Opening his eyes, all Alexander could see was darkness.
Reaching up with his arms, he detached himself from the girl who remained still.
How long have I been like this?
He looked at the girl, but she remained passively still.
I won't waste time asking her…
He looked behind him, memories from his encounter flashing through his eyes as he saw the lifeless body lay flat on the hard ground.
The way he pierced its throat, the gushing blood pouring out, and the way it squealed until the very end.
He could feel himself tensing up as he remembered everything.
Why did it have to feel so real?
My first kill. I know it won't be my last, but still…
He slowly got up, looking at his flesh wounds.
Some of them still bled slightly, while others seemed to have scarred already, giving him a general sense of how long he had been resting on her shoulder.
He sighed, walking toward the sword planted in the goblin's throat. He grabbed it with his right hand, taking it out of its body.
He could see the next platform, ahead. No bridge connected to it, unlike how this first one was already linked to where he appeared.
He snapped his tongue.
I understand why people would rather go through their inner path with others. Doing this alone…
He glanced at the girl, whose expression remained blank.
He shook his head.
Goblins, while shorter, where strong. They looked thin, but they had muscles able to fight against an adult male.
He couldn't properly see what was at the end of the chain of platforms ahead, but whatever it was, most-likely would be stronger than what he just overcame.
I need to get out of here, and clear dungeons. Continuing without items is a death wish.
He looked at the sword he held, it was light and short and resembled nothing like a mighty weapon. It was chipped in places, its handle rusty.
The goblin didn't have anything else on him, besides the sad pile of rags it wore as clothes.
He knew of dungeon cores. Monsters slain in dungeons would glow in a certain color, which meant a core was in its chest.
The lack of glow meant the Goblin had dropped none.
But even if it did, what would be it's purpose? It's not like he had the tools or knowledge to turn it into something useful.
Alexander took a few steps forward, while looking at his scar on his chest.
He opened his profile again.
[ Name : Veil ]
[ Level : 1 ]
[ Archetype : Specialist ]
[ Class : Beholder ]
[ Fate : — ]
[ Effects : Darkness ]
How…
He glanced back at the girl — still blank as ever. Asking her anything would be a waste of breath.
Do I not have a sort of spell list?
In an instant, his profile changed in a glitched visual that fixed itself after a moment.
[ Class level : 1 ]
[ Gaze ] — [ Fragments ] — [ Echoes ]
[ Witness of All Paths — Level 1 ]
Those eyes are not your own.
Every tremor, every breath unfolds in sequence. The world is split open for you—and you witness the paths beneath its gaze.
[ The Gift — Level 1 ]
The benevolent gift—sharing one's strength with another.
Blessings, like blades, hang by threads. To carry such power is to balance a thousand truths upon a single thought.
Alexander's eyes widened.
He had three categories of spells, Gaze, Fragments and Echoes.
Those two spells, in Gaze… They're what I just used.
He relived the previous fight, and how the Goblin's eyes resembled the one that opened the beholder's path before him. The eye turning into a cross.
It was hard to guess the extent of 'The Gift', but 'Witness of All Paths' was the power allowing him visual prowess.
'Those eyes are not your own.'
Alexander touched his forehead, it was burning up.
When he arrived, when he used his powers, when he crossed the eye leading to this part of the inner paths.
Everytime my head burns Sunder's mark burns as well. It's counter-acting the downsides of this class. The headaches, the fractured vision…
It made sense. It could've been what made the people in the street suddenly fall down, a side-effect of the eyes.
And not only did he experience it, he felt it.
A presence.
This whole place, he could feel it, like a gaze unfaltering that filtered his every movement. As it kept looking at him, the mark kept burning, keeping his mind intact.
The thought of him, potentially going through this inner path without Sunder's mark made him shiver down to his core.
Shaking his head, he opened the Fragments part of his spell list.
[ Gaze ] — [ Fragments ] — [ Echoes ]
[ Reach Beyond — Level 1 ]
You are not the hand. You are the beacon.
Your gaze calls across the veil, and something listens. It does not think. It does not wait. It crosses the boundary—as if it had always belonged.
Alexander's eyebrows raised.
He looked at the ground, extending his hand toward an empty part of the platform, concentrating.
He tried various ways, from concentrating on the spell name to its effect.
He relived the fight, hoping his mindset would allow the spell to trigger, yet nothing happened, a somber realization settling.
I need to use Witness of all Paths, first.
He approached the edge of the platform, in hopes to get a better look at the next one he'd need to reach.
As he approached, inches away from the edge, a loud rocky 'clunk' sound, followed by a few others echoed through space.
Chunks of rocks formed before him, creating a path that only went a few steps ahead.
He slid one foot forward, cautiously shifting his weight onto it.
It wasn't supported by anything, yet it stood strong, not even wobbling as he put his whole weight on his foot.
He took a step forward, more chunks assembling before his feet, continuing the path forward.
Then another, and another.
He soon was halfway toward the next platform, his next opponent he could guess from its height being a goblin.
A feeling, in the back of his mind, kept grabbing his attention away from the small path he was clearing ahead.
He glanced back, at the girl who was looking toward her left.
He followed her gaze, it was the edge of the cave, the rocky walls that circled around them.
He saw what looked like a vertical crevice, it was extremely thin and hard to distinguish from this far.
In it, however, he could see a faint light, unlike everything he could see under the black sun. It wasn't natural light.
He instinctively took a step toward it, nearly having a heart attack as the chunks followed the path he wanted to take.
Without hesitation, he followed the pull, carving a new road toward the crevice.