It was completely dark.
I had been here before.
Same void.
Same silence.
It was the same feeling of floating in nothing.
Last time I was here, I had just died on a train platform.
But this time.
I nearly died throwing a cup at a dragon.
"RYMUR KAITO!"
The voice came from everywhere around me. It sounded so old and was trying its very best try to sound like everything was fine.
Same voice from before.
Same customer service energy.
"You are not dead,"
"I noticed," I said.
A pause.
"You have been in this world for three days."
"Yes."
"Three days," it said again.
"Still yes."
"And in those three days," it said slowly. "You discovered magic and you used all of it. Every single bit of it! You decided the best idea was to use it on a cup that you threw at a dragon."
"It worked though!"
"You may not be aware. You are currently in a medical room right now."
"How is the dragon doing?,," I said.
The voice decided to go quiet for a few moments
Then it spoke.
"The skill," it said finally. "Celestial Beggary. It gathers magic and it stores it. Its not meant to be used the way you used it today. What you did, was take everything it had stored through your body at once and with no training. No class. No technique. No anything and toss it all in the trash.
"Oracle said to pick a direction and let go," I said.
A longer pause this time.
"Oracle said that?"
"Word for word."
The void said nothing for a moment.
"You overdid it! Significantly. Your body is not ready for what you just put it through.
"Can I ask something? I asked.
"Go ahead...."
"The cup..... IS IT OKAY?" I asked.
The pause this time was way longer than the previous times.
"It survived.."
Of course it did.
"One more thing before you wake up."
"What?"
"DONT COME BACK HERE!"
I stared into the void.
"I cant promise that..."
The void did not respond to that.
Then it suddenly got darker.
Then darker than dark.
Then next thing I know, that sellout bastard Oracle was already talking before I was even fully awake.
[ LEVEL UP NOTICE! ]
[ Previous Level: 1 ] [ Current Level: 14 ]
[ STAT UPDATE: ]
[ Strength: 11 - 23 ]
[ Agility: 14 - 31 ]
[ Endurance: 12 - 26 ]
[ Intelligence: 18 - 34 ]
[ Magic Capacity: Flagged. System is still recalibrating. Cannot produce an accurate number right now. ]
[ Oracle note: For reference. Vagrant Grade Zero Level 14 baseline stats are as follows. Strength 6. Agility 7. Endurance 6. Intelligence 5. Magic Capacity 3. Your numbers still do not match your classification.
[ NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: ]
[ MAGIC SHOT ] [ Rank: C ] [ Classification: Active ] [ Effect: Allows for the magic users to use magical energy through any object or body part at the point of release. The cup throw in the arena was an accidental first use. Output scales with magic capacity and intent. Currently unrefined. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
[ NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: ]
[ SECOND CHANCE ] [ Rank: Unknown. ] [ Classification: Unknown. ] [ Effect: Unknown. ] [ Oracle note: Oracle has searched every available record. Nothing. No description. No origin. No grade. It appeared after the dragon fight.
Moments later.
I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw when I woke was a stone ceiling, super low and plain. There was also this magical light somewhere above me in this small room
I then turned my head.
There was an older looking women sitting in a chair next to the bed. If I had to guess, her age was around late forties. She had long black hair with some greys running through it. Her face had that kind of look of someone who had seen enough of everything to stop reacting to most of it. She had a small medical case on the table beside her that she had clearly already used and put it off to the side..
She then looked at me as soon as I moved.
Her expression did not change.
"You're awake.."
"Yeah," I said.
She went and reached for something on the table and kept talking.
"HELLO! My name is Ciel. I am a Healing specialist. I am a registered Gauntlet medic. You were brought in here couple hours ago due to your magic capacity being completely depleted. You had also suffered some minor structural damage. Nothing permanent! I have sorted all of it!"
She said it like she was reading a list. Just facts in the right order.
"The cup throw," I said.
She smiled.
"Yes."
"What did it look like?"
She looked at me for a second.
"The air split apart," she said. "Then the arena floor shook and cracked from one wall to the other. The first ten rows got knocked backwards from force. Three stone pillars on the east side now structural damage. The dragon also hit the far wall hard enough that they are still clearing stone from the floor."
She paused.
"You threw a cup?" she said.
"It was all I had," I said.
She was giving the look of someone who was trying there best not to laugh in a serious moment.
Then she stood up quickly and picked up her case.
"Drink the water on the table," she said. "Your magic capacity still requires more time to recover. Your body needs the rest."
"WHAT ABOUT THE GAUNTET!."
She looked at me.
"Phase Two finished about ten minutes ago."
"WHA.....!"
I lost my breathe.
"Thirteen candidates advanced to Phase Three." She paused. "I am one of them."
I looked at her.
She said it the same way she said everything else. Like it was just another fact on her long ass list of other facts.
"You were out there fighting in the tournament! While I busy laying on my ass unconscious," I said.
"Yes...."
"How did it go?"
"Fine." she said.
I waited for her to say more.
More did not come....
"What about me?"
"Still registered," she said. "Whether you end up advancing is in the hands of royal level right now. There is a lot of conversations happening in this stadium about what happens next, regarding you specifically."
"Great...."
She moved toward the door.
"Ciel," I said.
She stopped and looked back.
"The cup. Where is it?"
She then slowly reached into her large coat pockets and pulled something out and set it down on the table next to a water.
IT WAS THE CUP!
It was dented... It had always been dented.... But it had a new crack running along one side that had not been there this morning.
Still in one piece though of course.
Ciel then walked out and closed the door quietly behind.
I layed there in silence.
"Oracle!" I said.
"Yes."
"WHAT IS THE SECOND CHANCE NEW SKILL?"
"I have nothing" Oracle said. "No records, No references, No origin. It appeared in my system right after the dragon fight. Oracle unfortunately does not know what it does or why it is there.
"Magic Shot is C Rank?"
"Yes."
"I SPLIT THE ARENA IN HALF?"
"Yes."
"With a C Rank skill?"
"Oracle suggests to not think about that too hard."
I then looked at the cup on the table.
"Oracle."
"Yes."
"What about the thirteen who made Phase Three?"
"Thirteen candidates advanced. Ciel is one of them. Toven Brel is one of them. Fen Havel is one of them."
I stared at the ceiling for a couple minutes to think.
"Seph! Did he qualify?"
"I am unsure..."
"WHAT!"
I am unsure..." Oracle repeated.
"WHAT!"
I paused for a couple minutes.
Okay then.
"What grade was the dragon?"
A long pause.
The kind of pause that let me know Oracle had the answer and really did not want to give it to me.
"Grade Eight.." Oracle said quietly. "Approximate...."
I then stared at the ceiling.
"Oracle," I said.
"Yes."
"I need to slee—. "
"That is the most sensible thing you have said since arriving in this world."
My eyes shut.
The cup sat on the table with its new crack.
But not even a couple seconds after passing out....
Oracle spoke without being asked.
Which it had never done before.
"Rymur."
"....." I groaned.
"Someone is outside the door!"
I did not move.
"Who?" I said.
Oracle ran a scan.
[ GUTTER INTUITION: Individual detected outside door. Scanning. ]
[ Name: Unknown. ]
[ Level: Unknown. ]
[ Magic Capacity: Unknown. ]
[ Threat Assessment: Un— ]
The scan cut off.
My eyes opened