Darkness swirled in smoky layers around Domison as his mind floated in the depths of his unconscious mind. Distantly he could feel the jolting motion of his body bouncing up and down on Craig’s shoulder, but it felt insubstantial at the moment. All that mattered in these moments of self-reflection was the fact that Domison had failed. He had already known that this was an unforgiving world, even before the Omnicrux System descended from monstrosities and mutations. Yet even though he knew this as fact, the shame the man felt was eating at him from every angle.
The absolute relief he had seen in the young boy's eyes had shaken Domison to his core. He had seen himself in those eyes, and the similarities to how Sam had come to save him as a young boy resonated with his being. A child who had nothing, just like him. The only difference was that Sam wasn’t too slow and Sam was able to effectively make use of every tool at his disposal. Not once had he even used his ability to shift into the shadow world, all he had done was push his mana throughout his body in an elementary display of the potential he could feel thrumming through his being. Domison was sick of having this power and just flailing around with it like a child. He was sick of just stumbling into some new discovery that promised great things but just led to overconfidence and misuse. He was sick of-
‘My, my, my… It seems like I have chosen the perfect time to check back in.’
Bloody red eyes came into being within the dark recesses of Domison’s mind, they were massive and looming, in stark contrast to Raze’s usual persona which was quite small in stature. Domison could make out no body, nor his distinguishing tophat, but the voice speaking into his mind, even if it was a few octaves lower than usual, was no doubt his guide’s. Without waiting for any type of response, Raze continued,
‘Fret not my little reaper, I have come with gifts! What kind of sponsor would my master be to leave his young charge stranded at sea, hope slowly trickling away alongside the tears that leak the last drops of moisture from your body?’
In Domison’s mind eye, a shape began to resolve, it was a deep purple stellated dodecahedron that had pulsing veins of crimson running through its center. As it came closer to his floating form, Domison realized that it was massive. By the time it came within touching distance, it was as large as a Megabuilding of the Aurora City State. Domison could feel a primordial power vibrating from it, but it felt strangely similar in more ways than one. Before the man had the chance to question the feeling of familiarity, Raze’s huge red eyes began to twinkle.
‘I’ve named this little creation the Omnicrux Breaker version one, or the OCX Breaker 1.0.’
“I appreciate a gift as much as the next guy,” Domison cut in before the guide had a chance to continue, “that doesn’t quite explain what it is. And why does it feel so-”
‘Familiar?’ It was Raze’s turn to cut Domison off and crimson eyes loomed closer as the guide spoke, its eerie needle-fanged smile making an appearance through the darkness. ‘That’s because it is. You’ll know more very soon and as I have said before, even if it may not seem so now the more you can discover of your own volition, the stronger your foundation in the subject will become. So be patient, I will help where necessary, and… we have an eternity to get everything else figured out.’
With those final words, the pulsing dodecahedron started to rapidly shrink. In less than five seconds the behemoth structure had collapsed in on itself and was floating at Domison’s eye line, now only the size of his head. The way it pulsed in mid-air was mesmerizing, and the man was so entranced that when it shot forward through his forehead, he didn’t even flinch. A jolt of energy shot straight through his brain and the man’s body convulsed for half a second before a black square screen appeared in his mind eye and a red colored font started to fill in.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[System Booting Up...]
Loading operating system…
Booting up essential processes…
Initializing network connections…
Running Omnicrux system diagnostic…
[Diagnostic Results]
* Mana Density: High
* Host Processing Power: High
* Omnicrux Connectivity: Optimal
* Core Storage Capacity: High
Loading OCX_Breaker.exe…
[OCX_Breaker.exe Booting Up...]
These were the last pieces of the script that Domison was able to make out before it devolved into a random assortment of formulas and information that the man could not comprehend. ‘Though before you were only watching from the beach, you decided to plunge into the depths of the river when you accepted Master's sponsorship, young reaper.’ Raze’s voice swept through Domison’s mind like a spreading frost as the system initialized, connecting with the Neural Implant inside his skull and integrating it with his entire being. ‘Though compared to the explosive growth of the world around you it may feel like you are treading water in a placid lake, I assure you that is about to change… Welcome to the rapids.’
The blurring red font finally ceased its rapid expansion and the black screen became empty again. It floated for several heartbeats before starting to fill in again and this time Domison was able to understand the information being shown to him.
Name: Domsion Wolfe
Race: Abyssal Beastkin
Class: ???
Level: N/A
Experience Points: ---
Attribute Points: 5
Strength: 18
Agility: 10
Constitution: 22
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 8
Spirit: 8
Mana: 952/1,000
Affinities: Abyss, Shadow, Frost
Skills:
1. Shadow Manipulation (Beginner) - Ability to manipulate and control shadows for various uses. (Upgradeable)
2. Swordsmanship (Novice) - Basic proficiency in sword techniques and combat. (Upgradeable)
3. Shadow Walk (Beginner) - Ability to step across the boundaries of the Shadow World. (Upgradable)
4. Mana Sense (Beginner) - Ability to sense and perceive mana energy in the environment.
5. Abyssal Armament (Beginner) - Ability to create weapons and armor by dedicating Abyssal Energies. Current slots used: 1/2. (Upgradeable)
[Only the top 5 skills are shown, please refer to the Skill screen to see expanded information]