Zach walked into the path.
His footsteps echoed as he walked down what seemed to be a path that streached forever, filled with blocks of ice that reflected his image like a mirror.
"Hey"
He heard a voice.
He looked at a shadowy figure in the mirroring ice, shifting.
Then the voice echoed again.
"Who are you?"
'what..?'
Zach looked around at the ice mirrors that reflected something...
A writhing shadow..
Shaped in a humanoid figure.
'The deceiver..'
"Who are you..?, Tch"
The mysterious shadow scoffed.
"You are a nobody.."
Silence.
"An insignificant insect in the world of giants"
"A speck of dust in a world of gods"
"An identity is an undeserving rewards for someone like you"
The shadow streached as these words echoed in Zach's brain.
The mirror shifted, and the black mass of shadow phase through the ice, walking towards Zach.
Zach looked at the shadows direction and couldn't help but agree with it.
Maybe that was who he was..
Maybe he was made to exist in this world.
The strong call the shots and the weak gets slaughtered like sacrificial lambs.
That is the way the world works.
Zach had heard a lot about his father from his mum.
A great man, a good man, and died because of he couldn't find a place in this world.
"I.." Zach stammered.
'Wait.. , what going on..?" He looked around.
Why is he suddenly believing everything the shadow says.
Zach looked around once more.
His eye widened.
"It's the game.." the reality dawned on him.
It was the deceivers role was to make him doubt his truth.
But the question was.
What was his truth.
"Who am I?" He scoffed.
"I'm the son of a woman who's body wasn't deemed worthy of the dignity of a grave" he mumbled.
" A failure..?, yes . But I am the one that will push forward no matter what"
"Because I am Zachariah " he added.
"I might not be the best in anything, but I will be the one to survive".
He clenched his fist,
"Because in this world, bones don't hold glory, Only the last survivor wins."
He looked up at the writhing black smoke.
"I am me.."
The black smoke stood silent for a moment and walked back into the ice.
[Stage 1 cleared]
The path in front of him splitted again into a path shaped like a "T" again.
"Tch just look at you"
Zach heard a voice.
It was Eli.
Eli stood with her back against the wall in a distance.
"You are pathetic.." she wore a scowl on her face as she walked closer.
"You think you belong in the same space as me ?"
Zach didn't utter a word.
"You are a stain that need to be removed in the society "
Zach was trying to process the situation, was he supposed to ignore her?, or was he supposed to talk back?.
Zach didn't know what to do and in the end he decided to take the path to the right in front of him, leaving the scorning figure of Eli behind.
He knew that it was an illusion.
He was born to a poor family, and that was not his fault.
But it will as hell be his fault of he died poor.
Zach walked straight untill another uestuon appeared.
"Why did you let your mother die?" The deceivers voice echoed.
That question stung more than it should.
Zach looked at the question.
"It's true isn't it, the deceivers persistent voice echoed again.
"If you were just a little more talented, you would've saved her life.." the voice paused as a hand touched Zach shoulder.
"Now her dead body lies on the outskirts of town"m, decaying, how do you feel knowing you caused such pain"
Zach gritted his teeth.
The deceiver intensified his claims.
"You think your brother isn't responding to you because he's busy..?" The voice Chuckled mockingly.
"You know that truth but you're too afraid to say it"...
The deceivers shadowy face came close to Zach.
"You have to prepare for the worst man " the shadow seemed to shift.
Almost as if..
It was smirking.
"Your brother might already be dead"
"The industries don't tend take care of their miners very well, accept the fact that he might already be dead".
The word dropped like a bomb.
It was a sudden claim.
But it was true.
So perfectly true, the brother he worked so hard to retire might already be a tasty breakfast for a rougue thyxar somewhere.
Zach shook his head trying to deny the fact.
But doubt lingered.
"He sighed..." shutting his eyes to drown out the noise.
"She died because our situation couldn't favor her, that's all " he replied calmly.
"I wanted to save my mother more than anyone but there was nothing I could do at that point".
The shadow stood by the corner.
"Tsk.. nothing you could do huh "
The scenery shifted.
Zach stood in the hospital premises once again looking at the dead body of his mother.
"She could have lived if you were stronger .." the deceiver spoke.
"You could have been happy if you were just a little bit more lucky" it rubbed it's hand on Zach's shoulder.
"But I guess.."
"Luck isn't for everyone"
Zach's body tembled as the face of his mother surfaced in his mind.
Was he right?.
Was it Zach's fault she died?.
If Zach was just a little bit stronger was thingd going to play put differently than it did?.
Zach's body trembled, the weight of truth weighing down on him, for a moment he almost nodded.
"Look around you" the deceiver added and the scenery shifted once more.
Zach now stood in the administrations office, blood trickling down his cheek.
"You are pathetic.." the administrator scoffed.
Zach's chest tightened.
The deceivers influence was already taking over his mind.
Every memory he could think of was killing himself.
"Maybe it would be better for everyone" the deceiver chipped into his thoughts.
"Maybe it would be better if you die."
Zach gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his gums.
The deceivers influence was getting stronger.
[You have been here for too long]
[The Witcher has found you]
Zach eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
He had completely forgotten.
"But he was in an illusion created by the deceiver, how could he get out."
"Stay true to your path, and you will find the light" Zach muttered.
"No.."
"What" the shadow tilted it's head mockingly.
"No..?"
Zach lifted his gaze.
"I've suffered, bled, and almost died countless times, if luck was the only thing that mattered I would be standing here" he paused.
"I had always thought it was luck that got me this far.." Zach steady gaze met the deceivers.
"But no "
"I deserve it.."
"I deserve every good thing that ever happened to me "
"Everytime I survived, it's because I deserve to" Zach tone was steady.
Footsteps began echoing behind him.
The deceiver paused.
" So no, I never killed my mom, our circumstances did..."
"And that's just how the world is sometimes"
A silence.
Then the deceivers shadowy figure shattered like glass and the illusion dissipated.
[Stage Two cleared]
Zach now found himself back at the canyon with it's icy moon and red moon light.
His eyes shot back as he dodged a swing from an incoming swing back pedalling a few meters away.
Zach wielded his blade, and standing in front of him was a armorer knight that towered over him.
It's armors was rusted and it sword was blunt but a shard gaze peeked through its visor.
Zach gripped the tachi tight.
"So this is the Witcher huh ..?" He smirked.
The stage two had already been hard enough as it was, that was just the beginning.
Zach wondered if the trails would become more dangerous if he advanced.