Life, Death, and Reincarnation; the three concepts that form the overarching concept known as Samsara.
According to the universal laws, life and death were the second from last concepts to emerge at the universe's foundation.
Creation and Destruction allowed all other concepts to exist, Space and Time created a vessel to house those concepts, and Life and Death created and regulated beings who could make use of those concepts. Lastly came the 5 elements and all other things. These concepts spread through the created Spacetime, latched onto Life and Death, and introduced themselves to the world.
Life and Death were integral to the continuation of the universe, and housed the closest similarities to the original Creation and Destruction laws out of all the foundational laws.
However, even more than creation and destruction, life and death allowed one to comprehend the importance of another concept: Duality.
Mortality was something every sentient being had to come to terms with at some point in their life. Even for a practitioner who constantly increased their lifespan through training, mortality was something that needed to be acknowledged.
After all, a practitioner who could escape the bounds of mortality was a practitioner who'd faced it every single day in order to do so.
Life and Death were a beginning and end, yet they were also an end and a beginning. Life and Death were concepts that even the lowliest mortals could understand to a meager degree.
Wherever there was life, there would be death. And wherever there was death, there would be seeds of new life.
The two concepts seldom existed individually. It was something that applied to almost every other concept, but it was most easily reflected in life and death.
Duality. Every force in existence had an equal and opposite to match it. Life had death, space had time, creation had destruction, and even the greatest forces of nonexistence held duality with existence.
Greenish white and murky black mixed together like yin and yang to showcase this relationship. They swirled around each other and formed a funnel that touched ground upon a single seed, acting as water and sunlight to bloom that seed.
The more time went by, the greater this vortex became. Eventually, a trace of black spawned around its edges and began integrating itself.
Whoosh!
The splash of black was like a steroid. The vortex immediately grew massively, and the rate at which the seed was absorbing its energy heightened immensely,
Suddenly, a string of the black mana shot into the seed and rooted itself, afterward, it traveled outside of the Mana Heart where it originated and snaked through the internal body.
Until finally, it phased out of the Real Plane and became ethereal.
A pure white space was revealed. It wasn't vast, but it held more than a few concepts within.
Flames and lightning raced through the entire space without proper form, but even with their chaotic paths, there was a certain area they simply couldn't pierce.
There, a small, almost transparent gold and silver seed sat quietly. A field of distorted spacetime surrounded its existence, disallowing any entry.
This was the most stable part of the mysterious space.
Aside from the flame-lightning and the spacetime seed, there was one final seed of reddish-black color. It emitted an extremely hostile aura, and whenever the flame-lightning passed over it, it was converted into a different, far more destructive force.
The black mana thread ignored this dangerous force and moved in the other direction. When it arrived near the spacetime seed, it diverted its course and positioned itself somewhat behind the seed.
A pulsation spread through the space.
Murky black and greenish-white light traveled through the black mana and spread into the mysterious space. However, soon enough, the spreading mana was met by the spacetime seed's repellent force and sent back to its original position.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
As the mana compounded multiple times, a sound like a sickly heartbeat rang through the space.
The seed forming in the Real Plane became illusory. Through the black mana tube, the energy contained within the vortex connected to it was diverted to the mysterious space.
Until finally…
Ba-dum!
Ba-dum!
Two pulsations of black and white mana spread through the space and formed a dome-like cocoon. Cracks spread on the cocoon almost immediately upon its creation.
Crack! Crackle!
The cocoon's shell shattered and fluttered around the empty air like butterflies.
In the center of the cocoon where the black mana tube once sat was a new seed.
A seed of murky black and greenish white.
Thump!
"Ah…"
Damien's eyes rolled up into his head. A sudden wave of something thumped through his body, completely overriding his systems.
His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Both vitality and deathly air flowed through his veins at once.
It was a strange feeling.
An almost painful one.
But at the same time, it was…
'Euphoric.'
There was truly no better way to describe the feeling.
Bang!
Sebastian's fist was like a falling meteor as it struck Damien directly in his ribs.
"Kak…!"
Damien's body flew backwards, blood flying out of his mouth.
Sebastian appeared in front of him like a ghost and continued his beatdown. A flurry of punches loaded with Nox Mana rained down on Damien's body, causing blood to spurt incessantly from his damaged organs.
But…why?
Sebastian frowned in displeasure. Oddly enough, he couldn't find any of the previous joy he gained from beating Damien to a pulp.
It felt…empty.
'That human is no longer reacting.'
Sebastian stepped forward. His body blurred and appeared dozens of kilometers away where Damien's body had landed.
BOOM!
He kicked the limp body. He stomped on it until all of its bones were shattered.
Even recognizing this body as the human known as "Damien" was impossible in its current state.
But this was even more fearsome than anything else.
Because even with his body in such a state…
'He is…smiling?'
Right, Damien was smiling.
He was smiling so widely that it made his deformed face even more gruesome to look at.
'It doesn't hurt.'
Sebastian's attacks didn't hurt anymore.
The pain in his body was negligible.
Even with the current level of damage, Damien didn't have any panic in his mind.
A strange feeling brewed in his mind…
A feeling that said he was unkillable.
Under Sebastian's suspicious eyes, Damien's mutilated body fused back together. His bones snapped, crackled, and popped back into place, his skin and muscles following thereafter.
It was only a few seconds before he could stand up again.
'Don't be delusional.' He reminded himself.
Damien knew just how hard it was to fully kill him, but that didn't make him unkillable.
However, he did feel something strange in his body.
A new type of energy he'd never used before was laced into his Void Mana, and the seed in his Mana Heart had disappeared completely,
Did the process…finish?
Damien clenched his fists in curiosity. He was expecting some kind of grand declaration of strength, but he didn't quite feel anything at all.
'Hmm…I guess it needs a test drive.'
He smiled and cracked his neck. His eyes turned to the enemy standing only a few feet away.
"Ahahaha…well, this is pretty awkward. I forgot what round we're on, but are you ready for the next one?"
Smilingly, he beckoned his opponent over with a finger.
Even the Higher Nox Sebastian who wasn't fully aware of human gestures could sense the provocation laced in that finger.
The butler's eyes narrowed.
This child…
…was quite annoying.
