sister," he called out, standing with back straight, unwilling to risk Jocerah's ire when he would see her again.

Jocerah lifted her head up from her scroll, frowning as she set down her pen. "Darius, is there a reason why you're contacting me?"

"Yes, there is a reason, and that's to ask you to order a clean-up for a warehouse just west of the Statue of Tessa Rae, on Raefaire Street," Darius answered, amusement in his voice as he watched his sister's expression soured. Jocerah, though dedicated to her duty as heir, filling out paperwork and arranging the clans' field Akari on a daily basis as their father went on the Hunts he loved so much, the impromptu requests for deployment of Akari, especially when it was made directly to her, was something she loathed to her very core.

Darius had thought the reason to be more complex at first, perhaps because impromptu deployment was difficult to manipulate, with most Akari preferring to operate by themselves and report to their clan's Administrative Division at the end of each Hunt rather than being sent on assignments. When Darius did ask his sister however, she had claimed, and to quote: 'I put my original deployment schedules into the official records and sudden deployment of Akari into the field means I'd have to go to the records and change the entire day's schedules, which quite frankly becomes a hassle when you have to do it so oftenly.'

It was, in conclusion, a petty reason. Yet, it was the standard sort of reason for his sister. It was the reason for anything that she disliked doing, that being either 'too lazy' or 'too much of a hassle'. It's quite amusing that though Jocerah is so hard-working, she was the one more prone to laziness between the two siblings.

Jocerah eyed him sourly, "Can't you handle it yourself? You used to be organising the clean ups after Hunts back in the days, when you're out with your little group of friends."

"Those days of the Venerable Hunts are over, Jocerah," Darius said agitatedly. Reminders of his younger days rarely sat well with him, especially when said reminders regarded the Venerable Hunts, a period of time before everything went downhill, back when he and his friends were able to freely gallivant around and go on whatever Hunts they liked without a care of the world. Before their little group was broken apart by Hyras's death and the responsibilities that came with it. "Just do me a favour and send an Akari over. I'll even update the deployment records for you if I have to."

He watched as Jocerah slid the scroll off her desk, using an energy slate that was a variation of the communication rune he was using, a small little thing carved into his sister's desk that she used to communicate with the Alfheim Clan's leading officers.

"I've sent in a message to track your coordinates. An Akari will be there soon to sort things out," Jocerah promised. "In the meantime however, I feel that it's best for you to seek out Razuki."

"My husband?"

Jocerah rolled her eyes, "How many people do you know are named Razuki? Of course, I'm talking about your husband. Last I heard of him, he was off in Wubetias, trying to prevent yet another human conflict there. If you ask me, it's a lost-cause, those Wubetian savages and the blows they come to are unpreventable."

"Thank you, sister," Darius said, swiftly ending the communication line. He, like many other Akari, all had their own thoughts on the humans of Wubetias. The nation's war-ridden plains had been the result of conquest and slavery from hostile forces of its neighbouring country-continents of Praebia and Aestria, both greedy for Wubetias' soils, entrenched in precious Vakari energy that allowed the harvest of humans to be twice, mayhaps even thrice, as bountiful as it would've been on ordinary soil. Once Praebia and Aestria had removed its influences from Wubetias, it left a collapsed civilisation and countless civil conflicts till the present day.

It was hard to imagine that less than a millennia before the Conquest of Wubetias, it had been a prospering country, rich in agriculture and fierce human warriors, its Akari population said to be one of the greatest, thanks to their exposure to the many Kamori beasts that plagued the lands. However, natural disasters caused a severe drought upon the lands, and greatly weakened the people, thus opening the land to conquest.

Though Darius silently agreed that the Akari should attempt to interfere with the ongoing civil war in Wubetias, few others did, most of them staunch in their beliefs that the Akari should leave humans to themselves. 'Ours is the duty to protect them from wicked Kamori beasts, not themselves', he had heard many say. However, Darius's husband, Razuki shared different beliefs, same as he, and was one of the few to not only have the ability to act on it, but to also effectively start to bring change.

With a last wary glance at the Kamori beast laying dead in the warehouse, and a sense of uneasiness, Darius drew a new teleportation slate, stepping onto the circle of runes and letting it bring him to Wubetias.