Uriel was taken aback, but he didn't linger on it.
"Ah, damn it. That's too bad then. Thank you."
He nodded once, then clicked on the pack Enoch had told him to pick, not wasting any more time than he already had.
[Arcane Disciple Initiate Pack has been chosen!]
One of the nine floating platinum orbs immediately rushed toward him, phasing through the space between them and fusing into his body as the remaining orbs dulled, cracked, and faded away into nothingness.
The halo of golden light encasing him, shielding him from the surrounding darkness, began to glow fiercely, cycling between expansion and contraction like a living thing, like a beating heart responding to a sudden rush of blood.
[You will soon be transported to the dungeon!]
Uriel felt his body tingle from head to toe, a strange numbness spreading through his limbs as his mind wavered slightly, drifting at the edges.
He assumed this was the teleportation process beginning.
He giggled softly, unable to help himself, feeling his body be gently tickled by the halo as the strange energy of the orb flowed through him, weaving into places he couldn't name.
'Ooh,' he thought vaguely, 'it feels a bit like being on a swing.'
Noticing that the entity of fire was still present, standing silently and watching him with unwavering focus, Uriel tilted his head and curiously looked back at her.
"I apologise if that's rude to ask," he said honestly, "but did you only come to tell me no?"
[Yes.]
He nodded, accepting the answer without much resistance, then looked at her with a faint trace of pity.
"Unfortunate job you have there, lady."
"I can't imagine having to attend to every single human whenever they make a request." He shivered slightly, imagining the sheer, endless workload. "That sounds…exhausting."
"But I suppose this cosmic job, or title, must have its perks if they work you to the ground this much, hm?" he wondered aloud, letting his thoughts flow freely.
A pause.
"Wait! Can you split your body and mind across millions of places?" he asked suddenly. "That way you can talk to all of us at once? Or is that too far-fetched?"
As he spoke, Uriel's body began to flicker in and out of existence, the halo trembling as its light intensified, repelling the surrounding darkness more aggressively with every pulse.
He didn't seem to notice any of it.
Taking a small step forward, he approached the gigantic lady of flame, hesitating only briefly.
"Can I?" he asked.
She nodded, almost absentmindedly.
Uriel reached out, gently, softly caressing her flaming hair and fiery form. He was surprised to find that his hand didn't burn. If anything, he felt invigorated by the contact, warmth spreading through his fingers and into his arm, soothing rather than destructive.
"It feels like silk," he murmured in genuine amazement. "Do you have to take care of it? What kind of products would even—"
The more Uriel spoke, the more bewildered the entity appeared to become, her presence subtly wavering, as if unaccustomed to being addressed in such a manner.
[…]
Eventually, she reached out as well.
"Go ahead," Uriel said, smiling faintly.
She caressed his hair in return, her massive, fiery fingers carefully running through the thick coils and curls of his mane. She felt its dampness, its roughness, its unexpected softness.
"It's unfortunate," Uriel added quietly, "I haven't been able to take care of it in quite some time."
"But—"
[Teleportation will begin in three…]
He pouted slightly, then sighed. "Well, it seems our time is cut short."
[…two…]
'I should have probably asked about what's actually going on,' he thought, his expression turning faintly bitter. 'Or what happened to our planet.'
'Maybe she would've answered. Maybe she would've even given me tips.'
He sighed again, slower this time.
[…one…]
He looked up into her eyes and smiled.
"It's been a long time since I've talked to anyone," he said softly. "Apologies if I was cranky."
WHOOOOSH!
A violent upswell of wind tore through the darkness, blasting it away from Uriel as the halo around his body spun furiously, blazing like a miniature sun.
"Take care!"
PAH!
In the blink of an eye, he vanished, swallowed by light and space alike, cast into the unknown horrors of the tutorial.
The lady of fire remained behind, staring at the spot where Uriel had last been.
For some reason, now that he was gone, the depths of her presence truly shone.
She wasn't merely a gigantic figure.
She was world-sized, her flames coiling and folding to form a body hot enough to burn the void of space itself, bright enough to illuminate the darkest of abysses. Reality bent subtly around her, strained by the sheer density of her existence.
Her hair, a deep and radiant amethyst, forced all things around her into silent submission, as though the universe itself bowed instinctively in her presence.
And her eyes, deep azure and endless, pierced straight into the soul, stripping away falsehoods, illusions, and pretense, staring directly at the essence of whatever dared meet her gaze.
Her presence was the incarnation of horror, so overwhelming it would drive any mortal to insanity in a single instant, and yet so pure that it suffocated all that wasn't divine.
To call her a goddess would have been an insult.
[…]
A snort echoed from her, old and wizened, cracking space itself and sending fragments of cosmic debris spiraling outward.
[…decent.]
…
An expansive field of grass stretched out beneath a rain-darkened sky.
The land rose and fell in gentle hills and winding valleys, beautiful flowers dotting the landscape in scattered bursts of color. Sheep and cows grazed lazily across the plains, oblivious to the greater forces at play.
Here and there, gigantic towering trees tore out of the earth, their proportions so massive that no normal planet should have been able to sustain them.
Their vast canopies blotted out large swathes of the sky, casting everything below in shifting shadows.
From the dark grey heavens above, rain fell incessantly, drenching all that lived beneath it.
Strong currents of wind swept across the plains, rustling leaves and grass alike, the sound blending with the constant pitter-patter of rainfall.
It was quiet. It was peaceful.
The plains, however, were enclosed by a massive dome of silver light, separating them from the thick, violent tropical forest beyond.
The contrast was shocking, between the serene stillness of the plains and the oppressive darkness of the forest, filled with monstrous creatures and hostile environments no mortal could survive.
SHAP!
From the skies above, a man fell.
As he plummeted, he screamed, cried, and begged, certain he would die such a senseless, idiotic death. But just as he struck the ground, he bounced.
Then he bounced again.
He landed softly, unharmed.
He was soaked and covered in mud, but alive.
He cried out to the skies in disbelief.
And just as he did, dozens of others began to fall from above, each reacting differently.
Some screamed. Some prayed. Some cursed.
What shocked many observers, though, was that several who fell attempted to break their descent using strange abilities.
Some conjured gusts of wind. Others summoned platforms of stone. A few even sprouted wings.
In the end, it was all pointless, but the sheer variety of abilities was startling.
One by one, they fell, bracing for death, only to land safely.
Dozens. Hundreds.
Eventually, the rain of bodies stopped once their number reached exactly one thousand.
The previously quiet plains erupted into noise—shouting, crying children, anxious parents, panicked youths trying desperately to rein in their fear.
Fights broke out as strange new abilities were tested recklessly, only to be quickly broken apart. Arguments followed, then the rapid formation of small, wary groups.
It was chaos.
SHAH!
A tidal wave of pressure crashed down over the entire plain, crushing sound itself and instantly summoning silence.
All eyes turned upward.
[Greetings.]