City of Eidolenhollow

In the Garden of the Forgotten, Wyrtweard, the Beast of Memories, watered the plants in solemn silence.

The flowing sparkling liquid that descended from the strange can nurtured the plants or rather...the Forgotten.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity before the sky spoke.

"What do you think of the child, Wyrtweard?"

Wyrtweard was silent for a moment before saying, "The little seed...he is strange but not incomprehensible."

"Elaborate."

Wyrtweard chuckled, "Hmm. Are you curious?"

"Curious? Not at all, my curiosity perished eons ago."

"True words.", Wyrtweard hummed before continuing, "The little seed desperately yearns to be different and that yearning stems from his hollowness inside. Living things crave connection, its rooted in their very nature. The little seed knows this, his aware of this and yet he rejects it."

"Living things yearn to be understood but the seed doesn't."

"Do you presume this to be caused by his immaturity?", the sky or rather the void above asked.

"Partly. The seed hasn't lived very long, he's still too young and lacks experience but he compliments that with his knowledge."

"Indeed. I could tell that he had chased after knowledge like a lunatic, even more so than me when I was his age."

A short silence fell between them before the void above spoke again.

"Wyrtweard, do you remember the last seeker?"

"Hmm...do you mean the man from centuries ago? Galter Droet?"

"Yes."

The void above seemed to exhale, though it had no lungs, no form. It was simply a whisper of something ancient, something tired.

"Galter Droet...", Wyrtweard echoed the name, his tone neither fond nor scornful, but distant, like recalling a forlorn memory, "He was the last one to descend and remain himself, wasn't he?"

"For a time...", the void confirmed, "He thought himself above the city's pull, above its might. He thought his will was iron, but even iron rusts."

Wyrtweard poured another stream of liquid onto the roots of a pale, shriveled flower. The petals twitched, shifting like something waking from a dream.

"He was clever, but cleverness is no shield against the nature of things.", Wyrtweard murmured, "Galter believed he could master the city's rules while remaining unbound by them, but all who dwell in the City must bow to it's ruler..."

"The Hollow Drake."

The Beast of Memories as well as the void regarded the name with solemn silence, not reverent but grave.

The void broke the silence, "And the child?"

Wyrtweard was silent for a moment before saying, "He's different but also not."

"How so?"

"Iron rusts but madness does not.", the Elder of Oblivion paused before saying, "The Hollow Drake's power lies in the fact that all living things have a need and a desire to conform."

The Elder exhaled before continuing, "But as I said earlier, Methuselah, the little seed does not yearn connection, a concept that can only stem from conformity. The Hollow Drake's power would be unable to bind him if it cannot make him conform but then again..."

"His madness is but a mask he hides behind, it is not his true nature."

"Hmm...so, Wyrtweard, what do you think he yearns for?", the void above, Methuselah, asked.

"Freedom. Absolute freedom."

Methuselah was silent for a moment before...chuckling,

"He yearns freedom? Does he not realize that the very act of wanting freedom binds him to the concept of freedom?"

Wyrtweard chortled, a low sound that made the petals of the Garden flutter,

"Ironic isn't it."

A long silence settled between them.

"Do you think...the Inevitable might acknowledge him?"

"No."

Wyrtweard's tone was final.

The void hummed in agreement.

...

Once again, I was falling.

Falling.

An action which had become quite cliché throughout my long lonesome journey.

HOO...FWOO...

I breathed slowly before summoning my panel.

Stats.

[Name:] Alex

[Title:]???

[Level:] 11

[EXP:] 203/400

[Skills:] Oversaturation, Mind Palace, Reverb Mapping, Art of Learning, Body Constitution, War Arts, Anti-Lip Sync, Invisibility, Manipulation, Vast Knowledge Base, Pickpocket, Panoramic Vision, Resistance, Terror Inducement, Thousand Tongues, Death Darting Eyes, Kinesthetic Awareness, Berserker

[Saturation Technique:] Art of Magic Circles.

[Path:] Invocation

[Spells:] Spoken Phantom Blink

[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool, Skeleton Horror, Feral Connoisseur, Fomorian Horror

[Debuffs:] Partial Hearing, Myopic Vision, Anti-Lip Sync, Rizzless

[HP:] 33/200

[Achievements:] Flash of Power, Combat Novice, Death March, Wild Chef, A Great Step, Combat Master, Death Campaign, Beat the Odds

My eyes glazed over it for what seemed like the billionth time before I finally muttered.

"I don't get...this is weird."

Indeed, it was.

Usually after such a major encounter, the game's system awards me with several achievements and EXP. It was from these rewards that I could level up and get new skills but now...

TSS...

There was nothing.

Not even a single point of EXP was awarded to me.

It was begrudging.

"Oh, come on! I literally entered the legendary Abyss, met and survived an encounter with a literal ancient entity and passed a trial that thousands had failed!", I yelled with righteous indignance.

"Untethered, you're supposed to be glazing me right now!"

I was enraged; I had literally performed a feat that'll give an anime or novel MC some crazy powerup or SSS-rank skill and yet, Untethered just glossed over it...like it didn't matter, like it was some third-rate accomplishment.

"FUCK YOU UNTETHERED!! Where's my SSS-Class skill damnit?!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs and... instantly regretted it.

HAK! HAK!

I coughed up blood, the liquid flowing into the space before dissipating. I felt my chest tighten, my lungs shudder and my heart stifle.

Fuck...am still in a pretty bad shape...

My improved [Kinesthetic Awareness] skill granted me immense insight into the inner workings of my own body, allowing me to pinpoint precise areas of damage, monitor nerve impulses and even shift my organs slightly but of course, all things that have advantages will always have equal disadvantages.

For my [Kinesthetic Awareness] skill, it improved my natural sensitivity to sensations within my body; meaning that I could feel the way my organs shifted along each other's surface, the way my stomach acid shuffled as well as the eerie feeling of dead skin within my flesh.

It was horrid and even to some extent revolting.

I hadn't felt it within the dreamscape due to its subtle influence on my senses but now outside it, I could feel it in all its harrowing glory.

"Ugh..."

But of course, all flaws could be curbed and even worked around. I could either adapt to the eerie sensations, becoming numb to them or figure out a way to block out the awarenesses I didn't need.

Ain't no way am adapting to this...I ain't a certain Divine General...

I concluded with a slightly pissed expression, as I felt the hairs on my skin prickle. I was just about to let out a low growl when suddenly I heard a voice.

Spirited as usual, I see...

My eyes widened.

You! You fucker! Where have you been?!

Oh me, I just had some minor issues to take care of.

I took note of the absence of that strange coldness I had felt when that last voice spoke before responding.

And what might that be? Lemme guess, fucking your bitches?

Pfft! Please nothing that pedestrian, but oh well, you wouldn't know that...

My inner voice paused before adding, ...virgin.

My body trembled.

Bastard!

My inner voice let out a laugh. I was angered for a moment before slowly breaking out into a fit of laughter as well, being careful not to jostle myself.

Ha...I gotta say I've missed these moments...

I thought with a sigh; my inner voice seemed to shrug in kind.

Meh, can't say I feel the same.

Oh, shut up, you damn tsundere.

You dare!

We laughed again.

Anyways...what hellhole did you find yourself in this time?

I laughed.

Dunno, beats me.

My inner voice was silent for a moment before saying,

Woah! Woah! What's this?! A killing spree?! Eldritch beings?! Alex what the fuck have you been doing?!

It's a long story; you should grab a popcorn though...it's absolute cinema.

Ugh...I'll check them out later...but seriously, where are you?

I looked around.

The space I was falling into now was different.

It was an endless white space, and on its imperceptible canvas were countless misshapen black eyes, all watching me with an unreadable intent.

Oddly even though it was supposed to be, they weren't eerie and didn't seem to exert any mystic pressure on me.

They simply watched me.

And as I was unable to do anything about it, I ignored them.

Worrying about what you couldn't control was useless anyway.

FWOO...

I exhaled softly.

So... where are you going now?

My inner voice asked with anticipation.

Wait and watch...

I responded.

A few moments passed and then suddenly, a slight ripple shook the white space.

They've finished examining...

The several misshapen eyes snapped shut and instantly, the space shifted.

One moment, I was in a white void littered with countless eyes and the next I was in...

"What the-?!"

[Congratulations, player! You have discovered a new location.]

[Welcome to the City of Eidolenhollow.]