"Pray now with me, brothers and sisters! The Passing of Darkness is here and only faith will shield us!"
A hymn echoed from the priests and the crowd as everyone held their hands together in prayer. Golden light crackled around the church in response, and a pillar of radiance shot up into the sky, parting the clouds in a divine display over the Sol Empire's territory.
"Be united in belief! Do not falter!"
Another church answered, firing its own pillar of divine light into the heavens.
"There is no power or strength except in Atlas!"
"Lead us from darkness to light!"
Countless more pillars speckled the sky across Aeternae, a fantasy world that once existed only inside a human's game.
Once a human's game world.
A game with no lore, just the simple loop of building a base and defending it against hordes of monsters that grew larger and larger until you either died or your computer exploded.
Well, his computer exploded.
Fuck.
And when his computer exploded, the eclipse began.
Pretty cliché, sure, but it is what it is.
Across the world, it didn't matter what their status was. The Emperor, the Pope, the Primordial Beings, even the World Tree, all of them delivered their prayers and power to Atlas in hopes of stopping the impending darkness.
When faith failed, creatures of darkness were born. Holy Knights, Primordial Guardians, or whatever else was deemed necessary were dispatched to deal with the threats whenever they appeared.
From the sky over the Elven Woods of Eleos, a dark orb violently struck the landscape. But instead of a massive explosion or a heat wave that should have burned the forest to ash, a single loud squelch echoed.
It didn't destroy the land.
It didn't kill the inhabitants, yet.
But where there had once been a clear, pristine pond beside a river, black ichor now bubbled. A grandiose tree, its silver bark and leaves shimmering with aqua and gold, lost its radiant sheen as its foliage turned gray. Wildlife fled in fear of the unknown as a sickly black vapor seeped from the pit, and from its depths emerged a deformed face with glowing red embers for eyes.
"Please, don't scream. Not yet."
------
Tenebris groaned when he awoke to a blue panel flashing in front of him.
Tenebris isn't my name… What's going on?
A sense of rejection hit him immediately. This wasn't his body and nothing about it felt right. He looked around, then down at his strange, puddled form of black ichor that was his body, and felt… indifferent.
A beautiful waterfall lay before him, surrounded by lush wildlife, greenery, and pristine waters that would match Earth's most expensive vacation resorts. The cliff walls were etched with symbols he had never seen before and adorned with flowers, bouquets, and wreaths.
He heard the faint chittering of wildlife.
Peaceful, unaware of his existence.
His vision returned to the blue panel in front of him.
---
System Explanation:
Strength: 10 - Peak of human strength.
Strength: 20 - Strength of 2 humans.
Strength: 30 - Strength of 4 humans.
Strength: 40 - Strength of 16 humans.
Strength: 50 - Strength of 256 humans.
Strength: 60 - Strength of 65536 humans.
Ect...
Tiers:
0-20 - Average creatures without blessings or divinity.
31-40 - Supernatural Creatures.
41-60 - Mythical Creatures.
61-70 - Primordial/Eldrich
71+ - ~~~~~
---
Name: Tenebris
Race: Eldritch Horror
Age: 1
---
Status:
Potential: ~
Strength: 30
Agility: 1
Dexterity: 30
Magic: 40
Skills:
Paralyzing Scream
Corrupting Whispers
Shard Strike
Shard Projectile
Conceal Presence
Expand Domain
Shrink Domain
---
Points: [0]
-----
Tenebris stared at his points. Based on the system, he had a pretty good idea what kind of world he was dealing with before his attention shifted to the visible black vapors leaking off his body.
Let's hide that for now so we can test this out…
The simple thought of hiding his presence caused it to fade. Before long, bunnies, squirrels, beavers, and deer began to return. They gave a wide berth to the strange black ichor but were no longer frightened away until…
Shard Projectile.
A black shard shot out from the pit and skewered the deer's chest. It opened its mouth, ready to let out a pained cry, when two more shards turned its head and mid-torso into a gory mess.
"Please, don't scream. Not yet."
His eerie voice echoed, only then realizing he could speak.
The deer couldn't warn the others, but the sound of its flesh ripping apart and his voice was enough to send the rest fleeing. When his first projectile was released, his Conceal Presence also vanished.
"Shush, shush…"
A black tendril reached out and dragged the body into the ichor.
[Points: 1]
Tilting his head, he didn't see any skill prompts or ways to spend it. But when he focused on Expand Domain...
[Points: 0]
One square meter of grass melted into black ichor. Squelching, bubbling, exuding a thick, ominous aura.
"Ah…"
Tenebris grinned.
"This world is going to be so much fun to ruin."