Cold.
Abyssal.
Jaeger slowly opened his eyelids- his vision blurry at first, after a while, his sight became clear. Jaeger stood in the Abyssal plane, the wind howled as it tugged violently on his clothes. The shivering cold carved out the little warmth from his body. The echoes of the darkness pierced the Void. Jaeger stood- petrified.
Where…?
Cold sweat rolled down his chin. Then, suddenly from the darkness emerged a glim of light- which soon turned into two massive fiery eyes. It's was as though the darkness itself was looking intently at him. Jaeger swallowed his saliva with shaking breaths- perplexed.
Where..Agh!!!. A sharp pain pierced his chest. It was like being punctured by a double-edged sword.
Ughh!! He groaned in pain. Slowly his heart-beat began to pick pace. The more agonizing the pain was, the faster his heart raced.
Aghh!!! He gritted his teeth, the pain forcefully bent him to his kneels. He grabbed his chest- as his heart began throbbing.
Aghhhughh!! He howled in pain. His head aching with each pulse. Then from the darkness came a sonorous voice- dark and menacing.
I AM NULL…The words echoed through the abyss.
********
Slowly Jaeger opened his eyes- which were shut close out of fright. He jolted up with a panicking yet reposeful look on his face, his hair dangling raggedy from his head- it was a dream.
Phew! He sighed, wiping the sweat off his face with his right arm. He stood up and took a few steps to the window, he slid it open and with a deep breath inhaled the fresh air of dawn. The sun was just settling in the north. The crimson light beautified the city below, it was truly breathtaking. Amidst his astonishment, it finally came to his memory.
"Crap!"- he was late for work. After the incident with the Monkey king, he was given a one week break from work to recover- of course he recovered before the said time, which gave him more time to prepare for the awakening ceremony. And now that the ceremony was finally over, he painfully had to resume work. An adult's life wasn't easy- especially from his state of life. Work was rigorous, though, he wasn't a full grown adult (he was merely seventeen) but his life wasn't different from one. He dashed swiftly into the bathroom, quickly took his bath and stormed out- dried his body with the towel, and quickly put on his usual overall mining garment. He hurriedly ran down the stairs.
Bam! He bump into some one
"Mom"
"You're up early today…" her tender voice said. She paused for a brief moment and gave him a cunning look. "You're late again aren't ya"
"Yeah mom. Bye!" Jaeger hurriedly stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
*********
After some time, he finally got to the minefield. He took a few steps into the building and stopped by the reception desk.
"Hey, J you're finally here to check in" A voice called from behind the counter- it was the receptionist.
"Morning Mr Mike" Jaeger said cheerfully.
Mr Mike was a tall, noble man with a buoyant spirit. His hair was silky and long, and the lenses he wore made him look smart. He was one of the workers at the minefield- one of the few people that Jaeger genuinely liked.
"How're your bones now boy-oo?!I heard you were admitted at the hospital, "Mike casually said, adjusting his eyeglasses.
"Yes I was, but I'm fine now" Jaeger joyfully retorted.
After a while, he allowed Jaeger to pass. Jaeger quickly dashed into the mining section and got to work. But it wasn't long before he heard someone scream his name.
Jaeger!!!- it was the supervisor.
Jaeger froze mid-swing.
Jaeger Snyder!!"
Jaeger winced and turned slowly.
Ah! Supervisor. he exclaimed.
"Hey don't "supervisor" me; you are late, boy!" the supervisor snapped. "You should be God damn happy you just got released from the hospital… he paused, his eyebrows squinched. "Or, I would have smacked you into last Tuesday son!"
Jaeger gulped down his saliva
"Ah y..yes sir"
'why in the world did i make him this terrifying'
"Ok boy-oo"with a pleasant smile,he embraced him gently.
"Now get back to work!...I don't pay ya an hour for nothing"
"Yes sir .. right on it sir"
Jaeger turned and continued mining enthusiastically.
*******
After a long and painful mine, it was finally time for lunch break. Jaeger collapsed on the floor, it was like fatigue made his feet its domain. He sluggishly dragged his feet to the cafeteria and took a seat.
Soon a sweet plate of nicely barbequed steak- sided with a bowl of pasta was served on the table for everyone. The enticing aroma filled the entire cafeteria. Jaeger took his fork and hastily began to eat, voraciously. As he continued his feast, a thought popped in his mind- it was about the monkey king.
Now that he was somewhat kind of a necromancer, he wanted to be sure that the power worked. So he decided to go down to the dungeon gate again. And like before he used the same familiar excuse- choking.
********
Soon, he was out of the cafeteria and inside the secret passageway. He finally got to the place where the fight occurred and now he could test out the technique. The only issue was that- the corpse was gone. The monkey king's body wasn't there.
'sh*t' then he remembered, in the novel they were usually three teams that entered into the dungeon gates.
First- The strikers
Second- The Death wardens
Third- The Mining team
Naturally, all these different teams were all made up of awakeners. Not many awakeners choose to be fighters, some just want something peaceful so they either choose; the death wardens or the mining team. But of course, most people don't like carrying out dead bodies, so, the majority of awakeners usually swarm into the mining team- especially those with low awakening levels. The function of the three teams were these; the strike team descend the floors first and after killing the monsters - the death wardens come in next and quickly carry away the corpse before the floor respawns. Lastly were the mining team. They didn't really climb the spire but they mined in floors that were highly hazardous for monsters, but of course, it was very difficult to find such a floor but.. some floors had been discovered.
Practically, the monkey king's body had probably been carried away by the death warden team.
"What a pain in the ass…now I can't test this technique". Suddenly the familiar system appeared in front him, hovering within his field of view.
[All requirements for the first protocol have been met]
[First protocol- Authority precedes speech]
[You may successfully summon your subject]
"What the hell!" Jaeger yelled, the notifications startled him.
"I can summon what isn't presently here…"
'Wait… the system did say Void Thanaturge was death before remembrance, is this what it meant'
After some thoughts, Jaeger finally inhaled and summoned with a commanding tone
"Recall"
Swoosh!
A swirl of lightning encompassed the area. Along with the system's notification.
[Summoning successful. You've summoned your first Void soldier. keeper of the void- The monkey king]
Jaeger stood looking at the notification, his eyes faintly glowing purple. Bewildered, he opened his mouth and faintly called out three words.
"Oh My God"