Wiedergeburt 3

by Brandon Varnell

  Still staring at me with wide eyes, Albert glanced all around as though wondering what he should do. He looked over at Dante, who had not moved from his spot since the match began, and then looked back at me. I could see the sparks flying inside of his mind. He knew what he had to do if he wanted to save what little face he had left.

  He gritted his teeth as he made an ugly expression. “I… I concede defeat.”

  The sound of Albert’s voice seemed abnormally loud in the nearly silent Colosseum. It echoed to all corners despite the words being spoken so softly it was almost a whisper, allowing everyone present to hear them.

  I nodded and glanced at Dante. The normally laidback man appeared unusually sharp as he stared at me, but then his blade-like expression vanished. He grinned, stepped forward, and raised his hand.

  “Lords and Ladies, this Honor Duel has been decided,” he said in a loud, booming voice. “Victory goes to Eryk Veiger!”

  No one clapped at the announcement of my victory, but then, I hadn’t expected them to either.

  * * *

  Hilda turned away from Eryk to look at Kari as her daughter suddenly stood up. Everyone else also looked at the young girl, but she only had eyes for the figure leaving the arena.

  “Please excuse me.” Kari bowed to her mother, ran up the stairs, and hurried out of the exit. All eyes remained locked on the girl as she disappeared through the large archway behind them, and then they looked at her.

  “She’s probably going to see that boy,” Rainer mused. “Should we really let her go to him? With that kind of power, he might be dangerous.”

  Hilda glanced at Valence. Kari was also his daughter by blood. However, the first man whom she had married remained stone faced and did not say anything in regard to this matter. It was enough to make her sigh.

  “Let her do as she wants,” Hilda murmured. “I do not believe that boy will harm her. Indeed, I am certain Kari will be safer with him than she will anywhere else.”

  Rainer and her three sons stared at her with something resembling shock, but then her second husband shook his head and smiled. “I see you’ve been spying on her again. You know Kari is going to be incredibly upset when she discovers you’ve sent people to watch after her.”

  “I have not spied on her,” Hilda declared. “However, I did request a friend of mine to let me know if anything unusual happened around her. Eryk Veiger will not harm her. I have already been assured of that.”

  “If you believe that, then I suppose we have no choice but to believe it as well,” Rainer admitted. He scratched his stubble and looked at the arena, which now only contained Dante and the defeated Albert. Eryk had disappeared through the entrance. “Still, I wonder who this young man is and how he managed to slip underneath our perceptions for so long.”

  That last comment caused Hilda to narrow her eyes. She also wondered how such a thing could have happened, but even her friend, whom she trusted completely, did not know the answer.

  It was a mystery that seemed to have no solution.

  * * *

  As the winner was announced, Fay could do little more than sigh in relief. She leaned back against the seat. Her body felt limp, like all the bones inside of it had been removed. Even though all she had done was sit there and watch, it was almost like she had been the one battling today.

  “Ha ha!” Her father’s laughter startled her. She looked up to see the man grinning down at the arena floor. “That little fellow really is something! I’ve never seen someone suffer such a humiliating defeat before! Fay, you really have found yourself a good man!”

  Whenever her father mentioned the relationship between her and Eryk, she would often become embarrassed, but perhaps because she was too tired to argue, all she felt was a faint stirring in her chest. Eryk had fought against a noble and won. Not only was Albert a noble, but he was highly ranked among the top young Spiritualists in Nevaria. There were only a handful of people who could defeat him. What’s more, none of them could win in such a flagrant manner. The method in which Eryk had won made it seem like he hadn’t even tried.

  She looked at the arena again, only to see Eryk walking off toward the exit.

  “Why don’t you go and congratulate him?” suggested her father.

  Fay looked up to see her father smiling down at her. She didn’t disobey him. Nodding, she stood up and moved toward the exit. After walking down a set of stairs, she entered a long, twisting corridor before finally reaching the arena entrance.

  Eryk was already there. However, before Fay could approach him, another voice shouted from the opposite direction and caused his head to turn.

  * * *

  As I walked out of the arena, I wondered what was going to happen now that I had defeated Albert in an Honor Duel. The Himmel Family would naturally be forced to honor the agreements of the duel. There wasn’t much point in having an Honor Duel if people could do whatever they pleased after a victor had been decided. However, I could not help but remember how it was Grant Leucht who’d told the Himmel Family about my fight with Alf and Arvid.

  Something told me the Leucht Family was not going to be quiet after this.

  “Eryk!” a voice cried out seconds after I emerged into the curved corridor.

  I turned my head, a smile lighting up my face as I saw Kari running toward me. She was dressed in a simple gown with slits on either end, which explained how she could run and not trip. The gown was a light purple with darker purple edgings. Despite how simple it appeared, I couldn’t help but think it looked amazing on her.

  “Kari, what did you think of the duel?” I asked as she stopped in front of me.

  “What did I think? It was very impressive—no, it was absolutely amazing!” Kari smiled up at me, her eyes sparkling. “I already knew you would win, but I didn’t expect you to win so easily. It was like you weren’t even trying. And now that you have won, the Himmel Family won’t trouble you further.”

  “It was never the Himmel Family that I was worried about,” I confessed, causing Kari to grow pensive. “But it is good that this situation was resolved with relatively little trouble. I do not think I will need to worry about anyone trying something to me for a while. And now that this matter is resolved, I can focus completely on training for the Spiritualist Grand Tournament.”

  Kari blushed to the roots of her hair. I was pretty sure she was remembering what I had promised her; that when I won, I would request that her mother allow her to explore the Demon Beast Mountain Range with me.

  “You will have to fight people a lot stronger than Albert,” Kari muttered as she gazed at me with a face that was both embarrassed and worried. “While my brothers are not allowed to compete, Grant Leucht and several other powerful Spiritualists will be taking part in the tournament. I hear Grant Leucht’s cousin is even taking part. There’s also no age limit for who can and can’t compete. I would not be surprised if several of the older and more experienced members of the various noble families decided to compete as well.”

  “I know. Do not worry.” I placed my hands on Kari’s shoulders and smiled. “Even if I have to go up against Nevaria’s most powerful Spiritualists, there is no way I will lose.”

  Kari stared into my eyes, an unknown glimmer appearing within them. Her cheeks gained a slightly rosy hue as she nodded once.

  “I know you won’t,” she said in a soft voice. “I believe in you.”

  Still smiling, I slowly drew Kari to my chest, giving her plenty of opportunities to push me away. She did not resist. She leaned into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pressed my nose into her hair, enjoying the soft, floral scent of the shampoo she used.

  I had a lot of problems on my plate. I needed to train Fay so she could become strong enough to take control of her own life. I had to defeat Grant Leucht so he would no longer go after Fay or Kari. I also needed to compete in and win the Spiritualist Grand Tournament. This was on top of trying to learn more about those people who had attacked Lin, saving Ne
varia from the Demon Beast Invasion that would happen about two years and seven months from now, and growing strong enough to kill the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plane.

  There was a lot for me to worry about and do, but in that moment, the only thing I cared about was the girl in my arms.

  * * *

  It was later in the evening. The day had passed and everyone Albert knew was discussing his loss to Eryk Veiger. He had heard their remarks when he passed them in the halls of the Himmel Family’s manor: “Can you believe he lost?” they would say. “This person has brought great shame upon the Himmel Family,” they would judge. He couldn’t lie and say their words didn’t hurt, but Albert could only snort in contempt. He didn’t think any of these people who scorned him for losing would have fared better against that boy.

  Eryk Veiger was a monster in human clothes.

  Albert was sitting in the training hall, his calves tucked underneath his thighs in a more formal posture than sitting cross-legged. His broken sword lay at his side. He had done his best to pick up the pieces that had been scattered on the arena floor, but even if he’d collected all of them, there was no way this sword could be reforged.

  He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there. Albert kept replaying his loss over and over in his mind, rewatching the battle to see if there was anything he could have done to avoid losing. There wasn’t. No matter how many times he reviewed the battle in his head, he couldn’t think of a single strategy that would have allowed him to win. From start to finish, Eryk had just been toying with him.

  “I was wondering where you wandered off to after the Honor Duel. So you were in your family’s training hall this whole time,” a familiar voice said.

  Albert opened his eyes and turned his head toward the doorway, where a familiar young man wearing an expensive tunic and boots walked toward him.

  “Grant,” he greeted.

  “I cannot believe you actually lost to that peasant.” Grant sneered.

  Albert didn’t let himself be bothered by the unpleasant expression on the other man’s face. “That ‘peasant,’ as you call him, is an incredibly skilled combatant and an even more powerful Spiritualist. Even you would be hard pressed to defeat him.”

  “You think I would lose?” asked Grant.

  “It is hard to say.” Albert glanced at his sword. “I have never been able to win a match against you in all the years we have sparred. However, neither have I ever been so easily outclassed by you. None of my attacks were able to even make him sweat. He thoroughly defeated every Spiritual Technique I threw at him, and then overwhelmed me with casual ease even after I entered the Second State of Spiritualism.” Looking up from his sword, Albert glanced at Grant. “When you face him in battle during the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, I recommend you not underestimate him.”

  Grant snorted. “Your advice is appreciated. However, a peasant is still just a peasant. I’ve always held back when you and I sparred on account of our friendship. I won’t hold back against him. I will crush him into dust, and then I’ll be sure to invite him to my wedding when I marry both Fay and Kari.”

  Albert looked at Grant, whose eyes had grown hard and cold like diamonds. He sighed. They had always been friends, but more and more, Grant seemed to be turning into someone that he didn’t recognize. He could only hope things ended as well as the man said.

  Thank you for reading!

  I want to thank everyone who read WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior 3. I hope you enjoyed it immensely.

  I know how important your time is, but if you liked this story and have a quick minute, please consider writing a review on Amazon to let other potential readers know whether they would like this story. Reviews are the life blood of us authors and are imperative for our growth and livelihood. You are essentially helping us continue living by writing a review. You are also telling us that you would like to see us continue publishing this series.

  If you enjoyed this story and would like to know when a new volume comes out, make sure you follow me on Amazon. They don’t update readers when an author’s next book comes out unless you follow that specific author, so be sure to head over to my profile page and click the follow button.

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  Once again, thank you immensely for reading my books. Your support is immeasurable.

  Afterword

  We are now done with volume 3 for WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please consider writing a review if you did. They are the life blood for us authors. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon is willing to show that book to other potential readers, and the more interested readers will be in reading said book. So, please consider helping an author out by leaving a quick review. You’ll have my undying gratitude.

  Now that we have reached this point, I feel like I can talk a little more about some matters I didn’t get to mention in my last afterward. The first is that I am really excited to finally introduce Lin! I’ve been leaving hints that Lin wasn’t an ordinary snake since volume 1, and I left a major hint foreshadowing her origins in the “past timeline” in volume 2. I hope everyone likes her.

  Please like her. Please like her. Please like her!

  Ahem. Anyway… while Kari Astralia is my favorite character in the series, Lin is the character I have the most fun writing. She’s just so interesting. Her arrogant demeanor and the way she refers to herself as “this princess” contrasts with her kind and naive personality. She’s like a puppy trying to act like a cat. I always have fun writing the scenes she has a major role in. I find her dialogue with “Darling” especially amusing.

  Not only did I introduce Lin this volume, but I also revealed a hint of Eryk’s power and expanded a little more on the cultivation system. It’s still basic. Eryk won’t go from Dou Disciple to Dou God like a certain ruler wielding protagonist from Battle Through the Heavens. However, I do plan on introducing more about the cultivation system as the series continues.

  As you’ve seen from how he completely demolished Albert in the Honor Duel, Eryk is an incredibly powerful Spiritualist. I will be honest. He is very, very powerful. This is also why I kept my cards close to my vest in regards to his training. I wanted his overpowered abilities to be a surprise.

  Another thing I wanted to talk about was how the past timeline is finally going to become incredibly important to the present timeline. Now that Eryk and Kari have reached the Northern Plains, I am going to introduce a number of important events that will foreshadow some major plot points and revelations that I plan on introducing into the present timeline later in the series. I also want readers to ask themselves a question regarding these flashbacks: Out of all the methods I could have chosen to reveal Eryk’s past, why did I choose to use dream sequences? I’ve left a hint about the reason I chose dreams to reveal the past in this volume.

  On a side note, volume 4 will only feature two flashback/dream sequences because the next volume will be about the Spiritualist Grand Tournament. It will span a two day time period. I only show flashbacks when one or more days have passed between chapters. If Eryk doesn’t sleep, he won’t dream of his past.

  Before I head off, I just have a few people who I would like to give thanks to.

  To Crystal Holdefer, thank you so much for working as my editor on t
his volume. She also did the copy editing for American Kitsune, which I just recently finished up.

  To Mykel Furgeson, my artist for this series. Thank you so freaking much. I’m very happy to have such an astounding artist working on this project with me. Her art is beautiful and her hentai art is spot on. Like, damn does she draw good sex scenes.

  And thank you, readers, for continuing to support me. This series is a very slow one. These volumes are about the same length as books from The Valens Legacy or Power Mage, but the story progresses far more slowly and there’s not as much action, making my volumes seem shorter. I know this can be frustrated. Truth be told, I have been trying to make volumes progress more quickly and even compressed a few volumes together to make that happen… but it still feels very slow. And so I am grateful to the people who continue to read this story despite its flaws. I truly hope you all enjoyed it and will stick around for volume 4! The Spiritualist Grand Tournament is up next!

  ~Brandon Varnell

  Did you know that I’m creating an American Kitsune manga?! Production will begin sometime in 2020 on Patreon. Here is a sneak peak!

  If you would like to support the creation of American Kitsune the manga, please head to and subscribe today!

  Hey, did you know?

  Brandon Varnell has started a Patreon.

  You can get all kinds of awesome exclusives like:

  1. The chance to read his stories before anyone else!

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  3. Exclusive SFW and NSFW artwork!

  4. His undying love!

  Er, maybe we don’t want that last one, but the rest is pretty cool, right?