Mage Of The Abyss

Everything has gone dark.

*Pant *Pant

"What the hell is this. I'm not in Limbo, am I?" the atmosphere looks different. While Limbo holds the air of emptiness, but this one on the other hand, has that uncomforting feeling as if I'm awake within my dream.

My body is glowing and it's lighting up the area around me, but I don't see anything.

That feeling kicks in again, the feeling of being watched from behind, I feel my neck being choked as if I'm having some kind of sleep paralysis - the shit I've been dealing with lately.

I turned around and found, "A Mirror?"

Just a tad bit over my height, I found the me in the mirror is wearing not a single piece of cloth even though right now, I'm still wearing these rags.

I approach it closer, and my c.h.e.s.t started tightening, but I endured it.

Doesn't seem to be unordinary, and the frame of the mirror is as simplistic as it gets, but it's wide. Way too wide, and it keeps extending, the height too.

Feels like the mirror has become a reflective wall now.

I look at myself in the mirror, and then checked my forearms to the back of my hands. Something feels odd. I know my body well, and it's not supposed to be this… smooth.

Is it because I went back in time?

I never thought about it, but the more I touch it, the more I value it. So much different than my modified body a few years in the future.

It's, "Beautiful."

Staring at me without even blinking an eye.

"…"

"Feel free to laugh," she said, "After all, you've been through far worse than just some nightmare that came out of nowhere."

Uh-uh, so she knows things about me, "That's not good. I might need you to shut up now, baby."

Smiling, "Not gonna laugh? Many people have already known that you're not so pure, so why the mask? Does the rush still on you? Want me to get it off?" gesturing inappropriately.

"What do you get out of this? Just tell me what the f.u.c.k is going on."

"…"

Stepping closer to her, we gaze at each other, eye to eye. "I'm talking to you. Are we still in the game or is this just another one of—"

"The Nightmares?"

"…"

"Both of them."

"…"

"Why don't you look behind you?"

My senses pick up something unpleasant, and I sure as hell won't take my eyes off of this damn reflection, "You—"

"Siola Mithra."

The edges of my mouth tightened, "Leave the latter."

"Born on April 3rd, 2055 – to one of the most prestigious families in the Sky Sector. Living a life of luxury. With a caring mother, hardworking father, loving grandfather, and one-of-a-kind sister."

"Can't really tell what exactly are you going on about by telling me that."

"Afraid to lose them."

Shattered, the back of my fingers bleed.

"Seeking comfort…"

"Stop."

"… in a fake world…"

"I said stop."

"…"

Looking back at her, that grin is still there and it grows even wider. Shaking as I glare at her, "What do you want?"

"I'm lonely."

"Uhuh, well I'm not."

"But I am."

"I didn't ask whether you have friends or not, I asked what do you want with me!"

"…"

"…"

"Do we like snails?"

"They make a fine appetizer."

"But they're cute."

"Right."

"…"

It's weird looking at my nude self like this, so I loosened my wardrobe and throw it into the other side, and it did transfer.

"Oh, I don't really need that though."

My cheeks puffed within an instant, *Inhaaaaaale *Exhaleeeeeeeeeee

"I mean, look at our body. Like, not a single soul in the world whether in IRL or in-game, wouldn't want a piece of this."

*Sigh*

"What?"

"We've been repeating that sentence for a while now."

"Aha, yes… We did."

Somehow, I started smiling, and the other me in the mirror lessening her grin into a smile and it feels the same as mine.

"I really like scorpions."

Snapping, "Because they have a cool name."

"And a cool body shape."

"Spiders are killing me."

"Those eyes…"

"Uwu…"

"Tarantula is cool though."

"Yeah, it is."

"Not centipede though."

"Mhm."

"Love me some music,"

"Movies,"

"Picture books,"

"Games."

In synchrony, the last word brought us together. I can feel the bond for my own well-being is getting stronger. This place is getting warm for sure and my mind started to sober up.

"Wake up."

The me in front of me changes into nothing, and the atmosphere turns cold.

The sound of incomprehensible voices kept ringing under my ears in an extremely low volume and it kept going even in the surrounding area. I checked my back, and there is nothing.

But then, multiple dark hands are slowly creeping up to me. Grabbing my feet, touching my shoulders, and choking my neck. Then all of a sudden…

! {Troubleshooting Complete}

~ {Applying Patch…}

*Bwooooooooooooooooooosh*

Powerful winds. Some of the hands went inside me but others have been burned clean by the blue light coming out of the sky. It shed light on me in about 3ft diameter.

Outside of it is an uncountable number of moving shadows and it's way too dark to even see anything or its form.

*Pant *Pant

The light grew larger as I keep breathing the air in it, and then, someone tapped my shoulder, {Don't forget to wash your hands}

I turned around, catching only a glimpse of blues right before the scene instantly turned to a flashing screen.

[Existence]

When everything goes dark, the voice of an old woman rings under my ears accompanied by the symphony of melancholic orc.h.e.s.tra music.

[Before the land of humanity rose to its prosperity, the nameless world was on fire. Dread filled the ocean, chaos seeping through the forest, and terror dominates the skies]

[Until one of the nine End Kings stepped in and put a stop to it]

[Konig, the ruler of the Gods and Goddess]

[Descended upon the world and eradicated the entire human civilization, and other creatures followed soon after]

[The other End Kings took a notice of her action. Assumed that she was spreading her influence to the ending world, unsettling to let it be, they descended]

[And so started the Great War]

[Every single race and power of many realms loop into this ending world. They fight among each other until the universe bled]

[The war shattered the name of End King itself]

Ill.u.s.tration of a burning world changed into a bright sky full of clouds, and a black jet dragon flew above it, with the sun, revealing the vast new world.

Lush green forest with dinosaurs roaming around it.

*BOOM*

A giant creature smashed the earth with its scaly foot, its claws, gripping the lesser monster tightly on the ground. Instead of eating it, the giant creature grasped the lesser creature's neck and then crushed it.

The corpse turns into colorful particles that spiral through the giant creature's arm before dissipating entirely.

Having the appearance of a terrifying demon and black wings. The creature's croaked its voice as it saw many more of those dinosaurs, the desert filled with them.

The environment quickly changed into a heavy blizzard area, and the dinosaurs turned into a group of snow gorillas, yetis.

Screaming at each other, some are fighting, some are dying. The black fur yeti is dragging the corpse of a monster, and one of the normal yeti is looking directly at the camera.

As its eyes turning red, the view of the yeti was replaced with the burning eyes of a woman, a knight receiving her duty from the king. Her fierce and gallant aura radiates as her emotion grew stronger.

Soon, the image fades.

And the view of a cold world appeared in front of a shrouded man. An enormous yet broken castle in the far sight of his vision. His torn robe sways as the wind blows, but the chilling breeze did not faze him as he cannot feel it at all.

His bony fingers have already told it all.

*Gasp*

1.0.1 numbers are running down my sights in overlay as my vision goes a little bit dimmer than I remember.

! {Multiple System Function has been restored}

~ {Realism Mode has been re-activated}

"How peculiar," I've returned to the place I was before and the Draugr's voice is somehow no longer scares me.

~ {Retrieving Compensation…}

~ {Advanced Black Gold Pack has been received}

~ {New Email has been received}

The Draugr let my shoulders go, 'Wh-Where…' gathering my thoughts, 'right, this place is… the Castle. Inside the Prison Realm. Avarice, Malice, and this guy... Ludtleth.'

Slowly backing away from me, the Draugr rubbed his jaw and muttered, "I see it now. You are not a Traveler, but a Wanderer."

"Huh?" Avarice was confused, "Lord Ludtleth. What is—"

He raised his hand to stop her from asking, and then explained, "Traveler is a long-protected tool of the gods to destroy us, but a Wanderer… they are just a lost one. Mistakenly wandered into our realm. Hence, the name."

"Does that mean, she won't do?"

"No, no, no, no. This is even better," turning towards me, "Say, child. Do you happen to have faith in the absolute?"

Tilting down my head. Somehow, I feel a lot better than before, but my stats still the same, or is it because I just slept? Or did I? Back to his question though, "If faith you are talking about is that of a religious thing, then no."

"Then what about the act of serving a ruler?"

Does that mean, become a knight of a king or something? Hmm, "I'll gladly serve anyone that is worth my time."

"How far is your… dedication go?"

"Till the end they betray me."

His dot eyes went thinner as soon as I said it and quickly burst out laughing, "Bwahahahah…" his laugh is so unnerving. He turns around and slightly bows to the skeleton that is sitting on the throne, "Your Majesty…"

"…"

Both me and that skeleton have locked eyes once again, and for sure, this is extremely... uncomfortable.

'Honestly, he's been haunting me ever since he said those words. It's irritating that I had to question myself for what purpose I'm doing this. I mean, shit, I'm here to play my favorite game, man. What else is there?'

Sighing in my mind though, 'Well, a lot of other things happen so that kind of been brushed off for a while. Me getting reincarnated and all that. Felt like a dream now for sure.'

When the skeleton opens its mouth, "Then,"

A sudden chill went down my spine, that cracking voice is so disturbing that it even made me trembles in fear.

"… She shall be accepted."

He talks real slow, but that voice is way too different from the last time.

It carries more weight.

Moving his hand, he pointed at me with his bony finger, and then… the black shadowy hands that are inside me came out and started to choke me without even a warning.

"Nghf… Mmph, w-wait a minute."

"Silence, child," Ludtleth, I can see him smirking at me.

Bastard, "Wha-what are you…" my Health is going down rapidly. 'What is this, what the hell is going on here?! I'm suffocating, and yet, these people are smiling.'

As my vision darkens, multiple bells ringing in my ears.

! {Blessing of the Purgatory has been received}

~ {Once a day, at a random time of the day, you will receive a permanent stat boost based on your contribution to the Purgatory Faction}

! {Unending Contract of the Abyss has been sealed}

~ {Experience gain has been reduced by 95%}

~ {Innate Ability: Immortality – has been unlocked and obtained}

~ {Skill: Abyssal Touch – has been unlocked and obtained}