The useless U.I. of the system screens didn’t even show the young man any timestamps, so he couldn’t be sure exactly when it happened… But he had leveled up to five at some point while he was bleeding out in the forest or while he had been unconscious and that meant he should be able to choose a class. At first, Mike had been underwhelmed with the class choices offered and he quickly minimized the screen and tried to roll his sore body over after reviewing them to relieve the aching in his bones. The choices had been a physical damage-focused class, the Fighter, which had such a generic description he didn’t bother reading past ‘Your standard issue-’. The next choice was a support class named ‘Punching Bag’ and he didn’t even bother to look at the description for that one. With the final choice being ‘Random’ he concluded to not test his fate, deciding to just stew on the issue while he got his bearings.
Now that he had seen the once manic-looking blood-covered man clean and in actual clothing, Mike's perception of him altered slightly. With every passing moment of Mike being conscious and in the same room as the tall and gloomy man, with a grin that held the shadow of a smirk, it altered even more. It felt like the smile was genuine and maybe even playful, but there was something more behind it. Looking at the man’s face felt like standing at an open door on the ground floor of a home lit by a roaring fireplace and staring down into the looming basement in which no light penetrated. The warmth of the hearth unable to keep the shiver creeping up your spine. A strength seemed to emanate from the older man’s entire being as Mike watched him and he couldn’t help but want to learn from their mysterious savior.
All of these feelings culminated in to action as Mike’s weak arm rose out towards the system screen he had pulled up again. The wooden floor still dug into his back and bruised his bones, but his finger stretched out and pressed into his desired choice. Just before his finger reached the floating screen in front of him, he closed his eyes and it surprised Mike to feel the pressure of a surface under his fingertip. The other two choices disappeared and a large rectangle with the word ‘Random’, blinking at a faster and faster pace, filled the backs of his eyelids. Mike kept his eyes shut tight, knowing in his heart it was the right choice even as doubt ate at his insides. A quiet and almost angelic chime filled the air a heartbeat later and a soft golden glow began to seep out from Mike’s skin.
A soothing warmth ran throughout him as the light built to a crescendo. The luminance peaked only when it started to become painful for the others to look at. When the light had finally faded the group took a look at the new man laying on the ground below them. While before Mike had been pale, frail, and trembling, this was no longer the case. His puckered wounds and fresh scars were now silvery and glossy, his meager frame had filled slightly and corded muscle flowed over his exposed arms. There was a new life shining behind eyes that were moments before dull and yellowed.
“So…” Mel started, “What did you choose?” She was practically vibrating with excitement and she wrapped him up in a hug before he could even answer. “Also… I’m so happy that you’re okay Mike. Now tell me already, what class did you choose?”
‘Impatient as always’ Mike thought to himself as his eyes rolled to the heavens. “I chose random, and I think I may have made a really good choice.” Silence filled the air for several moments as he held them in suspense. “I got a class called “Twilight Crusader”, I haven’t had the chance to look it over quite yet, but I think it may be fairly good.” Domison nodded, smile widening as he voiced congratulations. Coraigen was even more excited. The larger Urketh clapped the man on the chest while he was only propped up by one elbow and sent him crashing back into the wooden floor.
“This is good news,” Domison said once everyone had calmed. “Mike, if you’re feeling up to it, I would like you, Mel, and Coraigen to go scout out the surrounding neighborhoods today. I was going to go as well, but now that you’re up and about, I have some things I would like to do while I’m here.” He motioned around his home, indicating that he would like to fix up the house a bit. “I would also like a bit of time to go over my gains and consolidate everything with some training.”
Coraigen nodded as Domison spoke, as though receiving sage advice and after a moment, Mike did as well, eager to start leveling up his class as soon as possible. Mel was a bit more hesitant to go along with the idea, but eventually, she decided to go with them in case they needed healing. After eating a quick breakfast of oatmeal with a little bit of brown sugar and maple syrup, the group of three made their way out of the apartment. Domison was comfortable sending them out without going himself as, with his improved Mana-sense, he could tell Craig was quite strong. Now that he was thinking about it, Domison was fairly sure the punch he had landed on Craig’s head upon their introduction probably would have killed a normal person. He nodded, affirming to himself that they were in good hands.
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Raze appeared in front of Domison for the first time in days, several minutes after the others left. A large grin was spread across his face as he spoke in Domison’s mind, ‘I am almost done with my project. We will need you to make the proper preparations though. Descend into your inner world.’ Domison nodded and began to sit down on the wooden floor. Before he could close his eyes and dip into the mental space he imagined his inner core Raze stopped him, ‘but not here. Transition into the shadow world and do it there. Now that you are more sensitive you may even be able to sense the natural Mana of that plane.’
The little imp-like shadowling floated over to the kitchen, lounging on the top of the refrigerator as he continued, ‘If that ends up being the case, I want you to start cultivating Mana there.’ A long claw-tipped pinky finger began digging through a pointed ear and Raze stopped speaking for a moment as he examined the purple blob he extracted, before flicking it away. ‘Your body will be able to absorb more Mana there and it will bolster your core further since your Hollow Heart won’t have to break down the attunements of the Mana and can just convert it directly to Abyssal energies.’
Domison was dumbstruck for a moment and now that he was alone with the guide, he didn’t even bother stopping a verbal response from tumbling between his lips, “My hollow heart? That’s a bit harsh, wouldn’t you say?”
Raze had peeled away a magnet from the refrigerator and was inspecting it closely, but rolled his red eyes and replaced it at Domisons words. 'Ha. Ha. So very funny, little reaper. The hollow heart is a part of your Abyssal body.' He peeled away another magnet bearing the logo of the butcher across the street and began to inspect that one as well, 'In fact, it was the first gift Master granted you and the reason you have been able to cultivate mana so indiscriminately.'
Domsion absorbed this new information for a moment, eyes tracking the guide's movements as Raze started testing the tensile strength of the small magnet. He winced slightly and stepped forward to take the magnet from between clawed fingers, "So bringing in Mana would be more difficult without it?"
Glowering red eyes tried to pierce straight through Domison as a clawed hand tore yet another magnet from the fridge. The little shadowling hovered closer to the roof with their prize before speaking into Domison’s mind again, ‘Hmph, I forgot how loud and disrespectful you can be. It would be more strenuous on your channels and cause a buildup of debris in them. Over time it would cripple your cultivation.’
Domison’s eyes went wide as the words entered his mind, “How could anybody cultivate then? That sounds like a horrible experience.” He shivered as he imagined losing the newfound body he had started building up slowly and, he imagined, quite painfully.
Shining eyes pinned Domison in place for a moment as Raze studied him. After a moment the guide spoke, “In the times of divinity, beings had to cultivate differently than you do. They could not just pull in every bit of natural mana indiscriminately.’ Clawed fingers waved about, gesturing to the world around them. ‘Even now, every living creature carries at least a single attunement and when cultivators start upon a path, they double down on one or sometimes several.’
Raze paused and flicked the magnet back down onto the floor, Pabu leaping from the shadows and batting at the falling piece with a large paw. The guide watched the shadowy dog playing with the magnet for a moment before continuing, ‘When a cultivator starts upon this pathway they have chosen, they must be more selective with their Mana intake depending on its attunement. They can vent out the additional Mana that is not befitting their body, they are unable to strip away the affinity of that Mana however, and lose everything they can not use.’
The new information weighed upon Domison heavily and he realized just how lucky he was. Not only was he already miles ahead of everyone on Terra, but it started to seem like he may be impressive even among cultivators of the era of Divinity. For a full minute, Domison stood in silence before responding. When he finally spoke his voice was low and filled with awe, “I’m on the path to becoming monstrously powerful aren’t I?”
An eerie, whispery laugh vibrated through the shadows as Raze began to roll through the air. Once his creepy outburst had come to an end, he dragged a single claw under each eye as though wiping away tears. ‘Oh my little reaper,’ This time when Raze spoke it reverberated not only through the man's mind but whispered from the shadows as well, ‘I have been watching your world while researching my gift for you. In terms of Terrans, you already are a monster.’ Raze snapped impatiently then, ‘Now, enough dawdling. Off to the world wreathed in shadow, we go.’ With a final snap of claw-tipped fingers, the world fell into a monochrome.