“Well, well, little one. I was not expecting a visit from you in quite some time.”
Yet again, Seth found himself in the pitch-black room that was Folly’s domain. I’m getting too used to this, Seth complained in his mind while rubbing his eyes. The last thing he could remember was the insane fight of the Daemon Contest, then the blinding light of Untold’s final attack. “Goddammit, I passed out again,” Seth grumbled before turning to the grinning shadow on the other side of the room. His face quickly morphed into a grimace when he saw the dimly lit figure.
“Christ, what the hell happened to you?”
The normally pale being was now a grievous visage of black blood and exposed muscles. Although, the same impossibly wide grin was still ever present on his covered face, “My captors thought it a good idea to take my skin as punishment for my recent tomfoolery.” Blood continued to pool on the ground while Seth could only sit and stare at the thing. Do I even want to know?
“So why exactly am I here? Also, if I am here, how come I didn’t see any of that… stuff… like I usually do when you summon me?” he asked in an effort to change the subject.
The being teetered forward while the chains behind it continued to stretch into the abyss.
“BEAUUUUUUGHHH!!!” Folly screeched with its long black tongue flailing wildly.
Seth shrunk back in fear before the figure finally arrived a couple meters away from Seth and ceased screaming. A large trail of black blood was left behind from the trek and Seth seriously wondered how a person could lose so much and still be alive.
“What the shit was that all about?!” he gaped at the still grinning carcass.
A cackle escaped the thing’s mouth and the chains binding it creaked.
“I must have forgotten my skin was gone, those chains can really pinch your nerves, huh?”
Seth just stood there dumbfounded, unable to think of a response.
“As for your questions, I do not know myself. It seems your feeble anima ran to me instinctively after witnessing a power beyond your understanding, bahahaha! Although, I am surprised you were even able to contact me at all on your own. Usually no peon of your caliber should have the ability to resonate with higher beings yet.”
Seth glared at Folly for the casual insults before trying to get more information out of him.
“What do you mean resonate? Are we not in your domain right now?”
Folly shook for a moment before giving Seth a childish pout.
And he calls me ‘little one’? What a joke.
“No we are not, little one. Your anima has unconsciously resonated with mine so you are able to speak with me directly. Do you think I would be displaying myself in such a state if we were in my domain you silly child?”
Huh? Seth thought.
If he can display himself in any state while inside his domain…
“Why are you always in chai-” Seth was about to ask when he was rudely interrupted.
“It matters not, since you are here, I might as well make use of you. Tell me, little one, have you made any progress with my little gift?”
Seth’s previous question flew out of his brain, and he just stared blankly at the skinless creature.
I totally forgot…
“Uh, what gift? You never gave me one.”
Seth’s half-baked excuse clearly did not move the bleeding figure.
“You mean to tell me that an omnipotent being with powers beyond your comprehension gave you a gift, and you forgot?!” Folly spat while a new frown was stretched across his face.
Before he could concoct another poor excuse, the figure’s mouth shot open, and a familiar ink black tongue flashed toward Seth. With a disgusting pop and an explosion of pain, the tongue quickly retracted and hung just outside the confines of Folly’s maw.
Seth watched with a mixed sense of pain and horror as he identified what exactly the tongue was cradling. It was a rib bone.
“Next time, think twice about ignoring a gift of mine, little one.”
With that, the room began falling apart and the creature holding one of his ribs was gone.
--------
“GEEEEAAAUHHHHH!!!”
Once again, screams signaled Seth’s arrival back onto the mortal plane.
With a desperate once-over, Seth was incredibly relieved to find that he was not, in fact, missing a rib, nor bleeding out. He also found that he was no longer in the arena, but rather, in his room. He noted absently that there was a piece of paper sitting next to his bed. Seth’s train of thought was all screwed up, but he quickly remembered the task at hand. On an almost comical one-eighty, he furiously began to kick the wall while cursing the stupid skinless creature and everything it had to say.
If you weren’t so fucking terrifying, I would kick you right in the dick I am not totally sure you have.
In a huff, he finally calmed down while simultaneously mentally telling the flurry of whispers that erupted at the mention of Folly to ‘fuck off.’ Seth really did not want to give into the will of his Umbra, but he more so did not want to gain anymore possible PTSD from angering the thing again.
With a resigning sigh, he mentally pulled up his cache and navigated to the aforementioned “gift” that he received a couple days ago. A small black notebook willed itself into existence in Seth’s hand.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
What’s this, his dream journal? He mentally identified the notebook.
Fool’s Errand:
-An all powerful being gave you a gift. Be grateful.
“Is that name supposed to inspire confidence?”
Seth almost didn’t even open the damn thing. Unfortunately, he knew what would happen if he failed to fulfill his task, so begrudgingly, he turned to the first page. Surprisingly, he found nothing. There were roughly fifty pages, all worn and slightly burnt on the edges, but no content resided anywhere on their surface.
…This a Death-Note?
Right as Seth began veering down the wrong train of thought, a blink started appearing in his peripherals. With a raised brow, Seth mentally navigated to the Menu and noticed the Quest tab blinking steadily. As he opened it, a frown spread across his face.
You got to be kidding me.
New Quest: Fill each page with one liter of the recipient’s blood. (Reward: Concept Treasure (Class A)).
“No clue how to feel about this one,” he claimed aloud.
On one hand, a ‘Concept Treasure’ sounds insanely valuable. I’m pretty sure Grayson mentioned that Domination had something called a ‘Concept Galaxy’ so this could be a real boon. On the other hand, having to bleed myself out a fifth of my bodily liquid for however many days sounded like a real shit idea. I would say that I have already been very close to losing my mind quite a few times now, I don’t know if self-mutilation is the best idea at this point.
Seth quickly thought back to his first encounter with the Fouler.
“Well, let’s put this second on my dumbest ideas list.”
--------
Seth lay back in his bed, cold sweat dripping down his face as he struggled to stay awake. After using a plain knife he found in the kitchen, Seth had soon discovered that a liter of blood was way more than he thought. In his first try, Seth had ended up cutting his wrist much too deep, and promptly splattered at least a couple cups on the floor in his panic. Luckily, he had the idea to just put the notebook right on top of the wound, which allowed him to sit and wait while it soaked his gore all up.
Right when the first page evaporated, he swiftly pulled out one of his lower classed recovery crystals and observed in silent pain as the cut healed itself.
“I need a burger.” Seth sighed, tired and hungry from his experiment.
A thought poked the back of his emptying mind as he remembered the note sitting on his nightstand. Seth sluggishly reached over to grab it, groaning the whole way.
Apologies Seth, it seems I might have brought you to the contest a little prematurely. I did not think such a powerful individual would be participating to which they would be able to overcome the suppression of our viewing booth. As payment for my mistake, come by in a couple days and we can talk about your future endeavors, as well as compensation for finishing the job I assigned you.
Be Well
-Grayson
“What a chump, bet I was the only one to pass out.” Seth grumbled to himself.
A bang accompanied by rather loud voices interrupted his thoughts. He slowly got up while moaning a little more. Although the recovery crystal basically fixed his body, acting as if he was still injured provided a bit of normalcy to the oddness of being able to almost instantly fix his body. He made his way out of the room and started down the hallway. The voices in the main room grew louder as Seth approached.
“-are you even saying? Who gives a damn if you can ‘find treasure,’ being able to beat any monster is way better.”
Sydney’s voice echoed out through the apartment. Seth turned the corner to find both Will and Sydney squabbling on the couch.
“Seth! There you are man! Come here and settle this argument. Isn’t being able to find treasure way cooler than beating up some stupid mindless monst- OWWW?!” Will yelped as Sydney gave him a ruthless charley-horse.
Seth flinched as he watched Will hold back tears.
“So, which is better? Killing monsters or scavenger hunting?”
Sydney stared menacingly at Seth with a fist raised in a clear threat. Seth took a seat across from the two while holding his hands up in surrender.
“Killing monsters, no question.”
Sydney smirked in victory while Will continued to whine and rub his leg.
“Aww, you coward! Don’t just agree with her like that! She’ll become even more of a brat than she is now!”
That comment earned him yet another charley-horse, sending him sprawling on the ground in agony.
“Sorry man, but I actually do agree with her on this one. Finding stuff is not my cup of tea.”
Those poles were enough of a pain in the ass.
Will looked like he was about to throw a tantrum.
“Whatever, you guys just don’t have the mature taste of one such as I.” He finished with a turned cheek.
Seth raised a humorful eyebrow while Sydney scoffed at him.
“What started this argument in the first place?” Seth questioned.
“We were talking about some jobs from The Chrome. This jackass is apparently some sort of ‘rare find’, so he gets jobs with a way higher payoff. It’s complete bullshit.”
Seth was about to ask more when Will stopped him.
“Don’t mind her, she’s just pissed that anyone can bash heads, but only cool guys like me can find treasure.” Will claimed with a satisfied grin and mocking tone.
“According to The Chrome, when I hit tier four, I have the affinity for a badass class that allows me to find damn near anything.” Seth was taken aback for a second.
“Class? Like a video game?”
Will smirked at Seth with a high and mighty look that was likely to get him another charley-horse.
“Yeah man, I know all about the stuff. Maybe if you guys spent some more time asking questions than killing crap, you would be as cool as me!”
A glare from both Sydney and Seth soon put a damper on his attitude.
“Well, I call it a class, but apparently that’s different for people with other types of Nuture abilities. It’s exactly what you think, some title that opens pathways of growth for the person. I also know about Concepts Systems too, apparently they are very important for future growth.”
Concepts? Seth’s interest was piqued.
“I heard a bit about those, what exactly are they?”
Sydney crossed her legs and sat back, taking the spotlight from Will.
“I got this one. Concept Systems are something that anyone looking to become a higher tiered being needs. My sources say that they are like some deeper truths that if one can attain, empower the person, like, a lot. For example, if two people punch each other with the exact same amount of strength, the one with a Concept Moon would not only have a stronger punch, but would probably also knock the other out.”
Seriously?!
“Wow that sounds awesome!” Seth gushed with enthusiasm.
Will rolled his eyes next to her.
“Of course you only think about their use in a fight. They have way more uses than that, jeez. But don’t get too excited man, I was told that you can’t just get them all whenever you want. It’s supposed to be really hard to get one, and even if you do, they are that much harder to grow. Not to mention, there is also a limit to how much you can get based on who you are. Everyone has the capacity for one, which kickstarts your Concept System. After that, it reveals how much you could get. As far as I know, the majority of the population only has the capacity for one. But don’t ask me how to get one man, cause if I knew I would be showing it off right now.” He sighed.
Sydney sighed as well, signaling that she had no idea how to get one either.
Hmmm… I’ll have to pick Grayson’s brain about that next time I see him.
The silence brought him out of his thoughts. Seth looked over to find both Will and Sydney not saying anything. Old habits began to resurface as Seth tried to stop himself from squirming in discomfort. The term ‘comfortable silence’ was something Seth was never able to share with others before. Even being thrown into a new dimension and gaining some supernatural abilities did nothing to change the awkwardness of an extended social interaction. Seth closed and opened his mouth multiple times, trying to start a conversation but failing. Thankfully, Will spoke up.
“Hey guys, since we checked out some stuff and registered with The Chrome, how bout we go hang out together tomorrow. I’m sure there is some cool stuff to check out.”
Sydney shrugged at his proposal, “I’m game.”
They both glanced over to Seth who had a relieved look on his face.
“Sounds good to me.”
Will clapped his hands together and gave them his best tilted head smile.
“Wonderful!” He squealed in a cutesy voice.
Sydney’s face took on a scowl while Seth cracked a grin.
“Never do that again.” She commanded.
Will started to pout and Seth began to laugh while making his way over to the console. After a little back and forth, the group decided on something to eat, and Seth ordered it up. Together they joked around while eating for the rest of the night.
This… isn’t too bad.