Chapter 21: Chapter. 21: Carbonized

Darkness, an endless abyss, an immaterial void; everything and nowhere at the same time. Sounds, chilling sounds encroached, scratching, padding. There was a residual feeling, one that told me that I wanted out. I reached to the void and tapped it; tapped and tapped. Eventually it gave way, bringing light to my world.

I chirped, and everything faded.

Darkness returned. The words in my mind lingered, something about surviving, something about preparation, but that wasn’t necessary, the directive was the true thing. Kill to get stronger. The world was quiet and nothing but a shadowed place, desolate and full of random beasts. Before I knew it I had strong feet and a good beak.

I pecked and killed, taloned at throats and got stronger. Eventually I felt something within me, a potential to be awakened. There were others, other birds, others of my kind, but after I awakened, after I began to think. They no longer regarded me normally, there was superiority.

Before I knew it, everything ended. Before I knew it I was in a bright world, and a prompt appeared in my vision.

[Become the Guardian of your tribe? Warning: This will bind you to your tribe.]

I always ignored it, I wanted freedom eventually, but it was fun to be respected. Eventually I grew to like my brothers and sisters, even though they clearly regarded me as something more, as a sort of leader. Not much changed, except for the fact that I felt an icy call in my head, but there was also warmth.

Whispers of both elements reached me, but I always used ice. It was in my affinities. The warmth was odd, but I was already different than all the other birds. None became like me, none got any smarter nor thought for themselves. The world was relatively peaceful in comparison to the world of preparation.

Bloodshed was common, I had lost count of how many of us had died. Mercy didn’t exist; kill or be killed. I had learnt that eventually. When a towering being chased all of us into our cave we had to fight it to prevent our death. Mass killing was obvious, I remembered a small critter in that place, it was two-tailed and swift, but as the days passed I saw less and less till they all disappeared.

All of them had died.

The new world was different, and calm. That was until an elf, or what my mind told me was one ⁠— according to the memories of The System ⁠— shot my kin. She murdered them in cold blood, her eyes reminded me of the world of shadows. I tried to run, give her the benefit of the doubt. But she chased like an apex predator.

All of my locked memories came back, all the screams of agony swarmed me.

* * *

The System whispered it told me my race would be fine if I became a Guardian, it said I could even revive them. But I knew my brothers and sisters would understand; the first thing I did was kill one of them, then two and three⁠— and finally I was level 10. Surely I could purge the intruder⁠— or so I thought.

They all turned against me.

I had no choice but to kill them too, had they been replaced? Did they forget the terrors of the other world? It had to be the elf, it just had to⁠—

* * *

I cried, I didn’t know what made that maniac try to kill me. But she was to blame, the call of the fire got stronger as it burnt my head with guilt. The cold told me how silly and wrong it was.

And then⁠— she came back.

Fire was thrown, from the deepest depths of my being, my rage contained. But she was stronger, faster, swifter, nimbler. Part of me always hoped she’d die in the next attack, and eventually I thought she did.

Except she didn’t.

I needed something to kill the elf⁠, something to end her once in for all⁠—

I became a Guardian as new abilities flooded my brain, new capabilities. My own being changed, my thoughts became clearer than ever⁠— That’s when I saw it, the flame came to me with sparkling lights, they were beautiful⁠— the essence of the flame.

Oh how it danced.

* * *

The System.

Its strength that it had granted to me was fading. And yet the elf was alive, no matter how hurt she was she would get up.

Within my new knowledge I gave my everything, but it wasn’t enough.

That’s when it clicked.

This was just a colorful shadow world.

It had forsaken me.

The System had forsaken me.

◇ ◇ ◇

I awoke with a gasp. Foreign memories flooded my mind. I was a Kame? I struggled with confusion as I tried to arrange my newfound knowledge. And something shone in my mind as everything faded away. They were distant visions of fire, distant visions of magma that sparkled. A fiery bird rose from the molten lava and streaked through the sky, leaving behind wisps that spread throughout the star-filled backdrop, only its magnificence remained in my mind.

Then there was a small wisp, a small flame that I recalled. Oh how small it was. It stood against the wind and water, it shone and grew, it consumed and singed. Eventually it became an inferno, blazing, able to evaporate anything.

Then there was a fiery tornado, it moved and swirled. Much the same it all consumed.

The visions of fire continued, but they were abstract and hard to understand.

[No fire affinity detected.]

[Would you like to learn E ranked Prophecy: The Undying Wisp?]

I stared with my mouth agape. Those memories were a prophecy? I looked around only to see a charred land of black. I could do that too? I almost agreed, and then paused.

“Glim…” I called with a hoarse voice.

[You’re finally awake!] Light generated next to me. [Oh, let’s see… A Prophecy, a good one! But… Don’t take it Blair, you don’t have the affinity for it. If you were to force yourself to use it, ignoring the second and third-degree burns, you would struggle to advance it for the rest of your life! Don’t get me wrong, you’d eventually build a heat resistance, but it would be an up-hill battle!]

I frowned. Then I needed a Prophecy with Dark Plant affinity? What was the likelihood of that?

“So I must acquire a Dark Plant based one?”

Glim bobbed. [Not exactly, for you see some Prophecies don’t require affinities. Besides, do you really want the Prophecy of a genocidal chicken?] It chuckled to itself. [Blair, please. Grandness awaits you, dream higher just like that⁠—] It trembled. [Uh oh, cannot disclose information of the other people⁠: Rumors say that in one planet there was a guy, that knew a guy that was a sort of Emperor, and rumors say he had big dreams⁠—] It trembled once more. [That’s the limit of what I can share I suppose. I can at least say that the guy in the rumors wouldn’t settle with this!]

I nodded but frowned. “So it’s bad for me, and I cannot use it…” I mean I could technically use it. But if I could find something better then…

[Worry not! You can always save it! But be warned, once you acquire a Prophecy changing it is quite the… task.] Glim hesitated with the last part. [Anyway, just tell The System you want to, you know⁠— store it for later?]

I could just do that?

I stared at the prompt. “I want to store the Prophecy.”

The prompt in my head changed.

[Would you like to crystallize E ranked Prophecy: The Undying Wisp? Warning: Degradation period of 2 days.]

“Degradation period?”

[It shall disappear once that time is over.]

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I nodded. “I would like to crystallize it.”

A splitting headache ensued, and the memories vanished like smoke. In an instant, something shone in front of Glim, a small fiery crystal. It gently landed on my palm as the headache slowly subsided.

[E ranked Prophecy: The Undying Wisp. 1d 23h 59m.]

That sure was convenient. I nodded and looked for my bag only to have something settle in, I still had my bag and it was still usable. But the surroundings were destroyed. I had no arrows and no potions. Asking the system didn’t do anything either. I sighed and put the crystal inside the bag, hoping I wouldn’t lose it.

Then I stared at the timer.

[Incubation Period: 4 days 13 hours 15 minutes]

Some time had passed, the sun was still up because… reasons.

I sighed before recalling my notifications.

[New Milestone reached ⁠— Skills Available]

[Ecology Dissection II (Common F) ⁠— Progress (10/10) (Completed) Would you like to receive your rewards?]

[Claim your rewards at the chest.]

I decided to go one at a time, at the same time the skills would take the longest. First thing I did was receive the shards of ambition from Ecology Dissection before storing them and accepting Ecology Dissection III.

Ecology Dissection III (Uncommon E): When in a strange land, one must first investigate. Reward: 5 Shards of Ambition. Condition: Kill Beasts of equal or greater level than you. (0/15)

I was level 10 now, but I refrained from using skill points or doing anything for now. I simply moved to the last notification, claiming rewards at the chest.

Glim bobbed.

[Oh okay Blair imagine this, right?] It chirped excitedly. [What if someone decided to leave a chest at the bottom of the murder cave where you almost died?]

I almost laughed. “That would be awful.”

Now knowing where not to find the chest, I got up. I felt the soft and relatively warm ground beneath my feet, it was slightly too rugged⁠— my gaze trailed down with a deep breath. I had no boots anymore, my bare feet touched the ground, they were full of charcoal and dirt. My leggings were nonexistent and only covered my waist like some sort of tribal short. And the vest that I had dangled barely gave me modesty.

My body of course was laced with dirt, dried up blood and coal. I desperately needed a new outfit. I sighed and looked at the only thing that was intact; the goddamned glove.

[Glove of the Lightless Legion ⁠(Uncommon Item) — A single glove of the standard outfit of a Lightless Legion Soldier. +2 to Racial Stat.]

Yay, I unenthusiastically thought and began towards the cave. My belt still existed, my quiver was there, the furr one that is. The one I had taken from the humans turned out to be unfixable; it would spill arrows with the lightest movement so I wasn't keen on using it and decided to abandon it. The human bag was somewhat charred, but the fabric had just⁠— fused with each other into a sort of amalgam? I didn’t really get it but it was usable.

◇ ◇ ◇

Going through the cave was slightly different, gone were the bones and now there were ashes and carbon laced walls. It was no longer eerie, instead the wind would howl as there was nothing there. What once lived here was no more.

It was melancholic if anything.

Eventually I reached the bottom, where a chest was sitting in place of the bird. The walls near the bottom seemed molten as if liquid was frozen in time. Glim floated to my side as a source of light. As I reached the bottom I couldn’t help but feel residual heat, reminding me of the battle. Perhaps I should’ve run, but it was too late to think about it now.

I stared at the chest, it was mute and unassuming, it looked old even. Rewards? The random chests I had found ⁠— while smaller ⁠— were much better looking. I knelt and popped its top open. Small wisps of light came from it before they all vanished, and Glim shone its light onto the chest. Inside was a black pauldron, ornamented armor that cascaded down the sleeve. There was also what seemed to be a cloak which was just plain black.

[Pauldron of The Illusionist Apprentice ⁠(Left) (Uncommon Item) — The left pauldron of the standard outfit of an apprentice of The Illusionist +4 to Mana related attribute. +2 to Mana efficiency.]

[Cloak of The Illusionist Worshiper ⁠(Common Item) — A single cloak of a worshiper of The Illusionist. +2 to Mana related attribute. +2 to Mana efficiency.]

I sucked in a deep breath, did that just mean +6 wisdom? I hurriedly grabbed both, strapping the pauldron across my chest, though it still felt odd now having one arm with a pauldron and one without. I donned the cloak, which made me feel more covered, it so happened to have a brooch in front that had two horns. Which helped me cover up some more. The two also came with Mana efficiency, which granted I didn’t know how it worked.

I nodded to myself and decided to distribute my attribute points next.

Name: Blair | Level: 10

Race: ??? (E-Grade)

Feats: [Lone Survivor], [Bottomless Ambition]

Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),

Universal Inquiry (NaN)

Free attribute points: 4

VIG: 31 | END: 36 |

STR: 30 | AGI: 41 |

PER: 38 | WIS: 25 |

Skills: [Proficient Archery (Passive Uncommon)], [Explosive Shot (Rare)], [Power Draw (Uncommon)]

Attunements: Dark plants (I)

Prime Currency: 100

Though I was quickly stumped. I thought back on the battle, and I couldn’t think of much other than maybe the fact that I had to use a lot of health potions. Or maybe the fact that I needed to use mana potions. A sigh left me having a realization. More agility could’ve been nice too perhaps.

I decided to put two points into vigor, and two points into wisdom.

VIG: 33 | END: 36 |

STR: 30 | AGI: 41 |

PER: 38 | WIS: 27 |

Sadly none of them were bumped. I sighed before turning to the last notification.

[New Milestone reached ⁠— Skills Available.]

[These are the most suited skills for you⁠—

I skipped. “Show me the full list.”

[Sure!]

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