New Life

Rowan awoke in a room that was very familiar to him. It was the room he had stayed in while he trained with his master right in his master's castle. He could hear stable breathing by his side and turned to see the person he least expected to be his first face on the first layer. Akari was by his bedside and, at some point, had fallen asleep. Rowan stared at her and took a deep breath so that even her scent could fill his nostrils in case this was a dream. He knew it wasn't, but even he had to convince himself. He slowly sat up and crossed his legs into a pretzel shape as he looked at the changes she had gone through.

He could feel a steady pulse of mana that her entire being radiated that made the blood in his body thrum and his heart want to beat out of his chest. The color had bled from her hair and the majority of it was completely white. And it cascaded past her shoulders and stopped a little past her waist. It looked like she had turned the moon itself into string and made her hair from it. A little after halfway, it bled into a beautiful red that shone like gems. Her features had remained virtually the same, but had somehow perfected themselves. She was everything that he remembered and more.

He took a deep breath and felt the pure mana pour into his body and turn into soul force instantly. The mana density here was so great that he could yield soul force in a matter of moments. When he was here before, he felt that the mana was abundant, but now he could genuinely feel the difference and his body shivered in excitement. He had outgrown the second layer so quickly and was able to generate such a feeble amount of soul force, so he was constantly in a starved state, unbeknownst to even himself. Coming to the first layer was like taking a long cold drink after standing in the middle of the desert. His pores opened, and he delighted in the euphoria as mana arced across his skin and lighting across his hair. The tiny zaps had, in turn, triggered a silent alarm.

The door burst open, and several tiny beings came flying through the air. It turns out the first people he would see would be the tiny wolves, Regius' grandchildren. They were much bigger now thanks to the time difference, but still hardly past being toddlers. They just had the heavenly wolf bloodline, which made their aptitude even at such a young age something that most cultivators would desperately dream of. They climbed on and around Rowan and asked him about his trials, while at some point Akari had woken up and began to rest her chin on her hand and listen as well white those beautiful vermillion eyes that sparkled at Rowan. Eventually the children, who could already set silent mana alarms, a fact that even Rowan could not help but notice, were summoned by their tutors and guards.

Rowan looked at Akari and looked at him and smiled. He leaned forward and gently pushed her hair behind her ear before kissing her. "Now how exactly did you beat me here Akari Abe?" She kissed him this time deeper and with more intensity before lightly biting his lip. "Simple Rowan Raid. I was the truly talented one all along." They both froze for a second and then broke into laughter as she began to tell him the story of what had happened. Akari and their planet had been safe, but the zombies were meticulous beings and they tracked what planets they were dispersed on, so when a second force arrived, the people of the world needed to unite, but still they were not strong enough. All except a single force, Akari, and her new race. She would turn the remaining survivors after many harrowing battles and see such a major increase in her own strength that she would decimate the second force, but not without cost.

Their home planet was so badly decimated that she had no choice but to leave by stealing a zombie spaceship. Akari would then travel the stars and turn willing people in search of power and build her strength. She would then lead countless assaults while draining the blood of countless powerful beings, quickly catapulting herself through the ranks faster than even she could fathom. As the primogenitor of an entire race, she was allowed to ascend with any number of her bloodline with her and the vampires were a species of such unity that not a single person did not follow her.

She then learned of how she became a vampire and learned that it was due to a sword strike from Regius countless years ago and so when he asked to adopt her, she thought it was fate and agreed. She told Rowan how he had showered her with affection and specialized training in the laws of blood. Something that Regius was extremely proficient in. She had, in turn, created a special unit under Regius' command, known as the Blood Wolves. It was a group of vampire warriors headed by Akari herself, with several high-powered vampires. Regius had allowed them to drain the blood of several high tier existences and turned them into one of the most fearsome legions in his army. Akari herself was so powerful that, like Valentine, she had earned herself a name from their enemies due to the chaos she wrought on the battlefield. Akari was a controller of blood. On a battlefield, she was the most fearsome thing. Wounds would become wider on their own. Blood would constantly seep from wounds and towards her, constantly regenerating her and her mana as she fought. Regius had come to respect her as a fellow instrument of war.

Rowan filled her in on everything else and his fight with Regius, after which she tried to pry what he was planning, but he kept his lips tight until there was still time before he could complete it. Regius was busy, but he had left instruction with Akari. Rowan had the next week to enjoy New Ark City and catch up with everyone, and spend time with Akari. The note had in parentheses after that part. "She is my daughter now, though, so I will be expecting a decent dowry. A Lowe ain't cheap." A tidbit that made both of them shake their heads at him. After that, the rest of the note detailed that after the week was over, he would report to the barracks at the space gate and be given a unit to command, as he would be joining Regius forces as the end of his apprenticeship to Regius. After he became a god, he could choose his own path and would be given partial control over the Ark since he won the bet.

Death mana had been released, and the cycle of life was fixed. At the same time, Regius announced that he expected a new race appearing in more frequency and that two sub-races under the umbrella had already appeared. The vampire and the Lich were the first two. While Leon Lowe announced himself to the world, he also shared the resurrection spell with Regius, who in turn shared it with anyone powerful enough to use by putting it in the library with all the other spells he learned. It had stringent conditions that Regius had only met because he had blocked death mana from circulation, but now, with it in full effect to work, it would need to be used within an hour after death.

Rowan put down the letter from Regius and looked at Akari before he wrapped her up and pulled her close to him. "I believe we have some catching up to do. Her eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment and released a steady glow that mesmerized Rowan as they fell backwards and into the bed to catch up since the last time since they had seen each other. After another day spent in bed, Rowan did just that. He caught up with people that he used to know as he saw them and explored the different parts of New ark city. He visited the Royal library and realized that all information on cultivation was available to everyone. He registered with the spirit race's soul record and met with their council. He saw Valentine and the Rest of Regius' children in passing while even visiting the magical engineering department and its head Macarthur.

After the week was finally over, Rowan was finally ready to start what was next for him , thought that made him smile as he made his way to the barracks. Today was the day that his life on the Ark started.