Sage felt weightless, suspended in an endless void between worlds. His body tingled with residual energy, every nerve singing with Bestian's power.
The sensation was strange, like being submerged in warm honey while lightning coursed through his veins. His four arms felt heavier somehow, denser, as if the bones themselves had been forged anew.
He suddenly felt something connect to him. His vision flashed, a tree appeared and disappeared.
[Successfully Connected To Yggdrasil]
[Status Ready!]
'What—'
Then suddenly—
Air. Wind. The howl of atmosphere rushing past his ears.
Sage's eyes snapped open to find himself plummeting through a gray sky, clouds streaking past at terminal velocity. The ground far below rushed up to meet him, a barren landscape of cracked earth and twisted rock formations.
'Shit, oh shit, oh shit—' His mind raced as he spread his four arms wide, trying desperately to slow his descent. 'This is not how I wanted to test my durability or whatever Bestian did to me!'
He was falling faster and faster. He felt heat gather around him as he passed through clouds.
His body came close to the ground. He felt like he was burning, and when his body hit the ground, an explosion went off.
Dust rose as shockwaves sent debris to all sides.
Sage opened his eyes and stood up. Dust swirled around him, and he felt like he was in a hole. And right he was.
He had created a crater the size of a small lake, but very deep. He stood up, brushing dirt from his clothes. His body had no damage whatsoever. Sure, his body could heal, but not that fast. It seemed Bestian had transferred some of his power to him, increased his durability. What else could he do?
He wondered as he began climbing out of the hole, his four arms finding handholds in the crater walls. Each grip sent small rocks tumbling down behind him. The climb was easy, almost effortless. His muscles felt stronger, more responsive.
When he finally hauled himself over the rim, Sage stood on solid ground and looked around. The landscape stretched endlessly, gray dirt, jagged rocks, and a sky the color of old steel. There was no plants or sun.
'Well,' he thought, wiping dust from his face, 'this place looks cheerful.'
'Now what was that? I felt like something was talking to me earlier... Yggdrasil... status—'
The moment he thought of the words, something happened.
He saw a translucent purple screen glowing in front of him.
His jaw dropped. 'Is this the magic he spoke of?'
In his time with Bestian, or ever since being born, Sage had never witnessed magic. Bestian had said before he could summon storms, but since he swallowed it, which Sage still hadn't understood how one could swallow a storm, he had lost his abilities to manipulate magic. He'd mentioned it once or twice during their sparring, usually while blocking one of Sage's punches with a single finger.
Now, staring at the glowing screen, Sage reached out with one hand. His fingers passed through it like smoke, but the screen remained solid in his vision.
'What is this?' He squinted at the display, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
Suddenly words appeared there.
[Welcome to the Yggdrasil System... a Channel connected to all Yggdrasil residents to guide them through life. To open, think 'Status' or will it. And to close it, will it to close]
Suddenly he saw the screen change again.
[[[]]]
Name: Sage Omega
Race: Primordial Demonic–????
Age: 17
Class(s): [Reach Higher World to Awaken]
Title(s): N/A
Power: Guardian Stage
Affinity: Storm (Lightning, Wind, Water), Fire, ??? [Sealed]
Traits:
- Seven Deadly Sins [Acquired] - Multi-sin abilities
- Regeneration [Racial] - Auto energy/wound healing
- Magical Talent [Talent] - Natural magic aptitude
- Genius-Prodigy [Talent] - Enhanced comprehension/adaptation
- Nature's Child [Blessed] - Deep connection to nature
- Yggdrasil Runes [Acquired]
Artifacts:
- The Sin-Forged (6 weapons)
- Enchanted Pants
Sage read through it. His name was Sage Omega? Well, Sage he had been named by Bestian, but Omega? This was the first time he'd heard the word. 'I wonder...'
He moved to Race. 'Primordial Demonic-???' He had never heard of Primordial, but he knew the word meant old. As for demons, Bestian had mentioned them in his stories. In most of them, they were never good. While some stories of good demons existed, it was more bad than good.
To be fair, Sage felt, at least from what Bestian taught him, the line between good and bad was thin. But the question was how did he become a demon?
He passed his age. '17, huh?'
Moving to class... seems he couldn't awaken it. Higher World? Was that the world Bestian lost the coordinates to? Must be.
He passed the titles, unsure what they meant in this context.
His power... Guardian Stage? How strong was this in this world? 'Bestian mentioned that his power would give me the strength to handle this world and get out safe. Maybe it's quite strong.'
'Are there more stages?'
With no one to answer his questions, he moved to the next, Affinity.
When he saw Storm, he couldn't help but think about how he swallowed a storm. Was this it? If so, then maybe he took its power. The other was fire, and the last, just like part of his race, was concealed from him with question marks.
So he had no choice but to pass on to Traits.
There were quite a few, and he noticed he could press them and descriptions appeared.
He opened the first, deciding to leave Heart of Sins for last.
Regeneration [The ability to recover from any wounds large or small, even mutilation, and recover energy automatically. Can be willed to stop]
This one he knew too well. In fact, he felt he had mastered it well enough. How many times had he bled and healed? While he had never lost a limb, he was sure it wouldn't be too bad.
Magical Talent [This Trait grants you the ability to manipulate magical energy and its elements]
'Oh!' A grin spread across his face. 'So I can actually use magic now? Bestian always said I couldn't because I swallowed that storm, but maybe now...' He flexed his fingers, wondering what it would feel like to command lightning or fire.
With a somewhat excited smile, he moved to the next.
Genius-Prodigy [You are a generational prodigy. Your comprehension and understanding of concepts, elements, and spells is high and fast, also allowing your brain to think fast and adapt to new things easier.]
'That... explains a lot actually.' He thought back to how quickly he picked up fighting techniques, how easily he understood Bestian's lessons even when they were complicated. 'I always wondered why some things felt so natural.'
Nature's Child [Nature adores you and accepts you, allowing you to have good relationships with some Nature spirits, able to partially understand some animals.]
'This...' One of the things Sage had to deal with in that realm was boredom. While fighting was fun and he loved it, when they didn't fight it was dull. Bestian would sleep loudly, but the grass in the realm always calmed him. While it wasn't entertaining, it was satisfying.
'And speak to animals? Oh, I wonder what types of animals I'll see.' Having not seen a single animal, he was curious. He had a general idea of some from birth and from Bestian's stories and teachings, but those weren't real experiences. He couldn't help but shake with excitement.
Yggdrasil Runes [Runes of Yggdrasil, transferred to you allowing you to act as a living nexus stone]
Sage read it. The description didn't match the others, those explained things he understood. This one? Nope. For one, what was Yggdrasil exactly? What was a nexus? What were these specific runes? Okay, he knew runes were markings, but still.
Without anyone to make sense of it, he moved down to the last one. The reason he had left this was because on the side it read "multi-sin abilities," meaning it covered a lot. And he wondered what these sins were.
He pressed it, curious despite himself about what powers came from something called the "Seven Sins."