As I open my eyes, I stand on a ground unknown to me.

It's a faint whisper of nothingness.

I can't see and I can't smell anyone or anything.

I can't even feel a damn thing...

Out of nowhere, I hear the sound of my stomach grumbling. I dream of a large burger, added with a set of canned soda. I'm really hungry. I still remember the times where I somehow used to dine in an eatery just outside my house.

Speaking of home. Where the hell am I anyways?

I try moving but... there I heard something rattling throughout the area. Although I can't feel it, I think I notice both of my wrists shackled to something cuz' of the weight my hand bears.

Should I panic or should I not? But one thing's for sure. And that's to get out of this place. Anyhow, even with the chains binding me, I can move unhindered. There are no lights to guide me and I feel lost. It's just too dark to see.

I run, and run, and run some more. Oddly, I don't feel tired. However, even with the distance I covered up. I don't think I'm making any progress. It's an endless loop of darkness. With my hopes of freedom dwindling every second, the pure color of obscurity gets even more sinister.

"It's no use. I can't get out of this place." I tell myself.

There are no exits and no entrances. Before I could give up to this unreachable objective of escaping this dark world, something beckons me to push through even further. So I did.

I run the farthest I've ever been and I'm surprised how I don't feel the slightest hint of fatigue building in my body. Although I see nothing and that I don't know if my body is the way it used be, the solid ground keeps me in knowing that I am in fact running somewhere.

The unseen chains fills the area with only the sound of dangling noises. I'm kind of irritated now that I mentioned it. As I move on for what seems to be countless passing hours, it felt like an eternity. My stomach still grumbles and I am hungry. Nonetheless, I don't thirst for water and I'm beginning to feel more inhuman as I discover new traits developing inside me.

I wondered on the previous thought I made ever since I opened my eyes.

"Where am I?"

Everything is dark and decrepit. Looking at myself doesn't even begin to describe it since I can barely see.... No, I can't actually see it. It's as if darkness itself mended together into everything giving off even the slightest faint glint of light and I am part of that darkness.

Days passed on. But the thing beckoning me on moving further intensifies even more including the never-changing sound of rattling metal. It's still quite irritating though cuz' the only thing giving off sound is the chains. Nothing more. I hoped for something better but expecting something in the Abyss is just going to fail my expectations and It'd just leave a bad taste.

Months passed by. Or was it years? I don't know anymore. My sense of time is numbed and I can't predict how long I've stayed here, in the dark. But the 'Will' is still there, forcing me to do the impossible. My hunger has grown to the point that I would consume anything.. if anything at all that's shown in front of me. But the darkness has repressed that desire and I push onward. Things such as a man's feeling of pleasure has slowly faded away from me.

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What was I? I can't recall somehow.

Decades, centuries, a millennia. A very, very, very long time has passed but I still stretch those two limbs on the ground and I never did feel tired of it. Until such time that I finally saw a glimpse of flash reflect before my eyes.

This is it. The hope I've been looking for. I draw closer and closer. It's been a week or maybe a month and I feel myself getting nearer. Suddenly, just a mile close to that seemingly bright gate shaped blaze, a square-sized panel of even purer darkness falls from who knows where. Written in the panel are words saying,

- I commend you, oh soul born from darkness. The one who strides through the Abyss. Although it is apparent, you have been called, moreover, summoned by a race known as Humans. A pact has been made in order to cite a presence of strong origins. Apparently, you have been chosen by the Abyss as it has felt your longing for desires. You will be given two simple choices. -

- Do you accept the summons, or will you stay? -

As that panel stayed there, afloat. I have thought for a good long while. That "good long while" turned into a day instead. I notice that I've grown attached to this gloomy atmosphere. The sound of chains which I thought irritating had rather given me comfort after centuries of running.

I have decided.

"I accept." Was my answer. But actually, my statement was something else entirely.

My vocal cords sounded abysmal. Come to think of it, I haven't spoken for a long (Too long to even count) time. With that being said, sparks , opposite to that of darkness, began to circle around me. I felt the blazing gate of light instantly facing in front of me.

- Very well. You have made your decision. Although you will not be able to return to your original world, the world you wil be summoned in is quite similar. For a final message, the Abyss thanks you for being its only resident. It is gifting you with special characteristics. You will find out what it is once you've arrived. Farewell, oh nameless one. -

My sight lands at the final statement and then my mind blanks out.

•••

Everything seems blurry but I could make out some figures in front me.

"Your Highness! The summoning is a success!"

"By the Gods! We're saved! The prophecies has been right all along!"

"Hail to the heroes!"

I see a figure seated on a chair and he stands up. All the other figures in the large room bows down except for others who seemed different somehow. As the man slowly approaches, my vision clears.

There I saw an old man wearing a crown, adorned with a robe covered in jewelries of some sort. The first figure that I saw in the large room.

"Can someone explain to me why there is a non-human in the summoning? Well, it's fine as long as it's a hero."

The old man looks at me with complicated eyes. Following the old man, most of the other people gaze at me with curiosity. Currently, I don't understand what's going on and everything felt so new to me that I had to adapt to it. Before I could organize my thoughts, a hand was held out before me. It was the old man, or rather, the king. With his hands outstretched, he speaks with a voice loud enough for the people to hear.

"My name is Elmer Ban Weaver the VI, the human king that governs this kingdom. I have come to summon you, heroes, in hopes that you would save our species from the brink of extinction."

His eyes moves over me and to some others that seem to be located behind me. Then he continues.

"We beg you all! Please... please save us. I know it's very selfish of us to force you our burdens but to our own powerlessness, we seek your help. As a king, I will shoulder any request, any that you heroes desire even if it means staking my life on it. I only ask for the protection of this little kingdom."

His left hand beats his chest with his right still held before me. Silence then ruled the area thereafter and I may have seen some people bow.

However...

"You... will... give anything?" My mouth opens by it's own, an abysmal voice comes out. Somehow, my body is moving on its own. There I felt a bad premonition.

The king's expression who had a face of helplessness immediately crumbled with uneasiness. The atmosphere is slowly turning tense.

"T-that is right. But-" He replies yet I cut him off. I feel my reasoning slowly disappearing. I don't know but... I think I forgot something...

"Is.. That.. So? Then..." My hand grabs his outstretched arms.

"I'm sorry... I just can't help it... Cuz'.." I pause for a while. Without understanding why, his arm is severed from his body.

"I'm.. So... HUNGRY..."

I've been trying to hold it in. But my mind blanks for the second time.