I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Arun stepped on the circle\'s edge, his legs shaking while gripping Asha\'s hand.

The young girl followed behind, as scared as he was, finding comfort in the solid strength of his fiancé\'s touch.

Louise watched the touching scene with a smile before frowning after Arun opened his mouth.

"Asha," Arun began, his voice soft but tinged with uncertainty as he looked into her eyes, "if we find ourselves surrounded by magical beasts or worse, lost in another realm, I want you to know..." He paused, gathering his thoughts and blushing before continuing, "I want you to know that I don\'t dislike your presence as much as I did before entering the college."

Asha\'s eyes widened at the boy. The clumsy declaration filled her heart with warmth. "Let\'s go, dummy. Everything will be fine. Don\'t forget that our party is strong!" she said, trying to reassure her shaking fiancé.

"I know, but..." Arun\'s voice faltered, his fear momentarily overpowering his resolve. "I just have this feeling, like something\'s not right. What if we stumble into a demon\'s lair?"

Before he could say anything more, Louise hastily stepped forward, gently pushing the couple into the middle of the circle, and facepalming.

"Tsk, the scene was perfect, but you had to ruin it," she said with a wry smile, her voice tinged with exasperation. She expected their relationship to progress more under the stressful situation. Alas, she ended up disappointed.

******

After reappearing, the party found itself hidden behind thick, frozen stalagmites in a dark corner of the cave. Julius quickly took his surroundings in, realising they were ten minutes away from the entrance.

With sighs of relief, they exited the cave in the Gate\'s direction.

The muffled sound of their boots on the snow and the echo of their voices contrasted with the harmonious silence of the night.

After walking for an hour, they finally traversed the gate, reappearing inside the safe haven that was the college.

"It was a bumpy first ride, right kids?" Shiro said, grinning. Despite the challenges they experienced, she learned many things and had a clear idea of how to progress, thanks to Adam\'s advice.

"It was a real adventure! Fighting beasts, a weird knight, and discovering a mysterious ruin. Exactly what I expected." Arun said arrogantly, forgetting how afraid he was a few hours ago. Then he shocked everyone with his next sentence. "Where do we go tomorrow?"

After a heavy silence, Shiro forced a smile and said, accompanied by everyone\'s nods. "Maybe not tomorrow. But in a month or two, why not?"

Arun sighed in disappointment before grabbing Julius with a smile. "Let\'s head back to our dorm."

As Julius nodded and was about to head back, Adam interrupted him.

"I need to talk with Shiro." He said, his voice serious.

The boy nodded in confusion, giving the room\'s key to Arun and wishing him good night.

Everyone left after bidding goodbye, curious about what they would speak about but, understood that staying would be poorly received by the enigmatic ghost.

"I have a list of materials. Help me find them." Adam bluntly wrote, going straight to the point.

"Sure, forward me the list," Shiro answered, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Everything in this list has to be elemental neutral and imbued with mana. I need six tier-one minerals, five tier-two plants, four tier-three exotic crystals and gems imbued with magical energy." Shiro nodded. The materials weren\'t rare or overly expensive. They could even gather them themselves in a few days if they wanted to. However, her eyes widened as the list extended.

"Three tier-four enchanted relics. Two tier-five celestial objects like meteor shards or stardust. The essence of a tier-six ghostly creature. A tier-seven ancestral grimoire and finally a tier-eight archmage sigil."

Shiro\'s legs almost gave in as she read the last materials. Even Shepard would have trouble gathering them all, especially the last one!

"Wh... What are you trying to create with those crazy materials?" She stuttered, her mind racing in every direction, trying to understand the list.

After pondering, he added, avoiding the question. After all, he couldn\'t tell it was the materials required for Kwame\'s ritual. "Can you help me get the lower-tiered ones? I\'ll ask the teachers for the rest."

Shiro nodded, still shaken by the list, before numbly heading to her room. She was unwilling to use her brain anymore for the day, so she just waved her hand to say goodbye to Adam and Julius, who was gazing at his big brother in confusion.

"What list did you show her?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Just a bunch of materials I\'ll need for a ritual in the future. Return to your room to rest for the night." Adam said, with a kind smile, not entering into details.

He had to progress faster if he wanted to find a solution he could accept, the first step being gathering the materials needed to unlock mana affinity. After all, he only had ten months before awakening his talent.

As Julius nodded, satisfied by the answer and walked back to his room, a group of adults waited expectantly in front of a Gate in the Belloria Kingdom.

A blonde woman with green eyes paced, biting her thumbnail in frustration as an old man exuding elegance and nobility gazed at her, his brows twitching.

"Calm down, Eleanor. He\'ll be back with the boy soon." Gabriel Ashford said, caressing his moustache.

"I hope. I\'m tired of this wild goose chase. Don\'t forget that you married me only to get that boy!" She said, biting her nail with enough force to crack it, her voice filled with resentment.

"Was it my fault if you failed to bring the boy back? Was it my fault if Gaston outsmarted you so much? You\'d better not blame me for your failures, stupid girl." Gabriel answered, narrowing his eyes dangerously and scaring Eleanor.