--------

The blazing heat of the midday sun in the desert caused the air to shimmer above the sandy ground. Only a barely noticeable breeze of dry wind stirred some of the grains that had been dislodged by Karna’s steps. Neither the heat nor the constant walking disturbed her as she had zoned out completely, only putting one foot in front of the other, just like she had done for what felt like months. The desert felt endless, and in many ways it was. Just like many things, distances in the Spirit World were dependent on the one doing the traveling.

‘I wonder how long it will take me to arrive this time?’ She thought to herself idly, and not for the first time. The last time she had made the trip, trekking through a dense jungle that time, it had taken her almost a year to reach her destination. She would arrive when she believed she had traveled long enough and not a moment earlier. To reach this destination, it wasn’t enough to think you had traveled long enough, you had to believe it.

As with distance, time also worked weirdly in the Spirit World, just like she had told the crowd back in the ballroom waiting for her and the other hopefuls to return. What she had told them was correct, but the truth was even more twisted than anyone could imagine. There was a time limit, yes, but time passed differently for every visitor. They could spend an entire lifetime in the Spirit World and then return back home only to find out that less than a minute had passed. They would not grow older while here either, at least not physically.

She’d run an experiment during one of her lives just out of sheer boredom and curiosity. She had tested how long she could stretch this elusive bit of time and had spent three hundred years living in the Spirit World. Apparently, that was a kind of hard limit. She had spent most of that time running various experiments with this weird dimension and had become familiar with most of its rules and inhabitants. It had been an intriguing experiment, albeit somewhat dull after a certain amount of time had passed. That had also been the time a personal spirit had been created for her by the denizens of this place.

The spirits that inhabited this place were playful and most of the time they were kind, but they could also be tricksy and cruel when angered. The spirits were also locked in a weird sort of power struggle of their own. There was a reason why the spirits forged bonds with the people from other dimensions. Apparently, they grew stronger and evolved as their masters did. If, for example, the master of a simple tool spirit became an immortal, then the spirit returned to the Spirit World much stronger and evolved into something that might have absolutely nothing to do with tools.

That’s why the spirits had created a personal spirit for her. Reincarnators like her were the best masters because they usually attained great heights of power. And despite her fondness for the quiet life, she had also reached the highest highs of existence on more occasions than not, especially in her later lives. Simply speaking, she was upsetting the balance of the Spirit World. Thus they had created a personal spirit just for her that stayed out of the power struggles of the other spirits. They had made sure to compensate her for the fact that she could have only a single spirit in all her lives though.

"It seems you've come again." A female voice pulled her out of her musings and she discovered that she had arrived at the foot of a mountain. The desert seemed to have disappeared and around her were nothing but mountains. Near her, the stone seemed to flow out from the mountains and form into the shape of a lush woman made of stone and loose earth.

“They’ve given her a real treat of a vessel this time as well.” A low-pitched and deep voice added, and a golden crow made of fire seemed to perch on a nearby rock.

“She always gets the best vessels. I’d say it’s unfair, but we all know only the best can contain her soul anymore.” A merman suddenly pushed himself up from a nearby spring that had not been there moments before.

“Leave her alone. You know she has very little control over the fact. Besides, she has finally returned home. We should allow her to enjoy life a bit without ragging on her too much.” A tiny cloud teased in a playful voice as it floated and spun around the merman.

These were all spirits she had become familiar with during her lives. Despite their playfulness and current appearance, these four were quite important spirits. “And what brings you four here? Not that I mind, but the elemental spirits rarely make an appearance when I visit this place.” The elemental spirits had their own planes of existence, even if they too were counted as spirits of a kind and thus were welcome in this weird dimension.

“We have a request.” The female earth spirit stated while creating a stone seat with a simple gesture.

“I expected that much. What kind of request, and why would I want to oblige?” She had done various favors to the spirits in the past, and they had returned those favors just as often. She had long since learned that having friends and acquaintances in the right places was quite useful. Especially if those friends didn’t die of old age.

“I think the standard price from us will suffice, would it not?” The fiery crow cut down on the time spent negotiating. They had done this enough times to know roughly where they would end up.

“We’ll see. You didn’t tell me what you need. A rather important factor wouldn’t you say?” Karna countered. She had learned not to make promises before she knew the details. These spirits could be tricksy as well. “And do note that this vessel is still very young, which means my powers have not yet developed. My means are currently quite limited.”

“That’s alright. The request this time is more of a long-term one.” The merman waved the concern away.

“That said, we would appreciate it if you didn’t dally around longer than necessary.” The fiery crow added. “To the point then. You’re no doubt aware that your current universe has always had a higher concentration of reincarnators than usual. What you might not be aware of, is that there seems to be something odd going on. More reincarnators than usual have been born in the last century, and the pace seems to only be growing. There are hundreds of reincarnators already living there, and we are quite sure that the number will double in the next couple of decades. And that’s only the reincarnators we’re aware of. Most of those are reincarnators with only a handful of lives lived, but among them are some of the oldest and most powerful reincarnators as well. This is a friendly warning as a bonus by the way.”

“I should’ve figured something like this would happen.” Karna grimaced and cursed mentally. Every time she was born in this universe something went horribly wrong. That was just one of the reasons she didn’t like coming back.

“We don’t know what’s going on, but among those being reincarnated are some very troubling people that are breaking the rules when it comes to elemental planes. They’re tapping directly into our planes and drawing power from them directly. They’ve kept things in moderation so far, most likely because whatever is going on is still in the early phases, but we all know the damage that could be done to the elemental planes if they really let loose.” The spirit of earth explained patiently.

“So we need them dealt with. Preferably permanently!” The tiny cloud said with a chipper and playful voice despite the contents of what it said.

"We know you're one of the few that can kill reincarnators permanently, and you're also one of the very few that can face such power reliably. If you deal with the issue, then it won’t just creep back up once they get reincarnated again.” The merman added.

“So you want me to go against some of the most powerful reincarnators in the multiverse, the ones that have likely earned the True Names of elements no less, and kill them permanently? That’s not a small task, even assuming I was willing to kick a hornets' nest like that. You do realize that my identity would almost certainly be exposed if I do this, right?” Karna’s eyebrow rose in wonder at the request. The spirits knew that revealing herself was something she was not happy to do, as she would likely become the target of revenge for multiple reincarnators almost immediately. After all, her previous encounters with many of them had not been friendly. This was not like the small requests the spirits had made in the past.

“We know, though we’re also quite sure your identity would be revealed sooner or later anyway, and at least this way you’ll get to choose the time and place of the news coming out. We might not know what is bringing these reincarnators all to one place, but it’s safe to assume that most of the strong ones that have lost their previous lives in the recent past will make an appearance. Those that know you will no doubt realize that you will be among those reincarnated here as well. After all, no grand battle between reincarnators would be complete without the presence of the illustrious Karma.” The cloud stated without concern as it spun around the merman with increasing speed.

“The Reaper.” The earth spirit stated with a firm voice.

“The Calamity.” The merman said with a smile.

“The Wrath!” The crow voiced a deep bass rumble, and the spirits all burst into laughter.

"I'll consider it," Karna said with a light smile. If she had been younger, the blatant use of those particulars Names would've angered her, but now she could be blasé about it as she knew the spirits were teasing her. Time healed most wounds and these spirits were almost close enough to be called friends. They were some of the few existences that lived long enough to have known her in multiple lives after all. “But I’m going to need a bigger price than normal. And I’m going to need it in advance. Otherwise, what’s the point? I’m going to need power before facing these people, not after it.”

“Name your terms.” The crow encouraged. It had known they would have to pay more.

“All of the elements. I don’t want to have to go looking for essences when you can provide what I need and save me decades of effort. Well, all of them except for two, which you already know about.” She named her price.

“A steep price…” The merman warned.

“…but one you’re willing to pay. I can sense you already brought what I need. We all knew this is how it would end. I’m just saving us time spent on haggling. You know I don’t abuse that power.”

“Wrath…” The cloud pointed out a glaring exception. She had earned that Name for a reason.

“One time!” That they knew of. “And most of that was done with the element you do not need to provide.” Karna interrupted the spirit and shot that argument down immediately.

“Fine.” The crow tossed an orb-shaped container towards Karna, and she caught the thing from the air effortlessly. The spirits had come prepared. “But if you use them, we expect you to hold your end of the bargain. After all, even we have limited access to seeds of such purity, and we have other uses for them as well.”

“Naturally.” She retorted while bouncing the orb on her palm. Inside the orb were the purest essences from every element available to mages, with the exception of two. As mages grew in power, they would need to attune to their chosen elements to increase their affinity and connection with them. A mage that was attuned to the element could borrow the power of their chosen elemental mana when it was found in nature to power their spells, and they would also gain a much greater control over the particular element. The purer the essence used during the attunement process, the better the results. Most mages went on voyages lasting years to find even a single essence of half the purity she had inside the orb. That’s why the price they had given her was worth it. It was a steep price, but it was a large favor the spirits were asking for as well.

“Incidentally, your spirit is on that mountain.” The earth spirit gave a small hint while pointing at the mountain in front of her, as they all disappeared, returning to their home planes.

“I know.” Karna smiled. One of the good things about this whole mess was that they saved her the effort of trudging through the desert for a much longer period of time. That was included in the deal as a courtesy. The benefits of being friendly with various parties.

A long winding set of stone steps could be seen where there had been none only moments before. As someone used to it, Karna wasn't really fazed when seeing things pop out of nowhere. Instead, she simply started walking up the stairs that had been provided. As her body was still young and small, her legs were still relatively short and it took her several steps to cross each stair. The only reason she could keep walking without rest for so long was because they were in the Spirit World and her stamina would last if she believed it would. Most visitors to this world would tire at a relatively normal pace because they thought it was natural to do so.

Still, the steps eventually came to an end as she came up to a small plateau near the peak of the mountain. The plateau had no other features aside from a small pond. The pond looked fairly normal aside from having very dark water, but it was actually the most dangerous place in the entire Spirit World. Any spirit or prospective master that touched the water would die a quick death, which is why everyone stayed away from this place. Even the merman from earlier was no exception, and he had been one of the rulers of the elemental plane of water connected to several of the oldest universes. Of course, he had been in a convenient disguise just in case. The problem was that the dark substance wasn't actually water.

With a simple wave of her hand, the water-like substance in the pond seemed to gather above the pond in a rotating blob of energy. The spirits from earlier had been wise to leave, as they would’ve most likely lost their lives just from being near this blob. The blob was condensed essence created from pure Dark element. Not what most mages considered the dark element, which was just an extension of shadow, but the pure distilled power of the true Dark element, one of the most destructive powers in the multiverse. In fact, many people called it the Destruction or Decay element instead.

Much like the true Light element, the Dark element was often misunderstood. True Dark magic, or Dhar as some called it, was a raw and untamable power of destruction and death, created by smashing together the other elements, forced together by nature or by a mage crazy enough to try and control the stagnated and corrupted combination of the other elements. All elements had their own quirks, but most of them rewarded careful control and precise skill. In contrast, Dhar was like a club swung around by a barbarian, crude, terrifying, and apt to strike down anyone and anything in an indiscriminate manner, including the wielder.

Only a real madman would attempt to actually control that power. Yet here it was behaving like a slightly misbehaving puppy seeing its master for the first time in a while, eager to please and quick to act, even if it had trouble staying still. “Time to wake up Gem. You’ve had enough rest.” Karna called towards the empty hole left behind by the black liquid.

A woosh of a wind created by someone moving quickly could be heard as a shadow seemed to fly up from the hole before it landed in front of Karna. As the indistinct form took shape it took an appearance identical to her. “Master. It’s been a while.” The spirit made a small deferential bow. “How long have I been asleep?”

“As usual, it’s hard to say exactly. Three of my lifetimes and whatever time passed in between.” Karna replied with a shrug. She never really knew how long the time between reincarnations was. Sometimes it could be days, sometimes it could be thousands of years.

“So not very long considering your average lifespan.” The spirit teased with a smile. It knew what kind of person Karna was.

“Fair enough.” Karna had to concede that the spirit had a point. “There’s something you should be aware of. We’re going home.”

“The Judges are really getting out of hand. Did they at least ask beforehand this time?” The displeasure on the spirit’s face was clear. It knew Karna disliked being reborn in that universe and why. After all, the spirit had been at her side and had been forced to watch her master suffer without being able to help during one of those lives.

“They didn’t so much ask as they gave me an ultimatum. Apparently, this might be the last life for me. I've already sensed it before but the Head Judge made it clear. It seems it's become impossible to find proper vessels for my soul anymore." Karna stated, not really defending the judges but not condemning them either.

The spirit frowned. The expression looked downright adorable on her face which made Karna feel a little conflicted seeing as the spirit was effectively using her face. “And what will happen to me once you’re gone? I’d hate to sound selfish, but I don’t cherish spending an eternity hidden away because the other spirits fear me.”

“I can’t say. I think we might be able to arrange something though. That being said, if this is going to be my last life, how about making it worth it? Would you like to go to the top with me for once?” The little twinkle in her eyes suggested that she had something very specific in mind.

The spirit was more than ready. “I was afraid you’d never ask. I believe it’s time for you to earn a new Name. The old ones are getting stale. Let’s remind everyone what the two of us are capable of!”