"Beep… Beep… Beep" The sound of medical machinery filled the room. In the middle of the room lay a frail man. Wade's breath was shallow and barely audible. He looked around his room lazily. The white space was bland, and the ceiling was empty. As Wade surveyed his room, his eyes grew blurry. He knew this moment would come, and as he lay there, a feeling of coldness spread from within his chest. “Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.” His heart monitor began to flatline as he heard the sound of his demise. An ember of refusal lit from within his cold body.
"Why… Why now? Just when my life would have really begun, after all of my hard work." Wade thought. His thoughts became more muddled without any oxygen.
"Curse this world… Curse society… Curse myself! Why did I have to wait so long?" Wade was a new college graduated student and had recently gotten a job when he first fainted. After he woke up, the doctor informed him of his late-stage leukemia. Wade's life came crashing down as reality began to set in. He was already deep in student loans, and the increasing medical bills that he was raking up pushed him further into the hole. His friends and family tried to help, but his family was already poor. His friends could only do so much but they were preoccupied their future.
As the last rays of light hit his eyes before they stopped responding, a shadowed figure in a dark void stood before a pool, looking down. The clear water revealed Wade as his life was fading. The figure reached out a clawed hand into the pool and gently pulled a glowing orb out. Using an unspeakable tongue, he transformed the mystical sphere into an apparition of Wade.
"Ugh." Wade stumbled. It has been months since the last time he walked. "What happened? Where am I?"
"Time is of the essence Sir Wade." A voice boomed throughout the void. Although the sound comes from all directions, Wade knew it came from the figure before him. "We don't have much time. The longer we wait, the closer your body is to death."
"My body?" Wade looked down at his hands only to see translucent palms. "Who are you?"
"Ouroboros, the God of Eternity" The shadows surrounding Ouroboros disappeared, revealing a snake-like human covered in scales. On his chest, a black ink tattoo shows the classic Ouroboros image. "Your world will soon enter a new era, and just as the other Gods, I require an apostle to further my goals." The snake deity raises his hand for a handshake. "I can save you from your fate. If I give you my boon, a portion of my power that I can't take back, you can survive the mutiny within, but this is no gift. In return for my power and a second chance at life, you will further my goals with your own."
"God? New Era? Second chance?" Wade's hands trembled. He tried to play this whole thing off as a dream, the last of the neurons in his brain firing in an attempt to save him from his cancer, but at the same time, the ember of refusal turned into a flame of hope as the thought, no, the idea of a second chance became the fuel that staved the coldness from within.
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"I understand you are confused and wondering what is happening, but Sir Wade, this is not your imagination. Your body stands at the precipice of the eternal void. There is only a small window where I can use my authority to influence it and infuse you with my power. The longer you wait, the worse the situation becomes. Take my hand, Sir Wade." Ouroboros' voice showed worry and fear. Although Wade didn't know the facial cues of lizard people, he noticed the hints of desperation.
Wade's hand slowly reached out for Ouroboros. Wade was always the type of person who, when things got too confusing, just went with his gut; in this case, his intuition saved his life. As the two men shook hands, Wade felt a surge of vitality enter his body; he screamed in shock and closed his eyes for a blink of a second. When Wade opened his eyes again, he was back in the hospital. Wade looked around, the ghost of pain still running throughout his body. Wade chuckles.
"It was a dream!" Wade raised his hands to slap his forehead, laughing all the while. After his fit of hysteria, Wade realized something. He could move his arm! Ever since his hospitalization, he had trouble moving his body. In fact, this was the first time in ages that Wade could breathe clearly. Wade sat up and looked outside of a window. The sun was high in the sky, and everything seemed deathly quiet. In excitement and victory, Wade grabbed his IV and ripped it out of his arms. Wade swung his legs out of the bed and stood up for the first time in six months. Stretching out his body, Wade listened for the usual sounds of the hospital. Only there wasn't anything expected in the air. Gasps of surprise and screams of panic were the only things Wade heard.
Wade raced for the room door. Quickly opening it to see what the commotion was. He was greeted by everyone in a panic, they were all looking at the blue screens floating in front of them. Wade then noticed that, in his excitement, he had ignored a similar window in the corner of his view. As Wade looked at the mysterious text in front of him, Wade became astonished.
Status Screen Name Wade Roggers Class [Blood Mage(Apostle of Ouroboros)] XP 100 HP:12 MP: 17 Status: Diseased stats Strength 8 Dexterity 10 Constitution 14(10) Wisdom 12 Intelligence 14 Charisma 10 Skills Blood Manipulation Beginner 0/100 Hemocraft Beginner 0/100 Boon of The Eternal Snake(Active) N/A ?/?