[WELCOME TO THE ABYSS...]
The cold, mechanical voice echoed inside Ethan's mind like a divine whisper, but it barely registered to him.
He stood there, silent, with his knees rooted to the soil and his arms wrapped around Licia's lifeless body. The cataclysm that once raged above—the dark sky, the roaring winds, the sizzling lightning—had all stilled. His scream had faded, but the inferno inside him hadn't.
His eyes, once crimson and blood-wept, were now hollow yet burning. His tears no longer fell, but his heart screamed louder than any voice could. Slowly, he looked down at Licia, her once bright face now pale and peaceful—too peaceful for him. The world had stolen his sister, his only family, and replaced her with silence, sorrow, pain, rage and grief.
But something had changed.
The numbness, the fractured ribs, the soul-weary exhaustion—all gone. His body no longer trembled. Instead, it hummed. Power surged through him like a tide rising beneath fragile shores. His veins pulsed with foreign energy, thick, ancient primal and primordial, like the rhythm of a beast long buried beneath the sea awaiting for the right moment to strike with utmost Wrath like an Abyssal Meteor.
And then—
[DING! SYSTEM INTERFACE LOADED...]
[ABYSSAL SYSTEM: REVENGEFUL RAGE]
[NAME: ETHAN VALDROS]
[RACE: LEVIATHAN HYBRID]
[STAGE: DEEP ECHOING]
[LEVEL: 1]
[EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 0/100]
[SOUL STABILITY: 96%]
[SYNC RATE|STATUS: 12% - ENTITY: TYPHON]
[SUBCLASS: REVENGEFUL RAGE]
[HP: 20/20]
[WRATH: 30/30]
[OBLIVION: 50/100]
[ATTRIBUTES:]
STRENGTH: 10
STAMINA: 10
SPEED: 10
AGILITY: 10
ENDURANCE: 10
PERCEPTION: 10
[TITLES UNLOCKED: SOULBOUND SURVIVOR | CHILD OF VENGEANCE]
[NEW SKILL AWAKENED: ABYSSAL LUNGE (Tier 1)]
Ethan blinked as glowing interface panels hovered in front of him—black glass-like slates with pale abyssal-blue glyphs spiraling across their borders. Though the text was foreign, he understood it instinctively, as though the system was feeding the knowledge directly into his mind. He reached out toward the glowing panel, but his hand passed through it. It wasn't real, not physically. But it felt more real than anything else in this cursed world.
His breath slowed. The system had explained nothing, but it had changed everything.
"...What the hell is this?" he muttered under his breath.
Another pane slid forward.
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED YOUR FIRST ABYSSAL SKILL]
[ABYSSAL LUNGE]
Tier: Basic (Evolvable)
Description: Launch yourself at blinding speed toward an enemy, generating high-impact force. Deals bonus damage based on WRATH reserves.
WRATH COST: 3
COOLDOWN: 8s
Ethan's brows furrowed. He didn't fully understand what any of this meant yet, but one thing was clear, something inside him had awakened. Something vast... monstrous... primordial... Cataclysmic.
"I don't care about systems... or powers... not if I couldn't save her..." he whispered, brushing a hand over Licia's cold face.
But even in mourning, something deeper stirred.
His gaze drifted toward the necklace around her neck—a pendant that mirrored his own, but colored greenish-blue. He removed it with trembling fingers and wore it gently around his neck. Two halves of the same bond. One now silent, silent forever.
With solemn reverence, he rose to his feet and headed into the nearby forest, Licia still in his arms. He walked until he reached a cliff where the earth seemed untouched by battle or curse. He laid her gently on the ground and retrieved an old rusted shovel.
The ground was hard. Roots ran deep, and every dig sent aches through his wrists. But he didn't stop. Minutes turned to hours. Sweat ran from his temple to his chin. By the time the pit was done, three feet deep, his arms trembled from exertion. He stepped out and looked at Licia one last time.
"I'll bury you here... where the morning light touches the cliffs... where you can always watch the sun rise," he said, voice cracking. Kneeling, he placed a final kiss on her forehead.
"Sleep peacefully now, Kiddo. I'll carry you in my heart always. I will Avenge you, that heartless King will pay"
[WHEN THE WORLD TAKES EVERYTHING FROM YOU, IT DOESN'T BREAK YOU, IT REVEALS WHAT AND WHO YOU TRULY ARE]
Thesame panel displayed followed by thesame coldmechanic voice from within Ethan. Ignoring the panel for a while, Ethan proceeded in what he was doing at the moment
He placed her inside the grave with care, like cradling a fragile hope. With every scoop of earth he returned, his heart grew heavier, as if the soil was falling over his soul. When he was done, he fashioned a cross from dry sticks and placed a single wild rose atop her grave.
And then he knelt. And wept.
He cried until his throat was sore, until his body trembled again—not from pain, but from release. He poured everything into the ground—his grief, his guilt, his failure.
But eventually... the tears stopped.
He rose, eyes red, soul steeled.
"No more tears," he whispered. "This pain is now fuel."
He turned to the grave. "I'll return when it's over. When I've made the King suffer the way you suffered. I swear it."
The forest was silent behind him, but its weight clung to Ethan's soul like chains. He didn't look back at Licia's grave. He couldn't. If he did, he knew his resolve might crack.
Step after step, he marched through the village outskirts. The same path he once took to search for herbs for Licia now felt foreign. Cold wind brushed past him, but he felt none of it. His body was... different. There was a hum inside his bones, like a quiet storm waiting to roar. He was taking a familiar route, one which carried memories of the past. A past that felt heavier with every step he marched forward. A past that burdened his soul and pierced through his heart.
Eventually, he continued marching forward, though everything flashed back to his mind, the scene, the blood, the fire, the scent of the burning flesh and the last words he was told. It weighed him down because he had failed in his task. Reaching no other place but their burnt house. Once standing upright and beautiful, was turned to ashes and coal. Tears forming in his eyes immediately but non dropped. Ethan was done crying.
"Mom...Dad...I am sorry...I failed in my task...I couldn't protect Licia as I promised...I couldn't save her...she is resting now...far away from this cursed world. I have a quest...which is Kill who you know...he caused all this...he took all three of you from me...he must pay with his life"
Pain and sorrow reverbrated in his voice. But rage and anger were burning inside of him. A flame which will be quenched only after he was successful in his purpose.
"I shall leave the village now...my journey has started...I love you mom...dad...Good..."
[ANTHIC BLADE DETECTED IN THE DEBRIS OF ASH]
Before Ethan could finish his phrase, the cold mechanical voice whispered within like a divinity, followed by the pop-up of the glowing panel from earlier
[HOST SHOULD ACQUIRE THE ANTHIC BLADE]