Life Hunter

"No, I said one month didn"t I. Unless you think that two weeks equals to thirty days, you shouldn"t need to ask me that"

Raylein looked back at him with a deadpan expression. He clenched his fist "Should I just force him after all?" He said while staring at his hand with unfocused eyes.

Arima shrugged "I"m taking a break right now. I don"t want to fight all day for the rest of my life"

"…Do you think more highly of your break than the safety of an infinite number of innocent lives?"

"Yes" Arima bluntly answered and Raylein rolled his eyes and sat down on a chair in the corner.

"To be honest, I don"t think you"re really good anything else than fighting" Layla retorted with a pensive expression.

"…" Arima didn"t even know how to react to that. Particularly when it was Layla who said that, the frankest and most honest person in his group. Night hurt himself while trying to not break the silence with his laugh. Even Malum laughed.

"{That was good! Just for that, I forgive you for what you"ve done}" He said to her and Arima coughed to quiet them.

"Anyway, can I ask you why you didn"t choose someone earlier? And why did you set your sights on me?" He then questioned Raylein.

The latter was obviously not expecting that as he jumped off from his chair "Hum…" His expression changed a few times "How do I say that…? Basically, I was too lazy and rebel and didn"t choose anyone. But when I realized the world was in deep s.h.i.t, and that I may have to do something, you entered my senses"

"…That"s incredibly irresponsible" Karma commented and Raylein took a huge blow. He sat down again and just decided to spend those freaking remaining weeks sleeping.

"What are you going to do now in the first place? Do you actually have something else to do except fighting?" He uttered after a moment.

Arima glared at him and clicked his tongue. He waved his hand and grabbed a white sphere out of nowhere "I should do this at least" He declared and juggled with it.

Raylein frowned "You seriously don"t need my help? You know that you can die if you mess up the conversion, right? No matter how strong or immortal you are. If you can"t convert your life force, you will either die or become a normal human, if you have a lot of chance" He warned and stunned Layla and Karma. Night even furrowed.

"I a.s.sume" Arima responded nonchalantly. He extracted a little chunk of life force and manifested it above his palm. His sigil glowed and the usually colorless aura gained a black hue. He took a breath in and covered the force with his hands.

Nothing happened on the outside but when Arima opened his hands again, the life force had turned white. He brought up Yeion"s original force and compared it with what he had just made.

"…That"s impressive. I would even say it"s shocking…and traumatizing too" Raylein really couldn"t believe it. He sighed "It took me fifty years to just do what you just did…" He mumbled "I wonder how you managed to learn it by just combatting a transcendental. It"s not like you could take his memories either"

"I just a.n.a.lyzed it while we were fighting. It"s easy to look through it when you have someone using their magic in front you, to hit you"

"Yeah, of course" Raylein nodded sarcastically "And most people would simply say it"s impossible they would need to be someone who knows every secret behind every magic formation, circuits disposition, theory, soul, and mind; which you apparently know about"

"Yeion was not even using the same worldly energy as you. It wasn"t mana but ether. Internal force is universal, but energies are decided by which plane you"re born in. Even like that, you still managed to uncover every mystery behind the magic of an ether pract.i.tioner while you are a mana pract.i.tioner" He clapped and laughed dryly.

"I hate geniuses…"

"That"s not really new" Night remarked "That guy managed to make me feel out of the place the day I was born. Can you even believe that?"

"That must"ve been tough"

"It was"

Arima rubbed his temple while listening to his soul beat agreeing with a Plane Guardian who was perhaps capable of destroying this entire world as if it was nothing "…Fine, I"ll just convert my life force then I"ll come with you. Are you happy with that?"

Raylein smirked "It"s perfect"

"How is it going to unfold anyway? Am I just going to pa.s.s a test then become even more powerful? If it"s something like the Life Judgment, I may have to refuse. I don"t want to get through that kind of mess again"

"Well, not exactly. It"s a test indeed. But it"s not a trial or a judgment. I will bring you with me to meet the other Guardians. Then, by a vote, they will either decide to let you in or not. After that, you"ll just need to go through what we call "Inscribing". You will meet the Original G.o.d himself and he will determine the kind of power he should give you. Like this, you"ll be a.s.signed to a post among the Guardians"

Arima listened carefully until the end "That"s interesting" He said "I have a question though"

"Go ahead"

"What kind of chains will I end up with?"

Raylein"s eyes widened "You"re not wrong that it comes with some rules. Otherwise, I wouldn"t have left them" He sighed "Summarized; you"ll need to listen to every order of the Original G.o.d"

"You can"t act on your own volition unless it"s granted by both the First Guardian and the Original G.o.d. Let me tell you it doesn"t happen a lot. I tried"

"You"re forced to be in service for at least twenty thousand years before having the option to retire. You also have to choose a successor within the next five thousand years or you will be forced to come back for another cycle"

"Finally, the power you"ll gain can be used to control you or even kill you if the Original G.o.d has a good reason to do so" Raylein finished and looked back at everyone listening.

Layla glared furiously at him "That"s just a slavery contract"

"Don"t blame me" Raylein raised his hands "I"m not the one setting the rules. You can blame G.o.d or the very first generation of Guardians" He shrugged.

"Even so, in the end, there are still Guardians working under those kinds of conditions. If I"m not wrong, the First Guardian has been doing it for 150 thousand years now. He"s one of the oldest beings in the entire existence"

"Well, contrary to you, he actually lived all of these years instead of gathering them through parallel lines. In the first place, Life Hunters are the only ones capable of a.s.similating the strength of other timelines living in the other planes"

"And you are most likely the only one who has ever got their memories too. By the way, can I ask you how many different essences you a.s.similated during your Life Judgement"

Arima frowned "With me and Malum together… maybe around 150 million…" He froze before he could end his sentence.

Raylein groaned "I thought it would be big… but not that much. Anyway, I"m sure you have realized that there"s something wrong with that number. I told you; there are only 789 526 planes in this reality. How could you have 150 million? You shouldn"t even have one million"

"That"s because at each generation, there would be a new you. A new Arimane" Raylein declared "Normally, it shouldn"t happen. And actually, most people don"t even have more than a hundred thousand parallel lines. Even Plane Guardians, who are unique now, had around 500 thousand parallel lines"

"That fact that you have millions of them just shows how much your destiny is big and important. And how much the Original G.o.d rates you highly"

Raylein sighed and drank a cup of water which was placed on the table next to him "That"s why you should accept. Destiny is bulls.h.i.t but you can"t turn your back to it"

"…Why did you tell me all of this now?" Arima inquired and Raylein smiled.

"Because I want you to perfectly know what kind of existence you are. I already noticed that two weeks ago. Your entire existence is a miracle, or simply an absurdity"

"I would even say that the Original G.o.d may act someday to either control you or transform you into his p.a.w.n. That"s why I"m telling it"s a better idea for you to accept the contract. At least like that, the Original G.o.d will be also limited by the contract when dealing with you" Raylein gravely said and silence fell.

Arima closed his eyes for a moment then stood up "I"ll give you my answer in two weeks" He stated and teleported away.