Lanek looked around, trying to discern anything that could help him determine where he was. The last thing he remember was intense burning welling up within him before launching his last attacks at the looming matriarch and collapsing to the ground. To him, no time had passed at all before he awoke in the darkness.
He had wandered in the void, feet somehow finding purchase despite no ground being visible. There was no way to gauge time here and he felt no weariness, so he hadn’t the slightest idea how long he had walked before deciding that it was pointless and sitting down. Once again, he did not know how long he sat on the ground, but eventually he felt something approaching.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a light shone in the distance accompanied by a humanoid form. As the form came closer, he could see that the light was actually hovering over its shoulder rather than being some sort of handheld light, such as a lantern or something more modern. When the figure stopped within a few meters of him, Lanek sighed.
“Nope. Fuck right off with that.” Lanek said in irritation. The figure standing before him was an elderly man with a full head of silvery hair and a large bushy beard to match. The old man’s skin was rather pale, but that was to be expected considering his ancestors came almost exclusively from Norway and Scotland.
“Excuse me?” The figure seemed somewhat taken aback by Lanek’s response.
“What was your plan here?” Lanek countered with his own query. “Did you really think I would be so gullible as to believe that my grandfather just happened to show up for a chat? Piss off, you aren’t even that good at impersonating him, he would have torn me a new one for speaking to him like that.”
“I’m simply trying to make you more comfortable.” The impostor spoke before Lanek cut him off.
“Bullshit. You’re trying to make me drop my guard by showing me someone I care about that has been dead for decades. My guess is that you are trying to make me easier to manipulate. So, until you switch into a different form and are prepared to tell me exactly what you want without this nonsense, this conversation is over.”
“Do you really think you have any power here? This is my domain!” The thing masquerading as his grandfather boomed, causing a rather impressive echo to resound through the darkness. Lanek simply arched a single eyebrow before silently giving the angry creature the finger and reclining onto his back before closing his eyes.
The being sputtered and threatened the man before it, but to its outrage it was completely ignored. It didn’t matter what threats it made, from those that consisted of an eternity of agony to those that promised complete obliteration. None seemed to get through to Lanek. It wasn’t that Lanek doubted it could follow up on these threats, he just didn’t really care to give in to this thing.
“Fine.” The creature spat, the light engulfing it before it disappeared, leaving Lanek in darkness once more. Once again, Lanek knew not how much time had passed, but he was enjoying the quiet. It had been a long while since he had been able to relax after all.
“Are you sure it was wise to alienate something like that?” A new voice spoke into his ear. Lanek opened his eyes and turned to regard the source of this new voice before snorting. The voice came from a beautiful woman with red hair, dressed in a white, wispy dress that left very little to the imagination.
“For fuck’s sake. You’re kidding, right? A half-naked woman that just so happens to have the exact mix of attributes I used to find most attractive? I’m not a teenager, my hormones don’t control me or make me stupid anymore. I’m not sure if you are the same asshole that impersonated my grandfather or something else, but the same terms apply. Drop the attempts at manipulation or leave me alone. Oh, and spare me the threats, act on them or shut the hell up.”
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With that he closed his eyes and ignored this new creature. The all-encompassing silence returned and he was left in peace. Apparently, this one had gotten the message and left without further attempts at manipulation or discussion.
“Hello, Lanek.” Seeing Lanek curse before it, the creature chuckled before continuing. “Don’t worry, I’m not in any form that is meant to influence you, unlike your other visitors.”
Lanek sat up, opening his eyes to look upon this new visitor. The new individual was an indistinct shadow figure that Lanek could only discern thanks to the light that was emanating from a floating flame and the shining white orbs that passed for its eyes and the disturbingly white teeth that appeared when it spoke.
“Well, at least I know that you aren’t trying to make me feel comfortable.”
“Considering how you treated the others, it wouldn’t have worked anyway, would it?” At Lanek’s head shake, it continued. “So, now that I’m here and not trying to manipulate you, let’s get down to business.”
“I think that is a bit pointless, honestly. I’m pretty sure this is the Void and I’m disinclined to help any of you lot after what you tried to pull on me.”
“You’re right, this is the Void and you might want to consider at least hearing me out. So far, you have only dealt with relatively minor Void entities, the true rulers of the Void haven’t noticed you. However, that won’t last forever, it isn’t often that something different shows up in their domain. You wouldn’t like that and you can’t leave this place without assistance.”
“Oh? And why exactly should I trust you? Sure, you make it sound like I have no choice if I want to leave, but the last one of you that I made a deal with was using me to destabilize and invade my world. Why would I help one of you if that is the end goal? I might as well stay put and keep that world safe from the likes of you. And before you claim that there are others working for you in that world that will let you in, I don’t care. It doesn’t mean I have to contribute to their efforts.” Lanek snapped.
“First, you should trust me because I literally cannot give you any abilities or make changes to your class that are related to the Void since you pledged yourself to Eldros. Your soul is his and only he and the System can affect you in that way. Because of that, I can’t do what the other one of my kind did with [Soul Shackle] or your titles. Second, you should consider listening to my offer as it benefits all parties involved.”
“I doubt that, but I’ll humor you. Go on, tell me what you want.”
“Your world is the focal point for several of my kind. They are attempting to use it for a variety of means, from giving themselves entry to your world to using what remains of that world as a sacrifice to give themselves more power. The problem I have with this is that they are getting very close to succeeding and I can’t have that. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t care about your world, but I will not have my rivals gaining more power if I can stop it. So, what I want you to do is to go back to your world and wipe their followers out. I will provide you with their locations and identities. That’s it.”
“While that sounds tempting and all, I still don’t trust a damn word that comes out of your mouth.”
“I don’t expect you to. However, I have seen enough of your memories to trust that you will follow through on your agreements and that you wouldn’t mind a little payback against the Void. I’m not proposing a contract, but a quest. Like the gods and demigods of that world, I can work within the confines of the System, including generating quests with rewards given for each servant of my kin eliminated. As you know, the System cannot lie to you, so there would be nothing hidden from you. Finally, you can drop quests with no real penalty other than irritating me, and you’ve already proven that you don’t care about pissing off the Void.”
“If I agreed, how would you get me out of here? Also, I’m dead, remember? I can’t kill anything for you.” Lanek asked. He had to admit, it sounded like a good offer, but the Void had already proven itself untrustworthy.
“I would simply need to sever the ties that brought you here. Although you serve Eldros now, your previous actions and association with the Void left enough of a connection that your former patron was able to intercept your soul upon your death and bring you here before Eldros could fully claim you. As a result, your soul is fractured, half here and half with Eldros. By severing those ties, Eldros would claim your soul completely. As for you being dead, well, let’s just say that that’s not entirely accurate. I don’t know how or why, but you are still very much alive.”
Lanek perked up at that. If it was true, he could go back to his new home and see his friends and family again. He would do just about anything for that opportunity, but he wasn’t going to accept without getting everything he could out of the deal.
“Alright, let’s talk details.”