Creation.

This place was… creation?

What did that even mean?

Was this supposed to be the origin of this universe, or something else more intangible?

The longer he was in this place the less he felt he understood.

It didn’t feel wrong, yet it didn’t feel right either, it simply was.

He didn’t feel any need for battle or survival here, nor any reason to fear death.

It was as if, for the first time, all the worries of his life had been drawn away from his very being.

This was a place he didn’t want to leave, not any time soon.

A light tug on his arm draws his attention back to Vincent, the child looking at him with concern.

[Are you sick?] he asks before pointing at Ryder’s hand.

Cautiously he looks at his hand, raising it to where he could get a good look.

Much to his surprise his hand was covered in strange glowing white runes.

It took him a moment to remember what they were, the spell Shade had mentioned, it was still there but he couldn’t feel it now.

“Yeah, something like that…” Ryder states as he lowers his hand back down. “It’s nothing you need to worry about though, I'm fine.”

The child doesn’t seem convinced, thinking for a moment before asking one more question.

[Did you eat the fruit yet?]

“No, I’d been saving it-” he starts only to stop upon seeing Vincent start signing something else.

[Get it! It’ll help you feel better!]

Ryder didn’t fully understand how the fruit would help but he didn’t argue, instead going to reach for his belt pouch- only to remember it was missing now.

Could he still access his inventory in this area? He hoped so otherwise he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

Slowly he did the motion of grabbing where his pouch normally would be, surprised to feel it manifest into his hand, thankfully it hadn’t been disabled here.

With a thankful sigh he opens his inventory and scrolls until he finds the fruit, producing it with ease for Vincent.

“So, this will help me?” he asks, wanting to be sure the kid knew what he was talking about.

Vincent nods excitedly, seeming to seriously know this would work.

[Yeah! Just walk out into the ocean and eat it! That’s what Cera did whenever she wasn’t feeling good!]

She did this?

Well then it may work, perhaps it was worth a shot after all.

Anything was worth shortening the recovery time.

With uncertainty plaguing his heart he began the ritual.

Slowly he moves into the dark pool of water, the ice cold waves rushing up against him and freezing him to the core.

It stung but it felt relaxing, soothing even… like it was slowly washing away any darkness on his being.

Once he had made it waste deep into the water he looked back to the shore, seeing Vincent making some kind of motion with his hands.

It looked like he was dipping his hands down below the water… the fruit, was he wanting him to wash the fruit in these waters?

Ryder glances down at the fruit before mimicking Vincent’s movements, noticing the fruit begin to change ever so slightly.

The skin of it became more vivid in coloration, almost looking like it’d been ripped right out of a painting as he held it in his hands.

Water was still glistening on the surface as he gazed at it curiously, the color now beginning to swirl as if it held its own tiny universe.

It was breathtaking, something he almost didn’t want to disturb but knew he needed to.

Looking to the child once more for confirmation he sees Vincent now mimicking eating something, then pointing towards the fruit.

With a deep breath he raised the fruit to his lips and bit into it, feeling a surge of citrus flavor and mana flow into him.

It was indescribable, the feeling that coursed through him as he devoured this fruit, but the most noticeable feeling was change, alteration.

His body was being altered in ways he could not understand, he could feel the spell fading but so many other things were happening.

It was too much, his mind couldn’t keep up as finished the fruit.

Ryder felt lighter and lighter, yet had no control over his body as he saw the universe come into full view once more, his balance being lost.

Then the cold of the ocean hit him full force as he fell, becoming submerged.

He wanted to resurface but it was too comforting, the ice cold waters washed away any remaining impurities as he drifted away.

Sinking down.

Deeper down.

Into the abyss.

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Into nothingness.

Letting his being be washed away.

Allowing himself to become one with nothingness.

The universe fully opened up to him now.

All of creation flooded his mind as his being was restored.

Then, there was only darkness again.

Crackling fire.

The smell of Shade’s cloak.

Reality had returned once more, or as close to reality as he could get.

With little effort he sat up, feeling better than he had before.

Upon opening his eyes he saw that he was indeed back in the cabin, Melia was still recovering and Shade was nowhere to be seen.

There was no lingering feeling of being drained, no remaining spell draining him.

Ryder was able to confirm this by looking at his hand, no glowing runes remained.

Once again it seemed the dream had affected this current reality.

He let out a sigh, still struggling to fully understand everything, the memory of “creation” still freshly burned into his mind.

Yet he couldn’t focus, as something in his lap drew his attention, something he hadn’t noticed prior.

Resting there was a small wooden carving, much like what was by Melia, however unlike hers this one had become covered in pitch black crystal that seemed to hold some strange colors just below the surface.

As Ryder held the carving though he could tell, these crystals weren’t caused by Shade, no, they were made of his magic.

Whatever that ritual was had been strong enough to create these crystals, just like back in the cave.

The ritual, that’s right… he needed to check and see if it gave any other bonuses, levels, spells, anything.

He needed to know for certain what had happened to him.

Quickly he pulled out his journal and flipped to his stats, two new windows appearing.

Each one being for a passive ability.

[Flow of Mana]

[By allowing creation to wash over them, the user has deepened their connection with the world itself]

[Status effects caused by spells will now be absorbed and turned into pure energy, allowing mana and health regeneration]

[Should their mana and health be at maximum the points will be stored instead, transferring from battle to battle]

[Denial of Rebirth]

[Those who consume the fruit of The Great Hollow bear heavy burdens, for they have now denied themselves the cycle of rebirth]

[In exchange they have gained a connection to the world that rivals even the gods]

[User now will passively absorb energy from the world around them, cycling it back through to heal the world as well as strengthening their own power further]

“There’s no way a game would have this kind of stuff…” Ryder sighs before putting his journal away and standing up, making a quick movement to cover Melia with the cloak now.

Ryder knew he needed to test out those skills eventually, but there were more important matters first.

He had to make sure the cabin was safe and sound, to know he or Melia wouldn’t be attacked again.

Then he needed to see if Shade was still around at all, there were plenty of questions that needed answered and Shade likely had those answers.

Lastly was finding and reuniting with everyone else.

With everything sorted out he looked at the front door, hearing a storm outside picking up.

Not wanting to take a chance he pushes the door open and steps outside, looking to see if there were any ways the drifter could’ve snuck into the house initially.

Though he froze as he stepped outside, the smell of iron filled his senses as he saw the snow stained with blood splatters.

Then he saw it, there in the distance was Shade, surrounded by many many bodies and pools of scarlet snow, bodies of various creatures surrounding him.

He was breathing a bit heavily as he flicked blood off the blade and looked at Ryder.

A sharp pain stabbed through Ryder’s mind at this sight, a familiar feeling striking him as he stares at Shade.

Why, what was this feeling, why was he feeling this way?

It felt like he was forgetting something, something very very important.

“RYDER!”

Shade yelled out, seeming to get panicked over something… why would he be panicked?

Then he felt it, the feeling of cold hands wrapping around his neck, the whistling coming back once more.

He’d been caught off guard, or so they both thought.

The spell couldn’t be activated, instead all the drifter had done was give him more fuel to fully wake up.

In one swift motion Ryder draws his blade and ignites it with the black flame, thrusting it behind him, stabbing through the drifter and making it release him as it cried out.

Not letting the creature go he quickly turned around and cut it down in one clean slash.

Shade could only look stunned, this wasn’t the same person he’d saved moments before.

No, this wasn’t the Ryder he knew.

This was someone else entirely.

This was a Lord.

With a sigh of relief Ryder dispels the Black Flame and returns the sword to his side before looking at Shade, an eerie calm resting in Ryder’s eyes.

Despite the storm and the battlefield before them he wasn’t disturbed, no, there was a fierce determination there, one the likes of which Shade had only seen once before oh so long ago.

“Can I trust you to protect Melia?” he finally spoke, no fear of the Lord Hunter lingering in his voice, only an honest question.

Shade just looks on, confused for a moment as to what Ryder is asking or even implying.

“Can I trust you to protect her while I continue on my path? I can’t leave her alone in this area, but I can’t sit around while everyone else is in trouble.” He admits, slightly troubled as he does so. “And though I don’t like the idea of leaving her with you… I don’t have any other options, hauling her through the storm would be a death sentence to both of us.”

“So you want me to babysit her for you? This random useless frontliner?” Shade sneers, now flicking the blood off his blade and getting a cold look in his eyes. “What’s to stop me from killing her after you leave? I slaughtered so many of you already after all.”

“You had the chance to kill both of us, but you didn’t… in fact you did the opposite, you saved us.” Ryder begins, pulling out the crystallized carving. “You made these to help, and protect us, I doubt it was out of the goodness of your heart but you did.”

Without warning Ryder tosses the carving back to Shade, the Lord Hunter catching it and being shocked at the state of it. “Consider this my way of giving you a chance, to see if you’re just a killer or if there’s something more to your story.”

The Lord Hunter can’t even respond, hands trembling and mind racing as he gazes at the crystallized carving.

How could this be?

What led to all this occurring?

The story was only beginning still, so how had so much changed already?!

Was this Omen’s influence? Or something else entirely?

He couldn’t even utter a single word as he watched Ryder turn from him and begin to march into the oncoming storm, a fool’s journey with all these drifters and the sheer cold.

Yet Shade could tell that he’d survive, a determination burned in those calm eyes like the sun.

No matter how treacherous the obstacle or how many times he was beat down, Ryder would emerge once more, rising from the depths of defeat to try again.

For he was no longer just a simple outlander.

This figure walking into the treacherous storm was a true Lord in the making.

The Lord of the Black Flame.

The Lord of the Outlanders.

The One Chosen by the Devourer of all Things.

The Dark Lord.