Mage Of The Abyss

At first, I thought that this place would be similar to a real hell that was described by those religious people since it has that in its name, but surprisingly, it's not quite so.

It's very similar to what humans have in the "Surface" – like, there are people walking normally, they go around shopping for things, there's an inn, and oh, have I mentioned that there is actually a city in this realm?

Mhm, upon arriving at the first city I come across, I figured out how the ruling function is very different than humans though. Normally one has a king to rule the kingdom, but here, there is no such thing because everywhere is being ruled by the War God, Dolemn.

Heard there are powerful creatures that act as his servants or underling, which was noted in the books I've read.

'Lots of Demi-humans here. Lizard people, cat people, wolf people, I wonder if there's a Devil walking in the plain sight here— yeah, no way that's the case.'

'I can take care of Avarice's Quest easy once I level up and able to do – at least – something like Tier 6 spells at least. That is… If I don't encounter any devil here.'

Mumbling, "Hmm, what to do, what to do…"

There are many people walking back and forth here, and some even looking at me with a suspicious look – ah, no way that is the case, I'm sure they're just mesmerized by my absolute beauty or this petite body of mine.

"Hey, you there, human missy!"

"Hm?"

"You gotta protect that fragile body of yours, how about buying some Mana gems? Got me some top-tier quality ones over here."

An Item shop it seems. Operated by a demi-human, a demonic werewolf with two horns and decaying wings, and it only has one arm.

There's no harm in browsing, so I went to take a look.

Gems are divided in rarities without ranking, so it's easy to tell which one is precious and which one that is not, but functionality is a whole different story.

{Thunder Gem / Uncommon / Able to summon a lightning strike at target location / Uses: 1 / Requirement: 50 Intelligence}

Elemental Gem, which is a mana-imbued refracting stone that is different in colors depending on its attribute which contains the element of that attribute. It's the most common type of gems, even in Ekolia, one can easily find them if they just go and explore low-mid level dungeon which is:

Rank F – D = Low-level

Rank C – B = Mid-Level

Rank A – S = High-Level

I'm not really that interested in anything other than Tier 4 and above Spells right now which is something that I can use without limits on the number of its uses, but there are some interesting ones here that catch my eyes, and none of them are elemental gems.

{Solid Hell Roots / Rank D / Activate [Chaos Vine] at target location / Uses: 10 / Requirement: 80 Intelligence + 80 Faith}

~ {Chaos Vine / Tier 3 / Summon flaming vines coated in lava from the mother roots residing in the depth of the Hellblade Realm}

Other than these two, there is also this one gem that kept leaking black miasma.

{Bleak Unknown Gem / Rank F / Absorb 80% Health of the user's Max Health to activate [Unknown Touch] / Uses: 1 / Requirement: 100 Intelligence + 100 Faith

~ {Unknown Touch / Weaken the target and slightly drain all of their Primary Attributes until it is fully depleted}

'Hm? Why does it feel oddly… familiar?'

'No wait!'

Upon glancing at my skill list, both of my cheeks puffed to a balloon.

{Abyssal Touch / Weaken the target and slightly drain all of their Primary Attributes until it fully depleted / Potency: 2 / Primary Attribute Consumption: None / Requirement: None / Next Potency Requirement: Kill 246 Living Creatures}

"So, anything caught your fancy?"

What the hell is that even mean, but oh well, "Not sure if I have anything to purchase it though."

"Anything will do. Golds, food, weapons."

Food, huh. Since I'm a player, I don't really need it – that is, if I were to play in normal mode but in Realism Mode, it's a different story. Though, that too is canceled out thanks to my Immortality - I can still feel hunger though.

'Haha, thank goodness. I thought the investment I did on those foods I bought would've gone to waste, but if I can still use it here.'

"Think I have some meat over here."

"Ooh, you have an interspatial magic. That's quite rare around here. Only the high ranks in Babylon can do that so freely."

In his perspective… I actually don't know what's his perspective is so never mind. Not sure what he meant by the "Babylon", and I don't think I should be asking that either.

"Here you go."

"???"

"Th-This meat is!!!"

Feeling a lot of gazes piercing me.

"Can't believe a human can actually have such high-quality meat. Where did you manage to get a hold of such a thing? Actually no, don't answer that."

Err, "What can I get for it?"

"Ohh, a lot of things. Just tell me which ones of these gems that you want. I have more in my backpack, and there are even armors too if you'd like that as well."

"Then, can I have this, this, and that?"

"Sure, sure. Let me wrap them up for you. Anything else?"

I feel like I'm robbing him if I choose too many, but let's see. Nothing seems to be anything that I can use or even want to use, even if he wh.i.p.s out the gems in his bag, there is just simply nothing that— wait, hold on.

{Bleak Summoning Flute / Rare / Able to attract any monster in the area / Uses: Unlimited / Requirement: 50 Dexterity}

"Can I have that thing too?"

"Ohh, nice. Didn't know you were a hunter too, but I mean, of course you are, considering you have this meat. Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it."

"Oh, then let me cut some of the meat."

Whaaaaat… and that cutting posture, the location to the meat, it's literally half! No! Don't hand me that! The guilt is gonna kill me!

I took them in the end.

"Please, come again!"

Of course, man! Of course!!

'Uwu…'

…

I ended up in one of the local inns nearby. Sighing on the table they provided, and I managed to rent for a week by spending a few slashes of the meat.

*Sighing*

'I just don't get the people here at all.'

People outside don't seem to eat anything, and if that is so, how can they even live without even eating a single meal. Come to think of it, what do others eat in this place?

Some beans, soup, and black powder(?) not sure what that is.

Oh, some even eat their own flesh, now that's something. Aren't they afraid of living with only just one limb— ah, never mind, they're regenerating?

Demonic creatures often have high regenerating capabilities that far surpassed even trolls themselves, so it's no wonder they can live like this - but why did that werewolf didn't regenerate his?

The curious thing is, what can a few slashes of meat do for them though? Surely it won't fill up their belly by much, especially when the entire thing can go poof in a single day or even seconds.

I didn't order a drink, just sipping on the jelly potion that I have, it's actually much tastier than water. Got that milky taste to it.

*BAM*

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiick!"

Felt like an earthquake just hit my table.

"Agh, those blind old farts really pissed me off! When I said I got this, I GOT THIS! What can't they understand about that?!"

A tall muscular demi-human that is so bulky it filled the chairs that were meant for three people by his muscles alone. I mean, I'm still fit in the chair thanks to my… *sigh*.

"Oiiiii! Where's my meat?!"

The shopkeeper, a s.u.c.c.u.b.u.s, walked to us and bowed deeply, "I beg for your forgiveness, my lord. We are currently out of meat today as well."

"What?! Again?! Dammit, just how poor are we?!"

He kept yelling at every pause. Once the s.u.c.c.u.b.u.s left, he drank up his jug of wine(?) and chug it like it's a fountain. Seems like he's already drunk when he came here.

It's weird, Demonic creatures shouldn't even be affected by poison that much. I wonder what's in that water. Actually, why don't I…

"Um, if you'd like, I can share some that I have with you?"

"Huh?" he looked around, going left and right, "Did someone… talked to me? A ghost?! Hey, there's a ghost in here?!!"

Thick, raging veins popped under my cheeks.

"Hey ghost, if you don't show up in 3 seconds, I'm going to—"

With my tiny fist flew to his jaw.

*Bam*

"I'M RIGHT HERE!!!"

It took a moment, 'Ah shit…'

When I look at him, he glared at me with his 8 eyes. Two normal ones and the other six lined up to his forehead like what spiders have.

"Wuh, a human? Since when have you been here?"

Another vein popped, "I've been here ever since I stepped my foot here! You just came sitting on my seat and then yelling all of a sudden, it pisses me off, man! Fuuuck, just Shut the F.u.c.k UP ALREADY!!"

*Pant *Pant *Pant

"My bad, human. I'll go to another table."

"Huh?" damn it, I didn't expect him to actually apologize, "Ah no, never mind. You can sit here if you want. Sorry. I just lost my temper."

"…"

Silence filled the atmosphere, and the guy continues on - drinking. I'm not really good at stitching things back up, so…

He suddenly spoke, "Can I ask you something?"

Glancing at him.

"What are you doing here? This place is not suitable for your kind to live. You should return to your side of the wall."

'Wall? Wait, there are other humans here?!'

"Hm? That outfit. A servant of the Ancient King, I see. Are you looking for your brethren's corpse?"

My eyes widened, "You know where it is?"

"Should be in the city hall. Just ask for it and give the compensation. They should return it back to you, no bloodshed required."

Lord Hedrick's head, compensation, and no bloodshed? I wonder if it's really that easy.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"…" scratching the back of my head, I wonder if I should go and leave like this. Then I sighed, "Here, I got some meat."

"Nngh— Pffshhh!"

Splashing all those acidic liquids onto my face directly. I can feel my head burning without flames, it feels like it's melting.

"Where did you— no wait, ahhh! I accidentally spilled the chaos spit! You okay there?"

"…" you mean your spit.

My Health is already at 0 but since the acid effect is already stopped, my face is regenerating back to normal, albeit very slow thanks to my single-digit Health Regeneration. Maybe this time, I should invest in Vitality.

"Don't worry about me," my voice turns so weird, "Anyway, take this meat. As Thanks for the info."

He was relieved, "Phew, so you're an immortal. Thought I need to use those dreaded revival magic again."

Judging by how casually he spit such a thing to me without a thought, he must have already been killing humans on a regular basis.

My first impression of him wasn't good, but as we converse at this table, I get to know him a bit better.

"So, it was like that… Even though I was higher in the hierarchy, my past achievement couldn't be compared to what others did. Both my old man and my grandfather wanted me to at least keep the position that I'm in for as long as I can, but…"

"… I don't know if I can do it… nor do I know whether I can keep it for long."

Just a common conflict for nobility, though it's surprising since his family is actually on his side, and oddly, this guy doesn't look noble at all. His mouth resembles that of a beast, having no lips whatsoever, so it's hard for me to follow, but...

"Have you been doing this every day?"

"Doing what?"

"You said there's no meat again today, doesn't that mean you were here yesterday, and possibly complain about the same thing?"

"What does that got to do with anything?"

Chewing on the slice of meat, "It has something to do with everything, of course. You're wasting the time that could've been spent on something else more… meaningful. But instead, you just goof around complaining about how 'hard' your life is."

"And it seems that you didn't listen to a single word I said. This thing, this… competition, being compared to others all the time, and I had to take all that into my increasingly stressful life THAT I—"

"In a sense of its truest essence, some people don't even have life."

"…"

"I've been there, you know," the memories that I don't like returning, "If you keep complaining about everything and how unfair life is, you stopped thinking ahead and started to regress, becoming something unrecognizable since all you think about is the past. Making you a laughing joke that is not funny at all. Even with your eyes open, you don't see anything."

"You…"

"Spending your life doing nothing..." letting the wind moved my body. To the right, to the left. Made me feel an emotion that I can't explain, it made me smile, "There is nothing left once you lose everything. You can build a new, but you will never erase the old."

He went silent all of a sudden.

"Heh," tapping his thick arm muscle with my elbow, "Cheer up. If you ever feel like the world is against you, just take a break. But for sure, don't do it like this. Rethink about it, how to handle it properly."

Don't know if it's the case, but I feel that something within us has sparked. A familiar emotion. It's the time same when I establish my first bond with those gals at our first meeting. This weird feeling, I'll never get used to it.