The lush ruins of Cragmier spread out for miles, a muddled world of lost dreams and forgotten hopes.
Except for the occasional growling beasts rummaging around fresh Disos Wells and the rare daring fresh Spirit Walker who always ended up as fresh meat for the beasts, the place was empty.
Yes, almost peaceful. Tranquil, if that was possible.
Said tranquility was disturbed when a very naked grown man flourished in a shower of dark mist ten feet above the ruins.
The peace got broken when a Damsel-in-distress-calling-for-her-knight-in-shining-armor scream pierced the air as he hurtled to the ground.
Ooof!
He landed in a heap of humus, thank heavens for small mercies, face dunked into the smelling mess and bare butt lifted into the air.
"Son of a…"
Caedren groaned and plucked his head from the mess.
Musty goo matted his long silver hair and the base of his sharp chin.
He shifted slightly, but that was enough to send him rolling down the heap and to the mossy ground.
As if poked with a needle, Caedren shot to his feet and assumed a defensive stance.
Muscles taut, chest heaving, v-packs flexing and something dangling.
There existed no way to appear high and mighty in his very naked situation. Seriously.
He glanced down at his empty thighs and almost screamed again.
Startled, he used his palms to shield the dangling something, and peered around for peeping eyes.
He was all alone. No beasts to attack him either. At least he'd not fallen in the midst of a Disos Well.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he kept one palm over his prized possession and used the other to rummage around the heap for the biggest scraps he could find.
Once satisfied with the metal shield in front and its companion keeping cold wind from his butt, he started in a general direction.
His bones felt weak as boiled pasta. His stomach growled like a banshee. He was naked and cold.
He felt abused.
By the system, by the jerk of a silhouette, by the Monarch, and especially by the Bitch of Perdition.
He snarled as he recalled the fight. More angry at himself than anything.
Caedren should've severed her neck in half when he had the chance.
Instead he'd hesitated like a fool.
She'd called him a Fool. Like…a dullard, a good for nothing git, a waste of skin.
Another growl of anger.
👽
1 Soul Shard consumed by the Monarch for Soul Override.
Carnage Genesis evolved.
Fifty Eidos of Rage yet to be acquired.
👽
Caedren blinked.
He'd lost another shard of his soul to the monarch after dying in the tower.
His fists clenched. Damn that seductive chicken!
A bell tolled somewhere.
The resonating sound was disturbing and creepy as it went on for a minute before ceasing almost as instantly.
The request had said something about three tolls.. How many tolls had it been already?
👽
One toll left to Soul Override.
The Monarch shows no mercy.
👽
The time between tolls was equivalent to three hours calculated according to Earth's solar cycle.
That meant he'd spent almost as much time battling the beasts outside and within the Disos Well.
But time and space didn't matter in the Core Dimensions.
Spirit Walkers discovered that seconds barely passed after a visit to their Core Dimension as they always returned to the instant of going in.
Why was his own different?
Had the Silhouette lied to him by calling the Court of Chaos his Core Dimension?
Because it didn't make sense anymore.
Now he had approximately six hours and fifty five minutes to cultivate rage from a human soul somehow.
He'd work out the logistics of that later. After regaining his dignity and devouring a horse.
Caedren kept striding on the best, less blocked pathway he found.
He avoided open spaces where Disos Wells and the accompanying beasts could exist. He was in no mood for battle right now.
Without a watch and with no sun in the sky to at least guess the time, he had no idea how long he walked before his feet began to drag.
How much further?
His throat was patched. Muscles sore. Stomach dead.
He stumbled over the vines of a gnarly stump and crumpled to the ground.
"What… what sort of place is this?" He panted.
A sound tickled his ears.
A soft humming that increased in tempo with each passing second.
As if whatever it was was getting closer.
Thinking fast, he dived into the vines and shrugged out of sight.
A shadow soon blocked the glowing foggy sky. Some kind of floating vessel.
It looked like a cross between a hovercraft and a car fused from ancient scrap parts.
It looked barely fit to leave the ground, and hovering in the air like that was precarious.
The hull was a patchwork of alloy plates bolted together without concern for beauty or symmetry.
The blue energy core powering the vehicle sat in an open frame at the rear, its dull glow leaking through the cracks.
Someone had tried to paint it a dull silver, and made a poor job of it.
The result was a hemispherical contraption with silvery patches and mouldy sides. No bigger than a Range Rover car.
Two spinning wheels dropped to bear its weight as it touched down on the narrow path.
The crystal dome at the top retracted and a head appeared.
A man, mid forties, weary face and shaved head.
He scanned the surrounding with huge googles before scampering out of the vessel.
"Somewhere around here. I saw it. Quick. No time to waste time."
He scuttled about on short, staut legs, shifting through metal parts opposite where Caedren hid.
"I know what I saw. The perfect device to complete my latest project."
Caedren glanced from the short man to the open vessel.
A vessel that certainly contained warmth and would possibly take him to clothes and food.
He didn't hesitate.
Making sure the man's back was turned, he siddled out of the vines and tiptoed towards the vessel.
He heaved up the handholds on the rear as fast as he could, and slipped in beside the core compartment.
Pulling the latch closed, he crawled to a corner and held his breath.
The man's voice boomed with excitement.
"Found it! Today must be my lucky day."
Deep laughter here.
"Now, quick. Must vamose before the beasts come sniffing about."
Hurried footsteps before the vessel deeped as extra weight filled it.
The energy core hummed and spinned as the gears came alive.
Caedren sighed in relief as the heat warmed his body.
The vessel vibrated and gaggled on lifting.
The man's voice echoed through the shuddering metal walls.
"Gently, love. Yeah, slow and steady."
Another deep groan from the oppressed vessel.
"With the way you're whining it's as if I gained extra weight while picking rubbish."
The energy core sputtered.
"Oh what a lucky day."
Caedren smirked.
The man's luck ran out the moment he unknowingly picked up a disturbed hitchhiker.