Panting, Leah and I finally made it to our temporary house having escaped a pack (I later learned it was called a sloth) of bears that had invaded a building as we searched. In the time we were searching, I’d Leveled twice in that time yet had only managed to Level a few skills, with [Void Armor] and [Wreath of Destruction] reaching Levels 20 and 19 respectively. I grinned as I looked at my Status.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda
Level 26 | Tier 2
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 19296/19296 (965 Health/Min | 16.08/s)
Mana : 19296/19296 (1447 Mana/Min | 24.12/s)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince I (Unique)
Stats
Strength : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Dexterity : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Endurance : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Vitality : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Mana : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Intelligence : 241 (Base : 134 Effectiveness : 180%)
Free Points : 0
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!, Speedrunner
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Level 4 | Tier 0, Abyss Touch - Level 15 | Tier 0, Void Armor - Level 20 | Tier 0, Wreath of Destruction - Level 19 | Tier 0
Growth Item Creation Uses : 0
I looked over to Leah and grinned as she gasped for air.
“Are you just gonna stand there while I’m dying, or help me?” she hissed with a glare in my direction.
Shaking my head, I grabbed her under her arms and tossed her screaming onto the couch nearby. She flailed for a moment before falling to the floor with a thump. Glaring at me from below, she pulled herself onto the couch as I sat down and put her head in my lap, brooding.
“Stupid bears,” she grumbled, quite annoyed. “We just wanted to loot places. Thank the gods we found that Tier 3 Bag though. All that space…”
(The bag in question had, like, 8 times as much storage as before. 8 thousand cubic feet.)
I pat Leah’s hair, smirking at the displeasure that came across her face that hid the joy she actually had from that. She waved my hand away, scowling.
“Imma sleep now,” she muttered, putting one arm behind me as she faced in the direction I was sitting.
In less than a minute, she was dead to the world, snoring lightly. I shook my head with a small smile and pulled a blanket out from my bag, draping it over her. She sighed in her sleep and faced me, her nose against my stomach.
I fell asleep shortly after.
…
But when I opened my eyes, I was in the white area I’d come to know as my dreamscape, the only thing untouched by the System. Maybe I should explain this, starting from a week ago.
~ One week ago, before Integration ~
“This is so boring,” I said, looking at the clouds as Leah lay with half herself pressed against me, asleep. “I mean, I’m fine with Leah sleeping, since she’s far nicer when sleep.” I turned to her and looked at her face. Leah had this expression of no emotion and a lot of emotion at the same time, with her mouth open just barely, giving this moment a large amount of anime vibes. “And, dare I admit it, cuter.”
The one in question adjusted herself in her sleep, letting out a contented sigh as she stopped moving after pressing closer to me and grabbing my shirt, clearly comfortable.
For a moment, I just watched her. Then I sighed. “Might as well go to sleep as well.”
I closed my eyes and tried to calm my mind, which was complaining about what to do. The lack thereof, to be exact.
Once I finally drifted off to sleep, I dreamt of my sisters, which I immediately pushed away, not wanting to deal with that at the moment. Then I was assaulted by dreams of years ago, when my mother yelled at me about not acting properly with guests over when I’d done nothing wrong, to my knowledge, with my sisters giving her a worried look, as if she had forgotten something. I had gone to my room and cried for nearly an hour before my mother had rushed in, apologizing, saying she’d forgotten… something. I couldn’t remember what, but I was too confused at the moment.
Finally, after another dream of my mother, when she’d told me she was pregnant with another child with Dad (who was somewhere else in the US), I forced myself out of dream land and into… a white slate.
I blinked and looked around at the white area, getting no sense of distance.
“What the- where am I? Did Jesus just yeet my soul to the shadow realm?” I asked aloud. I then looked carefully around. “Hmm. The light realm?”
Standing, I found that I felt like I had near infinite energy. Something about that just felt wrong.
“Hm. Am I dead? Did Leah finally kill me in my sleep?” I muttered, somehow feeling that that possibility was likely.
For a few minutes, I waited for something to happen, growing more and more bored every minute. Finally, I fell onto my back and sighed.
“Man, I wish I had something to do. Maybe like a pen and paper?”
Strangely enough, the moment I said this, I reached to my left, and felt something under my hand. I looked over and, lord and behold, there was a sheet of paper and a pen.
Quickly sitting up, I frowned.
“Wha… how? Did I just… wish this into existence?” I asked aloud, studying it up and down. It was definitely paper. “Uh… can I have a piano?”
I turned around and grinned, looking at the piano that had appeared. “This is gonna be fun, I think.”
~ Present time ~
Yeah. That’s basically it. I kinda just used it for stupid things after that. However, despite the fact that the System didn’t directly change it, there were still changes. There were dark veins on the floor which I’d long since assumed was my Mana. It had grown far easier to manipulate what I wanted and could even use Mock Mana, what I’d called the Mana that I could use here since it didn’t actually affect what I could use while I was awake.
Shaking my head, I began to practice activating my Skills without the help of the System.
That was another thing: the System made it far more easy to use Skills. That was a problem in itself though. It made it so most of the work required to use Skills was offloaded. The thing was, I wanted to be able to unconsciously use Skills without the system assisting me.
So, I spent a long time just testing different ways to activate Skills. After about what I assumed was maybe two to three hours, I could feel Leah shaking me awake and I sighed.
“Another time then,” I sighed.
…
I cracked open an eye to see the annoyed face of Leah staring at me disdainfully.
“Welcome back to the realm of the living,” she announced. “Now make me food.”
“Wha-”
“FEED ME, SEYMOUR!"
~~~
I glared at Leah as she scarfed down the food that’d I’d just prepared in less than five minutes. Once she finished, she leaned back, clearly content.
“You wanna go loot some more buildings? We could go back to that vault and empty the rest of it out,” she asked, scooting her chair closer to me.
“And through that dungeon again? No thank you,” I muttered. “And yes, I know you’re bored. But we should try to find places of importance,” I continued as Leah opened her mouth. “As in places that would have information. On how to get out of the Abyss.”
Leah scowled. “Well, we’re doing quite well currently.”
I sighed. “Really, Leah? You don’t want to leave this hell hole.”
“That’s not what I said. It’s not like you’d understand.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that.”
“Jason, no matter how tough you act, you’re still human inside,” Leah stated, glaring at me.
I gave her a pitying look. “No. I’m not. You may be, but I’m not human anymore. Or ever, seeing as I’m starting to understand a lot of things about my childhood. You may be human, but I’m not. I’m Abyssal now, whether you like it or not.”
Leah deflated and looked at the ground, seeming defeated. “Whatever.”
***
Jasmine, the Abyss Princess, was not having a great day. At all. Her mother had all but elated when she found out about Andromeda. Jasmine, however, was still trying to figure out why. Why did her mother hate her own sister and, by default, her own nephew? Jasmine could tell there was a large chunk of the story she hadn’t gotten yet, and she was determined to figure it out. Though there was a problem.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
The Abyssal Games were going to start soon. And she was supposed to host. However…
“I don’t have anyone to summon for this! How am I supposed to host this?!” she grumbled, her head on the table in front of the man who usually announced things for the Games.
He gave her a thoughtful look. “What about this Prince? I heard that Princesses could summon their Princes to fight in these. Though he may be low Leveled since he’s new.”
“I’m still only Level 50,” Jasmine mused. “Mom didn’t let me Level more after that, and the only reason I’m still so young is because of that stupid pill. I have to have a kid to start aging again.”
“But you will summon your Prince, right?”
“If I can. And I think I know the perfect prize…”
***
To one and all, from the Princess of the Abyss, Jasmine Giian, The Games of the Abyss are to start in nine System Hours! We may have a special guest this year along with a special prize. All who wish to participate, bring up your weapons and come to Sector 3A!
I stared at the message until it disappeared, replacing itself with a timer that went slightly faster than a normal timer.
“Well, I think we should not participate,” Leah muttered.
“Eh?” I spun to Leah. “You got that?”
She blinked. “Whatchu mean?”
“The notification. I would’ve thought it’d be for Abyssals only.”
She frowned and looked out the window, thinking.
***
“A PRIZE?!” Mia roared at Big Red, her tail thrashing. “A MERE PRIZE?”
“You’re getting slightly better at speaking our language and yes. They’re using you as a prize,” Big Red said, letting out a sigh. “You have to comply with this, though. They’ve been lenient because you’re young but the Horned Ones won’t be for much longer. They will hurt you if you don’t listen to them.”
Big Red sounded… concerned? For Mia, the great, powerful, and wise (less of wise, but that’s not the point here). Mia gave a confused purr.
“You… worry?” she asked, tilting her head.
Big Red let out a big breath. “Yes, young one, I’m worried for you. Nearly all of us are. Except for Jorain, for some reason. But he’s old, so I assume he’s either confident in you being perfectly fine, or knows you’re guaranteed to die.”
Mia thought for a second. “Oh. Big Red, you think I die?” Mia asked, looking up hopefully.
“Big Red? That’s what you call me?” Big Red laughed, her wings shaking. “No, I don't think you’ll die. And young Miana, call me Armindaene.”
“Arm…in…dae…ne,” Mia pronounced. “Armindaene.” She looked up to Armindaene again and after a moment, flashed over to her and curled herself under her wing.
***
56:15
33:45
21:45
I watched the timer closely, frowning.
“I’m getting a progressively worse and worse feeling about this timer,” I said, kicking another wolf in the face, earning myself a Level. I immediately evened the free points out and took a quick glance at my stats.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda
Level 27 | Tier 2
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 15678/20304 (1015 Health/Min | 16.92/s)
Mana : 18906/20304 (1523 Mana/Min | 25.38/s)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince I (Unique)
Stats
Strength : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Dexterity : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Endurance : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Vitality : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Mana : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Intelligence : 254 (Base : 141 Effectiveness : 180%)
Free Points : 0
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!, Speedrunner
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Level 9 | Tier 0, Abyss Touch - Level 18 | Tier 0, Void Armor - Level 23 | Tier 0, Wreath of Destruction - Level 21 | Tier 0
Growth Item Creation Uses : 0
I think I’m getting far stronger than necessary. I switched to Void Infusion on my sword and sliced a bird in half.
I’d found that the recharge of [Prodigy] was worded strangely. Instead of taking 15 minutes/ 9600 Mana to recharge all uses at once, it took that much time/Mana for each use. A bit of a Mana hog, but whatever. I’d also found that they don’t additively stack. It stacked exponentially (so instead of the formula for doing, say, 100- damage, which is this: 1000 * (1 + 6(0.25)) = 2500, it was THIS : 1000 * 1.25^6 = (Approximately) 3815, which is completely broken. Meaning, without any of my multipliers, my weapon can do in between (Again, approximately) 1907 - 5722 damage for 2 hits. Completely insane. And this is DISREGARDING my natural Abyss Damage Bonus from my race along with the ones I gain from my Weapon and Class (150%), PLUS the 25% more damage from Wreath which is also affected by my weapon passive gives me a damage of 4470 - 13411 fucking damage, enough to two-shot me if you disregarded my Resistances. Now here’s the big question: What does Systie consider a hit?).
After suppressing all of that with a very wide grin, I activated all of those buffs and stabbed a Void Bear, instantly killing it. I laughed as I made another wide slash, quickly finding out that a hit was a full swing of a weapon, making these skills great for crowd control. Even without the six stack buff, I could still do a crap ton of damage.
Giving me a strange look, Leah continued on with beating down her final monster and sighed.
“Geez. We’re getting pretty strong, huh?” she said, wiping sweat off her forehead. “Though, we’re gonna need it, especially if we somehow get roped into these games, which, according to our luck, we most likely will. Nothing good happens without a few bad things before and after.”
I poked her cheek as I put my sword into my Bag. “When did you become a philosopher?”
She snorted, grabbed my arm, and we continued onward, with me eyeing the timer.
15:45
***
The Queen tried not to snap at her overly excited daughter. After all, Jasmine had been waiting for the day she’d find her Prince for nearly sixty years now. The Queen, however, had been hoping there would never be a Prince. She knew that the Abyss Kingdom would be fundamentally changed when her daughter rose to the throne. She’d try to establish peace with the Overworlders and get herself killed by those gods damn Valkyries. She’d know, since she’d tried it when she had risen to the throne nearly four hundred years ago. She’d never try it again, unless, somehow, they were disbanded.
Then there was the Prince. Jason Andromeda. Her nephew. The Queen knew she shouldn’t judge him based on his last name, but his father, previously one of the highest ranking Void Mages in the entire Kingdom, had run off with her sister after she’d become pregnant out of fear that she’d do something to them. She’d known her sister was going to get pregnant with that man, though she’d kind of done the job of being surprised a bit too well.
Well, sorry she had a sense of humor.
But the real reason she hated her sister so much had nothing to do with her children. It was her sister’s husband. The Andromeda. He had single-handedly destroyed about 90% of the record room when he’d left. She remembered the face he’d had when she’d walked into the room to see a black hole in the middle of it.
“Uh, whoops,” he’d said before flashing away through a portal.
By the time she’d overloaded the stupid black hole, most of the room was destroyed, along with the most important documents. Naturally, she’d been pissed and declared them as exiled.
2:43
Jasmine was practically shaking at this point and the Queen was beginning to get worried.
Well, this could go one of two ways.
I really hope the first happens, she thought as she warily side-eyed the Draconic Serpent that was glaring at her.
***
“I have to admit, I think a cloak fits you far better than a sweater,” Leah said, nodding.
I grinned and bowed in my new cloak. “Thank you.”
“You look like you’d grab someone off the street and do unthinkable things to them,” she continued.
I gave her a flat look. “I formally rescind my thanks.”
Abyssal Cloak - Rare
A cloak made of cotton grown in the Abyss. It’s far stronger and wards away the eyes of all non-Abyssals. If fed Mana, it will repair itself.
I was a bit confused when I saw it didn’t show any Level for it, making the assumption that certain things didn’t show their Level. Then I shrugged, throwing another cloak to Leah.
“I’d wear that. We have about twenty seconds until the timer hits zero,” I said as she scrambled to put it on.
Grabbing my new sheath, I inserted my sword and clipped it onto my waist. “Ready?”
Leah looked to me for a long moment. “Ready.”
00:00
As the timer hit zero, I felt some sort of pull on me.
“My Prince… join us,” a distorted voice said, distinctly female.
Having no clue what that meant, or who that was, I accepted this proposal while grabbing Leah’s arm and I immediately blacked out.
~~~
It only took me half a second to wake up and the moment I saw my surroundings-
“This is one big boi arena,” I grumbled, looking around.
Looking in all directions, my statement was basically true. The arena itself had to be at least five hundred feet in diameter in a circle shape, kinda like a football arena, minus all the blinding lights. There were broken down structures that were kind of like cover and the ground was made up of dark sand with very, very small grains, small enough to act like dust when I kicked it.
Looking up, I saw stands filled with people. A lot of people. I couldn’t see them well, but I could clearly make out the horns, some of which seemed larger than mine, which had quickly grown every time I put some points into Vitality, giving me the occasional headache. For some reason, they didn’t weigh down my head, which I took as either some racial thing or System fuckery, as all good LitRPG stories call it.
“Owww,” I heard Leah mutter next to me.
Turning to her, I grinned as she clutched her head, clearly having a bad headache. Her cloak was already covered in the dark grains of sand/dust. She glared at me through her hand.
“Stop taking pleasure in my pain,” she muttered, leaning against my side.
“Nope,” I responded.
Before she could retort, a booming voice filled the entire arena, on the near side of far too loud.
“WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO THE GAMES OF THE ABYSS!” someone called, followed by the roar of what had to be thousands of people cheering.
Looking up, Leah and I saw a man with his arms in the air while standing on… air. I looked at Leah and she shrugged, content to listen to the man. Looking back, he’d lowered his arms and bowed multiple times.
“Yes, yes, it is I, Stevan Multiban!” The “a” in Stevan was pronounced as “aw”. “I am here today for you - yes, you - and the Games!” He grinned widely and I was momentarily confused since he wasn’t even facing me.
System fuckery, I assumed, listening on.
“This year is far more special than the previous ones, with a new prize and a guest of honor. And what makes this better- the Princess herself is hosting this, though she may not be a Princess for long!”
I imagined that someone scoffed at that last part somewhere in the stands; no good declaration comes without at least one scoff.
“Now let’s let Her Highness, Princess Jasmine Giian continue!” the man said, flickering out of existence. Then another person flickered into existence, standing where he just was.
I felt my eyes widen and I froze, my breath caught in my throat at the sight of her. She was… beautiful. She had pale skin, almost like mine, with green eyes that seemed to shine with excitement. Her black hair looked like it’d been recently cut, perfectly straight and flowed past her hips. Her dress was the perfect combination of blacks and grays, adorned with dark blue gems at the edges. Looking closer, I noticed that the gems weren’t connected to the dress and were instead floating about an inch away.
Then something rebelled in me and I broke out of my trance. Nearly throwing myself into my dreamscape in embarrassment, I scowled.
What the HELL was that? I growled in my head, looking at her again. Don’t tell me my Class just did that to me.
“Everyone, I welcome you!” she exclaimed, waving to the cheering people. “This year, we have very interesting oddities to these games! One is a one-time prize and the other is a special guest, both to this tournament and to me.”
I looked over to Leah as understanding dawned upon us.
“Wha- what was your Class again?” she asked, her face a bit pale.
“Voidborn Abyss Prince…” I said, realizing who this special guest was at that moment.
“Our one-time prize, or more of a gift, is this : A young female Lightning-Ice Draconic Serpent!”
There was a roar as a gigantic serpent flew out from behind the stands and high into the air. I froze yet again, this time Leah was still next to me. The dragon had a combination of blue and yellow scales that blended perfectly, two horns of opposite colors, blue and yellow, and the eyes that were a swirl of, again, blue and yellow. It had no wings and instead seemed to float with some sort of usage of lightning. The dragon was easily as long as a train as it blasted across the sky above us, wrapping in a large coil around the girl, Jasmine.
It… can’t be, I thought. She wasn’t the size of a train. But…
As the dragon looked about the crowds, looking all regal and everything, I noticed that she seemed to be making every motion with reluctance, as if she didn’t want to be here. Then her eyes stopped on me and she froze, tilting her head. With this, I knew my suspicions were right.
“Mia…” I whispered. “What happened to you…?”
I didn’t get an answer as the Princess continued. “And for our second surprise, we have a very special and important guest here, one of the first of his Class to participate. Let’s give it all to my Prince, Jason Andromeda!”