That’s it! I’ve got to dig! Sure, I could try to lie or even tell the truth in the hopes of being even remotely diplomatic, but let’s be honest here. These soldier types aren’t in any sort of mood to listen to my mind boggling backstory right now so why should I even try to be reasonable when I can just run away from my problems!
Without looking up at my moody militant menacers, or offering so much as a goodbye, I quickly scooped up as much of the loose dirt around the entrance to my hole as I could, spun in place while I tossed it at them, then stopped my pivot and dove headfirst back into the very earthen orifice I literally just crawled out of.
“What! Ah! Stop that fool! Anyone with earth essence magic use it now! Anyone with tracking abilities hone in on our target! Don’t let them escape!”
Bunnyman ordered his cronies to act and a panicked voice began to shout a nonsensical chant from the increasingly more distant surface, but that was behind me now, I was honestly more surprised with how deep this pit was. “Did I really dig this far down before the world restarted, or did time and tectonic shifts push me deeper than I remember?”
My all too rapid descent was abruptly interrupted when a slab of stone burst out of the space in front of me and closed off my escape route. There definitely wasn’t this much rock around before, so I guess this is the result of that earth mage’s efforts, but, well. “Jokes on you!”
I’ll smash right through it with Excavation Emperor!
Thwack!
Crack!
Thump…
“Aaaahhhhaaa!”
My arms collided into the barricade, crumpled beneath my weight and acceleration, and then the rest of my body somehow followed suit within the cramped confines of my man made chute. Pain shocked my senses and agony set in as I became aware of my mangled limbs, but by some miracle I didn’t break my neck.
Uriel buzzed in my brain and my status read:
-Health: Injured; Mana: Full; Endurance: Full; Strength: Able; Agility: Able; Speed: Able; Toughness: Able; Spirit: Maximum
Status conditions: Broken and fractured bones; natural regeneration active-
A soldier’s voice echoed down from above. “Did I get them?”
And Bunnyman replied. “They’re not moving, so start preparations to descend. Remember the Ascendant ordered us to capture anyone or anything we find so get ready to make sure that… individual doesn’t expire.”
“Yes sir!”
He started chanting again, and the walls of the pit, which was only really big enough for me, started to give way and form a spiral staircase made of rock that seemed to be created from the dirt itself. Based on their current speed, it would probably take them a few minutes to get all the way down here to me, which gave me some much needed time to think about my next move.
Owie… Ouch… Oh the humanity! So the jerk now leading the charge is the one responsible for my current suffering, good to know. But more importantly, how does this stupid system think I’m ‘able’ if most of my limbs are out of commission? And what does it mean by saying my natural regeneration is active? I know I’ve got a little time, and have always recovered in the past, but am I just supposed to wait a few months for my body to just–
“Oh my lordy!”
Crick! Shick! Crunch!
Crack! “Ack! Oh oh oh it huuurts!”
One by one my muscles spasmed out of control and jerked my splintered skeleton back into its proper shape.
Bunnyman seemed all too aware of my sudden and unexpected regeneration, no doubt due to his fabulously floppy ears, and he shouted. “Hurry up! It’s recovering!”
It?
“It?!” I roared as the last of my joints returned to normal, and then staggered to my feet while glaring right at that rude dude. “Did you just call me an it?”
I mean come on! Between you and the system questioning my humanity I’m going to develop a complex here!
For whatever reason, my indignation stopped them in their tracks. Which is great considering several other soldiers looked to be half-way through casting spells, spells which now fizzled since their casters froze in panic. Even Bunnyman himself was petrified in apparent fear of me, so I didn’t hesitate to use the opening to dive into the wall of dirt beside me and start digging for my life.
After all. I’m not stupid, I’ve got no weapons, or armor, or combat abilities to my name. Fighting was a hopeless option for me, so I guess it was just their fear of the unknown that allowed me to intimidate them back there.
The system’s calm voice rang in my ears as if to mock my conclusion.
Okay… Way to just go and prove me wrong then! Guess I’ll just shut up or something… .
Dirt and small stones brushed against me as I tore through the ground at top speed. I wasn’t so much shoveling the soil as I was swimming through it, or maybe it’d be better to call it a vigorous full-body horizontal sprint. It probably, no, undoubtedly, made me look ridiculous, but it was completely dark now so not even I could make fun of me. That said, I had no idea where I was going, but that didn’t matter so much. So long as it was somewhere far away from those soldier types then I’d be a happy camper.
I continued on for a while, as my body had apparently returned to the near tireless state I existed in before my big sleep, or was so hyped up on adrenaline that I could no longer tell the difference, and as my fear left me I was finally able to ask the important questions. “What the heck happened to me!?”
“Ack, pfft, patooty.” I had to stop to spit out the dirt that my outburst invited into my mouth, then rubbed my face as I tried to calm down within the confines of the small and impenetrably dark cavity I created by sitting up. “I mean, first my ability didn’t activate and I crashed into the stone barricade. I probably should’ve died there, but all I did was break a bunch of bones instead. And then, oh Lord, and then I just what? Put myself back together?”
The memory of the sensation made me shudder. I tried to think back to before the world changed but I couldn’t recall any suffering. I knew it had happened, it had to given how much junk I moved with my hands, but the only pain I could recall was what I just felt.
“So why do I have memories of other people’s knowledge and experiences? Why am I even still alive? What did you do to me God?”
Existential dread took over for only a brief moment before it was wiped out by the memory of the thing I feared most. “The sun! The sun! Oh no, what happened to the sun?”
I kicked up and plunged through the ground until I once again burst from the earth. I seemed to have gotten much deeper than I was before, because it took a considerably larger effort to reach the surface, especially once I hit a harder material, but I was too frantic to care, and tore straight through it without stopping.
Clang!
Tink, tink tink, tink tink tink.
Bits of metal clattered across the equally metallic ground as I surveyed the world from on high. All around me was the greenish color of heavily rusted copper, with the occasional patch of dirt supporting a purple-leaved tree or blue-leaved bush to break up the monotony. Behind me the metal mountain climbed ever higher until it peaked, and before me sat a comfortable little valley with a rich, blue, river that snaked down from one of the other mountains before it cut through a lush forest where it eventually stagnated into a lake.
The beauty of the view took my breath away, and the near cloudless sky jerked me out of my stupor as I recalled my reason for surfacing.
I squinted up at the sun. And shuddered. There, in the sky, sat, well, a normal star like the one I once knew. The problem was that overlapping it was the transparent image of the abomination that heralded the world’s end. A pure white impossibly bright core, a middling gray ring that churned and swirled, and an external black band so deep that the dark of space itself fell short of comparison.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Uriel tried to comfort me by alerting me to the fact that no one else could see anything other than the actual sun, but that did little to assuage my sour mood.
“Don’t tell me my ultimate goal for still being alive is to do something about that… that thing… . I guess it’s just another mystery I’ll have to solve. Like the question marks in my status, or my abnormal regeneration speed.”
I dropped my gaze, and my shoulders, and kicked one of the smaller copper bits away. Weird. My feet are bare, but that didn’t hurt.
Then my eyes shot wide. “Hey! Wait a minute! How come I can dig through solid copper but not stone?”
I crossed my arms and grumbled. “I bet it was that jerk’s magic. It has to be magic! It’s always freakin’ magic!”
Fed up with my endlessly stressful existence, I stormed over to a nearby bush on a whim and plucked one of the tantalizingly juicy red berries that dotted its surface. Uriel informed me with a little window that it’s apparently known as a goga fruit, that it only grows in this region, and is considered a delicacy to some. “Neat.”
I took a deep breath to calm down, and glanced out at the lush valley and shimmering lake when my eyes landed on a small village beside the body of water.
I watched the villagers little figures go about their business as I popped the goga fruit into my mouth and started to chew. Should I go down there and see what’s to be seen? Try to scrape together some equipment or goods to barter first? Or keep exploring in the hopes that that band of soldiers doesn’t follow? Bunnyman did say that they were going to try to track me… .
Just then, the juice in my mouth saturated my tongue, and I screamed. “How is it bitter and spicy at the same time? And what madman called this a delicacy?”
#
Captain Morris Horn trudged through the gray marble corridors of the temple of the Transcendent faith with his long rabbit ears drooped low, guided through the darkness of night only by the warm light of the candelabras spaced out along the vacuous hall. He and his unit had spent the remainder of the day searching, and used every trick, item, and ability at their disposal, but their quarry had somehow slipped past their several mile wide range of detection, so they had to return empty handed.
He gritted his teeth and thought. Our mission was so simple! All we had to do was track down the apostle the Ascendent detected! All we had to do was bring them back so the church could care for them like all the others, but it resisted… got away… and… He shuddered at the memory of its furious gaze. And I was too terrified to follow.
Other temple knights of various races stood guard along the hall he walked, and they saluted each other as he passed. The weight of his failure compounded with his fear of punishment as he neared the far door that led to the Ascendant’s chamber.
In his faith, like most, all were welcome. What differentiated the Transcendent faith however was that unlike the others who worshiped and relied upon the creator God or one of the various lesser terrestrial deities, the Transcendent faith only acknowledged the creator as their origin, and instead promoted a doctrine of self sufficiency not reliance on divine grace. In other words, the more capable you are the faster and farther you can rise through the ranks, but if you prove inept then you will be relegated to menial and talentless work at the bottom.
Not all see that as a bad thing, but never before had he failed, never before had he faced the thought of becoming just another temple knight, and never before had the alabaster portal inlaid with the depiction of the garden of creation seemed so daunting. He was just in the actual garden, an act condemned by all other religions, one his pardoned only when new apostles appear, yet this facsimile of it was… suddenly disturbing to him. Like it was lacking in some way he never noticed before. And deep within he knew that his encounter with that apostle was the reason he now felt this way.
But why? I’ve found other apostles before and brought them back without issue, so why am I shaken now? Why do I feel like I’ve done such wrong? Why is this one so… different?
He muttered. “Maybe I’m just letting my fear of demotion blow things out of proportion.” Then he gulped and knocked twice. He waited with his head lowered for a time, then a sweet woman’s voice seeped through the door.
“Come in.”
Captain Horn entered the small office packed with books and piles of other documents. Despite the grandeur of the temple itself and the ostentatious design of the armor and garments worn by religious officials, the rooms and offices of the Ascendants were always much more humble. And the Ascendant herself reflected that, as her white and gold hooded and veiled vestment prevented even the tiniest portion of her body from being seen.
She sat behind a paper crowded old desk, with only a single candle to stave off the gloom of the night, and gestured for him to sit at the only other chair in the room.
Instead of obeying, he knelt and lowered his head beside the seat, and recited a well practiced line. “I thank you for your consideration, your eminence, but I am unworthy.”
I’ve done this more times than I can count, but I wonder why protocol dictates we act so formally in a private meeting? I guess it doesn’t matter. If there’s one thing we temple knights are trained to do it’s to ensure that procedure is observed.
The Ascendant nodded, and spoke softly, in a tone one might use to console a child. “I hear you met with misfortune today. Would you like to share your experience?”
Again he gulped. She asked it as a question, and had no doubt already gotten the details of his failure from the other knights in his group, but he had no real choice but to answer. “I– We, tracked down the apostle you dreamed of. As always, it was unique, and this one apparently burst forth from the earth by means of its great skill in burrowing.”
She folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “Ahh. So that’s how it escaped. I trust you used the usual tactic of encirclement and accusation of wrongdoing to confuse its innocent mind so you could ensnare it?”
“Yes. Though, unlike the others, it couldn’t understand me at first, but it quickly learned our language, and replied in fear as most do, only–”
“Only you failed to cut off its fastest method of escape!”
“Ahhh!”
The Ascendant’s sudden and abnormally loud shout shook the room and sent Captain Horn reeling. His ears were sensitive, that’s why he found success as a part of, and now led, the search party, but that sensitivity was also a critical weakness when faced with loud noises.
After a moment of silence, he recovered his senses and lowered his head to the floor. “Apologies for my outburst, your eminence, I should maintain better control over myself.”
Again, he had no choice but to submit. She was one of the Ascendants, second in authority only to the Transcendent, and he was but a lowly captain of the temple knights. And that’s not considering the difference in their abilities either. He had never seen her fight, but the mere act of imagining the gulf in power that separated them sent shivers down his spine. After all, you don’t reach the top of the Transcendent faith by being incompetent or resting on your laurels.
The veiled woman blew out a sigh, and returned to her gentler tone. “I understand, captain. The fault is mine as well, I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the better of me. Now, could you tell me if the apostle gave its name, and what it looked like? We need to hurry and find it now that it’s out in the wider world. Who knows what… unsavory forces might try to harm it. I’m quite worried.”
Realization and relief flooded Captain Horn before the depth of his failure reasserted itself. If only I’d stopped its flight. It’d be safe, here, at the temple. Not out there, left alone to fend for itself in a vast and unforgiving world.
He took a deep breath, then said. “It called itself Anon Amos, and it… well… I thought it was the same race as me, but after speaking with my men, it apparently appears different to everyone who looks upon it.”
Silence was the Ascendant’s only answer. Silence broken only by the creaking created as she gradually tightened her grip on the arms of her chair.
Too afraid to speak, Captain Horn waited, head still lowered, breath caught in his throat, for whatever her next words might be. Oh God. Did I say something wrong? But no matter the severity, if she deigns to punish me, I must accept it. This is my fault.
Several minutes later, the Ascendant whispered. “Go and rest. We’ll need to work quickly, so prepare. Your next expedition begins tomorrow.”
Startled, Captain Horn jumped to his feet, saluted, and backed out of the room due to the difference in their station. Once the door was soundly shut behind him, he nearly collapsed in relief. He muttered. “I’ll do better next time. I’ll definitely save you next time!”
#
Ascendant Josephine Barla slouched in her chair. She had been ready to bury the captain under the full extent of her personal and political power for letting such a valuable asset escape, but she’d need every able body she could get for the imminent hunt, so she managed to restrain herself. If what he said is true then this apostle is special. To have such freedom of form, and such affinity with the earth itself. I can’t let the other Ascendants learn of it, and certainly not his Holiness the Transcendent. Those heartless tyrants would only try to take it for themselves.
She extended the full range of her senses, which made her aware of every voice, presence, and magical signature within the temple and a good bit of the surrounding town. Once she was sure no one with the ability to detect her was around, she silently activated the space magic no one but her equals and superior knew she had, and teleported to the catacombs beneath the faith’s main temple several countries away.
Only the Ascendants and Transcendent knew about this place. Shaped like a domed birdcage with graves in the place of bars, it had no physical entrance, for they built it centuries ago, when they first discovered how to ascend, and discarded their mortality in favor of walking the path to meet the creator God.
Josephine ran her white gloved fingers along the dusty name plates that covered the filled recesses in the walls as she walked toward the altar at the center of the room.
Abatur
Cassiel
Dumah
Harut
Nsab
One by one, she remembered the apostles that she had gathered and chained upon the altar. One by one, their faces and voices returned to her as she neared the stone slab where their powers became hers, where they fell so she could ascend ever higher.
She grinned. “No one else will have you, Anon Amos. I won’t let the others take your powers from me. I won’t let you fuel their growth, not when I’m so close to a breakthrough that I can feel it!” She threw back her head and laughed. “You will be mine! You have to be mine! God wills our growth! God lights our way, and made us in his image so that we could walk it! This is our fate! Our destiny! Our path! And you are but a stone upon it!”