I felt weightless, as though I drifted through a river made of clouds. The current wasn't water but a ceaseless, shimmering flash that burned at the edges of my vision. No sky, no ground, only the stream and me, carried forward by something vast and unseen.
Then the light fractured. Words began to swim through it, black shapes set in a rectangular window against the brilliance, blocking my sight as though the river itself had decided to speak.
[So… you weren't able to kill her.]
The voice wasn't sound. It pressed directly into my skull, heavy and dry like ancient paper.
'What?' I asked, or thought I asked, the difference didn't matter here. 'Who are you?'
[You don't remember me?] The symbols rippled, curling like smoke. [Well, I suppose I should reintroduce myself.]
[I am the system bound to Sassafras's Dungeon. It was I who opened the doors you stumbled through back there.]
The image of the gigantic corridor flickered across my mind. I had crawled through it while half-dead after the fight with the lancer
'That was you?' My pulse quickened, though I had no body here to feel it. 'Why did you think I could kill her?' I asked. Even I thought it was strange to think a random stranger could slay or even harm a dragon.
[Think?] The symbols shook with a faint hiss of laughter. [I didn't think you could kill her. But I wished you would at least… try.]
[Nothing leaves this dungeon without her will and mine.]
The words sent a faint shiver down the stream. I clenched invisible fists.
'Are you saying you won't let me leave?'
[Of course I'll let you leave.] The voice brightened, sardonic. [I'm not foolish enough to invite her wrath.]
Relief flickered in me like a candle flame.
[But…] The pause was longer now, heavier. [You will return. After you've grown stronger. After you've become a god among men.]
There was grandeur in its tone, but something else too, like hunger.
'Why?' I asked. 'So I can kill her? I'm not a blade to be wielded by a faceless thing. She saved me.'
I would not be made to kill someone who has helped me. I refused be to become an unjust killer. I wished to a protector,not a murderer.
[Saved?] The voice hissed, curling like a grin made of ink. [Hah. You will come to know she is far from "just."]
The river began to dissolve around me, light thinning into a thousand drifting threads. I felt the pull of the real world clawing at my edges, dragging me down and out.
[Goodbye, Hero.] The voice grew faint, almost tender. [And see you later.]
The symbols shattered. The stream of light collapsed. And at last, I was falling, falling out of the current and into the waiting dark.
At first, I felt dazed. Then something rough and jagged pressed against my back, familiar in its cold hardness.
'Stone?' I muttered to myself. The texture was unmistakable.
My eyes blinked open to a ceiling swallowed in darkness. Stone above, stone beneath. The world smelled of earth and dust. Outside, I could hear wind howling and sand grinding against stone. My head throbbed with pain as I pushed myself upright.
The cave stretched before me, and at its far end, light poured in like a promise. I rubbed my eyes, dazed. Could this finally be the outside world? Or yet another cavern? If it was real, what would it look like? Would there be trees? Rivers? Mountains? Cities? And what creatures walked its lands?
I could barely contain myself. I stepped forward, heart hammering.
And then my eyes widened wide in shock.
Miles upon miles of red and yellow sand stretched endlessly towards the horizon.Dust clouds stormed across the horizon, twisting in jagged spirals that clawed at the sky. The wind cut sharply, sand scratching my face and hands.
I staggered back.
Hope shattered. I had dreamed of forests, hills, rivers, even scattered villages—anything that whispered life. Instead, I was staring at a desert storm, a wasteland that stretched beyond what my mind could comprehend.
"So it is true…" I murmured. "The outside world… it really is a wasteland."
I clenched my fists. I couldn't help but mentally blame the scourge that had twisted this world? What monster devoured beauty and left only ruin, corrupting both land and soul?
I couldn't bear it.
I retreated into the cave and sat against the cold stone wall, burying my head in my hands. Yet even as I felt the weight of despair, a thought flickered: somewhere, out there, beauty must exist. The modern humans must have created at least a few wonders out of their ruined world. And the world is surely vast.
"I should make a personal goal," I whispered. "To see the beauty of this world."
The idea warmed me like a tiny ember. I imagined cities of stone and metal, forests clinging stubbornly to life, towers rising amidst sandstorms. I pictured humans adapting, surviving, creating even in a fractured age.
I glanced down at my hands. Slowly, I removed the gauntlets and stared at bare flesh. Closing my eyes, I called upon my mana. It shimmered bluish-white now, faintly tinged with a new attribute—something electric and raw.
'That… must be the dragon lightning.'
Carefully, I tried to harness it. A faint crackle whispered at my fingertips. I opened my eyes. Blue sparks danced along my hands, curling and flickering like living lightning.
"Hah… amazing." I grinned, marveling at the raw power coiling in me.
I dematerialized my new spear. The black weapon materialized in my hand, its runes faintly glowing. Concentrating, I infused it with the blue lightning, watching the energy surge along the blade and flare at its tip.
I dematerialized it again and pointed my index finger toward the far wall. Focused, I channeled the mana through my hand, and a jagged streak of electricity traced the distance.
CRACK!
The wall shuddered as a shallow crater formed where the lightning struck. I laughed quietly to myself and looked down at my hand again, still crackling faintly.
I stood tall, feeling my body hum with power.
I gazed at the desert beyond the cave, inhaled the sharp, sand-laden air,pulled up my hood and stepped forward.
The world was harsh, unforgiving, and scarred—but it was mine to walk now.