Vladislav's eyelids fluttered before he opened them.
His vision was blurry at first, then slowly returned to normal.
He felt that he was resting on something soft and warm. He looked up and saw Umbra smiling down at him.
Then he realized his head had been in her lap. He scrambled up, but a sharp pain flared at the back of his head.
"Ugh—why does the back of my head hurt?" he muttered, touching it.
"You fainted while standing and fell backward, hitting your head hard. Don't worry—you're fine. The body of an awakener doesn't get hurt from a simple fall," Umbra said.
She omitted the part where she'd poked him and made him fall.
"I see. However, you need to stop doing that!" Vladislav snapped.
"Do what?" Umbra blinked innocently.
"Appearing out of nowhere."
"I almost had a heart attack. I just saw you and my vision went dark," Vladislav complained.
Umbra fell silent and stared at him with a blank expression. Her gaze made Vladislav's words die on his lips. He started sweating.
S-shit, have I made her upset? Vladislav panicked inwardly. Damn, you shouldn't have screamed at her, you idiot.
"S-sorry for raising my voice, Lady Umbra," he stammered.
He apologized, but Umbra didn't reply—she only gazed at him as if peering into his soul.
I'mdonefor, Vladislav thought, closing his eyes and making a face that looked like acceptance.
He braced himself—but then he heard laughter.
He opened his eyes to see Umbra laughing heartily, slapping her leg.
"Hahaha—you should've seen your face. You looked like you'd accepted your death."
At first Vladislav was confused. Then he frowned.
"There's nothing funny about that," he said.
"Oh, there is." She continued laughing until tears came to her eyes, then stopped. "My stomach hurts from laughing. Thank you for making me laugh like this after a while," she smiled.
Vladislav merely frowned. "You're welcome."
"Now, now." She clapped her hands. "It seems you've already awakened your Dark Sense. Quite the genius, aren't you?"
"I give you fifty points for trying to sense my presence, and fifty points for awakening your Dark Sense."
"Thanks—but why am I getting points? Do I get something?"
"Nothing. I just felt like it. No, you're not getting anything," she said.
"Tsk. Then those points are useless."
"Huh? Do you know how many people wish to be rated by me?" she puffed out her chest proudly.
"Probably a million," he replied sarcastically.
She clicked her tongue. "This brat."
She smiled for a moment, then her expression grew serious. "You shouldn't call upon the void yet. It's too risky. Even though you're fine now, I don't know what will happen next time if you play with those forces. Until you get stronger and understand it better, refrain from using it. I'm here to guide you, so don't worry—I'll teach you everything I know about it and how to use it."
Vladislav saw how grave she looked when she spoke of the void. It seemed very dangerous. Just speaking three words to the void had made him faint and drained all his mana.
"I understand, Lady Umbra," he nodded.
"Good," she said.
Vladislav remembered the question he'd meant to ask. He shook his head slightly. "I almost forgot—about the voices."
"Hm? Voices?" she tilted her head in confusion.
"Lady Umbra, is it normal for someone to hear voices when they awaken their affinities?" he asked.
She thought for a moment, then answered. "Yes—it's possible, but very rare. It only happens in special cases, like when the Will of the World takes an interest in you. Most people who hear the world's will are sometimes blessed or gifted. But as I said, it's extremely rare,like one in a billion chance."
"Another special occasion is when gods or beings beyond mortal comprehension try to speak to someone—that's also nearly impossible. Those who encounter such scenarios either die or are blessed."
She looked at Vladislav and, seeing him quiet, gave him a skeptical look. "What—don't tell me you heard voices?" she asked, smiling.
Vladislav stared at her silently, his red eyes fixed on her amethyst ones.
She stopped laughing when he said nothing. "No way—are you for real?" she asked, now serious.
He nodded. "During the affinity-awakening ceremony, when I touched the affinity orb and awakened my lightning element, I heard a voice. It was deep, ancient, and soft at the same time. It said that I was the true god. I thought I was delusional at first, but then I heard a voice again yesterday after trying to use the void."
"What?! You heard a voice from the void?!" Umbra jumped to her feet; sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Yes." Vladislav looked down at his hands. He was surprised by her reaction—he hadn't expected her to stand so abruptly. "Just before I blacked out from sniffing the candles with void magic, I heard a voice. It was deep and ancient too, but twisted. It felt like something spoke directly into my mind. It gave me chills, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid." He clenched his fist.
Vladislav lifted his eyes and looked at the standing Umbra. "It… it said that the void remembers." The more he spoke, the grimmer Umbra's expression grew; more sweat slid down her face.
"What kind of beings can speak into someone's head and cause that kind of fear?" he asked. "I didn't feel fear from the voice I heard when I awakened, but the void one… it was different, it felt wrong."
Umbra took a deep breath, sat down beside him, and opened her mouth after a couple of minutes. "Okay, I'll explain. The first voice you heard was most likely the World'swill or rather the Earth'swill. It's rare for the world to go out of its way to speak to someone unless you're special, and it seems you are."
"I'm special?" Vladislav said. "I mean, when I awakened esoteric affinities and learned how rare they are, I thought I was different and had an advantage. But this...this is beyond my understanding. Why would the world's will speak to me? I don't think I'm that special."
"It's okay that you don't understand. I don't either completely. Think of the world's will as Mother Nature: it protects the world and watches over the events that happen." She smiled faintly.
"Like an overseer?" he asked.
"Yes, like an overseer—the watcher of everything that happens on earth."
"If they oversee everything, why don't they rid the Lands of Horrors of the creatures that wield Corruption energy? After all, Corruption destroys and corrupts the land," he asked.
"Don't think that because they watch over the world they're obligated to do everything for us. They act sometimes when necessary."
"What's the point of free will if we can't do anything ourselves?" she asked.
She's right, if someone just babysit us and do everything for us, what's the meaning of such life?
"I understand. If we didn't have free will, we'd be puppets and the world's will would be the puppeteer."
"Good choice of words,that's why we have free will." Umbra crossed her arms.
"Now, the void… is something mysterious. It does not belong here—or rather, it's not from Earth."
It's not from Earth? he thought.
"If it's not from Earth, where does it come from?"
"I can't tell you that… yet. From what I can tell, the void simply appeared—nobody knows from where,when or how. It's older and more terrifying than any living being that has existed on Earth; it might even be older than Earth itself."
Her expression shifted from amused to grim. "From the void came entities called void beings. They're beyond mortal comprehension—I can hardly call them creatures. They roam out there in the universe."
"The thing that spoke to you is no mere being. For something from the void to speak directly to a mortal on Earth,that's no small feat. It's powerful—very powerful." Her fingers trembled.
"Let's just say, if a strong void entity like that descended on Earth…" Umbra gulped before finishing.
"we are all doomed."