Immortal Mage - Chapter 6 Life

Back to the mortal plane, Iledoya’s soul is now back in his body. He can’t feel his body yet but he can feel his senses slowly coming back. He could now sense that his body is currently lying down.

“You’re awake now?” said a voice that Iledoya hasn’t heard in a long time. It was the deep majestic voice of the one that had raised him up in the forest for a long time. The voice of Serion. The one Iledoya treated like a father.

Iledoya tried to get up and open his eyes, wanting see the figure of the one who had raised him up. But it was still too hard for him. He wanted to try and talk but that is also still too hard for him.

Serion could see him trying. “So you are awake. I just dug you up moments ago and if it wasn’t because of the magic inside of you, i would have thought you were just a corpse. Though I do not know how you are still alive, but i can see that your body is regenerating. Just wait for a while”

After a while, Iledoya could now open his eyes and get up. He looked around and could see that he is in a wide, spacious cave and could also now see the Lion that had raised him up, currently lying down not too far. Right now in Iledoya’s eyes, Serion was a giant white lion with wings of feather. Golden lines can be seen creating patterns around his body giving off a mythical and ancient aura.

“Serion… I’m finally back” He said with a gentle looking smile.

Iledoya could now move his body. Though with a bit of difficulty due to him being used to just being a soul and with 10,000 years worth of hunger, it’s hard for him to think straight. It was impossible for his stomach to not grumble after being empty for so many years.

A kind, amicable expression can be seen on Serion’s face. A smile begins to appear on his face when he heard Iledoya’s voice. He too has not seen Iledoya in a long time. “Let’s get you something to eat” After Serion said that, he closed his eyes.

At first Iledoya was confused as to why Serion just closed his eyes when he just said something about getting food. But after a while, a tree with 2 arms and 4 legs came in with a basket full of various fruits.

When the tree came in, Serion opened his eyes. After the tree placed down the basket in front of Iledoya and was about to leave, Serion gave a grateful bow with his head which just looked like nod and the tree returned it with a respectful bow.

Seeing that, Iledoya thought about it for a moment and seeming to have come to a realization, he asked “Serion, you’re a Guardian Beast?”

In this world, Beasts are capable of absorbing magic, which influences them in various ways like strengthening them or extending their lifespan. Thus, it is possible to rank a Beast based on how influenced they are by magic.

From the Lowest, the ranks are ‘Normal’, ‘Savage’, ‘Magical’, ‘Mythical’, ‘Legendary’, and ‘Guardian’.

All Beast that has no signs of being influenced by magic are Normal ranked. Animals which cannot absorb magic are also of this rank.

Savage ranked Beast are those that has more strength than Normal Beast due to the magic they absorb. However, after getting stronger from the magic, they tend to more be more hostile. Savage Beasts can live up to 100 years.

Magical ranked Beast are those that has absorb enough magic, that it gives the Beast higher intelligence, making it able to speak languages and use magic. Magical Beasts can live up to 500 years

Mythical and Legendary ranked Beast are that Beasts that has absorb so much magic that patterns start to appear on their body parts. Mythical Beasts will only have the patterns on some part of their body while Legendary Beasts will have the patterns on all part of their body. Mythical Beasts can live up to 1000 years while Legendary Beasts can live over 3000 years. Usually, only certain species are able to become Legendary Beasts.

The Guardian rank is different though. When a Legendary Beast with a lot of magic stays long enough in area like a castle, a fort, or a forest, it is able to form a connection with it. When done, the Beast will become a Guardian Beast of that area.

When they form the connection, their lifespan and magic becomes connected with the area. Due to that, the of lifespan of the area becomes their lifespan and if they leave their area they will become severely weakened. But other than that, through their magic connection they are to absorb magic through their area, sense anything within it, and by sharing magic with their area they are able to control it or affect it.

Serion was a little shocked hearing that Iledoya knows the term ‘Guardian Beast’. “It appears that we have a lot a talk about. Eat first, so you can think clearer. Our talk will not be comfortable on an empty stomach”

Iledoya nodded and proceeded with eating the fruits in basket. Even though he has not eaten anything in a long time, he still remembers the taste of some foods. Surprisingly, some of the fruits tasted like roasted chicken, some tasted like steak, and some like apples. Oh, they were apples.

The fruits didn’t have to be peeled, had no seeds, and can be eaten right away. So Iledoya just shoved them in his mouth and enjoyed the taste of food after not eating for so long. Eating these fruits with various delicious tastes, he can’t help but start to agree with those souls that had a motto of ‘The Joy of Life is being able to eat’.

Soon, the fruits were gone and his stomach was full.

Now that he was able to think more clearly, he realized that he is wearing close to nothing due to his clothes being destroyed from the fire and being buried. He took the chance to see if he can summon the objects he created in his plane. With a thought, a set of grey clothes appeared before him. ‘It worked’.

Seeing that Iledoya has finished eating and has changed clothes Serion asked “So what happened to you after your village was buried? Do you know how you’re still alive?”

Hearing that question, with a smile on his face, Iledoya started telling Serion his story about how he died and ended up being in Death’s plane. “This is what happened…” He wouldn’t call those times in Death’s plane as ‘being trapped’ anymore. He enjoyed his time there.

—————

“An Immortal Mage Befriending Death himself I understand now. Good for you. When you were in the village you didn’t try to make any friends and all you did was just brew potions.” Serion sighed as he remembered the time when Iledoya was in the village.

Iledoya then remembered something “Oh yeah, when i was in Death’s plane, I never found a soul that had knowledge about you. How can that be?” Back in Death’s plane, he would often hoped that a soul would know about Serion. Sometimes he would worry a lot from not having any news about Serion.

“Let’s see Do you have knowledge of what I am?” Serion asked back.

Iledoya observed Serion for a while before shaking his head “No”

“Then let me tell you about what I am to answer your question. I am what you would call a Divine White Lion. My species naturally born at Mythical rank with Wind and Light magic with all of them at Great grade. My species tend to avoid contact with other beings so we use Light magic to either create illusions or become invisible and because of that, beings that know we exist are even rarer than beings with Fundamental Attributes. While you were gone, I myself would choose to make myself invisible.” Serion explained.

“Oh so that’s how” hearing Serion’s explanation, Iledoya felt a surge of relief knowing that Serion would be very, very safe. “So how did you find me?” Iledoya asked another question.

“At time you died, I was already a Legendary Beast and after a few hundred years I became the Guardian Beast of this forest. As the Guardian Beast of this forest, i am able to sense anything that happens in the forest and in a certain distance around it, including underground. With the distance Kara village and the forest had back then, it took a long time before the forest expanded enough before i could sense you” Serion answered

Serion’s face suddenly showed an expression of sadness “I am sorry. Had I tried to at least find your body, i could have accelerated the expansion of the forest to find your body many years quicker”

Iledoya felt touched seeing Serion think about him. He walked up to Serion’s body and gave it a hug. Though it looked more like him planting himself in Serion’s fur with how big Serion is.. “It’s okay. Even if you took longer to find me, I would still have Death to accompany me in his plane. Don’t feel sad for me” Iledoya tried to cheer him up.

After a while, Serion asked “Well you are back to life now. So what are you going to do now?”

[edited by ed]