I'm drowning…..
It was cold, colder than anything I've ever experienced. But at the same time, it wasn't.
It was a strange feeling,.... Like my entire body has been numbed due to how intense the cold is and yet, due to how intense the cold is, it penetrates my numb body and still finds a way to get to me.
Bathump~ Bathump~
I couldn't tell if that was the sound of my heart slowing or speeding up, I couldn't tell how long I've been in here or if I had stayed awake just like how Esfyn told me to.
All I knew was that I was falling, slowly and surely, I was sinking deeper and deeper into this seemingly bottomless pit that was the yin water.
'How…? How is it so deep? How is it so cold?'
I wasn't conscious, at least not fully but still, these thoughts found a way to float into my sinking mind.
"Heh…" I suddenly heard a chuckle.
It seemed to jolt me awake. It was soft and firm, deep and masculine and it seemed to come from everywhere at once.
'God?....' I wondered but then I shook off the idea. Although I believed a higher being existed seeing as I was able to get reincarnated, I didn't think it was God almighty.
"This is interesting….. a broken core mending itself…."
Suddenly, I opened my eyes to find myself in a large room. The yin pool was gone, the air was clear and although my body still felt numb, it didn't at the same time.
But that wasn't the strangest thing,....
Before me was a pool, at the center of the pool was a throne made of icicles and on the throne sat a man.
He was young, he looked to be the same age as I was and yet, his eyes were deeper than that of lord Ashran.
He was garbed in white, a long flowing silk that looked more like the fins of a platinum koi than actual clothes, ethereal and always moving even though there wasn't an ounce of wind here.
His eyes though, his eyes were golden. They shone like two orbs of the sun itself, deep and ancient and yet blinding in its radiance.
Not even the golden crown on his head could compare.
He was a beautiful man….
"You are one strange lad…. But strangeness is the first step towards greatness."
"Who are you?" I blurted out before I could think.
I looked around, I knew immediately that this wasn't a hallucination. This was real, I wasn't in the castle anymore, I probably wasn't even in the rupture anymore.
I have been brought to this strange place and the only person here with me was this man.
"I need to get back,....'
And from how he carried himself, he was probably the owner of this place and the most likely culprit to have brought me here.
"This isn't my body is it? This is probably my soul or something,.... Which means my body is unconscious right now…. I have to get back."
For some reason, even though this ancient being before me seemed like a god, I wasn't scared of them.
It seemed strange at first but soon, I realized the reason.
"Argh!!!"
I felt a sharp pain surge through me, it ran through my spine, tingling my arms and legs with an aftereffect.
Huu… huu….
It made my mind go blank for a second, my heart beat slowed down and I found it hard to breathe.
I raised my hand to my face, it was trembling and I wasn't sure if it was from the pain, the cold or the fear of looming death.
'I see…. The reason I'm not scared of this man is because death is coming if I don't get out of here.'
"Your body is dying in the yin water,.... The only way for you to stop it is by leaving here."
I felt my heart beat calm down at the man's words, his voice gentle and soothing. It made me feel at ease.
'This man is dangerous…..'
Thump~ Thump~
"I've taken a liking to you, human."
My eyes widened as the man suddenly appeared before me, his white garment dancing gently in the air, he was so close I could smell him.
He reeked of death.
"What do you want?" I asked with a trembling voice.
The man's eyes narrowed. Then he gently lowered himself. It was only then I realized he had been gently hovering above ground.
"Do you know how the yin water came to exist?" he asked, but before I could reply, he began to speak,
"Long ago, there was a… boy who was weak. His family was massacred before his eyes and he was thrown into a pit as a sacrifice to a monster."
The man turned around and stared towards his throne. I couldn't see his features anymore but I could somehow tell that he had a nostalgic expression on his face.
"This young boy was filled with pure hatred for the kingdom he was in and with every ounce of his life, he fought to stay alive."
The atmosphere turned somber, it was like his feelings were pouring out of him into the world.
"The pit was actually a ruin, the remains of a once ancient civilization, hence it was very large and complex, almost like a labyrinth."
It was intense and I could only feel it getting stronger. And the scariest thing was how this world,.... This space…. seems to be reacting to his emotions.
"And every night, this young boy and the monster would play a game of tag. The boy will run for his life, trying to avoid the monster while the monster enjoys the thrill of the hunt."
The pool around the throne began to move, gently ebbing at first…..
"The boy had never been that scared in his life.... Everyday, he stumbled upon skeletons, some were so old, they turned to dust the moment he stepped on them. Others were as fresh as the blood seeping from his feet."
Soon, it began to splash and collide, like the turbulent waves at the shore of a great ocean.
"One day, the young boy got lost in the chase and ended up in a room. He found a treasure in this room."
I felt another jolt of pain run through me. I staggered forward, short of breath. It took everything I had in me not to collapse.
'Can I even collapse if I want to?... I have a feeling that would mean death.'
The man finally turned around to look at me, he had a gentle smile on his face.
His hand raised, his ethereal garment pulling back to reveal fair porcelain skin.
"The treasure was a yin orb, a condensation of energy of the highest form."
He stretched out his palm to reveal a small orb. It looked like the primal frost orb; small and white, but it was a little larger and there were wisps of white dancing around it.
"The young boy took a gamble and directly swallowed it….. no,.... It was more like suicide."
The orb slowly floated off the man's fair hand towards me and I found myself reaching out without even thinking.
"But his strong will to live gave him a miracle and the boy attained enlightenment."
As the orb landed in my hand, I felt a cold energy seep into me. But unlike all the previous ones, this cold seemed to alleviate all my previous problems.
"Then what happened?"
Either due to the soothing effects of the orb or the fact that the pain that was killing me has reduced, I found myself asking the man,
"As you can guess, he laid waste to both the monster and the kingdom. He managed to absorb about ninety percent of the orb's essence but he couldn't absorb the rest."
"You mean….."
"The young boy decided to store the remaining yin orb in the palace of the kingdom. He made the souls of the dead citizens guard the palace and left a bit of his consciousness behind to guard it."
'To think that yin pool was caused by just ten percent of this orb….. how powerful was it?'
"Still,..... I don't understand what all this has to do with me." I said.
While the story was a touching one and it helped shed some light on the situation, I still didn't understand what it had to do with me.
"You are going to die whether you return your body or not."
'What?'
"The yin water is more intense than you can ever imagine…. But that's only if you don't have the yin orb.'
I looked at my palm where the yin orb was only to find out that it was gone.
And as if in cue,
"Arrgh!!"
The pain returned sharper than ever, as if angry that I tried to alleviate it.
"You want this don't you?"
I looked up to see the man had returned to his throne. He sat on it, twirling the orb between his fingers.
He was taunting me.
"Then come get it."
But I didn't care. I was dying, whether I fought him or not, I'll die.
I don't think I'll be able to reincarnate again after death.
And even if I would, it isn't a chance I am willing to take.
"If you can land a single hit on me, I'll let you have it."
Which is why, I'll fight.