'Is death supposed to feel so… cold?' It had been, from what Soren could deduce, a while since he had found himself within this… void? Filled with countless, distant, assumingly, stars.
This couldn't be what death looked like, right?
He wasn't a very religious person, but he had always hoped there would at least be a little something more…bright, but Soren wasn't one to complain, and in all honesty, this wasn't actually too bad. Yeah, sure, there didn't appear to be pretty much anything to do, but Soren would be fine with having nothing for eternity. "Hm.."
He suddenly had a thought… With a simple mental command, he called out to his system interface, not really expecting much, but lo and behold…
[Name: Soren Ravenheart
Rank: D-1
Experience: 25/165
Blessing: N/A
Race: Human
Allegiance: Earth
Status: Overall, fine
Health: 115/130
Intelligence: 15/40
Mana: 45/45
Stamina: 30/30
Dexterity: 15/15
Strength: 35/90…]
Soren was genuinely surprised to actually see the system appear before him.
He had assumed that he wouldn't be able to access the system anymore since he was dead…wait, was he even dead after all? His gaze looked in some random direction, attempting to pierce through the void surrounding him, his mind reeling with thoughts.
It was likely he wasn't dead, because if he was, shouldn't his health be at zero? He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, relief washing over him as he could finally let his thoughts calm down at his realization.
He focused his attention back on his system interface, looking at his ability…
[Items: …
Ability: Minor Clairvoyance…]
He took a closer look at the description, something he did quite often in an attempt at finding any hidden meanings.
[Minor Clairvoyance:
Ability Rank: I
Ability Proficiency: 15.5%
Ability Potential: IV
Ability Description:
(This ability gives one the potential for many things, mainly foresight and enhanced perception, but it doesn't have very much potential outside of that…)]
Soren sighed languidly, once again disappointed at his lackluster potential. Well, what was he supposed to do now?
Sure, he did say he would be fine with having nothing for eternity, but it's not like he would want that. If he wasn't dead, then his next best guess would be that he was knocked unconscious by whoever or… Whatever, had chased after him. 'Hmm…' He had another thought; What if he tried to use his ability while he was stuck in this…void?
It had been a while since he had last actually activated his ability, the enhanced perception that came with it was the only thing that he considered worth having the ability for. Although hesitant, he doesn't waste much time before activating the skill with a simple thought.
The instant he let the thought loose, he felt the mana from within himself being pulled from somewhere deep in his body, a system interface popping up, informing him that his ability had been activated. Without much thought, Soren attempted to see the future, and he wasn't too surprised when he didn't see anything. Already feeling defeated, Soren floats in thought, with no real particular reason, he thinks of every use that he's found with his ability.
Over the time that he had it, Soren had attempted to find ways to manipulate his clairvoyance in ways other than just seeing the future, his biggest challenge thus far being able to read minds.
He had tried, time and time again, but never managed to get very far, save for a few occasions when he thought he could hear faint whispers. However, regardless of his countless failures, he felt an overwhelming urge to try it once more, not even fully understanding where he was supposed to direct it.
So, with little more than curiosity, and his instincts urging him, he tried reaching out, not to any particular thing, more so just… anywhere.
Not even a second after he tried, he felt something. A feeling he had never in his life felt, something he didn't even know he could feel. It was… Primal, like his life was in grave, inescapable danger. His blood ran cold, goosebumps instantly spreading on his skin.
"W-what the hell is happening…?" He mumbled out, his body not allowing him to go any louder. It felt like something had its sights right on him. His gaze snapped in random directions, something feeling like it was observing him just out of his sight, his mind panicking. Was something closing in on him? He couldn't see anything, but his instincts had long been blaring throughout his body, telling him something was happening that undoubtedly would end his life if it came too close.
His usual stoic, calm, face, was no more. No, now, he had a face of pure, unbridled terror. "I gotta wake the hell up, c'mon!" He slapped himself in the face, groaning in pain the next moment. Mustering up some courage, he shouted out "W-who the hell is out there?!", his question aimed out into the star speckled void.
What Soren didn't fully expect was for something to respond, "I don't believe you have the authority to ask that question…"
His mind ached, the voice deep and filled with a bass that seemed to somehow rumble throughout the void. Every word seemed like it came from every direction within the seemingly endless void, somehow echoing even though there wasn't anything around for that to even be possible.
Soren clutched his head, it felt like it was splitting just from the few words the Void spoke. The pain was slowly becoming more unbearable, a futilely resisted tortured scream escaping his throat, his fingers digging so deep into his scalp that blood began to slowly rivulet down his forehead and palms.
Suddenly, he felt his body plummeting, at a speed so fast that he could feel the hairs on his body begin to catch fire.
"You really shouldn't be here. Mortals like yourself aren't exactly welcome around these parts. Be glad I was the one that noticed you, or otherwise you might've been-" Soren's head felt like it was nearly going to explode, every word spoken by the Void causing him immense pain. "Oh, right, I suppose I shouldn't speak too much. I'll keep it short, do not come back if you wish to keep your life. I'm returning you to your physical form, so hopefully this is the one and only time we shall encounter each other, farewell."
Soren was on the verge of completely losing himself to the pain, he was surprised he could even understand a single word the Void spoke to him. Right when the pain almost took hold of his mind, he felt his plummeting body hit something, and break through.
The next moment, he woke up with a start, and found himself bound to some sort of table. Although he didn't know where the hell he was, he did feel like he was back on Earth. He felt the undeniable urge to try and internalize what just happened, but first, he had to figure out where he currently was.
Looking around at the equipment around him, he discerned he was in some sort of hospital room, although it didn't look like any hospital room he had been to before. Actually, the settlement only had one hospital, and he was decently familiar with it, and the room he was currently in looked nothing like it.
In fact, it looked quite…alien?
Wait, no way, right? A cold sweat ran down Soren's back, his breathing became heavy. 'It can't be…but, that's the only thing that would make sense…'
His mind was reeling with thoughts, his head splitting once more, this time due to overwhelming thoughts. He had been chased, and captured, by a mysterious 'man' that moved erratically and didn't act all that human, and then when he woke up, he found himself in a room that looked nothing like what a human would build. The medical equipment looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
The only logical explanation was… he was captured by the Aither…