It was now dead silent...
Nico lied on an infinite voided floor, his surroundings enveloped in nothing but darkness and feint stars. A soft, silky sigh came, but not from him.
A few feet away from him stood a relatively tall woman, who stared at Nico with a look of disappointment on her face. She reached out and gently shook Nico, making him softly grunt as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Had a nice nap?" the woman asked with a smile on her face.
Nico lifted his head and looked at the woman, his eyes slightly widening. The woman's hair was hazel brown and curly, seemingly moving like a wave from the ocean. Her eyes were silver and had a starry pupil, illuminating her overall gaze and bringing a sense of ownership around the void.
Her skin, olive with freckles running across her cheeks, was one to remember. Unlike her skin, her lips were slightly red at the bottom. She garnered a long, black dress, that blended seamlessly with the abyssal and nightly environment.
Nico couldn't help but slightly blush as he looked at the woman, who smiled softly as she looked at his flustered expression.
The mysterious woman crouched in front of him, forcing him to quickly sit up straight and clear his throat, trying to appear composed.
"Um... Who are you...?" he inquired.
The woman smiled. "I am the mother of all things dark, and the lady of the night. But, I'm more commonly known as the Goddess of the night, Nyx."
Nico's eyebrows rose slightly, his astonishment evident. "Nyx? The Primordial Goddess of the night..."
Nyx nodded. "I already know who you are, Nicholas D'Angelo. You are one of my chosen, afterall."
"Chosen?"
"We'll get to that in a minute," Nyx said before Nico could ask another question. "Tell me, why are you so reckless?"
"... I don't know..." Nico responded, dropping his head in slight embarrassment.
Nyx sighed. "Well, let's not pretend you did have other options. You wish to get stronger as fast as possible in order to prevent yourself from being hurt again, correct?"
Nico scoffed. "Kinda like my old life... Which I... kinda miss..."
"Which brings us to the whole 'chosen' ordeal," Nyx said, a soft smile on her face. "I understand that you are not from this world, and that staying here is problematic on its own. But, what if I told you that there was a way out?"
Nico raised his head and brought it closer to Nyx. "There's a way out?!" he exclaimed.
"Of course. It will take some time, but there's definitely a way for you to return to your mundane life."
"What do I need to do?" Nico inquired, his voice full of determination and his heart brimming with hope.
"First, you need to get stronger. A whole lot stronger," Nyx responded with a serious face and serious tone. "Getting killed by gryphons is pathetic considering that other players can effortlessly eliminate them. So, from now on, you'll work on improving your strength and mana."
"But how?"
"By awakening, just like most of the players in this world."
Awakening was a term that Nico was quite familiar with. In Paradox of the Olympian Gods, Vortex was an unawakened fighter, even though Nico chose him to be a Phoenix born human–a human who could use pyrokinetic abilities and be reborn if ever they died.
But, since Nico hadn't awakened Vortex, and he was now living Vortex's life, he couldn't access those abilities and perks that came with it.
"Being a Phoenix born isn't enough though. If you want to leave, you'll need to grow stronger, suffer more, experience more pain. Your success should be equivalent to your failure, your gifts as equal as your curses and your life as equivalent as your death," Nyx explained.
"But, you're significantly weak. Stupidly weak. Laughably, even," she continued nonchalantly, waving her hands as if she was brushing him off. "But, I can make you stronger."
"How strong?"
Nyx smirked, realising that Nico asked the right question. "I can enhance your Phoenix born abilities when you awaken. With your enhanced abilities, you'll be able to level up quickly and fight stronger enemies, which will allow you to get even stronger."
"But," she paused, "there's a catch. In exchange for my enhancements, you'll come across a life threatening situation atleast once or twice in a single month. It doesn't seem to be significantly terrible, but once they start adding up, it'll drive you to the point of insanity."
Nico rubbed his chin. "I've had my balls kicked, got jumped, unintentionally killed a homeless dude and lots more people. I already feel like I've somewhat adapted," he said as he counted on his fingers. "I think I can handle a life threatening event atleast twice a month," he smirked as he concluded.
Nyx laughed and stood up. "If you say so. Now, in order to return to your home, you need to do 3 things. First, you need to find the tiger's jaw, an ancient dagger that can erase anything and anyone's existence. Every once in a while, the dagger lands in the hands of mortals, allowing them to kill powerful opponents. I'm certain you call them 'main characters.'"
Nico's eyes widened. "There's a dagger that can kill main characters?! Those people are drenched in plot armour!"
"Shush," Nyx said as she crossed her arms, prompting Nico to reduce his excitement. "Secondly, head to Pinebank- Staveforge and, find the portal leading to Heaven. Thirdly, eliminate the 12 gods of Olympus."
Nico sighed in exasperation. "You say that as if it is easy."
"I never said it was. I can't promise your succession, but I can promise that you'll become strong enough to kill atleast one god of Olympus. Besides, Ares was killed by a group of 7 players a few years ago. If you need the help, it wouldn't hurt to get a few companions."
Nico thought thoroughly about Nyx's proposal. If killing the 12 gods of Olympus, having his life put in danger twice a month and possibly encountering main characters meant that he could go home, he'd risk it.
"No risk, no reward... I'll do it. I'll find the tiger's jaw dagger, find the portal leading to Heaven and kill the 12 gods of Olympus. It's not like I haven't been doing dumb things since I got here, so it couldn't hurt to try."
Nico stood up and wore a serious expression. Nyx smiled softly and approached him, opening her arms and wrapping them around him in a second, shocking him. She embraced Nico and gently whispered into his ear.
"Nýchta kai fotiá..."
Nico's red eyes turned white and he instantly fell asleep in Nyx's arms. "Until we meet again, my fallen Erebus..."
***
The gryphons stood on the bloodied corpse of Nico, their talons bloodied and still piercing him. Before they could begin feasting on him, a large flame sparked and enveloped 5 of the monsters.
The remaining 5 managed to escape before the amber and red flames could touch them, flying away and observing from a safe distance. They watched as their brethren fell to the ground, their bodies black and charred.
Slowly, Nico rose from the ground, pushing away the corpses of the gryphons on him as he limply stood on his feet. The wounds on his body were healing, smoke releasing from his scorching body.
The flames subsided and in his hand was a new short sword with a curved edge, cross guard and black handle, a short chain attached to the end. He glared at the remaining gryphons, his red eyes slightly redder, and clenched his sword tighter.
{ Vortex_7 has awakened! A Night Phoenix has been born! }
{ Acquired: Voided Xiphos ( Unknown Rank) }
Nico took a deep breath and charged for the gryphons, who equally charged towards him, screeching as they bare their talons at him. As he closed in on them, his sword began glowing in red, then a soft hum came from the sword.
After evading the first gryphon's attack, he swung his sword and cut through the monster's torso, a flow of red flame following the attack and slashing the gryphons, causing it to fall to the ground and cry in agony from the burn.
Then, one by one, he delivered the same attacks to the other gryphons, getting attacked by some of the talons in the process. But eventually, the gryphons were mostly harmed and easier to deal with.
The gryphons charged in again, but Nico's movements flowed like water and he evaded each attempted talon and beak attack with zero effort. He ducked a diving attack and tossed his sword into the air, catching it in order to change its trajectory and then stabbed a gryphon on its chest.
Then, he began cleaving at the incoming gryphons, his blade slicing through the monsters like butter on hot toast. The last gryphon glared at Nico and slowly backed away before lifting its wings.
Nico dashed for it but it quickly took off. Even though it was airborne, Nico wouldn't allow the last one to escape. He held the short chain on the end of his blade's handle and spun it around, the size and length of the chain increasing before he threw it towards the gryphon.
It cut through the air and stabbed the monster through its chest, then he dragged it down and slammed it onto the ground. With a soft squeal, the gryphon died.
{ Mission complete! }
{ You have levelled up! }