Hal felt light for a brief moment until his mind was brought back to reality by a sharp pain that resounded from where he had been stabbed.
He opened his eyes and sat up to check his body, only to realise there was no more stab wound.
"Did what I really experienced really happen?" Furthermore, he had woken up in another bed and in an unfamiliar room
The only difference between this time and the last was that the room was brighter and relatively plain, and the sheets of the bed were white, not black.
Hal looked around as a thought crept into his mind, Í should look around before a beautiful woman walks through that door and takes me to their lord.
He got up from the bed and looked around. The room was almost empty apart from the few clothes in the drawer and a door that led to the bathroom.
Hal carefully walked towards the bathroom door and opened it before finally stepping into the room.
There was a giant mirror placed on the wall, and as soon as Hal gazed upon it, he shuddered as his own reflection did not look like him anymore.
His hair shimmered like stars, and his eyes had now turned an unnatural sapphire blue with miniature stars embedded in them as well.
He looked like the woman he had seen back in the lord's manor. He stepped closer as he gazed into the eyes of his mirror counterpart, and at that point, his mind exploded with pain.
He pulled back and shut his eyes, yet he could still see, but not from his eyes, but from the mirror's perspective.
He felt around for the door and got out, hoping that being far away from it would grant him peace, but the pain persisted.
He felt his mind split as information was overloading his own mind. Was it the power the lord of stars had given him, and why did it hurt so much?
The door that leaves the room suddenly burst open as a shocked voice entered Hal's ears, "Newbie, are you alright? Oh no, could this be?"
The voice sounded feminine as Hal felt gentle fingers touch him and guide him to the bed, where he was made to sit down. The strange person lifted Hal's hand and placed it in theirs as they spoke.
"Listen to me, okay, I'm going to help you", he felt strings wrap around his hand. The next moment as a strange feeling took him over as if someone or something was peeking into his soul.
"Okay, newbie, now listen, I want you to concentrate on my voice and do everything I tell you to"
Hal struggled to nod his head, his mind hurting the more he tried to think, "Now, visualise your soul for me"
Her voice was comforting, but Hal didn't know what she was talking about, and so with a groan, he said, "I…don't know how"
The woman touched his head and spoke in a slow tone, "Don't worry, I'll help you. You feel the strings on your hand, just feel for their presence and trace for them, okay"
Hal took a slow breath and did what she said and focused on the strings until they appeared a golden strands in his mind.
He traced for them as they led away from his body until he found himself looking at his own body, though its image seemed darker than usual, but something sent fear through his heart.
His body was on fire, a violent blue flame flared on his entire body, causing Hal to tremble, but the woman touched his shoulder, her voice reassuring.
"Don't be afraid, that's only your soul flame, it's a part of you, so don't treat it like a stranger, in fact, ignore it for now"
The woman gripped his hand tighter, and even the strings on his hand tightened as the girl's voice entered his ears.
"Listen to my voice and let it guide you, don't resist my will, instead let my voice guide so listen carefully and calm your mind"
Hal listened to the lady and calmed his mind. He felt the pain in his head ease up as the girl continued, "Imagine that your mind is a wave that is being fueled by your soul flame"
Hal pictured what the girl said and found himself feeling submerged in water once more. The flame that scorched his soul fueled the waves as they expanded outward rapidly.
"You see your mind expanding at a rapid pace, threatening to rip your consciousness apart, threatening to render your will as useless as a grain of salt in a gallon of water, but I want you to expand your will and your consciousness so they encompass your unsettled mind"
Hal did as the woman said; he felt his will and his consciousness and commanded them to expand and encompass his mind. His headache eased again, this time reaching a level where it felt non-existent.
But a new sensation took hold of him. It felt like his sense of self, his very own conscious, was fading, and his will was slowly fading, but before his sense of self was fully lost, the girl said
"You feel yourself fading right, but I won't let that happen to you. Anchor yourself to your will and use it to call back your mind to your body and seize its expanse"
Hal did as the girl commanded and soon found himself back in full control of his sense of self, and with it anchored to his will, he commanded his mind to retract, and as it did, the intensity of the soul flame dimmed, and his head returned to its peaceful state.
Hal opened his eyes and saw a young girl with black hair and red eyes. She wore a red dress and red gloves, and left almost no part of her body revealed
She, too, was beautiful, but not enough to outcompete Alostella, the girl who served the lord of stars.
The woman in front of him retracted her strings and spoke, "I see your hair and eyes have returned to normal, so that must mean you successfully turned off your ability"
She wore a smile, but Hal had become untrusting of such things lately and simply asked with a stern look on his face.
"Who are you and who do you serve, and do you plan on getting something from me as well?" The girl looked confused as she answered.
"You may call Joset Sylvester, and I am a member of the silver sword hunter community serving under our gracious Lady Roxanne, and it would be my pleasure to welcome you to this establishment"
She smiled boldly at him before saying, "So tell me who you really are?" Her eyes suddenly went dark, and a thin string wrapped around Hal's neck
"Your answer will determine if you get to live and join us or die and be buried somewhere in the monster-filled outskirts of our city. Also, if you lie, you still die"
Her voice was frightening, and her eyes filled with murderous intent. He froze, unable to move, as if the string upon his neck evoked a strange authority over him.
Hal felt like laughing, but the string restricted that from happening; instead, he harboured a simple thought in his mind.
'Of course, out of the pot and into the fire, what a really lucky person I am' Hal didn't know if he should blame his luck or the entity anymore as he stared into the eyes of the woman who held his fate.