Sensation crashed into me all at once, the unfamiliarity of it sending pulses of terror through my body. A glimpse of an unfamiliar man with unnatural reddish skin. Who was he? I squirmed away from his grip with a guttural, inhuman cry.
Two women, grabbing me. Catching me. They felt… comfortable? I knew their names, I thought. I mentally grasped for the knowledge only to come up blank. But then again, what was my name? And where was I? The women were quickly forgotten about as I began to spiral deeper and deeper into the depth of my ignorance.
In a sickening, lurching, gyrating mess, the world began to swim. My sensations, finally revived from the dead, receded back into nothing, until, blissfully, darkness swallowed me once more.
----------------------------------------
I remained suspended in that simple nothingness for time unknown, making no move to escape. Not that I would have even known how to try, but my current state was easy. Unproblematic. Beautiful in its lack of choices, decisions, tasks, burdens.
Slowly, however, nothingness gave way to the unpleasant itch of somethingness. A skill, I thought. I could feel it pulling stuff and things together, headless of my desire for it to leave me alone. Unbidden, the name of the skill impressed itself upon me: God’s Mind. That stuff soon resolved into memories, those things, the pieces of my mind.
The skill, it seemed, would not let me forget. It seemed foolish, I thought. Like a surgeon, painstakingly stitching together a cadaver.
And yet, for all that such a thing should never work, bit by bit, it did. Flashes of information assaulted me. A name. A face. Parents, a home. A god, a new world. A dungeon, a boss.
A corpse. And another. And another. And another.
My trickle of memories widened into a stream and then a flood until all at once, they crashed into me, even from after my time with Warram.
At last, I remembered.
Spurred on by my memories, the world shifted.
----------------------------------------
Black and purple. In that, my current surroundings were a step up from the previous. I’d gained an entire new color. Somehow, this fact did not excite me.
Despite the new color addition, the current landscape was hardly much more to look at than the last. Everywhere around me was rubble. Cracked and broken pieces of impossibly dark stone, deep enough in some spots to bury me fully. About half of them sported glowing, vein-like purple lines, the same color as the thick, foggy miasma that hung in the air.
Belatedly, I realized I knew this place. It was mine, after all. The Stygian Citadel. A skill that was supposed to be Legendary. A skill that was supposed to let me peer into my own mind.
All I saw now, however, was shambles.
In something of a fugue state, I rose, picking up one of the shattered stones. As I moved about, the ground beneath me shifted uneasily, and upon further inspection, I found it just as damaged and cracked as the rest of this place. Thicker purple lines connected the otherwise disconnected black plates that I walked on, the wobbly latticework the only thing keeping me from plummeting downwards.
I could feel a familiar resonance from that mental lattice, realizing that it was drawing strength from my skills. Whatever spell the grand magus had cast, it seemed to redirect all my mental skills, eschewing the wall and the mindling defenders that were supposed to be here to instead keep this place stable. At least for a certain definition of “stable,” that was.
I picked up another stone, turning it about, bringing it together with the piece I already held.
No good.
Another. And then another.
No good.
I lost myself to the task at hand, all other thoughts kept at bay as I searched.
Not here.
Not there.
If time had meant anything to me in this strange mental space of mine, perhaps the search would have lasted for months. More, maybe.
But at last!
At last, I found it.
Two stones, broken, destroyed, shattered. I fit them together, their edges aligning perfectly, two puzzle pieces finally finding their companion.
And yet. There was no dramatic flash of light. They did not fuse together to form one unblemished whole. As soon as I set them down, they broke back apart, no less broken than they’d been at the start.
I looked around at the thousands — no, tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands — of pieces.
In that moment, it felt like all of them had been piled onto my shoulders, and the weight of it all brought me to my knees. Finally, I was forced to accept it.
I was ruined.
Not just broken. Broken implied that something was fixable. Reversible. This was far beyond that. Staring out at the remains of my collapsed mind, I knew without a doubt that there would be no returning to who I’d been before.
I wanted to mourn that fact, to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. It was different from Trauma Suppression, though. There, the fear, the sadness had always been present, just tightly locked away. Tamped down.
Now, however, I couldn’t even find them. It felt like something fundamental had been stripped from me, and its absence made me less of a human than I’d been before.
In a word, I felt empty.
I sank down into the rubble, no real intention of ever getting up. And perhaps I never would have had nothing changed.
But something did change. A pair of soft glows in the distance. With limbs that suddenly felt dry and desiccated, I pulled myself up and examined the two, recognizing them at once.
Minds.
Cal. Verin.
That’s right. They’re with me right now, aren’t they? Even if it was a lie, they’d probably want to know that I was okay.
Did I care? In the end, I decided I wasn’t sure.
The old Tess would have, though. She would have cared quite a bit, I thought.
Even if I was ruined, I could pretend otherwise, couldn’t I? Perhaps, for now, that would be enough.
And so, with a surge of will that I’d thought far beyond me only moments before…
I awoke.
----------------------------------------
As I came to, the previously untrodden, loamy soil I found myself lying in proved a surprisingly fine bed. Prone on the ground as I was, my head was pointed directly upwards, and on opening my eyes, I was greeted by this land’s alien sky. As if trying to ease me into its strangeness, the patch of mana directly above me was blue with swirls of white and black that could almost be called clouds if one were generous.
I spent a while trying to decide if it was beautiful or not before conceding that I didn’t know. I thought it might be. Perhaps I’d ask Verin to make sure.
I pushed myself up into a seated position, only to discover that the area before me wasn’t empty. A small amount of meat had been left out for me on a bed of leaves, God’s Eye letting me know it was from some sort of rabbit. The fact that the others had managed to catch it likely meant that I’d been out for longer than expected.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
A few bites revealed that the meat was equally blackened on the outside as it was raw within. I couldn’t bring myself to care enough, mechanically swallowing the rest of it down and trusting my Constitution to figure it out.
Out of habit, I tried to activate my Cleansing Shower Gem Pendant both to clean and hydrate myself. It was only then that I realized it was still in my spatial bag, never having been put back on after Warram removed it. It was here that I was thankful for my muted emotions, as the realization would have hurt far more otherwise.
Ultimately, it was fine. The Charisma threshold would keep me sweat and odor free. As for fluid intake, I cast Conjure Water, washing down the rabbit by drinking directly from the ball that formed before me. At the same time, I scanned my surroundings, easily spotting both Cal and Verin.
Both were busy, and neither had noticed me yet. A wide stretch of the plains had been laid bare, and even now, they expanded it. Whether it was to collect the tall grass or simply to make sure nothing could sneak up on us, I wasn’t sure, but stalk after stalk fell to dagger and blade of ice alike.
I considered calling out, but it felt like a great deal of effort. They would notice me eventually, I was sure. While I’d decided to make sure they knew I was okay, a minute or two’s difference wouldn’t kill them. Besides, there was something calming in the repetitive rhythmic motions, the slow but steady progress.
Rather than immediately alerting them, I turned to quell the subtle itch of the system which gently prodded at me.
You have notifications to review. View now?
While not entirely sure I wanted to see all of them, belatedly, I hit yes.
Despite having already looked at most of them, I first scrolled back to look at my notifications from the dungeon run. For how momentously hellish the entire experience had ended up, it almost seemed disrespectful how normal they seemed.
My advancement to the Apprentice stage of Fire Magic was there, along with the singular level I’d grabbed in Detect Secret. More notably, I’d rocketed all the way up to level 15 in Mining, the three levels I grabbed in the dungeon being unheard of considering the skill wasn’t class-aligned. The bulk of that leveling was from the eternity I’d spent mining the mithril ore that was needed to enter the hidden room.
Looking back, I couldn’t help but wish we’d just moved on.
The secret room itself didn’t come with many notifications, although having been reminded of it, I recalled the ill-fated weapon I’d received. I’d been storing it in one of my bound weapon slots, allowing me to summon it at will. Unchanged from when I’d seen it first, it was a nondescript block of black rock. God’s Eye, however, had more to say.
Imprinting Shell
A casing of solidified magma surrounding a weapon undergoing a skill imprint. When the skill imprinting process has been completed, the casing will crumble to reveal the weapon within.
Remaining imprint time: 10 days
Of course, even before I had the thought, I knew I didn’t mean it, but I was of half a mind to throw the damned thing away. None of the deaths that had happened were simple things — they’d been many steps in the making — but if there was a singular cause to it all, it had been this thing. It felt wrong that I should essentially get a reward from their deaths.
At the same time, it felt just as twisted to throw it away, as if none of the suffering that had followed was for anything. Not that I knew how Nella or Oachin would feel about it, but remembering how slack-jawed Emin had been at the metals that went into the weapon, the mild-mannered researcher would have probably sworn up a storm if I tried to trash it.
Plus, Alara was still alive. If it turned out to be valuable, I still owed her half the value, didn’t I? Right. She’d be fine, and I was going to get out of here. Positive thoughts.
Pain Resistance has reached level 11!
Heat Resistance has reached level 9!
Chill has reached level 10!
Frost Magic has reached level 20!
Heat Resistance has reached level 10!
Archery has reached level 14!
Death Magic has reached level 18!
Axes has reached level 15!
The first few were just from surviving the magma floor. The Archery was from the multiple supercharged arrows I’d fired at the boss, whereas the Death Magic and Axes were from the screaming and hacking away I’d done to end the fight.
Rather than dwell on that, I focused on the fact that an entire three skills had hit milestones, though none of them ended up being too exciting. Chill gained an effect that made it more pleasant when used to regulate the temperature of living things. Heat Resistance gained a resistance not just to heat, but to burns as well. Frost Magic granted my spells, both offensive and defensive, some resistance to fire and melting. Along with the level in Frost Magic also came the corresponding class quest completion, and then at last the dungeon notifications came to an end.
You have defeated a Reforged War-Titan! Based on your contribution to the fight and spread across all surviving members, you have been granted 1108xp.
Congratulations! You have cleared the first floor of the Sylum Metal Mine!
For clearing a dungeon floor for the first time, you have gained +5 Prestige!
With everything dungeon-related now over with, I knew an even darker set of notifications was coming up.
It was almost a relief, then, when my reading was interrupted.
“Lady Tess!” Finally sparing a glance behind her, Verin spotted me at once. It was only through every point of my Perception that I was able to discern the slightest widening of her eyes.
Abandoning her task, Verin started to hurry over, forcing me to abandon any ideas of finishing my notifications. Her low Dexterity, however, was no match for Cal’s who had started bolting for me the moment Verin cried out.
Before I could think to protest, a finger was digging into my cheek as Cal poked and prodded at me. “So, does she talk now, or was the demon mage full of shit?”
I thought that perhaps I was supposed to be annoyed at her were I not able to detect the faint worry lines she was doing her best to hide. Verin, however, was less amused when she finally caught up.
“Stop that.” She swatted Cal’s finger away, lowering herself to where I sat. “How are you feeling?”
It was a question that I wasn’t sure I could fully answer yet, though I sensed their tension building with each passing second I remained silent. Deciding to be as positive as I could without actively lying, I responded succinctly.
“Better. I think.”
The three words were enough for Cal to swoop down and crush me into a side hug. After a moment’s hesitation, Verin opted to do the same from the other side, if much more gently.
“Good to have you back! Don’t tell her this, but I was a little worried about making it through this with only Verin as a conversation partner. She’s nice, but she acts like she’s a princess or something, you know?” Not an ounce of effort was made to lower her voice as she spoke.
Making the classic mistake of playing into Cal’s antics, Verin couldn’t keep herself from responding. “Apologies. I have the distinct sense I will regret asking, but, Lady Calilah, are you not a princess yourself?”
As if anticipating the question, Cal wasted no time in firing off her response. “Well yeah. But I’m one of the cool princesses, you know?”
Though she managed to keep the bulk of her exasperation off her face, Verin shot me a look as if to say “Do you see what you’ve left me to put up with?” As fast as the look arrived, it departed, Verin shifting back into her usual professional demeanor.
“Certain ‘cool princesses’ aside, I believe we are both relieved to see you better, Lady Tess. Is there anything you presently require?”
Was there? I wasn’t sure. More and more, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I was pretty sure the old me would have found their back-and-forth amusing. Endearing, even. The new one didn’t feel much of anything at the moment, nor was she feeling particularly up to pretending. At the same time, I was afraid that the longer they spent around me, the faster they would figure it out.
“I’m fine,” I worked out. “I think… I think I just need some time to process… everything.”
I pointedly decided to close my eyes, not wanting to see whatever flash of concern that might have caused. To their credits, though, the two were quick to let go of me.
“Very well, then. I do not believe anyone could fault you for that response. We will leave you be, though please do not hesitate to make your needs known should you have any.”
“What she said, but less stiffly. But also, if you get bored, just holler. I have, like, an entire year’s worth of stories from my time living with a goddess, and I’ve barely even gotten to brag about them to anyone yet.” Even as she finished speaking, Cal visibly recoiled as if forcibly struck with a novel new idea. “Huh. Or I guess we could talk about you too? Not that your stories will possibly be as exciting as mine, but that could be fine, I guess.”
With a muffled huff, Verin began to pull Cal away. Letting herself be dragged off, Cal hit me with a parting wink as she left.
And then, at last, I was alone once more.
As much as I’d used “processing” as an excuse to get some alone time, it was probably true that it was what I needed right now. I tried to pick out anything that I’d been through recently, to reflect on it or seriously engage with it in some way. Instead, I felt my mind just sliding off the memories, not in any magical or skill-enforced way, but in a much more basic emotional sense.
In the end, I decided to go with the much simpler route of finishing my notifications. That was also a sort of “processing,” right? If perhaps something felt a touch off about that line of reasoning, I decided not to dwell on it.
Having finished everything related to the dungeon, I wasn’t thrilled to continue. Before I could get to my time with Warram, however, there was a surprisingly large block of notifications that I’d hastily scrolled through but never registered.
Congratulations! You have reached level 14!
This much, I’d seen already, along with the increase in Dexterity that had pushed me over the first Dexterity threshold. What I hadn’t realized was just how important reaching that threshold would be to the system. In retrospect, though, perhaps I should have given its significance.
Note: You have successfully passed the first threshold in every stat!
Achievement gained: Ascendant