Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
Yves could hear the sound of a heartbeat; it echoed.
Yves was thinking that it was due to his death, but the more and more that sound echoed, the more annoyed he became at how sad the afterlife is.
Yves opened his eyes only to be surprised to see a pure white room.
Yves patted his body but saw nothing, that the hole on his stomach was patched, and there was no scarring.
Am I dead?... I am dead. I got stabbed, and I passed out, but if this is the afterlife, I would just prefer to disappear.
Yves felt a liquid drop on top of his head.
Confused, he touched the top of his head and was surprised to see his hand black as if it were covered in ink.
"Is this ink? Why is there a big splash of ink on the top of the room? Wait, is this judgment?"
Before Yves could panic, the ink suddenly disappeared, leaving no traces; even his hand became its original cream color.
Splash
On the left side of Yves, another big splash of ink was heard. The splash of ink splashed on Yves, consuming his entire clothing.
Yves became suspicious of the ink as it was acting radically.
The ink started disappearing and appearing at every corner of the room. Engulfing Yves more and more.
"What do you want!!" Yves screaming is annoyance at being constantly splashed.
Splash
The ink splashed in front of Yves, but none hit Yves. It instead created a word.
"Let me read."
"Hello Yves, You don't know who I am, but I know everything about you. I know the truth behind everything.
"I call bullshit on that! First, what are you? You have to introduce yourself before talking straight nonsense."
The ink started forming more words.
"You don't need to know me. All you have to do is trust me, and I will help you in your goal. Call me as you see fit."
"..."
"No thanks, I don't need your help. I am already dead, so why do I need your help in the afterlife?"
The ink again started forming more words.
"You aren't dead..."
"What? How I was stabbed in the back"
"Yes, you were stabbed, but you aren't dead. I can make you strong. Very strong, only if you are willing to make a contract with me."
Yves became more doubtful about how suspicious the whole situation was going.
"So like a system?"
"No, those don't exist in this world. However, I believe in your potential to control a world threat, so I would like to invest in you before the others try to swoop you in."
"..."
Yves became pissed off.
"At first it was believable, but you are bringing world-threatening mythological creatures into the equation; your entire argument became false."
The ink disappeared.
Splash
A massive splash of ink covered the entire room pitch black.
The ink started collecting itself into one spot as Yves was watching in amusement and confusion.
A tall figure appeared; it resembled Yves but was an older version of him.
"So you are a human? Then why am I here? Why didn't you speak to me first in this form instead of that dumb ink!!"
"I believe that it would be less intimidating to present myself as my real form instead of using your body as a mold."
"Hey, you, me, but Ink, what is your name?" Yves's annoyance increased.
"You can decide my name if you join in a contract with me."
"What would that contract benefit me? I need to know, as I won't just blindly sign a contract without reading. That is what my grandma told me."
"My apologies. The contract would be that you will be able to use my abilities, and in return, you have to make the world know about my existence."
Yves looked at the ink version of himself with suspicion. He can't believe anything that a random being is telling him.
"Is there a catch? This contract seems like it would benefit me more than you. I know that you aren't dumb enough to do that."
The ink Yves sighed and palmed his face.
"You caught me. The only catch is that you are unable to contract with other mythological beings."
"So does that mean that I won't be able to contract with any D to A mythological creatures!! So then how would I get stronger!?"
"I forgot that you are a child. Let me dumb it down for you. I will give you super strong power, and you will save the world with that power. But you will not be able to get other powers from mythological beings."
"I am not that dumb!! But… How strong is that power? Is it strong enough to beat a world threat?" Yves became more interested in taking the offer.
"Yes, you would be able to defeat a world threat, but it won't be easy to get to that level… I forgot to tell you that you will have to go to trials in order to gain more of my power."
"You know what? I accept. I have nothing to live for, so what do I lose?" Yves extended his hand.
"Very well then, as time goes on more and more, you will know the truth behind everything. All it will tell is to choose those who will fight beside you carefully. Also, how will you calm me?"
"Huh, what does that mean? I won't pay too much attention to that, but I will call you… Ink"
"Very well, Ink is my name then." Ink shook Yves's hand.
"Yes, now what can you do?"
The room starts collapsing, and Yves begins falling at a high speed, frantically moving his hand.
"Ink!!"
"..."
"Wait, why am I here?" Yves returned to his original world and saw the woman who stabbed him.
"Wait, how are you alive!!" The woman screamed, glaring at him in fear.
She began running past him, her finger transforming into that obsidian knife back.
Yves is caught by surprise; he instinctively positions his hands in front of him to protect his face.
Slash
Yves heard a sound and felt very weak. His first thought was that he got slashed, but the hot sensation hasn't kicked in.
Yves opened his eyes and was surprised to see a large, black-colored ink spear, which had punched the woman in the chest.
Yves's body became so weak that the spear disappeared, causing a large spill of blood all over the dull red carpet. Yves passed out after seeing the spear retreat.
"Very good."