Faraam stood over the meadow, small as it was, it felt relaxing to stand on it.
But there was such a familiar feeling near him, he swore to himself that there was a piece of his soul just a little way's off.
He stepped into the blazing land that somehow surrounded the green meadow without consuming it, but Faraam did not question it, for he has seen things that can be called into question more than this.
The entire land felt eerie, he knew he did not belong, but how could anything belong here? A question that did not cross his mind for one second, because he was focused on one thing right now.
His suspicions were slowly turning into reality in his mind, and when they fully turned so, he knew what it was immediately.
He saw an approaching darkness, that of a cold and still source.
This was..
The humanity, the same humanity he can gain from the human effigies he uses.
It was such a nostalgic feeling, it had not been long since he was separated from his former world, but when you lose something so dear, it's like you lose years off your life.
He kept drawing closer to this "source", and soon enough, the entire area was shrouded with this cold and ominous presence.
..
Who was that..?
Long ago, in the lands of ages past, long before Drangleic, where Faraam hails from, was a land known as Oolacile.
It was a land of many a people, creatures, and tales.
But among these tales was a tale of a human who was considered an ancient one, a primordial.
His resting site laid a visit to the populous of Oolacile, where word of his past was exchanged, everyone tried understanding the secret of who laid in the grave.
Those who held the knowledge and ability to dig into the origins of this land, and the origins of the gods, could only get as close as relating Manus to the "Furtive Pygmy", but they could not go beyond that.
But the mark was hit, he was indeed a Primordial Human, from the ancient times of the gods themselves, when Gwyn defeated the Everlasting Dragons.
Now, the story to be told is that of his, and how the Abyss came to be.
He was long dead, but some who can only be described as foolish came for his rest.
Why? Why must they excavate that which they cannot comprehend? How idiotic can one get?
No matter, but it was certain someone pushed them to do it, otherwise no one would be in their right mind to think doing that is a sane thing to do.
And as they dug, dug and dug, they unleashed horror upon this world.
The now enraged Primordial Human had no mercy for such idiocy, and his core, his essence, his humanity itself began to shake, it exploded like nothing had ever had before, and the world was never the same.
The Abyss.
Darkness, darkness all around.
The entire land was consumed, it was void, pitch black.
Every human and every single living thing was turned to darkness.
The land lost it's color, and one massive creature stood in the midst of everything.
It was then that the legend of Manus, the Father of the Abyss, came to fruition.
Oolacile, Lordran, and even future kingdoms would never be the same, as all would fight against this abyss one way or another.
Manus, having lost his pendant, his sacred gear, was filled with rage, and with his rage so mighty, he pulled people through time and space itself, any person with the hint of his pendant, any person with any hint of his dear object.
What does that broken relic mean to Manus?
The answer was yet to be known.
And as long enough time passed, he came to fight against the legend himself, the one who sought to destroy the heart of the abyss, the one who was "destined" to destroy Manus, Artorias, "The Abysswalker".
The fight did not even begin, as Artorias' life and mind was lost to the overwhelming strength of the abyss.
Yes, even the legend himself, the man who was supposed to be the frontline against the abyss, fell to it, such was the terrific power of Manus' anger.
Returning to the present, Faraam had arrived at the silhouette of a man, Faraam felt like he belonged here, finally, a place he could call home.
The longing feeling that emanated..
Wait, no, this is wrong.
This is all wrong.
Faraam is a man without any feeling, he has long gotten over such trivial matters.
This is all induced.. By the enormous humanity cloud covering the entire vicinity.
He approached like he was walking down a road, he did not care after realizing that all these feelings were fake, for a moment, he thought he was free of his curse.
He ceased moving when the figure turned to him, it was clear who he was.
His body lines weren't visible under such a massive mantle, and his head fully visible either, but he could make out the important features.
The man in front of him was tall, taller than him by a large margin, his hair and iris were both as dark as dark can get, but his skin tone was closer to pale than fair.
The man approached Faraam as well, but stopped a few steps away, and so did Faraam.
-"A cursed one, I see.
You are on the quest to cure it."
The man's voice was blank, it had no tone of interest nor did he sound like he didn't care.
Faraam had studied the abyss before, alongside his greatest supporter, who taught him everything he needed to know about what a great king is.
And from what he studied, he learned a little about the abyss.
It was necessary to learn about the human effigies he used, it helped him connect more with the essence of the humanity.
Truth be told, he sort of admired the abyss.
He favored Manus and Vendrick, both humans with power beyond comprehension, to the old gods who wished to do nothing but link the flame.
Faraam appreciated Manus for who he is because he showed the world what a mere human can do, much like what him and Vendrick did when they both vanquished their greatest enemies.
He, after learning how the abyss came to be, hoped that in some way, somehow, unleashing his humanity one day would cure his curse.
But that day was yet to come.
For now, Faraam nodded.
And Manus continued his talk.
"You are really powerful, so strong in fact, you're beyond any of my kind.
Well, our kind.
You are like me, yes?
A human.
If so, I do hope that in the time you exist in, the Age of Dark has settled in."
Faraam nodded once more at the first part, then stayed silent at the latter.
-"..."
Manus understood what he implied, he was a great wise person, no matter how monstrous the legend put him as, this was nothing like that.
-"Hm, this is not Lordran you say, nor Oolacile.
Another world.
I did hear a voice before waking here.
And when I woke up, I felt that same rage I felt when I sealed Lordran's fate.
But I was quickly calmed down by something, and I found myself in a body to the exact likeness of my old self.
It said something about skills, did you hear something like that?"
Manus inquired a fantastic inquiry, and Faraam did a long nod.
"So that confirms my theory, that we are indeed in an entirely separate reality as well.
A world that does not follow the old world's laws.
A world that.. Does not have a flame to link.
Muhaha.. I like the sound of that.
Say, what do you think about me and you exchanging information about our past lives in that world as we walk through this landscape?"
"The Four Great Lords were forgotten to history? How interesting.
Gwyn, The Witch of Izalith, Nito, and my ancestor, The Furtive Pygmy.
All forgotten? Truly?"
His tone, that was just a few moments ago, blank and disconnected, was now surprised and lively.
And who wouldn't, this was completely outrageous for anyone that lived in their time.
Faraam spoke in a low tone through his helmet, a short sentence.
-"Tell me.. How does one gain power from the abyss..?"
Faraam finished his sentence and turned back to silence, he had not moved his head to look elsewhere once during that question, and that left Manus wondering even more.
What an essence.. What a humanity..
Is this the man who was meant to truly link the flame?
Manus asked himself these questions, which left him zoned out for a little while, to which Faraam waited patiently.
They were moving across the Underworld, or the demon realm.
And just up ahead, they would see a magnificent mansion of sorts, surrounded by gardens of flowers, an elegant white palate was established across the entire mansion.
It was, as was in this world, completely different to what was right beside it, a flaming pool of lava.
Manus snapped out of his zoned out state, and looked to Faraam through his hood.
-"To answer your question, we will first confirm this world's hostility.
What do you think?"
Faraam did not even nod to that, he moved forward, unsheathing his two Murakumos.
"Calm down, you shouldn't rush into action.
Although the realm is harsh, we should not consider everyone an enemy."
Faraam looked over his back, at Manus.
-"...You can never be too sure."
-"...."
Manus just followed after giving a quiet sigh.
A sigh that translated not into disappointment, but into preparation.
Walking forward to just outside the perimeter of the mansion, they both heard a voice.
-"Halt!
Which do you serve, you in that helm."
A voice that called out to Faraam, the voice must've recognized Manus, but something must've been more peculiar about Faraam, but Manus couldn't complain, he thought the same of Faraam.
"Take off that helm, and state your purpose!"
Faraam just looked up at this man.
White hair, elegant clothing to match the mansion.
He must be a guard.
Prior to Manus finding himself in this world, he was in the midst of something that can only be loosely related to battle, a resemblance of a fight between him and a person he had pulled into his world through a dimensional crack, that person held it, his greatest treasure.
His broken pendant.
But that person proved far too strong, he put everyone Manus knew to shame, he dwarfed Artorias' power, and he outmatched any and all gods he has seen.
Manus fought him out of pure rage, had he not been blinded, he would've definitely took the peaceful approach.
But that was in the past.
In the very recent past, that is.
The fight came to a close as Manus found himself struck down by that person.
And in the next moment, he heard that voice.
At first he thought the person was talking to him, but then he realized he couldn't feel anything anymore.
Then he heard it..
{Confirmed, individual "Manus" has reincarnated and has been granted the body of his human form.
Additionally, individual "Manus" has been granted the skill [Humanity], a Unique Skill with the conceptual power of the "Abyss" element.
Sub-Skills:
- [Humanize]: The Holder has the ability to temporarily restrain any effects of degradation or hollowing on any human, restoring them to their basic status, additionally, this skill operates with the premise of the holder always being alive and is a human, which grants the holder immortality and youth.
- [Volatile Power]: The Holder is able to exploit their incredibly powerful humanity to spread a corrupting "Abyss Element" which overtime takes over the mind of any infected by it, it also degrades and destroys most things it comes in contact with.
- [Father Of The Abyss]: The Abyss the holder creates can cause many things to spawn out of it, creatures of many powers, and if the holder chooses to activate this skill, they will temporarily assume a massive beast-like form made purely of the "Abyss Element", this body is immensely powerful but requires a set amount of Magicules to maintain.
Lastly, individual "Manus" has been given title "Herald Of The Age Of Darkness", a title signifying the holder's deep desire to bring about the end of the exploitation of the gods.
This ends the reincarnation sequence, Manus will now awaken in the Central World.}
And when that voice ended....