"The spirit realm is such a beautiful place. Its beauty will never cease to amaze me. It's been close to 5000 years since I've been here. I seriously got lucky to be reincarnated here."
Reciel thinks to himself as he stands on the balcony of a castle, located in the centre of the Spirit Realm. In front of him is a vast ocean of trees, jungles, forests, and velds of pure green.
"Even so, it takes years to reach Heaven. I can't imagine being a human and having to go through four different hells just to reach Heaven. Still, all those who have endured the journey take at least a hundred years to reach this place, even with their magical power."
"Reciel, there is a problem that needs your attention."
"What is it, Alya?" Reciel turns around to face the owner of the voice, Alya. She appears wearing a floor-length blue dress, her green hair falling gracefully on her shoulders and framing her face beautifully. Her cinnamon coloured eyes are big and doe shaped.
"There's a spirit here who wants to speak to you. She says she needs your help."
"Lead the way."
When they arrive in the throne room, an elderly woman enters, bowing her head at the end of the stairs leading up to the throne.
"What is the matter?" Reciel asks.
"I need your help. M-my grandbabies. Th- they're in trouble. A war is going on between the Kingdom of Reynes and the Kingdom of Mihtig. There are Reynes soldiers going to their village. P- please, my king. S- save them." The woman is rambling, speaking fast and stuttering. She looks fragile.
"A war? Between Mihtig and Reynes? But, what could possibly be the cause?"
Reciel looks at the woman. "I'll help you. I'll save your grandchildren."
The woman breaks into a smile through her tears. "Ohh, th- thank you so much!"
Reciel turns to Alya, who has been standing on his left.
"I'll go rescue them."
"You don't need to go. Anyone else can go, even me."
"I need to go. It's been too long since I've been to the human realm. Besides, it won't be long. Just a quick trip."
Alya sighs as Reciel walks to the room located in the tower in the right wing of the castle. Reciel walks through the door.
In the human realm, Reciel appears on the other side of the portal, flying over a small forest below him with a village nearby. He looks back at the portal as it dissipates.
Looking down, Reciel can see the knights making their way to the village just up ahead.
"Those must be the knights. I have to get there before them."
Reciel flew as fast as he could to the village, flying over the veld of pure green, yet the knights were still hot on his tail. As he was close to the village, he looked down.
There, in the veld, he saw children playing. Slowly, he lowered himself to be just a few feet above them. The shadow he cast over them grabbed their attention. They all looked up at him.
"Wow!" One boy exclaimed.
"Are you a knight, mister?" A girl asked.
"I'm gonna be a knight one day, protect Eli and defeat the evil King of Reynes!" Another boy exclaimed, making a stance and using the branch in his hand as a sword.
"These kids talk nonstop. But from what I can sum up, it seems that this is Mihtig, and Reynes is the "evil" one. But I can't exactly trust what kids say. There may be a lot of propaganda used to trick them. Huh?"
Reciel turned to his right, sensing something coming his direction, fast. In the distance, a fire ball came into view, hurdling towards them.
"Is that -"
The kids started screaming, backing away, but one girl with red hair stood there, frozen. She was trembling, scared. Her whole body shook in fear. One boy, with the same red hair, the very one that said he wanted to be a knight, ran towards the frozen girl.
"Eli!!" The boy shouted, running towards his sister.
"Brother!!" The girl screamed, just as the boy reached her, the fireball was right in front of them. The boy covered Eli, turning his back to the fireball, hugging Eli close.
One.
Two.
Three.
The fireball never came, three minutes later. The boy slowly let go of Eli, inspecting her all over.
"Are you okay, Eli?"
"I'm fine, brother, but, what- is- that?" She said, pointing behind him.
"What-" His words didn't leave his throat as he turned and took in the sight before him.
Just a few meters away from him, a huge tulip sprung from the ground. It was close to 20 feet, if not 30 in size. Its petals were tightly sealed together.
Just then, the petals stretched outwards, looking like the flower was about to burst. As the children were about to move away, the petals reverted back to their original state.
"Brother, what is-"
Reciel flew down to them. "Are you both okay?"
"We're fine, but what about you?" The boy asked.
"I'm fine." He outstretched his right towards the tulip. It shrank, from its huge size into a little flower, uprooted itself from the ground and flew straight into Reciel's right-hand ring finger.
"What?!!" A man exclaimed from the knights as they stopped no more than 20 feet away. There were five knights, each one on a horse. They all had full body armour on, except for the headpiece.
The man at the front had a broom of a moustache but no hair on his head. He looked bulky for an old man.
"I was sure that it would hit." He looked at Reciel. "Hmm. I sense an unusual magical power from you."
He looked closer at Reciel, analysing him. Reciel turned his head slightly to look at the man from the corner of his eye. He frowned.
"Are you frowning upon me? Are you angry at me?" The man asked only to burst into laughter. Deep and light, like he saw something comical.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Whether you're angry or not, you will die as punishment for defending anyone from Mihtig." He outstretched his right arm, his sword pointing at them. He fired another fireball at them.
Reciel stood up straight and turned to face the fireball. He outstretched his right hand. His right flew out his finger and up into the air, just a few feet above them.
Then, when the fireball was exactly below it, the ring turned into an anvil and fell right on top of the fireball. There was an explosion. The dust cleared, revealing a huge, deep crater. The old man was baffled.
"WHAT?!!"
Reciel turned to the two kids behind him, who were just as baffled. "You two need to leave. Go to your parents, and leave with the rest of the villagers. I'll take care of these knights."
The two looked hesitant before nodding, turning and running to the village. Reciel turned around, his gaze locked on the knights. The anvil shifted back into his ring and flew to him, floating on his right.
"Well then, if magic alone won't defeat you-" He charged forward on his horse before jumping off it, with so much force that he flew straight for Reciel. "- My physical prowess will have to do!"
He straightened his sword, ready to strike Reciel down. Reciel quickly grabbed his ring, which transformed into a scythe, and stopped the sword from hitting him. He pushed the man back as the other knights were charging for him, too.
He appeared behind the knight on his right and hit him on his back with the side of his scythe. He was sent flying straight to the knight opposite him.
Another tried to attack Reciel from behind, but he easily evaded the attack before another knight tried to attack him. Reciel dodged that attack, too.
Only the old man and two other knights were left. The two who had bumped into each other were passed out next to their horses. As the remaining three charged at Reciel, his scythe turned into a long double-edged sword with a golden flowery handle.
In under five minutes, the other two knights were also passed out. The old man looked at the four knights who had passed out, then at Reciel. The old man was panting, his armour battered.
"How could a single kid like you beat me?! I am Sir Edward Hillory, a knight of Reynes! An impudent nobody can't beat me!!" He screamed, shooting multiple fireballs at Reciel, all of which he extinguished with just a snap of his fingers.
Reciel's sword turned into a ring and went back into his right hand ring finger as he straightened his arms, his hands a few centimetres apart, making the shape of a sphere/oval. He concentrated heat there, and a flame sparked. It grew to an immense size in a matter of seconds. The old man's eyes widened.
"Who are you?! Who are you?!!" He practically screams as Reciel charges the fireball.
"Me?" Reciel smiles. "I'm just someone honouring the favour of an old lady."
Reciel released the fireball which headed straight for the old man and his knights. The attack hit them with so much force that it sent them flying away.
Reciel stood up straight as a gasp came from behind him. He turned around to look at the source. There stood Eli and her older brother. Eli looked amazed.
"That was incredible." Eli's older brother was wide-eyed, amazed.
"Are the villagers safe?" Reciel asked.
"They… are fine, but how did you do that?" The boy asked.
"Eli! Micheal!" A voice shouted, coming from the direction of the village, as a young woman came running.
She looked like the two siblings in front of Reciel. She reached them and bent down with her hands on her knees as she panted. She looked at the two siblings.
"I told you to stay inside. What if you'd gotten hurt out here? Or worse, capture?!" She reprimanded.
"Sorry, mom." Micheal said while Eli kept quiet.
"Go back to the house." Their mother said.
Dejectedly, they made their way back to their home. Their mother looked at Reciel. She smiled at him. "Thank you for saving my kids."
"It's nothing to thank me for."
"Really, thank you. Would you stay for tea as a thank you for saving my kids?" She asks.
Reciel kept quiet for a short time, mulling it over. If he leaves now, he will return to the Spirit Realm. But if he stays for tea, he may get more information about this war.
"Alright.
○○○
"How long has the war been going on?" Reciel asked, seated on a table with tea and biscuits on the table and the woman sitting in front of him.
"It's been 12 years. Mihtig and Reynes have been working together as allies for the past 5000 years. When the new King of Reynes was crowned, he waged war on Mihtig. Well, he's no longer the "new" king, seeing as his 12 years into his reign, but everyone is so scared of Reynes. No one really knows why he started the war, but he just did." The woman explained.
"I see." Reciel took a sip of his coffee.
"Well, I guess it's quite unexpected. I haven't been looking into the human realm for so long that I didn't even know that there was a war. But, the past kings of Reynes have always been hot-headed. In any case, I have to stop the war. It is a contract I willingly signed after all."
"Forgive me, but I have to ask. Are you a traveller or a knight because you don't seem to have any luggage with you, nor a horse and armour."
"I'm neither. I was just sent here to save some people." Reciel answered, taking another sip of his tea.
"Well, I must get going. Thank you for the treat." He said, standing up.
"You're quite welcome." The woman stood up along with him. Eli ran to him. She looked up at him.
"Are you leaving already?" She asked.
"Yes. I have to get going." Reciel smiled as he crouched down to the girl's eye level. Micheal ran to stand next to Eli, standing only a few inches taller.
"How did you do that? A knight only has one magical power, but you seem to have multiple. Who are you?" Micheal asked, his wooden sword in hand.
Reciel grinned. "I am not limited nor by that logic."
Reciel stood up, leaving Micheal looking amazed. Reciel turned to the woman. "Well, I must really leave now. Thank you for the tea." He headed for the door.
"You're quite welcome." Just when Reciel stepped outside, the woman called out.
"Wait! What is the name of the saviour of my children?" She asked, Micheal on her left, Eli on her right, all looking at Reciel expectantly, awaiting an answer. Reciel turned to look at them, smiling.
"I'm Reciel. The Spirit King." He announced before flying off.