'CREAK!'
He opened the door to the shabby four walls he called home. Or rather, had called home for the past half a year.
The flickering room light made it clear that it had been practicing social distancing with management and repairs.
He didn't bother looking around, this was the room he stayed in each time. He let his body fall onto the tattered foam head first. He'd seen it too many times over the past half a year.
The creaking floors, the broken walls, the rats, and critters that shared the room with him, rent-free. That leak that always seemed to let off a droplet at the most opportune time.
'Lilia, I'm so sorry I left you and the comfort and luxury u provided.' He sobbed into the mattress. What truly was he thinking, running away at 9?
When last had he eaten his fill? As if on cue his stomach started rumbling, causing dark lines to form over his face.
He turned facing upwards, his line of sight, matching that of the ceiling, his face shown for all those who bothered to look. Well... all the critters that bothered to look at least.
Any other person would have probably felt disgusted and put off by the place, but he didn't feel any particular way.
He cleaned up the place whenever he could but it didn't exactly help that he was at death's door every other day.
'Sigh, I've got to stop doing this silent killer role-playing game.' He felt the scar that ran from his lips down his neck. The soft echoes of the pain caused him to wince.
'At least it adds to my looks I guess. Tch.'
Truthfully, he wasn't a sadist. Probably. Okay ,maybe a little.
The Reaper was quite the burning flame. He had an angular face that complimented his huge greyish-green eyes. But those eyes seemed to lack a certain luster to them.
It was also the one thing he couldn't change much of. The moment anyone saw these eyes, they automatically associated it with his persona. Regardless of the face and how he looked.
He didn't seem to have the ability to discern between objects and people in the normal sense. Despite their vibrant colors, his gaze seemed dull.
He had large ears that almost seemed Elven but fell short. Hanging from his right ear was a strange skull earring.
It seemed like the type of immaculate piece that would come in a pair but unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a second piece with him.
His locks of hair were kept short, packed towards the right, looking like dreads from one angle, and a flowing fountain from another.
But truthfully looks mean little to nothing in this world called Diagram.
There was truly nothing special about him. A simple mortal mercenary. Powerful yes. But at the end of the day… Weak.
He sighed, but that was soon replaced with determination. He would form his Diagram soon enough.
Getting up, he sat in a meditative posture.
'Heart.' That name. His surname. What did it mean? What was its intent?
'Diagram...' This world that allowed for meaningful connections in otherwise meaningless things. But could a name be called meaningless? If anything weren't 'names' the most significant thing that could be given?
What was a person if not the name they were called?
Seeing that he wasn't making any progress, he took out his spoils from the temple. A pendant. A pair of gloves. A note. and a strange orb. It had an odd shape, and for some reason, it felt like reality blurred when he looked at it.
'What is this...' He held the orb in his hands, but it only made the feeling worse. Eventually, he put it away. It was clear he wouldn't be getting anything out of it now.
After putting it away, there were only 3 items left. All of which seemed rather lackluster.
Looking at everything he settled on checking out the note.
He unfolded the piece of paper trying to see what was written.
"So you're alive brat. I was sure I had killed you by the second trail but I guess you ain't going down like me huh?" Reaper rolled his eyes at the first statement. The man was dead and still making jokes.
"You need to understand that the fact that you are reading this means I failed..."
"And something is coming. As sad as it is, you are my only contingency plan." His brows twitched, as he read. What did he mean by that? Was he saying that he felt bad that his own son was too useless?
Wasn't that too shameless?
But despite that he didn't skip to the end, ensuring he read every word with a bittersweet smile on his face.
The truth was he had been chasing after these Walls with clues left behind by his father. Though explained as a wall, These Runic Walls were anything but.
It was more accurate to call them Fractures. There were different types of Fractures, all of which served different purposes.
These Fractures only revealed themselves at very particular times. The scene of them collapsing was not them being destroyed but rather ceasing to exist. At least on this plane of existence.
One could then say, if they were such enigmatic existences how was a mortal like him able to survive?
In truth, those capable of predicting the appearances of such things simply didn't interact with this lower section of the world.
At their level, anything of worth to them wouldn't appear here. Or so they believed.
"I didn't do right by you children. I prepared all that was needed but I never truly entertained the possibility of failure."
"Unfortunately I truly cannot say much even on this paper without the needed countermeasures. If you truly want to know more, visit the city of Blue and Opal."
Reaching this point, he couldn't help but frown. The fact that his old man couldn't hide information about this entity without the needed preparations was alarming.
He didn't know how powerful his father was in relation to others but he was sure he was extremely so. Snapping out of his thoughts he continued reading.
"I won't blame you if you run away. Just know that whichever option you choose I love- I'M KIDDING! YOU'LL LIKELY DIE WHICHEVER ONE YOU CHOOSE!!! No… you'll definitely die. LMAOOOO!!!! -Your Life Giver."
'What the hell was that ending?' He felt his temple bulge with veins. He was about to cast the paper aside when he noticed little scribblings on the side.
"Oh forgot to mention you'll probably have difficulty advancing for a very long time. I'll explain later. It's not that your stupid but rather I'm to-"
He didn't know why but he felt like reading anymore would probably give him a stroke. 'Sigh whatever made me think this man was cool as a child? Life Giver? Really?'
Finally having calmed down enough, he picked up the gloves, the bed creaking at his sudden movement.
Attached to it was a small piece of paper.
"Happy 18th Birthday son." Reaper stared at the piece of paper. Several dark lines appeared the more time passed.
After a while he couldn't take it anymore, bashing in the poor table by the side.
"I'M 19 YOU JACKASS!" He exhausted all air available in his lungs and yet felt that it was nowhere near enough.
"Everything good son?" Old Rock upon hearing the screaming ran over to check out the situation.
"Uh...yeah. Just some nightmares." Reaper let out a sheepish smile as his back filled with bullets of sweat. Nightmares? Really?
Looking at the now broken table Old Rock raised an eyebrow but kept his comments to himself. After making sure everything was alright he left, without saying much else.
"Kids these days. What kinda exercises are they teaching them?" He reminisced then shook his head, going back to his room.
Meanwhile, Reaper's expression was coated in black lines. He could imagine the old man's echoing voice laughing at him having made a fool of himself.
But on a side note, he was dealt a horrible hand. Despite how much time, he still hadn't developed the basis for his concept.