š¹š¹
As I climbed into the pod, Kath pulled the [Divine Ledger] from my grasp, slipping a scrap of paper deep within my clothes. I had taken every precise precaution to secure my flesh, ensuring my body remained safe from the hands of the Clans.
Lying back, it did not take a single second for unconsciousness to claim me. I felt myself sinking, dropping into a comfortable bed of abyss, drowning in its dark, layer by layer, second by ticking second.
And then, came a familiar voice:
[Change what it means to be trapped.]
***
Slowly, the energy to form thoughts came back to me as I finally managed to connect words again.
But what surrounded me was nothingness. It was just darkness; I couldn't see a single thing.
I tried to hear something, trying to hear anything... I couldn't hear a single thing.
I tried to feel something, the pod against my back or maybe anything else... There was no sensation of touch.
I tried to smell anything, maybe the scent of medicine or my own smell... I couldn't.
I couldn't feel a thing. Was [Vow of Life & Death] perhaps active? No. I would be feeling something if it was.
The Spell also gave me some parting words... I just hoped it was not the same as my first Nightmare, where I was under heavy debuffs.
I tried to remember what it had said.
[Change what it means to be trapped.]
I guess it thankfully wasn't the same situation as my first Nightmare. To become an awakened, you don't have to pass a second Nightmare; you just have to find the exit in the dream realm and step through it.
...
Suddenly, the ability to smell came back to me as I began catching the scent of my surroundings... It was a foul stench, filled with the smell of flesh and all sorts of waste.
Then came back the sensation of touch... I was laying down against something sticky and wet on top of something hard, perhaps rocks.
I began moving my hand around, but I couldn't touch anything except for when I felt the ground... I was indeed laying down on top of blood and rocks.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Now came the hearing... It was an echo that resembled a heartbeat... But while an average heart beats 72 times in a minute, this beat 12 times a second.
I didn't move even for a second until a minute passed.
This is probably the heartbeat of something I don't know yet... It beat 720 times a minute... That is 10 times the amount a normal human heart beats.
I had gotten all of my senses back except for vision. Even now, my eyesight was filled with nothing but utter darkness... But I quickly came to the conclusion that I was just somewhere where light could not reach.
I moved my arms and legs around on the ground. It was a pool of sticky blood and perhaps even more, until I hit something that wasn't rock... It was the flesh of something that was once alive.
It wasn't moving, so I made a bold decision.
I grabbed a handful of flesh, tore it from the source, and threw it as far as I could while lying down.
Amidst the continuous heartbeat of someone.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Came another thud.
Thud.
Then another.
Thud.
That sound came from just a few meters away from me. The first sound was the flesh hitting a rock, and the second was it falling down to the ground.
So where I currently was wasn't really that big.
I slowly got up from the ground but didn't walk; instead, I just crouched down and slowly crawled forward.
There were many questions that needed answers... How did these creatures die? What is the purpose of this continuous sound? Why am I in something so dark... And what does it mean to change the meaning of trapped.
After a few seconds of crawling, I reached the edge of the cave.
Grabbing onto it, I finally stood up.
This place, while being bigger than what I anticipated, was still too narrow for me to activate [Vow of Life & Death]. The speed would be too much for me to stop, and inertia would just make me crash against these rocks.
I searched with my hand along this boundary until I found some stones. I grabbed a bunch of them and threw one up as hard as I could... It didn't even take a second for the stone to hit something, make a sound, and come back down.
So I simply just couldn't climb up. I expected it since there was no light, but I was just making sure.
I tried to put some stone in my pocket, but when my hand went down there, I finally realized... I am naked.
...
Well this is mildly inconvenient.
Let's just pray that all this blood sticking to my body won't cause any infection.
Grabbing the boundary, I began walking a step at a time, going past the flesh and waste of a lot of things. The sound of someone's heartbeat wasn't really what I wanted to hear.
This was borderline impossible. If someone with ill intentions were to come, I would have no way to protect myself; the terrain is too unknown for me to make it work.
After some minutes of walking, I once again threw a stone forward, and its echo revealed that there were multiple pathways right in front of me.
If the scenario were a little normal, I could have probably tried to make a mental map of these caves based on just sound... But the heartbeat came from everywhere, making it impossible for me to make a mental map.
By throwing these stone around, I could very well be making a mistake... But this has more chances of me finding something than just sitting in one place.
I carefully stepped forward, using the boundary as something to rely on.
I threw two more stone... It reminds me of my first Nightmare, where I threw water droplets to make a way.
...
There were three pathways now. I could either go down by the front... Down by the left, or down by the right.
Is there any fourth option where I can go directly up? I don't really like my vision being taken away.
I considered going back for a second before rejecting the idea, If something goes down it doesn't mean the path before it went to surface.
***
While walking in the darkness, I took another turn, and just then I saw it... a small cyan light coming from just a few meters away. I didn't walk towards it just yet; instead, I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to detect any presence or sound that might come from that direction.
To form a cyan hue, you actually need a combination of gases mixed with UV light to create the light naturally. I am also pretty sure that some bugs can produce cyan light, as can certain natural minerals, but there is a catch: for almost everything, you need an initial energy source, yet there is not a single shred of ambient light within this cave.
I tried to listen or smell for anything that could give me a clue. There was no sound of flames flickering or the smell of something burning, just my own steps, the heartbeat of the unknown creature, and the stench of flesh all over the cave.
Still, I continued to listen, making sure it wasn't a trap. If a monster were there, it would make its own sounds, perhaps the sound of breathing or just moving around.
...
There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that could be considered an immediate threat. I decided it was the correct choice to walk towards the light.
The light wasn't too bright or too dim; it was about as strong as a candle inside a dark room.
I slowly walked towards it and reached the corner. By taking one more step, I would be able to see the source of it... and so I did.
...
Vision returned to my eyes, and though they widened, I forced myself to stay calm and not let my emotions take over. If they did, I would be dead.
In front of me stood a monster that, in appearance alone, was far more disturbing than any of the Vowalker I had met in my first Nightmare.
It stood on four thin, long legs spread apart, its pale, gray skin stretched tightly across its body, making its ribcage, hips, and a row of sharp ridges along its hunched spine completely visible.
All four of its limbs were incredibly long and ended in what looked somewhat like human feet, and a thin tail hung down from its back. Its head was hairless and smooth, attached to a long, forward-leaning neck. It had no nose, and its eyes were like black holes with white dots, framing a mouth filled with countless sharp teeth.
The cyan light that had drawn me here actually came from stones embedded along its spine, which were covered in blood. Its blood was cyan... and currently...
It dipped its mouth down, opened it, and bit into a large part of a barely alive human's face. Its teeth pierced deep into the jaw as it ripped the face apart effortlessly, beginning to chew while saliva and blood dropped from his mouth.
The human finally lost his life, dying without a face. It was a tragic way to go out... I looked down at his body... The human's cloth were badly ripped apart and both of his legs were missing with countless deep scars all over his stomach... He was eaten alive.
The monster kept feeding on the chunk it had just taken, but then it suddenly puked it back onto the dead body of the human.
Throughout what it ate and what it just puked, there wasn't a single sound that escaped it. It was completely soundless.
Then, its head began to turn toward me until its eyes locked onto mine. It opened its mouth again, showing the remains of the now-dead human.
As its face slowly tilted upward even more, its eyes widened, showing off its teeth as if they were a prized possession. Its lips turned upward more and more until...
It smiled.
"Guark."
Finally, a sound came from it.
"GUAAAAAAAAAAAARK!"
It laughed.
...
..
.
Volume 2 [A Ruin That Cannot Be Told] begins.
*****
So... how was the beginning of this new volume? Was it scary?
How did I decide on the creature? I actually went to Google and searched "scary monster" and this guy just popped up, which scared me... so I used him.
Here is the photo. Don't look at it if you get scared easily... actually, if you have a weak heart,
Don't check the photo and don't read this volume if u get scared easily.
Photo (Let me know the credits ifyk so I can add it.)
After so long, the volume begins.
Pray that I don't get mind-fucked by what I am about to write.
That is it.
Peace.