His back rested on the pile of corpses, eyes watchful as two goblins stumbled through the blue portal unaware of the danger. Their feet squelched on a slimy, sticky substance. They looked down. In the dim light of the cell, it was difficult to identify the substance on their soles.
A shaky growl startled the shorter goblin. Warily, it followed its friend's finger to a body sprawled on the ground. Its species was unclear—and whether it was truly dead—but its small size piqued their interest. Curiosity prompted them closer.
They froze. This was a goblin, its head crushed beyond recognition and its essence missing. Trap. The realization dawned upon them when they turned. A giant, nearly double their height, towered above them. What creature was thi-
Satisfied with his enhanced speed, Soren removed their crystals and dragged the bodies through the puddle of blood and brain matter to the ever-growing corpse pile.
As the first crystal molded into his flesh, he didn't feel much pleasure. Perplexed, he picked up another crystal.
"You have absorbed too much essence from this type of creature. No additional attributes can be obtained."
He turned pale.
No.
Goblin bones crumbled beneath his fist. His knuckles bled.
It couldn't be—not like this: trapped underground with a bunch of rotting corpses. He had once accepted his fate, but now, he refused to die like this. There had to be a way out, an escape route, a path to sunlight. Freedom was within reach; he could feel it. Did he deserve it? No, definitely not. But he didn't care. He wanted it.
In. Out.
It didn't work. The air was warm due to the number bodies. Once cold and familiar, it was sticky and tainted with the aroma of iron. His palms slammed onto the ground, splashing the foul mixture all over himself.
Think. He had to think. Priority number one: conserve energy; then pray another type of beast steps out of that portal. Should it be just goblins, he would have to venture into the portal— into an unknown, alien world inhabited by monsters. Hopefully, it had an atmosphere. If not… well, that was better than dying in this concrete grave.
Blood dripped down his face as the shadows rippled, and five goblins materialized. The leading pair fell instantly, leather handles protruding from their spines. Those remaining lunged at Soren, but in this narrow space, they couldn't surround him. He dodged all their attacks and wove between them, delivering quick, painless deaths.
Dizziness crept in. Each fight, each second, was sapping his strength. His body ached, his legs burned, but he ignored the signals. Pain was merely data, and he couldn't afford to analyze any excess information right now.
Approaching the first fallen bodies with heavy steps, he prepared to collect their essences when something whooshed behind him.
He dove onto the ground, narrowly avoiding a searing projectile that crashed into the steel door.
The room flooded with light. Fire engulfed his back, glutes and hamstrings as the shockwave battered his ears and flung him against the wall.
The second explosion blazed with equal intensity. Soren's skin blackened and blistered, and blood seeped from his eyes, evaporating almost instantly. A persistent buzz rattled his ears.
Survive.
He disregarded everything else.
Guided solely by instinct, he crawled behind the portal. Amidst the blood and gore, he rearranged the stack of corpses, pulling them on top of him just in time to shield himself from the flames.
The barrage ceased. Molten steel poured down the entrance door, creating a ticking sound as it collided with the stone, splattering lava across the cell.
Cloaked in a dirty, grey robe and wielding a narrow, wooden stick, the mage surveyed the planet known as Vakus. His initial impression was far from positive. Quite the unpleasant planet this was. The environment was dark and humid, reeking of decay, and the temperature was almost unbearable. Such uncouth conditions hardly befit a noble mage such as himself. Alas, such was the price of knowledge. The sooner he verified the enemy's death, the sooner he could send the tribe's warriors to explore this inhospitable dump. Once they found a more suitable place to live, he would establish a proper base, worthy of serving as the capital of his future interplanetary empire.
In spite of the scarce light, he recognized the sacrifices' —ahem—the scouts' bodies. Using his wand, he prodded a carcass. Some beings were simply chained to their unremarkable origins. At least these poor souls had glimpsed upon his presence before their end. That should be solace enough.
Suddenly, a hand clamped around his ankle.
Soren's eyes sparkled, two rubies in a blue moon's night, they seemed to defy death and destiny. He yanked the goblin's foot back, sending it crashing to the ground. Its head smacked into the concrete and its weapon clattered away. Capitalizing on the opportunity, Soren scrambled onto the creature and tried to drive his fingers into its heart. His nails, however, broke against its robe, unable to penetrate even an inch into the thin fabric.
Soren didn't have enough time to be surprised; something was gathering underneath him. Wide-eyed, he watched as spiraling strands of flame coalesced into reality, weaving themselves into a sphere.
He captured the creature's wrist. The fireball mirrored its movement. Redirecting its aim was pointless. Whether the spell detonated directly on him or against the wall, death was inevitable. There was only one path.
The memory of essence surging through him replayed inside his mind, mingling with the throb of his carbonized back. It felt like it flowing through him all over again. Soren concentrated on the way he had defied it.
On a mental canvas, he painted a picture: a river flowing into a delta, branching into countless streams that rose into the sky and intertwined in a mesmerizing dance. In the middle, he envisioned a spark igniting the water.
Flame surged along the current. Soren battled the encroaching fire as he swam against the waves.
Push.
His head pounded as if his brain were being squeezed through a keyhole. Yet, as the flames halted, the pain seemed almost insignificant.
The fire wormed back into the goblin. Air rushed in to fill the vacuum as the creature convulsed out of control, oblivious to its exploding arm that bathed the walls in flesh and sinew.
Soren plunged his nails into its eyes, drilling to the orbital bone and silencing its shrieks that grated at his ears.
"You have eliminated an [Uncommon] lifeform. Title upgraded: {Butcher of Commons}-[Common] →{Uncommon Executioner}-[Uncommon]"
"You have eliminated an [Uncommon] lifeform. Title upgraded: {Belligerent}-[Common] →{Belligerent}-[Uncommon]"
"{Belligerent}-[Uncommon]: Agility, Strength, and Durability experience a moderate boost when initiating combat."
"{Uncommon Executioner}-[Uncommon] - Inflict moderately increased damage against uncommon enemies. Significantly boosted against common enemies."
Soren collapsed as the adrenaline coursing through his veins dwindled. A fire-bending wizard was an unexpected turn of events. Though he should have foreseen some type of explosive being used. He couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. At least it had been a good fight—not the most challenging foe he had ever faced, but not something to be ashamed of either. A tale worth telling. A song worth singing.
Health : 2.4/84
Beneath the cascade of blood, his body was a grim sight; charred, baked, and blistered beyond recognition. Every drop of the waterfall was a piece of his lifeforce ebbing away.
A few minutes prior, he had been furious about hope being snatched away from him, but now, he found himself smiling. Perhaps the whole 'Prime Realm' thing should've been a clue as to what loomed out there.
Truth be told, making heads out of this situation was difficult; it resembled the ramblings of a madman. Most likely, he had lost himself down here long ago, and the nightmares were haunting him. Then again, he doubted his mind could conjure this scenario.
If it was real, however, he had just thrown away the chance to explore this reality; to marvel at planetary clusters; to conquer their highest mountains; to explore their deepest oceans and darkest caverns; to taste their food and drink their wine. He'd lost the chance to learn magic.
He would never soar among the clouds or travel to distant galaxies. He would never discover what kind of myths and legends roamed the prime realm, and he would never get to meet them.
So many possibilities wasted. It was regrettable… Soren tensed. His heartbeat pulsed.
Against the weight of gravity he struggled to shift his body atop the goblin. His fingers dug into the mage's obliques and pulled, but blood coated everything, making the process impossible. He grabbed the mages robes, gripped its jaw and teeth, and pushed off the ground, but each he slipped. Again and again.
Health : 0.8/84
In his efforts something rigid pressed against his abdomen. Soren searched through the goblin's robes for hidden pockets, eventually discovering a crystalline vial. Liquid sloshed inside as he fidgeted with it.
Health : 0.3/84
He had to drink the alien goblin wizard's potion. There was no alternative. Soren attempted to flip himself over, but his hand slipped on the slick floor, his mutilated back slamming against the bloody floor.
The vial! Oh, thank the System. He held it tightly in hands. His life depended on it. He clamped his teeth on the cork, clenched his jaw and twisted. A small amount of liquid spilled, but most of it entered his lips.
"You have ingested level 0 Health Potion-[Common]. 20 Health Points restored"
Health : 20.3/84
His ears stopped ringing, his vision cleared, and the pain eased. For a moment, information failed to register. Then a burst of mirth echoed in the chamber as he writhed in the foul mixture. It was a genuine, hearty laugh that made his jaw ache. One of the handful sincere laughs of his life.
After Soren composed himself, he undressed the fire mage. Putting on its equipment, he felt his mind clear and expand as if something was poking at the edge of his awareness. He waved his hand and the air tickled his fingertips. They were so sensitive.
The feeling was bizarre, but it didn't explain how one cast spells. Flicking the wand without purpose did nothing.
Soren had an idea. In his mind, he recreated the canvas. This time, he was the ignition.
Something simmered inside of him, straining to break free, as if the temperature wasn't high enough. He needed fuel. From the wizard's skull, he retrieved a green crystal, far denser, more structured, and smoother than a normal essence. This felt like a purer type of essence—one he hoped was sufficient to power a spell capable of bursting through the remnants of the steel door.
To protect himself Soren wore the mage's robe (it was a tight fit) and built a wall of goblin remains. He took cover behind it and wiggled the wand through a gap so that only his hand peeked through.
With a squeeze, he activated the crystal. The gem vaporised and burrowed into his hand, suffusing his entire being with vitality. The sensation transcended language. If someone had ever glimpsed the face of God, they would liken it to this.
Soren was at the mercy of the essence coursing through his veins. He could only think of a single word— fire. Its might. Its light. Its heat. Again and again, he chanted the word, weaving a hypnotic charm to withstand the paralysis.
Completely and utterly, he fixated on the concept of a burning sun. Solar flares crackled in a melodic, rhythmic manner on its molten surface. Like cosmic whips, they expanded, flopping and striking back the very surface that birthed them. Each crack of the ionized whips sent tremors down the star's core. Even in the absence of matter, their song vibrated Soren's soul. Currents of power surged from its very depths, dragging along the essence hiding within.
Energy flowed from every corner of his being, converging at the wand's tip, where conception became reality. The raging sun pierced the eternal night, erasing all memories of yesterday and heralding the dawn of a new day. The cleansing inferno scorched flesh and steel alike. In its path, only emptiness remained.
"You are the first being to come in contact with Mana on this planet."
"You are the first being to cast a spell on this planet."
"The spell has exceeded the limits of your existence. Title gained:{Manatouched}-[Epic]: Your sensitivity to Mana increases massively."
Even without opening his eyes, Soren was able to see. Multi-coloured threads undulated around him, moving in ebbs and tides. Immense power hid behind their gentle exterior.
Soren listened carefully as they sang and caressed him. He tried to pat them, but they were elusive and whimsical by nature.
An ethereal echo lingered with as the vision faded and the simmer became an ever-present bubbling he could call upon at will, almost like a new limb. Soren intensified the heat, bringing the pot to a boil, and steam rose. He controlled the steam and sculpted its flow.
In his mind, the river formed again, flowing into a small, pebble-sized ball of flame on his palm. It hovered there as the flames chanted with an intimate rhythm. They burned without hurting him. With a thought, the fireball vanished back into him, and the room vibrated as the threads rejoiced.
"You have partially absorbed the essence of a level 5 Goblin Fire Mage-[Uncommon]. +0.2 Intelligence"
The notification jolted him back to reality. Soren gaped, left in awe of the sight before him. Where the door used to be, lay a gaping hole, the ceiling dripping into a molten patch. The goblins' bodies looked no different from charcoal, but they crumbled at the slightest touch.
He, himself, was unharmed—tattered state excluded—but the wand and the robe had disintegrated to dust due to the Mana strain. None of it really mattered, though, as his eyes drifted ahead, where pristine tiles lined a polished hall, gleam under the bright white light.
Soren leapt over the sweltering puddle—no need to test his heat tolerance, magical powers or not. As his body crossed the boundary between darkness and light, he pinched himself.
It's actually real, he muttered as if that proved anything.
With a final glance at the blue portal, he took his first hesitant step upon the cold tiles.