The terrain rushed by as Kal fell towards the end but all he could about were the faces of his family before he killed them. At least Jayne wasn’t there, at least she could live.

His still horrifically damaged body screamed for regeneration but he ignored the urge and simply closed his eyes. The sound of the wind rushing by his ears drowned out his thoughts as he waited for the end. He had promised himself he wouldn’t become a monster, but he was already too late.

But soon he wouldn’t have to feel anything anymore…

…

..

.

It was close…

…

..

.

A notification displayed itself, visible even with his eyes closed. Kal flinched and tried to ignore it but its golden light convinced him to read it.

Warning! You have entered the final resting place of ~~~~~~ The Forgotten One.

Event: [Trial of the Slayer I] will be forfeited and penalties applied if you continue this course of action.

Sponsorship detected…

Your sponsor has been notified…

Your sponsor ~~~~~~ has submitted a petition:

Request: Sanctioned Timeout.

Duration: 24 Hours.

Reason: Entities of Tier 5 or higher have interfered with a participant in the trial.

Processing petition…

“What the fuck!?” Kal shouted, his voice echoing throughout the chasm as he fell. He now fell through utter darkness as the light from the dome above failed to reach his location.

“Final resting place? Sponsor?” Kal thought as scanned the area around him activating his mana sight. The darkness became a cascading sea of threads. All around him, the threads seemed to merge with walls of the chasm, each with its own purpose and specific instructions that Kal had no chance to understand before he had fallen too far past them.

Below shined with an intent red and white power and just looking at it burned his still-damaged eyes. The intense light was rapidly rising to meet him. Kal was forced to drop his mana sight as the pain grew too great and he realized he was actually finally approaching the chasm floor.

He watched it come but as he hit the chasm floor the world around him shattered like glass into a twisting chaos of white and gray light. The light burned him as he tumbled through the air the gray wrapped around his form to tear him asunder.

Kal could barely comprehend what was happening. Time seemed to slow as the gray tendrils oozed over his flesh and the white light seared him. His vision faded.

Petition Outcome:

Votes: {For: 1, Against: 9}

Petition declin-

Error: Significant interference against system laws detected.

Processing…

The gray dug into his flesh and wrapped around his core, its delicate touch caressing but his soul flared in response. Kal’s vision continued to fade as his body felt drained of all energy but he focused on his core, while his body burned.

Outcome Overruled:

Penalties applied to malefactors.

Suddenly the chasm returned and Kal slammed into the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of him but strangely no more than that. He sat up confused, his head still clouded with the memories and horrors of the gore sea.

He sat in utter darkness, the only sound was the beating of his heart and the screams in his mind, “Why?!” Kal wanted it, no, needed it to end.

“Oh come on Kal, don't be dramatic,” The voice made Kal flinch, then he was suddenly bathed in bright white light as a pulse of mana flared in front of him. He didn’t bother standing but he saw what appeared his heart dropped.

Fyborh stood with his arms crossed in front of him, his expression concerned. He opened his mouth to speak but Kal leaped to his feet as his soul flared in response to his own anger, “You! Why didn’t you stop me!”

Fyborh's expression looked confused, and then Kal’s fist hit him in the face, hard. The man or god flew across the chasm floor, bouncing once then came to a stop flat on his back.

Kal’s soul roared in triumph but Kal felt disgusted with himself as the feeling faded.

Nearly fifty feet away Fyborh sat up looking no worse for wear, the punch clearly doing no actual damage despite having Kal’s full strength behind it, “Ok ow! Astral falls Kal!, what the fuck?!”

“You said you would fix me! But instead, you let me slaughter my family!” Kal roared as Fyborh climbed to his feet.

Tears fell unbidden on Kal’s cheek making Fyborh pause, “What are you talking about? Wait, what do you remember?”

Fyborh’s tone froze Kal in his tracks but his anger never left, “I was at the manor…Jayne had just left for the academy…”

Fyborh raised a hand bidding him to stop, “I know that day very well indeed,” suddenly he was standing directly in front of him again with his hand on Kal’s shoulder, “I am sorry that was the first thing you remembered.”

Kal wanted to punch him again but something about his demeanor stopped him and even more convincingly his soul calmed despite his own anger.

Fyborh turned and the white light expanded to cover the entire chasm floor revealing a large black stone building with large pillars marking its entrance, “Please, follow me. We have things to discuss and very little time to do it. I swear to you on my power that all I have done has been to your benefit since the day you were taken.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

----------------------------------------

Kal followed, what else could he do?

The black stone building was beautiful but Kal couldn’t bring himself to actually admire it, instead, he simply followed in silence and let Fyborh guide him through the strange building. The architecture reminded Kal of the bunker but this place had far more engravings. Each door they passed through lit up slightly as they entered and crystal set into the walls flickered to life as they walked.

Fyborh didn’t say a word as they moved through the halls until they eventually arrived at a small room. It was no larger than his old hut in Farninghold and it was lacking any of the engravings he saw throughout the halls and was lit by a single crystal set in the roof. No wall was visible due to several bookcases lining them, and at the center of the room was a pair of lounge chairs.

Fyborh gestured to one of them, “Take a seat and take some time to regenerate your wounds. While you do that I will find some food. Hmm, I didn’t think I had a tier one here ever again. I should be able to find something.”

Kal spoke up as Fyborh turned to leave, “Wait I need to know what happened,” a lance of pain dug into his mind and his nose started bleeding again.

Fyborh placed a hand on his shoulder again, the gesture feeling more familiar than it should, “Do as I ask and I will show you the truth. You need to heal your wounds,” with his other hand he gestured to Kal’s body, “You're a mess, your fight with the scion and bonedrinker was a close call. But more importantly, you need to be in peak condition for what I have planned.”

“Why? Why can't you just tell me?”

“Would you trust me if I did? Truly?” Fyborh replied, his expression serious.

No, he probably wouldn’t have and Fyborh saw the answer in Kal’s face and smiled sadly, “I understand. The purging of my existence was thorough and my workings were even more so. But let me just say this. I have known you for a long time, at least in terms of your lifespan and I know you quite well. Now sit, you will find that the weight on your mind is weakened here. You may still experience some pain but the memories should be kept at bay for now.”

Kal frowned but sighed took a seat and activated his Wrathful Regeneration, “Fine but don’t take long, and don’t worry about the food. I’m not hungry.”

Fyborh was already leaving but spoke as he stepped out of the room, “You haven’t eaten in over a week, don’t be an ass.”

Kal couldn’t help but frown at the supposed god’s familiar interaction with him, it reminded him of Dalen which only darkened his mood further.

But Kal also noticed that Fyborh was right. His head ached but the memories had stopped assaulting his mind for now. Now he just felt worn out, hollow. The nightmares, memories, or visions formed a confusing mess of conflicting emotions that he had skirted by for weeks with his constructs and skill. He had paid the price for that by being overwhelmed by them the moment Slayer’s Apathy failed.

He looked down at his body while his wounds healed. Fyborh was right, he was a mess. His cloak and pants were in tatters but that only made seeing his wounds easier. His skin was either burned to a crisp or simply gone over most of his body. His finger bones were still in open air and his right foot was still bent out of shape.

The pain was constant but he had forgotten about it as easily as he did with Slayer’s Apathy active. That disturbed him more than he would have first expected. Were there more risks to using his wrath than what was obvious during their use?

He already knew the answer to that. To keep his mind off the memories he opened his log, he vaguely remembered being pelted with notifications as he killed the scion. He had to scroll up for a while to get to the first on the list.

Title acquired: True Slayer of Demonkind [Epic]

Kal’s eyes widened when he saw the rarity of the title and immediately looked at its description.

True Slayer of Demonkind [Epic]

Your wrath knows no bounds and your perseverance has seen to the destruction of an immortal soul. The remnants of the destroyed soul cling to your aura increasing its potency. +10% Strength, Agility, Vitality, Will

Kal smiled weakly at the description and opened his status to look at his attributes.

Kalum Lesta

Status

Class:

Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]

Level:

63

Race:

Human?

Health:

880/3000

Stamina:

5034/6360

Wrath:

0

Attributes

Strength:

713

Agility:

266

Endurance:

636

Vitality:

300

Intellect:

218[-124]

Perception:

255[-124]

Will:

685[-288]

Wisdom:

410

Available:

6

Titles

Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Defier of Dhinir, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Elite, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer, True Slayer of Demonkind

Skills

Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Uncommon], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged]

Race

Birthright: Confined

He had used up all of his available wrath and had managed to heal the scarring damage at least but he couldn’t help but frown at the huge drain on his mental attributes from Soul Maw.

Dismissing his status Kal leaned back into the chair to prepare to start siphoning. The chair felt almost too comfortable now, it was certainly better than sitting on the stone in the dome. Kal activated his mage sight to find the ambient abyssal mana to draw into his body but strangely he found none.

“Ah yes, I forgot about that. You won’t be able to cultivate abyssal mana here,” Kal turned his head to see Fyborh standing there with a tray in one hand and a bottle in the other, “Oh, and happy birthday by the way,” Fyborh put the tray on the second chair gathered up a stack of books and brought them over before dumping them on the ground and using them as a table for the tray. After that, he practically fell into his chair and placed his legs over the arm.

“My birthday isn’t until winter…” Kal was taken aback by the Fyborh’s relaxed demeanor but the man just smiled.

“Well, I guess if you're going by Vadrin time you're right but from my count, you turned eighteen a week or two ago. But never mind that. Eat up. Then we can straighten everything out.”