"Three different bodies in one day, I feel so dizzy… wonder how I look like this time," Shilin said to himself after the children ran away scared.
He waited for the ripples in the water to calm down before looking at his face.
"Well, at least they didn't change my good looks by much. This black hair and dark tone of skin are different, though. Wonder how beautiful my first wife will be though…"
Shilin checked every part of his face before doing the same with the rest of his body. The only scar that remained was on his abdomen—one he had asked the overseer not to remove in any of his reincarnations. But with no clothes other than the loincloth, he couldn't hide it.
"Where the hell am I though? Hot, sweltering forest, mosquitoes… what kind of dump did they send me to?"
Shilin tried all the powers he knew—even those he had in his first life—but they were uselessly weak.
"Nothing… works… I have been brought as a true mortal, huh…"
Looking at the blue sky, the green leaves on the trees, and the clear water beneath him, Shilin at least enjoyed the start of his thirteenth life.
"Ara'us Mahej, das!"
Shilin muttered as he tried to use the only skill that wasn't his. It was the Overseer's ability, given to transcending candidates to check their status.
The twelve spheres lit up before him. After a few seconds, all of them dimmed—except one that lit up lightly, as if sensing a part of him nearby.
Urrus, the stone of Wind… Guess it will be a good start, it was one of my most reliable powers at least.
At least it wasn't Uvark of Darkness or Uruis of Light. Those would be difficult to use in a world where other divinities could influence the two divine powers.
The rune shone for three seconds, blinking before it stopped. This meant he wasn't too far from the one who had his power, but it also didn't give him enough data to understand the position of who he would be looking for.
Shilin took a few seconds to inspect his surroundings while trying to figure out where he was. During his first life as an Earthling, he remembered rainforests and where they were located—Southeast Asia, South America, some parts of Central and North America, and parts of Africa.
The sun was the same, the earth beneath his feet felt the same—and in the sky, a single faded moon hung in the distance. It was something he had almost forgotten was normal; most of the worlds he'd visited had more than one.
He wondered when the mythical part of this world would begin.
Shilin heard monkeys and birds, insects, and the rustling of leaves in the canopy of the large trees.
It was all normal—until Shilin noticed something flying in the sky. It looked like a dragon, which he didn't find strange, as he had just defeated one not even a day ago. However, this particular dragon looked more like a serpent.
Green, with two large wings, it was slowly closing in on where he was.
Shilin feared the worst and tried to find somewhere to hide. A shrub next to a tree was enough to cover him as he felt the powerful wings of the flying creature blow through the forest. It seemed not to have found what it was looking for before rising back into the sky.
[Well, that was a fast reaction to a dimensional warp. It must be no weaker than a lesser deity…] Shilin thought as he kept himself hidden for a few more minutes. He had planned to wait half an hour but decided within minutes that everything was going to be fine and walked through the forest in search of a town.
Shilin tried to remember where the kids had run off to, as they had probably come from a nearby settlement.
Without powers or much strength, even a small walk was taxing on his new body, so he kept a pace that let him move forward without losing his breath.
While most of his powers were gone, he noticed one particular ability still helped him. It came from his stealth skills in the past—one that didn't need fancy magic to work. With years of experience, it allowed him to see through tracks and other small details in the area.
Small footprints were the least of his worries as he looked at the vegetation around him. The cut grass in some areas showed heavy usage—a trail used by many during a certain time of the year. Some of the greenery shone brighter on one side than the other, indicating it was early in the season.
[Probably March or April… just after the winter colds. They don't seem to be wearing much, so the prints aren't as deep… as for the village… it's east.]
Shilin got most of what he needed after carefully inspecting everything. He followed the tracks, trying to figure out which were from animals and which were from humans, focusing on the most obvious ones.
[A group of thirty individuals...] He finally got another clue from seeing the same repeating patterns. He was closing in, as their tracks were everywhere, meaning the village couldn't be far.
It wasn't long before he saw a few humans—a young woman and a middle-aged man—talking while looking around as if they were trying to hide something.
Shilin, who didn't know the language, tried to listen carefully, using his years of experience with a certain skill to gather syllables and commonly used words.
It had a rich sound system, using "tl" at the end of most words and a few basic vowels. As far as grammar, it seemed to combine smaller units.
He wasn't going to learn much from hearing two people whispering, so Shilin gave up trying to understand for now and simply watched their interaction—at least up to a point.
The two were no more than lovers who had escaped to make love in a secluded spot. Shilin wasn't interested in their affair, so he left the two alone to try to find a better subject to ask his many questions.