"Who are you?" The archangel asked menacingly while squinting his eyes slightly as if he was trying to look inside of me. I was too shocked to answer, one wrong word and it might end right here.
"A lost soul? Are you? I wonder how you managed to avoid the judgement of a Zenith God, but no matter, I shall lead you into the core of the Truth Pillar and divulge your deeds." He said, following with slow steps towards me. I was at the edge so I had a good chance of escape, but was it the correct thing to do?
'Fuck it! I don't have time to think!'
I slightly pushed myself off the cliff and flew off above the mass of people.
"What?! An immortal soul.. You didn't come from the destruction of the demon god. How long have you hidden yourself here?!" The archangel yelled and ran to the edge of the cliff where I previously stood. He reached out his hand towards me with runes starting to appear on his palm. I knew it meant that it would be the end of me.
'Come on, god, show yourself! Show me your light, damn it!'
Ripples of light tore into the sky and once again the octagram shaped light pillar reveals itself. The procedure of judgement began aswell, I was included in it this time. I was glowing just like everyone else, but I was the one without any color.
"Impossible! I didn't give the command!" The archangel yelled.
The light blinded my vision and my flight in mid-air made me lose perception of location.
----------------------------------------
*THUD*
"Ahh..?" I opened my eyes.
There it was, the blue sky. I was starting to wonder when I'd get to see it again.
I felt incredibly dizzy like I've had a thousand year slumber and someone woke me up with a hammer to the head. I was lying on the ground, but something was not right... I was missing clothes.
Rather, my whole back was sizzling in heat! I quickly jumped up and look down. It was dry soil.
I looked around me and saw nothing but dry soil right up to the horizon.
'Damn, a desert?' I thought. Atleast it was better than being judged by a faulty system.
"Where have I gotten myself into?" I said quietly and sighed. I wondered if my strength has remained within me so I looked at my hand.
"Holy... Shit." I muttered as I saw my arm was very muscular compared to before. I looked down at myself and saw how aesthetically my muscles were shaped. It was like a sportsman's body!
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'The effect of the technique? I only did it for a few minutes, the fuck?'
'...'
'This is overpowered as 'ell!' I was feeling ecstatic over my new body, although kind of cheated. It became almost maddening how good this ability was; my heart was beating very fast. I didn't like it when I had an abnormal heart rhythm.
I wanted this feeling to go away; I took deep breaths and thought about something else.
It took atleast 20 minutes to calm myself down. I also noticed that each breath I took after 10 minutes increased my lung capacity and inhale-exhale speed.
"Good." I said. I thought if I take care of myself physically and observe calmly I am able to overcome this obstacle.
'Why didn't adrenaline kick in when I was at the valley?' I wondered.
It wasn't any use to think about it since I didn't have anything to work with. Although I could make out somewhat that the Limbo had something of a mass calm ability to keep order in check.
I started sorting out a plan to familiarize myself with my strength. First up were legs.
I walked calmly and steadily. My feet gave a powerful push so I decreased the force input on that part which fixed my walking speed to a normal rate. I grasped control on walking quickly.
The next thing I tried was running. I started with a small jog which was unnervingly fast; the problem lied in feet again. It required me 5 minutes to reduce the speed to a quarter, which was still three times faster than a normal person's sprint.
"Hahaha! It feels so good!" I laughed as I felt the wind striking back at me whilst I increased my speed. I was feeling freedom from my mortal limits that I previously couldn't overcome. The fun didn't last long as I adrenaline was being steadily pumped into my body again, so I stopped and took deep breaths. After I regained the usual state I continued my training.
It took me approximately 2 hours and 78 breathing pauses to somewhat grasp control. Even after all the running, there didn't seem to be an end to the desert.
The sun was heading towards the horizon slowly so I hurried up with the next limbs, arms.
The first thing I did was a punch. Just a simple punch forward without using much power. Once again, the speed of the thrown punch was as absurd just like the jogging speed. It was enough to make steel shatter; I didn't dare try using full force.
Since I was afraid to try hit with my full force I went on with the next task, gripping. I put my hand in a straight position, my fingers tightly next to eachother and striked the ground. I carved out a dry soil cube like cutting cake with a knife.
Picked it up, put my claws around it and applied the tiniest amount of energy I was able to. It fortunately didn't break apart, which surprised me. I gripped it tighter and it broke off, so I started practicing my handwork.
344 cubes, lots of dedication, a huge hole in the ground and 4 hours later I mastered the power of my hands. I figured it was more important to learn how I use hands for crafting rather than anything that had to do with fighting or running.
The sun had already set and the chills began running through. I looked at the hole in the ground that formed by digging the cubes, so I made use of it and dug further. I was able to concentrate on breathing and digging at the same time so I was able to improve both simultaneously. The stone under the dry soil was tangerine colored.
It didn't take long for me to create a tiny cave with a 3 meter lengthed drop tube on one of the sides. I also carved a boulder large enough to cover the entrance to the drop tube incase any intruder dares to come poking.
I wasn't sleepy, but I was cold. I covered the entrance with the boulder and centered myself in the cave. Inhaling fast and exhaling slow, that is how I increased warmth inside my little den.
I sat down on the cold ground with a bitter face, holding in the anguish. Closing my eyes I thought...
'Status'
...
'Menu'
...
'Come on!'
There was nothing that showed up as I tried to summon a status screen. I hoped there would be some kind of a game element in here. I gave up on it though, since nothing would appear to reveal anything game-like.
After hours of controlled breathing, it was quite warm in the cave. I dozed off after I reached the perfect temperature and waited for the dawn.