The Abyss was located at the west of the Kingdom of Celestoria. After nearly half a day, the carriage stopped at the edge of a bottomless hole.
I looked down into the bottomless hole and felt a surge of fear. I didn't know if I could even survive the fall. The air coming from the pit was freezing and smelled like rotting meat.
"Don't just stand there, trash," the guard said.
He kicked me hard in the back. I stumbled and fell into the hole.
The wind screamed in my ears as I fell. The light from the surface quickly became a tiny dot and then vanished. I hit something—a pile of old bones and rotting meat.
Pain exploded through my body. My vision went blurry, and I felt my consciousness fading.
When I finally woke up, it was pitch black. I tried to move, but a sharp pain in my ribs made me gasp. My right leg was twisted at an awkward angle, and I couldn't feel my fingers. I was surrounded by the stench of death.
I tried to crawl, dragging my broken body over the sharp bones of those who had been thrown down here before me. Every movement was agony.
"I can't... die here," I wheezed, coughing up blood.
A low growl echoed through the cavern making me tremble with fear. I saw red eyes glowing in the dark—Abyss scavengers. They had smelled my blood.
Three wolf-like creatures with leathery skin emerged from the shadows. They circled me, saliva dripping from their fangs. I was a "Forsaken" with no mana, broken and bleeding, while they were predators born in the abyss.
One of them lunged, its claws tearing into my shoulder. I screamed and tried to punch it, but I was too weak. It pinned me down, its jaws opening wide to crush my throat.
I glared at the monster with pure hatred. I won't die like this. Not while those bastards Cyrus and Archbishop are still breathing.
I trembled with fear as the scavenger's teeth sank into my skin. But then, I saw Sylvie's face in my mind—her smile, the way she always looked at me.
"Sylvie," I muttered.
No. I can't die here, I thought.
My hand fumbled through the pile of waste, fingers scraping against cold stone and rot, until they closed around a sharp, jagged bone. With a burst of desperate strength, I slammed the bone into the creature's neck. I didn't stop. I stabbed it again and again, blood spraying hot over my face, until the monster went limp and heavy on top of me.
The other two scavengers snarled. Seeing their pack mate die, they attacked together. One bit deep into my hand, the sound of my own bone crushing echoing in my ears, while the other lunged for my neck. I struggled, kicking and clawing at the air, but I was pinned down. I couldn't move. I felt my life slipping away as the teeth sank into my flesh.
Suddenly, both wolves burst apart.
Blood and meat showered over me as the monsters were turned into a red mist. The pressure in the air became so heavy that I could barely breathe.
A voice echoed through the whole place, deep and vibrating.
"Oh? I haven't seen anyone here with that gaze before," the voice said. "Everyone who came before was terrified and overcome with despair. You are an interesting one."
I squinted into the darkness. My body was broken, and I was covered in the blood of the scavengers, but I didn't look away. I couldn't.
"Who... who's there?" I wheezed, clutching my bleeding neck.
Two massive purple eyes glowed in the dim light. Looking into them, I felt terrified. I knew the creature these eyes belonged to was on a totally different level than those scavengers.
Suddenly, the surrounding area glowed. I saw the true form of the creature. It was a massive being with a long body covered in azure scales. I remembered seeing this type of creature in a book Sylvie had given me—it was a dragon. Dragons had existed in this world thousands of years ago, but they were supposed to be extinct.
"Now we can talk better," the dragon said. He was the one who had lit up this place.
The dragon lowered its massive head until it was only a few feet from my broken body. The heat from its breath warmed the freezing air.
"Tell me, boy," the dragon said, its voice vibrating in my chest. "Why are you here? What is your story?"
I coughed, clutching my bleeding side as the pain finally caught up to me. I looked up into those purple eyes, my fear slowly being replaced by the memory of the Archbishop's kick and Cyrus's mocking smirk.
"I was thrown away," I wheezed. "They called me a Forsaken. Because I didn't have a single drop of mana, they said the Gods abandoned me. So they sent me here to die."
"Oh? Interesting," the dragon said. I didn't know what he found interesting and was about to ask when he moved closer, those purple eyes searching my face.
"And the girl? The one whose name you whispered while you were stabbing that beast? Who is she?"
"You mean Sylvie," I replied. Even though I was in pain and could barely move, speaking her name gave me strength. A gentle expression appeared on my face despite the blood and grime.
I struggled, gritting my teeth against the pain, until I managed to get into a sitting position. I realized this dragon wasn't trying to harm me. Even if he wanted to, I couldn't resist him anyway.
"This will be a long story," I said, looking up at the massive azure head. "Do you want to hear it?"
"I have been here for thousands of years," the dragon replied, his voice a low rumble that shook the cavern floor. "I don't mind."
I took a shaky breath and started from the beginning. I told him about the orphanage in the Aurelius domain. I told him how Sylvie and I grew up together, how she never cared that I was a commoner or an orphan. I told him about the Awakening ceremony—how she had shattered the crystal as a Legend Rank, and how I had been kicked and spat upon for having nothing.
I also told him how even after discovering I had no mana she still tried to protect me.
I told him about the Prince, the Archbishop, and the Duke's helplessness. By the time I reached the part where I was kicked into the Abyss, my voice was shaking with a mix of exhaustion and rage.
The dragon listened in total silence. His purple eyes didn't blink once. When I finally finished, the silence in the cavern felt heavier than before.