*Fwosh!*
Berkah's tiny frame tore through the air, diving headfirst into the endless darkness.
[Hmm... I should probably protect myself just incase...]
*Crackle!*
Berkah activated Mana Enhancement, wrapping his body in a thick layer of mana.
[?]
Berkah noticed something very strange... Some sort of movement in the seemingly endless pit of darkness.
[Ripples?...]
[Why are there ripples? Is that not actually darkness but some sort of liquid?]
[Is it ink?]
[Is it... some sort of dark matter??]
Berkah wondered, narrowing his eyes.
■■ Thunder Step! ■■
*Bzzt!*
A strand of lightnings appeared under his feet and arrested his descent.
"Yeah... No way I'm jumping into that..."
Berkah muttered under his breath, still confused as to what the sea of darkness actually was, or even where the voice that told him to jump came from.
He glanced into the horizon and saw nothing but darkness, from that he knew that even if he were to travel in any direction, he could not escape the endless sea of darkness.
"Seriously, where am I?"
"What happened to mom and Hawke?"
"This feels too real to be a dream... am I tripping?"
He bombarded himself with questions he couldn't answer no matter how much he racked his brain.
[!!]
Suddenly!
A intense and irresistible force pulled his body in the direction of the darkness.
The strand of lightning that he stood on dissipated like how sugar dissolves in hot water.
"Argh!!!"
■■ Thunder Step!■■
He cast another spell, and a new strand of lightning appeared beneath his feet.
*Bzz — Zap! — Zzt!*
In less than a second, the spell dissipated just like the previous one.
"What the fuck?!"
Berkah cried out and drew more of his mana.
"AAAAHHHH!"
*BZZZZZTTT!*
■■ Thunder Step!■■
■■ Thunder Step!■■
■■ Thunder Step!■■
It was futile, like attempting to mix oil and water to homogeneity.
The sea of darkness swirled beneath him and formed a large wormhole.
And with it, the intensity of the force violently tucking at Berkah's being rose exponentially.
"Argh!"
Berkah tried his best to resist the force, but even his deep mana pool was not enough to resist.
The wormhole rose high into the air and swallowed Berkah whole.
*SPLASH!*
The sea of darkness fell back to where it once was before it embraced Berkah.
"*gurgle!*, *gurgle!*"
Berkah struggled to breathe, the dark liquid entered his lungs through his mouth and nostrils, his eyes beheld nothing but pure darkness.
He tried releasing his mana but it was futile, he tried moving his body but that was even more futile, it was as if he was buried in wet concrete that slowly dried.
He tried inhaling but only the dark liquid entered his lungs, he tried exhaling but his lungs stiffened.
[No way I'm going to die again! I just got here damn it! Fuck!]
He screamed inwardly, his fierce mentality unrelenting.
But even that was futile...
Slowly, his consciousness faded, and an intense, yet strange feeling of nostalgia ran across his mind.
He felt as though...
He had been here before...
///
"*Cough!* *Cough!*"
Berkah woke up an unknown amount of time later and coughed up the dark liquid and spat it out on the floor.
"Urgh! This is so disgusting!"
He continued spitting, sticking out his tongue and his eyes red.
"It tastes like manure damnit! Argh!"
Berkah cried out —
Wait... How the fuck does he know what manure tastes like?....
Berkah stood up from the ground, the nasty taste of "manure " still lingering and terrorizing his taste buds.
He shook his body as violently as he could to rid himself of some of the dark muck that stuck to his body, he fluttered his wings and bits of it fell to the ground.
He glanced around to investigate his surroundings.
"Fuck... Where am I now?!"
Berkah chewed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows.
What his eyes saw this time was something that resembled a room with pure white walls that spanned for hundreds of kilometers with no end in sight.
"I'm really getting sick of this..."
Berkah stood up and began walking in a random direction.
He still had no access to his mana so he was basically a regular two year old at that point.
Thirty minutes elapsed.
"*huff*, *huff*..."
Berkah took labored breaths, dragging his body through an endless path.
"I've been walking for half an hour but I don't feel like I've made any progress! I'm so exhausted!"
"And these damn useless wings are so heavy!"
Berkah cried out as he collapsed on the pure white floor.
"If this a dream please wake me up..."
*growl...*
His stomach grumbled.
"I'm so hungry..."
[Ah... I would kill for the sandwich that deadbeat brought today...]
[To think I complained about it not having any sauces...]
[I'm so hungry I would be more than happy to eat just the buns...]
Berkah mused, his mouth salivating gluttonousley.
[How long have I been in here...]
Berkah wondered, the hunger he felt was not normal, he could only imagine that he was unconscious for days after being swallowed up by that darkness.
"Haha!", "Haha, stop running~"
[!!]
Berkah heard voices echoing from the distance.
[Finally! I hear a voice!!]
[I hope they have food!!]
He happily sprung up and ran towards the sounds of the voices.
Berkah ran non-stop for nearly fifteen minutes.
Soon, two tiny figures appeared in his peripheral.
[Ugh... Are those just some brats? No way they have food.]
Berkah clicked his tongue in disappointment.
[I hope their parents are close by.]
"Heyyyy!~"
Berkah raised his hand and waved at the two figures who became puzzled by Berkah's appearance.
[Hm?]
As he drew closer Berkah noticed some unique traits about the "brats."
[They have... wings?]
The two children, a boy and a girl were Harpy hatchlings the same age and size as Berkah.
They both had curly blue hair, green eyes and snow white wings on their backs and were dressed in pure white robes.
[Hmm... I thought girl Harpies had bird limbs? This one has regular limbs like mine...]
[Don't tell me... it's a ...?]
[No... what am I thinking...]
Berkah shook his head.
[I shouldn't assume every female Harpy has bird limbs just because of mom, there could be varieties...]
Berkah finally reached the Harpy hatchlings.
"Hey guys... *huff*, *huff*..."
"My name is Berkah... what about you?"
Berkah collapsed to his knees and introduced himself.
The two Harpy hatchlings stared at him with puzzled expressions.
"Uh... Where did you come from?"
The boy of the pair asked.
"I... I don't really know either, I just woke up here."
"Pfft! Haha! You're so weird. "
"And why do you smell? Did you poop yourself?! haha!"
The boy snorted, laughing out loudly with his tiny fists on his waist.
[This little shit... is he making fun of me?]
[He's so obnoxious... He kinda reminds me of that dude.]
"No, I didn't poop myself okay?! I don't know what's happening either!"
Berkah replied, his face a little flush.
"Then! Do you want to play with us?!"
The girl of the pair said, holding Berkah's hands and her green eyes shining brightly with excitement.
[Aww! She's so adorable.]
Berkah thought, then he turned his gaze to the boy and sighed.
"HUH?! Why are looking at me like that??"
The boy flinched and shouted.
"Anyway, do you guys have something to eat?"
Berkah asked, returning his gaze to the girl of the pair.
"Hey don't ignore me!"
The boy shouted.
"Hmm.. Yup we do, over there."
The girl also ignored the boy and gestured to a well crafted wooden table in the distance.
[Hm... That table kinda looks familiar... is it a common design in this world?]
The trio walked towards the table and each took a seat.
Berkah's eyes went wide after seeing the familiar food on the table.
His piercing blue eyes beheld the diced fruits that his mother would often make him and a sandwich similar to what Hawke brought him.
[What the hell is going on here?]
[This is really weird.]
*growl...*
His stomach begged him to eat something.
[Well... whatever, I'm hungry!]
Berkah proceeded to munch down on the food like a hungry wild beast.
The two Harpy hatchlings watched him munch down on the food with suprised expressions on their faces, they wondered how Berkah's tiny frame was able to fit all that food in his stomach.
"*burp!*"
Berkah finished eating and patted his full stomach.
"Hahaha! Looks like you were really starving huh?!"
"Looks like I saved you didn't I? From how on you can call me your big brother. HAHA!"
The boy declared, beating his chest and a proud expression adorning his face.
[No you obnoxious little shite, I'd rather eat sand!]
Berkah spat inwardly, fighting the urge to point his middle finger at the hatchling.
[By the way...]
"I still haven't gotten your names?"
Berkah said.
The two hatchlings glanced at each other and then back at Berkah.
The once obnoxious boy was adorned by a sour expression and shut his lips tight.
The young girl forced herself to speak, a bitter smile adorning her face.
"We... We don't have names..."
She said, nervously twiddling her thumbs.
[Huh? You don't have names? The fuck?]
Berkah mused with a puzzled expression, he wondered how it was possible that they did not have names.