Zane glanced around, waiting for the next wave, but after the rumble, nothing came.
"Huh… weird." He said out loud. He plopped down on his ass and leaned back on his arms.
"That was intense."
Pora manifested next to him, "that was a pretty powerful ability…"
"you're telling me. I didn't even understand half of it, but I could feel what I needed to do."
He mentally thought of his abilities and a screen popped up:
[DEATHLIGHT AURA] - ACTIVATED
"You glow, you drain life, you look like a haunted lava lamp having an existential crisis."
[COST: 0.01 SOUL EMBER/ MINUTE
RADIUS: 10 METERS
EFFECT:
-15% Attack Speed
-10% Defense
Minor HP Drain
Can be forcibly erupted by sacrificing an entire ember crystal.]
[IRON WILL, HOLLOW HEART] – PASSIVE
"You can't knock him down. Gravity gave up trying. Depression took over and called it home."
[Gravegrip: +200% Might when wielding weapons. Yes, even that oversized slab you call a sword.]
[Spell-Cast Mid-Swing: Because who needs logic when you've got flair?]
[Saint's Weight: Immune to knockback, pull, or launch while grounded. Plant your feet, king.]
[Aura Anchor: Standing still for 1.5 seconds grants 20% damage reduction.]
[Retribution Mechanic:
Block an attack = Gain 1 Retribution Stack
Reach 5 stacks = Unlock DREAD EXECUTION
Unblockable
Deals massive bonus damage based on Resolve
Inflicts Fear on enemies below your level
Sounds like a funeral bell and probably ruins someone's day]
Pora looked at Zane. "Look" was the only way he could describe it, since it did not have any eyes. "It looks like a passive ability with five parts. Pretty op if I had to guess."
"If you had to guess?" his confusion clear, "aren't you apart of the system?"
"Oh yeah, for sure." Pora turned away. "Let's see what's coming next."
They waited.
And waited.
After what felt like an eternity of awkward breeze and internal panic, something finally snapped. The sky dimmed. Air in front of them split like fabric being torn by God's scissors.
Zane jumped to his feet, "that's new."
Pora popped back into his mind.
"Good luck, champ!"
Champ. Why does that sound familiar?
He raked his mind, but before he could dig further, the slit widened and revealed a black tar-like substance. A man stumbled out of it, clearly intoxicated, a drink still in his right hand and a blood-red book in the other.
"Wooahhh, almost spilt me drink." He slurred.
He steadied himself, frowned, then spun around. "Tis ain't the pirate ship…"
His gaze landed on Zane.
"Oi, you, where in the bloody devil's sea am I?"
'Is this the next fight?' he asked in his head.
He felt a mental shrug from Pora, "I guess you're about to find out."
'gee thanks, that helps a lot.'
"Hey pirate guy, are we supposed to fight? This dumb system hasn't said anything yet." He yelled at the man.
"Fight?" The man hiccupped. "Boy, I am the greatest duelist that sailed the eightfold seas, you won't stand a cha-." His words cut off as he turned around to puke.
Zane looked away. "That's fucking disgusting."
Just then a window popped up.
[WELCOME TO PHASE 2, WAVE 2]
[DANGER LEVEL: RUN]
[SURVIVAL CHANCE: HA HA HA]
[MURLOCK DEMON LORD LEVEL: STRONGER THAN YOU.]
Zane blinked. Murlock Demon Lord? He was clearly looking at a drunk pirate and did this thing, fucking laugh at him?
"Pora did you do that??" he asked out loud, annoyed. She popped into existence in front of his face.
"I may have influenced it a little…" she said innocently.
"Influenced? Are you manipulating the system?" now a bit angry.
"Manipulating is a strong word; I just encouraged it to laugh at you." Pora said cheerfully.
"Did you have anything to do with me getting a legendary class?"
Pora put a tentacle up, "I-." the tentacle dropped, "I'd love to answer that, but it seems you have more pressing matters," and like that, she was back in his head.
"Was that a bloody floating jelly? I need to stop drinking." He said as he took a deep sip from his bottle.
That's when it happened, a massive black leathery claw came through the black portal. A forearm the size of his torso followed, the muscles rippling with every movement. A head popped out, horns that reached toward the sky, one on each side of Its forehead, glistened in the outdoor light. It's eyes a deep red with two black pupils in each. All on a frog-like head with markings in white paint and sharp jagged teeth that had never known a toothbrush. The other half of its body came through, wielding a, what would be staff had a normal sized thing held it, but to this monstrosity, it looked like a wand.
"About damn time," the pirate said, dropping its bottle and opening the red book. Then he changed, a ripple and in the pirates, place stood a tall man wearing glistening white armor with black markings on the chest, a demon head bleeding.
A staff manifested in his right hand, and he looked at the demon lord. "It's over now, I'm done chasing you."
Zane looked between the now sober pirate and the demon lord, baffled. What the hell is this? His anxiety was going through the roof; it was too much for him.
The Demon Lord let out a high-pitched scream that sent a shockwave out, sending Zane and the pirate flying.
"Time to die." was all the low guttural voice had for them.
Zane screamed as he soared through the air, hitting a wall like a fly on a windshield, the air escaped his lungs, and he let out a sad wheeze. His Graveblade bounced a few feet away, embedding itself into the dirt like it was sick of his shit.
[HEALTH: 19/100]
[INJURY DETECTED: LEFT ARM FRACTURE]
[DIGNITY: IN SHAMBLES]
He groaned and rolled over. "Okay. Screw phases. Screw waves. Screw whatever sadistic entity designed this entire system —"
The Demon Lord snarled, its dual-pupiled eyes locked on the white armored pirate. He did not know if he was a pirate still…
The Demons' staff cracked with energy, void-threads whipping across its body like unstable space.
They were not fighting for fun.
They were finishing something.
Zane dragged himself toward his sword. Every muscle screamed. His vision had warnings blaring from every corner.
[WARNING: STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY.]
'Yeah, yeah, I'm falling apart, I get it.'
The demon hunter, that's what he would call him for now, lifted his staff, shouting something in a language Zane could not understand. A brilliant arc of light exploded outward, carving into the demon's flesh.
The Demon Lord roared. And lunged.
Zane instinctively reached for his aura, but there was nothing left to burn, his head feeling like it was about to explode.
His shards were empty, he did not remember using any since he rested, but he now realised he had his aura active the whole time.
"Fuckkk," he whispered, the reality of his situation becoming more imminent.
"Pick up your sword and roll to your left," Pora finally broke his self-pity.
He did.
A second later, the Demon Lord's staff slammed into the spot he was lying, annihilating the stone into glittering vapor.
The demon hunter appeared beside him, pulling Zane to his feet like he was no heavier than a feather. "Get out of here, this isn't your fight." His voice was much deeper than when had been a pirate.
Zane looked up, dazed. "What are you?"
The man smiled.
"Exiled Saint of the Eightfold Seas."
That did not answer his question at all. He was now more confused than he had been before he asked that question.
"Sorry, I mean, who the fuck are you?"
The man laughed, deep and patient. "Thay call me Caelen Vire."
"I don't mean to interfere with this lovely moment, but you still have a demon that is trying to kill you." Poras' voice rang in his head. 'Shit..'
Caelen's armor pulsed in rhythm with the sea, his staff resonating like a lightning strike ready to end the world.
He turned toward the Demon Lord.
"I've chased you across planets, realms, and nightmares. You die here." Caelen said.
The clash was instant.
A ripple of golden light shot out from Caelens staff, it struck the Demon Lord, and he hissed. The staff in his hand glowed a deep red and black tendrils grew from the glow, then a massive red and black ball of fire formed and launched toward Caelen.
Caelen did not wait, he leaped towards the Demon Lord, his staff growing a golden blade and he swung, the brilliant golden light sliced across the sky as the arc came crashing down. The demon moved, dodging the down swing as he backhanded the exiled saint and with a loud crack, Caelen was launched into a crater, and a second later, the demon focused on Zane.
Zane swallowed, "Why am I always doing this to myself." He cried out as he turned and ran.
The Demon launched and was in front of Zane before he could get more than three steps in. Zane did not hesitate, he swung his massive sword wide and missed.
The demon brought its leathery claw down and tore through Zane's ribs like they were paper.
[HEALTH: 4/100]
Zane was sprawled out on the ground, no longer holding onto his sword. He looked up at the Demon Lord and braced for his death.
A golden light lit up as Caelen appeared in front of him in time to block the final blow.
Zane laughed in relief and stared at the sky, he noticed a ripple and felt a presence, like someone or something was watching. He tried to say something, but the ripple had vanished and with it, his consciousness.
***Wanderer of Sanctified Depths***
Outside of the Realm of Trials, the Wanderer of Sanctified Depths opened his eyes, not with sight, but with gravity. The void bent around him in reverence. Light refused to touch him.
He stood at the edge of the universe, cloaked in a mantle of collapsed constellations. Each step he took left trails of spatial distortion, as if the universe itself did not know how to hold him.
In his hands, folded like origami from dying galaxies, rested a mirror.
The mirror is not meant to look into the system trials.
And yet, it showed him something impossible.
A class that should not be in his universe.
A soul that did not belong.
Zane Morgan.
The mirror trembled, the vision distorting.
A presence, foreign, luminous, alive, floated beside the boy. A creature pretending to belong. Not a god of this world, not even a god from this universe.
The wanderer tilted his head ever so slightly. A thousand galaxies warping and imploding in motion.
"You are an anomaly." His voice would cause storms across the galaxy.
"Hiding and breaking. Unaware of the chaos."
Then his attention turned to Zane, the boy who was being dismantled by a Demon, a weak one, but stronger than any trial born creature.
"This should not be." The being murmured.
He touched the edge of the mirror. Space refused his entry.
All he could do was watch, observe.
"I will find you, Zane Morgan."
Then as if Zane had heard him, the boy looked at him through the mirror, into his soul. He let the vision fade, and the mirror vanished.
"That should not be possible." He closed his eyes and let his body become one with the cosmos.
"Survive," his voice whispered carrying through space and time. "And I will find you."