It's curious that one of the many questions science still cannot answer, even after so many years, is whether humans truly have a soul.
If they do, what is the world like after death? Would there still be consciousness once death knocks at our doors?
When he was alive, Noah used to think about that trivial question—perhaps because he had nothing more important to occupy his mind. And every time he reflected on it, he always came to the same conclusion: only someone with nothing better to do would stop to ponder such a thing.
He thought that maybe if he had the credentials to conduct research, things would be very different. But when Noah finally had the time and opportunity to study the question, he found himself a little lost.
And before he knew it, he went from being a researcher to a test subject of his own study—and what he discovered terrified him.
This was a dark world.
Staring into the endless darkness before him, Noah fell into deep thought.
First of all, he was able to confirm that he was indeed dead and had somehow arrived in this strange space. Though Noah didn't understand why he still retained his consciousness, he was clearly trapped there.
Lonely, dark, and infinite...
The only thing he could see were two dense, flickering orbs of light—one blue, the other green—floating in front of him. Noah tried to reach out, but realized he had no body; he seemed to be nothing more than a ball of consciousness.
But fortunately, he appeared to be able to float like a cloud.
"Could it be... that this is a soul?" Noah suddenly had this thought.
After pondering for a moment, Noah cautiously floated toward the two dense orbs of light.
The green one was very large, its light pulsing with an aura of mystery that fascinated Noah.
The blue one was much smaller, dense and gentle, giving Noah an incredible sense of closeness.
After thinking for a few seconds, Noah decided to touch the latter first. However, just as he was about to reach it, countless faint prayers suddenly echoed in the air.
That voice was ethereal, soft, and sacred—it seemed to carry a wondrous power that involuntarily calmed the soul.
Startled, Noah turned his attention toward the sound and realized it seemed to be coming from the green orb. The prayers were intermittent, spoken in a language Noah had never heard before, yet they filled him with a beautiful and haunting sense of sorrow.
He couldn't understand the content, but he could perceive the infinite sadness and despair contained in the voice.
Curiosity overcame everything else, and for some reason, Noah shifted his focus and touched the green orb.
The moment he did, the entire world suddenly changed. His consciousness slipped into a trance, and a tremendous amount of information surged into him.
Noah felt his vision dim, and then countless images appeared in his mind as if he were a historian watching the tides of time.
A vast, wild, and unnamed continent…
A black seed, cast down from the heavens like a punishment or a promise...
The earth trembled, and from its depths rose an impossible tree—taller than mountains, older than the moon...
And from its branches, like forbidden fruits, were born figures carved by divine hands: beautiful, deadly, soulless.
"Elves...?"
As he gazed upon the figure that often appeared in fantasy shows and films in his past life, the thought crossed his mind.
Before Noah could think of anything else, the green orb emitted a powerful suction and swallowed him whole in an instant...
…
"[...
A suitable soul has been selected.
Conditions have been met. The Ritual of Awakening of the Tree of the World, Life, and Creation has been activated.
...]"
In the haze, Noah heard a strange voice constantly whispering strange words into his mind.
He could swear that language didn't exist—it was utterly bizarre.
In his quest for knowledge to strengthen his soul studies, he had learned to recognize any language, but this one was beyond comprehension.
"How do I understand this?" Noah was baffled by how he could comprehend every word.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, everything around him lit up...
Suddenly, Noah found himself in a world surrounded by countless green photons.
They were countless flying green orbs of light—dazzling and dreamlike, beyond description.
What the hell was going on? Noah was stunned by what he was seeing.
His first thought was undoubtedly that he had reached heaven—that place many believers call paradise.
But little by little, Noah realized not everything was as it seemed.
"[...
The fusion of two souls is beginning...
The inheritance ceremony of the Tree of the World has been activated...
The beginning of a new Thranduil opportunity will emerge on the Continent...
...]"
The voice sounded again, and then, countless particles began to swarm toward Noah's body, which was starting to take shape.
Noah felt a powerful and mysterious force coursing through his body, filling every new corner of his being, along with countless pieces of information enriching his knowledge.
As everything fused within him, Noah felt his five senses grow sharper and sharper. The mysterious prayer in the darkness echoed once more, becoming increasingly clear.
With the fusion of the photons, Noah's consciousness began to bloom with a sacred light.
The pure green energy continued to accumulate until it filled the entire known space.
In the final moment, Noah clearly heard the strange voice once more:
"The fusion of the new with what no longer exists has been successful.
Welcome, stranger, to the new world where you shall be part of my legacy...
You shall be known as His Majesty, Thranduil.
When his consciousness became clear again, Thranduil fell into deep thought.
He was no longer in that strange space. On the contrary, he seemed to have arrived in a world brimming with vitality.
In the distance, wavy mountains were surrounded by dark, dense forests.
Ignoring the obviously non-Earth-like flora of the woods, Thranduil suspected he had arrived in a primeval forest.
Only this forest and those mountains were far too wild...
The sensation was strange—like he had been chosen for the amusement of some gods or brought to this place to see if he could change anything.
Strangest of all was his attitude. He could no longer control his emotions; he behaved differently. Thranduil had evolved.
"This place is tiny..." Thranduil's overwhelming sense of superiority made him unconsciously dissatisfied with his surroundings.
The mountains were savage, the forests didn't wave any banners, and even the flocks of birds in the sky looked like flies.
What's more, his vision was bizarre. It was as if he could see, in vivid detail, every little thing before him. Even more oddly, though he was in a humanoid form, he had full 360-degree awareness—no blind spots.
Something he never imagined could exist in his previous life...
His attention shifted slightly, and Thranduil noticed a small lake not far away.
The lake shimmered, crystal clear, and his humanoid reflection was clearly visible.
The majestic appearance he emanated was overwhelmingly oppressive—the golden armor covering every inch of his perfect form radiated dominance and made it clear that the elven kingdom still stood.
"I'm an elf…" Thranduil muttered as he lifted his bloodstained sword.
Combining the newly absorbed information, Thranduil quickly found the answer he sought.
He was King Thranduil, the last standing member of the elven clans. Under his father's leadership, they managed to hide an elite force of elves when the war against the humans was already lost.
That action had secured the survival of over one hundred thousand elves—though over time, and due to difficulties reproducing, that number had been halved.
But leaving aside the decline of his kind, what stood before Thranduil now was something magical.
"The Tree of the World?"
This wasn't a millennial tree, nor something born from the existing world—no, this tree had come into being when the soul of his former self fused with Thranduil, who immediately recognized the magical tree before him.
His knowledge told him this was known as the Root of Nature, the Mother of Elves, the Miracle of Life.
It was a mysterious being, as ancient as the birth of existence. A true mythical entity, its power rivaling that of the gods.
"It really is the Tree of the World…" Staring at the withered leaves reflected in the water, Thranduil didn't know whether to sigh or grieve in silence.
After reviewing the inheritance's knowledge, Thranduil more or less understood his current situation.
His soul was now linked to the Tree of the World—the last chance for the elves to regain their former glory.
After losing the war against the humans, this was their only hope of recovering and bringing magic back to their kind.
As the last standing Elven King, Thranduil seemed to have been chosen by this dying tree to bring life once more to this dead land.
"A new world where my race is oppressed by savage humans," Thranduil murmured, a sinister chill running through him.
But seconds later, it vanished. As he noticed, the inheritance from the Tree of the World seemed to possess a strange power to soothe the mind.
Thranduil felt no panic or helplessness. On the contrary, he was surprised to find himself extremely calm, even with a faint joy in his heart.
"Humans…" Thranduil had no issue going against those who had once been his own race.
His past ensured he felt no empathy toward humans, and for that reason, his conviction only grew stronger.
After fusing with the Tree of the World's inheritance, Thranduil knew he was lucky.
As a wandering soul in the void, he would have eventually faced destruction—if not for this accident, this transmigration and fusion, that gave him a new Thranduil life.
No, it was the life of a tree.
"No matter what, I'm alive again, aren't I?" Gazing at the reflection in the lake and feeling the unfamiliar body, Thranduil's heart filled with curiosity.
But at the same time, he sensed a certain decay in this body.
There was no doubt that his current state wasn't good. Just looking at his reflection, it was clear he had been close to death from some kind of magical illness.
Now, however—linked to the Tree of the World and armed with countless abilities he had yet to explore—Thranduil had a world of possibilities ahead.
"Your Majesty, all the humans have been exterminated from the forest," A blood-covered royal guard in silver armor knelt behind Thranduil, not daring to look at him.
Thranduil, placing his hand beneath the Tree of the World, said, "Let's return. Let the beasts feast on the corpses."
"Yes, Your Majesty the King."