.
.
.
When he was ready to close his eyes for the last time, something changed in the all-encompassing black reality.
The white dot on the horizon got closer.
Compelled for reasons he didn’t understand, Devin held on to hope—he clung to life for as long as he could resist that soul-crushing darkness, all so the hint of white could have a chance to come closer.
It was slow-going, almost not moving in those long moments that Devin allowed the whispers in the darkness to relentlessly hound, tell him how unimportant he was, how he caused more death than happiness and that he should kill himself to even the odds.
He ignored the whispers that twisted his own thoughts against him, looking forward to the light that drifted ever closer. It was nothing more than a splotch of white in the distance at first, but as the crept closer, the blur cleared, resolving itself to be a figure running in the distance.
Running towards Devin.
A bolt of nervousness ran through him, but he quashed the feeling before he could let doubt infect his mind. He maintained his hope, because if he lost that, the whispers and the darkness would undoubtedly win. The evil surrounding him tried to exploit a new weakness, but the whispers were nothing compared to the comet of hope that ran closer.
The figure ran towards him, carrying with her the memory of that terrible night. She carried a heavy atmosphere on her back, but that world held just as much light as it did darkness.
“Devin!” Bella called to him in her slightly immature voice.
“Leave me alone!” He yelled at her without lifting his head, forced to reenact the memory.
“No, you freaking dummy.” Bella said, rushing in to give him a hug. Devin was so surprised that he froze, taking the hug with tears on his face. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t do this.”
“Dad’s gone. He’s gone! Because of me, Bella.” Devin screamed, “This is my fault.”
“Mom’s crazy, and you know that. Dad had heart problems, and I know you heard Mom and Dad fight all the time. This is not on you.”
“No, buts.” She shushed him. “You're a little kid, let the adults handle this.”
“You're a little kid too.” He sniffled.
“I’m four years older than you, that puts me four years closer than you.” Bella gave him a smile which he weakly returned. “Do you want ice cream from the parlor?”
He nodded, and his older sister held his hand to walk with him. Devin’s perspective was cast out of the memory, and he watched the memory brighten even further, pushing the darkness away as the siblings went around Bainbridge for the day. He basked in the warm glow further, savoring the time he had almost entirely forgotten.
The happiness was short-lived. But it was there, and that was not nothing.
Devin wasn’t a little kid anymore. He understood what happened, and how there was nothing he could have done to change what happened, yet how could he be the same after that experience? He may be an adult now, but he was a child then.
He shouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place.
Luckily, he had his sister. She used to be his rock when his life got crazy, which happened all too often around his mother. God knows she was suffering too, but she set all that to the side to take care of me. Devin noted, watching his sister in the memory step in front of him to subtly protect him.
She put herself on the chopping block, all for him.
Devin had long built a wall around himself to shield himself away from the world, but maybe its purpose was now obsolete. That changes now.
He made his choice, even if it was the only one he had left.
Archetype Chosen!
Soulsmith
Endorsement bestowed!
3 skill slots gained!
Skill Soul Extraction gained!
Spell Enrage gained!
Boons True Soul and Soul Forge gained!
Commencing Sacrifice
Shadows writhed like tendrils around his limbs in the twilight around Devin, but a spark was already lit in him, pushing away the darkness that tried to bind him. So much energy was injected into Devin that his mental form became roaring bonfire only to morph into a raging red star.
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Shrieks echoed through Devin's deckspace as the shadows shied away from his radiance, and as they left, Devin felt the connection between him and his deckspace snap back into place. Dewey sent a barrage of mental messages through their bond, which he accepted without paying much attention to them.
The evil that had infiltrated his mind had turned its full attention towards Devin.
“How are you free of my Black Prison?” It had asked him with that same raspy voice that haunted his dreams. “No matter, more aether should do the trick.”
An ocean of black flooded the twilight waters around Devin, streams of evil energy snaking their way toward him. Devin and his familiar joined their rings together, propelling the shades away from him in a blast of energy.
“You think a measly two-circle formation can stop me?” The raspy voice scoffed, sending waves of disgusting black energy to Devin. “You’re two thousand years from being able to stand on my level. You can’t stop my fear with your soggy hope.”
“Hope was just the spark.” Devin pressed his two rings together, creating a wispy violet ring in between. “That’s all I needed to start a fire.” [Focus] honed his attention on the soul beyond his awareness, tracking the echo of its movements as a flood of black energy surrounded him.
A mix of [seize] and [destroy] tinted arcanium swelled around Devin, meeting the mass of shadowy tendrils, but he was clearly outmatched. For every blast of energy he sent into the darkness, three more stalks popped up in their wake.
And there were hundreds.
Devin pumped out as many blasts of arcanium as he could, but he couldn’t keep up with the ocean of black bleeding into the sanctuary of light his memory gave him. Already, the illumination was fading along with the memory, giving the tendrils of darkness a greater foothold, leading to a nasty feedback loop.
Less light gave way to more darkness that in turn devoured more light.
A squeak resounded in his mind, reminding him he wasn’t alone. A daring idea raced through his head, and he quickly put it into place while barely warning Dewey; there wasn’t enough time.
For the first time ever, Devin changed the framework of [focus] ever so slightly, using it not to alter his mental state, but directly on the spinning rings over his head. The protective veil of shimmering light disappeared. The darkness surged towards him as his power was concentrated into a small, ball of thundering plasma—
Nature’s Spearhead + Familiar’s Guidance + Violence Incarnated
=
Incarnation of Glorious Victory
Incarnation of Glorious Victory (Combo)
Win, boy.
An Imperfect union between three tier 1 circles, endorsed by the Original Berserker. Half-Step tier 3 circle.
Alignment: Undefined
Tempo: N/A
Effect: Undefined
—but was vaporized before they could touch him. An explosion of energy ripped through the dark space, repelling the ocean of darkness away from him.
“What?! How?!”
A blend of [refine]’d resources directly fueled all five of his skills, all of which were perfectly slotted into the tier 3 circle. Devin’s mental body was immolated from the heat and pressure of the power he contained, but he endured, manifesting a tempest created from intent and pure willpower.
The cancerous whispers morphed into benign screams as the darkness itself was stolen and converted into energy to feed the living wildfire that was Devin.
Another wave of desperate shadows tried snaking their way to him, but they couldn’t get anywhere near the corona of flames around the arcanist. The raspy screams from beyond his awareness tried to assault his soul, but they couldn’t find purchase on the writhing wrath alit within.
He was owed a pound of flesh and he would have his due.
Devin allowed the dark shadow to pelt him with weakening waves of shadow; he was far more concerned with the spark of wrath in his chest, noticing how it burned hotter, brighter, with a deeper crimson flame.