Unwarranted Survival

As Haalfrin's body loses consciousness, he feels his mind travel to his soul realm again. He sees the familiar ashen ground and glowing white soul gate in the sky. He sees another flickering rune up there, and he reads it aloud:

[A/N: Image of the 2nd Soul Gate and it's rune in comment.]

"The best warrior has an unrelenting spirit, and an unrelenting spirit accomplishes his task, no matter the cost."

Haalfrin sees a blurry image of himself still waving his sword at Kaalhyme, despite being handicapped and seemingly defeated.

"A warrior has an absolute sense of pride in his skills, and a warrior who is proud of his talents will never accept anything but what he knows he's capable of."

Haalfrin sees himself taking every fight seriously, even when matched against a foe weaker than himself – despite his strange desire to fall in battle one day.

"The path of a warrior is often lonely, as comrades fall by the wayside - unable to keep up, and rivals are defeated and forgotten by the world."

He sees a memory of himself kneeling before the burning pit where his clan's bones were found.

"However, the warrior will never be alone, so long as he finds others - be they friend or foe - who share the warrior's heart and walk his path. Even after defeat, they'll always be with him."

This vision is the most telling yet; Haalfrin sees men die around himself, and their spirits taken away by Freyya… However, a small wisp of their spirits remain… Haalfrin then sees himself with countless lingering Wills as they follow him about as floating weapons – ready to fight again.

Once Haalfrin finishes reading the last of his new Name, Haalfrin wonders aloud, "Huh. So I have the ability to call on the spirits of people I've fought in the past?"

He smiles at this and gets a warm feeling in his heart. "Well, at least this life won't be so lonely."

"Wait…" Haalfrin mutters aloud in alarm, "does this make me a necromancer? Aren't necromancers the bad guys?" He shakes his head. "Oh well. If anyone sees this and tries making trouble with me, it'll just be another excuse to fight people.

Just like what happened last time, Haalfrin feels himself fall into yet another vision – one somehow separate from the power of his Names.

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In this vision of another time, he sees his future self fighting in a war… The details are blurry enough that he can't tell who his foes are.

Instinctually, Haalfrin understands that he's some sort of general in this vision. General Haalfrin looks behind himself and sees countless men cheering for him and getting hyped up when he yells out his orders at them.

They all then look up at a giant pair of golden eyes staring at their army from the deep, dark void beyond the sky. All around him is devastation – farther than the eyes can see.

Looking up at the ominous being in the sky, Haalfrin feels no hatred for this being – the very creature who destroyed the gods and all order in the universe. No… instead of hatred, Haalfrin only quakes in excitement at the beast's unmatched power.

A moment later, the vision goes blurry again, and it shifts back to that image Haalfrin saw from the vision he got from his previous Name – the one where he saw himself be impaled by something and die.

Even though he knows his existence is about to be extinguished, the future Haalfrin feels firm knowing that he did his best and accomplished his duty.

More than that, he met and made many companions along the way. This common fight against the golden-eyed beast brought them all together, and he's better off for it. His eyes close peacefully, and his life ends quietly, despite the explosive battle still happening around his corpse.

It felt… good to fight and die beside his men. His life may have been cut short, but it was a fulfilled life. With nothing to regret, what's there to be sad about?

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Once Haalfrin is ejected from his visions, Haalfrin looks around and sees… something new in his soul realm. In the middle of the barren, ashy platform… is a single spear is stuck in the ground… It's Kaalhyme's spear.

Haalfrin sees the spear and a fond feeling wells up in his heart. "I'll see that one soon enough." he sighs, then decides it's time to get out of his soul realm. He recites his second and first Names. Both gates in the sky click open, and Haalfrin's mind leaves the dreary place behind.

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After Haalfrin's mind leaves his soul, he feels… like his spirit is left in limbo - still self-aware, though he can't see or feel his body. In fact, he can't see anything, like he's completely disconnected from his senses.

Haalfrin suddenly feels an overwhelmingly strong spirit touch his, and Freyya's voice echoes in his mind, "Stop giving me these little scares," she scolds him, "I thought you were dead... again."

"Wait," Haalfrin chokes, "I'm not dead?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Freyya replies with a dismal tone.

"D*mn it! Why?"

"Some of your little friends were fired up when they saw you charge ahead alone. They fought hard and got to you. There was a stash full of potent healing elixirs in the general's tent. They were all touchy feely and ignored their own wounds in favor of treating you."

"With my wounds, I should've bled out in minutes!" Haalfrin protests.

"What can I say?" Freyya's voice says with a snarky tone, "2nd gate mages have richer vitality. Also, as you were upgrading your soul, Das told me to give you this essence stone." She hands him a glassy, empty mana stone. "It's all used up, though, when you leveled up."

"Wait, Freyya," Haalfrin calls out, "why are you here, talking to me?"

"Obviously, a lot of people died in this battle here. I came for their souls."

"No, I mean, why are you taking the time to talk to me and giving me things all the time? I thought you were a busy person?"

"Ugh...," Freyya complains, "Listen, Das told me to be nice to you when we meet in the future - and judging by your lifestyle, we WILL meet often."

"Mr. Time? Why would he do that?" Haalfrin asks.

"...Your guess is as good as mine, little human. After you join him in the soul in the afterlife, he probably has some plans for you…"

(Of course, Freyya has plans for him too; she just tells him this to make Haalfrin more suspicious of the other god… not that he hadn't already figured out what was going on with Das.)

Haalfrin realizes that the empty mana stone is a gift with strings attached, and he feels a little uncomfortable in his heart. He could say the same thing about the goddess's talisman from earlier today, but he was far too excited in the heat of battle to think about that.

Seeing the unpleasant look on Haalfrin's face, she hides her smile and says, "Oh, you don't need to worry about repaying the old man. He just wants your soul, and that part wasn't negotiable anyway."

Haalfrin shakes his head at this, "Das isn't going to have my soul though."

Freyya seems interested when she hears this, and she asks while leaning in, "Oh? But your name is written in Das's book of fates. What makes you think you won't die an old codger?"

She is met with silence, so she huffs out an annoyed breath and says, "Stop joking around and just take a gift when it's given to you."

Haalfrin's spirit gets annoyed hearing this, so he crosses his arms and defiantly says, "Oh? I know I'm not going to die of old age; I can PROVE it to you!"

Without hesitation, Haalfrin summons his soul gate by invoking his Names in his mind. Once the soul gate draws itself on the ground below Haalfrin's transparent feet, he points down at his Fate Rune matter-of-factly and says, "See! It's written right here!"

The goddess looks at Haalfrin and tells him while suppressing her laughter, "Boy… Every soul script is read differently, and they can only be read by the owner – by you."

Haalfrin notes this new knowledge. Then, he immediately opens his mouth and starts reading his 1st Name Aloud – his "Aura Name", as he's taken to calling it.

Realizing what Haalfrin is doing, Freyya freaks out and yells, "Stop… Sto-" However, she never gets to actually stop him, since time freezes in that moment, and she's stuck in a position of reaching out with her hand.

The thing about Names is that they exist outside of time, and any interaction with them happens instantaneously. As soon as Haalfrin speaks his Name aloud, she truly has no more time to react.

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As Freyya's spirit is engulfed in the comprehension of this mortal's Name, she starts to feel blurry visions seeping through her mind like a trickle at first, then a flood. She sees parts of Haalfrin's life – specifically, she sees the things that drive him – the thirst for excitement, for companionship, and the desire to be needed somewhere – to be proven necessary in some way.

After all, Soul Names are a label the universe gives a person, just as a child's name is a label the parents give… Except the soul Names are far more descriptive, and they tell of your true nature.

A stranger taking a deep dive into another being's true nature would be uncomfortable for anyone, even a goddess...

… But Freyya only feels peace instead…, despite knowing that what Haalfrin did was impolite at best and a criminal offence at worst. Sharing your Name without the other's permission is outlawed in many godly domains, after all.

Since Freyya is a goddess, she sees a lot more in the visions that Haalfrin only got a glimpse of before. She sees almost his entire past, present, and future, and she sees him perish in battle in the far future.

After she finishes comprehending his Name, Freyya immediately gets back on her feet, screaming at Haalfrin and holding him up in the air like a broken doll. "HOW DARE you do that to me!? Didn't anyone teach you some common sense when handling your own Names!? Such things are dangerous!"

With a huff, she is about to turn and leave, but she pauses in her step, hesitates, then runs out through a black portal.

As she disappears, Haalfrin hears her yell, "You're not allowed to die until I'm done with you!"

The last he sees of her, her face is red with what Haalfrin assumes is rage.

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Once Freyya leaves this world, she hops onto the metal carriage she uses for work to travel between worlds, and she feels very pensive.

Freyya had seen a few things in those Soul Visions that Haalfrin himself didn't get to see. In the vision of his death, Haalfrin actually had long pointed ears instead of round, human ears…

… Sometimes, if a human is deemed "special" enough by the universe, their soul evolves into a higher race called "Arkin". This evolution can only happen after a person dies, though.

That mortal seems to think that his vision proves he'll perish in this mortal life by being impaled… but the vision was actually showing his spirit itself perishing in the afterlife.

"Still," Freyya thinks to herself, "If he ends up becoming a warrior god in the afterlife, that would suggest he MIGHT actually die on the sword in this life? I mean, if he's taken by Das, the warrior's path will be forever barred from him... probably.

Thinking this, Freyya smiles. "At least I have something to work with now."