Chapter One: Calamity Codex

Dusken felt the atmosphere grow heavy with anxiety as deafening silence ensued in the metallic room. There was only an almost imperceptible sound of people breathing amplified the distress in the air.

"Young Master Dusken, you must survive," a voice sliced through the palpable silence of the dimly lit area, its tone aged and laced with exhaustion.

A white-haired boy with dark circles under his eyes lay on a small bed in the metallic room with a smile so dazzling that its innocence could melt the hardest of steel.

"No need to worry about me, Elder John," Dusken spoke in a low tone as he nodded at the figure standing next to his bed.

Today was the long-awaited day that had been haunting him, but Dusken felt extremely carefree; he had already come to sense the fact that he may die today.

Still, he did his best to comfort the man who had been with him for most of his life ever since his arrival into this new world... timeline, perhaps.

Elder John, a man with long grey hair and wrinkled skin, sighed in resignation, how could he not see through Dusken's facade?

"I have trust in you and we shall be waiting for your grand return, young master," the elder said. "I believe that the geniuses of those other clans will be thrashed by you."

On hearing those words, Dusken's smile slowly turned dark, as his eyes burned with a quite menace.

Sleep slowly began to overtake his senses as he struggled to stay awake against the mountainous pressure of his eyelids.

His elder leaned closer, held his hand, and added urgently.

"Remember, young master. You will also meet others in the Ethereal land, and you may have to defeat them. You also have to pass the trial and attain a god statue's legacy..."

The words of Elder John were faint when they reached Dusken's ears, but he still managed to nod, he visibly clenched the bed sheets in struggle.

Seeing his nod, the elder quickly added:

"As soon as your soul is transported to the Ethereal Land, you shall awaken your talent, but will only get access to side abilities." Elder John lingered for a moment before continuing:

"Unless you attain a god's legacy, you can't access your main power. When you arrive, you will get a soul script, summon it and check what side abilities you have at your disposal. Humanity is already losing in this battle, so Dusken, please... survive."

As Dusken was falling asleep, these words reached his ears, and he couldn't help but be slightly touched by his elder's concern for him.

But before he could reply, his eyelids finally shut, and his struggle ended as he slipped into the embrace of a long, deep sleep while his soul was transported away.

***

Dusken's soul sank into blankness; all he saw was ebony as a cold breeze caressed his skin.

'C-curse it. Where is this?' he shivered.

In this unnatural darkness, a hiss suddenly resounded, making Dusken visibly tremble; instantly, bright particles of light appeared and began to converge towards each other as they swirled around him.

Then a familiar, yet unfamiliar voice whispered from the dark environment; it sounded domineering, cold and a bit... systematic. Dusken wasn't sure, but what he was sure of was that this was the Calamity Codex speaking.

[Collecting Seeker's information...]

[Inserting information...]

[Creating soul script...]

[Soul script creation has been completed]

[Seeker! Welcome to the Ethereal Land]

The firefly-like light swirling around Dusken disappeared as the cold darkness returned once again.

Then it started to fall apart like shattering glass, as it gradually came undone, Dusken found himself standing on a hill in a vast desert.

Large and hard, its height was intimidating, making it look like a small mountain; the elevated land had a very sharp downward slope, indicating a terrifying slide.

In the surrounding areas of the desert, other hills could be seen, but their hilltops were dwarfed by the one on which he stood; jagged bones jutted out of the ground of the desert like memories of a long forgotten battlefield.

A searing sun bathed the uneven terrain of the desert in golden, bright light.

The oppressing heat accompanied by the harsh winds made the surroundings look like a dead land used to punish evil-doers.

'What... What sort of the hell is this?' Dusken thought as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He suddenly felt like his dark robe was only a burden under the glaring heat of the blazing sun.

Suppressing the urge to take off his robe, he scanned the hellish landscape around himself.

'Well… looks like I am in an abandoned area of the Ethereal Land, just a great place to start, damn my shitty luck'

Dusken was more bewildered than alarmed.

Normally, freshly chosen seekers would be sent to well-off areas near the god's castle.

They would have to brave horrors and perils to reach the palace, pick the statue of a god, try to pass its trial and get the god's legacy.

Starting in an abandoned, hellish region of the Ethereal Land was far from what one could call normal.

Dusken ran his hand through his hair in frustration as these thoughts flashed past his mind.

Finally, he was here in the Ethereal Land. He had succumbed to his Call to power and appeared here to attain strength and save his clan, but what were the chances of survival? He didn't know except that the likelihood of death was very high.

---

The Calamity Codex had first appeared in the world a long time ago, wrecking great havoc. Back then - till now, the planet was in a disastrous war against invading aliens and the world was in unrest and turmoil.

The suddenness of ten-year-old children falling asleep and going on for days without waking up had caused an uproar in society.

What's worse was that many of them suddenly began to decompose and become dust, while some awoke with magical powers.

The Calamity Codex was the only way for humans to grow stronger; it chooses some children at ten years of age, makes them fall asleep, and then takes their souls to the Ethereal Land, where they would face unknown horrors.

The world was not ready for such a change, and of course, this was not the end of the sequence of events, but as far as Dusken knew, none of it was his business... until now.

Finding himself in the dangerous ethereal land, Dusken knew that his aim was to successfully reach the god's palace and bind with the statue of a god because without doing that, awakening his talent and returning to the real world was nothing but a fleeting dream.

However, things were not that easy, because to leave the ethereal land, one would face great dangers, but Dusken was never optimistic about his chances of surviving in this Ethereal Land, not because he was weak, but because he was a target that must be eliminated.

—

As this thought brushed Dusken's mind, a cold light flashed through his onyx dark eyes as he clenched his fists with gritted teeth.

However, he was now in the Ethereal Land, and he remembered what Elder John asked him to do.

Focusing, he tried to sense something deep within him to no avail, after some time, he began to mutter words like "Summon", "Soul script", or "Appear". After muttering almost fifty different words, something finally happened.

Dark light that only he could see, began to come out of his chest and coalesced into a floating screen in front of him. He scrolled through the words and quickly found his talent page. When he read it though, he trembled... it took him all he got not to fall on his butt.

'D-damn.'

---

Name: Dusken

Innate Name: -

Rank: Seeker

Level: 0

Spell Cards: -

Scrolls: -

Material Cards: -

Talent: Abyssal Star (locked)

Side abilities: [Child Of the Abyss]

Side ability description: Your soul bears the vestige of the abyss. Thus, the abyss and all its related entities see you as their child.

Innate abilities: -

Legacy: None

Dusken stared at this as an imperceptible glint ran through his eyes. He clenched his fists tighter, raging flames spilling from his eyes.

'Curse it,'

His side ability was thoroughly useless in combat, so how was he going to get out of this desert as a normal human being at level 0?

He didn't know and just the thought of it sounded like a distant dream.

Dusken dismissed the soul script that was visible to only him and decided that it was time to go down the hill. It was then that a sound was heard.

Swoosh.

Immediately, he turned his head and glanced behind, a distance away, on a flat, dried earth, a vague outline of an individual was being formed.

Dusken had a wary expression on his face as he stared at this sight, a young boy materialised in the distance. Messy red hair, Jade-like skin, pink soft lips and a straight nose.

His bright green eyes instantly locked on Dusken as his eyebrow arched in what seemed like surprise.

Under the fiery sun and oppressing heat, Dusken's gaze was fixed on the red-haired boy whose stare was as heavy as a mountain.

The boy's lips parted.

"H-hello,"

He said with a lowered gaze while biting his fingers nervously.

Dusken didn't respond to him; his face was expressionless, but his inner thoughts were in turmoil.

'What the…' Shocked and suspicious raged in him at this boy's sudden appearance.

Although this was the Ethereal Land, and anyone could appear anywhere, he still felt wary and so didn't respond to the boy, it was not because of arrogance, but due to him being careful.

After some period of silence, the red-haired boy raised his head once again and stared at Dusken, before speaking:

"M-my name is Kyle, can I… can I know yours?" he stammered while speaking and this showed his uncertainty.

This time, Dusken frowned, he forgot what he had been thinking about and lingered for a moment before answering.

"Dusk. Call me Dusk."

Although he was suspicious of the boy, he still decided to open up a little; after all, this was the Ethereal land where dangers lurked everywhere; a person can't survive alone in this place - especially him whose side ability was useless in combat.

Dusken finally came down from the tall hill after some time. He observed the bones on the ground that seemed to be echoes of an ancient war, interest hidden deep within his eyes.

"So..."

Dusken was about to speak to Kyle when suddenly, spider web cracks spread through the ground a few metres away, as what seemed like the pincer of a creature tore through the fabric of the Earth.

Dusken heard a surprised gasp escape from Kyle beside him. His eyes widened at this sight, as his heart skipped a bit.

A beast crawled slowly out of the small crack made in the ground.

Suddenly, dark lights that only he could see came out of his chest and flew around the creature, immediately, his soul script appeared before his eyes.

---

[Species: Creature

Rank: Awakened

Level: 1]

As soon as Dusken read the information about the monster, his expression changed, and he uttered one word:

"Run!"

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A/N: Like it? Add to your library! Anything you want to say? Comment!