Kal's perception was wrenched away from Dalen the moment his friend opened his eyes but he had no time to panic over his friend's safety. The featureless gray parted and he found himself falling through a world of darkness.

Caustic winds battered him as he fell, his skin only tingled slightly as he fell thanks to his acid resistance. Below it spanned dark rocky terrain that stretched out to the horizon where pale blue sun rose into the air shedding its pale glow across the world.

Towers of white and black metal dotted the horizon, casting long shadows over the terrain. Everywhere Kal looked he saw demons of various types, all completely new to him. Most flew through the air but just as many dashed across the terrain between the towers.

Kal quickly ran out of time to look across the new plane he had found himself in before he had to reorient himself, activate Flesh of Iron, and crash down onto the ground. The ground shattered in a ten-foot radius at his landing but Flesh of Iron kept his body intact.

Kal took a deep breath and smiled. He wasn’t home but finally, he could rest his mind and see something other than endless darkness and pearlescent light.

Kalum Lesta

Status

Class:

Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]

Level:

71

Race:

Human?

Health:

1554/4160

Stamina:

7623/7880

Wrath:

0

Attributes

Strength:

801

Agility:

502

Endurance:

788

Vitality:

416

Intellect:

561

Perception:

514

Will:

1234

Wisdom:

491

Available:

18

Titles

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

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], Flesh of Iron [Rare], Eyes of the Slayer [Mythic] [Spiritbound]

Race

Birthright: Confined

His health could have been better but at least his body had regenerated for the most part. Only a portion of his abdomen still bore a sizable wound. But he wasn’t completely unharmed by his stupid plan.

Looking over his will tendrils Kal could see countless tattered and damaged threads. His once full body coverage had been significantly reduced,” Turns out shoving wrath into un-optimized will-threads is a bad idea…”

He wasn’t really surprised. It had been an act of desperation and well worth the cost in the time it would take to repair them. But that was for later. Now he needed to figure out where he was. Kal flexed his back and shoulders while he scanned the terrain.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

What was immediately apparent was that this wasn’t just some wasteland like what had become of Kartha. He had landed atop a small rise and from his position he could see what looked to be cobblestone roads. Further away between the two huge towers Kal was shocked to see what looked like a small settlement.

A large column of pitch black smoke reached towards the sky changing the strange bluish sheen from the sun to a greenish purple. It was too far away to get any real detail but he could see several of the bestial demons running towards it.

None of the demons seemed to have noticed him so far. It was kind of strange really. In the dome they had hunted him relentlessly to the point Kal thought they were compelled by more than just hatred. The Butcher had told him of the quest that had appeared for all the demons in the Kartha so that was probably part of it.

Though he wouldn’t be against some more fighting he would rather focus on finding a way back to Farninghold or at least his home world. As a precaution, Kal raised the hood of his Lesser Cloak of Shadows.

Lesser Cloak of Shadows [Rare]

Normally worn by the assassins of the Great Seeker, this cloak when activated can make the user’s form merge with nearby shadow mana for a short duration. Additionally, while the hood is drawn the wearer’s face is concealed by a construct of shadow mana. +20 Perception, +10 Agility, Wisdom.

Kal wasn’t sure if the cloak would help mask his race or anything like that but he hoped that the cloak alongside To Spit In God's Eyes he wouldn’t be hunted from the start. If the settlement ahead had intelligent or humanoid demons the concealment might be enough of a cover to get by.

System Trial: Lonesome Will Complete!

Kal frowned. Not because of the fact he had completed the trial but because of the few lines.

Rewards: Title, Two Mortal Lives.

Warning: Rewards must be claimed within the next 60 minutes or significant degradation of the reward should be expected.

“Dammit the system is being literal isn’t it…”

This was not the place to be left with two random people. He had seen what the abyssal mana had done to the people on Fyborh’s Path and that had only been a tiny fraction of what was in this place. Kal could feel that the density of the mana here was even stronger than in Fallen Kartha and activating his mana sight confirmed it.

The memory of the Hurius’s camp followers turning to mist on contact with the stuff came to mind, “Well. I guess you have fifteen minutes to figure something out then don’t you…”

First Kal needed somewhere to prepare. He wasn’t exactly in the open where he was but any fliers could spot him easily if they wanted to. Down on the road, Kal spotted a bestial demon that looked much like the garghounds of Fallen Kartha but much more lean, built for speed, and endurance.

[Handari Hound | Abyssal Spawn 59]

As it drew closer Kal noticed it pulling off the far side of the road away from him. Kal figured either titles or soul generated enough of an aura for the demon to sense him even without Wrath Incarnate active.

Interestingly however was that fact the demon didn’t immediately become hostile or simply run away. Wanting to see for sure Kal leaped off the edge of his lookout and onto the dark cobblestone road.

The demon glanced at him and Kal saw its mouth pull back into a snarl and it slowed to walk before sniffing at the air. Then the last thing Kal was expecting happened.

“Dak zul Zeeschaaaal…” The movements of the demon’s mouth didn’t at all match up with the words that came out.

“Great if it didn’t already know I’m human it will the moment I speak.” Kal thought to himself. He should have got The Butcher to teach him abyssal or whatever it is they called their language.

Kal shrugged,” I don’t understand you.”

The demon snarled and its head shook from side to side,”GHRRRrr, sssshhaadow you reek of mortal flesh.”

That surprised Kal. Apparently, they couldn’t determine his race with the cloak on. That was a relief at least but smelling like a human wasn’t something he thought he would be able to fix.

Remembering the description of his cloak Kal said,” My masters have tasked me with hunting several in the past days, filth.” Obviously, it was a lie but he let a bit of the heat from his soul enter his voice and the demon froze.

“Klat, klat…Of course, Lord. Of course,” it fell into a fearful stance, its tail falling to between its legs. Its snarl vanished, replaced by a widening of its dark eyes, ”Then you must know of our great task?”

“Shit…” No, he didn’t but he wasn’t going to let it know that, ”Obviously. What surprises me is that filth such as you has been allowed to participate.”

A snarl returned briefly to the demon’s face but it disappeared just as quickly. It looked like it was going to speak again but after another glare from the demon, it simply turned away and continued along the road.

“Well, that was weird…”

Apparently, the cloak did prevent them from identifying him as him but Kal was more surprised by the fact that the demon didn’t seem to care about Kal not speaking abyssal. All the other demons he had come across had spoken imperial which now that he thought about it was kind of strange. Perhaps his home world's tongue was common even among demons.

Since his fear aura still seemed to function to an extent it would probably keep most far enough away to prevent them seeing through his Lesser Cloak of Shadows. Now knowing that Kal was more comfortable simply roaming the nearby area in search of somewhere hidden enough to receive the quest rewards.

The place was quickly mountainous even compared to Kartha but interspersed throughout were shattered structures of stone and metal. Just as often as not Kal found himself climbing up the side of a collapsed fort than he did an actual cliff. Along the way, Kal kept an eye out for demons.

Not that it took much effort to look, they were bloody everywhere. Demons of all levels roamed the terrain but the most common by far were called Shade Imp’s. They were creepy little things about the size of a newborn child but with scrawny limbs and elongated bodies. Their skin was almost perfectly black and two large black wings sprouted from their backs.

[Shade Imp | Abyssal Spawn 54]

Kal only needed to kill a few on his wanderings through the terrain. They never attacked him alone, always instead coming in groups of four or five. They focused on stealth attacks for the most part, fading into existence out of thin air to attack him from behind.

It had nearly worked the first time. They made no sound or visible effect when they appeared but Kal’s reflexes were fast enough to remove their advantage. After the first time, Kal simply left his Eyes of the Slayer active and while they were invisible he could still easily the flow of abyssal mana through their skill channels.

So after the first attack most died before they got a chance to appear. These demons were definitely on the dumber side. Kal had tried speaking with one of the ambush squads but they just continued to sit there and wait for him to walk by so they could try and bite him.

Well, it was a bit more sophisticated than that. They did try and use a skill each time but Kal never let it go off. They were lower leveled than him but he had experienced too many close calls over his first trial to let it happen just to see what it did. Maybe he would later but for now he needed to focus on finding somewhere decently hidden.

Along the way Kal thought about what he was going to do with whoever popped out of the quest reward, assuming that's what was going to happen of course. He had an idea to try and replicate his siphoning effect outside of his body in an attempt to make an abyssal mana-free zone. That would at least give them time but to pull it off he would have to channel the abyssal mana through his body and core. That was less ideal.

It would be practically the same as doing it like he had on Fyborh’s Path and likely give him a similar result. Horrible agony and an extended healing session. Not something he felt like doing again any time soon.

No Kal had another if not quite more simple idea, it was at least more mundane.

After killing one last batch of shade imps Kal found a secluded gully at the base of a large outcropping stone and torn metal. It reminded Kal of the caldera he had fought the Felflame Scion and Kuroxet Bonedrinker in, only smaller. There were no demons of any kind around so Kal peered into his dimensional storage and pulled out the tools he had used for quite some time.