(Jason, 16)

After stripping down and sending everything into my spatial storage, I sink into the ocean, a thin layer of air forming over my mouth and nose as my scanning spell changes for the liquid around me instead of the air.

Through my magic, I anchor myself to the ocean floor and alleviate the light pressure on my shoulders, then begin walking, sweeping my gaze across the seabed as I search for oysters with a very specific magical signature.

In three thousand years, I doubt it has changed too much, and it is a magical signature that Nolan knew all too well. Having many memories of it, I know what to look for.

As I carefully search for this very specific and tiny thing, I think about my revelation in Anotis. Items I made back then exist today as magical artifacts, and not just the inert ones or mostly-inert ones in the tombs.

All of the ones where I bound a god into an object must still be active, or there is not a doubt in my mind one of those gods would have hunted me down already. Ezarit could detect my soul through the power used to refuel the crown's enchantments, so no doubt the gods would be able to sense it from a distance, were they free.

In addition to that, the gods would probably be acting as gods, which would be quite noticeable.

What all still exists now, though? I know my sword and Crystal Crest don't – they were in my dimensional space as Nolan, so unless I took them out, they would have disappeared when I died. Back then and now, no one knows what happens to items in dimensional spaces – and spatial storages – when the person who generated them dies. They're tied to the soul.

Since my soul has obviously moved around a bit since then, would those spaces even still exist? Do they continue after the soul leaves the body?

Hm.

Something to try later, actually. If they do still exist, would my sword and Crystal Crest still be within? Or are they truly destroyed once the body the soul is within is destroyed?

"WHO DARES TO ENTER MY TERRITORY?" An ancient voice as deep as the furthest depths of the ocean yells into my head. "FOOLISH MORTAL! LEAVE THIS SPACE AT ONCE! YOUR KIND IS NOT ALLOWED HERE!"

"Who are you?" I ask, stunned by the sudden mental intrusion.

Looks like this area received a new resident in the last three thousand years. At least my spell should allow communication, despite the water around us.

"I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THIS REALM!" It responds just as loudly. "THE ONE WHO WILL PROTECT IT FROM ALL YOU HUMANS WHO WOULD DARE TO DESTROY IT!"

"My name is Jason Jeshema," I introduce myself. "I am looking for oysters, for pearls. I know how to convince them to open up without bringing harm to them. Not just any pearls, though, special ones charged with a very potent magic. I mean no harm to the ocean, and once I have one of these pearls, I will leave. If you could kindly inform me of their presences and locations, that would be quite helpful, and would assist in my evacuation soo-"

"I recognize that soul," the voice says in a much calmer tone, and I can feel a gaze homing in on me. "You look different now than you did then, Nolan. You go by a different name now as well."

Oh, no. This is a god, isn't it?

"I have been reincarnated," I say. "This is my new body and name. May I ask who you are?"

"Hm," he responds. "I do not have much of a name."

A large presence enters the range of my scan spell, and I freeze as I realize what the being is. It's not a god. It's a leviathan. An honest-to-gods leviathan. And its head is taller than I am. The great beast moves closer to me and turns its head so that one of its grey eyes is looking directly at me.

"We met last time you were hunting for World Pearls," he tells me. "You were with the man you always crushed on. What was his name? Quinn?"

"Yes," I smile. "Quinn. He was reincarnated as well, and is called Alex, now. I remember you, you were only a few years old at the time. I didn't expect any leviathans from back then to still live today."

Their lifespans are similar to a black dragon's, though they only come in one variety. Well, they did, unless a new breed of them formed sometime in the last three thousand years. That's doubtful, though, as their breeding habits are quite similar to a dragon's.

Which means that births are few and far between. Evolution would take hundreds of thousands of years, no doubt.

"I still live," he responds. "I protect the ocean floor from those who would dare to damage it. Once upon a time, many humans came here, stealing away the crabs and oysters. Seeing the damage it caused and chaos it invoked, I put a stop to it. Why do you search for a World Pearl?"

"To summon him," I tell the leviathan. "I caused a situation in a nation where magic is viewed as evil and said to be despised by the gods and cause disruptions in the world, and-"

"What?" He jerks his head back in shock. That's actually rather impressive, considering the speed of the movement and his size. "Are they dry in the head? Do their brains need refreshing?"

"Yes," I smile at the leviathan's obvious shock. "They need an update on the true state of things, and as the gods are unable to enter into this world now, summoning him seems to be our only viable option."

"There is a rock with a god bound into it," he tells me. "Though I would not recommend freeing her. She is furious and screams all sorts of unsavory things. Sometimes, as punishment, I drop someone into a hole with the rock and seal it up, so that they have to listen to her ravings. Even if they cannot understand the ancient tongue anymore, it still frightens them into being good."

"People still come?" I ask.

"No," he answers. "The Moon Folk sometimes do, but they are respectful of the ocean, so we do not conflict. Thousands of years ago, after you disappeared, humans ceased coming here. I am sure that the dragons moving into those mountains helped with that, along with the zero return rate of those who ventured too far into the ocean."

"Then who are you dropping into holes?"

"My people," he answers. "For those who dared to destroy the ocean's society, I altered them to be a part of it, to forever live among it."

That is frightening, a reminder of the vast difference in power between myself and any of the sacred beasts. At the peak of his power, Nolan could likely have done such a thing, but to a leviathan? It was no doubt something both natural and easy.

"There are World Pearls," he tells me. "I have ensured that all that form within my domain are tracked, their oysters cared for and watched over. I have sent for five to be brought here."

Which means I am going to get to witness what his people look like, what he did to humans who cared little for their environment.

"Thank you," I dip my head to him, grateful that he has chosen to be helpful rather than not.

A leviathan, much like a dragon, could wipe me out in an instant if it actually bothered. My luck really ran high here, much like with Steven. I was careful to make the training zones outside of where Steven bothers to fly over to specifically to avoid possibly upsetting him with having more people there than just Niko and me. Niko and I mapped out the range he'd fly to just for that, and it took us a couple of weeks.

The leviathan watches me for several minutes, and I watch him back.

"How long ago did you do the transformation of the humans?" My curiosity compels me to ask.

"Two thousand years ago," he answers. "Do you care if I tell them that you are one of the Magi? You are seen as a savior to mankind. And their kind, now."

"They know about the Magi?" I ask.

"Naturally," he answers. "I may have pulled their ancestors into the ocean, but I did not suppress their knowledge. Why would their knowledge of you be surprising?"

"Hold on," I frown. "You mean to say that two thousand years ago, knowledge of the Magi was widespread?"

"Yes," he responds. "The Magi ended the oppression given to humans by the heavens and underworld alike. It is only natural that such knowledge of them and the horrid state humanity had been in would remain. Why do you ask in surprise?"

"Because that knowledge," I explain. "Is almost forgotten. Very few outside of the world leaders are aware of the Magi or the war. Those who know believe the source of this being the small culture from three thousand years ago, of how few humans were around. That stories changed as they were passed from person to person, as things always do. But if the knowledge was still widespread two thousand years ago…"

"Then someone intentionally destroyed all records and suppressed the knowledge of it," he finishes for me.

Exactly, which makes me wonder who did it, and why. It couldn't have been a god that I missed while binding the others, they would have tracked me down already, I'm sure of it. What I did was considered too heinous a crime to let go.

"Do as you wish," I tell the leviathan. "The few who know of our existence have begun spreading word of what little they do know, so it does not matter."

Especially since these people will not interact with humans, and that is a strange thing that just entered my scan spell's range. Is this one of his people, then?

I wait for it to reach the limitations of my eyesight, then appraise it. From the waist up, she looks human, her pitch-black hair floating around her in the water, her eyes matching the metallic, blue-green of her tail, which begins at her waist and takes over where her legs should be.

This. Is. A. Mermaid. I know about those from my memories from when I was Lucas. Mermaids were myths and legends, not true beings, and they appeared in many stories, shows, and movies. And the leviathan turned some humans into them. Magic is obviously involved in her existence, as she seems able to breathe just fine, despite the fact that we are underwater, and I have no doubt she might be able to breathe above-water as well.

In her hands is a small stone box adorned with small crystals and shells. Before looking at me, she bows to the leviathan, speaking in her native language.

"Jason," the leviathan speaks to me after briefly looking at her. "Would you take issue with me bestowing knowledge upon you?"

"Knowledge?" I ask.

A knowledge transfer by itself is harmless. It removes nothing from the target, only grants it to the recipient. At least, when done properly, and I doubt the leviathan would do it wrong. It is a sacred beast, magic is its very existence.

"Yes," he responds. "So that you may understand the language of my people. An additional gift to you, for your services in ancient times. You saved everyone back then. You are one of the Heroes of Midlaris, Jason."

It felt like he said 'heroes' with a capital 'H', there, which is impressive and a tell for how highly he thinks of Nolan and the other Magi.

"If that is what you wish," there is no harm in learning an additional language.

The leviathan dips its head slightly, then I sense it weaving its spell, before the magic touches me. I don't feel any different, but the leviathan tells the woman to speak, and she does.

"Hello," she greets me, and I find that I can understand her as she holds out the box. "Our lord asked me to bring these for you."

Not through translation magic, but because I know the language. Now that I know what it sounds like, I can pull up my knowledge of the language. He did it seamlessly, so that it is as if the knowledge is simply something I learned.

Without having known what the language was or sounded like, I was unable to pull up that knowledge. I'm impressed at how natural the knowledge feels, and the seamlessness of the spell. I doubt I could have pulled it off that seamlessly.

"Thank you," I open the box and pull out the five grey pearls.

Four of them are of similar sizes to what I would expect to find on a necklace, but the fifth pearl is nearly twice as large. All five pearls are brimming with the ancient magic necessary to perform the summoning.

Normally, a pearl forms when a grain of sediment is caught in an oyster, then coated over time by the oyster with… something. I'm not sure what. These pearls formed differently. Same basic method, but instead of a grain of sediment, they were a special type of bean that the oyster let in.

Extremely rare, and in the stretch from the shores of the continent to the far edges of the islands of the Moon Folk, turned into a square zone, it would be unlikely to find more than one forming every two or three hundred years. The large one likely spent a long time forming. I will save it for a truly significant occasion.

"Thank you," I dip my head to the leviathan. "I should be going, the situation may turn violent and result in many deaths soon."

"Farewell," he tells me. "You may visit at any time, Jason. And I trust that you will respect the environment as you harvest. So long as you do so, I will continue to trust you."

"Thank you," I respond.

"And when you have time, I will introduce you to my children."

"That would be nice," I smile to him, then remember a question I had about the ancient dragon. "You have been alive far, far longer than your species normally could. Do you mind if I ask how you managed that?"

"I have been blessed by the World Father with a great life," he tells me. "For my services rendered to it and to you Magi. He supplies me with the necessary mana to sustain myself."

Now that he says that, I realize that I can see mana flowing into him from Midlaris. The natural, ambient mana, drawn in naturally, without any effort on the great beast's part.

"I see," I smile at him, then dip my head to the mermaid. "You two have a wonderful day."

"Goodbye, Jason," the leviathan says, and I use my magic to bring myself back to the surface.

As soon as I reach the surface, I cancel my protective and air spells, then soar up into the sky, opening a gate directly to my house in the Unwild Lands. I send the pearls into my spatial storage, then take a shower to wash off the ocean. After drying off and dressing, I walk into my storage room and rummage through it, piecing together an outfit that would fit someone the size I was around a year ago. Someone about fifteen years of age.

A tunic, some pants, and a pair of boots, plus a nice belt from my personal collection. The outfit is only temporary, but still for the best, even if I know he would rather not wear it. At least, if he hasn't changed in three thousand years.

Ancient beings rarely change that fast.

The outfit picked out, I pull on a coat, then gather up the clothes and open a gate to the cliff I accidentally teleported Niko and myself onto the first time I took him to Mar. There, I set down the clothes, then pull one of the smaller pearls out of my spatial storage and set it on the ground. I cut the back of my arm and allow blood to flow onto it, then heal my arm as the pearl begins to float upwards, my blood and power swirling around the item, dirt rising up with the pearl.

Time to see if this body will react the same way as my old one did. We Magi did not react to his presence the way most humans do, but the first time I summoned him, we were all already at the level beyond violet.

The dirt begins to shimmer, then expand as the blood absorbs into the pearl. The dirt begins to as well, then the ambient mana in the air here increases, drawing from the dragon veins directly to fuel the summoning.

A full minute passes before the pearl, now a mix of grey, red, and brown, begins to change shape and color, rapidly growing into a boy of fifteen years of age with a lean build, lightly-tanned skin, brown hair streaked with gold, and grey eyes.

As he forms, an overwhelming presence does as well, the power and feel of it making his identity unmistakable. Other than a slight flinching at the overwhelming power, I do not react much differently than I did as Nolan, and just remain as if he were a normal being.

"Hello, Jason," he greets me, then sighs as he grabs the pants from the pile. "You couldn't have folded them or something?"

"You were just going to pull them on anyway," I say as he starts to dress. "At least you are not fighting me on it this time."

"You mortals and your strange standards," he comments. "Once upon a time, no one ever wore clothes. They were relatively recent for humans when you first lived here three thousand years ago."

He gives me an amused look.

"Your people were the first to ever wear clothes, in fact," he reminds me. "And it was you who made them popular among humans, when you were Nolan."

"I know," I tell him. "I do have those memories. Are you aware of why I summoned you?"

"You call it 'summoning'," he snorts. "But it is more like you are giving me what is necessary for me to take on a human form, even if only temporarily. I can imitate it on my own, but this method works best.

"And yes," he says. "I know why you have used a World Pearl, Jason. Niko, formerly Benjamin of the Magi, lives in a nation where magic is hated and the false church that rules it believes that magic disrupts the natural order. I have considered sending a dragon to this region to, ah, deal with the situation, but I think your method works as well."

"The dragon would probably just kill everyone, and I know how much you hate that."

He shrugs as he ties the belt around his waist, now dressed. Unlike with me, the cold truly does not bother him naturally, so he has no need for a coat.

"I may still send a dragon to the other regions," he informs me. "But I will do this here. Perhaps the changing of Mar will change things."

He looks at the city, and I turn to face it, enhancing my sight and hearing so that I can see the hundreds of soldiers gathered outside the castle walls, all of whom can sense this power from there. And so that I can hear what is about to go down.

Midlaris stretches his temporary avatar, then warps directly in front of the gates. I can still sense his overwhelming, undeniable existence, and watch as the soldiers and priests all recoil.

At first, all Midlaris does is stare at the soldiers and priests, his gaze intense. They are all bowing within moments, the sheer force and feel of his aura telling them who and what he is, and that he is a being they must bow to.

Perhaps this is an effect on the soul, then, since they react the same way people did back then, and I did not. No Magi ever had that reaction to his presence.

Midlaris stares them down for nearly ten minutes before turning his gaze to the priest in the front.

"Magic," his voice reaches the furthest parts of the crowd, echoing through the city itself. "Does not disrupt the natural order of things when you in most cases. It does not cause the so-called 'corrupted' or any of the ogres. Magic is an essential, vital part of your existences. It is how you can cope in a world of creatures far more powerful than you are without it.

"Magic," he continues. "Is neither good nor evil, but neutral. The churches of these northern nations have lied to their people for centuries in an attempt at suppressing humanity. Ignore them. And to you priests who knowingly spread these lies, repent to the true gods. And when the ogre lords descend upon you for turning your backs on their might, remember that you have only yourselves to thank for your inability to handle them."

Ogre lords? What does Midlaris mean by that? I've never heard of ogre lords before.

"Magic is natural," Midlaris looks around. "It is beautiful, and it is wonderful. Learn it, grow with it, thrive with it. It is my blessing to humanity. It has nothing to do with the gods or demons. Know this, you foolish mortals. Remember it. Learn from your mistakes and continue to grow as my children."

Midlaris disappears from there and reappears beside me. He places a hand on my shoulder, then I find us standing outside my house in the Unwild Lands.

"I take it you wish to talk?" I ask in amusement.

"Yes," he nods. "None who were there will be able to deny that I, the world itself, just manifested an avatar and spoke with them, so I wish to use the rest of the time I have left in this form to speak with you."

"Is it to tell me why the Magi were reincarnated?"

"No," his lips quirk up in a smile. "The Queen of the Gods explicitly forbid me from confirming anything you have not already determined. Yes, part of you and Lucas being reincarnated onto Earth, then back here, was to give humanity's magical research a good ass-kick to restart it. Yes, part of it was to deal with that other thing you are aware of."

That confirms she does not use the passages, and confirms that she had a hand in the reincarnation of the Magi as well.

"And the rest?"

"You know why," he tells me. "I just told you."

The other thing. The thing that I have locked in a box in a special spatial storage specifically to ensure no one finds it.

"I understand," I nod. "But is it we who are to deal with it, or are we only here to act as guides?"

"That is for you to learn," he tells me. "Jason, I know you are likely wondering about your dimensional spaces from before. They are, indeed, tied to the soul. Had you magic on Earth, you would have been able to access them. Only those who truly die and pass on to the afterlife lose those, the items within disappearing forever."

"So my sword and Crystal Crest are still there," I say.

"They should be," he shrugs. "At least, in theory. You can check once I'm done, my time in this form is almost up."

"Okay," I say. "What else did you want to say?"

"Just tap into my ley lines for those gates, will you?" His annoyance startles me.

"But-"

"My mana is infinite," he says. "You can't drain me. It would be impossible for humanity to ever do such a thing. The ley lines recover the mana a lot faster than you realize, Jason. You know that large one you dug straight down to, then sealed up the hole to?"

"Yes," I nod.

"Imagine a ley line," he says. "A tenth that size with ten billion billion billion times the mana flowing through it. Those are the true lines of mana flowing through the world. They are so full of magic that you cannot perceive them as you are now, Jason. You couldn't even at the height of your power as Nolan. The ley lines you see and sense? Those are just minor things, offshoots that pull from those infinite ones, and they maintain their levels consistently, even when something is draining from them. As soon as their mana is drained at a greater rate than they naturally output, they'll adjust how fast they drain."

There are ley lines that powerful? I never suspected such a thing existed.

"Now," he shakes his head. "Just make those gates already, will you? It won't affect anything. You know I take care of any true issues. Excessive ambient mana attuned to an element, excessive resources that exist because of magical creations, too low of ambient mana in an area to support the current level of necessity… I'll take care of my children as I always have, Jason."

"Yes, sir," I say, then pause for a moment. "What about the leviathan and dragon you're fueling power to?"

"Who?" He stares at me blankly for a moment. "Oh, right, them," he shrugs. "They did good work, so I decided to extend their lives. Plus, the merfolk amuse me. Now those are people who don't wear clothes at all."

"They also live underwater," I roll my eyes. "With the fish. And a leviathan lording over them."

"The Dragon Clans wear clothes."

"We were different," I say. "Considered an anomaly, and that is completely different. We also lived on land. I'm also not sure what caused the first article of clothing to come into existence. Humanity was not always a 'modest' species. It was not something we thought about initially. And again, the merfolk live underwater. They don't have the same resources we do."

He shrugs.

"My form is about to unravel," he tells me. "So remember, Jason: you can tap into the ley lines for your gates, they will not be problematic. And once again, thank you for saving my children, back then. And remember this as well: the Gathering will be soon."

His form unravels, turning to ash that fades away on the wind. I collect my clothes and bring them inside, shaking them out first before putting them away.

Before I do anything else, I pull out my comm plate and answer the call from Papa Samuel.

"Jason, why was Midlaris wearing your clothes?"

"I don't know," I answer. "Maybe he liked how they looked and imitated them?"

"That was the same outfit you wore to Papa Jared's birthday last year."

Oops.

"Maybe he liked them?"

"And he was around for a couple of minutes before he showed up," Papa Samuel says. "And Niko looked relieved that he showed up, as if that's what he was wanting you to summon. Yes, I eavesdropped on that conversation. Don't forget that I helped make the comm plates."

His ability to eavesdrop on the calls needs to be fixed. Added to the list of things to sort out.

"How in Midlaris did you summon Midlaris?" Papa Samuel asks. "And why did he look like a teen?"

"Magicians have their secrets," I pull a line from my memories as Lucas. "As for why he looked like a teen, that's because he's rather young for a world. His avatar reflects that state and his state of health for whichever species he's in. Were he sickly, he would have been pale, his hair thin, his body very clearly ill."

"So for among worlds," Papa Samuel asks. "Midlaris is only a teen?"

"Correct," I answer. "Anyway, he actually answered the call I made, but he doesn't always. He did because he wanted to deal with that situation as well. I hope his presence clears things up."

"It… probably will," he tells me. "I need to go to help with things."

"Goodbye," I say. "Contact me when Niko is ready to return."

"I will," he says. "Love you, Jason."

"Love you, too, Papa Samuel," I say, then we end the call and I place the comm plate back into my spatial storage.

As soon as that's closed, I begin searching my magics for the dimensional spaces that currently exist through it, much like my spatial storages. It takes me several minutes to locate them, the connections weak from time and lack of use, but when I do, I tap into the two for the sword and the Crystal Crest, pulling out the latter first.

As with all Crystal Crests of the dead, the clear crystal has turned grey, but otherwise, it is the same as the one in my memories. I erase that dimensional space and send the old Crystal Crest into my spatial storage, placing it beside my one for this reincarnation.

Accessing the old dimensional spaces takes a lot of magical power to do, no doubt for the same reasons they were difficult to access. I will erase all of them over time, as I remove the items I stored up in them over the short few years I lived as a Magi back then.

With that done, I pull out my sword and erase the dimensional space it was kept in as well.

The sword is sheathed in the hard, grey leather sheath I made for it back then, still designed with the crest of the Magi, imprinted just beneath my own dragon and capped with a purple-grey metal to protect it from the blade.

The hilt itself is rather simple, with my dragon imprinted on both sides of the crosspiece, a small, grey jewel set into the visible eye on each. Resting in the claw-shaped pommel is another one of those grey jewels, for which there is no true name. The grip itself is swirled, simple. The hilt is forged of the same metal as the caps, only leaning more towards grey than purple, for a gentler look, yet still retaining the elegance of the metal.

I grip the sheath with one hand and draw the sword, examining the metal blade, the same grey-purple as the caps, with the same strength of its coloration. A simple blade with a fuller, inside of which are etched a series of runes in gold.

Isivinite, the rarest metal in existence, and more powerful than even godsteel. The last found isivinite, discovered two thousand years ago, remains as the unrefined ore that it was back then, the art of working it lost.

This is the sword I used to kill angels, demons, and gods, before my own magic was capable of doing so with ease. The metal alone did not grant that ability, but the forging I put it through… that did.

"Harbinger," I breathe its name, and the golden runes glow gently.

Harbinger is the sword whose presence is a forewarning. Its very existence changed the course of the war and turned me from the slave of dragons into the godkiller I was, into the being who brought about the end of the war between the heavens and the underworld.