Although I tried to sound as intimidating as possible, it wasn't as effective as I had hoped it would be. My mind quickly tried to recall all those mafia stories I have seen or read, but acting like someone from them was not a skill I'd possess.

"Stop pretending you're someone else, Eddie. We both know you're not the interrogation type." I partially expected Vincent to see through my tough guy disguise, but I never thought it would come so soon.

Before I could turn my attention to him, however, I had one more thing left to finish. The healing potion was almost done. All it needed now was some mixing. Normally, alchemists would add sweeteners and all sorts of chemicals into it to change the taste, but with time being of the essence, I simply downed the whole bowl the moment I was done. Regret for that action came quickly and mercilessly. The taste was like inhaling smoke fresh from the chimney, but while it may have not been a delicacy, it seemed to be effective. The pain in my leg quickly began to disappear and by the time I walked over to Chester, it was already mostly gone.

"Alright, where were we?" I asked him and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Why did you save me? I was dying. You could've just left me there on the ground, take what you can, and leave. So why? Don't tell me you got sentimental." This was a way Vincent was showing me gratitude. If he was angry at me, he'd be struggling and trying to set himself free from the bindings, just to attack me again. But now, he was just sitting there, not really resisting in any way.

"I saved you because you still are a creation I am proud of. I'm not going to let you just die like that. It would be a big shame." What I told him was the truth. Perhaps he wouldn't believe me, but that was something I was okay with too. "Plus, I still need some information from you."

"You're a fool, Eddie. If I got the power you possess, this world would be beautiful. There are many other people who want you dead. People much more powerful than me. Most of them aren't even human. If those guys get you, then there's no hope for any of us. It'll be an eternity of torment. In that case, it's better if this world just crumbles into nothingness." Vincent's argument was understandable. I knew what kinds of horrible beings I've created over the many years I've spent as an artist. But I also knew there were great people in this world. People who were designed to be the heroes. They were the ones I was looking for right now.

"Listen, Vincent. I promise you that this world will get its rightful ruler. Somebody who's much better than me, but I first need to find such a person." I saw Vincent rolling his eyes. He definitely wasn't happy with my idea.

"Do as you want. It's not like I can stop you anyway. So what do you want from me?"

"The city. You mentioned that there's a city nearby. I want you to tell me which way it is and what it's called." I had many theories about where exactly I could be at the moment, but my first worlds weren't as detailed as the newer ones, so it would be a bit harder to navigate around here.

"The city's called Nordan. If you go west from this shack, you'll be able to see it once you reach the top of that hill. I assume you'll find your way inside there after that, right?" I was glad Vincent was cooperating because I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to get any information out of him by force. Physically hurting people was definitely not my style.

"Yeah, that's all I really need to know." I pulled a knife out of my pocket. It was the same one I used for getting the blood from the Darkness. Since Vincent seemed so calm and harmless, I felt a bit bad for thinking about leaving him here all tied up, so I grabbed the knife and cut the rope wrapped around him. I knew how dangerous that was, considering that he was the person that tried to kill me not too long ago, but death was an old friend I wasn't afraid of. And as Vincent already mentioned, he wasn't the worst person who could be in the possession of my power. But what I expected to happen was the complete opposite of reality. Vincent just gave me a confused look and barely moved at all.

"Why did you do that? I could be dangerous."

"I know. And if you really wish to kill me, then feel free to go ahead, but I just couldn't leave you here like that. Nobody comes to this place. Who knows how long you'd have to be tied up like that." Vincent smiled a little and took off the gloves I put on his hands.

"Well, you bested me, saved me, and now you've set me free. I think it would be wrong to just kill you right here on the spot. Go, do whatever you want. Find the right person to kill you or whatever. But be warned. If I meet you again, I will fight for that power you have. And it WILL be mine, okay? This isn't a truce or some sort of an alliance. You saved me and now I am repaying that by giving you a head start." That was relieving. All I would need would be a day or two. Eager to finally get it over with, I went upstairs and grabbed a group of candles.

"For the trip," I told Chester as I headed for the door.

"You want to go outside now? In the middle of the night?"

"Yeah. Nights don't last long in this world when compared to the others. Besides, this much light should be enough to protect me."

"I will not kill you should you decide to stay. You don't have to risk it."

"No offense, but I don't trust you enough for that. Wouldn't close my eyes all night anyway."

"Well, do as you wish. I will not try to stop you. But before you go Eddie..." I turned back to Vincent.

"Yeah?"

"I want to know, how did you save me? That allergy I have is lethal." At that moment I realized that the universal cure I used might not be known to everyone in this world. At least not yet.

"I used the blood of the Darkness." I smiled, winked at him, and showed him the dry remains of the pitch black liquid on the blade of the knife.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"...what?" This clearly fried Vincent's brain for a good while. His mouth flew open and he didn't say a word as I was leaving. I was never very good at saying goodbye, so I just left without a word. Sure, I could've told Vincent the whole process of making the cure that I used on him, but for some reason, it seemed like a better decision to just tell him part of the truth and freak him out a little. Nobody was ever able to draw blood from the Darkness, so I guess what I told him back then must've been quite a shock. Even more so when he came to the realization that he drank it.

With a warm feeling that I've just saved someone's life and left his house as a badass, I headed west.

Nordan was a strange place. It was sitting at the bottom of a rather massive crater, which was left there after the landing of a frozen meteorite. When it crashed into the ground, it released a chilling mist, which transformed a large portion of the land into a frozen tundra. And there, many years later, settlers founded the city of Nordan. The fact that it is surrounded by steep hills and mountains on each side makes it a very well defendable place. The cold environment of the bottom of the crater allows them to preserve food, which is grown at the top of the crater, where the weather is warm and sunny. Quite a unique design if you ask me. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of it. The only downside was that the place was quite cold and I had only a light jacket. Definitely not something that would keep me warm in there. But that didn't matter. I wouldn't freeze to death, and why should I care about catching a cold? The person I wanted to kill me was right there anyway. Or at least it should've been. When your death is coming, you don't really care about getting sick.

The Divine Creativity. If such power was really able to save my worlds from dying, then I'd happily sacrifice my life for that. It doesn't have much worth anyway. If they are all angry at me for jumping from that roof and setting fire to their homes, then I don't deserve to walk among them and keep such an amazing power to myself. Vincent said that he wanted to re-create this world. I don't want that. It took me years to build everything I kept inside my head, so why should I just allow anyone to change it just like that? And most importantly, would the changes stay just here, or in my previous world as well? Would my books suddenly rewrite themselves, as well as the comics? What would my readers say to that?

"What would they say, Eddie? You never thought about them. They liked your creations and you decided to remove yourself from the world. They'll probably miss what you've been creating."

"Although, why should they miss it? They're probably just disappointed with me, so they throw my books in the trash."

"Great... I'm talking to myself."

It didn't take long before the city of Nordan appeared before me. I reached the top of the crater after only an hour or two of walking and carefully humming a lullaby every time the wind started to pick up and mess up with the candles. It was a long way down, but the sun was finally rising and nature was beautiful, so why not enjoy the trip. After all, it would be my last.

It was quite touching to see my creation sitting there before me. A city where every building was exactly as I designed. A place where people lived their lives with both happiness and sorrow. I'd say that an artist truly appreciates the beauty of his creations when he sees them with his own two eyes. But how many artists can say they've been through something like this? Or am I the first one? Is this my personal nightmare? Or perhaps a dream come true? I didn't even know anymore. For a while, the idea of returning to the black nothingness that followed my death seemed like a much better alternative. But I'd return there, very soon, I thought. Just after Marley cuts me down.

Marley was the hero of the story. Or at least of the first book. It was a trilogy with many heroes, but he was the one with the purest of hearts and also the one who was currently geographically closest to me. At the beginning of the story, he was just a farm boy, living at the edge of the crater, making just enough money to make ends meet, along with his father. His life changed completely the moment they were attacked by Vincent's companions. They burned down their farm, destroyed the crops, and killed his father. That's what made Marley become a hero. He spent every coin he had to buy a sword, and then he went on a crazy adventure to avenge his father. Just a classic story. Nothing too fancy. In the end, he and his friends saved Nordan, defeated Vincent, and became a local celebrities. He was even granted a mansion as a thank you from Nordan's ruler. Ever since then, he stayed there, protecting the city from all the threats and harm that would come their way. Because I knew the story, I also knew exactly where to find him. There was still a feeling of uncertainty within me because after all, who knew what could've happened once the books were over. But this was the only lead I had so far. Most of the other protagonists were scattered all over the world, and looking for them could take ages, which was something I didn't have.

It took me at least another half an hour of walking until I reached Nordan and the bottom of the crater. My legs hurt like never before. I really started to regret not putting exercise into my daily schedule back before I died. It would sure come in handy in this situation. But the real problem wasn't getting to Nordan but rather into it. Guards were standing outside of the gates, and from the looks of it, they didn't seem to be letting any random passer-by enter the city at will. Not to mention that if everyone knew who I was and what power they could get by killing me, I'd probably be dead the moment those two would spot me. Entering through the gate was, therefore, out of the question. But fortunately, I created the city. Every tiny nook and cranny was exactly the way I made it to be. And so I just happened to know that there was a quite lively black market hidden in the back alleys of the city. Those who wished to enter without being seen or registered used a secret passage hidden next to a tree, right under one of the watchtowers. You'd be surprised how many guards miss people entering a secret underground tunnel right under their noses. It was the only way I could get in without facing certain death. And so I circled around the walls, avoided the guards, found the specific tree, and opened the hidden trapdoor. It was covered with leaves, but to be honest, anyone with a decent sight could spot it. How it managed to survive unnoticed for so long was beyond me. It was a physically existing plothole in my story.

As I entered the tunnel, I could already smell the awful stench of sweat and booze. It was making me sick. But right now, it was this or nothing. In order to hide my identity at least a little bit, I pulled up the hood of my jacket over my head. Now I looked like any ordinary rogue. Out here, nobody would dare to be curious enough to look closely at my face. The place was full of shady people and pissing off someone stronger than you would be a very bad idea. No, out here, I was safe. Everyone was minding their own business, worried about their own safety and well-being. It was perfect.

As I was slowly approaching the exit, and the voices of the market on the other side were getting louder and louder, I really started to wish I stayed with Vincent and let him kill me. I hated crowds of people. And the bigger they were, the worse it was. The fact that a large percentage of them could've been thieves and murderers did not make the situation any better. I started to worry about my own future. What if one of them would kill me? What if it would be painful? What if my powers would end up in the wrong hands? What if they would cause suffering with the powers. What ifs. An endless stream of what-ifs flooded my head. It was too late now. Returning to Vincent and his lethal poison would be troublesome. No, I had a good plan. Now I just had to push through.

At the end of the tunnel, I took a deep breath and opened the hatch. My arrival didn't even attract any attention. Everyone was busy looking out for themselves, just as I expected. And so without making too much noise, I set off into the dark streets of Nordan, wandering the maze of scoundrels and rogues.