In the depths of the void, countless shards of broken glass floated aimlessly, suspended as though frozen mid-shatter. Each fragment gleamed with edges sharper than any blade, their surfaces catching and twisting light in impossible ways. Unlike ordinary glass, these shards reflected no light from any source. Instead, they revealed fractured glimpses of different realities, each one distinct and disjointed.
Amidst the jagged shards was a figure, its form nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness, moving with an eerie stillness through the endless expanse.
The dark figure appeared to be forged from the void itself, its presence seamlessly blending with the surrounding abyss. Floating endlessly amidst the shattered shards of countless realities, it remained curled in a fetal position. Its knees were drawn up to its chest, head resting against them, and its eyes were closed in a haunting stillness.
Long, jet-black hair spilled out from the figure, cascading far beyond its massive form. The hair, unnaturally lengthy, wove itself into an intricate web, entwining with the shards of reality. Each strand seemed alive, moving with a will of its own, capturing fragments of broken dimensions and releasing others in an endless, hypnotic cycle. The shifting web pulsed with a quiet rhythm.
Eventually, his eyes opened, gazing into the vast distance. They were golden, glowing with a brilliance that had remained hidden for septillions of years. A radiant hue spilled from them, casting a warm, otherworldly light across his face.
The irises bore a slit pupil, sharp and menacing like that of a dragon. Yet, the intensity of the golden shimmer obscured the detail, making the slitted pupils almost impossible to discern beneath the luminous glow.
"H̡o̸w ̴i͡n̸t̨r̡i̛g̛ưi̛n̛g̴" {How intriguing,} the figure said aloud. This has never happened before.
_What kind of shard is this?_ he thought, the first stirrings of motion in what felt like an eternity. Slowly, he began to move, drawn toward the strange fragment that had caught his attention.
As he traveled, his long black hair floated behind him, an eerie, sentient mass. With every movement, it dragged the countless shards of reality that had become tangled within its threads, pulling them along.
It took him only a moment to reach the intriguing shard—or was it an eternity? Time, in this place, was a concept long forgotten, irrelevant outside the bounds of reality.
As he neared the shard, he glanced down at it, a strange sense of curiosity rising within him. It was as if he had discovered a new toy, a rare source of entertainment in a realm where such things were scarce, especially after being trapped outside of reality for so long.
How he had come to be trapped, however, was a tale for another time.
He reached out with his hands, using his palms to lift the shard of reality. But the shard floated just above his hands, never touching him. He brought it closer, studying it with interest.
The shard was gray, composed of smaller pieces stitched together with golden threads. Two pieces remained only partially covered in the inky gray—one looked like a regular shard, while the other seemed as though it had been painted black.
As the figure examined the shard, a small golden thread that bound the pieces together seemed to stretch toward him, as if searching for something—perhaps other shards to stitch into its web. the figure didn't really know as of yet.
As the figure looked at the thread, it seemed to sense his gaze. Without warning, the thread shot toward his forehead and made contact. The figure flinched, a rare reaction—perhaps the first time he had flinched in the long time he'd been trapped in the void.
He had tried countless times to escape, to slip his soul into one of the shards of reality and find his way back to humanity. But each time, he failed. He had destroyed so many shards in the process, trying to force his return, only to see his efforts crumble.
In the end, he had given up. After all, he was just a soul—one that had been trapped here for time immemorial. He had tried countless ways to escape the endless boredom. he had learned how to shape his soul into his current form from the blob that he was before,He had even created eyes from his soul, somehow adding them to the final form he had shaped for himself. He couldn't remember his face, so he had chosen not to create one, remaining faceless for eternity. He had fashioned a sword by shaping his own soul over thousands of years, despite never having wielded one before he was trapped. Somehow, he had learned. He even attempted to create a floating house out of his soul energy, but his energy was too limited to affect the void to that extent. In the end.
Although, while trying to force his way into one of the shards, he had learned that he could wrap his soul around it to gain a rudimentary understanding of how the multiverse the shard was connected to functioned. It had been entertaining for a time, but it soon grew boring.
So, he decided to create strands of hair, each with a consciousness of its own, similar to his own. These strands would pass through the shards, processing the information while he himself fell into a sleep he thought he would never wake from.
And now, after countless failed attempts to escape into one of the shards, one had somehow managed to pull his main consciousness into itself. From the probe it had sent him, it seemed like he was able to decline the offer. He didn't really know how it had managed that, but he was eager to find out. Though his soul would still be trapped here, if his consciousness could escape and find a way for his soul to follow, that would be a breakthrough.
He was relieved to finally explore a place that wasn't this endless black void filled with countless shards. Eagerly, he created a consciousness to protect his soul and accepted the shard's offer to pull his main consciousness into itself.
As his consciousness was drawn into the shard, he traveled through a golden tunnel, which was likely the same thread from earlier.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…] he heard a voice out of nowhere.
Somehow, he found himself floating above a forest. Time seemed to flow backward as a small patch of the forest began to reset, and a clearing formed where some humans appeared to be fighting. Yet, it was as if their time was flowing in reverse—from their slaughter back to when they had lived peacefully, before the invasion of a neighboring tribe.