When the voice finished speaking, Hill found himself standing in the middle of a dark forest.
He blinked once. Then twice.
Wait... I'm... I'm alive?
He looked left, then right, taking in the massive trees that towered around him. They were enormous—probably fifty to seventy feet tall, maybe more.
The ground beneath his feet was mostly stone, covered by a thin layer of moss that felt rough against his bare soles. The smell of earth hung heavy in the air, and a cool breeze brushed across his skin.
But it was eerily quiet. In a normal forest, you'd hear birds, insects, the rustle of small animals. Here, there was nothing.
"So this is... Igashia," he muttered. He wasn't sure if he was still on Earth or if that voice had somehow transported him to another planet. Honestly, it didn't really matter right now. He was alive again, and that was enough.
The idea of being on a different planet should have been shocking—he knew that much. But as he ran his hand against the smooth bark of a nearby tree, all he felt was a strange detachment.
Maybe I'm in shock, he thought. I can't really believe any of this is happening.
But I can't stay like this forever. I'm alone in the wilderness. I need to find food or I'll starve.
He began walking through the forest, heading in no particular direction but keeping an eye out for anything edible.
After a few minutes, he stumbled into a clearing. The thick canopy parted here, and when he looked up, he saw something impossible.
Instead of sky—blue or gray or anything normal—he was staring at an array of vine-covered stalactites hanging from a ceiling far above. Glowing fruits dangled from their tips like miniature suns, providing the forest's only light.
"They look like mangos," Hill said, craning his neck back. "But why are they glowing?" He studied the stalactites. "I'm underground?"
The thought was mind-boggling. A massive forest existing underground, with a ceiling that had to be two or three miles high. He couldn't help but marvel at the sheer scale of it all, even as anxiety crept in.
What if the ceiling collapses? Shouldn't I get out of here?
"Maybe I'll find a cave or something..." He paused mid-sentence. "Wait a minute..."
Hill snapped his fingers. "The runes!"
They'd given him all sorts of information before. Maybe they could offer some hints about what to do next. He had no idea how to access them again, but he hoped it would work the same way.
"Runic information, appear!"
Nothing happened. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Right, this isn't... a video game."
This time, he simply thought about the information. The runes materialized before his eyes, displaying the same content as before. Nothing new had been added.
Interesting. These only show information about me, not my surroundings.
Two specific lines caught his attention:
Attributes: [The Enchained Hollows]
Soul Condition: [An Imperfect Union]
He focused on the first line, and the runes shifted, revealing new information:
Attribute Description: [When your consciousness is lost, another will take its place. When you fall asleep, a hollow will manifest.]
Hill read it twice to make sure he understood. It was clear enough, but what exactly was a "hollow"?
He focused on the second line:
Soul Condition Description: [Your soul is a patchwork of multiple soul fragments. You are the dominant fragment and thus hold the keys. However, there are imperfections within the union of your soul.]
When that entity had spoken to him about "remnants," Hill had assumed they were just ghosts of their former selves. But what if they were actually sentient? What if they were aware of their situation? Conscious?
He bit his thumb. This would explain the attribute's description about "another taking its place."
"Does this mean I'm not alone in my own body?" The thought made his skin crawl. Sharing his body with other souls—or their remnants—wasn't exactly comforting.
But it was the second part that really worried him: "there are imperfections within the union of your soul."
What if these imperfections got worse? What would happen to him then?
He didn't want to find out. At least now he knew these remnants existed. Hill dismissed the runes and looked around the forest floor. "So now what?"
He couldn't stay here. He needed food, water, maybe some kind of shelter. But where would he even start? This forest was massive, and he had no idea which direction to go.
He started walking again, trying to come up with a plan. After another hour of wandering, he was no closer to finding his way out.
"Dammit!" he yelled, kicking a nearby tree in frustration. Pain shot up his leg.
"Ugh! Stupid, stupid!" he hissed, clutching his throbbing toes.
Suddenly, he heard something in the distance. He'd been too distracted to catch what it was, but it was definitely there.
Hill stood perfectly still, calming his breathing as he scanned his surroundings. Everything looked normal at first, but when he took a step forward, he caught movement in his peripheral vision. He spun around just as something cold sliced past his face.
"What was that?"
Three more projectiles shot toward him. He barely dodged as they struck the tree behind him, embedding deep into the trunk with a loud thunk!
Hill stared at them in shock. Giant icicles.
"What the—"
A figure leaped from the shadows, slamming into him with enough force to send them both tumbling across the forest floor. Hill grunted as they rolled over each other several times before stopping. His attacker pinned him down, pressing an arm across his throat.
Hill struggled against their weight, trying desperately to push them off. But despite being much smaller than him, his attacker was incredibly strong—like they were made of solid rock.
When he finally got a good look at his assailant, he was surprised to see a woman with long platinum blonde hair and pale skin that seemed to glow in the dim light. But her most striking feature was her eyes. They were crystal blue and were somehow glowing with their own light.
"You bastards never learn, do you?" she snarled. "How many times do we have to drive you back before you stay gone?"
She raised her hand, forming another giant icicle. With a swift motion, she brought it down toward Hill's head.
He twisted away at the last moment. The icicle missed by inches, burying itself in the dirt beside him.
Holy shit! Did she just summon an icicle out of thin air!???
"WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" he shouted.
The woman's expression shifted to confusion. "You... your shirt..."
"What?"
Hill followed her gaze to the faded logo on his boat-neck shirt—a white and blue sword surrounded by a black and red circle. It was a cheap shirt, but the brand was recognizable almost anywhere on Earth.
Shock replaced the woman's confusion as she stared at him. "You're not... you're not an Igashian!"
"Yeah... no shit!"