Chapter 2: Chapter. 2: Ascended

The Dark Hollow, a fallen dimension that is connected to Liben, one that is filled with horrors and fallen creatures of the void. A dimension that was once kept at bay during the Golden Era. But after the Immortal King Aileiron shattered the source, the era of Grand Magic ended, and with it The Hollowing began. An invasion of the Dark Hollow upon Liben. The rifts that were once closed by the might of the world and the leylines themselves, split open and fractured reality, unleashing monsters onto the world.

The leylines, the lines that carried mana to all parts of the world disappeared, and now magic is fading from the world. The Dark Hollow will consume Liben whole, and the last light will fade, an era of darkness will come…

Though for humans it is different, for we have lost the ability to touch magic itself. We were already in an era of darkness, forced to live underground and scavenge the buried cities of a long lost age. Cities of the Golden Era that had ended thousands of years ago. Humanity had long been destroyed, now living in remnants of civilization. We are the weakest race in all aspects, even though certain humans are born stronger than others, even the most blessed of us can’t compete with any individual of a superior race.

Even the second weakest race, the ones of the ocean, the merfolk, one of them could take four average humans on their own. We humans are castaways, the bottom of the food chain, and yet my father, also human…

Seek me at the end of the world.

The journal spoke of fantastic places and travels. Places where no ordinary human could be, and yet it spoke as if there were more people capable of doing it. The Ascended. Blessed ones that carried the torch of the Golden Era, an era where humans thrived, an era where all races were equal. And now…

[You have acquired the aspect of Fallen Flames.]

[The aspect of Fallen Flames becomes your Primary Aspect.]

[Gained Passive Skill: Fallen Embers. Lvl. 1]

I could feel a warmth deep within my consciousness. It was like a wisping yet unrelenting flame, a new primordial power within me. The voice spoke once more.

[Your Life Essence is now in the 1st Tier ⁠— Equivalent: Ancient Human of the Golden Era.]

Equivalent to an Ancient Human? It did make sense that humans had changed in some way, but it was still confusing. I didn’t understand how powerful a Third Grade Relic was, but considering how the camp had reacted to Fourth Grade Relics, I supposed it made sense. I looked at the words lingering in my mind, and even though I couldn’t surmise a meaning for most of them, there was only one thing on my mind.

Magic, huh?

[You are now part of The Beyond. May your records be extraordinary.]

And then, I jolted awake. I looked at the azure ceiling, it was akin to stone with glittering dots of magic. I felt a throbbing headache as I looked at the room around me. It was the same chamber, but somehow it just looked clearer to me. Slowly, and with some difficulty I stood up. I looked down at myself, my clothes were ragged and dirtied with a mix of red and black blood, I could see holes in them and yet, I had no visible wounds. Not on my arm, my shoulders nor my ribs.

After a slow blink, it clicked on me. I had healed. I felt a slight headache and my lips stuck to each other. Looking at the distant puddle of black blood it still seemed fresh, which was confusing.

“How long did I…” My throat was hoarse. “Pass out for?”

I asked no one, but I simply enjoyed the feeling of having survived that ordeal. At the same time, I felt different. Deep within me, there was some form of warmth, something that I hadn’t felt before, but at the same time I felt largely the same, just slightly better. I had been connected to The Beyond, the World’s Voice, however I didn’t really understand it. I had undergone changes, but I couldn’t tell what they were.

I looked at my hands. The calluses seemed to be gone, and they seemed to be slightly softer, cleaner almost, but, I also felt as if I was just trying to see things that weren’t there. I had just consumed a Third Grade Relic, maybe I was simply just trying to tell myself it had made a world’s difference. I felt different, but I had no idea in what sense. With that in mind, I had to focus on what was important.

Closing my eyes for a second, I recollected my thoughts and made my decision. I opened my eyes and headed for my pickaxe on the ground, I would focus on getting back and grabbing my journal and the minerals along the way⁠— sprinting to get back to the explored zone, where there was protection and I didn’t need to worry about encountering Prowl Reapers, for the most part.

I grabbed the pickaxe from the ground, its heft was slightly different, lighter perhaps. I looked at it, and for a moment I had a weird feeling, almost like an impulse. For a moment, I felt as if the warmth inside of me moved, but it went away almost immediately. I hesitated for a brief moment, but I decided to explore the feeling⁠— I slowly coerced the warmth towards my hand, and the impulse was back. I looked at my pickaxe, and my mind drifted as I imagined⁠—

Flames.

The pickaxe burst into a writhing mass of blue fire for a moment along with my hand. The pickaxe began to heat as its color subtly changed from the azure flames. My eyes went wide, as I dropped it instinctively. It rattled on the ground with an empty clang and then I looked at my hand. The flames had disappeared.

“What?”

It didn’t hurt or burn. What had happened? The warmth inside of me had dwindled by a perceivable amount. The warmth? I thought for a moment, before finally I couldn’t help but gape as I arrived at the only possible conclusion.

Magic…

But something gave me pause. The warmth inside my body had diminished now. According to my knowledge, one needed the desire to utilize a Relic ⁠— those that required magic ⁠— even though Humans were at the bottom of all races, we had a minuscule amount of magic, a finite amount, so even using a Relic too many times could kill a human, but now I was unsure. Was that my magic? Mana? It most definitely was, and it was finite or so I believed. If it ran out, I would just die, or so I thought. For some reason some nagging thoughts told me it wasn’t the case, but I couldn’t pause and think about it.

I shook my head and grabbed my pickaxe from the ground, it was warm to the touch but it didn’t burn, however there was a certain amount of residual heat in the air that told me otherwise. Perhaps the Third Grade Relic had made me immune to fire, it was a nice thing to think about, but not something that I felt was substantial. After a few moments, I made sure to check everything was in place and headed towards where I had entered.

A small fracture in the wall, one that reached about as high as my chest. I took deep breaths remembering where I had come from, and then resolved myself. I took a step forward⁠— growls entered my ears, familiar ones, quiet and quick footsteps, and from the broken fissure in the wall. It slunk out.

A Prowl Reaper⁠—

[(Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 3]

The World’s Voice spoke in my head, and with a look I could just tell? What did level even mean? It was what the World’s Voice had said… Before I could ask anything else another growl came and from the fissure, another beast stepped into the room. However, I noticed something. Both of them were bigger than the one I had fought, and the one that had just entered was as big as me.

[(Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 4]

I took a step back looking at both of the Prowl Reapers. For some reason the World’s Voice also told me they were from the Dark Hollow, which I didn’t know how to feel about, nor did I have the time to actually think about it. One of the Prowl Reapers, the level 3 one and smaller of the two snarled and ran towards me. My heart raced but I still lifted my pickaxe to get ready to block, and then ⁠— I remembered ⁠⁠— I swerved out of the way with quick steps as the Beast of the Dark Hollow lunged, baring its sharpened claws, twisted and akin to talons.

I took a few more steps back away from the two beasts to observe and couldn’t help but bite my lip. It was more than obvious that I would need to fight the two Prowl Reapers to the death, not just one but two; both of them. It just made me curse my situation, I thought I’d be able to simply return and figure things out slowly, but instead I could only simply⁠—

The bigger Prowl Reaper moved ⁠— rushed towards me, and so did the other one. I gritted my teeth as I raised my pickaxe preparing myself for what was about to come. The biggest Prowl Reaper, instead of pouncing or lunging, decided to tackle me. Just as I was about to swing in defense, I noticed the other Prowl Reaper jumping towards me. I hopped back and stumbled. I managed to avoid both of the attacks before falling onto the ground.

The smaller of the two landed nimbly on its feet while the big one turned and charged at me without pause. With a growl it reached, jumping and leaping towards me. I reached for my pickaxe as my chest tightened and swung it upwards with a small grunt. The tip hit the chest of the pouncing Prowl Reaper and sent it flying with a yelp and a splatter of black blood.

It was an opportunity. I rolled to my feet and held onto my weapon as the Beast of the Dark Hollow was slowly getting up, and just as it was turning towards me, I jumped on it⁠— its eyes went wide as I landed atop of it and wrapped the pickaxe around its neck. It struggled but it couldn’t get me off, both of our strengths being about the same⁠—

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My heart blared as I pulled the pickaxe closer to my body. The Prowl Reaper cried as its claws scratched onto the ground and its head tried to bite something that wasn’t there. I rolled along with it as I continued to choke it to death. I could hear the raspy breathing of the beast next to my ear and the dying throes of it⁠, soon I would kill it. I grinned as I wrestled it, and at that moment, a shadow passed by my vision and I felt immense pain go through my shoulders and back. Claws ripped into my flesh and my grip faltered.

The smaller Prowl Reaper tried to twist me off, but with a resolute clench I kept the larger one held down⁠— I had to kill this one first ⁠— I gritted my teeth through the pain and the panic of my flesh being shredded. I just had to hold off so I could kill this one, otherwise I would just die to both of them, standing no chance. With that resolution in mind, I rolled around with the Prowl Reaper between my arms, while the other one tried to attack me at any chance possible.

We rolled and rolled, I was cut more times on my arms, back and on my neck as the Prowl Reaper began to lose its strength. I gritted my teeth⁠— soon⁠— the smaller Prowl Reaper pounced onto me, but this time it bit onto my arm as it tried to tear my flesh off. I squirmed and my grip loosened, the Prowl Reaper under me thrashed and spun and that’s when I realized.

I am going to die.

I was unable to keep a tight grip on the Prowl Reaper, and then I felt it. A flicker inside of me, the warmth. My magic. Without hesitation, as the beast under me was about to bite my face off, I called on the primordial heat within me. In an instant, blue flames burst into existence all around me. I heard pained cries as the other Beast of the Dark Hollow let go of my arm, and the one under me managed to roll away from me, still burning. I grabbed my pickaxe as I slowly got up, a circle around me was filled with azure flames. The Prowl Reaper that was under me was rolling on the ground as the flames consumed it, while the other one was looking at me with hatred, however I could also see some semblance of fear in its eyes.

I screamed as I rushed towards the Prowl Reaper that was still standing, it growled and tried to pounce towards me, but it was met by a preemptive swing. The blue flames on my pickaxe slammed onto its skull as the Beast of the Dark Hollow yelped. It flew towards its companion, hitting it. and then the blue flames quickly began to consume it as well. Both Prowl Reapers were set ablaze by blue flames as they cried and wailed in pain. It lasted no longer than two seconds, but their cries quickly became hoarse and they eventually stopped struggling. They lay there, piles of black sludge that were still burning to the Fallen Flames.

I took deep breaths as I stared at the two corpses.

I did it⁠⁠—

The World’s Voice spoke in my head.

[You have slain: (Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 4]

[You have slain: (Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 3]

[Your primary aspect has leveled thrice from this encounter. Current level: 3. Check your status for more information.]

My aspect has leveled thrice? I didn’t really understand what the World’s Voice was talking about. At the same time, I looked at my surroundings, they were colored with a flickering blue light. Then I looked at myself and saw I had blue flames wisping off of my body. They were gentle and controlled, my entire body just felt warm. I could also feel my mana slowly being consumed, it was almost like some type of trigger. With a simple desire, the flames extinguished and faded, the room went back to a dim darkness, the only present light was from the ceiling.

I closed my eyes and digested the words from the World’s Voice. The Prowl Reapers had levels, and the strongest one was a level higher than the other, at the same time I reached level 3. So I was now as strong as the weaker of the two Prowl Reapers? I didn’t really get it all that much if I was being honest.

There was also something else.

My status?

At that moment, an image flashed in my mind or in my vision, I couldn’t really tell. It was ethereal, and odd to look at. Magical.

[Name]: Sybil

[Level]: 3

[Life Essence]: 1st Tier. Ancient Human of the Golden Era

[Primary Aspect]: Fallen Flames. Lvl. 3

Free attribute points: 3

[END]: 9 [STR]: 7 [AGI]: 8 [WIS]: 10

Free skill points: 1

[Skills]: [Passive: Fallen Embers. Lvl. 1]

I stared at it for a moment, I didn’t understand what most of it meant. Slowly, I read through it as I vaguely felt like I was beginning to understand what it meant. Very vaguely, Life Essence simply⁠— I had a feeling that ⁠— it was how my life and also magic compared to the other races. Humans were the weakest race, so if the tier went up by one I had to assume that I’d be as strong as one of the sea dwellers, the merfolk. Aspect, it was related to the flames I could use… I didn’t get that one.

Level, I knew that if it went up I’d receive attribute points, which I could distribute into four things that were instinctually easy to understand. Endurance, strength, agility and⁠— wisdom. Wisdom, it didn’t make me smarter, I just knew that from instinct. As far as skill points, I had a feeling it was every two levels instead.

I felt the warmth inside of my body and it almost clicked. I was unsure if it was part of The Beyond or the relic itself, but if I increased my Wisdom I would have more magic within me. At the same time, I felt like there was a limit. After all, there was a limit to how much magic a human had. Even those that were born blessed wouldn’t be able to beat an individual of another race.

After a small breath, I took a look at the magic within my body and I could feel it slowly regenerating. Slowly I was getting more. I pondered about my attribute points and decided that I would distribute them at a later date. I had no idea what most of the things were equivalent to. But, my skill points were another story. I didn’t know when I would get more skills, so I used the one I had by ⁠following my instincts.

[Passive: Fallen Embers has gained a level. Current level: 2]

I smiled, though I felt no difference to my mana, which made sense. I used my flames for a moment, but they also felt the same ⁠— I had no idea what had changed. That said, with attribute points and skill points came a realization.

If I leveled up, I would become stronger.

It was perhaps obvious that I was unsure. However, there was something else, a realization that finally dawned on me as I looked at the two corpses that belonged to the Prowl Reapers.

I had overcome fate. I had become an Ascended. I felt the warmth within me, and realized that I now carried part of the Golden Era within me, a torch that couldn’t be extinguished. I closed my eyes for a moment remembering the words from my father.

Sybil, once you overcome fate itself, seek me at the end of the world.

To seek him at the end of the world…

I looked forward to it. But first… My eyes wandered to the crack in the wall, the only entrance and exit to the room. I had to recover my journal.

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