Ty slowly opened his eyes to water beneath him and confusion pressing in from every side. He floated over a lake without sinking, blue stretching out around him. The water held him like glass.
Tilting his head back, he squinted at the uncomfortably close sun, which was so close that its intense heat gradually warmed the cool water beneath him until it turned hot.
"Is this... death? It's somewhat amusing, I suppose," he murmured, releasing a hesitant chuckle. His musings dissolved into the now faintly sizzling water, "Thinking without a brain... how odd."
A deep voice echoed from every direction. "Giving up just after being hit once?"
In a rush of surprise, Ty spun around, causing more ripples in the increasingly turbulent water.
When he found the source, a man stood before him with a long beard and black hair falling down his back.
The stranger's dark eyes carried a weight that made Ty's skin prickle.
Ty blinked for a few moments, trying to figure out if he was seeing things before he asked, "Who are you?"
Ignoring his question, the man stepped closer on the trembling water, not even flinching as the hot droplets splashed over his skin. "You lie here, ready to let go of everything just because of one failure?"
His voice was firm but not unkind. Extending a strong and slightly calloused hand to Ty, the man prompted Ty to reconsider his resolve. Ty looked at the man, his mind spinning with thoughts as he realized he simply wasn't ready to just give up.
Not yet, not while there were still many things that he had to do.
With a faint chuckle, Ty responded, "So, what was I supposed to do anyway? I assumed this was some middle ground after death. I was slashed with a sword and left under a debris of rocks. For a skeleton, that's most certainly a game over."
"Things aren't as simple as you think they are." the man gave a simple smile.
As Ty listened to him, he was perplexed, however, the man continued.
"I can see that there is a soul that is shared by you and someone else, however, it had remained dormant and had been hidden for millennia."
Ty was even more confused, but the man continued, "It was supposed to remain hidden until the right moment, after countless millennia. But it seems that fate has other plans at play," the man mused, his voice carrying a melodic rumble.
After that, his extended hand touched Ty's head, "Promise me that you won't force me to unlock any more barriers until you've returned home. This should suffice for now."
When the man placed a hand on Ty's head, something inside him cracked open like a barrier giving way. Before Ty could process the flood of information or ask a single question, the mysterious man made a series of intricate gestures.
He summoned forth eight red tabards which formed a circle around them and with a snap of his fingers, a transient moment passed and the innermost red tabard sparkled with a shade of green before shattering into a myriad of fragments that turned into mist.
That mist surged towards him settling on his bony body, as it settled, Ty felt an intense rush of energy surging through him, making him feel both elated and overwhelmed.
"The pain will likely jolt you awake soon. Continue gathering souls to amplify your power. It is essential that you stay alive; you have far more to be used in the future."
"What power, though? I don't even --" Ty tried to ask but was immediately cut off as the entire area was engulfed in flames, while his skin melted away, this caused him to scream in pain before he jolted back to the world, covered in debris.
A short moment passed before Ty's eyes flickered awake, a green hue emanating from his skull. While he tried to pull himself up, the weight of the collapsed wall pressed down on him, not allowing him to move.
While he tried again, Ty heard Todd's scream not far away from him. Through a small gap between the ruined wall that had fallen upon him, Ty was able to see that the Head Captain held his blade which was pressed against Todd's chest.
Panic surged within Ty, but before despair could overtake him, he uttered a single word with perfect pronunciation: "Reiesencia."
As soon as he said that, the power within him instantly responded. His soul flared, shifting from its platinum to golden hues before settling back to a luminous platinum hue.
The rubble around him repelled as if pushed by an invisible force, and even the cracks on his bones started to mend at a shocking rate.
Drawing upon his newfound strength, Ty stood up and reached toward the Head Captain. However, his mind began to falter, his thoughts growing foggy. "Not again," he thought. Just then, time seems to decelerate dramatically.
Before Ty, a myriad of rotating gears began to materialize, which expanded and then condensed before condensing into a columned row of five, each with an emblem or symbol etched upon it.
A singular green orb dominated this pale arrangement as it was located at the centre and was pulsing with an inner light.
As he observed this otherworldly construct, Ty realized that the world around him had significantly slowed down, with every movement taking tenfold the time it would usually take.
Driven by instinct, Ty reached out, wrapping his fingers around the green orb. The instant his fingers made contact with the orb, a torrent of vivid visions inundated his mind.
He witnessed himself vanquishing the Goblin creature, each movement executed with brutality and decisiveness.
As the visions continued to unfold, he witnessed glimpses of the Goblin's nefarious past-- a relentless series of tormenting acts against humans and other beings, all that just to gain some power and prestige.
The repetitive arm movements, the build-up of strength, and the Goblin's rise in dominance played in front of Ty's eyes like a gruesome montage.
Then, all of a sudden the green orb began to crack, its essence bleeding out and directly merging with Ty. A surge of potent energy coursed through him and started to reshape his very being.
His physique and skeletal structure expanded, causing him to grow several inches taller.
The void shattered and threw Ty back into the flow of time. The Head Captain was still there, driving his sword deeper into Todd's chest.
As Todd's strength waned, he looked skyward, his eyes filled with regret. "I'm sorry, Mirabel," he whispered, accepting the imminent end. As blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, he murmured, "I'm sorry, Sogetsu, for not going with you."
Time dragged as the Head Captain sneered, "Another pile of filth down," and prepared to drive the sword into Todd's heart.
Unexpectedly, Todd's eyes widened in astonishment as he caught sight of an enlarged version of Ty, his skin now tinted green, contrasting his once pure black complexion.
With swift determination, Ty struck a powerful blow to the Head Captain's face, sending him hurtling through the air and crashing into a nearby vendor's cart.
Black flames started to surround Ty, while he tried to catch up with Todd as he inquired if he was fine, to which the latter responded swiftly, "I've had better days; why do you look like the boss a bit?"
Ty chuckled, saying, "That's a good question. Maybe I'll also find it out soon.
Let's get you out of here, first." While he helped Todd, the cart burst into flames. Blood trickled down the Captain's face as he glared at the blade in his hand and demanded, "Why were you silent?!"
The blade trembled and answered in a barely audible voice, "The pressure coming from him frightened me. I was a second late before he attacked. We should retreat for now."
"Nonsense! I won't retreat by fearing these disgusting monsters, and King Yami will praise me for my heroic deeds!" the Head Captain spat before dashing back towards Ty, attempting to slash him without wanting to waste any time.
However, his efforts were futile as Ty caught the blade while it was still in the air and the flames began to envelop it. Shocked, the Head Captain jumped away, letting go of his hold from the blade's hilt, letting it remain in Ty's hand.
Seemingly in pain, Ty also jumped back 10-20 feet, while the Head Captain glared at Ty and declared while staring at his sword in the enemy's hand, "Let's see if you like being burnt to ashes!!"
The Head Captain, undeterred by the loss of his blade, began to perform an array of hand signs before slamming both his hands onto the ground surface.
In response to his technique, a fiery tornado of blue flames started to surround Ty while its heart caused the nearby houses to catch fire.
Even Todd's clothes began to catch fire as he tried to inch away from the heat instinctively, but he was also worried about Ty.
Meanwhile, the Head Captain laughed out with a maniacal look on his face, while sweat and blood trailed down his head, "King Yami doesn't need to bother himself with fodder like this and can just rest knowing that you are nothing but ashes now."
The flames surrounding Ty began to inch closer and closer before all of it came to a grinding halt before it began to cave in, condensing and forming a single point.
Witnessing this sudden turn of events, the Captain who had been laughing for a few moments had a look of confusion on his face as a cloud of black smoke emerged, revealing Ty, back in his original black skeletal form, holding his blade and a massively condensed orb of blue fire.
"This fire is nothing compared to what I've been dealing with lately," Ty stated as a matter of fact.
"It's a cute parlor trick, though. I believe this sword belongs to you, Mr. Head Captain," he continued before throwing the sword up into the air and catching it using its steel tip before hurling it at an alarming speed as if he were throwing a small knife.
The blade zipped past everyone and landed directly on the Head Captain's chest, the power in it still enough to carry him with it before impaling him onto a nearby wall.
The Head Captain now stood impaled by his very own blade while the light of life in his eyes gradually faded away.
Unable to speak and shaken by fear, the sword started to disperse into an array of energy while a red orb shot out from the dying man and rushed towards Ty, being absorbed into him.
Meanwhile, Todd watched all of this in awe.