I narrowed my proverbial eyes in realisation.

This creature was toying with me. Rubbing my face in my own weakness.

It has demonstrated the ability to read my mind like an open book. So, it wasn’t much of a leap to assume that if it wanted to, it could have said all the right words, invoked all the right feelings, and made me eagerly pounce on anything it offered. Yet it chose to drown me in word soup and evasive answers.

With its seemingly endless power, it didn’t even need to lower itself to talking with me at all. It could have simply magic-karate-chopped me unconscious and dumped me into this other world with a shock collar and mission instructions in my pocket.

Instead, it twisted my arm and made me feel powerless. As if years of helpless torment of watching myself slowly decline wasn’t enough. As if watching my closest friends suffer on my behalf, while hiding their tears from me, wasn’t enough!

My core tightened as a wave of remembered pain surged through me. I could almost feel the ghostly touch of the IV lines and the cold, sterile smell of the hospital room. The ache in my bones, the dull throb in my temples—memories, but vivid enough to make me shiver.

Why play this fucking game with me!!?

“Ahhh… Finally waking up, I see.” The creature sounded proud. “Good.”

“I called my world flawed, Ryder. It isn’t that way by happenstance, it is by design. Most people in Galassia aren’t better or worse than those on Earth. Yet, if you thought you loathed the princelings and self-styled tyrants of Earth, you will be livid seeing what happens when those same people have access to immense magical power. Not to mention the centuries-long lifespans for their malice and megalomania to ferment.”

The words doused my searing emotions like a bucket of slush. What would Earth be like if near-immortal despots with magic powers kept the people under their heel?

The Entity’s whole demeanour changed as it spoke. The mask of a verbose, shifty salesman fell off. An ancient colossus holding up the weight of countless years was speaking. Every word dripping with conviction. Every gesture, speaking of countless odious memories recollected.

“It is a beautiful place, in a great many ways, Galassia. Yet it is bittered and marred by the basest urges of those in power. I would have you do there as you did on Earth. Wipe the tears of the crying, as you erase the cruel smirks of the gleefully malignant.”

The Entity disappeared from its spot and appeared right in front of me. Our souls nearly touching.

“What I have done to you was cruel. But it needed to be done. I don’t need you to hate your own weakness. I want it to be your foremost enemy. The vilest villain. I want you anguished and desperate to get rid of it. So you never have to feel another foot on your neck as you are made to suffer in silence.”

With that, the emotional tension dissipated. As the Entity floated away and resumed scrutinising my corpse. Leaving me to ponder.

I wasn’t being sent on a mission at all; I realised. I was being planted into what sounded like a carefully cultivated garden of misery, my nature intended to disrupt some of it. If Galassia is anything like described, I am almost certain to come into conflict with at least some of the “tyrants” mentioned. Yet, I’m under no illusion—I’m just a small part of a much larger plan. Because, of course, there must be one. No coherent plan could hinge on me breaking the established order of the entire world. I can’t possibly be arrogant enough to think otherwise.

There is no point wasting my breath and asking about a greater scheme. If I was meant to know more, I would have been already clued in. I know that one day, something that was deliberately kept from me was going to come back and bite me. And when that day comes, I better be ready.

I shifted in the air, focusing once more on the Entity.

“What do I need to do next?” I asked.

“Brace!” it answered, its tone sharp and resolute.

Suddenly, the Entity’s hand lit up in a sickly yellow flame and plunged into my corpse, retrieving a glowing silver mote that felt intensely personal—something no one was ever supposed to touch. The shy, tiny light felt like it contained everything I was, everything I represented. Someone else holding it made me feel strangely invaded.

A psychic roar tore out of the Entity’s disturbing maw. It seemed to make the space itself boil and blister. Reality strained and groaned under the incredible power of the being in front of me. The hospital room started dissolving in a maelstrom of swirling colours and blinding light. In an instant, we were no longer surrounded by sterile hospital walls but transported into a realm of thick, swirling fog and shifting shadows. Shapes danced and writhed around us, their forms twisting in eerie, unnatural ways.

Whispered secrets from unknown places echoed through the mist, barely intelligible yet hauntingly enticing, as if beckoning me to come closer. The air was heavy with a palpable sense of foreboding, as though the very fabric of this surreal landscape held mysteries that were better left undiscovered. It was disquieting, stirring, and strangely beautiful. I felt drawn to this magic, this power. I wanted it.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The eerie domain around me felt somehow unreal. As though it is not so much a real place, but a manifestation of the Entity’s power. It matched my impression of its nature exactly. Otherworldly and enigmatic, with dangerous secrets buried under yet more secrets.

I was immobilised, floating in the air, spreadeagled in a crude approximation of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. The Entity approached and pressed its hand, still holding the silver mote, against my chest. At the lightest touch, it split open like an overripe melon, rays of golden light bursting from it in all directions from somewhere deep inside of me.

The creature’s mouth began to split apart in a horrifying display. The jaw unhinged, stretching impossibly wide, and the surrounding flesh peeled back like the petals of some grotesque flower. Down its gullet, a single giant reptilian eye stared intently at my chest. Just…why?! Why would it have an eye inside its throat?!

The Entity’s fingers curled around the rays of golden light radiating from my chest, gathering them as a farmer would a sheaf of wheat. The yellow flame around its hand flared, and the rays of light seemed to coalesce into softly glowing threads of various colours and thicknesses.

I could feel those threads. Those were my connections, all the people whose lives I have ever touched—the bonds that kept me tied to Earth.

The Entity started sorting them according to some system I couldn’t understand. It kept each group clamped between a different pair of fingers.

“You will be happy to hear that you will be sent to the world of ‘Galassia’ with significant advantages compared to an average mage. However, don’t let this lead you into complacency. Galassia harbours its own array of natural prodigies and gifted individuals. You may possess unique strengths, but remember, others will too.”

The Entity grew another arm out of its left shoulder and stuck out a single finger.

“The first advantage you obtained through luck.” The creature said, feeling relaxed, as if making idle chatter while knitting. “It won’t surprise you to learn that the nature of your awakening is somewhat unique. Both being born in the universe with no magic and your prolonged aether starvation will have benefited you in a few significant ways. You will be able to feel aether more easily, have a finer control over it, and recover your reserves more quickly.”

Every string of my connections that the Entity plucked while handling them summoned memories of the people they were attached to. The most significant moments we spent together, the laughter, the tears, the shared silence, all resurfaced, making my emotions surge like a tide. It was painless, but deeply, deeply unpleasant.

“Second one, you earned yourself. This may even be the most significant one.” The Entity stuck out the second finger. “Your drive, your deepest wish to see yourself perfected, to make you of tomorrow a little better than you of today. And your willingness to take all the bruises that come with it.”

The Entity’s hand holding my connections changed its yellow glow into an ominous green flame. As it did, the bundles of strings dimmed and withered before my eyes. The ones held between its pinkie and ring finger faded faster than all the others. The emotions I had towards the people I used to know and care about remained unchanged. However, the sense of comfort and belonging that I once had, the feeling of being at home here on Earth, was no longer present. I no longer felt like I belonged.

The third finger came up. “The third is the gift I will be giving you — a small repository of my knowledge. It won’t be anything grand, or particularly thorough, but it will give you some grounding in the basics. A bit of history, a bit of geography, some arcane theory, things of that nature. I can’t just hand you everything, you understand. Not only would it kill your unique path before it even formed, but you know as well as I what happens when someone has everything just granted to them. On the other hand, sending you there completely ignorant would be foolish. The language barrier alone would have presented a notable obstacle. We can’t have you waste your time on … What is this now?”

The Entity leaned in, almost bumping its head against my chest, closely inspecting one of the threads.

I looked down and saw that it was the only one remaining. It was a thin and pale thing, glowing a gentle white, with a near-invisible golden thread running through its length. By rights, it should have been one of the first to break.

I focused on the connection, trying to summon my memories related to it. At first, there was nothing. No images, no memories shared, just a vague feeling of relief and appreciation from my side.

Delving deeper, I could feel a distant, yet deep thrum of emotions from the other side. I couldn’t feel what they were, but they were powerful, almost intimidating. Something was keeping them from me, though, something solid and impassable.

The Entity tapped its finger on the thread, its mood growing sombre. “This right here is the most bizarre connection I have ever seen. Weak, almost non-existent, yet completely unbreakable unless one destroys a person on either end. It’s a bond of true devotion; this is the first time I have seen one in a mortal.”

The Entity spent a moment in contemplative silence.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“You will be getting a passenger.” The entity decided out loud.

“A what?”

“Do not worry, it shouldn’t impair you in any significant way. In fact, you might be able to access the boon I’m granting you with fewer restrictions. But sending you over with another will take significantly more effort on my part.”

I was stuck between elation and apprehension. It sounded like I was going to see a familiar face where I was going. On the other hand, whoever it is, is about to have their life turned upside down. I was pretty sure that whoever was on the other side of our connection wasn’t already dead like me.

The Entity’s power swelled, and the entire world went dim. The flames around its fingers grew dark, radiating an inky blackness. The sight of those flames made me feel as though happiness, love, and joy had vanished from the world. It felt like nothing good could ever happen for as long as they persisted. Throughout this whole experience, I was teetering between resolve and dismay, but one look at those flames sent me spiralling into a primal, mindless terror.

“It would be too cruel to keep you conscious through what comes next. The suffering could break you, and we can’t have that. Farewell Ryder, may the shadows flee before your light.”

The abject terror that was consuming my every thought at the sight of those flames approaching my chest wasn’t enough to keep me from losing consciousness.

As the blackness enveloped me, the last thing I heard was a woman’s scream reverberating through my mind.