Chapter 1 - Rebirth

Thousands of years have passed since the Great Calamity had befallen to the world of humans. Gods and Demons appeared to chase down the person who wreak havoc into their realms. His power exceeded than any divine Gods have achieved. Thus, they named him The Supreme Emperor.

He was a threat to the upper realm. On that day, the two groups of divine beings had successfully captured him and sealed him away. Until that day, no one remembers what happened, even the supreme emperor. It was all erased in history.

This day, World War had broken out in the central continent. It was the Mauritius Empire that brought chaos all over the world. It was their greed that pushed them over the boundaries to conquer the world.

But, they couldn't move to the eastern continent when the Dominican revolutionaries went to push them to the corner. It was all thanks to Gilbert, who brought an opportunity to defeat the imperial forces. It was thanks to his sacrifices. The revolutionaries defended the eastern continent.

Gilbert died in the conflict. But he never knew that his soul is still alive. He found himself sitting on a boat sailing on a river. Its the river from the middle realm called, Soul River. Its surroundings filled with nothingness, it was purely dark.

Gilbert was confused, "Where am I?"

It was a surreal place for him. He looked in front, and there he saw huge doors at the end of the river. What made him look terrified was when they reach the end, where he saw the deep trench between those doors and the end of the river. While the boat is going closer, he saw souls floating above it.

A creature wearing a black cloak and a scythe appeared in front of the gates. It was the grim reaper who is guarding the gates.

"Souls who seek another life must pass the trials, but before that, you should have a soul fate within you. If not, we'll have no choice but to throw you into the pit of the abyss." He said.

The pit of the abyss is the place where souls who don't have soul fate on them will rest in peace. Gilbert is trembling in fear. He doesn't want to go down the pit. He froze when the grim reaper stared at him.

"What's your name, young soul?" the reaper asked.

"My name is Gilbert," he replied.

He can't help himself but tremble.

"Please, God, save me," he muttered as if he is praying for his salvation, but not even God can save him from his situation.

The reaper said, "God can't save you here. They can't even hear your prayers here. The Gods have no connection to this world. This place is isolated from the outside."

The reaper continued, "Young soul, are you afraid that you'll die and thrown below?"

Gilbert didn't answer as he was trembling. The grim reaper doesn't want to scare him, but instead, he found something mysterious from the boy. Inside his soul, he found a dimmed light. It was Gilbert's damaged soul fate.

"Young soul, did you know that you have a soul fate in you?" he asked again.

"Huh? I have a soul fate?" Gilbert was perplexed.

Reaper continued, " Although your soul fate is weak and damaged for an unknown reason, the grandmaster can repair it. Follow me through."

The Grim reaper opened the gates as Gilbert followed him through the doors. Beyond those doors is a path that leads them to the chamber of trials, where trials take place.

Gilbert asked, "Are we going inside that huge dome over there?"

The reaper humbly replied, "Yes, it is where we'll test you."

Again he trembled in fear, thinking that they might do something more terrible in that place than be thrown into the pit.

"It's not something that you can be afraid of, and you might get benefit from it." The reaper gave Gilbert some reassurance that it's not what he thinks that's going to happen inside the chamber, but he'll be tested and might get a ticket to be reborn into a new life.

A person approached them wearing a robe and holding a scepter on his left hand. It was the Grandmaster Barathon, who manages the middle realm and a guide of those who'll take a trial.

The grandmaster saw the soul fate inside Gilbert, "I sense a faint soul fate in you, young soul."

"It was damaged, grandmaster. If you could help him restore his soul fate, we might get a new reborn soul again." the reaper said.

The grandmaster laughed, "Hahaha! It's been thousands of years since we had such a reborn soul. Shall we get a new one then?"

It was thousands of years ago that a soul fate was newly reborn. But until that day, there was no more soul fate existed. It's a miracle that a soul fate arrived before them.

"I'm sorry, but I might interrupt your conversation. What is soul fate?" Gilbert inquired.

The grandmaster explained, "Young soul, your soul fate inside you determines your life in your when you reborn. It also has mysterious powers varying on its color. The lowest grade was silver, next to it was white, blue, and green is the highest in the group.

But the highest grade was a divine grade soul fate, though nobody had that kind of fate soul in the past neither do we know about its color. They say if you're a divine soul fate, your path can't be determined. As they call it, a fateless one."

After that conversation, they went inside the chamber except for the grim reaper. Before proceeding the trial, the grandmaster gave gilbert an elixir to drink that will restore his soul fate. Moments later, his soul fate's power surges rapidly inside his body. Its soul fate began to emanate a mystical aura that the grandmaster hadn't felt it before. It is illuminating inside Gilbert's body. The grandmaster saw the color of Gilbert's soul fate and was greatly astounded.

Gilbert was surprised that he saw his body illuminating brightly, "Why is my body illuminating?"

For the grandmaster, it was a sign of good news. An unexpected soul has a unique soul fate inside him. It was a divine grade soul fate.

Grandmaster was overjoyed, "A gifted one has arrived!"

Gilbert doesn't know what's happening inside his body, but he felt like he became weightless, "What happened in my body?"

The grandmaster approached him, then pats Gilbert's shoulder, "You're lucky young soul, you have a long path to cross."

He continued, "You're gifted with a divine grade soul fate."

When Gilbert heard those words from the grandmaster, he doesn't want to believe it, but rather to wake himself up from the dream he's experiencing right now, although it was a reality all along. Moments later, Gilbert made his decision to walk along the path where his soul fate will lead him.

The grandmaster was happy with the decision he made.

He cut to the chase and said, "Right now, you're in the trial. Pass all the tests, and we'll reward you a new life. Don't waste this opportunity. You have a divine soul fate that can also help you with your journey in your new life after you pass the test, so don't worry about your life after this."

He opened the altar of trials using the sealing key. The dome's ceiling enveloped with clouds swirling like a typhoon, then a beam of light from its eye illuminated the altar.

"Its time, young soul. Be careful," the grandmaster told him.

"I will."

Ever soul fate has a fixed amount of trial, depending on what grade it belonged. But it was different for a divine grade soul fate. Gilbert will be facing six trials. The first four trials he went through finished with ease. While he was encountering the first trial, a divine grade sword gifted to him by his soul fate and also comprehended its techniques in an instant.

He then passed the fifth trial What comes after was the sixth trial. But it was strange that the sixth trial never happened. Instead, an illusion of the supreme emperor appeared.

Gilbert observed the person that appeared. "Who are you?"

The supreme emperor didn't answer. He approaches Gilbert.

But Gilbert was very cautious as he pointed his sword towards him.

"Stay there. Don't come closer," Gilbert warned.

The supreme emperor had spoken, "Yield and sheathe your sword young one, I'm no threat. I came here to give you something."

Gilbert didn't know his intention but felt relaxed when he doesn't feel any harm from the supreme emperor.

"You will continue our legacy. I bestow you the map of the heavenly pearls, but I had only half of it. I want you to find the piece of this map and find the seven pearls into the vast realm."

He gave the map to Gilbert. He then informed Gilbert, "You must be careful not to show this to anyone. This map is a valuable treasure as it leads you to where the place of the pearls."

Gilbert scratched his head, " What are these pearls? And what's their use?"

"It's a long story. But as you journey to the vast realm, you'll know the significance. I don't have much time as I only created this illusion using my intent. If you ever encounter those pearls, you must not show them, or the upper realm won't let you live," the supreme emperor warned Gilbert about the nature of possessing those pearls.

Afterward, he banished in the air. Gilbert still thinks what the supreme emperor said to him. He was intrigued by the mysterious pearls that the supreme emperor mentioned.

The grandmaster approached him, "You've passed. As we talked it a while ago, you'll be reborn into a new life."

After the trials have completed, they walked out of the chamber. The grandmaster leads Gilbert into the Garden of Life. In the altar, there was a stone table surrounded by a column that has text carvings.

"You lie down here," he instructed.

Gilbert followed his instructions. Then, he activated the Reincarnation pentagram technique within the columns. The grandmaster gave him his farewell, "Be careful on your journey to your new life, young soul." he smiled.

Gilbert thanked him afterward, "Thank you. I couldn't ask for more."

Magical powers surged into Gilbert's soul rapidly. Gilbert's eyes widened and gasped. The power surge into his soul stopped as he closed his eyes. His soul dispersed into small light orbs and flew upward.

Gilbert had been reborn into his new life.