Queltsom:
Pain greeted me upon awakening, a pain that was foreign, yet familiar. It pulsed and swirled about my body and mind like a sadistic living being. It overwhelmed me momentarily, but over a decade of instinct swiftly kicked in, relegating the pain to the back of my mind and slowly freeing my thinking ability. After the pain was delt with, the rage found a chance to rear its head. I growled without even realizing it, a deep, bestial sound that echoed slightly. I instinctively used my pressure sense to inspect my surroundings. There was a mountain’s worth of Kota focused and condensed into a humanoid shape that floated above me, stopping me from continuing my inspection, with something intimately familiar in its center functioning as its core, a droplet of my own blood.
Memories came crashing back, of me waking up imprisoned, instantly causing the guards to attack me. Of being too weak to fight them physically, resorting to summoning Travis and Beatrice. Of fighting the leader, whose berserk nature and the weird Kota vortex in my innerspace lessened my combat ability and caused my defeat. Of the Kota exploding out of me after the leader slashed my arm and caused a gash on it. Of the words from my first dreams appearing in my mind and of me speaking those words just before losing consciousness. I realized then that that same drop of blood that had caused the explosion to begin with was the same one that floated in the center of the man-shaped mass of Kota hovering near me, and that the mass of Kota was the same one that had exploded out of my innerspace. It hadn’t dissipated like it should have, but had stabilized into its current humanoid form, likely because of the blood.
“Hey, are you… ok?”, a feminine voice whispered softly. I startled. Not because of the voice, but because I had forgotten about the creature who was like an older sister to me, Vo. How could I forget about her? Was being asleep for so long and waking up to danger really an excuse for me forgetting about her? Then I remembered my thoughts back in the battle, when I had been preparing for the guards’ arrival. I had almost thought that I was forgetting something, but I instantly figured that it was irrelevant for the time being, and I should focus more on the present and leave whatever it was for later. By the God!
“You did this, didn’t you?”, I said to her. “Don’t you dare say no. You messed with my mind, literally eating my thoughts of you before they took hold! You know you’re as important to me as my own survival, don’t you? You better tell me that you needed to eat anything you could get your hands on because your own survival was at risk, or I’m gonna be mad! I’m not in a calm state right now, so you better talk quickly, alright?”
“Yes, I did. You’re right on all fronts, Queltsom. I did consume your thoughts of me for both reasons. That is to say, I wanted to remove all distractions that would inhibit your performance, and I was quite hungry, so I ate your thoughts.”, she said with her chipper yet professional tone. I raged even more at her words.
“Distraction? You think you are nothing more than a distraction to me?”, I asked with a mental growl.
“We’re imprisoned again. You better free us with the power you’ve gathered!”, Vo said playfully, and I realized that I was being goaded on purpose. Vo was deliberately fanning the flames of my rage in order for me to gather enough emotional power to destroy the cage. Before the power dissipated, I continued my inspection, which was interrupted earlier. Ignoring the Kota humanoid that was just hovering there, not doing anything, I focused on the chains that were fastened to my arms and legs and tied to a pole a few feet in front of me. My mind wasn’t as acclimatized to the pain as it could be, so I couldn’t summon my Mana. That was why I had to use emotional energy. Controlling it was similar to how I used Mana, yet different. I focused on the vague sensation of hot, destructive power flowing from my heart and into my body, the power of anger. I then chanted in a humming voice with a rough undertone, directing the anger energy to exit my body and snake toward the chain’s link to the pole. I then shouted a quick “Haaaa!”, and with an electric-like hiss, the chains clattered off the pole, allowing me to stand, covered in chains that weren’t tied to anything. I heard clamoring, realizing that whoever guarded wherever I was had caught wind of my actions. “Let them come!”, I thought, baring my teeth.
With another roar, what remained of the anger energy I held ignited, destroying the chains and causing them to clatter to the floor. They were made of weak metals that weren’t capable of handling any kind of energy, much less my own emotional forces. I then embraced a portion of the living, all-consuming pain that haunted my existence, despite my instincts vehemently warning against it. I reassured them that it would be fine, then regretted it after I removed the mental restraints around the sensation. Before it superseded my rational thought, I channeled the pain energy and released it into a wailing shriek of utter agony that I wholeheartedly felt. The wooden structure that served as my container couldn’t feel pain, but the vestige of the tree that had contained this piece of wood sure did, or at least it reacted the same way. Its energy surged and broke the wood apart, the wood not primed or merged with its vestige, unable to handle the sudden burst of energy from the vestige’s rude awakening. The energy of the vestige was sucked up by the Kota golem, as I decided to call it. Most of it went straight into the blood droplet, which became somehow brighter after consuming the power. What remained turned into a formation-like construct and settled in the golem’s head.
Eileen Valdris:
“Is the leader back, ma’am? How did he fair?”, Ken asked her.
“He lost to the boy, unsurprisingly enough. Came back fuming, then almost seemed like he would hug the noblewoman as thanks for posting him as the boy’s prison guard!”, she said with a slight laugh.
“Wait, I’m confused. Why is it unsurprising that he lost, and why is the monster boy still in jail if he won?”, Ken asked in befuddlement.
“I don’t really know, Brel’s Spyrits are having trouble trying to perceive everything there is, due to the agitated Kota in the air. We’ll have to move closer. Let’s go, Ken!”
Ken Rio Valdris:
His life was like a tide. That was the only analogy Ken, formerly Arthur Green, could draw right now. He had just been chilling around like your average indoors gamer nerd, then he was suddenly isekaied out of the blue, into a world filled with monsters, mayhem, and magic. Oh yeah, the locals didn’t like their cultivation powers being referred to as magic, so he had to watch his mouth. Anyway, yeah, the magic that wasn’t magic was real, monsters were real, and he was a Summoned one, according to the System’s blue boxes. After some pretty hectic ordeals that involved stumbling across an eldritch monster that had eaten another unlucky Summoned one like himself, learning the hard way what it meant to be supercharged with lightning energy enhanced by the essence of said fallen Summoned, discovering some kind of core within himself that was always there even before his Isekai trip and was just waiting for that energy to knock on the door of his soul so it could absorb something called a Planar Seed and awaken, then going on a power trip that involved leveling, leveling, and more leveling, he’d suddenly found a small town and was picked up by the lady that stood beside him, who was apparently an exile of what amounted to a multiversal clan, by popular Litrpg novel standards. Then, everything calmed and quieted. The lady was quite knowledgeable, even if her cultivation was sealed to the Silver Spirit realm. She taught him about the Omnis of the Emerald Moon, this cosmic dungeon that he was summoned into. Yeah, a freaking dungeon the size of a damn galaxy! Or something like that. The thing is, it had all calmed, and the tides pulled back. For six months, he had done nothing but learn and get to know Eileen and Brel, a crazy inventor of an old geezer. He didn’t even train or use his powers. It was safe, peaceful. He had finally gotten comfortable with this being a low-stakes Isekai adventure with an explosive start followed by a consistent calm. A calm where they would sneak into the dungeons and feed a sleeping monster boy, but nothing more serious. Who was he kidding? Isekais never were totally peaceful.
Then, in mere hours, the tide rolled forward, violently. At first, the rumor of that creature waking up spread in some circles that Eileen was a part of, then a spike of Kota energy that hinted at a fight going on. With the small, drone-like constructs dubbed Spyrits, they saw everything. They saw how the boy had woken up, taunted the guards like those charismatic heroes with casual tones that expressed their power, and remotely defeated fifty men without lifting a finger. The Spyrits detected signals that humans couldn’t see, signals of two unseen presences. The boy had some spirits on his side. Was he a bloody melee summoner? Oh yeah, a fricking melee summoner who would have wiped the floor with the guards’ leader if not for that unfortunate explosion. The guard’s jaw dropped for a full fifteen minutes, then anger colored his face. He went crying to Lady Silverstar, who gave off an eary vibe even through the sensory data of the Spyrits. She allowed him to guard the once more imprisoned boy. Hours later, the same boy who was apparently the protagonist of all these events wakes up, growls, then roars and suddenly the chains are broken. That made the two of them hurry to the scene. They hid behind one of the crates closest to the dungeon, and Eileen activated a shrouding technique over the two of them.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Queltsom:
I sprinted toward the gap through which my pressure sense penetrated without interference, which happened to be where the footsteps were coming from. My anger rose at the sound of that bastard Blake Wails’ voice shouting across the halls as it drew ever closer. I wasn’t hampered any longer, neither by stiffness nor by a near boundless amount of Kota raging inside my innerspace. I would tare him apart easily now. I didn’t know exactly what my situation was, but that didn’t matter in the face of the incoming threat.
“[Seek the Deathbound]”, I mentally called my newest skill. It flared into focus, and I started picking up on the location of my enemy. My body sped up and began to move toward the guard vice-captain, then, with a huge surge of Mana and a short chant, I teleported.
Blake Wails:
How had that cursed creature woken up so fast! Blake was sure he had him disabled and unable to fight any longer. Lady Silverstar had told him to keep the threat contained until she made time to come personally and deal with the anomaly. He couldn’t fail a second time in a row, that would be disgraceful! He heard a roar that instantly became closer, as if the one who made the sound had moved a considerable distance in less than a second. He saw his target, and fear gripped him.
“You should have run, Wails! However, you can’t do that now. No one treats me like livestock and gets away with it. Final Fist!”, it said in a voice that shook him to the very core. This wasn’t a normal boy; this was a warrior. A warrior prepared to kill him without a second thought. Blake had weakened himself immensely with his Kota overcharging technique. He was hunched over and barely able to jog. Using any Kota was impossible, and this would have persisted for days, if his life wasn’t about to end right here and now. The Kota he’d had at his disposal was also expelled in the form of a dome to protect him from the violent surge of energy the boy had unleashed, so he had no Kota, even if he’d been able to summon anything without destroying his conductors. The boy’s right fist started to glow with red sparks reminiscent of his own overcharging technique, but more intense. And he didn’t seem to be losing his mind like Blake himself usually did when he overcharged. Granted, he did seem to be very angry at him, but it was a cold rage that fueled his actions rather than inhibiting his focus. Then reality came crashing back down. He was alone, all the other guards still unconscious. He was alone with an angry monsterchild who was about to kill him in a second. The punch came too quick to see, and Blake thought it was a mercy, for he would have toyed with himself were he his opponent. Even so, he died with an agonizing shriek. Blake Wails knew no more.
Queltsom:
The Final Fist spark, imbued with the echo of the seeking concept, was noticeably stronger than I remembered, like it had inched closer to its true power. It slipped through the man’s fingers and punctured his heart. I felt a tug on my mind that alerted me to a creature asking something of me. Instinctively, I accepted, and felt Wails’ corpse being dragged through space. I sensed two presences. My mind didn’t notice anything special, other than the considerably strong aura one of them exuded, but my instinct did recognize them. It pulsed at my mind, and I translated it as “They feed us when we sleep. They are allies.”
“Well, that’s new…”, I mused to myself. My instinct could speak now? I could also feel something in the back of my mind, patiently waiting for me to fully focus on it. I strode forward toward the presences, and stopped a few feet away from their pressures.
Ken Rio Valdris:
“Peace of the God upon you, oh strong savior of mine. This lost one is ever grateful to you for feeding him. This one implores the elder to tell me how to pay her back for her help.”, the boy said in a formal tone after standing at a respectful distance, lowering his eyes to the floor as a sign of respect, like a bow in usual xianxia novels.
“Peace of the God upon you, sun. This elder, Eileen Valdris, orders you to speak normally now, I want none of the formal ceremonial nonsense except for what is due.”, she said with a chuckle. “Wow, I must be rubbing off on her!”, Ken thought.
“Sure, lady Eileen. I’m Queltsom Worldguest, though I figured I’m the guest of multiple worlds rather than just the one I remember. A more permanent name for me would be Queltsom Dragonsward, until I find my actual last name. Sorry for rambling, I’m kinda angry and lost right now, so I want to busy myself with something rather than search for someone else to kill. You know, it’s kind of a pricky move that I woke up imprisoned, fought multiple people, then dropped unconscious because that guard (who’s not over there anymore) wanted to kill me, and what’s even more pricky is that Silverstar lady. I don’t remember much, but I know that she’s been poking and prodding at me when I was asleep… or half asleep? I don’t even know my race, so not knowing what state I was in isn’t really a big deal in comparison. Oh, by the Holy God, I really want to find a way to go back home and know my name and remove the stupid pain and find out who Vo is and how she came to be in my existence and find out who my parents are and know what the Shadow is and why it hates me and why the Dao feels so wrong and what the thing floating beside me is and why it didn’t dissipate and why it has a drop of my own blood floating in its core and why I have a bunch of creatures that listen to me whenever I call to them and what my bloody PURPOSE IS!”, he said and started panting. A red droplet of blood fell from between the lids of his half-closed eyes, suspended in the air like it was immune to gravity. Then he started screaming and crying, as his form was engulfed in white flames. The fire didn’t emanate any heat, but it looked as if he was affected by them. Eileen inched closer and hugged the boy, who had just finished venting.
“Don’t worry, Queltsom, You’re safe now. I’ll tell you all I know. It isn’t much, but I’ll try.”, she said softly, stroking his brown hair. Then, the air near him shimmered, and a small and pretty-looking blue bird appeared, landing on Queltsom’s flaming head. It seemed to jerk slightly, as if it too was hurt by the flames, but resolutely held on. He couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful creature, so he identified it.
Franic Sorvus Hatchling:
Tier 1.65 beast.
Mythical.
Franic Sorvi are incredibly rare dwellers of the sky, and this specimen is the first to appear on this floor of the Omnis of the Emerald Moon. Despite their small stature, they are powerful creatures who excel in speed, have good ranged offense, and are decently intelligent. They are also very beautiful, as all who have seen them have described them as living shards of the sky itself.
This is a hatchling of a royal bloodline, rendering all its abilities more effective.
This is a Former Cardbeast. As such, it retains the ability to temporarily evolve into its next form when infused with enough energy. Once this beast naturally evolves permanently, it will require an increased amount of energy of a higher quality to temporarily evolve to the next form.
This is a Guardian Beast, loyal to a young guardian. As such, she will answer his call and fight by his side. Furthermore, she can sense her guardian’s mental state.
This beast is named Sky.
Your identification has been detected and willingly allowed to fully inspect the target.
He gawked for a moment. Royal bloodline? Guardian Beast? Former Cardbeast? Those were all new things Ken had never seen before in the Omnis. Bloodlines were common in all sorts of fantasy novels, even if every novel had a different definition for them and different ways of how they worked, and a guardian beast was something he knew from one of the Litrpg novels he followed. He doubted it was the exact same thing as in that novel, but still, the denomination was the same. But a Card Beast? He had never encountered cards in this world. There were so many different cardgame franchises that Ken didn’t know which one to draw references from. And this was a ‘former’ card beast, so Ken was lost there too.
A scream from Queltsom’s throat threw Ken out of his revery. He had stopped screaming since that first shock of the flames engulfing him. Ken wouldn’t think of the oddities now, because there were so many things to unpack here. He was confused enough to refrain from identifying the boy as well, in fear of finding something even more ridiculously outlandish and even more unknown. The boy had screamed because the fire flared strongly for a second, then winked out. Queltsom panted so hard, sweat beading on his face before evaporating.
“Well, that happened again…”, the boy hissed. No one spoke for a long, drawn-out moment. Then, a chirp reverberated across the space, sounding very loud in the deafening silence.
“Oh, hey Sky, thanks for the help!”, he said happily, raising his trembling hand to pet the little treasurebird. “Am I really calling a living magical beast a treasurebird? I might be losing my mind. Then again, seeing a boy being burned by white fire that didn’t burn anyone else just because he cried, then reading the identification screen of the treasurebird in question, full of things familiar and unfamiliar really tests my sense of sanity. And let’s not forget that he just killed someone…”, Ken thought.
“Not again!”, Queltsom screamed indignantly, and promptly vanished.
“What the Void!”, Eileen exclaimed.
“The hell?”, Ken shouted at the same time. The bird, a Franic Sorvus Hatchling, screeched in rage, before disappearing into the unknown.