- Additional features added:
- Dossier
- Titles
- Talents
When Sen had removed the Magic Society Recording Tablet and its data coalesced with the void’s whims, several dialogue boxes were minimized and Sen didn’t have the time to view them. At that time, he hardly had time for answers to even the most basic questions, let alone the complexity of magical interfaces and their musings.
- Dossier Features:
- Catalogue
- Journal
- Messages
Sen mentally swiped the box away. At least, something akin to mentally. He didn’t have a body, or a mind to do it. How could he be reading this? He mentally swiped down to the bottom of his notifications.
- You have died-
Skip. Scroll.
- Items in your quick-use bar can be used in your [Soul Core] state. While your physical, magical, and antimagical forms are reconstituting, you may only use items tolerable by your state of reconstitution.
- Current quick-use slots: 4
Three more than before. Perhaps ranking up gave him more quick-use slots. He could also pull items directly from his voidspace, equipping them and unequipping them at will, so filling those slots with basic items would be superfluous. His optimal approach would be to find items that were as helpful as his MSRT, or possibly items that would assist him in this Soul Core state.
Sen, in his Soul Core state, could feel neurons firing into empty synapses. His brain was reconstituting, and proto-thoughts were attempting to generate.
After some time, the white light had slowed its movement. Uladin loomed over a tiny bundle of waving, fleshy tendrils sprouting from a bright white sphere. The sphere was emblazoned with a symbol, or perhaps a rune, resembling a perpendicular crescent with a pointed swathe directed down from its center. He stared patiently at the sphere as it slowly generated more flesh.
- Titles List (Full - 1)
- Voidwalker – You have stared into the abyss, and it has stared back.
- Talents
- N/A
Heavy, fast breaths were heard from the darkness of the void, outside Uladin’s aura, and therefore out of sight, hidden by the dark haze of the void. Fleshy, slapping footsteps followed. They were singular and intermittent, unindicative of an accomplished predator. The pinpoint lights that were impressions of Uladin’s eyes slowly creeped toward the direction of the sound.
The origin of the sound came into view as if a haze lifted from it, a couple dozen meters away from Uladin and Sen’s Soul Core. It was a stout little being, reminiscent of an iron rank monster. It was round, with two black eyes on the top of its head, and a mouth as wide as its body, filled with long, pointed teeth and a gray-blue tongue that hung lazily from it. Standing half the height of the average person, it had two bulging, chubby front forelegs, and two smaller legs it used to make short hops on the invisible surface of the void. Put in perspective, it was a cross between a bulldog, a bullfrog, and an angler fish, its skin colored in a characteristic gray and black void-like palette.
The creature seemed entranced by the light emanating from Sen’s soul core, as it timidly hopped closer and closer. Its breaths were quick, panting like a puppy, while its eyes, pointing mostly upward from the top of its head, blinked with an inner, translucent eyelid before indolently using the eyelids in its dermis one after the other.
“Begone, fiend.” Uladin said, pushing out a tiny bit of his aura toward the creature.
It faltered from the aura surge, pointing its body away from Uladin. Its eyes, convex and on the upper part of its head, were obviously still watching Sen’s Soul Core, as one of them eerily bulged higher toward the top and rear of its round head.
“Begone!” Uladin commanded, sending out a more powerful wave of his aura.
The creature let out something between a yelp and a grunt, and scurried away, its blubbery paws slapping against the floor of the void. The sound of its steps diminished as it retreated.
Uladin’s attention went back to Sen’s Soul Core once the creature was out of sight, and his eyes dimmed.
***
“Alright, so, I know we don’t know much about the…” Arty took a moment to choose his words. “…Nice lady that Zulli is definitely never going to see again. But when she said that this is not something I can understand, I took it a little bit to heart. And I think I’ve found something.”
Zulli’s head quickly lifted to look at Arty. She was sitting next to August, silently waiting as they had been doing for the past couple hours since Jenessa left.
August had set up camp inside the sanctum, setting up cots, chairs, and a large warming stone from his seemingly bottomless knapsack.
Zulli stood up from her chair and paced toward the crystal dais where Arty was standing. “What do you mean? You can use the crystal?”
“This crystal-” Arty proudly said. “-is connected to the void.”
Zulli put on a flat look. “Arty.” She was inclined to plant her hand into her face again.
“Elaborate.” August said from his folding chair.
“Well, whenever we put magical fuel into the crystal, it becomes charged with that magical fuel, transmuting that fuel into an oddly different kind of magic that my instruments are having trouble measuring.” Arty picked up one of the few small vase-like instruments from the bundle of tools on the floor. “That odd kind of magic makes the crystal glow, but as you saw, it doesn’t glow forever. That magic is going somewhere.”
“The void.” Zulli surmised.
“Yep!” Arty said. “Well, that’s my guess at least. Where else would it be going?”
“So, you can tap into that connection to the void then? And maybe you can open the Rift?” Zulli asked Arty, some hope tracing through her inflection.
“That’s where I’m at. We saw the lich touch the crystal when the rift opened. He had some control over it. We can guess that he’s been to the void before, and that’s where he gained his control. But we can also postulate that the cult that made this place didn’t go to the void. That they found some kind of control over it before imparting the lich’s soul into a vessel.”
“That’s assuming the lich is one of them.” August argued.
“I have to assume.” Arty said. “That’s part of the entire experimental process. Assume something based on evidence, then make efforts to prove the assumption correct.”
August nodded.
“Why wouldn’t he be one of them?” Zulli asked. “He seems pretty entangled in all of this. They built him a throne.” She said, pointing at the large stone chair.
“He’s still here, and the cult is gone.” August imparted.
Arty tapped a finger on his lip, considering Augusts words, then turned to face Zulli. “Anyways, if I trickle mana into the crystal slowly, using these mana lamps, I’m able to keep the connection to the void open, as that odd magic gets consumed.”
“So, you can keep it open while you find some way to access it.” Zulli said.
“I was working on that, but my lamps are out of mana, and they need to recharge. I think I should call it a day. I’ve been working on this for hours and I need to come back to it with a fresh mind.” He said, pulling out his intricate pocket watch from his coat. “It’s getting late anyways.”
“What’s your plan then, for when the mana lamps are recharged?” Zulli asked.
“We have something on the other side. Something that you’re connected to. It’s a shot in the dark, but I was thinking maybe, if you really wanted to find him, we can try directing the soul connection you have with Sen into the crystal. If we can find him, we might be able to use him as a beacon to open the rift just as we would any other portal.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Zulli looked around the room, her mind turning. “You do have something here.” She admitted. “Okay, we try in the morning then.”
August, who had charged mana lamps tucked away in his knapsack, didn’t mention them. He wanted the two to get some rest. Staying in the sanctum for a couple days was his idea, and was fine with letting the iron rankers try what they could while they were here. It reminded him of some other times several years ago, when he was a fresh iron ranker and had hope of accomplishing the impossible. He put on a light smile when he remembered the times he did accomplish what he thought was impossible, and the smile faded when his thoughts trailed to the times he didn’t. “We rest then, and we don’t get our hopes up.” August said, his eyes peering between the two of them.
***
“…I don’t know where I am. I left. I probably should have stayed. It feels like I know her. But it feels like I know him too. I should have stayed with her, but I had to go with him. I had to. And now I’m back. Why am I connected to these magical beings? And this place? Why am I even here? Why me, of all people? I… I wanted it to be over so long ago. Years of feeble, lifeless existence. Now I’ve been given so much by something that wants everything from me in return. I mean, it wants everything. But it wants to give as well? It gave me my confluence. Gravastar? I don’t even know what that is. Gravity Star? Is that how I’m connected to her?”
-Journal Excerpt, 13th day.
“…He killed me. I died. Now I’m just… consciousness. I’m just a soul. No connection to anything except for the abyss. I can feel it. It feels… warm. It’s… flowing into me, making me whole again. I’m coming back. He’s going to kill me again, isn’t he? It’s just going to be a cycle of violence. Until I end it…”
-Journal Excerpt, 13th day.
- An Essence Ability is awakening…
After a few hours of generation, Sen’s Soul Core was mostly hidden by the fleshy tendrils comprising his physical body. They intertwined to resemble a nervous system, with rigid lengths developing underneath, and fleshy, spindly layers forming overtop.
The form of his body floated lightly over the surface Uladin stood on. Underneath the floor’s surface, different manifestations of their own were wafting around like oil mixed in water. They formed simple geometric shapes before drifting away in the antimagical undercurrent of the void.
Several hours passed in total, and Sen’s naked body was nearly formed in its fullest. The measly amount of hair he had grown since he woke up was gone, to include his eyebrows and everywhere else. As the regeneration came to a head, Uladin readied himself to catch Sen should he fall.
The readiness was unnecessary; an invisible force drifted Sen’s body to a supine position and slowly lowered him to the ground. As his body lowered, the oil-like manifestations underneath the surface of the invisible floor drifted upward in kind. They took form as they neared the point where Sen would touch them.
Gray brick and cobblestone developed underneath him as his body lay limply on the surface, cascading out to develop as wide as a road. The bricks were cracked and broken and laid in a gray-black mortar. They seemed worn and used despite being freshly created.
Uladin finally took his engrossed eyes from Sen to view the floor taking shape underneath him. He felt confusion for the first time in many years, since the first time he was summoned into the other world. “This order is not allowed.” He muttered to himself, looking at the road developing.
Sen’s soul interlinked with his body and then his mind. Before he had the ability to open his eyes, his proto-thoughts transformed into the substantial firing of synapses, and words and images played in his mind. He was gifted a memory in the form of a dream.
In a small apartment, somewhere in the middle of the United States, two people, a young man and a young woman, sat on a couch. They sat at distant points across from each other. Their body language put on the impression that they didn’t want to talk to each other, but couldn’t bring themselves to break from each other’s company.
After some time, one of them spoke up.
“I don’t want to just throw it all away.”
A hesitant lull followed.
“We can just leave it, and no other pain will come.” Kierra finally replied.
“No other pain?” Joseph asked her. “You think… You think I just want to avoid the pain?”
Kierra had received news a few weeks earlier. It wasn’t the best news, on the contrary, some would say it was the worst. She had been feeling some pressure originating from inside her head, pushing outward. After a few days of unalleviated pain, she went to a clinic in search of a remedy but was instead given a diagnosis after a slew of tests. A tumor had been building in her brain, and it wasn’t the kind that goes away.
“It’s only been a few months. If we just cut it here, you can move on.” Kierra told Joseph, finally turning her head to look at him from across the couch.
Joseph’s eyes were set on her lap. He wanted to look at her, he wanted to look into her eyes, but he wanted to have something to say when he did. He wanted to change her mind.
“I’m going to be with my parents, they don’t even know you. It will just be easier-”
“Are you saying this because you want it to be easier for you or for me?” Joseph interrupted her.
“I don’t know.” She said, exhausted. “I just want it to be easy, I guess.” She had been given the diagnosis that she would die, most likely within the next year, and barely had any time to accept it thus far. Her first instinct was to tie up loose ends in her life. That included her boyfriend of only a few months.
“I mean so what.” Joseph said. His eyes started to well up. This wasn’t the first time she had told him about her diagnosis, but it was the first time she had tried to give him an ultimatum. He didn’t want to accept it. “You’re gonna die.” He said to her matter-of-factly. “But maybe you won’t, you don’t really know. There could be a cure out there, you could just get better on your own.”
“Joseph.”
He did not go by Joe or Joey, and she knew that. She respected it and even adored it. She liked to say his whole name.
“But that’s not the point. The point is that I can’t just say goodbye and let you go through it alone. Sure, you’ve got your parents, but I’m here for you right now. I feel so lucky that I even found you and I just-” His hands met his head, ruffling his thick dark brown hair in frustration.
“Please stop making this harder.”
“It’s gonna be hard.” Joseph exclaimed, his hands held open in front of him. “I knew it from the first time you told me. Of course, I knew you were going to try and do something like this. It’s because you care about me, and I get that.” His voice started to crack when he thought about what he was going to say next. “I know I’m going to feel pain worse than this. I want to. I’d rather have that pain than to leave and feel nothing. Having that pain is better than the void of you.”
Kierra looked away from him. Her own eyes began to wet. She had built a resilience to weeping over the past few days. Normally she would stay with Joseph in his apartment, but after the first night she got the news, she had been staying at her parent’s. It was there, in the bed she spent her high school years, where she could really let out her emotions. No, she did not want to say goodbye to him. The past few months were more than just a honeymoon stage. She could feel it in her bones that this man that sat in front of her, some guy that had life barely figured out, was the one she wanted to figure it out with.
Joseph sniffed and wiped his eyes.
“I’m not going to throw it all away. I still have time with you.” He told her.
“Joseph please!” Kierra pleaded with him. “This is-” Her voice was choppy. “This is so hard. I knew you would make this hard, you’re so stubborn, but please.”
“Let it go!” He finally raised his voice to more than a conversational level. He abruptly stood to his feet from the couch and began pacing in no particular direction. “You’re doing it for me. I don’t give a shit. Get over it.” His pace was going in circles. He was talking to her but also letting out frustrations that he had since she told him the news.
Joseph’s frustrated pacing finally took him to the space in front of her on the couch. He knelt in front of her, and his green eyes met hers. They had nearly the same color eyes, hers were more hazel than his, but they shared the same inner hue. They had mused, as lovers do, that they shared a soul connection because of the color of their eyes. When he knelt, his hands grabbed hers, resting in her lap.
“I’m not going to beg you.” He scoffed out an insubordinate chuckle. “You would hate that, and so would I.”
Kierra let out an exasperated breath as the tears fell.
“I don’t care what you want, I’m staying right here.” He told her.
Kierra looked into Joseph’s eyes. Her eyes narrowed; she could feel his determination, and his willingness to persevere. Breaking off their relationship was, in her mind, the best thing for both of them. It would spare them both the pain of the promised turmoil ahead, at least some of it. But she didn’t want him to leave, not deep down. She wanted to stay with him as long as she could. She wanted to be with him in this life, and hopefully in the next, if there was a next. She had guessed in her previous life, she wanted the same, at least in the previous life where she was lucky enough to find him again. Her eyes steadied on his, and a placid expression looked back at him.
“Promise me then. That you'll make it through to the end.” Zulli told him.
“I will. I promise.” Sen replied.
- Essence Ability awakened – Vast
- A gift from the void.
“Balance. Imbalance. What is given does not take. What takes cannot be given. We give. We take. We are not.”
- Vortex [Special Attack – Dimension – Control]
Effect (Iron): Creates a large area of spatial isolation. The vortex has a gravitational field that draws in enemies. Enemies within any part of the effect’s radius are [Slowed]. Enemies close to the epicenter are also [Weakened] and take a small amount of [Resonating Force] damage over time.
Cost: Moderate Mana
Cooldown: 2 Minutes
[Slowed]: The victim receives a penalty to their [Speed] attribute.
[Weaken]: The damage of the affected target’s attacks are decreased. This effect stacks.
- Talent Unlocked: Soul Core Regeneration: Lvl 1
"Rise"
Sen’s eyes judiciously opened. He was back in the void. His memories of being in a Soul Core state were still with him. They felt like memories that he shouldn’t have. The memories of his old name and hers drifted away again. Why did he keep forgetting? Did the void take them?
Sen could see Uladin in his periphery as he stared straight up into nothingness. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, but he could blink his eyes, just like when he woke up in the Magic Society’s basement. He could hear the brushes of rags against bones in the still silence. He could feel the cool, damp cobblestone underneath his naked body. The biting cold of the void enveloped him, a stark contrast to the warmth he felt in his Soul Core state. His eyes drifted over to Uladin, who stood over him like a guardian, despite being his killer.
“I’m not just going to kill you, I’m going to annihilate you, and I’m going to get back. But before I do it, I’m going to make you tell me everything. Do you feel pain? Or will I have to make your life existentially unbearable by other means?”