Meeting again for the first time

A New Beginning.....

It is the 45th year of rule in the Lunis empire, its founder Lupin died five years ago. Leaving his daughter Empress Luna to settle the turmoil. The outbreaks of undead in the Pale Plantation is the least of her problems. The economics minister and his cohorts must be put in their place. Lucky for her A newly summoned hero fiercely loyal to her is quickly rising in the ranks of the Church of Luminosity. He could become the youngest exalted ever...

Five years later

I came through a golden portal that crackles into existence searing the plant life around it. Through the smoke and ashes I, a golden Dusk cloud stepped through. At first, I am a little confused I was sure I was supposed to be reborn as the next Dawn Paladin. I am see-through I sigh, I immediately know what I am and cannot believe it. My God Easerael has given me his Dusk essence. Dusk! Me! A dirty dusker I am absolutely livid but what can I say or do. I'm here now, first I need to find out what happened. I pray knowing that someone like me has my gods' favour and should at least be answered.

My mostly spiritual golden form is luckily immortal but if it is destroyed I have to wait until the next Dusk to reconstitute myself. I pray in my head and receive a quick sharp painful response. Holy magic is my bane so praying to a God of light zaps me draining what little power I have. Leaving me feeling weak and hardly able to exert myself in a meaningful way.

I need to find a place to hide lucky for me, the portal opened up outside The Undead maze. The Undead maze is a low-level dungeon popular with new adventurers and other low levels like cadet knights and Clergy. I hope that by hiding in the Undead maze I can possess the body of a fallen adventurer. Becoming a Skeleton would be the worst result.

I try to shimmy over to the Undead Mazes entrance, it is even more sinister-looking now that I am in Neumeria for real. The caves white plague steel is a magnet pooling undead energy causing the plants and mushrooms to take ethereal qualities. As a spiritual being, I can simple phase through the gates which is great as opening it always triggers a Skeleton squad to attack whoever enters. I am going to take advantage of that and possess one of the bodies they kill.

It's a little odd being a spirit nothing appears clear. It is all covered in a grey stocking like cover. I am both a part and apart of the world. I can only guess it is somehow related to my immortality. The wait is painstaking unlike Undead, I feel hunger and thirst and boredom. This makes waiting for my query a slow mundane event. The skeletons are no fun either they remain immobile until a living person is within range. They can't view me as a threat as a single look from a skeleton mage will destroy me. A Dusk essence is probably the most difficult to grow. I should set goals for myself. I know that I need a body which God willing will appear. I sign the symbol of Light God Unibas only to further damage my spiritual form. I grumble it seems anything holy will damage me which is consistent with lore as Dusk is the antithesis to Dawn.

The burning sensation stops it reminds me of urinary tract infection, that hot stinging where it shouldn't be. I should be happy I'm in Neumeria but I'm not here as what I am supposed to be. That means I won't get to see my family. Shit, my family is here as humans only high-ranking Lifeless can pass for humans. I make a mental note of that Easerael promised that my fate will ensure I meet them again. I can't wait to see them again. What happened to them was unthinkable.

I hear the footsteps of a person, a young man that causes me to shrink back. It's me or rather my old playable character. I start to sweat as realise what is going on. This is the first mission I was sent on by a farmer from the village to kill a spirit that is haunting his daughter grave. These spirits are golden sand like particulars that have the form of a man. In other words, my old self is looking for me a Dusk Feind.

If this is the same as the first time I did it could be a real problem. I think if this is what Easerael wants for me to kill this version of myself and take over his body as a Lifeless. I'm not sure I want to do that now that I know he exists does that mean all the things I did will be undone if I kill him. I rub my head in frustration as my golden form buzzes and thoughts of possibilities rush around my mind. It is not an exaggeration to say that if I kill me, I kill the world. I was pivotal in a manner too many battles with all kinds of evil forces.

Worst of all what if this also leads to the death of my family again. Neumeria is not exactly safe, undead, Lifeless and Phages are but a few of the problems facing the world. Wait?! I'm a Lifeless technically doesn't that mean I want to take over the living world. It's the only way shit! How can that be? As a Lifeless, I'm an enemy of every Dawn faction. My particulars vibrate as I'm struck by the revelation that I will need to join a Dusk Dirge.

Crap this is a disaster, a real fucking disaster. The only place I could that is a city of the dead. If my throat could go dry it would. I would have to become that which I feared most as an Exalted Dawn. I'm actually shaking I'm a good person or was at least. I tried my best when I was a human, how could he do this to me. I was his champion! He technically adopted me as his child. When a Gods gives somebody their essence it means they are giving a piece of themselves over to that person. Like a child whose father dies before their birth. The arrival of that child marks the return of the fathers' essence through the birth of the child.

Dusk was the second Essence created to balance Dawn when the God of Light made the world anew. Then day and night were each linked to an essence. I shiver while there are lawful Evil beings, Duskers is evil. No two ways about it, it is incompatible with Dawn there can only be one or the other at the end. It is why the war eternal rages on. Another shiver of realisation hits me. I basically have to do the opposite of what I did in-game. I have to become a Dusk Dominator. Similar to a demon lord if that demon lord was only interested in the death of humanity, laying waste to everything they ever built and leaving nothing but ashes. My knees buckle that's not why Dusk Dominators are famous my kind the Lifeless is most famous for being God Killers!

A deep intoxicating joy, that radiates my golden particulars emboldens me. Just the thought of killing a god sends me into a lustful moanful dirge. My voice sounds through the entire Undead maze. It takes me almost a minute to come back to my senses. I'm shaking with excitement moving for the first time with purpose. I'm going to kill him, me whatever. Then rend the flesh from his bones, bind his soul to his still-beating heart. If I ever want to fulfil my goal I need a soul stone.

Every high ranking Dusker from Duke to Dominator has a soul stone as an Immortal we need a vessel to keep skills and levels after incase we are killed. Right now if I die while still just a Dusk Fiend I will lose any levels and items as a soul stone is also a bag of holding. I'm flying through the Maze looking for any hint as to where I went. I don't have perfect recall but I remember I struggled as I was still a farmer when I did this mission. I had to run from the three, level one Skeletons warriors that attacked me as soon as I walked in.

I fly towards the Shrinking grounds. A vile area for the living as the area is filled with tiny traps that try to kill a person through a thousand cuts. I know that I should stumble here after falling through a hole in the ground. I arrived shortly after hearing my old self eat dirt. He sputters on the ground taking out the simple blunt sword that I had at that time. I can't actually see myself in the normal sense I can see my soul which is in the shape of my body. The three key ingredients in humans are the heart, the brain and the meridian pathways or nervous system.

What a cruel god my first task is to kill myself, the hope of the world...