The nine rings are powerful factors of this world: Savage Signet, Eldritch Ring, Hellspawn Seal, Fallen Christ, Ring of Calamity, Realms Between, and the rest are unknown. However, there's one more—the history of which is so unknown—the Desolate Lands, the tenth ring.
The Desolate Lands will fully awaken when its ring master is ready, or so the rumors and conspiracy say. But after years of waiting, it still didn't open or show signs of awakening.
So that only makes my thoughts deepen and questions expand.
Did someone accidentally wander in and signal for help? I ponder to myself. There are still many possibilities; A person with much energy can be the person who can actually rival the gods' authority and get into the trial of gods.
Or it could be the sign of the ring awakening.
Continuing on my trail, my notions persist: how could a person get here? The gods strictly forbid it, and if broken, measures would be placed in the form of the system, though those rules doesn't restrict me since I have none.
As the minutes fly by, I reach a small mountain, and as I ascend and descend, my eyes land on a cave opening—something unfamiliar. Unless it's a ruin or a dungeon, which I highly doubt a ring which isn't awakened yet would have.
Moving towards it, the dread becomes unbearable, almost making me feel like vomiting, even though I can't. It also enhances my curiosity. Trying to contain it, I attempt with all my might not to enter, but again, I move without thinking and I enter.
At first, it appears to be a normal cave. The soft glow of the red light bouncing off the moist walls gives it a creepy appearance but still shows me the way. The sound of water droplets fills the air, the wet slippery stone all around gives off the typical cave presence.
But still, even as this weird feeling grows, the closer I get to the light, I can't help but continue. Ultimately, it leads me down a hall and right through a gaping hole with a slippery slide that humans would slide down, but I just float down.
Coming to an end, I enter a full white room. The light scenery obstructs my vision for a while, taking a moment to adjust to something I never thought I would ever see.
Before me, bound by chains mid-air in the middle of the room, is a skeleton with bone-like spikes on its back and a seal placed directly under it. For a moment, it takes a while for me to fully grasp what is transpiring. I gasp, not understanding where any of this is going. Was I led here by someone else or this thing?
"Is this some type of joke?" I question myself, looking around, but all the white walls are circling me, no signs of the entrance I just came from.
I exhale, steadying my breathing with great and jagged breaths. I turn around and try to pass through the wall, but nothing happens, as I would normally do. I am stuck inside the room with no way of getting out. I attempt it once more, but with every single try, it all results in failure.
"I see, rats always go where they do not belong." A voice so warming and yet carrying a hint of disdain and hatred.
Snapping to the back around, the very god himself is over me.
Six majestic wings unfurl from his back, each one moving with a distinct, fluid grace as if guided by unseen currents. His body is enveloped in a shimmering, translucent veil that shifts and sparkles with ethereal light. Above him, two luminous halos interlace and drift serenely, casting a soft, otherworldly glow that accentuates the divine aura surrounding him.
It isn't no creature or a beast, but a god.
His ethereal presence seizes my attention instantly, drawing me in with an almost hypnotic allure. Yet, amid the enchantment of his divine aura, a shadow of unease lingers in my heart as I gaze upon Vitalis—one of the most formidable beings in all of history.
"I see you've uncovered something you were never meant to," the voice reverberates through the walls, light and haunting. "Insignificant anomalies like you are unworthy of a god's notice or praise. You're merely a fool who stumbled into matters beyond your grasp, and this misstep will be your undoing."
His words cut deep, sharp and venomous. It feels as though I'm obstructing him, uncovering truths that were never meant for me—the grand designs of the gods themselves, is this what they're hiding or is there more to it all? Is there more to this world?
"Beings like you should not have been here, but in some place more befitting of your status. Creatures who don't appeal to my rules and system," his voice completely changes to one of coldness and disgust, carrying no signs of warmth like before.
"I don't understand," I say, in disbelief of what's playing out. Then the realization hits. "That must be a god?" I question, looking at the skeleton, questioning the morality of my notions. Should I even be asking if it's really a god?
"Creatures like you—anomalies—have no right to question me or the world I've crafted, not the trial nor my entire universe." Without warning, a sword of pure, radiant light materializes above me, its blade towering like an imposing colossus. "For your insolence, your soul will be cast into eternal oblivion. It is where an anomaly like you truly belongs." My eyes widen in terror as the sword descends, its shadow stretching and expanding, growing darker and more menacing with each passing moment.
"Please, I'm not just an anomaly! I'm someone too, right? Just let me be someone!" I beg, my voice cracking with raw desperation. "This world! Just let me matter! I can prove it—I'll show you all!" My frantic cries echo through the air as the sword's ominous light draws closer, each second stretching into a tormenting eternity. The weight of my pleas hangs heavy in the air, desperate for a chance to be seen and valued, even as the shadow of the blade threatens to consume me.
Was I truly wrong for questioning and resenting the gods? Is it a sin to yearn for something beyond the desolate planet I barely knew? The weight of the sword's shadow grows larger, and the darkness it casts envelops me, pulling me deeper into despair.
And most of all, why is it happening to me?
A boy who just wanted to live, a boy who found weak goals dumb, the boy who craved a mother's and father's love.
A boy that is an anomaly…
I watch as the long pristine blade glints in the light as it's mere inches away from my face until it clashes with something, two colours colliding together sending sparks of white and red all over.