Within the vortex of souls, spirits of all kinds, belonging to all former life, continued to spin and float endlessly in the suspension world. An eldritch abomination of a dimension, it was impossible to describe the ever-changing miasma that expanded all around the souls.
Even then, while it was inaccessible from the mortal plane, a long time ago, –and even then, it was relative, for time and space were said to be abnormal in the vortex- one had found a way to bring fragments of the spirits back to life. While some argued that the summoned spirits were nowhere near the real deals, others saw that they most likely held the same memories and characteristics as their former selves.
Upon finding out that it was relatively easy to call upon a spirit from the afterlife, the humans, Summoners, began to research on ways to make it easier for all to summon the spirits of the dead.
With that, years passed, development of civilisation grew more rapid, leading to the Akras Summoners' Hall being formed, and in its years, it continued to gather more in its forces and staff. Summoning the spirits, which eventually became known as Units, was by then somewhat commonplace in the Summoner Army, Imperial Guard and Demon Slayers.
It was simple, get some training in magic, know the ritual for forming spiritual contracts, get some powerful magic catalysts, and any fool could summon a Unit.
While it was true that souls had no form, and are ever unaware of their eternal wandering, when one began to form a bond with whoever called it out, it would gain awareness fairly quickly. To solidify and be given "life", it had to be supplied with mana from an external source. One such soul felt the magical tendrils of life reaching for it, and instantaneously it was attracted to the life force like flies to a lantern.
The mana supply was strong, easily the kind that came from five gems and a decent necromancer. That was what the spirit thought as their memories returned and their form solidified. It felt strangely refreshing to be brought back to life, but at the same time, disorientating.
Why did it feel like most of their former life's memories were intentionally wiped?
It was strange, just as the contract was formed, the last fleeting memory was a bright light shining from the head of an eldritch abomination fast approaching him, the backdrop covered in blood and destroyed buildings. Within the next instant, that fragment of memory was wiped too.
The spirit materialised into the shape of a human, his armour appearing just quickly as he became a solidified being made of mana.
He tried to re-collect his memories, all of which only lasted up to possibly the last moment he was in that particular form.
He was a knight of the La Veda Republic, rather low-ranked, possibly still a mere soldier in the cavalry. He was already relatively popular among the others in his rank, was soon to be promoted. The others spoke of a rising star of a squire-turned-knight who wandered around the Republic. They compared him to the wandering knight who was not in the order. And he disliked comparison.
After that, his memories were a blank, a strange void that could not be filled no matter how hard he tried to guess what happened next.
Somehow, he knew that he was dead.
Somehow, he accepted it just fine.
And somehow, he felt a strange compulsion to follow and accept the orders of whoever summoned him.
There was one part of that compulsion that felt more like a seal which was already stuck to him the moment his contract was formed with the summoner.
Do not attack or leave your Summoner.
He mentally shrugged it off, summoning his sword and shield. He would never attack someone innocent anyway.
He needed to see the Summoner for himself to decide on that.
As the gold doors in the darkness opened, he walked out to take a look at the one who had called him back from the afterlife.
As he looked over the Summoner, he spoke.
"Are you worthy of me dedicating my sword to you? Let me measure your worth."
Author's Note: I thought I'd dredge this up quickly since it wasn't fair to let the story end like that.