Welp, I finished earlier than I expected. Also, it's about as long as the last three chapters combined. Thanks for reading and as always leave comments, criticism, etc if you can. Hopefully there won't be too many mistakes in this chapter, though I probably made quite a few tense errors >.<. Also to note, my chapters will be from around 1.5k-3k words depending on how much time I have on hand.
/////////
This day was an ordinary day; a day like any other. Animals were roaming about, bathing in the afternoon sun. The soft whistling of the trees as the wind blew through them, the birds chirping, and the grass swishing all gave off a feeling of serenity. The luscious, shining green of forests as they radiated life enthralled anyone who saw them. In towns all around the region, people were bustling around going about their daily lives. Children playing with each other, people rushing to and fro from stalls trying to buy everything they need before the day is over, merchants eagerly selling their wares, and house-wives chattering their heads off, none of them thought that there would be anything out of the ordinary; that it would just be another monotonous day.
It was at this moment of tranquility that the disaster struck. A gigantic, earth-shattering quake roared out through the entire continent, leaving catastrophes in its wake. People were scrambling to dodge as everything around them came crumbling down. Buildings fell, mountains cracked, and trees split from the power. It felt as though the earth itself was throbbing in pain as mad convulsions continued to pulse after the initial wave. Extreme fluctuations of mana followed immediately after as almost everyone across the continent felt the crushing pressure of the enormous amount of primal mana that was released. Sparks of charged mana surged from the ground everywhere the earthquake hit. This phenomenon was unlike anything that ever happened before as for a brief period of time, all usage of magic across the continent ceased, inducing mass panic before once again returning to how it was before.
Everyone that experienced it was visibly shaken as they should be. The widespread destruction that this event caused was absolutely devastating as entire towns and cities turned into rubble, killing and wounding many people in the process. Response was slow to arrive since the mana went haywire for a while resulting in more death and many people were confused on what to do without its support. The shocking aftermath left many people in a daze as they could not believe what just happened.
This event was later dubbed as the Second Cataclysm, the first being a disaster so extensive that it completely reshaped the surface of the entire continent.
//
Darkness surrounds me…
It was the feeling of floating in an ever changing abyss. Black tendrils rose out to try and reach me before once again crumbling and merging with the shadows around me as it has always done for who knows how long. Dark swirling mist whirled around me, yet seemed unable to engulf me, and then dispersed as if giving up. I wasn’t worried though; darkness is my friend after all.
I had already gotten used to these sights as I floated there for what felt like an eternity. I’ve always wondered where I am or if I’m doomed to remain here forever. Though after a while, even those questions halted and I just let myself be immersed in my prison. If there was something to complain about, it would be that it’s quite boring in here.
//
Loneliness…
It’s so lonely in here.
Having no one to talk to but myself for so long.
It felt as if my mind would shatter if I remained here any longer, but for some reason, it never did. It was as though something prevented me from going crazy.
Haha… I don’t know if I should feel grateful or curse my luck. At that point, the solace of insanity was already very enticing; I just want it to be over with, to feel some relief.
Yet, here I remain, perfectly sane. Or not, I don’t know anymore. Waiting for so long for something I don’t even know. What am I expecting? What am I waiting for in this deep darkness? Am I hoping for something to take me away from this place? No… After so long, I’ve already given up hope of escape. Maybe I’m just waiting for something to break the monotony of this place. Maybe I just wished for something different to happen, after all I was terribly bored.
Waiting…
Waiting…
Waiting for so long…
A large cracking sound suddenly woke my waning consciousness. I looked around for the source with a bit of amusement. Maybe I’ve finally snapped I thought. After all it should be impossible for anything to pierce this darkness.
As I held those thoughts the cracking sound became louder as tiny little fractures spread out from a single spot below me. As I’m still wondering if I’m hallucinating or not, the fractures instantly widened before the large sound of glass shattering erupted around me. I then felt myself being aggressively pulled into the large resulting hole below me. The hole itself looked as though it was a gateway to another dimension as I see a myriad of colors inside that slowly became brighter as I got close. The darkness soon receded as I felt myself leaving it behind me.
Soon after, for the first time since arriving in my dark prison, I lost consciousness.
//
A large rumbling jarred me from my slumber. Slowly, but surely my consciousness returns to me as I woke up in a daze. Slowly sitting up, I observed the scene around me. To my utmost surprise, I didn’t see the pitch black darkness I have come to expect. What lay before me was instead a gigantic stone room lit by eerie glowing rocks. Cracks completely ran along the walls as though threatening to collapse any second. All around the room there were depictions of who knows what etched into the walls; all of them were faded and unrecognizable. The entire place looked beaten and time-worn giving indication of its age.
‘…I’m supposed to be dead… right?’ I thought absentmindedly.
As I scanned the room, my sight slowly made its way to the area around myself. What I saw left me in confusion that slowly turned to understanding as I realized the situation I was in. Right at the moment, I was sitting inside a large stone box that was elegantly carved with many decorations on the sides. Though the decorations were dull and faded due to age, there was no doubt that it was crafted with the greatest care. Rather than a box, it was coffin for something.
Soon afterwards, my view shifted towards the object of the greatest interest, myself. When I raised what I assumed to be my arm, all that entered my sight was the image of a skeletal hand.
Just to be sure, I thoroughly moved all my fingers and joints and confirmed that it really was mine. I then looked downwards to the rest of my body and saw, as expected, the figure of a skeleton.
‘…Well, I guess I am technically dead if we’re picky about it. Though I never thought it would be in this manner. Still, why am I still here? I know for a fact that my soul went to the abyss, I felt it even. And yet, somehow I’m back in the world of the living.’
Before I had any more time to contemplate my situation, my body emitted a gigantic surge of mana. Frantically suppressing the release, I was left astonished. Just the sheer amount surprised me, and let me say I’m not one that is easily surprised.
The released mana traveled through the dusty air and through the crumbling walls. A few seconds later, another shattering quake erupted all around me, only this time it was threatening to bring this whole place down.
As I wasn’t in the mood to get buried right after waking up, I quickly decided to escape from here. Grabbing my robe, scepter, and a ring which lay next to me, grateful that those were buried with me, I quickly got up and out of my coffin. Already I could see chunks of the ceiling start falling to the floor.
Looking around, I found an exit at the side of the room to which I started running towards it. The clacking of my bones was drowned out by the sound of the whole tomb rumbling as I ran and by the time I ran past the door, the whole room I was in collapsed in a pile of rubble and debris. Without looking back, I continued to run down the hallway from the door as pieces of the ceiling fell down around me.
To my luck the hallway was fairly linear and I quickly found my way to something like an entrance hall with a huge stone gate at the other side.
No sooner as I saw it, a gigantic boulder dislodged from the vast ceiling in the room and smashed right in front of the gate completely blocking it.
Halting as soon as it happened, I cursed for a moment before trying my hand at something I wanted to test out. The fact that so much mana was emitted from my body earlier meant that either my seal weakened or completely broke. As I raised a hand towards the boulder in front of me, I attempted to gather, shape, and condense the mana into it.
The mana within me surged forth like before, only this time it was intentional and quickly gathered in my outstretched hand. Condensing the mana into a ball, it started turning a pitch black color in front of me. When it condensed even more into a small fist sized sphere that started to crackle with black lightning, I released my hold on it and shot it towards the boulder.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The effect was a bit more than I intended as instead of just obliterating the boulder, it punched through the gate behind it as well, leaving a large circular hole about half the size of the gate and continued on until it exploded in the distance. Huh, guess I still didn’t limit my power enough. I suppose having everything sealed for so long has made my control rusty.
After a moment, to my surprise, instead of finding open air on the other side of the gate, a large amount of water, yes, water, flooded into the hall like a tidal wave.
What in the world? If I remember correctly, my tomb was supposed to be situated on the side of a large mountain. Yet from the looks of it, the amount of water indicates otherwise.
Erecting a black bubble-like shield around me, I continued on towards the overflow as I decided that it’s still the best chance I have of getting out of here, since this amount of water obviously has to have a source. I just hope I don’t appear in the middle of the sea or something similar.
Continuing onward towards the now broken gate, the water completely engulfed the bubble that kept me from getting wet. I made my way down the submerged passageway and slowed my pace since it appears this part of the tomb was stable. From the lack of glowing rocks like those in my room, this part of the tomb was completely dark. That didn’t mean much to me though as I could see perfectly clearly using my mana sense to get the layout of the passageway.
Trudging onward, I noticed that my surroundings soon changed to that of an underwater cave system. For what felt like hours, I moved forward and recognized that the cave appeared to be expanding in size. Soon, sure enough, there was a large gap that appeared to be the exit of this place. Getting excited at the idea of finally getting out of here, I quickened my pace once again and reached the exit.
Standing there, I once more analyzed my surroundings and realized that I was at the bottom of a lake since I could still see the sides of this large pool of water. Silently relieved that I didn’t pop out in the middle of the sea, I turned around and used my mana to climb the steep wall of the lake that the cave was located in.
Hundreds of black tendrils sprouted forth from under my feet and latched themselves onto the rocky sides and pulled me and my shield bubble upwards. Light began to increase alongside my elevation and soon I found myself on the rocky shores of a large lake. As is my habit, I analyzed the surroundings before doing anything.
Forest. That basically sums it up. From my mana sense that I expanded to around a 500 kilometer radius, I could tell that the entire area was covered in thick dense forest. In front of me was the view of a glowing, viridian lake, completely untouched by civilization as it completely coalesced into nature itself, forming a picture of perfect serenity.
I decided to sit down and contemplate my situation again since I was interrupted before. For one thing, the surroundings have changed so much that it should be safe to assume that either a very long time has passed, or something happened that changed the structure of the land. Thinking more, I deducted that it was probably a combination of both. The fact that nature looked to be untouched and blooming with life indicates that a long time has indeed passed. On the other hand it also isn’t something as simple as the passage of time as a mountain shouldn’t just disappear.
These thoughts then led to the question of just how long it has been since I was buried. Though, since it won’t make much of a difference in my current situation, I temporarily discarded the thought.
I decided to test out some of my powers to make sure of my body’s condition and to get used to it again. Though I already got somewhat of a feel for it down in the tomb, I’m still not sure of the extent. On the other hand, it seems that my mana capacity has increased by quite a bit, augmenting my giant mana pool even more.
Since I’m out in the middle of nowhere, it’s quite a good location for practice, away from prying eyes. Though I do feel a bit bad for the nature around me that was about to take the brunt of my powers, it’s something that can’t be helped since I desperately need to know what I’m capable of now. Still though, I need to limit the output since I can very well blow up half the continent if I’m not careful.
Putting on my ring and robe that I held in my hands until now, I moved towards the lakeside and started unloading many of the spells I knew. Loud explosions continuously echoed throughout the forest soon after. When I was done, I looked at my handiwork while in deep thought. The surroundings have now changed quite a bit since the lake is about twice as wide as it originally was and the forestry was mostly gone.
Using nature magic I restored the majority of the forestry and decided to move on towards my next agenda. From the practice just now, I got a much better feel for my body and can move it with about as much precision as I previously had. I also learned quite a bit more about the changes to it besides the obvious fact that I’m a skeleton.
From what I learned, it seems that, indeed, pretty much all of the powers I had from before I got sealed have returned. However that’s hardly the most surprising detail. I didn’t notice it earlier but it seems that my mana core has been condensed so much so that it now retains a physical form. Right now the core looks like a large black crystal about the size of my fist, located right in the center of my ribcage. Now this may not seem that special at first, but it really is something incredible. A person’s mana core is something that should never have a physical form. The mana core is something that only exists as an immaterial entity and there is only one exception to this rule. That thing would be the mana core of the planet, or something called the world core. The world core is something incredibly special as it is the only thing in existence that generates mana. Most beings that use magic absorb the mana from the surrounding nature, something called primal mana, and refines it inside their mana core to convert it into usable mana for people to then use. There are sometimes people who can use primal mana directly without the need to refine it, like me. However there has never been an account of anyone being able to generate mana and yet as I practiced, no matter how much mana I used, there wasn’t even a dent in my mana pool and that confirmed my suspicions. From the time I started practicing, I have never once used any of the primal mana around me and my mana pool never decreased at all.
The implications this may bring are quite possibly endless. If I do indeed have something like a world core in me, then I quite literally have something akin to unlimited mana. Being able to generate mana, along with the fact that my mana capacity is absolutely enormous, will pretty much allow me to cast spells endlessly without worry. And that is only one of the many ways it can be utilized.
Though I am quite curious about how this came to happen, I decided to put it into the corner of my mind for now and research it later; that and also about how I was freed from my seal. These changes are quite the boon that needs to be quickly examined in the future.
Now moving on, I decided that something needed to be done about my appearance. Though it’s not a problem right now, it will be an annoying issue in the future if I don’t do anything. While being a skeleton has its merits, I’d rather not scare off everybody I encounter, as amusing as that would be. I’d prefer not ending up as a hermit because of looking like this.
Luckily, I have a spell that can reconstruct my body, though it should take a while to process as I have never used it since I had no need to before. Hopefully it will get faster the more I use it. My previous form had extremely regenerative blood so I never really bothered to try it since I could heal up near instantly. I actually still have some of my blood in vials in my spatial ring that will probably come in handy with speeding up the reconstruction process. If only I could just pour the blood on top of me and let it do its work but unfortunately it wasn’t be that easy. In any case, I’ll just let the spell work on regrowing my body for now; it will probably take about two weeks or so by my estimate.
In the meantime, I think I’ll explore my surroundings and maybe find some shelter. It will be a bother to sleep in the open… correction, I don’t need sleep since I’m a skeleton, but it will still be good to find some shelter.
And so with that, while donning my robe and scepter in hand, I walked off into the wild, leaving behind the now enlarged lake.