Foggily, words came as she regained consciousness from strange, twisted dreams of fire, steel, and the teeth-baring acid of hatred. Something about paths, something about control, something about defects, blending in a blur to make her hackles rise. There was something wrong. Something wrong. Something wrong.
A voice whispered to calm down. Whispered something else about syndromes and VRDS, handicap assist, and pleasant stay. Then whispered more about a girl being found in the sea, finding a home only to lose it, and fury stained with blood before a fall. She saw flashes of a girl that wasn't her, then was her, growing, screaming in ruins, fighting in gilded halls, then falling towards dark waters.
Water closed over her head, and she sank, coolness wrapping the heat of wounds and stilling the flow of blood. Was she cas Siail, Abyss, or was she …. Another name escaped her, fading from her mind even as she knew it was there and reached for it. Abyss, cas Siail, was the only one left.
Death had taken all others. Brothers, sister, parents—they had all been taken into death's void. Left her alone in her fear and fury. The truth spoke hard, echoing over lifetimes. They had always left her alone.
Warmth brushed her skin as something stirred the dark waters she drifted through. Her eyes opened to darkness that was not complete, as faint silvery drifts spilled from above through the depths. No life stirred at her intrusion, except … there was something. A gleaming rippled through the darkness, the shine off scales and sharp fins, and instinctively, she moved her body to give chase as silvery eyes shone back at her for a moment.
The pain through her heart stabbed her deeply as they met her gaze. They were hers. She had to reach them for her own preservation, but as she reached out, something else blurred between them. Landscapes, another world, as the serpent she followed faded into something of darkness and sharp lit towers. No, not something, someplace, but she was already falling into the other world, reaching out for the serpent still.
Forests, deserts, inland seas, and mountains stretched below, with endless fields of ice and snow to the north. For a moment, an entire vast continent stretched out before her as she twisted in the air to finally meet the world that had grabbed her. It was a somehow familiar place, and memories flooded into her. She had walked those forests once, hunting and seeing wild things. She had roamed those vast ice-fields too, hunting with former companions and searching out all hidden things. There was a place there that was secret, full of hidden life and solace amid cutting and cruel cold, and something small inside her whispered she would find her answers there.
Instinctively, she steadied her fall, trying to tilt and glide towards that land of gleaming snow. Something blocked her, however—a foreign influence in the land that the savagery within her wholeheartedly refused with all being. Snarling, she fought it, but found her body sluggish and weak. Blood was still dripping from wounds, and the wind tore it away just as it yanked at her clothes and the weapon in her hand.
She fought it, refusing to let go, and a shimmering, mostly translucent page of text appeared in front of her the next moment.
---
Welcome to Boundaries, User [Native] Gleaming Ocean Abyss.
You are a Half-Human of Savage/Ancient alignment.
You have received a racially inherent quest: Inheritance of a Savage Thing. (?)
You have received a title: Little Descendant of Ancient and Savage Things. (?)
You have received a hidden quest: Hiding from the GMs.
You have received a trait: Faire an T-ath-shaoghal.
You have received a trait: The Deaf. (?)
You have received the inherent stats Savagery and Sovereignty due to your race and affiliation.
You have received the inherent trait Immortal due to your race and affiliation.
You have received the inherent class Psychopath due to your race and affiliation.
You have received the inherent stats Psychopathy; Mental Fortitude; Psychosis; Internal Force; and Weapons' Proficiency due to your inherent class.
You have received the skill Extrasensory Perception (passive; evolving) due to your trait The Deaf.
You have received the Basic skill Grudge due to your past life experiences.
You have received a partial inheritance from a prior life.
1,941,437,846 (62.2%) points of your prior Charisma.
164,191 (45.3%) points of your prior Resilience.
??? (31.94%) points of your prior Knowledge of Worlds.
---
Almost immediately after, another translucent page appeared before her, this time much shorter.
---
You are currently falling through the atmosphere from a very great height.
You sense malicious intent waiting below. Instinctively, you know you need to trigger Immortal before you hit the ground to stay hidden.
Time until impact: 0:57:09
Time until asphyxiation: 0:0:10
---
Abyss barely had time to question the presence of the pages before darkness surrounded her and she was reading another page of translucent text.
---
You have died due to asphyxiation.
Due to your inherent class Psychopath, you can now venture into the Land of the Dead before re-entering the Land of the Living at a random (override) location.
---
Behind the page, floating wisps of light appeared, some high and some low. Below them, reflections appeared as if she stood on the surface of some vast, dark expanse of water. To her senses, nothing lay below her, and only vast space on either side. Above, something immense seemed to weigh down, like the ceiling of some deep cave, but she couldn't tell what it was made from.
One of the lights came closer, resolving into the tiny form of a luminescent hummingbird and even tinier rider. Sparks of glinting light formed and circlet around the less-than finger sized rider's head, and although it appeared vaguely humanoid, she could tell immediately it wasn't one of the human breeds.
Something inside her whispered a name, too quiet to hear. A small translucent page appeared in the corner of her eye, refusing to come farther to allow her to fully see the glowing script, but she didn't think she could read the tangled lines and 3D shapes anyway. It vanished in a moment, and another, larger page appeared in their usual position before her.
---
??? speaks: irreverence:
"Oh, Fallen Hero who has passed beyond the boundary of death. Let the guides between the worlds of the living and the dead lead you through your trials. The judgment of Death awaits you."
---
A thread of silver appeared in Abyss' eyes as they narrowed, her jaw moving slightly. Arrogant little bug. Instead of following as the bird and rider zipped away a short distance before pausing, Abyss knelt to place her fingertips against the clear, unseen surface beneath her. It wasn't water. It was something clearer and colder, sending a piercing chill through her bones and sending danger shivering up her spine. Her eyes widened, something inside recognizing what it was even as that knowledge refused to make itself present in her mind. But she knew … she knew.
Fingers tensing, she willed that immaterial and yet physical thing to her. Cold intensified as more pages popped up and more floating lights around birds and riders appeared around her, but she ignored it. The cold reached for her, numbing her arms and legs as it corroded them. Then it found something else, and power exploded around Abyss like a maelstrom. Ancient memories and knowledge found their way into her mind, detailing the worlds and space between, and how to swim through it with sinuous ease. Dangers and creatures that lived within the space, traveled through the space, and the twisting mazes of labyrinth paths that crossed them. The Tunnels, the true Labyrinths, the Walkers, the ….
Abruptly, it was gone, the power returning to where it had come from as her inheritance, the truth of her being, came up short. But the fear that trembled the limbs of the riders around her when she looked up with glowing eyes did not fade.
---
??? speaks: terrified reverence:
"Apologies, Great One. I did not recognize; I had no thoughts. Pleading your mercy, Great One. I thought you were a Gamer."
---
Almost instantly, the other riders appeared shocked and drew back from the rider who had spoken, acting aghast that it would say something like that. Abyss couldn't find anything in the words that should be so offensive, unless it was … "A Gamer?"
She couldn't hear her own voice. Frowning, she checked her ears with her hands. There were no obvious wounds, but another translucent page appeared in explanation.
---
As a User [Native] with the trait The Deaf, you hear no sounds, but are gifted with the skill Extrasensory Perception.
---
After reading it, she focused back on the next page, with the speech of the riders in it.
---
??? speaks: fear, reverence, regret, caution:
"The ones who think all is a game, and reality is a figment. The … The followers of the World Emperor."
---
The followers of the World Emperor? Abyss wasn't sure who that was, but after thinking about the whole thing for a moment, remembered the page that had appeared right after she'd fallen into this world. "Who are the GMs then?"
---
??? speaks: tone of fear, reluctance:
"Terrible things. They protect the Gamers and seek to twist the world to their wishes through the chains of Aelter. Aelter protects us from them, but even Aelter needs to fear.
---
The riders all shivered at that.
"Who is Aelter?"
---
???? speaks: cautious reverence:
Great One, Aelter is the Aelter-soul and voice of the world. Aelter speaks to all things through floating pages of script but is held captive by the chains of the GMs."
---
Eyes narrowing, Abyss turned the information in her head. The Aelter-souls were one of the things of the space between. They did not come into the worlds themselves, only swam through the between as caretakers, aloof from the worlds. They were not to harm. Silver glinted in her eyes again as fury rose, and the riders around her stilled instinctively in response, the birds giving soft sounds of fear as they shivered.
With a soft hum in her chest, Abyss regained control with a swiftness she vaguely thought unnatural, then waved her hand. "Tell me more about these GMs."
The riders seemed to exchange glances before one spoke.
---
????? speaks: deferential apology:
That is all we know about the GMs, Great One.
????? speaks: reluctance, slight revulsion:
The only one we know of that might know more is … the Litch K, from the Land of the Dead."
---
Abyss considered that and was about to speak when another transparent page appeared.
---
You sense the approach of something dangerous. Your time here is at an end, and you must return to the Land of the Living.
---
Aelter? The thought seemed to gain some sense of correctness from somewhere she couldn't pinpoint, and she waved a hand to the riders. "I need to leave here. Where is the passage back to the Land of the Living?"
The riders danced for a moment in the air in response, and a portal of rippling nothing appeared at their movements.
---
??? speaks: reverence, hope:
"Aelter has told us you are a friend. We will open a direct path for you now, Great One. If there is anything that we might do for you in the future, you can always find us here in the gate-well."
---
Abyss only waved a hand once in response as she stepped through the portal and into the sunlight of ancient, overgrown ruins of reddish stone.
The surroundings were quiet, but not still. A breeze whispered through the leaves and vines overhead, sensed rather than heard thanks to her trait The Deaf and skill Extrasensory Perception. There had been small creatures busying themselves amid the fallen debris around the base of crumbling walls and pillars, but they had all shrunk back at her presence. Farther out, past the ruins directly around her, she could sense other, larger things.
A touch to the stone walls directly to her right revealed that the stone was dry and slightly sandy. The vines twining up and breaking apart the rock slightly further away were strong and limber enough to build with.
Were there actually people who would think that this was a fiction? She supposed it might be something of the case of a dream-walker not aware they were walking. This was much more real than any dream, however, so could they truly not be aware?
She shook her head, banishing the thought as she turned to take stock of her own appearance and state. The injuries she'd gained in that last, somehow indistinct battle had been healed, but the damage and bloodstains to her clothing had not been mended or cleaned. Her chest protector, the only surviving piece of her light armor set, was hanging from one strap in a way that made her wonder how she had not noticed it in the between gate-well. But no, she hadn't been wearing it in the gate-well, had she?
The thought bothered her slightly but wouldn't stay in her head for long. Her light boots were gone, revealing bare feet, and her pants were torn up one side from knee almost to waistband. Her golden-brown skin was covered with grime and dried blood, and her tunic, too, was torn at one shoulder.
It wasn't too much of a set-back. Absently, her fingers found the buckle of the chest protector and took it off before slinging it casually over one shoulder to be mended later. There was no sign of her weapon, despite her memory of fighting so hard to keep it during her fall. It had been badly damaged in that last battle though, so she wasn't too surprised. She could remember hearing the metal crying out for her in the fire.
Pain went through her chest, and she shook it away. There was water not too far away; she could wash the grime and blood off before she started anything else.
Easily, she used the vines and tree roots to climb out of the hollow in the ruins she had stepped out into, seeing no reason to venture around the tangled maze of trees and ruined stonework if she could simply climb up and over the wall. Her fingers and toes found purchase where there looked to be none, and after a few pages popped up informing her of new skills unlocked, she impatiently asked Aelter not to inform her of things like that. She didn't fully understand what they meant, and if necessary, the Aelter-soul could explain it later, but the time for it was not when she was in the middle of doing something.
The Aelter-soul didn't seem offended and agreed, making the changes to her 'settings'. A short while later, Abyss pulled herself up the last few feet of crumbling stone, then stopped to stare in momentary wonder. A whole labyrinth was stretched out below her, and a glance behind showed a mountain covered in more trees and broken labyrinth walls. Beyond the walls, the blue of the ocean glanced piercingly gold as the lowering sun reflected off its moving waves. Here and there amid the labyrinth, more blue and clear aquamarine water showed the locations of open cenotes, another of which was probably the source of the water she had sensed initially.
"Hey, Aelter," Abyss said. "Where is this?"
---
You have discovered the ruins of an ancient labyrinth, called by locals Shan'fa sa'Lai or the Labyrinth Amid the Water.
Currently, this labyrinth is without owner, as the one who built it has passed from this world. As you are of ancient lineage, you may claim this labyrinth as your own. You may then set the labyrinth as your personal homestead and return to it at any time from any location. You would be able to make changes to it later, and as it grows, so will you.
However, as you are of a much lower level than the labyrinth, the creatures of the labyrinth will not instinctively follow your commands, and some functions will remain locked until you are stronger.
---
Abyss didn't have to consider that long. "It's mine."
---
Congratulations for claiming your first labyrinth!
You have leveled up! Your current level is 3.
The ancient labyrinth Shan'fa sa'Lai now belongs to User [Native] Gleaming Ocean Abyss.
Shan'fa sa'Lai is currently at level 33 and in a state of disrepair. Current rate of disrepair: 89%.
The current manager of Shan'fa sa'Lai is Hou'dan of the Lyr-kin, Cheiftain of the Shan'fa Tribe. Current loyalty to Gleaming Ocean Abyss: Blood-feud.
Default labyrinth settings are applied. EXP conversion function activated at rate of 10% until changed.
Due to level discrepancy, labyrinth change commands are locked in the time being.
---
Abyss closed her eyes as subtle memory coursed through her. She had a sense of everything in the labyrinth now, as well as some ideas on how to use weapons differently. It wasn't anything greatly shocking, just a sense of things that hadn't been there previously.
Opening her eyes, she looked over her labyrinth. Ruined, overgrown, and feral—she liked it. Even the spark of hatred that was the presence of the Shan'fa tribe's chieftain was something she appreciated. It should be that way. The Lyr-kin were a fiercely savage breed, as at home in the Tunnels as on the surface of the worlds, and they had remained to defend their territory after the former owner had abandoned them. She welcomed them in her labyrinth, although, if they dared to challenge her authority and possession of it ….
Teeth bared in a grin; she laughed as her deep cobalt eyes shone sparks of silver. Let them come.
It was growing darker as she finally slipped down the last drop and onto the rocky shore of the cenote she had sensed. As far as cenotes went, it was a smaller one, perhaps only a handful of meters across at its widest point, but as far as she could sense, it was much, much deeper. She remained on the shore for a moment to sense for life, her newly awakened night vision taking the growing darkness and turning it into shades of gray. Once she was sure there was nothing but the usual small creatures like the cliff swallows nesting under the overhang, she slipped into the cold water without undressing.
The liquid closed over her head as she sensed the interior of the cenote for yards in all directions. Cool, refreshing, and somehow more comfortable than the air outside, it slipped over her skin and lifted the grime of the day away. Rolling, she dove down and rolled again, simply enjoying the way her body worked with a smooth and natural ease. A laugh escaped her in a froth of bubbles, and only when her lungs were protesting did she surface to take another breath of air. This time she could stay beneath the surface longer, and the moon was shining over the edge of the overhang when she surfaced again. Only then did she stop playing and start seriously scrubbing the grime from her skin, clothes, and short hair.
As she did, she realized she'd forgotten about the chest-piece slung over one shoulder and had lost it at some point during her playing. Ducking beneath the water, she floated for a moment as she searched with her new senses. It had fallen, but not all the way to the bottom before catching on a underwater stone formation. A haze like mist lay in the water as she swam down, and she caught the salt taste as she swept through it with a hand. Somewhere under here, there must be a passage out to the sea, and a desire to explore it held her still for a moment.
It wasn't the time now, so she resumed her swimming to where the chest protector was caught on the rock spike. Behind it, in a cavern in the rock wall, fierce eyes glared out at her in warning. She drew up, floating for a moment in the darkening water as her eyes burned with silver threads, answering the challenge with a threat of her own. They seemed matched; would she triumph if they fought now? She was on the last of her air and it wasn't the best time for her.
It seemed it wasn't the best time for the other creature either, since it didn't move as she slipped closer and reached out for the chest protector. Still, they watched each other, and Abyss couldn't help grinning and rumbling a challenge before shooting up towards the surface with a powerful push off the rock formation. Below, the rock formation crumbled in a shower of rock and froth as a powerful strike with fin or tentacle cut it off near the base, but nothing followed her upwards towards the surface.
Laughing, she broke the surface, then stilled as a new presence greeted her. A man stood on the shore, slim and finely featured, dressed in a simple shirt, pants, and jacket with soft boots. His skin was pale, and so were his eyes.
Devourer. Her instincts roared the name, and instantly, instinctively, her power moved. Force slipped out, coating the surface of the water as she rolled out and onto it, gaining her feet in a crouch before launching herself forwards as power gathered over her limbs in a lethal coating of force.
He had been surprised but reacted almost as fast as she did. Force of his own formed before him in less than a breath, solidifying into a barrier that repelled her strike even as he retreated. The force broke, but her eyes widened, and she retreated in the same moment, repelling the traces of his force that were trying to infiltrate her body with a thin layer of her own power over her skin. It was a second only until she was launching herself forwards again, a long dagger somehow in her hand. She didn't know exactly where it had come from, only that it had been there when she'd reached for it.
He had recovered from any hardship he might have been in from her initial strike and was prepared for her next strike. He slipped away from the long blade as if simply drifting on the wind but had to deflect the next strike with the small blade in her other hand. The long blade spun in her hand meanwhile, reversing grip to strike back at him as he deflected, and when he deflected that as well the weapon split to reveal a hook-chain mace instead. He took damage in order to leap back, but the hook-chain mace was once again a smaller weapon in her hand as she followed him with a powerful thrust of her foot.
Retreating again, he cast out tendrils of his power that she was forced to avoid lest risk falling under his influence, and he slipped away out over the dark water. His mouth opened as if to speak, but she wasn't listening, following him out over the water as power collected under her feet to keep her on the surface as easily as breathing. The weapons in her hands merged to become a long chain with a bladed hook tip, reaching out for him with a chilling thrum. He avoided, only to realize that she was already there, reaching out for him with a palm full of terrible power.
Twisting, he struck out to cast aside that terrible power, and the impact struck her squarely in the chest and flung her away. There was crushing pain, then darkness lit only by a single translucent page of script.
---
You have died to the strike of an Inhuman Half-breed Gi Emperor Re*e/t**[]au[]er.
Your soul has escaped the grasp of Death and refused his call. You are now being revived at a random location on the Continent of the Lost.
---
Her body dissolved into blowing silver dust, leaving silence for a moment before a translucent page appeared in front of the slender figure that had killed her.
---
Why did Gleaming Ocean Abyss not let you speak before attacking?
---
The figure shook his head and turned to leave through the portal that opened soundlessly behind him. "I told you … you are lucky not to have met those others of my lineage. Her kind already has."