...
[...]
[Skill, {Immersion}
...
"Hueak-!!" I drew a deep gasp as my eyes sprang open and my senses returned.
My heart was racing and pounding heavily inside my chest and I was drenched in sweat, with beads trickling down my face into a small puddle by my feet. I couldn't stop my fingers from trembling, and my eyes kept darting all around for a full minute.
I felt hot and cold, numb l and feverish. My entire senses were erratic and all over the place.
I couldn't breath, I was in panic.
Calm down...calm down. I persistently told myself.
-Thump thump -Thump thump!
My heart kept pounding erratically as my chest heaved and pumped heavily.
"Haaa..M..meta!" I called out hoarsely, with battered breaths.
The next second my head vibrated slightly from the fluctuation of Meta's voice.
[You are currently experiencing a panic attack from over excessive stimuli to your senses. Perhaps the vision this time may have been too much for your mind to take in all at once.] Meta said coldly.
'No, shit, you stupid System! You think?!' since I couldn't speak from my short breath, I instead rebuked Meta internally with my mind.
I was in a sudden panic because I wasn't sure what was suddenly wrong with me when the skill ended. But now that Meta has identified it...if it's only a panic attack then...
"Fuuuu..." I closed my eyes and drew in deep breaths.
I didn't try to fight against or oppose the sudden constriction I felt. That would only make it worse, instead I forcefully regained composure of my mind before controlling my breathing.
It took a while, but in a few minutes, I was more or less okay.
I was still a little short of breath with cold sweat covering my face and back, but I was more clear-headed than before.
I just laid on the cold pavement of the tiles underneath me, staring emptily at the high and tall ceilings which I still couldn't see. Various thoughts raced through my head all at once, and slowly my eyes fluttered gently.
"...I understand." Amazingly enough, everything began to make sense.
All of the details and information began to piece together, forming a coherent thoughts and idea for me.
Was this the effect of the Skill as well? Or was it because I raised my sequence?
I didn't know.
But regardless, the vision, all of what i saw became clear as I just stared up emptily. And as soon as it all sank in, I felt my heart skip a beat.
The next moment I jolted up from the tiles with my eyes trembling.
"It's clear! It all makes sense now!"
The vision I saw, all three of them became obvious with their meanings.
The World of Aethoria had a history of three time periods, or Era, which led way to the subsequent era's and periods.
The Era of Genesis, otherwise known as the First Era. Era of beginning, and the literal birth of the world.
I recalled the first part of the vision when I was suspended in the empty vacuum of space. I remembered the black undulating blot of darkness, and the blinding radiance of an otherworldly sun.
'In the beginning, there was nothing. Primordial Chaos..'
But from the Chaos birthed the First Primordial God's who battled, and from their flesh, blood, and essence, Aethoria was born.
The War of Genesis, The First Great Calamity.
The Skill made me piece together the meaning of the visions.
'The Second Era..'
The Era of God's and Demons!
As it struck me I quickly got to my feet and paced for the black obsidian wall with strange and unfamiliar characters.
The Second Era, the Second Great Calamity was a cosmic war against the descendents of the First God, and the First Generation Demons. But this Era was the very benchmark for everything else that was to follow.
It was also during this Era, towards the end of it that Aether was discovered by man.
At that time Aethoria was at peace, ignorany of the cosmic horroes and wars. But until one day, 'invaders' from other worlds attacked. They were demons...but there were also other races.
Elves, Dwarves, Beast race... although I already knew of the existence of other races in this world.
In the end, it was the demon race who sought to slaughter and plunder. The second generation gods were on the side of the World, but the demon race were confident for a good reason.
As my eyes sought through the numerous characters on the wall, my gaze finally set on one particular carving. It was a couple of symbols. At this point, I knew that all the characters present translated to another language.
A much older and distant one than I couldn't fathom.
That was until I used the Skill, however.
The single character read In bold black.
'Demon King.'
"Haha..this is crazy..." I laughed dryly, without a single trace of amusement.
All of a sudden I felt tired and exhausted. I walked backwards away from the wall and fell to the ground in my butt. There I cupped my face in my hands and took in a deep breath, before sighing deeply.
"Can't I just get a break?" Wasn't my whole life just unfair?
The Demon king...what does that have to do with me?
Well at least I've confirmed the 'one above ' from the last part of the vision was the Demon King...or something of equal proportion.
Ah, yes. The last part of the vision.
The Third Great Calamity.
...
Type:- SURVIVAL
Name:- Quest To Becoming Stronger:
Description:
The {Great Calamity} is coming...Get stronger and survive.
Duration-: ...
Reward:- ...
Penalty:- Death, ??? ]
...
That was what the system quest was pointing at.
The Third Great Calamity has yet to descend... Unlike the first parts of the visions, the last part truly was like a revelation of the future.
After calming my emotions a little, I raised my head and stared at the walls and murals. Just as I had thought they describe a story about the previous gone Era's. Strangely, I could more or less understand the unfamiliar characters.
I couldn't explicitly read them, but it was more like an intuition at the back of my head concerning what some of them possibly meant.
Is this the influence of the skill as well?
Or was this because I finally raised my authorization level and sequence, whatever the hell that really meant?
Regardless, once again, I confirmed the System hid deep secrets. One's that had my fate dancing in the palm of of its hand.
Am I suppose to face the Demon King then? I thought as I slowly curled myself into a ball.
I was truly beginning to feel depressed at this rate. I thought I could salvage whatever was thrown at me, but in the end it's just like how it was on Earth. I never had a choice but to bend the knee to the power above, much greater than the one I possesed.
'It was supposed to be different this time around too.'
While I brooded in place, a familiar figure bounced into the corner of my eyesight. I turned slightly to see the blob like figure of Hamlet the slime, my newest and most hateful companion.
Humph, I almost forgot about this hateful bastard. I sneered.
I could feel Harmlet's intentions. The silver demon slime slowly slid its way to me and bounced up to my right shoulder before taking its place there.
"What? Who's brooding? The fuck fo you mean I'm being sad? Wanna die for real this time?" This bastard slime really knows how to push my buttons.
But Hamlet was right.
Brooding won't change anything. There was still time, and a part of the vision still wasn't that clear to me.
Like the Second Era, the War of god's and demons. Back then, the Demon king failed to descend, and somehow, the war was resolved.
Aethoria changed as well.
Humans possessing the power of Aether started popping up around the world towards the end of the Era. These unique people will later come to be known as the Awakened.
The Heroes.
The War of God's and Demons saw its end, and a new age usehered in.
The third and current Era. The Era of Heroes.
I recalled the final part of my vision, the being dressed in resplendent flames they burned even darkness and void...
The Demon King had called them 'Hero' as well. But he was the only one left alive in the world. The first and second part of the vision were mostly short symbolic glimpse without clear context, but the last part of the vision was truly like a moment cut out of time and replaid before my eyes.
It wasn't symbolic or implied to mean something else. It was literal. The conversation, the participants, all of it was the actual reality.
That meant...there really 'is' a Hero somewhere.
Not just the general population of the Awakened. No, but one amongst the many to hold the fate of the world. The one to defeat the Demon King.
Thankfully, that wasn't me.
I glanced at the system screen with the quest notification still open.
The system was very explicit with its choice of words. The third calamity is coming....get stronger and survive.
Not, defeat the Demon king and claim the mantle of the Hero.
This meant there was something much more. I see no reason for me to be awarded the system with this particular quest when nobody else seems to be aware
Was the Demon King descent really the only thing to be worried about?
What the hell am I saying? The world was dead when the Demon King arrived, what could possibly be wor—
My thoughts froze and I shivered.
'No, it can't be...'
I recalled the very first Vision I had all those years ago.
Th..the Demon King wasn't in it.
The Hero...and the man in darkness was.