I Refused To Be Reincarnated

The sparkling mist lingered, billowing around Adam's figure before its rotation speed increased, until a sky-blue tornado rose to the sky, surpassing the tower's height. Standing in the storm's eye, Adam scratched his head in confusion, unsure what to do.

However, the mana decided for him. The wind howled in his ears, and his eyes widened in shock as he flailed his arms to protect himself from the collapsing typhoon in vain.

The potent energy phased through his body, directly assaulting his soul with horrifying brutality.
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Purple thunder crashed on the listless artefacts, re-injecting power into the glowing symbols.

"ARGH!" A blood-curdling lightning storm engulfed the plaza as Adam roared in pain. He felt the mana dissect his soul morsel by morsel in fear. Meanwhile, the electric current followed the scalding light on the ground, reaching his body.

It phased through it as the mana did and condensed into a purple sphere brimming with energy, hovering in a space carved by the mana tornado.

The pain lessened a bit, causing a sigh of relief to escape his lips as he hoped the torturous experience was over. Yet, loud rumblings followed, shattering his sense of safety.

'Don't tell me...' He thought, eying the circle's nexus in despair. Unfortunately, the thing he dreaded came true.

The dark sky spewed scorching lava on the artefacts, illuminating everything red. Simultaneously, the same pain assaulted his soul again. Yet, this time, it was much worse.

Painful roars reverberated as a small dark-red sphere formed. His white T-shirt stuck to his skin, soaked with sweat, and his eyes trembled as he imagined the worst plausible scenario in trepidation.

"N-No," he stuttered, unwilling to suffer from the growing pain. After all, his soul's space was limited. The more things it had to incorporate, the more it would be cut, making the pain progressively unbearable, and he knew it.

However, the mana didn't give him the luxury of choice as ice rained down, causing him to clench his jaw to endure. Since he had no choice but to suffer, he would do it with style. "Bring your worst! I won't scream anymore, for I'm a true man!" He roared, his defiant voice vibrating on the mana like a challenge.

As his words lingered, icy sweat dripped from his forehead. Yet, he kept his mouth tightly sealed until a glacial sphere hovered inside him.

But he knew things weren't over yet. He endured, and endured, and endure again. Relying on his tenacious will and self-confidence, he took in all the pain, resisted sleep's embrace, and kept his word. Not a single sound filtered through his mouth despite the dozens of orbs hovering peacefully in his soul.

However, his dishevelled appearance was anything but stylish... Sprawled on the ground like a stiff corpse, he used all his mental strength to breathe with difficulty. His red fingers bled as his nails lingered a few centimeters from him, and a mix of tears and snot covered his face.

He lost count of how many times he had been subjected to the terrible pain at this point. Even his determination didn't matter anymore. He knew he reached his limits. His dependable limbs didn't feel attached to his body anymore. He had no strength left, and the only sensation left was pain. A world of pain.

If hell existed, he didn't doubt he got a taste of it with this ritual.

Unfortunately, it wasn't over. Despite the melted slabs and materials, the tornado still spun vigorously, showing he would continue to suffer or... die.

'I can't anymore...' he thought, his torn soul wishing to extinguish the embers of his irrational resistance and dissipate. Yet, a part of him refused to submit.

'Fight back!'

'I have no more strength,' he answered, his exhausted inner voice a whisper.

'Surpass your limits, then!'

'My body is already ruined. Even my mind is on the brink of shattering,' he replied again, his dull eyes gazing at the blue sky.

'Consider it like mental training, then!'

The voice echoed, causing his brows to furrow as he realised they were the advice he had offered Julius over the years.

'Surpass it with your own strength!' His own voice thundered in his mind, deafening his pain and defeatist thoughts as he realised he had been on the brink of giving up for the first time.

'I'll never surrender!' He roared, reigniting the embers in his heart until it burned like a raging inferno. 'My mind will never be my undoing!' He added, cementing his resolve in the most desperate situation he faced.

'I'll survive and burn Kwame's grimoire!' He concluded, cursing the archmage with all his heart. What shitty ritual was that? No humans could survive it considering the requirements since one had to be under twelve to fulfil the first.

Fueled by his resolve, his dull eyes glistened, and his upper lips rose to show his teeth.

As if noticing his defiant gaze, the tornado raged around him, ripping his clothes to shreds. Then, the wind howled like a wounded beast as the mana smashed against his body.

His rib cage shattered, caving in upon impact, causing blood to fill his throat. However, his eyes remained firm. Soon, his body turned into a bloody mess, limbs flying out of the circle until only his soul remained.

Even then, his eyes only narrowed in focus. He would take everything, survive, and return to explore this wonderful world with Julius. 'You can't stop me!' his voice boomed, causing the spheres hovering in his soul to shake wildly.

As his resolve, tempered in hardships and pain, turned as solid as an artifact, the entire sky-blue tornado finally drilled into his soul, causing it to bloat and distort into an ugly grey mass.

Yet, after a second, the mana gradually condensed into an intricate orb covered in mystical symbols and filled with small sockets. Then, mana tentacles emerged, encasing every sphere inside its sky-blue frame until it hovered peacefully by his soul essence.

However, before Adam could sigh in relief, dark clouds crackling with golden energy gathered in the sky, ready to rain death on the foolish creature who dared to defy natural laws.

His soul trembled as he saw them before he smirked. 'I'm unable to move but... I can leave whenever I want!' he thought, using his last fragment of mental strength to grab the sigil with a mage's hand and close his eyes to return to the real world.

****

Upon seeing the boy pacing in the room with a worried frown, he smiled softly, threw the archaic medal and fell unconscious, unable to endure the damage anymore.