Chapter 3: Prosperous
Kaz sat by the oasis, picking at the fruits he had found hanging from the trees, still unsure if this place was real or some elaborate illusion. He took a bite of a plump, sweet fruit, the juice running down his chin, but his mind remained distracted. The desert, the scorpion, the oasis... It all seemed too improbable to be anything more than a mirage, yet everything around him felt vivid and substantial.
"Well, it's no use worrying," Kaz muttered to himself, chewing thoughtfully. He couldn't keep second-guessing every moment of his existence. Whatever the reality of this world was, he had to make sense of it—or perish trying. His thoughts drifted back to the scripts he had seen earlier. He focused on them again, pulling the strange words out of the air and examining them one more time.
Feature: Prosperous
You will be thrust into dangerous worlds, but you will always prosper. No matter how harrowing the challenges may be, you will thrive.
"That's how I found the oasis so easily," Kaz murmured, realization dawning on him. The feature was literally built into his existence. He hadn't had to work to find water or shelter; it had all come to him naturally. Whether by luck or by design, this world was feeding him what he needed to survive.
But then, he remembered the other feature.
Feature: Null
Most gods and champions have taken most elements. You are elementless. You have no divinity or profane to serve.
Kaz frowned. It felt like a curse more than a blessing. To have nothing to rely on, no elemental power or divine patronage, left him feeling hollow, as though he had no connection to anything beyond his immediate survival. No fire to command, no earth to mold, nothing. He was... nothing.
His fingers lingered over the script, trying to grasp its meaning, and his gaze shifted to the surrounding landscape. The lack of elemental power wasn't helping him understand this place, but the idea of being "elementless" seemed to carry weight. Was this why the world felt so alien to him? Because he had no connection to it, no divine or worldly force to bridge the gap between himself and the environment?
Kaz pushed these thoughts aside for now, as his attention was drawn to the last feature listed.
Feature: Beyond
You have been touched by something that transcends the cosmic scale. You possess no light, no shadow, no darkness.
He didn't fully understand it, but he could feel its presence in his body. Beyond. It wasn't just some abstract concept or power. It was something that existed in him, woven deep into the fabric of his being. There was a weight to it, a sense that it was more than just a part of him. Maybe it was the reason why he had ended up here, why the rift had chosen him. He didn't know yet, but Kaz could feel that the feature's implications would unfold over time.
Shaking his head, Kaz stood up and surveyed the oasis once more. He needed to move. If he was to survive, he had to learn more about this world, its rules, its dangers—and how he might be able to use his features to shape his future. He couldn't just sit here in complacency.
As Kaz wandered through the oasis, exploring the area, he noticed something strange—a large stone altar hidden in the shade of a cluster of palm trees. It was ornate, covered in intricate carvings, but the craftsmanship didn't match anything he had seen before. The altar was pristine, untouched by time or nature's wear. It seemed... wrong, in a way. Like it had been built for someone—or something—but had never been claimed.
His curiosity piqued, Kaz approached it. He stared at the carvings, but as he did, the symbols seemed to shift before his eyes. The scripts that appeared felt familiar, like a part of him was understanding them without him consciously trying.
This is an unclaimed altar. It was built for a god, but no god has yet claimed it.
"An unclaimed altar... in an oasis?" Kaz murmured, his brow furrowing. He had no idea what to make of it. Why would a god have an altar here? And why hadn't anyone claimed it?
For a moment, Kaz considered touching it, seeing if there was anything to be gained. But something held him back—something in the pit of his stomach told him to leave it alone for now. If it was meant to be claimed by a god, then maybe it was better to wait. He'd had enough of mysteries for the moment.
Sighing, he turned and left the altar behind, heading back to where he had set up camp. The oasis seemed serene, but Kaz knew better than to let his guard down. The desert, the rift—nothing about this world was predictable. He had learned that much already.
He lay back down in the shade of a palm tree, letting the warmth of the day settle around him. Sleep crept in slowly, but just as he was beginning to drift off, he felt something small and sharp moving inside his shirt.
Kaz's eyes snapped open. He froze, feeling a slight tug at his skin. What the hell? A small creature? In his shirt?
He reached down cautiously, pulling up the fabric of his shirt to reveal a tiny creature nestled against his chest. It was humanoid, barely the size of his hand, with small horns protruding from its forehead and gleaming red eyes that blinked up at him with curiosity. The creature appeared to be a tiny imp, though it had a more feline grace to it than anything he'd seen in stories. It looked up at him with a mixture of caution and boredom before curling up in his shirt again and going back to sleep.
Kaz was stunned, unsure how to react. The little imp's presence didn't make sense. He was alone in the desert, in a world he didn't understand. And yet, here was this creature, seemingly at home inside his clothes.
"What the hell are you?" Kaz whispered, his voice barely a breath. But the imp gave no answer. It just tucked its tiny head into Kaz's chest, snuggling in for a nap as though it belonged there.
Kaz, weirded out but too exhausted to deal with the strange turn of events, let it go. Maybe it was just a dream, some manifestation of the strange world around him. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off again.
When he awoke hours later, he felt a tugging sensation at his hair. His eyes shot open, and before he could speak, the imp's small hand covered his mouth. The creature's grip was surprisingly strong for something so tiny, and its red eyes glinted mischievously.
Kaz's breath caught in his throat as he looked around. And then, standing at the edge of the oasis, he saw it.
The scorpion.
It was back.
The massive creature loomed over him, its pincers clicking with a deadly rhythm, its tail raised high. The battle Kaz had escaped from earlier was now coming to him, up close and personal. The scorpion seemed to have a new purpose, and its eyes were locked on Kaz.
Before Kaz could react, the imp's hand released his mouth, and it scrambled onto his shoulder, hissing at the scorpion in some unintelligible language. The tiny creature appeared to be trying to communicate something, but Kaz had no time to figure out what.
The scorpion's tail struck, the sharp stinger aiming straight for Kaz's heart.
"Shit!" Kaz scrambled back, his heart hammering in his chest.
Would his prosperity feature save him again? Would it be enough this time to escape the scorpion's wrath?