"Where am I?" Wilhelm wondered as he looked at the abyss that surrounded him.
Not a single individual could be seen, nor any object.
He was just there…alone.
He was unaware when he had entered this space nor had he any recollection of how long he had been stranded here.
The last thing he remembered was the scarlet spike embedded in his chest.
"Did I die?"
It wouldn't be too surprising after remembering how the scarlet spikes were able to cause the wolves to implode.
Yet surprisingly, Wilhelm didn't feel shocked nor afraid; he couldn't.
Suddenly, there was something moving in the abyss.
It would normally be difficult to notice, yet in the contrast provided by the abyss, he was able to make out a humanoid-esque shape wafting towards him.
"What is that?" Wilhelm wondered as he began to head towards the shape.
Yet as soon as he took a single step forward, the shape disappeared.
"What?" Wilhelm was confused and felt something tap him from the back.
As Wilhelm turned around, he saw that the shape was before him.
He was unable to see or determine the features of the shape.
"Who are you?" Wilhelm asked.
The shape didn't answer.
Seeing this, Wilhelm repeated his question.
The shape was silent.
Wilhelm could only sigh.
Suddenly the shape spoke.
"Beware The Star."
Wilhelm was caught off guard.
"What?" he asked.
"The Unmovingwho follows elegance."
"What the hell…" Wilhelm mumbled as he tried to make sense of the words spoken by the shape.
The shape remained silent.
Seeing this, Wilhelm felt nervous and tried to grab the shape, yet his hand just phased through it.
"It stands at Prosperity." As the shape uttered those words, he felt the abyss becoming brighter.
"Mark them, Mortis, mark them."
———————————————————————————————————————
Light penetrated Wilhelm's eyelids, causing him to slowly open them.
"What the—" he tried to regain his bearings as he found himself in a bed.
"You're finally awake!" a croaky voice called out, causing Wilhelm to look to his side.
"Ah!" he let out a short cry of shock before covering his mouth.
Beside him sat an old man whose face was bloated, causing his features to distort, such as his eyes being the size of someone's hand or his nose being cylindrical.
"Wow! Didn't know you would be so shocked upon seeing me" the old man responded with a cheerful tone.
Yet upon seeing that Wilhelm was still too stunned to speak, the old man grew confused.
"Did the rebuilding process change a few genetic details?" The old man narrowed his enormous eyes.
The old man shook his head.
"Doesn't seem like it."
"I wonder what could be the reason? I should ask Miss Grease." he mumbled and looked to his side.
Silence reigned for a few moments.
Suddenly, the old man's eyes became filled with enlightenment, and he turned his head towards Wilhelm.
"So that's what happened," the old man muttered as he grabbed his face and began to twist and turn it.
Wilhelm looked at it with his mouth ajar.
After a minute of twisting and turning, the man let go of his face.
"Yes, now I presume you can talk?" The old man's appearance had taken a complete 180 and now looked like a handsome middle-aged man.
Seeing this Wilhelm involuntarily calmed down.
"Y-yeah"
The man nodded.
"Miss Grease sure is knowledgeable, my changed look is already taking effect." The man praised.
After this the man glared at Wilhelm.
He didn't speak for a whole minute before Wilhelm mustered the will to speak.
"Hello?" The question perceptively brought the man out of his reverie.
"Ah! Apologies I phased again I guess." .
"No it's fine." Wilhelm wanted to say but he remained quiet and only meekly nodded.
"So to briefly summarize what happened with you.You died ... .then came back."
"..."
"..."
"Aren't you gonna say nothing?" The man asked.
"..."
"Say something." The old man spoke with a frown.
"What am I supposed to say?I want to know more." Wilhelm answered.
"Looks like the rebuilding process messed up the neurons in your brain." The old man mumbled.
"Seems like it." Wilhelm shrugged.
"Hmm, quite peculiar but." The old man paused and grabbed Wilhelm's head without warning.
Wilhelm didn't resist.
There was silence for a few moments before the old man retracted his hand.
"It'll naturally heal in a few hours so no need to worry about that."
Wilhelm was about to thank the old man but the latter raised his hand.
"No need to say thanks so soon." The old man stated as he adjusted his glasses that seemingly were brought into existence.
"So Wilhelm you died ok? One of the icicles managed to hit you and you exploded into blood and organs.That would've been the end of the line for most but not for you after all in this great institute how can we tolerate such inadequacies? So Hot Pot and I quickly gathered your remains and brought you back!" The old man seemed to experience a strange sort of joy as he explained.
"Although you died and thus by our parameters failed to clear the dungeon, you still managed to rake in a lot of points! So after a few seconds of thought we have decided to give you this!" The old man took out a pocket watch.
The pocket watch looked antique with a greenish tint having appeared on it as dots.
A name was inscribed at the cover
Veldhardt Manufacturing