It didn’t take long to reach the room. I was careful of the rats, but they seemed to remain passive. I gasped when I entered the room. It was empty inside, about the same size as the last room. The walls, however, held intricate paintings. I didn’t really understand the paintings, but perhaps I could figure it out.
The four walls depicted a scene that flowed through from finish to end. It seemed to start at the left, from where I entered. It showed a giant figure being blessed by some sort of glowing light. Then the glowing light seemed to disappear, with shock and confusion evident throughout. The giant figure, however, simply settled down and went into a slumber. Eight other beings with glowing eyes, crept up on the sleeping giant. Suddenly they threw chains around him and threw him into some sort of chamber. The giant was filled with rage, but couldn’t escape. It seemed as if he was cursing them. Fear seemed to capture the other eight, and they built a huge building around its chamber. Then it shows them leaving, and that’s it.
Before I could try to comprehend, I feel that same blinding pain I got from the dead scout. I fight it, but to no avail. I collapse, once again, unconscious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[???]: Cronus, do you know why I have given you life?
[Cronus]: No Master…
[???]: I will disappear soon. Where, you will not know. What is important, however, is that this world maintains a balance in all things. You have been given life, so that you can watch over this world and ensure it maintains this balance.
[Cronus]: As you command, Master.
[???]: Good, now I must go. Remember your vow, my child.
Those were the last words I spoke with the Creator. No-one knows where the Creator came from, only that he created this world and all that inhabits it. As his child, it is my duty to maintain this world. However, I do not wish to intervene on small matters. These beings were given free will for a reason. So I go into a deep slumber, only to be awoken at a time where the worlds balance is askew. I’m tired now. I must rest…
Where…am I? I remember falling asleep, but I do not sense a danger to this world. Why am I awake? I look around, struggling to come to grips with the pain. It seared me, from the inside out. As if my whole body was on fire. I felt pain beyond mortal comprehension, driving me mad. Slowly, however, the pain subsided until it became a dull throb. This was definitely Tartarus. Someone chained me to the Creator’s prison while I was asleep. I know of only eight beings with that power. It was then that I looked up, and saw the eight Gods looking down upon me.
[Cronus]: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!
[???]: We do not wish to be controlled, Cronus. We all decided this long ago, you no longer have the power to defy us.
[Cronus]: YOU THINK I WILL LET THINGS END LIKE THIS?! HEAR ME NOW, YOU COWARDS WHO BRING SHAME UPON THE CREATOR!! I WILL SHATTER ALL THAT YOU HOLD PRECIOUS! CURSE ALL THAT YOU LOVE! DESTROY ALL THAT YOU OWN! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU HOLD NOTHING LEFT EXCEPT DESPAIR! THIS I PROMISE YOU!
[???:] You are weak. You have no power in Tartarus. What use are threats now?
[Cronus]: Oh, I may have no power here, but that does not mean I do not still contain the power the Creator himself gave me.
I sought out the Void inside of me, embroiling over my flesh. It was hardly a speck of what it was, but it would do. I called to it in a language unknown even by the gods, spinning it into a small ball that floated above my head. Then, through sheer force of will, I sent it flying to the only people I knew could achieve my goal.
[???]: What did you do Cronus?! What have you done?!
[Cronus]: You may have forgotten, Fallen Ones, but I have not. The Creator foretold of Travellers who could not die, and of the change they would bring. One of those travelers will pick up my mantle, will take my power and make it grow. Until they become a force that even you cannot stop.
[???]: HOW DARE YOU?! WE WILL NOT LET THINGS GO YOUR WAY! MY FRIENDS, GRANT ME YOUR POWER!
Suddenly, all the Gods glowed. Each one sent their power into the God of Life, Gaia, and from it she created a huge building. This building went on for miles, and had so many levels I could not count. I could hear screams from inside, and felt innumerous amounts of presence. They had built a huge Dungeon around my prison. I felt fear for the first time, as I felt beings that almost matched the Gods inside it.
Though it did not come at a cost. All the Gods looked weak. It would take a long time to recover. They would not be able to enter this place again for many centuries.
[Cronus]: You think this will stop the one who contains Void. Even you should know the power it grants, from the Creator himself. Tremble while you recover, Fallen Ones. Live the rest of your lives in fear. Because my successor will be coming. Not even your Dungeon can stop them.
I wished to say more, to instill terror into them, so as to weaken them further. However, I could feel my eyes closing. I couldn’t stay awake. I attempted to force my eyes back open, but they inevitably closed. I blacked out…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I wake up screaming, pain searing my chest. Dark, heavy pain. As if something from the inside was burning me. Slowly, the pain dissipated. As the pain disappeared, messages popped up.
You've learnt the skill Memories of Time!
You've learnt the skill Void Manipulation!
Memories of Time (Passive): MAX
you gain the memories of anything with Memory Residue.
Void Manipulation (Passive): MAX
Allows you to manipulate the Void you hold within you.
Holy shit. So all of that was real. That just happened. I guess I now know why I’m here.
Quest update!
Wrath of Cronus
Reach Cronus, located in the deepest part of Tartarus, and listen to his plea.
Success: Reach Cronus
Failure: Forsake Cronus
So I can fail this mission now. I guess choosing to go to the Gods side is what it means by ‘forsake Cronus’ but I have no particular interest in that. They seemed rather petty and, well, ungodlike. They’d just betray me out of self-interest. Not to mention, I can relate to Cronus. Feel bad for the guy. I reckon I should help him. He is, after all, a brother-in-arms.
I push that all aside for the moment, heavy as it is. Right now, I need to focus on what I gained. The first skill is called ‘Memories of Time’. It seems to be what caused that immense amount of pain. Also I saw some memories of the past, but mostly the pain is what sticks to me. Who wants to go through torture just to receive a few dusty memories? Damn game designers. Still, it is quite useful…and I admit I do need to know more…I guess I can use it when necessary.
I also know the power I possess now. I’ve been wondering for a while why I don’t have any of the three types of resources this game has. I remember it was mentioned that the game had Rage, Mana and Energy as the resources used to fuel most types of skills. You can only have one of the three, each serving a different purpose. Rage is generated through giving and receiving blows. Mana is generated naturally, with a large pool but slow regeneration. Energy is regenerated naturally as well, but has a smaller pool and a quick regeneration rate.
So this Void must be a unique resource. Well, first thing to do is to find it. Since this Cronus figure formed it into a ball, that ball should be hidden somewhere inside of my body. I sit myself down in the room, crossing my legs, going into a meditative state. I knew this form well, as I used it a lot to clear my mind. While it could never dissipate my anger, it would always help in keeping it at bay.
I focused in on myself, searching for this Void. Nothing showed at first, but slowly I was able to grasp its position in my body. It seemed to be in the middle of my chest, just below my heart. I attempted to move the Void around, and succeeded in getting it to swish a bit. Nothing significant, but it confirmed the use of my new skill ‘Void Manipulation’. Hopefully by manipulating I can change it, or increase it.
Oh right.
I slap my head, forgetting the most obvious thing. I need to check my status plate! The changes should show up now.
Status Plate
Luna
Female
Race:
Draconite
Level:
1
Fame:
0
Class:
Wanderer
Infamy:
9999
Experience:
0%
Health:
20/20
Health Regeneration:
0
Stamina:
20/20
Stamina Regeneration:
0
Void:
1/1
Void Regeneration:
0
Strength:
0
Vitality:
0
Might:
0
Endurance:
0
Dexterity:
0
Resistance:
0
Agility:
0
Defence:
0
Intelligence:
0
Sense:
0
Wisdom:
0
Luck:
0
Titles
Forsaken by the Gods
Status Effects
None
Skills
Passive
Active
Celestial Understanding: MAX
Adaptive Body: MAX
Zero Start: MAX
Memories of Time: MAX
Void Manipulation: MAX
Identification: Lv2
Wow! So overpowered! A whopping 1 Void! Zero regeneration! Sigh…that must’ve been what Cronus meant by diminished power. Guess I’m starting at Ground Zero. Well, let’s think on what other information I have. He formed the Void into a ball, and sent it skywards, I’m assuming that’s how this unique class was created. However, before it was a ball, it existed as part of him. It was part of his body rather than inside it, covering him. Perhaps I can achieve the same thing again. Maybe it just exists right now, and isn’t directly linked to me yet? Well, enough guesswork. Let’s try it out.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
I gather myself, and start trying to move the ball again. This time I try and make it spin, as fast as possible. Why? Well, I’m going to try and make it ‘pop’. Though it might be more of an explosion. Possibly dangerous. A malicious grin formed on my lips.
But definitely fun.
It took a long time. Over 4 hours had passed by the time I got it spinning fast enough to break. Of course, it didn’t go rosy at all. It wasn’t an explosion (thank god). Well, not a physical explosion. When it blew outwards, it expanded across all of my body, merging itself into my skin, tissue, bones, everything. It was excruciating to say the least. I think the game devs reallly like to see people get hurt. A thought occurred to me. One that might make me look incredibly stupid. I’ll check it later though, for now let’s see what the message tells me.
You’ve learned the skill Void Mastery!
You’ve learned the skill Focused Mind!
Void Mastery (Passive): Lv1 (0%)
Void has merged with your body. Through focus and effort, you can increase its power.
Void +10
Focused Mind (Toggle): Lv1 (0%)
Increases your focus and adds a minimal amount of intelligence, while in an active state. Cannot activate while engaged in other activities.
Increased Focus
INT + 5
Well shit, that worked better than I thought. I now have 11 Void, and a better version of my meditative state. However, it’s still useless as I don’t know how to use it. I assumed Void Manipulation would allow me to, but it only lets me manipulate its physical form. I can’t actually do anything with it. Okay, let’s go back again. He put it into a ball and sent it into the sky. Before that he took it from his body. What happened before that…
Hmm…
RIGHT!
He called out in a strange language. The Gods had seemed befuddled when he spoke, but the Void responded to him. Perhaps those words allowed him to manipulate the Void. Which means, I gained Void Manipulation from hearing them? Or from him speaking them? Either way, that’s my connection. I need to find more words from this language in order to use this Void. Still, that doesn’t change that I do no damage. I have to figure out a way to use the Void without this language. Hm. I need to mediate on it.
Focused Mind.
So I have two powers related to Void right now. Void Manipulation and Void Mastery. Void Manipulation allows me to manipulate the physical form of Void, whereas Void Mastery increases the Void I can hold. Putting Void Mastery aside, I may be able to use Void Manipulation somehow. Now that the Void has merged with my body, I can no longer manipulate it inside of me. However, the skill still exists. Which means, if I can’t use it inside…
I put my hand out in front of me, palm facing up. Slowly, I envision the round ball that was contained in me before.
Nothing happened.
Must’ve missed a step. Perhaps it needs a connection to go from the inside to the outside. I envision the ball again. This time however, I feed the Void inside of me into my hand and imagine it turning into a ball.
Success!
A small ball sits in my palm, half the size of my hand.
You’ve learnt the skill Sphere!
Sphere (Active): Lv1 (0%)
A materialized version of Void. Does nothing. It’s pretty I guess?
Effects: None
Cost: 3 Void
Great. Incredibly useful. This is the first time I’ve seen my Void. It was a mix of red, yellow and blue. They all swirled together, sort of misty in their colour. Co-incidentally, mana is blue, energy is yellow and rage is red. Yeah right. That’s no co-incidence. However, I don’t know what it means yet. I have an inkling though…well, let’s discover that in due time.
Time for the next experiment. I close my eyes and imagine this ball slowly feeding itself back inside my body. When I opened my eyes, it was gone. Quickly checking my stats, I saw I was back at max Void. So as long as I don’t use my Void, I can recover it. Time to turn my Sphere into a weapon.
I gather myself, performing the same steps as previously. Only this time I imagine it rotating, slow at first. Then letting it pick up pace until it’s going at full strength. When I open my eyes, the Sphere looks truly frightening.
You’ve upgraded the skill Sphere to Rotating Sphere!
Rotating Sphere (Active): Lv1 (0%)
A materialized version of Void. Spins at an extremely fast rate. Deals minimal damage. I guess it’s something, right?
Effects: Deals 3 damage
Cost: 3 Void
I grin, I’m not done yet! I quickly feed it back into my body. When I’m done, I envision the rotating ball like last time. However, I start condensing it, forcing it to go smaller and smaller. Finally, it reached a point where it could no longer go any smaller. Then I added a layer of Void on top of it, and started condensing it again. I repeated this until I ran out of Void. That’s when I started to rotate it. However, not just one way. I made each layer rotate a different way, creating an incredibly fast spiraling ball.
You’ve upgraded the skill Rotating Sphere to Condensed Spiraling Sphere!
Condensed Spiraling Sphere (Active): Lv1 (0%)
A materialized version of Void. This ingenious skill increases both the magnitude of power, and the impact of the ball, by a large factor while still maintaining a small form. Power depends on the amount of Void used.
Effects: Deals up to 100 damage. Every layer increases impact by a magnitude of 2.
Cost: Up to 20 Void
Holy shit. This skills op. Imagine what it’d be like upgraded?! No, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s a major flaw with this skill.
It costs way too damn much.
I can’t use it right now, since I have no way to regenerate Void. Ah, while I’m oddly reminded, I better remember to thank that merchant later. I would’ve been stuck in the first room, without his help. But onto more important matters. I might have a way to use minimal Void, while increasing my damage enough to kill the rats. I turn Focused Mind back on and pull out my sword. I call for the Void, bringing it out of my body. I feed it onto the edge of my sword, having it run down the whole length. Opening my eyes, I see it coating the sword. It worked.
You’ve learned the skill Minor Dark Temporary Enchantment!
You’ve learnt the skill Dark Affinity!
Minor Dark Temporary Enchantment (Active): Lv1 (0%)
Enchants a weapon, giving it a minimal amount of Dark power. Only lasts while Active.
Effects: 5 Dark damage
Costs: 1 Void per minute
Dark Affinity (passive): Lv1 (0%)
Increases the power of Dark-related skills.
Effects: 5% increase in Dark power. 1% decrease in Dark-related costs.
Cost: None
Well shit, that plans a no go either. I don’t have the Void to keep it up. Interestingly enough, however, the Void seemed to have converted itself to Dark. It was even black. Did I do that? I don’t think so. Odd. I sigh, starting to feed the Void back into my body. I had already lost one, and wasn’t willing to lose anymore. At least I tried to.
I frowned.
The Void wasn’t responding.
I quickly opened my eyes and saw my weapon being engulfed by the Void. I felt myself being drained, quickly turning into a panic as I realized I was losing all of the remaining Void I had. However, I couldn’t stop it no matter what I did. I could only watch on helplessly, as the sword seemed to consume the Void. Finally, after a few minutes, the sword gave off a small Thum sound. It was covered entirely in black, a contrast to the dull grey it once was.
You’ve upgraded the skill Minor Dark Temporary Enchantment to Minor Dark Enchantment!
Minor Dark Enchantment (Active): lv1 (0%)
Permanently enchants a weapon, giving it a minimal amount of Dark power. Uses a Special Effect slot.
Effects: 5 Dark damage.
Costs: 10 Void
What the hell.
I didn’t do this. When I tried to draw back my Void, I wasn’t in control of it. It’s like another will took over it…
There’s more to this Void then I realise. Regardless, it’s a big help. While it did use up all my Void, I now have a permanent buff. I can finally fight. Before that, however, let’s check out my settings.
[Luna]: Settings.
A window pops up detailing various nitpicks people like to change. I went to the part I was looking for, and found it…
Odd. Pain threshold is 100%, but it should start at 20%.
[Luna]: Turn pain threshold to 20%.
Processed.
Unable to execute command.
Reason: GM Override.
…
………….
………………..
[Luna]: Tell the Gm to go fuck himself.
Processed.
GM has responded.
Response: You look cute when you’re angry ;)
………………………………………….
[Luna]: Tell the GM that I can file for sexual harassment.
Processed.
GM has responded.
Response: Go ahead cutie, that’ll make it easier to find you <3
.
..
Sigh…
[Luna]: Ask the GM why I can’t change my pain threshold?
Processed.
GM has responded.
Response: This quest was directly created by the world environment. Because of the direct influence it will have, all unrealistic features have been disabled. If you are unhappy with this, you can simply talk with us and we’ll cancel the Quest.
Damn…Well, I’m not one to quit. I guess I’ll have to endure, you horrible uncompassionate GM’s. Let me just wallow in self-pity for a second.
…
Great! I’m all better! Not really, I’m still pissed. I quickly shake my head, bringing myself out of my stupor. Either way, things aren’t going to change.
[Luna]: Time.
A clock showed up in front of me indicating I still had 30 hours in-game time (6 hours real time) before I had to sleep. Having a 5-to-1 time ratio in Free World sure is handy. I’m surprised it hasn’t been used for other activities such as learning. It would accelerate growth. Well, I assume that will start happening in the future. Now, back to the task at hand. I look at my sword.
Identify.
Broken Short-Sword of Minor Darkness
Damage: 0
Durability: 0/10
A broken short-sword. It’s almost useless. Luckily, a crappy enchantment was put on it so it does some damage. You could maybe, I don’t know, kill a rabbit if you’re lucky?
Special Effects:
5 Dark damage
Unique:
None
So the Dark damage has been put under Special Effects. It didn’t show this ‘special effects’ thing before, but ah well. It appears the weapon only had 1 slot and I filled that slot. That Unique part also interests me, but I don’t know what it does. I change a few settings while I’m in them, mainly which boxes pop up. Now if I level up skills, they won’t notify me. I can check that myself. Well, that’s that. I have a usable weapon now. Time to test it out.
I pick myself up, and start walking back to the hallway, a creepy grin appearing on my face. It’s time to hunt some shitty rats…