The grin shot at Lyssara from Callista seemed innocent and yet it felt as cold as ice. It stretched way too perfect on her face as she rose to her feet once more. In a flash she appeared right in front of Lyssara, her smile persisting. "I recall when I was just like you..." Her eyes drifting to the side before latching on back to her.
"..However I wonder how long you can maintain that facade before Clomere gets her hands on you?" She leaned forward, the distance between the two ladies narrowing till she was inches away from her. "Please do entertain me." Her words cold as ice as she landed a kiss on Lyssara's forehead.
"Chuu~" It lacked any form of warmth as she pulled back and glanced at Jarren. "I'm sure that you'll treat her right. I wouldn't want to bear the blame of damaging Clomere's toy." With a kiss, her figure vanished from the scene. Not with arrays that she was used to but gone as if removed from the plane of reality.
A laugh lingered in Jarren's smile far too long for comfort making Lyssara's skin crawl with what was in store for her. Jarren perfected his smile into something that felt forbidden to look at. "There are more like you, it's just a matter of time before you fold into the mold." Before she could wrap her head around his words, her vision cut to black.
...
Her eyes opened slowly, a well stylized ceiling was the first thing that flooded her vision, glancing to her side, she saw the wide array of clothes laid out for her. Her frame sinking into the lavish bed, white duvets masking her rags through the folds. Rising to her feet, she felt what she has for the past years, absolute emptiness.
'A facade huh?' The more time dragged on, the more her personality began to blend with the aloof mask that she wore to the point that she couldn't tell whether it was a mask or a part of her. Making her way to the bathroom, she found a bath already prepped for her.
*Thirty minutes later*
Now fully changed and adorned in presentable clothes, she made her past her doors and met with a long hallway extending on both sides. "Master Jarren is waiting for you at the pool, I can take you there." A servant meant to watch over her posed. She had no choice to accept.
The walls plastered with art she had grown dull to, the air rich with opulence and something foreign that didn't reside in this world. A few more steps and she got to the pool where Jarren had his body laid out for a tan. He didn't bother glancing at the servant announcing Lyssara's arrival, a wave was enough.
Lyssara looked at the man, her gaze lacking emotions as he had a smile that seemed to never leave his lips. "Lyssara, do you yearn for power or peace?" His question taking her by surprise before recovering. "Peace is more than enough but I know that it's nothing more than a lie. Something that people use to console themselves."
Jarren let out a chuckle as if in agreement. "Of course, however I could give it to you should you desire. However the price for it is rather steep." Nothing she hadn't expected out of him. "However it depends with your lens of the means. It can be painful or it can be nothing more than a spark to fade and absolve in your sea of apathy."
She held her response, her gaze trying to gauge for more to work with however he didn't give her any room. "Do I have to say yes?" He took of his shades, now looking at his visitor. "You don't have to but the world will make sure that you regret your choice till you meet your end." Regardless of his words, the answer that she dreaded was that she was locked into agreeing.
"Clomere, who is she?" With how casual the two spoke of her, she could only conclude that she was another psychopath like the pair. "Your assumption of her is not that far from what she actually is. However she's far more straight forward than us."
Still this information did nothing for Lyssara as she readied herself to leave. "There's a way you wear apathy that makes me reminisce of how I was back then therefore I'll make sure that it's not that hard." His rant making her fall into thought. "Don't mind me, let's get you familiar with the game, feel free to go back to your room and I'll deal with the rest. Black flame."
His last words made her body freeze. 'Black flame?' She wondered, her gaze growing into that of curiosity with his frame however what met her wasn't a response but rather a dodgy smile. Faced with no other option, she could only comply as she made her way back to her room. 'At the very least it's not torture. But there is room for anything to transpire.'
As much as she was taken aback by the gentleness showered by the two, her guard was still up. Jarren watched her fleeting figure, a knowing smile stretching across his face as his mind went back to before it all came to be. 'I wonder when you will bare your fangs or will you choose silence?' He muttered to himself as he let his body bathe in the warm rays.
The trip back was faster, her frame crashing back on her bed. 'Whatever these two people are, it's clear that they aren't human or malcore experts.' She had yet to see a malcore arrays or glyph and yet the two made the air if not reality dance to their whim with nothing more than a thought. 'Just what are these two?'
Her final thought as she let her frame succumb to the softness of the sheets. Rather than darkness, something else responded. A voice she hadn't expected.
[{Player: Lyssara}]
[{Level:1}]
[{Innate skill: Black flame- A flame that burns through eternity with no pause, reminiscent of the abyss once before}]
[{Active Skills: None}]
[{Passive Skills: None}]
[{Charm: The Abyss's reminiscent}]
A system interface covered her peripheral, something that unnerved her and yet a hint of familiarity lingered within her as if she had expected it to be. What stole her attention was the innate skill shown and the charm.
However before she could focus on that for too long, the scene shifted from the endless pitch black unknown to a forest, a cave similar to the one Seryn had met before. She looked at her options before settling for a cleaver. It's design rudimentary and yet functional, what she found to be functional with her means of execution.
She stepped forward into the cave and the first thing that met her was a rat, huge akin to the size of a cat which upon seeing her lunged at her. Her motions basic but effective claiming the live of the beast.
[{Congratulations on killing your first beast}]
[{Please pick one of each skill in the allotted category}]
[{Active Skills}]
[{Echo Step- A delayed movement skill that allows Lyssara to leave behind a brief afterimage. The afterimage repeats her last attack half a second later with reduced damage.}]
[{Piercing Veil- A short pulse of perception that outlines hidden traps, enemies, or weak points through thin walls or fog.}]
[{Passive Skills}]
[{Predator's Calm- When standing still for more than three seconds, Lyssara gains a temporary precision buff, increasing her critical hit rate for the next two moves.}]
[{Silent Resolve- Slightly reduces noise from movement and breathing, making it harder for certain enemies to detect her.}]
[{Luck Charm Resonance I- The charm acquired begins to react faintly with nearby life energy, each floor cleared increases its potency, subtly improving drop quality and charm synergy}]
[{Free Utility}]
[{Bloodmark Marks the enemy she kills for the first time; subsequent kills of similar foes yield increased experience and drop rates. The difficulty of killing a marked beast decreases with more encounters}]
[{Wraith Flicker- On her first fatal blow, a faint spectral shimmer crosses your hand.}]
[{All skills from each slot will be kept upon death}]
Given that it was her first time, she didn't think of long term sustainability but rather something to help her probe the scene for now. A few more minutes of pondering and she finally made her choice.
[{Echo Step}]
[{Predator's Calm}]
[{Bloodmark}]
And with that she went on with her walk to which she came across a small pack of rats, their chrome teeth gnarling at her. Bringing out her cleaver, she first made sure to take care of the first which proved to be difficult given their restlessness. Done with the pitiful games played, her body gave a faint black aura and in a blink crossed over a short distance.
And in her path a rat met it's end as it was burnt to ash, her cleaver silencing it's pitiful cries.
[{Bloodmark activated with the race {Rat} till the passive is replaced}]
She didn't have time to look at the notification as she started making herself busy with the rest of the rats. Her movement however was significantly slower than before thanks to the dash from the Echo Step.
With the fight now falling into a stalemate, she chose to pull back unto which the rats paused, ready for another attack. Her {Predator's Calm} passive activated with her patience and with a dash, her attack was brimming with energy ending another of the rats life in an instant.
Her next swing however missed as the rat managed to dodge. 'It would seem that these beasts will be far more potent than I had initially thought.' Still, the difficulty didn't gnaw her skin as she played her role as expected. The fight between the demon and the pack of rats dragged on for more than hour before she finally emerged victorious.
With her tactic of pulling back should she be overwhelmed, she slowly but surely began to turn the tides in her favor. By the time she was done, utter fatigue had riddled her body.
[{You are exhausted, do you wish to abandon this dive?}]
Seeing this notification, she thought that it was too soon to leave given that she had yet to see what there was to be had. Resting for another hour, she finally managed to muster the strength to push on with her dive. A few battles erupted between her and some stray rats but thanks to the Bloodmark, it proved to be efficient to get it past.
Not easy but tolerable. With her frame leaning against the dilapidated walls, she opened her stats.
[{Player: Lyssara}]
[{Level:1}]
[{Innate skill: Black flame- A flame that burns through eternity with no pause, reminiscent of the abyss once before}]
[{Weapons: Banal Cleaver}]
[{Active Skills: Echo Step}]
[{Passive Skills: Predator's Calm}]
[{Utility Skill: Bloodmark}]
[{Charm: The Abyss's reminiscent}]
'It's been some time before I leveled up.' With the handful of enemies she had faced, she had expected at the very a single level up and yet none came. 'Or is that once a specific type of enemy is slain that the subsequent foes don't count as a proper enemy?'
More theories as to how the leveling up worked in the game popped up in her mind but above all that, she was taken aback as to how Jarren and Callista were capable of making such a structure. 'It can't be hallucinogenic spells given the fatigue and pain, maybe a sub space.' Done with her respite, she rose back to her feet and delver deeper into the caves.
A few more steps and she met a special pack of rats, their eyes glowing red. One of them broke into a high pitched shrill which seemed to draw more and more to it's pack till she was forced to face at the very least fifty of the creatures. 'Looks like this is where the run meets it's end.' A mere glance and she could tell that any form of survival from this would be wishful thinking.
She had no choice but to bite the bullet here. She took her stance before diving into the horde, her movements crude as her weapon similar to her figure was lost in the mob.
[{You have died}]
The title didn't bother her as much as it should have given that the concept of death here was lacking}]
[{Do you wish to go again?}]
Her fingers briskly hovered the option before choosing it, ready for the madness to come.