Within a crystal palace corridor fitted with paintings on both walls, One painting glowed with dark lights and a boy soon came flying out of it.
Sprawled on the red carpet lining the crystal corridor's path, the grey haired boy looked up to the ceiling. Floating balls of white mass moved slowly as they hovered inches below the roof. These balls of white mass did nothing but to illuminate the surroundings.
"Ah..." Dominic grunted and raised two arms. Two complete arms unharmed.
Upon confirming his body's perfectly healthy state, his gaze wandered to the painting that had ejected him. Just the sight of that broken painting was enough to make his heart grow anxious. His eyes shook, shrinking into dots, lips parting into gritted teeth.
"I'm never touching that again." Dominic stood up. Walked away from the clawed portrait and left the corridor. The crystal palace garden was full of lush foliage.
Trees, herbs, plants... The garden breathed out fresh air. It was a strange gas that resembled mist. White mist filled the whole garden.
Dominic took a deep breath. The mist entered his nostrils and his body felt more relaxed.
His throbbing head finally found peace.
Sitting cross legged on the verdant green grass. Dominic descended into thinking once more. His mind calculating and digesting information.
"This is utterly stupid..." The grey haired three year old shook his head.
He looked up to the skies. Unluckily, there was no sky in this place. The world above was only but a mere dark void. The areas far beyond the crystal palace's reach was dark and empty.
"I have a damned cheat..." Dominic sighed. Looking at his palm before tightly clenching it into a fist.
He opened his status window with a single thought.
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[Dominic Remington]
Sex: Male
Age: 3 years old
Class: (Undecided)
Subclass: (Undecided)
Trait: [Ill Fated Star] (Mythical) [#"?!=](???)
Attributes:
Str: E+
Ten: E+
Dex: E+
MI: E+
Spirit: E+
Invariable Attributes:
Charm: 7/10
Luck: -1/10
Willpower:8/10
Int: 7/10
Skills: [Fate Palace] (Mythical) | [Trauma lv1] (Rare) {New!} | [Pain Resistance lv2] (Uncommon) {New!} | [Basic Puppetry lv1] (Uncommon) |
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Dominic had just spent a short time in this palace if his time inside the broken painting was mot counted. Yet he had already gained a lot of new skills, some positive, and some negative.
Sighing again. Dominic thought of leaving and the world around him changed once more.
He was now back in the little lodge which belonged to his grandmother. And that person was looking down on him.
Dominic blinked. His eyes gazing around the room. He was tucked neatly inside a soft, warm and cozy bed. Antionette sat idly to the side on a chair. Watching over him.
"Grandmother..." His lips twitched.
His eyes trailed onto the windows. They were locked. But he could still see the world outside blanketed in pitch black. It was night time. But the night was full of screams and shrill pleas for help.
"Finally my little grandson has stirred awake."
Seeing that her precious little grandson was now fine, Antionette heaved a sigh of relief. Her shoulders relaxed as if a huge thorn was removed from her throat. It was as if her worries had finally evaporated into the air. Touching Dominic's neck, the old woman furrowed her brows, grabbed the towel placed on the child's forehead and drenched it in water once more before setting it down on it's previous spot again.
Puzzled by how his grandmother was showing more care to him as of now, Dominic tried to stand up and Antionette intercepted. Strings hugged Dominic's body, and it bound him onto the bed like a spider cocooning their prey.
"Don't try to move. You have a fever, and the world outside isn't really safe at the moment." She chuckled softly, patting Dominic lightly on a head and started peeling an apple with a knife. One hand remained stationary while the other lightly twisted the apple, lines of red skin was continuously peeled off unbroken. Antionette finished the menial task within seconds.
Cutting the apple into slices, the old woman took a slice, extended her hand and fed it to Dominic. The grandson and grandmother duo painted a picture of serenity. The night outside may be filled with screams and howls of beasts but these two remained unhindered.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"HElp! Let me in!" A sudden knock at the door surprised the two. Grandma Antionette's face wrinkled into a frown. Snorting, her hand waved at the air and the door flew open. Strings strangled a bleeding stranger and dismembered him into pieces in seconds.
Dominic munched on more apple slices, watching that display of gore without batting an eyelid. His grandmother could brutally kill hundreds of people in front of him but he wouldn't care a single bit.
A few more hours passed and Dominic's fever subsided. Upon recovery, his eyes focused onto one of the windows. The night was still around. And it would take more hours till the false sun rises. His mind started thinking about it again.
Pale unstable flesh. An amalgamation of dozens of faces and bony arms. A mouth situated on its torso as it walked on all fours. It looked nothing more than a terrible demon. It was the monster that had killed him.
Thinking about that creature still irked Dominic. He felt uneasy and vulnerable.
'If it weren't for that unknown skill activating. Then I would've really died.' Dominic understood right off the bat what had happened.
He was killed when Antionette left to deal with the monsters due to him entering a trance and peeking out the window. He had died. He was sure of it. Watching his body torn shred by shred from his severed head was something he would never forget. The pain, the helplessness. It was far too vivid and far too strong.
He remembered about the other skill that he had, the Fate palace.
A palace floating in a space full of nothingness. A special place that he could enter after expressing the desire to do so. A grand palace stretching as far into whatever horizon there was in that vast emptiness. Made out of pristine crystal, it emitted light that soothed him. And the plants inside released mist that helped his mind concentrate.
It was strange... Dominic knew himself well. And he was one to never really forget things.
There was never really a time where he met a sketchy looking beggar. Helped anyone in need or did he strike a deal with a higher being. In his past life, he just lived for himself and for his adopted, non blood related little sister. Even the few friends he had made, although having issues, they were normal.
'Who could have given me this skill. A mythical skill even. It might even be stronger than it looks to be...' A mythical skill, although Dominic never really learned how skill rarity worked in this world, a mythical is still a mythical. When a legend is forgotten or had grown too unclear, it becomes a mere myth.
Antionette came back to her seat besides Dominic's bed. She took something out of her sleeve and shook it. It was another pitiful Milon. It's wiggling leg like roots desperately wished for escape. Unfortunately, the one who held it captive was an old monster disguised in human skin.
A sweet aroma filled the room. It smelled like honey and butter scent. Bubbles flowed out of the Milon's stalk like a carbonated drink.
Antionette smiled at Dominic. Presenting the now dead rare monster to him. To which the latter could only helplessly frown at.
"Grandmother. If you keep feeding me I'll get obese." Rejecting, the child turned his head slightly the other way.
Antionette chuckled and waved her hand dismissively at him. "None sense, You should eat everything I give you. Keep eating and just stay in this house, safe from everything else. Grandmother shall be the tree that protects the small sapling."
Smiling bitterly, Dominic sighed in his heart. This was his grandmother after all. Antionette was one strong headed old lady. If she insists that something is good then it truly is good.
Yet Dominic cared not about that right now. He had used his skill and spent time inside the Fate Palace. New possibilities revolved inside his head. The world was cruel, and he refused to stop thinking of the future and thinking of the worst case scenarios.
"Grandmother. Tell me..." Dominic softly called out. Antionette perked her ears to listen with a patient smile.
"How do I kill a demon with my own two hands?" Antionette froze.
She observed the child that was now sitting on the bed with his back against the wall. His usual lifeless dull grey eyes were now glowing faintly. Light had returned to them and they looked as sharp as an eagle's eyes. Determination and hate seemed to ooze out of Dominic as the room's aura changed into one of out most seriousness.
Antionette could not fathom why her little grandson was acting this way.
'It's as if he's not a child but a ruthless man hiding inside a young body." She pondered over the matter and became worried. She was able to see through those eyes. Those eyes were familiar to her.
She had seen it once before.
Dominic's eyes were one of a tormented man who had died a hundred times.
A man willing to sacrifice anything to walk to the end of the world.