In a dark and desolated space, a cold white mist shrouded the area, moving with the wind. The space was pitch black, and nothing could be seen in the far distance, but somehow one could clearly see the specific area they stood in, illuminated by some strange divine light.
In the middle of the space, a young man stood staring with a stupified and dumb expression.
"Where the fuck am I?" Damon exclaimed, with a hint of unsettlement. 'I remember defeating those bastards of mutated rats, then collapsing from exhaustion…. Then everything became a blur.'
Damon tried to rack his brain, but it all came out blank.
Well, that wasn't the big question here. It was the mystery of ending up in this unknown place that was in his criteria.
'It seems to be some abandoned place...' But looking at the environment, which was just covered in darkness, he couldn't even see the ground due to the thick mist that covered it.
"Hello!" Damon called out, only to be met with the echo of his own voice. 'The place seems to be hollow, since it only echoes.'
He decided to find a way out. It wasn't wise to disturb an unknown area; there might be dangerous things lurking.
After walking in a straight line for what he calculated to be three hours, Damon halted in his tracks, frustration evident on his face.
"What the fuck is going on? I've been walking for three hours now, and the scenery hasn't even changed!"
"Aaaaaaaa!" Damon screamed in frustration mixed with grave anger, cursing his unfortunate existence.
But then, in the middle of cursing, Damon saw an area suddenly distort.
Zzzeezz!
"What was that?" His attention shifted to the other side of the space, and then a book appeared, hovering in the air.
Without a sense of danger, Damon stepped forward. Upon reaching two steps away from the book, he halted.
As he halted, a strong, dense amount of red energy erupted out of the book like an explosion, pushing Damon multiple steps back. Then a large entity made completely out of red energy materialized.
The entity had a humanoid figure, but it was far from human. It had a hollow skull for a head, a muscular build, and skinny, fleshless arms. The rest of its body was just an outline of red energy.
"What the fuck is this?" Damon shouted, now questioning his sanity.
"You are still too weak!" A deep and mighty voice echoed from its mouth as it stretched out its hand and pointed a finger at Damon.
Red energy gathered around its fingertip the size of a baseball. Realizing the impending doom, Damon's eyes widened in shock, but it was too late. The energy blasted him, and everything became a blur and went completely blank.
...
A sweaty and exhausted Damon jolted from the cold floor in utter fright, every sense on overdrive as he hastily observed his surroundings.
"Ah… that's a relief. It might have been a nightmare," Damon reassured himself.
However, his location made him skeptical, which left him wondering where he was once again.
Damon found himself in some kind of prison, metal bars preventing him from going out, trapping him in a small cave. Memories suddenly started to resurface as he remembered how he might have got here.
'Just before I lost consciousness, I remembered a man walking up to me in my weakened state. And from what I see, he might have captured me,' Damon thought, not surprised by this fact.
It wasn't uncommon to be captured. People never made the mistake of going into deep sleep because of that fact. There was even the fear of being eaten while asleep. It would be quite shocking to wake up and find someone cooking you alive.
While in thought, Damon remembered the true reason for losing consciousness in the first place.
❰Rewards received❱
〘Unlocked skill: Devourer〙
[Devourer: This skill enables the host to absorb any energy and convert it into VE for the host to use. The skill can also increase the amount of VE output of the host.]
〘Sp: 3〙
[Sp: Status points used to increase attributes.]
'I see, the Devourer skill is quite intriguing. It could be very valuable.' Damon thought. Then he shifted his attention to the Sp, which he understood.
"Add 1 Sp to strength."
Immediately following Damon's words, a sudden rush of adrenaline surged into him. It was inexplicable, and in an instant, he felt stronger.
+1 Strength
[Strength: 11]
'Heheheh,' Damon laughed sheepishly and quickly allocated the rest of the Sp to different attributes individually.
+1 Speed
[Speed: 11]
+1 Stamina
[Stamina: 11]
"I think it's a great idea to distribute them equally. In a fight, if I were stronger in only one aspect, my other lower aspects could be my weakness."
The logic was reasonable. It was better to lessen as many weaknesses as possible to avoid giving enemies a clear advantage.
'I wonder if I could somehow use the void energy as a long-range attack. Close combat doesn't always end well for me,' Damon thought. The rats were weak, but their long-range attacks did significant damage.
Long-range abilities are as crucial as close combat. They provide a great advantage and time to counter or calculate the next move in specific situations. Though, like every skill in combat, they also have their flaws.
In the middle of his thoughts, the sound of footsteps echoed as a man crouched down, staring at Damon through the prison bars. His face and attire were strangely familiar to Damon.
"Hello there, friend," the man with a hooded cape said with a warm smile. "You might not remember me due to you, well, being unconscious. I am just here to tell you, I sold you to the people of the Eastern area."
"I feel guilty, so I came to apologize, no grudge, right?"
With a solemn expression, holding all his rage, Damon uttered, "I will kill you, bastard."
"That's a strong threat, even in your situation. Besides, due to your uniqueness in being able to control and use void energy, Master Michael has decided to apply you for a battle with one of his Curseweavers," the man proclaimed.
'Curseweavers… I see. So there are others besides Kenny?' Damon thought to himself.
***