Chapter 166: Reincarnation is a get out of jail free card. If you’re in jail. And dead.

Asking Amanda about reincarnation was a flash of curiosity. The words had flown out of my mouth, but I didn't regret it.

I wanted to know the answer.

“Are you finally getting sick of reading about Marked ones?” Amanda followed my gaze to the bookshelf as she hopped onto the sofa beside me.

Her crimson hair lit up and she smiled in excitement. Getting her talking about books was the same as firing a cannonball.

She couldn't be stopped once she got going on the topic.

"Something like that." My lips parted into a smile.

Amanda was more than happy with my vague explanation.

Any excuse to read books was a good excuse for her.

"Reincarnation is one of the funnest genres to read.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I've been collecting books featuring it since I was young.”

"Oh really?" I glanced at her. "Why?”

Amanda sat back, melting into the sofa, and a pensive expression crossed her face.

"Honestly, it's just nice to think that you can go back in time and correct your mistakes.” She tapped her finger against the sofa’s armrest. “Haven't you ever thought of going back in time and giving an old bully the comeback that you know they deserve. Or taking an opportunity you missed?”

Huh.

I paused and thought over Amanda’s words.

She was talking about a different kind of reincarnation than I was. She’d assumed I meant reincarnating back into myself as a younger person, and also that I'd reincarnate into the same world.

"There’s a few things I might change.” I admitted. “But I'm the kind of guy that does something and sticks with it.”

"What about reincarnating into a new body?” Her lips parted into a smile. “Starting from scratch but with the advantage of your old life knowledge.”

That sounded more like what I was thinking of.

I nodded.

Amanda grinned and I saw her eyes darting over the books on her bookshelf.

"What's the best book to read?” I checked the titles curiously. “Maybe one that gives a beginner's explanation too.”

"I know just what you need.” She grinned.

Amanda raised a finger and mana shifted around me.

It wasn't fire magic. I could see symbols lighting up on the surface of the bookshelf. She was activating a regent.

One of the books flew off the shelf and into her hand and I stared at her.

She’d had a regent installed to make sure she didn't have to leave the sofa. If each shelf in this room was a regent, then the sheer amount of money it must have cost was mind boggling.

"You lazy bum.” I couldn't help but laugh.

“That's no way to talk to someone doing you a favor.” She smacked the book lightly against my leg.

It was titled ‘I Reincarnated Twenty Years Into The Past And Became A Thunder Ant Farmer?!’.

"This will give you an overview of new body reincarnation and the genre as a whole." She passed it to me. "Plus, it's fun.”

"Thanks." I put it inside my inventory, careful not to get it dirty.

I wasn't sure if I would read it to Gold or not, but it was always nice to be prepared.

My back sank into the cushions as I relaxed and I turned back to Amanda, she was twirling a strand of hair lazily as her mind wandered.

Hours of meditation didn't mean hours of relaxation. Training for hours was tiring, both mentally and physically.

"What do you think about visiting a holy land?” I spoke. “Any suggestions?”

I’d told her what Gerial had said, and his comments about the church.

She'd been focused on Gerial’s attack at the time, and I didn't know if she'd heard the part about visiting a rift.

"I think it's a great idea." Her eyes lit up. “I've got just the thing for it.”

Amanda clicked her fingers, and a book flew out into her hand. It had come from one of the shelves closer to the entrance of the room.

It smacked into her hand with a thump, and I stared at it.

The book was huge.

"A guide to holy lands. I used to read this all the time when I was a kid pretending to be an explorer.” Amanda flicked through the pages. “Most of them are closed at the moment. Here—”

She stopped at a page and turned the book so that I could see it.

‘The Burning Lake’.

Underneath were a few descriptive lines and a painting of a land of flames.

“It's a great place to try and make your final push to attune to fire, and it opens soon.” Amanda smiled. “I've been there before, but I'd like to go again.”

I nodded at her words. It wasn't just about picking a holy land that was good for me. Each holy land was located within a rift, and not all of them were easy to enter.

Rifts were complicated.

After I'd been held captive in one, I'd gone out of my way to learn how rifts operated. They had several basic limitations to entry.

Time, authority, and entrances.

Each rift was different.

Some only opened for one day a year, others were open every day of the year. I’d even heard of one that only opened once every hundred years.

If a rift was claimed by a faction, then they would usually deny access to all but a chosen few. Or set a price for entry. The observatory was a rift that was owned by a faction.

The final limitation was different. A rift needed to be connected to an entrance to our world. They weren't a separate place entirely, but an entrance helped stabilise its presence.

You didn't want to get stuck in a rift that only appeared once in a lifetime.

I wasn't sure about the holy lands and when they were open, but Amanda sounded positive.

"You can also try to attune to water there.” Amanda thought my silence was me doubting her choice.

That got my attention.

"I can do both?” A grin crossed my face. “That's perfect.”

“It's called the burning lake for a reason.” Amanda raised her finger and the mana around me shifted.

Plumes of fire emerged from the pocket of her clothes where she held her inventory. They cascaded into the air and gathered between us.

Each tendril twisted and changed until they had transformed into a series of bumps and crevices.

It was a map.

Amanda dropped the book on holy lands onto her lap and focused on the map instead.

"It's been a decade since I've been there, but I got a pretty good look at it." Amanda tilted her head. “It was my fifth birthday, and my dad took me before my measurement.”

She spread out her fingers and more flames emerged, tacking themselves onto the landscape in front of me.

There were three mountains split into a zigzag formation across the area. Running between all of them was a large lake of flames.

"Is it all fire?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"No." Amanda shook her head. "There’s water there too. It's— well, I won't spoil the surprise, but right here is something you'd like too.”

She tapped on the mountain at the far end of the lake.

“There’s a large concentration of metal inside this place. They put some metal attunement plants in there, but I'm not sure if they still have them. It's basically a giant metal cultivation room.” She saw my expression and shot me a beaming smile. “Close your mouth or Agni might fly into it.”

"Have I told you that you're amazing?” I touched the edges of the map. “This sounds great.”

Finding a metal cultivation room was proving impossible for me. Zodiac didn't have one. Not in Koshima, and I suspected not at all.

Unice’s family had a pseudo-cultivation room for metal, but that was off limits to me.

Even if it wasn't, I wouldn't go in there.

"Thanks." Amanda’s hair flared up with crimson flames. “They might not let you in for too long. I think you'll be lucky to get in for ten minutes.”

That was fair.

If this room really didn't have metal attunement plants, it was sure to be popular.

"I'm surprised people aren’t lining up to visit this place.” A wave of suspicion rose in my heart. “What's the catch? Is it only open one day a year?”

"Three weeks.” Amanda dismissed her map. “There aren’t many people that can get inside. You need the right connections.”

I nodded.

Would the church consider that a use of their resources? Maybe they would prefer it if I went there.

Gerial seemed to think so.

"I'm talking about me, silly." Amanda’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “I can get us in. I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise.”

"You can?" I didn't keep the surprise out of my voice.

Amanda pouted and threw a plume of fire at me in response.

I didn't flinch.

It brushed over my features harmlessly and Amanda smiled. I was starting to figure out when flames would harm me. It was part of my training.

The fire mana within them would always telegraph their intentions. Amanda’s spells had no such intentions.

They were only for fun.

“My grandpa can get us in.” Amanda wagged her finger at me. "Don't get too excited, I'll ask him if he can do it for this year.”

I reached out and grabbed the book from her lap and rifled through it.

The section on the burning Lake outlined its entry requirements.

"It opens in a month?" It wasn't as immediate as I wanted, but it was close enough.

I still had other things I had to do.

“Will school allow us to take a break for so long?” I frowned.

Amanda stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re already well into our break then, remember?” Her lips curled upwards. “It's already been three months of school.”

Oh. She was right.

The school was split into two semesters for the year. They both lasted four months, and our first break was coming up.

"That's great." I grinned.

Everything was coming together.

Amanda glanced at me, a glint in her eye.

"We should organise something sooner too.” She pressed a finger against her cheek. “Roxxy knows about you, but also about Gerial. We should all do something to show her you're normal.”

"That sounds like a good idea to me." I thought about it. “After what's happened to him, I don't blame Gerial if he doesn't want to go out. But we can definitely do something. What are you thinking?”

"Two words.” Amanda gestured dramatically. “Magical theatre play.”

I gave her a wry smile. That wasn't two words. It also didn't sound like a bad idea.

I'd never been a theatre person before, but the plays I knew didn't have magic.

"Okay." I nodded. “That sounds good.”

Amanda beamed and we quickly fell into a conversation about the different plays that were available for visiting.

The rest of the evening went quickly, and I was soon waving goodbye to Amanda and entering the portal back to my place.

Gold flew down from the sky, dive bombing onto my arm and Agni flapped her wings as she glided around me, chirping happily.

I had a good feeling in my heart.

It was always refreshing to spend the day talking with a friend about things that didn't involve threats to my life. By the end of it I'd almost forgotten about the church.

Almost.

There was something important I had to do.

I'd managed to convince Amanda to wait a week for the play. Despite my assurances, I wasn't sure that it was safe for me to travel yet.

Artus’ followers wouldn't know I existed, but I wanted to check with my guards first and keep an eye on the situation.

If nothing happened after a week, then I would go to the play. After all, their main target had been Fue’s Marked one, not Gerial.

My journey through the nexus was quick, and I felt a sense of comfort as I encountered the familiar walls. Their pulsing rhythm as they breathed in and out was livelier than the hollow halls of the church’s nexus world building.

I stepped out of the portal and found myself in front of my house.

Instead of going inside the building, I made my way to Gold’s tree. Gold chirped at me curiously and I scratched his neck.

"I'm going to talk to the others for a second, buddy." I spoke to him.

I took a seat underneath the tree, laying my head against the bark. Gold had spent years adding symbols to it, both to harden the tree itself and to create a massive shielding regent.

He worked on it every day.

The ground underneath me flattened out as I manipulated the earth to create better seating for myself. I grunted as I sat down, crossing my legs, and looking up into the air.

"Guards.” I whispered the words into the air. “I'd like to talk with you.”

A breeze passed through my body, and I closed my eyes. When they opened there was a man standing in front of me.

He had a single-eyed mask over his face and his purple robes billowed in the breeze. The wind pushed them back, revealing the faint gleam of metal armour underneath the fabric.

“Master Silver.” He bowed low.

It was the head of my guards. The man that was in charge of communication with me.

“At ease.” I gestured with my hand for him to stop.

I was never sure how to address my guards. I usually borrowed the odd army phrase I remembered from Earth. It seemed to be working.

My guard rose and his posture relaxed.

We stared at each other. It took me a moment to realise he was waiting for me to speak so that he could respond. My guards weren't fond of small talk.

“You are with me every day, correct?”

“Yes, sir.” My guard nodded.

They did afford me some privacy. They had to, or I'd go crazy.

I could talk to my friends alone and my guards mostly focused on external threats while allowing me to walk free and make mistakes.

That was something I was grateful for.

There was a thin line between being free and having my every action predetermined for me because they thought I wouldn't be safe otherwise.

“You don't have to be so formal.” I smiled.

I said the same thing every time we spoke. However, each new conversation would start with the formalities added to his sentences again.

Today there were other things on my mind.

“Do you believe there's any possibility that I’m part of or even responsible for what happened to Gerial?” I asked.

What Gerial had said yesterday was rolling around in my head. He'd only just woken from his short coma and wasn't informed of all the facts.

That wasn't the case for my guards.

“No, sir.” He shook his head. “And we have informed the cardinals of such.”

“The cardinals?” My gaze turned sharp.

I knew the church would be investigating every option, I just hadn't expected it to be done so soon.

“They agree with our assessment.” He responded tk my unspoken question. “However—”

He hesitated.

“However?” I repeated.

I leaned in and gestured for him to continue.

“However, I sensed that they have become interested in meeting with you properly.” He spoke the words slowly. “After viewing the results of your recent tests over the last two months, a few are convinced of your validity, and would like the chance to convince their brethren in a timelier manner. They only need your permission.”

The cardinals were the twelve heads of the church. A council that ran the day-to-day operations of the organisation and made important decisions.

The cardinals were also the people that had to approve my verification.

I’d never met any of them, but that didn't mean we didn't communicate. They were the people that set out the tests I completed every week.

I had the feeling that Gerial was responsible for their lack of involvement in my life. His words were law, and he didn't want them intruding or bearing on me.

“I’d like to meet with them.”

I would have proposed it myself if they didn't. It was an inevitable conclusion.

It was time visit the heads of the church.