'PAIN. PAIN. PAIN.'

Having your body ripped to shreds by rampant magic might seem romantic and pleasant, but the reality is that not only will the body get torn apart but also your soul. The pain was something he had never imagined possible.

"Haaa haaaaaa" gasping for breath, he found himself somehow alive. The pain is still there but the body doesn't hurt that bad, more like he was feeling the echo, or maybe it is muted from the previous experience of having the body ripped apart. But his soul wasn't faking the damage, it hurts on another level in an unfamiliar way that can't be explained, like an itch you can't place on your body but painful on another level. Even so, he felt overjoyed that he was alive, coupled with wishing that he'd die and end the pain.

He noticed talking around him but couldn't focus on the words. While focusing his entire being on not dying again he fell into a deep sleep to get away from the pain.

Second time he woke up he noticed when, he had this time somewhat regained his wits, is that the world is teeming with magic. He really looked forward to seeing how magic reacted and worked when you didn't have to be watching every single mote. But he couldn't believe he was alive after that, he still couldn't see anything but he could feel pain from his body.

'Pain meant it was there' is what he told himself. Even if it is broken there should be ways to heal it. But focusing was hard, he could still somewhat hear people talk around himself. 'Don't recognise the language but I somewhat understand the words.' But no matter how much he tried he couldn't focus enough to remember them past the second he heard it. 'Best I sleep for another few days.'

In this way what he thought felt like weeks but wasn't more than two days passed.

When he finally started opening his eyes to the all to bright world he found himself in a fairly luxurious tent, he even had a bed with luxurious bedding. He looked around, or tried to since he couldn't see anything due to the blinding light.

"So you're waking up." He was startled awake by hearing someone nearby.

 He couldn't see who was talking but it was the voice of a man that sounds both wary and interested.

"Ughh..." All he could do was somehow only croak grunts and noises. 'I don't actually know what language he is talking, but for some reason I understand him. Can I even reply?'

"Good morning, I am Teres a Templar of death. So I can see you're not Renal, the guy who's body you're in, can you tell me who you are? And don't worry I'm wondering out of professional interest rather than anything." Through slitted eyes he sees a well dressed 30ish black-haired man with a rather sizeable sword at his waist, and quite well warded against magic by the looks of his leather armour. "You see we hunt necromancers and what we did looks really like necromantic magic but... But it was a perfect mesh with the body, and he died of his own accord. Besides I'm largely responsible since I dragged your soul into your body."

'Seems like my face looked as much as a question as I feel since he started to explain on his own.'

"See were passing the road to talk to this wizard up the road and find out 'you' were kicked from his apprenticeship, but you ran off from your party in the night. We thought we should see if you could help us with any information on your former master, but you're far more interesting than him." Then he sits down next to the bed seemingly waiting for me to talk after making me drink something out of a wineskin. So after chugging down something that tasted vile I sobered up and started to talk, probably some drugs that made me more talkative but I didn't mind. That might be the drugs again.

"So hello, I guess I should start of by saying I have no idea how I'm still alive. Or well guess I shouldn't say alive... " 'Reborn? Hallucinating? I'm clearly not me. Should I tell him everything or just enough? I'll go lying enough to make it more believable.' "Well my name is, was, Firth. And I was the herbalist and my magi is... How do you even classify magic here? According to our way I was simply a second-grade apprentice, 1-6 grades apprentice, mage, and grandmage." He noticed the templar looked a bit disappointed when he said he hasn't gotten far in magic. A lot of different ways to classify has come and gone thorugh the ages, different ways also have their own stages.

'I never did get far in magic, I was not brilliant enough to work with the little mana that was in the air. But I feel like I was very good at we theoretical side, but so does everyone that isn't actually good say.'

"Locally the only classification is magus or not, we're not locals so we call it by how solid their magic is when you look at it through a Signet, a simple one through ten." Then he held up a ring he had around his neck. "So where do you come from then? Not often we get loose souls just wandering around." He guessed he shouldn't be too specific, coming from a world that is destroyed might cause more issues then otherwise.

"And I come, came, from a monastery of sorts were we lived in seclusion. Really don't know where it was, just that it was in a mountain cavern and we never got a visitor in my lifetime."

"So no home I can help you towards huh? Saves me some trouble I guess, still I feel for you kid. Or guess I shouldn't say kid since you could be far older than me."

"Yea I could be twice your age we didn't keep track of time that well living underground and all, but I shouldn't be much older than you if your looks are too go by. And don't be sorry, we came to accept our death a long time ago, it really wasn't a sudden thing. But I really do feel happy to be alive, and in a place with so much more mana." He smiled at the mention of mana.

"What do you plan to do now? Want me to bring you to our temple, or be 'Renal', that is 'you' by the way, out here? Both have their merits, he was a son of viscount, and if you come with us I'll help you along getting used to your new body. Well if you do pretend to be 'you' we'll leave someone here to supervise you for a while, just to make sure you are as harmless as you claim and not something more sinister." 'Renal' felt that he was somewhat reluctant to bring him back with him but felt like the templar offered it in kindness.

"Is it really possible to be this 'Renal'? Won't the family tell right away and get rid of me?"

"Really doubt it, from what we could tell the only one close to him was the one that claims to be his lover; one of the maids out there, and his family sent him to train to be a magician as a child. Just act you've lost your memory and be careful around that maid, or have her killed, and you'll be fine. Also tell me when you feel good enough to let the party you were with to meet you."