The wind whispered through the trees, carrying the distant chirping of unseen creatures. Chris—no, Ravenn—sat frozen by the pond, fingers clenched into the dirt as reality settled into his mind.
He was here. In the world of The Fool's Ascent.
Not as Riven Ashford, the hero. Not as some nameless side character. But as one of the villains. The boy whose name would be spat with disdain in history books for his acts against humanity in the later years of the novel. The child who was meant to burn, to fall, to be erased.
A shudder ran through him. His mind was racing, trying to grasp at anything logical, anything real. But how could he? He wasn't just in a different place—he was in a different body. The body of a character the author clearly had a distaste for, considering the shoddy work that went into making him.
He lifted his hands again, staring at his slender fingers, the soft, unblemished skin of his palms. He was younger now, not even past childhood. His breath hitched.
"If this is real…" he murmured, his voice softer, unfamiliar to his ears.
That meant everything—the execution, the trial, the hatred the main characters would feel towards Ravenn—was also real.
This also meant...
"Im screwed," he whispered.
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Walking through the forest, my mind raced, right now I was in serious trouble.
Not because of my transmigration, that could wait a second. I wasn't being chased or anything, at least not yet.
I was worried because, after a little exploration, I figured out exactly where I was... or at least the part of the planet I was on.
'How did I end up on Natura?' According to my knowledge, Ravenn wasn't supposed to be anywhere near here.
After his "execution" and fall into the sea, he was supposed to end up in a border city of Atlas, the Sea Lands, after which, he would come under the tutelage of a demonic worshipper (cliche I know). They would travel to Forr'est, the Dark Land, home of demons.
They would stay there for three years, Ravenn awakening and polishing his powers under his cruel masters, until the year the main character, Riven, joined the academy. It was then that Ravenn would travel back to Earth, the human territories, and become a major thorn in Riven's side until inevitably being defeated later on.
But now...
'AGHHHHH HOW DID I END UP ON A CONTINENT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF ATLAS' I screamed internally, running my hands through my hair erratically.
Of all the things to change, why this? I wasn't exactly complaining about skipping the part where I had to escape the Endless Sea—Ravenn originally only survived there by befriending a worshipper of the Demon Lords, and I wasn't keen on following in his footsteps—but this wasn't any better.
For how minor an antagonist Ravenn was in the grand scheme of things, his existence alone had sent ripples through the world. His execution had been a turning point. A thirteen-year-old noble, sentenced to death in a public spectacle—humans had done worse things, but to demons, it was proof of something far more sinister. After all, they could see one of their owns handiwork from a mile away.
It gave certain factions the perfect excuse. The perfect narrative.
If a child's execution could be twisted into a demonic conspiracy, then what else could be? If a demon had supposedly infiltrated the very heart of the Vaedricourt Dukedom—an Order-aligned house led by a Twilight-ranked powerhouse—what did that say about the rest of humanity?
This set in motion an already building conflict, leading to some higher-ranked demons getting involved, and from there, it all descended into chaos.
Even without Ravenn, skirmishes were inevitable. His presence had only made them come faster.
And now? I had no idea what my absence meant.
It wasn't all bad though. At this time, my memory hopefully serving correctly, Natura should be mostly peaceful. This was a time when most of the races here were cordial. While not exactly welcoming to outsiders, they at least wouldn't arrest or kill me on sight.
My first order of business was shelter, preferably any nearby civilization. While it was peaceful, sleeping outside or in any random cave would lead to at least a few issues. This meant, however...
"So much walking," I sighed aloud.
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Time passed in a blur. The forest stretched endlessly in every direction, an endless maze of towering trees and dense foliage. The sunlight filtering through the canopy had started to dim, casting long, shifting shadows across the forest floor.
At first, Ravenn had tried to keep calm. He had reassured himself that this was a peaceful region, that he wasn't in immediate danger.
But as he wandered, his optimism waned.
His stomach growled a sharp reminder that this new body of his still needed food. His legs ached from walking for hours. And worst of all, he was alone. No signs of people, no roads, not even a hint of smoke in the distance that could signal a village.
With a sigh, he stopped by a fallen log, rubbing his temples.
"Alright, priority one—find civilizati- scratch that. Figure out a way to not die before finding civilization," he muttered to himself.
A soft ripple of water caught his attention, drawing his gaze to a small pond nestled between the roots of an enormous tree. The water was clear, reflecting the colors of the setting sun like a mirror.
"Ravenn Vaedricourt," he whispered. The name tasted foreign on his tongue.
With a deep breath, he leaned down and scooped up some water in his hands, drinking greedily.
That was when the feeling hit him.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A sharp chill crawled down his spine, an unmistakable instinct setting in—he was being watched.
Slowly, carefully, he turned his head.
The trees swayed lightly in the evening breeze, but nothing seemed out of place. Yet the feeling wouldn't leave. In fact, it grew stronger.
*CRACK*
His body tensed. The sound had come from his side.
Ravenn swallowed hard. He knew this feeling. That instinct. The way the world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something to happen.
And then—
A blur of motion.
From the undergrowth, a hulking shape burst forward.
Sleek fur, rippling muscles, claws that gleamed like sharpened daggers. A predator.
His mind barely had time to register what it was before his body moved.
He twisted, throwing himself backward as the creature lunged—narrowly missing its fangs as they snapped shut where his throat had been a second ago.
"What idiot said it was safe here, huh?!" he panted, scrambling to his feet.
He had seen this beast before, or at least read about it enough to know how it was supposed to look. It was a Shade, beings of pure shadow Vis brought to life by spirits, or rather, the malice and resentment of the dead. They were a common phenomenon in this world, the race of the Shade changing with the race of the spirits whose malic was used to create it.
And this one looked like a VERY angry panther.
Branches whipped against his arms as Ravenn sprinted through the undergrowth, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The forest blurred around him, but no matter how fast he moved, the panther was faster.
He could hear it closing in. Each bound brought it closer, its presence a looming, inevitable force behind him.
Then—his foot caught on an exposed root.
'OH ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!'
He crashed down hard, pain flaring through his body as he tumbled down a hill and into a clearing.
Dazed, he barely had time to register the sharp sting in his ankle before he heard it, something slicing through the air, just inches from him.
His eyes widened as he twisted onto his back, arms raising instinctively to shield himself.
'This is it? Already?'
He barely had time to understand this world, let alone change anything. No magic, no second chances—just a pathetic, meaningless death in the dirt.
'I didn't even get to fight back…'
No. No, he couldn't die here.
Not like this. Not so soon.
The thought of it—of dying alone, forgotten, in some nameless forest—set off something raw and primal inside him. He had barely even begun to fight. The very world had decided he was expendable, that he wasn't even worth a real chance, but screw that.
His fingers clawed at the dirt, his breath came in ragged gasps. His heart pounded so loudly it drowned out everything else—the wind, the rustling leaves, the distant cries of unknown creatures.
Survive.
He had to survive.
His body screamed in protest as he tried to move, but the pain in his ankle was sharp, merciless. The Shade loomed over him, its eyes glinting with cold hunger. A deep, guttural growl rumbled from its throat as it prepared to strike.
"Not yet," he whispered, voice hoarse. His trembling hands grasped for anything—a rock, a branch, anything—but there was nothing. Just dirt and his own shaking limbs.
The panther-like Shade grew close, already mid-pounce.
And that's when he saw it.
In front of him was no longer the Shade that had been mere moments from tearing into him.
The world around him—the trees, sky, and earth all—vanished. Silence swallowed everything, a void stretching in all directions.
Ravenn's breath hitched. He was no longer lying in the dirt, no longer feeling the sting of his wounds. Instead, he was weightless, floating in an endless expanse of swirling shadow.
It was then that it appeared.
A massive, intricate gate stood before him, suspended in the void. It pulsed with an ethereal glow, its frame adorned with countless engravings, symbols that seemed to shift and writhe as he looked at them. It stretched an impossible distance, dwarfing him.
A Vis Gate.
The realization sent a shudder through him. Every being in this world had one, the key to unlocking their magic. The threshold between what they were and what they could be.
For the first time since he arrived in this world, sentenced to die as he ran for his life—hope flickered in his chest.
'I won't immediately be able to use my magic in its raw elemental form, no you need practice for that. But with my awakening...'
Gifts.
A fundamental part of every Vis wielder's arsenal. An inborn ability, granted by the very essence of Vis itself. Many gifts existed, and many people had ones in common, basic strength enhancements, comprehension enhancements, and slight boosts that were seemingly inconsequential.
Even the original Ravenn, for his strength at the time, had only a slightly uncommon gift to enhance the use of his shadows.
But what I felt now was not that.
'I guess that means Ravenn is in his entirety, completely gone, dead. This gift...'
Riven as the main character, was blessed with immense power. Usually, a person would only awaken 1 gift with their first awakening. Some would unlock others as they grew more powerful, but he was a singularity.
His classmates, some of the most prodigal of this era, had at least awakened two with their first awakening, the strongest among them awakening 3.
Riven had awakened 4. By the end of his time at the academy had awakened 6. In the game, years after his academy life, he was confirmed to have 7, seemingly his peak, which had earned him the moniker, Virtue, most likely a reference to the seven Heavenly Virtues, each being eerily similar to his abilities.
There were beings with more gifts than him, one of the real peaks of humanity having several dozen, and possibly more never mentioned.
Ravenn felt it, a foreign yet familiar power selling inside him. Then another. Then another, when it finally stopped.
Three gifts.
And he could tell, they were not ordinary.
"Well isn't this an ironic name," Ravenn stated reaching deep inside of him and drawing out his power.
There were several types of gifts.
Innate, gift's born from oneself.
Inherited gifts, passed down through a family.
Legacy gifts, originally belonging to higher beings, but wielded by others, typically along with some of the being's powers.
And finally bestowed gifts, gifts that were gained through using certain powerful artifacts or weapons.
Gifts had their own ranking system too, from weakest to strongest, Common, Root, Crest, Bloomed, Immortal, Transcendent, Unique, and finally Paradox gifts, gifts that were beyond any understanding, singular in their existence, holding more potential than all others. Not always the most powerful, but the strangest, and hardest to gauge.
Riven had 2 Paradox gifts in the story, along with 4 Unique gifts, and one Transcendent gift, a true monster among humans.
And now...
"Paradox gift..." Ravenn called out, as his gift faded from view, and the Shade reemerged.
The Panther's face twisted in something it had never felt before.
Fear.
The air—no, the Vis—screeched, not in pain, but in pleasure and longing, as if finally finding something worth its time.
It immediately stretched itself as far as it could, hoping to reach the once frail human before it could finish whatever it was doing.
Alas.
"Echoes of Order"
The Vis around the two pulsed joyfully. The trees swayed hard, the air around growing turbulent. The world itself seemed overjoyed, like a parent seeing their child for the first time.
Ravenn disappeared.
The panther's eyes grew even wider sensing danger at its side.
A hand reached out touching its ear.
"Sonic Ruin," the Shade heard before it lost feeling in its body, consciousness fading into black.
A vibration passed through the Shade's body, spreading through the ground, the air, and the forest around them.
The Shade's brain burst, its large ears being its biggest disadvantage, its large body flying forward from the momentum of its previous leap, before slamming into the ground some meters away.
Ravenn stood standing, body shaking from exertion, before falling to one knee, and then his hands.
But even with his apparent exhaustion... a massive smile graced his lips, mind fading to black.
"What idiot said I was screwed here?" he mused, before falling unconscious.
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A tiny, almost toy-sized figure floated in the air, hovering above the clearing while watching the scene of a young human boy, newly awakened at that, kill a beast that even some low-ranked adventurers would struggle with.
"How intriguing..." it muttered, floating down for a closer look. Its eyes glowed as it observed the normally invisible Vis particles in the air swirl around the boy's body, almost as if trying to protect him, only relaxing when the figure arrived next to the child.
"A child blessed by Vis? And a human no less?" it said aloud, a smile donning its shadowed face.
'I knew I felt a gift of at least Paradox level, but to think a human has something such as this... a future ally perhaps? If trained correctly, given time to mature... how dangerous...'
It raised its hand, green light enveloping both it and the boy, before vanishing.
All that was left, was a quiet forest, a cool breeze... and a dead Shade, dissolving into the shadows.