I awoke to find myself in what looked like a steel cell.
My hands were clasped in a large steel ball, no matter how hard I tried to shake it off; I couldn't.
Wherever I was, it was dark; there was hardly anything around me to give me any sort of bearing. But from what I could tell was canvas on the walls, I was likely in some kind of tent.
I looked down at myself, on my chest was a swirl that concentrated into the apex of my sternum; it had the same look as that of that void that had appeared when I was controlling the spell.
Other than the present circumstances, the only thing that felt different about me was this strange sense of hollowness in me. I'm assuming it's what Lunarsa had said, that I've been changed. But how?
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Tucking away that thought for now, I called out into the dark hoping that someone would hear me.
But there was no response.
My best hope now would be to wait for someone to come check up on me.
I'm assuming that I've been put in this cell after having cast that spell. It was the safe thing to do, I'm an anomaly in their eyes.
How can someone in the current age cast a legendary catastrophe from the Lost Age? If anything, to them, I was now an enemy.
Damn, this wasn't how it was meant to go.
Even though I had spoken to that goddess, a crazy thing in itself, I'm still not any closer to the truth. My objective remains the same: speak to Ervwin, and see what he has to say.
It would be easy enough to run away, but, having known that I've sacrificed an entire reality for this one; I couldn't abandon those I've met so far. Whether I liked it or not, I'm now a part of their lives.
Suddenly, the darkness in the tent was broken by the appearance of sunlight trickling in as someone let themselves into the tent. It was Ashari, she was carrying what looked like a small food tray.
She looked conflicted as she approached, but her eyes soon lit up as she saw that I was awake.
"Ignis!" She cried as she hurried over to my cell, dropping the plate.
"You're awake! A-Are you okay??" She asked me as she squeezed the bars with her hands, her face was flush with worry.
"I think so, sorry for the trouble," I told her as I straightened my back.
Ashari dropped to her knees as she covered her mouth, stifling a sob. She was wearing a simple grey tunic, not of Zepar make. It was strung up by string on its side, giving it a cut that hiked up to her midriff. It looked a little small on her, as the more she shuffled around at the floor of the tent, the looser the strings got from tension; revealing more of her body.
"They say that you have done the impossible. That you've cast a forbidden magic from the Lost Age," She said with a tremble in her voice.
"The last thing I remember was seeing Stergos rush over to the Queen, and then a strange mercurial barrier surrounded us three as you disappeared behind it." Her knuckles whitened from the tense grip she had on the bars.
"It was unfathomable, it was as if my soul had been ripped from my body as I felt this surge of energy explode from where you were. It's been reported by the corps that residue from the magic that you had cast has been felt all throughout Quell, and even beyond the Dragonspine."
"Wait, reported? How long have I been asleep?" I asked her, worry overshadowing me.
"It's been seven moon cycles, Ignis." She told me with a grim frown.
Seven days. I've been away for seven days.
"Wait, what's happening now with the battlefront? Has Flaur moved forward with any plan?" I got up from my sit and knelt right by Ashari.
Ashari slumped her shoulders as she loosened her grip on the bars and bit her lip; whatever she had to say next wasn't going to be good.
"We've been under siege by that strange cult that we had encountered in Quell. They call themselves the Pure, and are led by their leader, Erwvin." She explained.
"The Pure?" I thought back to when we had first entered Quell. The crowds of citizens acted in a frenzy as Ervwin rallied them, these regular people were throwing themselves at the Royal Army.
"I need to go help, I need to see what's going on,"
"I-I... I'm sorry, Ignis. But the Demon Queen herself has forbidden you from leaving this cell. She is helming the battlefront along with Stergos and I've been requested to stay behind to nurse you." She whispered to me weakly.
"B-But, there's no plan! There's nothing! That big-boobed idiot will get herself killed out there!!" I shouted, banging the iron ball against the cell door.
But Ashari said nothing as she watched me with pity in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ignis, but..." She dropped her head before she could finish her sentence.
"It's not your fault, it's all mine," I reassure her as I get up from the cage floor.
"What are you doing?"
"If your hands are tied, then that means, I'll have to figure out how to escape myself,"
"But Ignis, you're currently a prisoner, if they find you out there--"
"It doesn't matter, if they lock me up again, fine! But, without my help, they're never going to win out there!" I said as I began to focus my strength on the iron ball.
There was a hollowness in my soul that I couldn't explain. But from this hollowness, there was a new sensation that I felt as my muscles tightened; bulging against the ironwork.
I can cast magic, so what else could I do? What is the secret of this swirl on my chest? What is my 'destiny' that Lunarsa had told me about?
As I strained against the iron, focusing my wit and strength against it, something strange suddenly appeared before my vision.
[Tutorial... //Complete//]
W-What? What the hell is this?
I looked over to Ashari, but she didn't react to the message's appearance; I don't think she could see it at all.
[Unlocking Basic Profile... //Complete//.]
More and more messages began to appear in my vision, they were colored in a translucent hue that shimmered in the dark; the same color as Mana's mercury.
[Registered User: Ignis]
[Class: //Unknown//
[Abilities: //Corrupted//
Class? Abilities? I think this is what Lunarsa had said-- that this was my reboot, what I should've awoken to in the Sufolk field. It was like a video game screen. But, great, of course, I wouldn't know what my class was! And what does corrupted mean for my abilities??
[Titles: //Purveyor of Large Breasts//, //Remorseful Virgin Pervert//, //Living Failure of 999 Lives//, //Eraser of Realities//, //Strategist//]
W-What was with the titles!?! Purveyor of Large Breasts!?!? REMORSEFUL VIRGIN PERVERT!????
"I-Ignis are you okay?" Ashari asked as she pressed herself close against the cage, further loosening her tunic enough to reveal the fact she wasn't wearing underwear underneath by her hips.
"I-I-It's nothing!" I choked out, quickly averting my eyes from her toned hips.
Recollecting myself from witnessing such a thing, I focused back on the messages. I didn't particularly appreciate seeing Eraser of Realities being one on my list, but this was a burden I had to carry.
Finally, one more message appeared.
[Due to excess Mana absorption and core damage from [Worlds End, Death's Embrace: Tunguska Event], [Abilities] have been corrupted.]
[Access to [Abilities] catalog from //???// has been corrupted upwards to //99.99%//]
Wait, are you saying that I've lost all of the abilities I should've been given from the start?? But, but I didn't even know!
I felt my knees buckle as the gravity of the situation set in, I was worse off than I started. I probably couldn't even cast magic anymore! Even if I were to somehow brute force myself out of this cell, how would I even help Flaur now?
But just as I was about to wallow in my sudden loss from the get-go, another message appeared.
[//00.01%// of [Abilities] connection remain... accessing... accessing...]
[//Complete//]
[Access [Ability]:
[Will of the Strategist]?