Adam was still a little dazed from this coincidence. He was left at a loss of how to start. Evelyn stepped in for him and asked: “Have you heard about what happened to Adam after he went through the portal to the plane of death?”

Heinrich nodded: “Your mother told me about when I came to visit after I got back.”

“Well, as it turns out, I am the reincarnation of someone Adam knew! My true soul is the same as hers, born into a new life! And you are also the reincarnation of someone Adam knew!”

Heinrich's eyes went wide. Samantha and Thomas also shared some shock. Heinrich asked: “You're not pulling my leg, are you?”

Evelyn shook her head: “Look, Adam is still out of sorts. How can he fake that?”

The idea of reincarnation intrigued Heinrich. “Who were we before, then?”

“I don't know if you remember Adam talking about them, but I am the reincarnation of Helen and you are the reincarnation of Alfred!”

“Aren't those the two whose grave Adam went to Hessler for?” Heinrich asked.

Evelyn nodded her head: “Yes! Helen and Adam were lovers before he disappeared for a long time. In his absence, Alfred, who had fought over Helen with Adam, also became Helen's lover!”

With a far look, Heinrich thought over this: “Huh, we are kinda alike. I fought over Adam for you too!”

Evelyn could only enthusiastically nod her head. It was quite a marvel. Samantha and Thomas were also awed. Samantha then thought of something: “Adam, you didn't mention this while you were here. Considering your quick reaction to Heinrich, did you not know about Evelyn when you first saw her?”

Adam's thoughts were finally coming under his control when he heard Samantha's question. Adam scratched his head with some uncertainty while he started out: “Well, I did know when I first saw Evelyn, after I got back. Only, I wasn't sure how to broach such a subject or if I even should. What would you think if someone suddenly told you: 'You are the reincarnation of my late lover!' Kind of weird, right?”

Samantha nodded with understanding. Then she asked: “What prompted you to tell Evelyn about all of this, then?”

Both Evelyn and Adam instantly went over the series of events in their minds. It started with that kiss on the beach... Evelyn's face started to turn a little red in slight embarrassment while Adam was at a slight loss at how to start out.

He said: “Eh, ah, well... Evelyn... kind of professed her feelings to me and I felt I had to let her know of all of this before coming to a decision of what to do.”

Samantha only nodded her head with an 'Mhmm.' This was apparently no surprise to her. Adam suddenly started to get the feeling that he was being cornered. Samantha then asked: “So, what happened? Are you two now...”

Adam started out: “Ah, well...” and then suddenly remembering something, Adam turned around to Heinrich who was now a tad pale. All this weird talk of reincarnation had suddenly turned into something with a real bitter after taste.

Adam said: “Heinrich... This is not how I wanted to talk to you about it, but Evelyn and I are now in a relationship. Even though I had told you I was not interested in such a thing and would not do this... I really don't know what to say.”

Heinrich looked between Adam and Evelyn, then gave a small shake of his head. Evelyn was also uncertain of what to say. She hated to see Heinrich like this, but she definitely did not have the same type of emotions for him as she did for Adam. Still, even without knowing what to say, she stepped forward and said: “Heinrich...”

Heinrich turned around and said: “I need to be alone.” and quickly Dragon-Formed before taking off!

Evelyn was startled and left at a loss. Adam said to her: “Let's give him a while and then we can go together to properly talk with him.”

Evelyn could only nod her head. Turning back around, Adam was surprised to see Thomas standing right next to him with a stern look. Thomas said: “So, you think you can just take my daughter and elope on a whim do you?”

Adam once again felt like he was being cornered with no room to back up. Adam wasn't sure how to respond to Thomas and could only think: 'This is not how this was all supposed to go!'

Thomas suddenly put his arm around Adam's shoulders and started guiding him to the house. “Come, Adam. We need to have a discussion.”

Adam was unable to resist as he was dragged along. Adam knew where this was going, but knew of no way of avoiding it. It was the dreaded talk that fathers gave to their daughters new boyfriend! More than being frightened, Adam just felt the situation a little sudden and awkward. As Thomas was leading him, Adam heard Samantha say: “Come here, Evelyn. I think we should also talk.”

Thomas took Adam to a different room in the house and sat him down. Thomas gave Adam one look and said: “I'll skip over the other parts for now. Can you protect Evelyn? Truly protect both her and yourself?”

Adam was a little surprised and relieved. They skipped over almost the entire talk! But still, Adam could only shake his head to Thomas's question. “I can't guarantee it. As long as this war is not stopped, no one is safe...”

Thomas said: “I heard from Samantha about where you think this war is going to head. Do you truly believe vast hordes of ghouls will come to decimate the world?”

Adam nodded: “I do.”

Thomas gave a large sigh: “Well, were you successful in doing anything about it?”

Adam shook his head: “Everything I've tried has failed. I'm down to trying to destroy all the portal stones before the spirits start sending hordes of ghouls through.”

Thomas was shocked! “You can't be serious!”

Adam sighed: “It's all I've got left...”

There wasn't much more to be said. Thomas could only say: “Well, don't disappoint my daughter. From what I've heard, she definitely wants to help put a stop to this war. If for any reason, make sure you do it for her!”

Adam could only nod his head in response. Adam and Thomas rambled on a little before finishing their talk. Adam and Thomas left the room they were in and joined up with Evelyn and Samantha. They had also just finished talking. Evelyn looked over but quickly averted her eyes from Adam, seemingly bewildered and even a little shy! This behavior seemed odd and Adam inquired: “What's wrong.”

Evelyn quickly shook her head and said: “It's nothing. Mom just talked about a few weird topics.”

It didn't seem like he could get anything more than that out of Evelyn, so Adam didn't press for more details. He could only guess about what topics of conversation could unsettle Evelyn like this...

Samantha and Thomas continued on at their own tempo, as though everything was normal. They welcomed Adam and Evelyn back and proceeded to dig details of their travels out.

A few hours later, Adam and Evelyn finally managed to escape from the house. Evelyn sighed as she said: “I don't know what's gotten into mom and dad. Did dad... also talk to you about weird topics?”

Adam could only respond: “They're just being parents. Don't worry about it. Rather than that... do you think Heinrich would be willing to talk now?”

Evelyn's pace slowed. The situation with Heinrich ate at her, but there was nothing she could do! She didn't want to break his heart like this, but she just didn't have intimate feelings for him. She could only quietly say: “Maybe.”

Seeing Evelyn like this, Adam reached out and grabbed her hand. While it was a simple gesture, it was something she needed at the moment. Adam said: “Let's go properly talk to him then.”

Evelyn nodded her head and quietly said: “Okay.”

It took them a while to find Heinrich. He wasn't at his house, nor any of the places he would normally frequent. After asking around for about an hour, they finally found Heinrich at the outskirts of the village, sitting on the ground and looking out toward the horizon.

Adam and Evelyn quietly approached, neither truly knowing what they should say. Adam could only softly call out: “Heinrich.”

Heinrich looked over to see Adam and Evelyn standing close together not far away. Pain was evident in his slightly red eyes. His gaze then turned to the ground in front of him. Adam wasn't sure how to continue when Heinrich spoke: “I suppose it never would have actually worked out between me and Evelyn. This war has definitely made that apparent! I... enjoy fighting. I also don't like the war but... I enjoy the fight. My method for stopping the war is to fight, fight, and fight some more! However... this alone shows how different my thinking from Evelyn is.”

Heinrich then looked over to Evelyn: “Is this why you could never love me?”

Evelyn wasn't sure what to say a moment before saying: “I don't know. I have always only thought of you as a close friend, but I never had the desire to be more intimate... maybe somewhere deep down that is the reason why...”

Heinrich could only sigh. He then looked at Adam briefly before shaking his head. Neither had to say anything. Heinrich then told them: “I still need to be alone for a while. I just... need to freshen my mind.”

Heinrich got up and walked further out of the village and into the forest. Adam and Evelyn could only watch him go until his figure was obscured by the trees. Evelyn still had worry sketched over her face. Adam could only try to comfort her: “Don't worry, He'll be fine.”

Evelyn quietly nodded, briefly glancing in the direction Heinrich disappeared to, Adam saw the mountain a small distance away. Seeing it immediately sparked Adam's interest. He asked Evelyn: “How should we go about locating our first portal stone?”

Evelyn was finally brought out of her own thoughts to answer Adam: “Well, we should probably ask one of the elders. All I know is that there is a flow of spirit essence that goes through the mountain. By following the flow back, you can find a portal stone. I don't know how exactly one should follow the flow of spirit essence or if there are particular ways you should go about the process.”

Adam's eyes brightened a little: “Let's just go over to the mountain and see what we can find ourselves!”

Adam and Evelyn Dragon-Formed and quickly found themselves at the mountain. This was not Adam's first time there, of course, but it was the first time that he attentively used his elemental sight to observe the area. There wasn't a noticeably larger amount of spirit essence compared to around the village, but Adam did notice a change in the way the spirit essence moved and interacted as they got closer to the mountain. They were all collectively flowing from the mountain!

Adam eventually landed on the top of the mountain. All the spirit essence flowing from the mountain was exuded from this point! This was the very spot... where every dragon in the north finished the awakening of their Dragon-Form! Adam felt this flux of spirit essence was deeply tied with that. The Spirit essence flowed up and out. Much of it seemed to follow an orderly path up into the sky and stretched beyond Adam's elemental sight. Adam spent a few moments studying the marvel as a thought suddenly assaulted his mind: 'Maybe... spirit essence cycles from the north, down to the south. Passing through the southern mountain and through the center of the world only to come back out the northern mountain to continue the cycle!'

Adam felt that this idea was somehow right. Spirit essence was always balanced and cycled in a way that was nearly unfathomable, even to spirits themselves! Adam opened his eyes and sent to Evelyn: “So we need to follow the flow, but is there something specific that will lead to a portal stone?”

Evelyn shook her head: “I don't know.”

At this time, a dragon flew out from within the mountain. Normally no one would care if there was anyone around the mountain. Now, however, they were at war. The mountain housed a set of portal stones that were the northern village's main link to the other planes. The dragon came out from his vigil over watching the portal stones to see why Adam and Evelyn were there.

“What are you two doing here?” The dragon sent out. He was intially on high alert when he saw Adam's black form, but quickly identified his unique oddities that separated Adam from other death dragons.

Adam amicably sent out: “We were interested in tracking down a portal stone. On impulse, I came up here to check the flow of spirit essence.”

“Oh.” The dragon was a little taken aback by this answer. There was rarely anyone who wanted to hunt down portal stones. The dragon asked: “Do you know what you're doing?”

Adam gave a small chuckle: “Not really. I can easily grasp the flow of spirit essence, but I don't know how to follow it to a portal stone!”

The dragon shook his head: “You really are impulsive. The reason why its so difficult to track a portal stone is that you have to follow the flow of spirit essence high into the sky. At some point, you will see a small stream break from the flow to go down into a particular spot. Sometimes there is a portal stone there, most of the times not. Even then, the stream will only guide you to the general area where there is a large gathering of spirit essence. Finding the stone is totally up to you! If you can't find anything, it is also very hard to grasp the flow of spirit essence again high up in the sky. You will likely have to return here to start anew! Are you sure you still want to go on this senseless adventure?”

Adam was a little stunned. “Well... I still want to try.”

“Then good luck to you.” The dragon responded before heading back inside the mountain to maintain his vigil over the portal stones there.

Evelyn sent: “This... is harder than I thought.”

Adam shook his head: “Let's not give up until we try for ourselves.”

Adam studied the flow of spirit essence for a while before picking out a stronger stream of fire essence. “I found a strong one to follow. Let's head back and get ready to go!”

There was no time to loose and Evelyn was infected by Adam's sense of urgency. In a flurry, they hurried back to Evelyn's house. They let Samantha and Thomas know what was going on. Thomas said: “But you just got back!”

This caused both Adam and Evelyn to momentarily pause. They were planning to leave as soon as they got a few things together, but they had just returned earlier in the day. Samantha joined in by saying: “At least rest a day first. To much travel is bad for you.”

Adam couldn't find a way to rebut this statement. Thus, Adam and Evelyn stayed and rested for the rest of the day instead of heading off again.

Late in the morning the next day, Adam and Evelyn were finally preparing to leave. Thomas and Samantha hated to see their daughter leave so soon, but she wasn't a child anymore. They could only do so much to protect her without hampering her personal growth.

As they were saying their goodbyes, Heinrich quickly ran up from his house a few spots down. He looked more lively than he had the other day, though his hands appeared bruised and bandaged from punching something real hard multiple times. He waved out to them: “Hey, were you guys really going to leave without telling me!? So much for being friends!”

Adam scratched his chin: “Well... you said you wanted to be alone.”

Heinrich blew the comment off: “Pah, whatever. I'm probably going to head out for another war before too long, so it might be a while before we see each other again. Make sure you two stay safe.”

“We could say the same for you. War is no walk in the park.”

It seemed that Heinrich was much better than the day before. Evelyn was all smiles seeing him this way. After a while, they finished saying their farewells and Adam took off in his Dragon-Form with Evelyn following behind. Their first stop was the mountain. It took Adam a moment to attune to the flow of spirit essence and accurately pick out the flow of fire essence he had chosen the day before. Adam turned to Evelyn and sent: “Let's go!” and the two took to the skies.