Chapter 407: Death after Death - Markets and Multiverses

As my father, Anise and I sat at the edge of my mother’s bed, she gently stroked my head.

“Miria… I think this is it for your old mom,” she said. Her eyes were murky, and her fox ears and tail drooped at the side. Her skeleton was withered and shrunken - nothing like the lively, proud, energetic mother from most of my time in this world.

Unaware of my thoughts, my mother reached out her withered hand again, this time towards Anise. “Anise… I’m glad that both of you are here with me. The last few decades have been a blessing. No chaos, no overwork… just the four of us, spending time together. The way it always should have been.”

My eyesight grew blurry as Anise gently buried her head into mother’s arms. “We’re glad that we’re here too, mom,” she said.

I nodded. My throat hurt, and I couldn’t form words properly, so I settled for hugging my mother instead. My mother gently stroked my back a few times, before she laughed. It was a dry, raspy sound - but one that still carried mirth and happiness, despite the ravages of time.

“Anise… your big sister is a big softie. Look after her when I’m gone, will you?” My mother said. Her dull, lifeless eyes locked onto mine, and she smiled again. “Miria… Anise… I’m so proud of both of you. You two helped so many people. You created hope in a world that had none. I… I wish I had seen the two of you settle down and have families of your own. But the two of you never found someone that caught your eye.” My mother cackled, and the dry, raspy sound echoed through her room. “I guess there just isn’t anyone in this world good enough for my daughters.”

I swallowed back a choked laugh of my own, and held my mother’s hand more tightly.

“Forget it. As long as you two are happy, that’s all I wanted. I was blessed to have such a wonderful family. In my next life, I hope that I can see the three of you again. Stay safe without me. I love you. All of you. See you in the next life, dearest. I hope we can be together again in the next life, and every life afterwards.” My mother’s eyes fixated on father for another moment, as if she was drinking in the sight of him one last time. Her eyes met his, and my father swallowed. I saw a hint of the exact same passion that they had every other time we saw them - as if, in their eyes, they had never stopped being the young, beautiful couple that loved each other more than anything else in the world.

Then, the moment passed. The light in mother’s eyes gradually dimmed, and I tried to inject another round of healing magic into her body. But I could feel that the magic wasn’t taking properly anymore. The connection between my mother’s soul and her body was collapsing.

Soon, I saw a soul tear free from my mother’s body, before it made its way towards the ocean of souls.

That night, Anise and I cried in the same room we had grown up in.

I spent the rest of the week a total wreck. Anise was much the same, so Sallia and Felix spent a great deal of time helping out around the house, spending time with my father, and checking up on us. I appreciated it. It was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in the world - that my friends were always by my side, and they always would be.

A week later, my father passed away. It was as if mother’s presence had been something vital to his existence, like soil and water to a plant. My healing spells became less and less effective as I tried to keep his body intact - but it was a hopeless endeavor. My spells just weren’t keeping him alive anymore. His final words were that he loved us and he hoped to meet us again, someday in our future lives. Then, his soul also returned to the ocean of souls.

I hoped that mother and father found each other again in their next lives.

After that, Anise and I held on to our parent’s bakery. I had never loved baking very much - it had never held the meaning for me that other people, such as our parents in this world and Old Mo in our last. Still, selling the bakery or leaving it to rot felt wrong. Anise started to make a bit of bread every morning for customers, and I healed anyone that came. We ran the bakery as a strange hybrid of a clinic and a little cafe. Anise’s bread wasn’t great at first, but she turned out to be adept at picking it up. In time, we came to be at least halfway decent at running the bakery and making customers happy.

Of course, that was when old age started to catch up to Anise and I, as well. Soon, we turned 470, and I was starting to remember why I hated being old so much. In this world, almost all of my time had been spent in the body of someone in her early twenties. I had loved the fluidity and grace that came from having a younger, stronger body. My singing voice had been wonderful, especially after I spent centuries practicing with exactly the same vocal chords. Now, as I grew older, my throat started to wear out. Songs that I had practiced for decades no longer sounded the same. My limbs didn’t move the way they used to.

I did my best to ignore it. I had already gotten old once before. It was a miserable experience. Sadly, it was simply a part of life - though a part of me truly hated this process. I hoped that at some point in the future, I could use my healing spells to remove problems like old age. Still, that was far beyond my current abilities.

As I grew older, I continued to heal people, in hopes of snagging a final few bits of Achievement or some sort of final reward for this world - but sadly, year after year came and went, and nothing much happened. I briefly debated the idea of heading to the front lines and fighting off a few raids, in order to grab a few last bits of slaughter Achievement - but I decided not to. The miniscule amount of Slaughter Achievement wasn’t likely to be very meaningful, and with how fragile and weary my body was becoming, I might not achieve anything at all during my final moments. Compared to that, I valued my state of mind more. Spending a few more decades with my friends, relaxing and making plans for the future, was simply a more meaningful use of my time compared to snatching a few hundred more Achievement. Besides, if I died, I would lose any last chances to snag some influence Achievement from healing people

Sadly, I didn’t hit the next threshold before old age came for me. Soon after, I died in bed of simple old age - just like my parents. It was time to return to the Market.

Power:

[Basic] Grade attunement

+ 5 Achievement

[Intermediate] Grade attunement

+ 1000 Achievement

[Advanced] Grade Attunement

+ 1500 Achievement

[Expert] Grade Attunement

+ 2000 Achievement

[Master] Grade Attunement

+ 2500 Achievement 

First Rune:

+ 300 Achievement

Second Rune:

+ 600 Achievement

Third Rune:

+ 900 Achievement

Fourth Rune:

+ 1200 Achievement

Fifth Rune:

+ 1500 Achievement

Sixth Rune:

+ 1800 Achievement

Seventh Rune:

+ 2100 Achievement

Eighth Rune:

+ 2400 Achievement

Ninth Rune:

+ 2700 Achievement

Tenth Rune:

+ 3000 Achievement

Consume Essence Mushrooms, permanently enhancing your body (X8)

+ 320 Achievement

Take a bath and improve your essence capacity

+ 300 Achievement

Skill:

Death Magic has reached [Basic] Grade proficiency:

+ 2,000 Achievement

Curse Magic has reached [Basic] Grade proficiency

+ 5,000 Achievement

Slaughter

Kill a Formless Stage 2 - Grasping Hands Variant for the first time

+1,000 Achievement

Kill a Hungry Building for the First time

+ 50 Achievement

Assist in Killing a Servant of Hunger and Rage for the first time

+ 800 Achievement

Kill a Warped Wings for the first time

+ 100 Achievement

Kill a Warped Wings for the tenth time

+ 500 Achievement

Kill a Warped Wings for the Hundredth time

+ 700 Achievement

Kill a Relay of the Great Mind for the first time

+ 2,000 Achievement

Assist in killing a Relay of the Great Mind for the first time

+ 500 Achievement

Assist in killing a Relay of the Great Mind for the fifth time

+ 700 Achievement

Kill an Outer Centipede for the first time

+ 2,000 Achievement

Kill an Outer Centipede (baby) for the first time

+ 350 Achievement

Kill an Outer Centipede (baby) for the tenth time

+ 2,000 Achievement

Kill a Sentinel of Stone for the first time

+500 Achievement

Kill a Chimera of DIstorted Growths for the first time

+ 4,000 Achievement

Assist in Killing an Extension of the Great Hive for the first time

+ 5,000 Achievement

Influence

Defend the Sanctuary (X1)

+ 30 Achievement

Heal 10 Permanent, debilitating Injuries

+ 400 Achievement

Defend the Sanctuary (X3)

+ 4,600 Achievement

Contribute to defending the Sanctuary (X103)

+ 18,200 Achievement

Contribute to defending the Sanctuary (X2)

+ 620 Achievement

Create Hope in a Dying World

+ 30,000 Achievement

Play a Major role in a dangerous raid

+ 2,000 Achievement

Play a Major role in a dangerous raid (X6)

+ 7,800 Achievement

Defend the Sanctuary against a Ten Bell raid

+ 5,000 Achievement

Contribute to defending the Sanctuary (X162)

+ 47,630 Achievement

Change the Fate of a Dying World

+ 150,000 Achievement

Heal 50 Permanent, debilitating Injuries

+ 1,000 Achievement

Heal 200 Permanent, debilitating Injuries

+ 2,000 Achievement

Heal 1000 Permanent, debilitating Injuries

+ 3,500 Achievement

Wealth

Own a Life core

+ 400 Achievement

Crafting

Exploration

Family/Disciples

Misc:

First time Achievements:

Total at start of the world: 10,698.46.

Maintenance: 177 Achievement

Taxes: N/A (Error - no tax skill detected. Please consult with your local city administrator for further details. Tax evasion is a capital offense, and trying to avoid paying may result in execution!)

New Total: 325,453

Author’s Note:

Join my Discord! (I’m at least sometimes active there, while I admit that I don’t generally check the comments section. I’m not very active anywhere, though - writers are antisocial people, okay!)