The Udwi awoke with his vision blurry and wavy. His head hurt as he struggled to get his sight under control, unable to comprehend what exactly he was looking at. He clutched at his head as random bouts of pain struck his skull. He staggered to his knees, before getting up and closing his eyes.

The uneasiness began to peter out. He was able to get his senses back under control and allowed himself to open his eyes. His vision had gone somewhat normal, though there was still a light waviness to his view. However, that was not the important part at the time. Right now, he was inside a building that he did not recognize.

The walls were all made of some sort of white material that was cut roughly, with the way there were slight bumps and outcrops scattered across the surface. The room was tall as the ceiling was so far up he would need to fly to reach the top. Last but not least was the way there were giant black pillars that curved in on itself, none of them going far up to support the ceiling.

That’s quite odd. How was the ceiling not collapsing underneath its own weight? Perhaps the stone is lightweight to enable such a thing. But if so, where exactly am I? Is this a dream or did I get transported? What was that black pearl and what did it do to me?

Any other thoughts the Udwi had in mind disappeared the moment he heard the echoes of footsteps coming closer to his location. With that, he ducked into cover near one of the pillars and reached for his spear, only to grab nothing. He went pale as he realized his weapon was no longer with him, leaving him near defenseless to whatever enemy was coming in closer. He could only grit his teeth and clench his fists, ready to fight if it ultimately came down to it.

The footsteps came closer and he was able to get a good look at the incoming threat. His eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at was another human, one dressed in some beautiful golden armor. Their helmet was similar to that of a leopard, with what appeared to be numerous swirls embedded throughout every part of their chestplate and thorns scattered all over their gauntlets. Their boots were that of some black material that seemed to leave behind puddles of red liquid that evaporated after a few seconds.

This soldier was walking right towards him. The Udwi kept behind the pillar and got ready to dash if needed. He called upon the spirits to help guide him, as he knew such an enemy would be even more skilled than the monster had just fought. However, he did not get a response back. The spirits of these lands chose to be quiet and were no longer willing to communicate with him anymore.

His blood ran ice cold, making his entire body freeze completely. This was for worse than losing his weapon, his ties to the anima was quite honestly the one thing that allowed him to continue onwards without much worry. That connection allowed him to open up his movement abilities and provide powerful attacks that could have helped give him the edge over this opponent.

Now, he was back to his old self, before he came to this world. Which meant he needed to readjust his tactics. He needed to go back to his roots, back to the way he used to live before dying and coming to this world.

Now that I think about it… Perhaps my connection to the spirits had become nothing more than a crutch to continue onwards. Maybe I do have the skills to evade and avoid detection? Perhaps this could be used as a means to prove myself even more, to show that I am capable of standing head to head with the Samurai– Wait, why am I thinking of that blood-lust ridden warrior when it comes to skill?

The Udwi shook his head and cast his focus once more on the approaching soldier. He kept his guard up and got ready to move the moment he was detected. The patrolling enemy seemed as though it was going to simply pass by him, before it stopped in its tracks. The soldier paused, before looking at the exact pillar that he was hiding behind.

Some bits of sweat started to perspire on his brow as he realized how close he was to getting caught. However, he knew that he was more than capable of stealth and avoiding any incoming detection. He was an avid hunter and he knew what needed to be done to avoid the keen senses of numerous animals in his lands.

Fooling a human should be child’s play.

The patrolling soldier got closer. He proceeded to circle around the pillar to avoid getting spotted, keeping an eye out from the corner to keep an eye on their movements. They went left, he went right. They went right, he went left. When they stood still, so did he.

That went on for a little bit. Then, the soldier seemed to find itself satisfied before trudging onwards to another location. The Udwi let out a breath and proceeded onwards to escape this giant room.

He was able to find a few random doorways, each of them having some kind of symbol on top of their archway. They were similar to animals if they were made with nothing but triangles and lines. Though, he didn’t recognize any of these drawn creatures as none of them resembled the animals from his homeland.

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Though, that being said, there were some minute differences. Some had wings, some had four legs, and some crawled around like snakes. He looked at each of these creatures, before going down the one that had wings and twelve legs. Something compelled him to go inside that doorway. He didn’t understand why or what, all he knew was that his gut told him to go down that path.

His feet led the way. He walked down curved hallways that seemed to trail upwards endlessly. He found himself going up stairs so high up that he could have sworn he spotted some clouds on the way. However, one thing was certain throughout the entire journey.

He did not necessarily have control over his own movements. He was walking onwards without any capacity of stopping at all, his legs going forward despite his desire to halt. Some kind of pressure was reigning in over his head and body that pushed him continuously.

He couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t fight back. He was being puppeteering to move forward against his will and he couldn’t get his body to obey.

Step after step, his feet went up the stairs. Sweat began to pour down his body. His mind was struggling to attempt to regain control of his body once more.

He couldn’t. That pressure continued to bear down on him, unfathomably so. This was something far beyond his current power and absolute. With that, he gave up fighting and allowed his body to be moved against his will. However, that did nothing to assuage his worries.

Where am I going? Where am I being taken? Is this perhaps truly a dream or is this all reality? This sensation feels far too real to be an illusion, so this has to be the living world. But if that was the case, then why do I no longer have my connection to the spirits? Perhaps what has been transported was my soul.

That explanation made the most sense. That would give reason to his missing weapon and his ties to the spirits. After all, if he was dead, then he was no longer able to act as a true medium for the anima to act upon the world. Thus he was all alone without a chance to defend.

He could only gulp as he continued onwards. He went on for quite a while before finally arriving at a giant door. No, calling it a door would be a mistake, this was much more similar to those giant gates he had seen in some of those British stone wall settlements. These ones weren’t made of wood however. Instead, they were crafted with some form of dark green material that shone with a glossy texture. There were several roots that were intertwined within that seemed to twist and twirl here and there.

The gates began to creak and groan as they began to open up wide for the Udwi to go through. Once more, his body obeyed this mysterious call and he walked right inside this strange room.

The first thing he realized when he entered was how he couldn’t see the ceiling. The only thing that he saw was nothing more than mere darkness and even some clouds. That sight made him wonder just how deep this room truly was, with how there were no signs of even stopping.

The next thing he noticed were the walls. He had expected them to be made of the same material back below or even of the door, but instead these seemed to be far more complex than he expected. Swirls and lines were formed all throughout the black stone brick wall, each of them painting giant pictures of what seemed to be people. All of the ones dictated were that of men, though each of them seemed to have one similar characteristic: their eyes. They were nothing more than blank white irises with black surrounding all of them, giving off an unsettling feature.

He was forced to walk forward at that point. His feet found purchase on some kind of soft and comfy material, similar to those silk the British dressed themselves in around. He looked down and found himself staring at some kind of red and blue wavy cloth that had large tufts of cloth scattered throughout. Something that was at odds with this giant room.

As he walked on, those drawings began to fade away and be replaced by giant stone white statues with gold embedding. Each of them were made in the lifelike caricature of a human, done so well that they seemed to be people frozen in stone. However, none of these were posed to appear majestic or victorious. Their design was not meant to convey the feeling of victory but that of failure, defeat, and above all, weaknesses.

Each of them were in a state of downtrodden misery, some of them playing out a means of begging or even crawling on the floor trying to escape some sort of danger beyond their control. The more the Udwi walked, the more pitiful these figures got until they were nothing more than the designs of a sadist’s wet dream.

That alone did not make him concerned. What did was the way everything around him started to become disgustingly similar to the British holdings where they needed to stuff every single idea of luxury into a room no matter how awful the furnishings looked. Piles and piles of shiny gold were scattered all over the gold haphazardly. Beautiful dresses and clothing were laid on the ground with a thin layer of dust covering them. Clumps of what would have been luxury meals stayed rotten and moldy throughout the floor.

Eventually, he himself began to push past all of these forgotten goods, continuing forward without a chance to stop. Then, he began to reach the end of these piles, the giant horde that piled up into walls that created an entryway into some dark black clouds that he could not see through.

That view made chills go down his spine. His blood ran cold as he began to enter these clouds. His skin got prickly and he could feel his body sinking into some sort of muck. He was trapped as this mystery liquid continued to flood up to his waist. Then, everything stopped.

The flood stopped rising. He could move however he wished. However, that didn’t mean he was safe now as a dark shadow rose from the depths. This being looked at him for a brief while, before a giant eye popped up in the middle of its head and focused right on him.

The Udwi clenched his teeth. His being as a whole screamed at him to run and he instantly understood why.

Right now, he was face to face with the Usurper.