Ryan lay on the floor, his chest heaving as his heart beat uncontrollably in his chest. His clothes were soaked as beads of sweat rolled down his entire body. He was tired, almost unable to move, and his eyes felt heavy. However, as he looked to his side, a small smile crept across his face.
[Projectiles evaded: 100/100 (Training completed)]
[Push ups done: 100/100 (Training completed)]
"I did it," his words a slight breath, almost inaudible over his pounding heart.
His eyes closed, and his muscles freed, his breathing calming, entering a more slow and steady rhythm. Then, in under moments, he went unconscious.
******
Ryan found himself in a field of beautiful flowers. They seemed to stretch endlessly into the distant horizon. The smell was nothing short of divine and peaceful, like a comforting wave that shot through his entire body with each breath.
"Where am I?" Ryan voiced out, trying to make out his location. However, in all directions, his eyes met only the endless stretch of flowers and... a person?
The man sat down not too far away from Ryan. His entire form clad in golden armor, one that was dented and scarred as if it had seen a thousand battles, survived them.
The man's white hair fluttered in the wind as he sat quietly, observing the setting sun. He took deep breaths as the orange glow bathed his face.
"Excuse me, where is this place?"
Ryan walked up from behind the man, taking slow, cautious steps as he craned his neck in an attempt to see the man's face.
"Paradise," the man replied, his voice a low rasp, one that felt eerily familiar to Ryan. "...it was, at least," the man continued as he turned to face Ryan.
Ryan's eyes widened as he saw the man's face, the scars on his face he couldn't forget, the transparent orbs he had for eyes. "You're the cab driver?" Ryan questioned in disbelief.
The man let out a small chuckle as he turned back to the setting sun. "Yes... I am," he responded, gesturing for Ryan to come closer.
Ryan approached him and stood beside him as they both gazed at the setting sun. "Can you tell me what's going on? I had somehow left my world an-"
The man raised his hands, stopping Ryan. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, not shifting his gaze from the setting sun that bathed the field in a mesmerizing orange glow, almost unreal.
"It is," Ryan admitted, taking a deep breath in awe.
"Well, it didn't remain this way." The man raised his hands, and everything changed.
All Ryan saw was red—a painful and utterly terrifying red. The field of flowers now turned into a sea of corpses and crimson, the scent of blood so pungent that it made Ryan feel like throwing up.
Then in the distance, replacing the silent serenity that once held together the beauty of the field, was the guttural scream of a woman. Ryan couldn't understand her words, but he knew she pleaded. He could tell that much; she pleaded to the thing before her.
It killed her, and it did it so slowly, so painfully, destroying her skin, then her nerves, and oh so slowly grinding her bones.
It smiled as it did so. It looked human, but surely it wasn't. It was clad in armor that seemed blacker than darkness itself.
The woman screamed for help, for death, and for God—and there he stood, right in front of her, smiling as he made her suffer.
"She was a fool," the man shifted his gaze to the rest of the corpses that sprawled endlessly across the fields. "They all were," he sighed as he stood up from where he sat, turning away from the torture.
"They challenged power they could not even comprehend, even worse, they betrayed it." The man moved his hand, and the scene changed around Ryan again. Now, he saw a dark sky, an expanse of desolation and in the distance, a figure sat atop a throne.
"No one would have thought it possible... That even he would meet his end." The man gazed up at the throne the figure Sat before turning to Ryan.
"I cannot help you, Adrian. I've done all I can do," the man said as Ryan turned to him. "What does all of this mean?" Ryan asked.
"You cannot understand... Not now at least," the man said as he moved his hands again, and with it the scene went back to the endless stretch of flowers, to the illusion of peace.
"I don't care for your ambitions of revenge, but your world must be conquered—that is the first step, and the system will aid you in doing so... But power can only be regained by your own efforts."
Ryan woke up with a start, his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed at the blue screen in front of him.
[You have been blessed by the God of War]
[Conqueror's feature has been added]