Sweat rolled slowly down his glistening face as he sat in the lotus position. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with a glaring pain throbbing behind his eyelids.
He was trying to learn a piece of an incantation, and unsurprisingly, it felt just as tricky as weaving mana through his dormant core. The only noticeable difference was that his mind was slowly beginning to unearth the hidden secrets woven between this strange yet slightly familiar language.
‘I wonder if it's to do with my ability to understand the five languages of power.' He thought to himself. Suta had already assumed that despite his body's glaring issues, he still carried his own mysteries that served him well.
'I'm already halfway through the little book despite the pain.’ He noticed with a slight surprise. Realising the time to get this far wasn’t nearly as long as Zoroth had told him it would be initially.
He decided to take one of the many breaks he had been forced to take since starting this painful journey. Weirdly enough, Suta found himself somewhat intrigued by the lighter-toned read he chose to distract himself with. Lighter meant regular texts that didn’t evoke mind-splitting headaches.
He carefully peeled the hardened page aside and read another random excerpt from the tiny notebook he found beside that corpse. Whether it was fatigue or the sheer fact that he was doing something besides hacking through strange humanoid creatures, this somewhat obscure diary was getting quite interesting.
??? POV
--Day 86 ---
He inspired enlightenment, hope, and reverence in my heart. Following his will felt as natural as breathing. I see it every day, my own self changing beneath the glory of his grace. We’re still 20 or so moons away from completing it—the final road. I see it. It's not long now.
--Day 91--
I find it strange that so much time has passed since our arrival. So many memories were lost, and yet...I feel the emptiness quickly filled with this strange golden hope. I have nights where I remember the days of my youth, my quaint, homely life; I even remember the smiles of loved ones—the scent of jasmine. But the dreams never last. And in the depths of my recollections. I always arrive at that golden will. That singular will, stored within my heart, reminds me of the purpose of life itself.
To serve him, the son of God draped in earnest gold.
---Day 95---
We were the chosen four. We all came from the same place. And very quickly understood our roles. I, the engineer, and the other three. The architect, the sculptor and the builder. We worked tirelessly without self-reproach. Despite my unfailing loyalty, the night terrors still found me. The visions of a cosy, warm winter. And a place where my memories dwelt. A place which delights my heart ever so much to think about. I asked myself when this had happened. When did I start to forget? Each time I drew closer to the truth, I heard the clap of thunder and a voice heralding over the space of my consciousness—a voice with words as clear as the new day.
Obey me. It said.
---Day 97--
Finally, we did it. Our collective efforts had successfully brought this place back to life. I’m amazed by how familiar this all feels, from the spacious halls for testing to the holding areas where we’ll keep the specimens. It all feels so surreal that I fail to remember why I am always torn between this world and the world locked in my dreams, as though there’s a purpose for the separation—a deep-rooted desire for me to obey his every word. I wonder what this all means and if I will eventually succumb to the will.
Day 98
I was initially concerned, but I believe these people were all volunteers and devoted fellows to the cause. The cages were completed in a matter of days. And I noticed this strange obedience in the air—one much different from how we four obeyed the golden light. I found it intriguing but also slightly concerning.
Day 101
We found something. Trailing the strange fleshy walled tunnels, we found something—some kind of ancient door big enough to fit in at least a few towering cargos pulled by monstrous-sized beasts. But something felt wrong about this place. Something dark and harrowing existed here. I could feel it in my bones. My spirit waned, and for the first time since being here, I felt…fear.
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Day 110
Things were strange here. Over time, we, the original four, heard the golden voice less and less. There had also been a strange occurrence on the surface—some kind of war. Luckily, from the very first days we arrived, we heard the will forbade us from venturing to the surface until the mission was complete.
Day 120
They’re dying. Everyone is dying. A sickness has begun to rot throughout this place. We can taste it on our tongues. Others have changed altogether. In contrast, some of us feel the anguish of being lost and betrayed. I can sense clarity returning. The golden will was lying to us. We were not golden but rotten to the core. The war wiped the original race out. Their black blood seeps down from the jagged stones above. I hear their tyrannical cries. Shit! What have we done?
Day 150
Calamity. All things are broken. All things must return to the void. I understand it now. The golden will was never the most accurate way. Lies! All lies! We were stolen from our homes and bewitched by a frightening being. A being adorned in Gold but was deeply fuelled with ambitions to conquer. He abandoned us, hasn’t he? We all knew it but failed to see it in time. And now…
Day 180
I don’t know if this will reach you. But I am sorry, my love for believing in a false God’s prophecy. I think that someone like me could spark a change in our dark world. I am awake now but have never felt so dead. I helped him slaughter countless people, all for the sake of a rotted will. A game between kin which resulted in the loss of a world. May the divine forgive me, for I will not forgive myself. All I can do is attempt to shut this down. I'm the last of the four left before the warden marches against us. I'll break it. I’ll break what we created and… set us free.
Day 189
I failed…but I discovered the truth at the end of the road. This may be my last attempt to muster some form of redemption. For the role I played in this chaos. Several lifetimes won’t redeem my soul. I know that. And find no solace in pretending that one heroic act of selflessness will erase a mirage of wickedness fuelled by my hand. And yet, for the memories I forsook. Their delicate smiles flickering in the darkest corner of my thoughts. For them, I will attempt to atone even if it takes 100 years from now. I hope whoever finds this finds the truth and, with it, the steps to bring him down...I was bewitched and lost, but I found myself in my dreams' comfort. And those dreams became the most accurate song and quenched the lullaby of terror that occurred to me. Forgive me...my love, I almost forgot what your faces looked like.
Day 200
The fisherman's death will shatter the veils, masking the galaxy's truth.
Suta exhaled exasperatedly and peeled his heavy eyelids away from the notebook.
‘That was heavy and dramatic.’ He thought harrowingly to himself.
He only wanted to busy himself with something light, but somehow, he was drowning in tangled mysteries between the writers' words. He flicked through the other pages, seeing nothing but incoherent scribbles and splotches of ink. ‘Now I'm wondering what happened next.’
He was carefully seeing a pattern here; despite the strange origins, everyone tended to have a similar story.
The narrator of these notes had gone through something traumatic; it sounded a lot more like some form of mind control than anything else. And in his mind, Suta couldn’t shake away the mysterious surroundings around the Demi-God called Lysann. There were too many unanswered questions surrounding him and this place. And a very uncanny likeness between him and the fellow in this story.
Anak was his steward; they ended up in Candy to stop a strong Arcanist. Suta searched for the name for a few moments. He remembered the north, and the words appeared again as clearly as day. The Witch of the Northern Road. The two fell in love, and then Lysann disappeared. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and pondered where these other side characters fit into that story. ‘Sigh, it’s all a bother. And why does it sound like there’s some great disaster? I'm missing something concerning this place.’
Suta’s gaze fell towards the grimoire encased in black against his feet. He resumed where he left off and picked up the old book. He turned to a new page, where he discovered a symbol of a black sun with an eye in its middle, which caught him off guard. A spiral of nausea suddenly appeared and sent his world spinning into a daze. Suta knocked the book away and fell backwards.
A good deal of time passed before Suta regained consciousness. He tried to sit upright, but a shooting pain found root between his brows. His breaths felt heavy, and he needed to take a few steady moments just to compose himself before sitting upright. Seeing that symbol, it felt as though he had taken a glimpse into a peephole leading into hell. He felt so bothered by it that his body began shivering. He already felt the cold sweats dotted his entire back.
“That—-was…intense.”
After a while, a wave of euphoria washed through his bones. He raised his tired arm and reached out lazily towards the ceiling. His fingertips clawed at the air as though he were grabbing hold of something. His vision was still slightly blurred. Suta blinked in quick succession as he witnessed something peculiar taking place. A red gaseous substance covered his raised hand, with black swirling gas dancing between his fingers.
“Wh-what is that abo-” Before he could finish his words, the red gas dissipated away as quickly as it had appeared. Suta sat upright and rubbed his heavy and sore eyes. He glared at his hand in a mixture of horror and marvel. He flexed his fingers to make sure his fingers were still fingers. A sudden thought sparked in his mind, and Suta flipped his palm.
He scanned the familiar, ominous-looking badge and almost flinched when he saw the latest entry, miraculously displayed beside the skills section.
{Skills} - Syphon
> #Syphon – (Rare) (Medium Tier) – Unlike its predecessor ‘absorption’, Syphon was created for the sole intention of borrowing mana in order to produce a desired outcome from the weilder. Physical touch, speed of transfer and amount absorbed are all determined by experience and prowess.
>
> #Hidden Description They say the Arcanist who discovered this skill had spent a long time observing a particular race of demons for inspiration. And only those with ties to the demon race could hone its power.