Chapter 5: Chapter. 5: Revelations of Dreams 

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

I found myself in a black void. I never really understood what the words of my father meant no matter how many times I read them. I didn’t know what it meant to overcome fate, nor where the end of the world was. Armag Hollow was nearing the edge of what was considered the habitable zone according to a map inside my journal.

Still, the words of my father resonated within my head.

“Sybil.” I heard my name be called, though it was distorted. I turned around only to see a figure in a cloak, it was distorted and hard to see. I walked towards it as I felt a sense of familiarity. “Out of three fates I predicted for your ascension, you have found the path of the Fallen Flames.”

“Who are you?” I called but the figure continued speaking without facing me.

“Fallen Flames, first spotted over thirty-thousand years ago by the Immortal King himself. Weird properties that are cold yet hot, two different states. Other properties are reminiscent of the fallen phoenix flames that some salamanders carry. They can reach the absolute zero temperature, only recorded in the first bottom-most layer of the Dark Hollow; they can also burn matter itself at their peak. Fallen Flames now can only be found far beyond the stretches of the world.”

The figure perched its hand on its chin, still, all I could see was their back.

“You’ve found yourself a great primary aspect.” It turned and all I saw was darkness. “Don’t you think so, Sybil?”

My heart jumped.

“Father?” I called as I felt my throat close, trying to stumble towards him. But no matter how much I walked, I couldn’t get closer to him.

He turned back towards the void.

“Father!”

“The Immortal King Aileiron, the first being to reach the ninth tier, destroyed the entrance to The Beyond just over ten-thousand years ago, and now humanity pays for the consequences. Gone are the golden days of spiraling cities, now the land is laid to ruin by the parasite that is the Dark Hollow. Magic is fading and those of higher tiers just watch from their abodes. It’s infuriating, isn’t it, Sybil?”

I paused. “Father?”

“And yet ways to connect deeper to The Beyond exist, multitudes and hundreds of them, thousands upon thousands. Secondary Aspects that are the strongest remain to be found.” It turned back to me. “Sybil, reach the second tier and leave the Region of Armag Hollow. Greatness is not to be found in that place.”

I blinked. “How?”

I almost felt him smile. “You will figure it out for as long as you have that journal I left. As you progress, it slowly unfurls its true contents.” He faced the void. “That is all. I must go now, Sybil.”

With those words he began to walk away. I tried to call his name but nothing came out. I tried to sprint but no matter how I ran after him I wasn’t any closer.

“You must have a lot of questions, unfortunately answers must wait.”

He faded into the void.

“Remember. At the end of the world you may find me. It’s a tough path, but you are Sybil, my daughter. Perhaps we will see each other in this manner again.”

My vision went black, and I jolted awake. A burst of blue flames illuminated the entire clearing as I looked at my shaking hand. I had nothing to say, so many questions that I could just utter a single thing.

“Why?”

The flames faded as I found myself in total darkness again. There were no sounds, only the static in my ears. I relaxed my body for a moment, before I felt like crying, at the same time it was alien. That person was my father? I had expected some apology for being abandoned, something for leaving nothing but a journal behind, but in the end there was nothing.

Who is my father? I didn’t know. I stared into the darkness for a few moments before I felt rage.

“You could’ve at least apologized for leaving me to rot…” I gritted my teeth as a few tears streamed down. “Asshole…”

And yet, in spite of my bitterness I just felt glad. I wasn’t forgotten. In fact, he seemed to care a lot about me ⁠— wherever he was. It was more than obvious to me that my father was a powerful Ascended, yet he still thought about me. Perhaps it was because most others in the mines were truly orphans, but I just felt glad that at least there was someone out there that thought about me.

I shook my head, there was no use in thinking about it. Maybe I was just trying to convince myself that he wasn’t objectively an asshole. Only time would tell.

I went back to sleep.

* * * * *

The Overseer sat at his desk, eyes closed with a neutral expression. He was the ruling figure of the Grand Mine of Armag Hollow, the man that oversaw and supervised the entire mining and digging operation. It was a simple job most of the time, but other times it was a difficult one, and this time around, it was a difficult one.

This caused him more stress than relocating the base. Even though the base was located at nineteen-percent depth Prowl Reapers lurked everywhere. They were just adamant and afraid to step into the light. Trying to leave the Grand Mine proved to be quite difficult due to it. Even the logistic problems did not bother him as much as this.

Slowly, the Overseer opened his eyes, his expression changing to a small frown as a shadow formed on his sunken eye-sockets. He looked down at the surface of his desk as he shook his head.

“Sybil, you’ve become an Ascended, huh?”

Multitudes of thoughts popped into his mind. Most of the time his job was simple, and the very few times that it wasn’t it was overly complicated and tedious to deal with. He stood up from his chair and looked out of the window towards the multitudes of mine entrances. Lights illuminated every single one, and more, from the metal buildings to the storages. His tower loomed over everything, overseeing the numerous metallic structures with running pipes.

He was the ruler of the Great Mine of Armag Hollow, and not doing anything about the problem that had popped up was unfit, but for now all he could do was wait for her to grow stronger. Right now, he couldn’t make a move, for he had to wait. It wasn't the time yet, judgment had yet to be cast.

Closing his eyes he saw the girl sleeping, he saw the numerous horrors that lurked inside of the Great Mine, and he also observed the culling squad led by Endrar set off.

Just like he had told them, they all wore Second Grade Artificial Relics, and Endrad seemed to have taken extra precautions. Soon, the Relic that Sybil had found would be recovered.

The Great Mine of Armag Hollow, it was his place and territory, and he wouldn’t let anyone leave without his approval.

That was his will.

As the Overseer appointed by the Mayor of Prowelwater he had a duty to fulfill for the sake of humanity.

* * * * *

I woke up, unknowing about whether it was day or night anymore. My helmet was completely dead, and the marker on the light box that used to tell me whether it was day or night, was gone along with it. It took me a few moments to come to terms with things, at the same time the magic inside of me was completely filled up, or as the journal had very rarely called it mana. All things considered, I was about twenty-three percent into the Grand Mine of Armag Hollow, or so I thought.

It didn’t exactly matter, but from what I knew it was best to not venture past what I would identify as forty-percent. That said, all I had were my senses to tell me how far I had gone. I held the cold metal helmet within my hands. There was no solace or anything, I felt alone, and a bit hungry. I wasn’t exactly rearing in returning to the camp, but perhaps I had to do so soon. Even if the food was dry and almost inedible, at least it was actually edible. Even though I had a way to cook the Beasts of the Dark Hollow, the journal said their flesh was poisonous to most beings, so it wasn’t something I could actually use as a food source. There was also the water problem.

A sigh left me as I tossed the helmet to the side. It hit the faraway cave ground with a clang. I thought for a moment, before I remembered the dream from earlier. My mood wasn’t all that great regarding it, but I recalled the details better without getting emotional, and there was something that my father had said that I did not think all that much about.

He mentioned something about his journal changing. I reached to my side, and fiddled with the bag to find the zipper, and took out the journal. It was akin to a leatherbound book, except it was quite big and heavy, yet it didn’t have all that many pages, it was quite thin. I felt its cold surface before finally taking a deep breath and sitting up straight. I had some doubts, but carried my plan anyway. Lifting my left hand, I pointed up and slowly⁠— very slowly and carefully guided my mana to my finger and activated [Fallen Embers].

A small wisp of blue flame generated atop of my finger, as if I had dipped it in burning alcohol. The light illuminated my surroundings way better than the helmet lamp. I smiled, content with my results before peering down at the journal, its black rugged exterior reflected the azure colors of the flame quite nicely. However, I wasn’t going to admire its finish any longer, instead I opened it and peered into its first page.

I read a bit and⁠— the contents had actually changed.

If you’re reading this, it means you have Ascended. Congratulations Sybil. I’m sorry for abandoning you and for not answering your questions during the dream.

I blinked. Wasn’t the journal written close to twenty years ago? It gave me a weird feeling, but I accepted the apology and continued reading. There were more things that I wished to understand. Things that I needed answers for and hoped to find.

◇ ◇ ◇

Mana is the source of all magic. It used to be ever present and didn’t need to be contained in the bodies of individuals, but when the entrance to The Beyond was shattered, the leylines that transported the mana throughout the world vanished. Now, mana is fading from the world. Even though the Ascended can regenerate their own mana unlike other humans, it is an intensive process for the body.

Mana is most abundant in the bodies of Beasts of the Dark Hollow or the places they reside in.

Or so it said. It also mentioned that in other words for as long as I was in the Grand Mine of Armag Hollow I could use all the mana that I wanted. Of course it didn’t say it explicitly, but it implied that for as long as I was fighting Beasts of the Dark Hollow, it was fine to burn all my mana. But otherwise, it would be tiresome to regenerate my mana.

There was also an entry that I didn’t understand all that much.

It is possible for a normal human to improve their internal mana storage through rigorous training. A human trained to their peak is able to beat an average merfolk in a fight. It is best to remain wary of anything. The world is your enemy, Sybil.

Well, I understood it, just not quite. It however, meant that even though I was an Ascended, any well trained human soldier could beat me in battle if I wasn’t careful. Not like I had ever seen a soldier. I also didn’t believe I was completely untouchable or superior or anything like that, but it was a nice reminder. Thankfully, I wouldn’t need to fight humans any time soon.

That was the first page alone, the entire page explained mana in detail. I made sure to commit the things to memory before moving onto the next page.

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◇ ◇ ◇

The Ascended.

They were individuals that had been connected to The Beyond, and due to the manifested connection they were able to modify and change their bodies with the help of it, as well as store and regenerate mana. Or that was the theory that my father had. It wasn’t particularly emphasized in the second page or even mentioned again, instead it focused on something that I found much more enlightening.

The explanation of the status. It was quite straight forward, much more than I had expected. Nonetheless I committed things to memory as I slowly read.

How Life Essence followed the equivalent and ratings of each race⁠— which matched my initial vague assumption. To be honest, all the explanations matched my assumptions, or at least the surface level ones. However, it soon got into something that I didn’t think about.

My Primary Aspect. It was what connected me to The Beyond, and something that couldn’t be changed. It was bound to me until I died.

I looked at the blue flame within my hand, and felt something. I was unsure of what, but I was bound to the Fallen Flames for the rest of my life. Perhaps taking what the journal said at face value wasn’t wise, but I trusted my father enough to just do so. He had said it was a good Primary Aspect too, and the Fallen Flames had allowed me to overcome death numerous times.

I was still injured, but my wounds were closed. It was probably explained due to the fact that I was the equivalent of an Ancient Human, which I assumed would be much more durable than the current humans. Well that didn’t matter too much, apparently I would be able to improve my Primary Aspect as it gained level.

And my level itself was my aspects combined, or in my case just the level of my Primary Aspect. It didn’t expand on what a Secondary Aspect was or even mentioned it more than once, but I was okay with that. It was something introductory.

Soon I finished reading the page and sort of knew what to do with my attribute points, however as I flipped to the next page, there were only a couple of paragraphs that were speaking directly to me rather than trying to teach me, and their contents were a bit off-putting.

Sybil, I will be very blunt. If you don’t listen to what it says down below, you will most likely die.

◇ ◇ ◇

It was basically an explanation on what to do with my free attribute points and what not to do, explaining in detail why and why not. Being honest, I disliked the bluntness that the text had, especially how it seemed to guess my thought process too. Mostly the one about wanting strength so I could tussle better with the beasts I was fighting, but it dissuaded me from that.

Instead, it recommended me to throw all of my points into agility. Endurance was something that according to my father I would only need to think about if I was planning on not eating for numerous days. Attribute points at the beginning were precious.

Nonetheless, even though I was going to follow my father’s advice, it was reluctantly. I supposed I wished to experiment a bit, but it wasn’t the time or place for that. With that in mind, I followed his main advice of:

Your wisdom should never surpass your agility.

Fallen Flames did not do more damage from strength or hitting things particularly hard, but rather from their own power and burning things. So I had to avoid most damage and have enough magic to whittle or kill my opponents, which I agreed with. The only thing that I found strange was that it was called wisdom.

After a few deep breaths, I distributed my six free attribute points.

[Name]: Sybil

[Level]: 7

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

[Primary Aspect]: Fallen Flames. Lvl. 7

[END]: 9 [STR]: 7 [AGI]: 13 [WIS]: 12

[Skills]: [Passive: Fallen Embers. Lvl. 2], [Fallen Ember Bolt. Lvl. 3]

The parts where my points were shown had disappeared completely. Nonetheless I liked what I was watching, and I also felt oddly better, perhaps light was a way to describe it.

I nodded and flipped the page only to find⁠—

The era of Grand Magic has long ended…

Words that I had already read dozens upon dozens of times. I closed my book, and turned off the blue flame before storing it into the bag again. It was a bit disappointing that there were only two and a half pages to read, but at the same time it was probably for the best. One thing that I couldn’t help but think about was the fact that most humans would have what would translate to an attribute average of just about ten.

Well, I supposed it made sense but I still found it great how high my agility was now. I made sure to secure the bag around my body before standing up and turning the small ember on my finger once more. I dusted myself off and grabbed my pickaxe before trying to make a decision. I looked at both sides of the cave, deciding on whether to return to the camp or continue venturing forward.

But in the end, the answer came by itself.

Growls and roars echoed through my ears as I looked onward, and three Beasts of the Dark Hollow came from the depths of the mine. All three were familiar. Two had four eyes and smaller frames —Prowl Reapers — while the other one was much bigger, with groups of serrated teeth and dripping saliva. Its six eyes eyed at me and my flames but it simply let out an excited growl. A Prowling Harvester.

The World’s Voice soon came with information.

[(Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 6]

[(Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowling Harvester. Lvl. 7]

[(Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 5]

I smiled as I saw them giddy to pounce, but I simply pointed my right hand at the biggest and most dangerous beast, the Prowling Harvester and made a finger gun motion.

“Bang.”

A blue flame zipped and instantly hit the Beast of the Dark Hollow. It was sent back tumbling with a shriek of pain, one that triggered its brethren to pounce towards me. The two Prowl Reapers rushed in my direction, but this time I did not panic as I simply ducked and evaded. It felt easy, and even though I had mild pains in my leg, my increased agility allowed me to do things I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, including the ability to not stumble and fall over. My balance had been improved by it.

Nonetheless, I held myself off from burning them to death and chose to experiment instead.

The Prowling Harvester got up and stood still, and at that moment I made the same hand motion as before. It tensed and evaded, before shrieking and charging towards me. I couldn’t help but grin, it was the added experience of my previous battle, but I just knew how it would play out.

I stepped back, evading the two Prowl Reapers and prepared my pickaxe. The Prowling Harvester pounced towards me and I slammed the weapon down with a burst of [Fallen Embers] from my hands. The fire spread over to the metal tool as it slammed down on the beast’s skull. I felt it crack as the flames whirred and charred its body.

[You have slain: (Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowling Harvester. Lvl. 7]

The two Prowl Reapers seemed to hesitate, but I simply pointed my finger at one of them and fired⁠. The bolt struck it, sending it tumbling as its fur melted and smoked. As soon as it finished rolling, the World’s Voice spoke.

[You have slain: (Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 5]

It had died in a single bolt. The other Prowl Reaper roared and charged at me without regard to its life. I stepped back, drawing my pickaxe before hitting the Prowl Reaper off with a deft swing. Before it could react, it too was sent flying with a burst of flames.

The Beast of the Dark Hollow let out a shrill cry as its body combusted and melted to the blue flames before it died.

[You have slain: (Beast of the Dark Hollow) Prowl Reaper. Lvl. 6]

And then came an unexpected notification.

[Your primary aspect has leveled once from this encounter. Current level: 8]

I blinked for a moment, as I looked at my surroundings. Three beasts of the depths of the mine had been slain in a matter of seconds. The same Prowl Reapers that the workers feared back at the camp had been killed nearly instantly.

I blinked for a moment as I took a look at my mana. And it was almost full. The mana efficiency of [Fallen Ember Bolt] had improved greatly. At that moment, I couldn’t help but smile as I distributed my attribute point into agility, making it 14.

And then I looked at my skill point, I pondered for a moment. The ember bolt had gotten more efficient and stronger after each level up, and my passive skill was something that didn’t really spend less mana from what I remembered upon leveling up. In a sense, mana was my weapon, and the more I could use it, the better it was for me.

With that thought in mind, I placed my attribute point into [Fallen Ember Bolt] and I grinned as the World’s Voice spoke.

[Fallen Ember Bolt has gained a level. Current level: 4]

I looked at my work of burnt corpses and at my mana. Distant growls and sounds came from deeper into the cave, and at that moment, I smiled and made my decision.

This is going to be fun, I thought as I walked deeper into the mines.

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