Darkness.
Then a corridor.
Soren stood in the same stone corridor he had fallen asleep in only moments prior.
The same cracked stone.
The same purple fog.
But this time, no allies stood beside him.
The memory of Murmur's laughter echoed somewhere in the haze, but when he reached for Labrys, his fingers slipped through the handle as though it wasn't real.
"Isaac…"
The voice was soft, familiar.
His breath caught, and he spun.
There, just ahead, a small silhouette in the mist.
Aria.
"Wait–!" His voice cracked as he ran forward.
Each step splintered the floor beneath him, cracks spreading like veins in glass.
The ground threatened to collapse if he pushed too far, but he couldn't stop.
Not now.
Her form wavered, as though the fog itself wore her shape, but the eyes, those hollow, sunken eyes, were hers.
"It's your fault," she whispered.
"I-I didn't mean…! I'm sorry…"
Dark laughter seeped into the air.
"I did it for you…"
The stalker's voice coiled around him like chains.
"No!" He swung his head back around to face Aria.
But her form had already twisted.
She stood, pale and trembling, a rope coiled around her neck.
The sight crushed the air from his chest, his throat burned, and he couldn't even swallow.
The rope slowly tightened, hoisting her upward.
Her legs kicked, her nails clawing at the rope, digging into her skin.
"No! Aria–!"
He tried to run toward her, but his legs felt like they were trapped in the tar.
His arms reached out, trembling violently, but his hands passed through empty air, the fog blowing in the wind before reforming only inches away.
"Why… why didn't you protect me?"
A headless corpse stood before him, crimson gushing from the empty neck, but the raccoon tail made it obvious who the body belonged to.
Lyra.
The stench of iron hit him, and bile surged in his throat.
His stomach twisted so violently that it hurt.
Then more bodies revealed themselves, Yuli Enron, who died without even knowing what hit him.
The nameless student who had fallen to Murmur's daggers.
Each body that filled the dark corridor was a body that Soren recognised.
"Why did you let me die?"
The words pierced his ears, though the nameless students' lips were nonexistent, the sound resonated inside of Soren's skull, pounding until his temple throbbed.
"No… I tried…"
The excuses scraped his throat raw, but his voice was barely a whisper.
Their voices rose, overlapping into a suffocating chorus.
""""Your fault. Your fault. Always your fault.""""
Soren staggered backwards, his nails digging into his palms so hard that they bled.
He felt the sting, the wet warmth of blood dripping between his fingers.
The corridor stretched endlessly; there was no escape, no end.
Aria's body dangled from the ceiling, and Lyra's head rolled along the floor.
"You kill everything you touch."
The ground cracked open beneath him, hands bursting forth from the fissure, wrapping around his ankles, his wrists, his throat.
The pressure tightened.
He gagged as invisible fingers squeezed his windpipe.
His lungs convulsed, screaming for air, his chest heaving uselessly.
The bodies around him raised to their feet, as if pleased by his suffering.
Soren's eyes trembled in fear as the bodies inched ever closer.
Tears flowed from his eyes, and he thrashed wildly, trying to escape, his nails clawing at his throat until it bled.
""""You let us die.""""
Their blood-tinged voices cried out in unison.
""""It's your fault!""""
The world shattered.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Soren's body shot upright with a strangled gasp.
He clawed his throat, desperate to breathe, his nails creating shallow scratches across his skin.
His lungs heaved, dragging in the damp air of his surroundings.
Sweat drenched his skin, and tears fell from his eyes, soaking his sheets.
His heart pounded so violently that it rattled his bones, a drumbeat he couldn't silence.
For a long moment, he couldn't tell if he was awake at all.
The creaking of the rope still rang in his ears, the smell of blood still filled his nose.
"It was a dream…" he whispered under his breath, again and again. "Just a dream."
Cold air brushed over him, carrying the faint scent of herbs and alcohol, pushing away the metallic stench.
The moonlight spilling through the infirmary windows painted the curtains that surrounded him pale white.
Only the sound of his laboured breaths filled the quiet room.
His heart still pounded out of rhythm, but it wasn't the same panicked hammering from before.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and pressed his forehead against them, desperately trying to steady his breathing.
One breath, then another.
Each one was shallow and shaky.
The nightmare still clung to him, but his chest loosened bit by bit.
He was finally calm enough to think, calm enough to move.
Once he had calmed, he leaned back against the bed, his mind a muddled mess.
Only then was he reminded of his state before falling asleep.
He shot up and pulled the sleeve of his left hand up, revealing his normal, pale-skinned hand.
The strange, translucent hand that had been there throughout the fight had disappeared entirely.
"So what was that…?"
He still remembered the power of the [Shockwave] spell, the amount of blood [Hemokinesis] drained from his body, the way the magic circles distorted, and the foreign mana within his body.
None of it made any sense.
Then he remembered something else.
The system message sound that was heard just before his body started acting strangely.
Soren called for his status window to check the notifications he had missed, and there, his questions were answered.
.
[Unique Skill [Chimera] has awakened.]
.
'So it was the hidden unique skill after all.'
He had assumed that was probably the case, given the similarities between his strange hand and the times his eye and neck had changed, but it was still surprising nonetheless.
'So what does it do?'
Unlike with [Library of Memories], it wasn't immediately apparent, and as it was a unique skill, there was no world in which Soren was familiar with it.
The only thing he could glean was that it had something to do with his race.
From the question mark that sat next to his race in the status window, to the skill name itself, that was the only conclusion he could come to.
Beyond that, he was clueless.
The only fortunate thing was that he wasn't in a rush.
The first act was over, and the second act wouldn't begin for another couple of months, after summer break ended.
Summer break itself was mainly a training arc in the game, used to explore the world, raise affinity with your companions, or just have fun, so Soren had nothing to worry about.
While the silver window floated before him, Soren decided to check the other information he was curious about.
.
▶ Main Quest Complete! First Steps (3) ◀
[Details: Successfully complete the final exam.]
[Difficulty: A]
[Reward: Unique Skill Awakening, 300 Points.]
[Penalty: Death.]
[First Step (3) Complete!]
▶ Title [On the Path] Obtained! ◀
[On the Path]
You who have taken your first steps are now on the path. The destination is unknown, but your journey has begun nonetheless.
[+0.3 to all stats!]
.
[Points: 1023P]
.
With the conclusion of the quest, he had finally reached the amount of points necessary for a new skill; however, Soren didn't even bother to do so right now.
With his mind still a mess and his body still recovering, it seemed like a waste, and as previously stated, there was no rush.
The store window was something he had available at all times, meaning if he ever needed a specific skill at a certain point in time, he could simply buy it then.
Soren swiped the window away and checked on the final thing.
.
[Status Window]
Name: Soren Arden (1★)
Age: 18
Race: Human (?)
◈ Titles
- Transmigrator (Year 1)
- Stella's Secrets
- On the Path
◈ Unique Skills
- Library of Memories
- Chimera
◈ Stats
Stamina - 2.3 (E+) [Increased by 0.7]
Strength - 1.6 (E) [Increased by 0.3]
Agility - 1.9 (E) [Increased by 0.4]
Mana - 2.5 (D-) [Increased by 0.3]
Divine Power - 1.5 (E) [Increased by 0.5]
Charm - 9.0 (S) [Increased by 0.3]
◈ Special Effects
- Lunaris's Liquified Mana
└ Mana increased by +0.5
└ Mana Control increased by 200%
└ Mana can be materialised.
◈ Skills
- Life Magic
- Basic Magic
└ Ignition (C)
└ Breeze (C) [Increased by 3]
└ Shock (C-)
└ Shockwave (D-) [Increased by 2]
└ Gaia (E+)
└ Shield (E+)
└ Bloom (F+)
└ Aqua (F+)
└ Freeze (F+)
- Blood Magic
└ Hemokinesis (E+) [Increased by 4]
└ Blood Absorption (D+)
- Concentration (D-) [Increased by 2]
- Pain Tolerance (E+) [Increased by 2]
- Basic Axemanship (E+) [Increased by 3]
.
Soren took in the information revealed through his status window with a faint smile.
If anyone asked whether he was strong, he would still shake his head without hesitation, but the status window before him made his growth evident.
'It's grown a lot these past few months.'
The first semester was roughly five months long, and Soren had missed a few weeks before he transmigrated, meaning the numbers and letters shown on the screen were all things he had obtained within that short timeframe.
It was an awe-inspiring level of growth.
Not on the level of Alex, but an achievement nonetheless.
Besides, while Alex's stats only grew in the few areas he utilised, Soren's grew somewhat evenly across all stats, thanks, in part, to his unique fighting style.
This was amplified even more in his skill window; the number of skills that Soren held was absurd for his current point in the story, which was why his proficiencies were so low.
Even beyond his status window, the things Soren had achieved during his first semester were by no means small.
Obtaining two hidden pieces, learning blood magic, becoming close with Lilliana, Amelia, among many others.
There was so much that it was difficult to list.
Soren reminisced on his memories, a peaceful expression on his face, far different from the one he held only an hour ago.
He couldn't definitively say that it had been fun, not with everything that had happened to him, but if given the choice, he would choose to stay in this world without hesitation, even with the added difficulties.
————「❤︎」————