As they were returning home, John wondered how his friend Renato got so strong. From being on the same level- alright, with Renato outclassing him in Spiritual Collection Phase but ultimately accepting a draw- to Renato being able to stand against Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators on his own, even if just for a few moments. John fought against them in the same battle with the power of a formation on his side, but the two cultivators with Renato were simply serving as backup and not augmenting his own ability.

Even if John had only managed to match Renato through grit and a bit of trickery at first, after obtaining more totems and growing their power he should have matched him more closely. And he did, until recently. John wasn’t willing to accept that Renato just hadn’t been taking him seriously, because the man had no reason to fake that. Others might do so for the young master of the Tenebach clan, but John thought he knew him well enough that he wouldn’t care about that.

Ultimately John couldn’t find an answer, but if his friend was really who John thought he was… getting the answer should be a matter of straightforwardly asking. John pulled Renato aside from the others with the excuse of discussing cultivation techniques, which might not even be incorrect. “I noticed your strength has increased significantly lately,” John began.

“Yours as well,” Renato replied. “The way your energy infiltrated that elder was masterful.” His words indicated he was doing more than just being polite, but John didn’t particularly feel it at the moment.

“That is true, but I am not able to stand against a Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator under my own power. Trust me, I tried it.” John tapped his chest where he still had a scar on the right side. All the actual damage to his muscles and lungs had been repaired and it was simply superficial, but he restrained himself from completely restoring the skin so he would have a reminder. “Perhaps this is just a naive thought to justify my own talent, but I feel like there’s some secret to your recent change. Of course, if it is actually a secret you aren’t obligated to tell me anything about it.”

“It is indeed a secret, but nothing I can impart upon you,” Renato shrugged. “It’s just that I recently got a few decades of cultivation experience.”

From others, John might have assumed his words to be a joke- or something less than a straightforward explanation. “I don’t quite get it. Did you find some mystic tomb and inherit the memories of another cultivator?”

Renato shook his head, “No. I just started remembering my experiences from a previous life.”

“Oh,” John said flatly. “Are you saying…?”

“I’m reincarnated.” Renato shrugged, “I suppose almost everyone is, but I am one of those who happens to remember it. I was just unable to access most of the memories before my cultivation reached late Soul Expansion Phase.”

“That seems like a big secret,” John noted. “Your sect may wish to keep it under wraps.”

“Indeed they do,” Renato nodded. “But it is my secret, and I believe you are probably not the type to chop me up to try to learn something from my corpse. And even if you were that type, I know for certain you wouldn’t do it to a friend.”

“I wouldn’t chop up anyone looking for secrets of reincarnation,” John said. “Sets a bad precedent. People might want to do the same to transmigrators like myself.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Renato nodded.

John waited for him to say more, but it seemed he required some prompting. “What does that explain, specifically?”

“Why your cultivation path is so odd. Very few would have considered it in any circumstances, let alone when they have a guaranteed measure of success in a simpler avenue of training, as the young master of a clan.” Renato nodded, “Don’t tell me you think you wouldn’t be stronger if you had trained purely in darkness.”

“Right now… yeah,” John nodded. “I’d be stronger. But I don’t think by much. If… when I break through to Consolidated Soul Phase, I don’t think that will be true.”

“And yet,” Renato pointed out, “It was a pretty bold assumption that you would surpass where you clan head was when you began your journey of cultivation.”

“Probably, yeah,” John shrugged. “But I couldn’t help it… this path called to me.”

“Maybe people miss that call,” Renato replied.

“Do they miss it, or just not get lucky enough to have it?”

“I’m of the opinion that everyone has a chance to hear that call of fate, though perhaps not in every life. But I know now why we met as we did.”

“I’m pretty sure I still don’t believe in fate,” John remarked.

“But you would say you believe that spiritual energy draws people of great power together, for good or ill. And something guides people.”

John frowned, “Then would you say it was the fate of those cultivators from the Society of Midnight to die at our hands?”

“It certainly seems to be the case, yes,” Renato shrugged, “Though that’s one of the more boring applications. But let me ask. You speak of transmigration. Perhaps we have different meanings, but that would be a soul entering a body that was not their own after death, correct? Were you not a cultivator of some renown?”

“I was the manager of a fast food place,” John answered. “I… can explain that later. But basically I was in another world until I died… and then somehow took over the body of the dead Fortkran Tenebach.”

“May I ask… when this happened?” Renato seemed a little bit nervous, which was quite odd for him.

“Some months before we met in the Crystal Caverns. Up until then… well, I’m sure you at least heard some of the rumors.”

“I discounted them as being slander.”

“They were mostly true, for my former self.”

“So… what was your name? I understand it would be most convenient to continue to refer to you as Fortkran, but I am curious.”

“John,” he replied. “What about you?”

“Actually,” Renato replied. “That was something I remembered from very early on. I was quite insistent that people call me Renato, and nobody does differently. Except my parents.”

John nodded. “Well, Renato it is then. And it would probably be best to keep calling me Fortkran. That’s… also my name now.”

There wasn’t much else to say in the conversation. Now they both knew a secret of each other, and nothing was different for it. It did explain why Renato was so awkwardly formal about everything though.

Still, that was another one. Was everyone some sort of reincarnated or transmigrated person? Obviously not. In fact, John only knew a few including himself. And it wasn’t terribly strange that such people would take notice of each other. Besides, such things were known factors in this world- if rare.

-----

Matayal answered John’s question straightforwardly. “No, I’m not reincarnated or transmigrated. That I remember.”

“That honestly makes me feel better. It just seemed like there were too many members of the club.”

“Do I get to know who else you found?”

“I didn’t ask about sharing it, so I’m going to go with it being secret for now. If a relevant situation comes up I’ll be glad to share the information of course. Keeping secrets for non-family can only go so far.” John was sitting on a wide couch next to Matayal. She had been visibly pregnant for some time, but the swelling of her belly was now undeniable and huge. “I missed you. For multiple reasons.”

“Oh? I’d like to hear all of them.”

“Sure,” John smiled. “First, because I love you. I just like being with you. Then there are the more practical reasons. I’m not nearly as good in a fight without you.”

“Same here,” Matayal pointed out.

“That may be true, but I felt especially unbalanced. I’m looking forward to roaming the world with you again.” John sighed, “Though we won’t get to do all that much of that for a while, will we?”

“When we take over our clans, we will be entitled to some amount of travel for cultivation. But it will certainly have to be carefully constructed. Not that we were exactly free to do whatever we wanted before.”

“That’s true, we’ve always had responsibilities… but they were rather smaller in preparation for this.”

Matayal smiled at John, “If it helps, I think you’ve already been fulfilling the necessary roles quite well. Leading people in battle, making decisions about political factors… misleading people in auctions.”

“I’m going to assume those are all positives,” John grinned back. “But I still don’t feel qualified.”

“Why not? You’re strong and competent at management. Many groups only end up with one of those in their leadership.”

“I suppose,” John shrugged, “But having encountered people who are stronger, I feel like I’m not enough.”

“And how old were those people?” Matayal asked pointedly.

“I honestly don’t know,” John frowned. “Not young.”

“Exactly. Look, if you get defeated by someone your age, you’re allowed a little bit of stress, but if you weave your way around those much older than yourself and come away with ‘only’ ripping out a shard empowering their cultivation you don’t get to worry about such things.”

John briefly wondered if he could count Renato, but decided it didn’t matter. He just needed affirmation sometimes. On that note… “So, how are you doing?” He wanted to ask about the kids too, but Matayal wasn’t just pregnant, but also a person separate from that. The answer for the kids was pretty apparent anyway.

“Bored,” she said bluntly. “I’m ready for all of this,” she gestured to her belly, “To be done. Constant busywork keeping the flows of energy steady mixed with nothing occupying my time.”

John mentally noted the books on cultivation around her, but knew those weren’t much good for entertainment. And potentially just frustrating, if she couldn’t practice anything they taught. “We need to get some board games.”

“I’m quite tired of chess, thank you. My mind is sufficiently clear.”

The version of chess in this world wasn’t quite the same, but it fit into the same category of the much older board games. Simplistic but significantly deep to expand the mind. “I was thinking of something else. Unfortunately I don’t know anything well enough to recreate it. Except perhaps some card games, but I don’t think Go Fish counts as… anything, really.”

There were plenty of other forms of entertainment available, but most of them involved leaving the home… and for Matayal, that was a risk at the moment. There was basically no worry of an accident happening, but given the ongoing conflicts… accidents were pretty far from anyone’s concerns.

“Tell me about these games,” Matayal said. “I’d like to hear it.”

“Alright, time for my favorite pastime. Trying to explain things that you think are fun but don’t remember that well.” But John was actually quite happy to do his best. Talking about Earth was like having his own huge well of imagination to pull from. A world not focused on cultivation was radically different, especially with what they considered entertainment.

Some time later they did get to talking about the kids- who were extremely healthy and active. “Sometimes I swear they’re wrestling each other,” Matayal sighed. “I have to form barriers between them to prevent any accidents from happening. They’re weaker than first rank cultivators, but it’s tiring watching them all the time. I’m glad you’re back to help, since I’m not so good with managing the girls.” Those two were earth and darkness, so it made since she found it more difficult. “The boy is… well, he got an early boost from our time in the Shimmering Islands. But I think he might be falling behind. The formations here are excellent, but it’s not quite the same. I was thinking to travel back home to give birth, right near the end to hopefully stabilize things. I don’t want any of them to have a disadvantage.”

“Even as they are, I imagine they’ll be anything but normal compared to most people… but I agree that our children should all have the best chance we can provide. And while it would be nice to be fair…” John frowned. “The girl who is trending towards earth will find things quite different than the other two.”

“Absolutely. We talked about making sure everyone sees both clans regularly. She’ll be fine here, since the Stone Conglomerate is an optimal cultivation environment… but she’ll need teachers.”

John nodded, “It shouldn’t be hard to get them, and the Order of the Amber Heart might be willing to teach her as well, but I’d like if we were as active in that process as we can be. I can teach some earth techniques at least, but I’m not much good for basing a cultivation style off of.”

Both of them knew that any plans they made for their children’s future would probably fall apart on contact with the real world, but it was still better to make the plans. They could only do their best, and deal with problems as they came up.