Reborn

Opening his eyes, Noah uncurled himself from his fetal position.It took a couple of seconds for his mind to catch up with his body as he tried to remember where he was.

Understanding flashed within his eyes as he unconsciously shivered recalling the heart-rending pain.Trying to stand, Noah's body shot up instead, his head smashing against the covering on the tub.Rubbing his head as he made his second attempt to sit up, he pressed his hands against the covering.

Touching the metallic surface Noah exerted all the force he could muster, causing it to fly into the air, failing to the ground with a audible thud.Grabbing the rim of the tub, Noah tried to climb out, only to fail miserably, causing the tub to roll to the side.

Annoyed he looked towards Saphira, who looked amused and Excalibur who didn't even try to hide her laughter.

"Do you want me to hold your hand while try to take your first steps sweetie" teased Excalibur, her lips curling into a smirk."So funny" he replied knowing that trying to defend himself will make it worse.Attempting to stand he exerted as little force as he possibly could.

Feeling much more accomplished that he would ever admit he turned his head to Saphira who was approaching him with a black choker."Put this around your neck" she said.Not bothering to ask what it was he clipped it around his neck, only to be hit with a wave of vertigo.Taking a few steps to steady himself he turned towards Saphira.

"It limits your strength to the amount you can control" she stated.

He nodded "So what now."

"First, you put on some clothes," Saphira said handing him a pair of sweats and t-shirt.His face burned with embarrassment as his eyes flicked towards the ground. Nodding, he didn't dare to look in Excalibur direction less she make a joke at the expense of his modesty.

After putting on his clothes Saphira began speaking "First we will review your gains from the body refinement.Your physique is equal to someone at the 5th pillar of mortal stage.The problem is the increase in strength was too sudden making it hard to control."

Before he could ask Saphira continued, "I will show you a few methods to help control yourself so don't worry."

"Second, we will explore the bond between you and Excalibur.Any abilities she may have will be detrimental in battle and far more useful than a increase is]n strength.I'm not very familiar with this process so we will mostly be relying on you Excalibur. Lastly, I will teach your about the myriad realms.Unless you have fate-defying luck you will end up fleeing this realm to survive and having information will be vital."

Nodding his head Noah asked a question that has been on his mind for a while.

"How much time do you have left" he asked getting elbowed in the side by Excalibur for being to direct but he could tell she was just as curious as him.Contemplating for a moment Saphira replied in a terse fashion "3 weeks if I stretch it".

Noah realized that they did not have a lot of time.Turning towards Excalibur he asked her about what he experienced in the void while unconscious.

"Yea I felt you call my name through the link" she replied "And the reason we feel more comfortable around each other is because the link was strengthened." Now that she mentioned it he felt no problem speaking freely with her.

"Honestly speaking, I don't know much more about Ego's than Saphira despite being one.Your the second person I've ever been bound to and my previous master mostly used me for posturing rather than power"Excalibur continued.

"If you do manage to leave this realm I know of someone that could help you two progress," Saphira said, interrupting there conversation.

Noah let out a long sigh, the odds were stacked against him.The more he learned about the situation he was in the more he realized how bleak there future really was.

*****

1 week went by in a flash and Noah could be seen sitting with his legs crossed with Excalibur in her sword form resting in his lap.He was trying to communicate with Excalibur through the link like he did a week ago.

'Hello' he thought waiting for a reply,

'It came through' she transmitted.

While it was difficult for Noah to send a single word Excalibur did it effortlessly.Doing this helped Noah sense that black void from earlier or Mindpalace as Excalibur called it.They were hoping that doing this will make him appear there again so they could strengthen the bond.

'Let's stop for now' she sent ' we need to strengthen the bond before Saphira passes or else were dead'.Noah nodded his head and stood up his head hurting from the practice.As per Saphira's instructions, we weren't allowed to communicate verbally, which was annoying at first since only Excalibur could speak and she would make fun of my failed attempts.

Holding her by the hilt he began swinging the great-sword.Unlike his first attempt at swinging Excalibur these moves were obviously choreographed. Saphira had a few books on combat within her ring to go by but with no teacher he and Excalibur were going in blind.

His physique had improved drastically after the refinement.Whether it be his strength, endurance, or speed, they reached a inhuman level.He could now lift Excalibur with one arm and wield her effortlessly.

Noah loved training with Excalibur in her sword form,relishing in the connection between the weapon and user,moving according to the books as they corrected his mistakes, and the sweat perspiring off his skin as adrenaline rushed through his body.

He reveled in the feeling of getting better with each swing, his moves becoming more refined with each mistake, and the control he could exert on his body as the choker weakened.Excalibur of course, didn't hesitate to call him out on his weird enjoyment with training but he was used to her personality at this point and ignored her comments.

Noah would train as long as his stamina allowed and listen to Saphira's lessons on the myriad realms while.It was through these lessons that Noah realized how small he was in comparison. There were hundreds of realms populated by a plethora races from Elves to Giants hundreds of feet tall.Earth was one of the few Hollow realms, a realm lacking any natural forms of energy.The use of any energy was strictly forbidden in public in these realms to preserve our natural progression.Hearing this Noah immediately thought of those isolated tribes that outsiders weren't allowed to interact with like the Sentinelese.

Earth was under the jurisdiction of The Pantheon, a group of noble 12 families families that are descendants of gods.Each house was compromised of race that inherited characteristics of there ancestor.The Daemon Ternion lording over the demonic races had three rulers; The Netherborne,The Infernals, and The Fallen.

The problem was that the races in power like these were known as high races and a high race launching a attack on Tri-element dragon is nothing more than a declaration of war.Hearing all of this made Noah's head hurt, whatever caused the Infernal Keeper to want Saphira's core was way out of his league.

There were three primary paths to power throughout the realms.Mages who exert control over Mana to conjure meteors and open gates,Warriors who draw Qi into there bodies, giving them the strength to crush mountains and split seas, and Aetherborn, people who are born with an innate affinity towards and element gaining the ability to summon blizzards and cause earthquakes.

More niche existed paths like Egos who refine the Anima Bond and Summoners who make contact with the Astral Plane to summon divine beings but the three primary paths were were used by almost all high races.