Gardenia's Heart - Chapter 94: Guides of the Forest

This is a story that follows the courtship between a stone from Hell and a god from Heaven that begins in the underworld and spans for three lifetimes in the mortal realm.

Long ago a great calamity struck the earth, destroying much of it and merging what remained with pieces of other worlds.

With these worlds came Aether, a new form of energy that can allow one to transcend the bounds of normal mortality and human limitations.

In a world where humans absorb the essence of aether beasts to gain power, Aiden Hawke joins the class of humans known as arcanists, people who defeat aether beasts and absorb their essence into cores they forge within themselves, and who infuse themselves with the aether that permeates the world around them to increase the power of their body and mind.

However, unlike most, Aiden will find that he holds a unique gift and that his journey as an arcanist will not be so simple.

In her first life, Primrose Vielle Illvaris thought the Lycan King hated her. He barely spoke to her, avoided her like the plague, and his people treated her as if she were invisible.After all, she wasn’t his choice, just a fate mate he never wanted.So when she met a tragic end, she welcomed death with open arms, hoping to step through the gates of heaven and spend her days running around the flower garden.But then … she was reborn.Thrown back to the past, right to the moment she was forced into their marriage, Primrose was determined to leave him before history could repeat itself.But just as she planned her escape, something strange happened—She could hear his thoughts.And they were nothing like his cold, distant behavior.【My wife is so beautiful today … But if I look at her, I won’t be able to let go.】【I'm a beast, I'm a monster, I don't deserve my wife ....】Primrose almost choked on air.Wait—what?!The more she listened, the more shocking the truth became—HE WAS OBSESSED WITH HER.Every time she was near, his thoughts screamed:“MINE.”“MATE.”“MY WIFE IS MAD AT ME! I DESERVE TO DIE!!”Excuse me?! Since when did the cold, untouchable Lycan King turn into this pathetic lovesick fool?!

In a world where Classes, Stats, and Levels are the everyday norm, Reivyn has a secret.He was unusually aware of his surroundings from an incredibly early age, and Skills and Stats were acquired easily. He was just the son of an ordinary village family, and nothing appeared out of the ordinary on the surface. But below the surface, dreams of another life help shape his mentality and growth. Why does he have some remembrance of a past life, and what is his purpose in this new one?“Soul of the Warrior” is what I call a Semi-Isekai LitRPG. I say “semi,” because Reivyn's past life is remembered like a dream, and very incomplete. It is still Isekai, though, as he remembers enough that it directly shapes his personality and his sense of self.The System that governs the world of “Soul of the Warrior” is a combination of modified versions from Selkie's “Beneath the Dragoneye Moons” and Kosnik4's “Magic Smithing.” I have changed enough of these Systems and combined them in a way that is unique that I'm mostly sure it's fine, but I still have requested permission to use these ideas. They have both graciously granted me permission.Winner of the April Writathon Challenge.