Departure

Speech - inner thoughts

'Speech' - talking inside of mind/telepathy

"Speech" - talking outloud 

Speech - narrator

"Never thought I could laugh that hard. Thanks, Chris." 'No problem, you have really good voice, plus genuine laughter always nice to hear.'

"You charming devil, still thanks. Anyway, comments?" '248 years, huh? Well, I couldn't sense any resemblance of time there, nor had any temporal feeling, so possible, I guess. Still, that disparity of 7-8 hundred million times, give or take? Damn, that's…. surprising.'

"'Surprising', really? Even Elders were floored when they learned of your feat. Before trials started, curiosity cat won, so they tried to submerge themselves into the Void. Result? 113 years at best, plus it took around a decade to just regain themselves." Oh, wow. 'Wait, how long were you watching my sleep?'

"That your response? Whatever, it took around half a week, give or take couple hours." 'Okay, I won't eat 'the Chosen' tale, so...why me and why so…. long?'

"Know what? I'm gonna hint you, and wait. You're unique." 'Damn, was that you being meany?'

And now she just shrugging her shoulders, with that smirk. That's my thing! *sign* 'Ok, I'll play along.'

So, I'm unique. 'Chosen' denied, or you would react like 'Okay I won't feed you' or something. Smirk widened, I'm right. So, uniqueness, what does that entail? Difference from the crowd, I guess. What is a crowd? Group unified by common goal, item or something like that. No, actually, it's a group attracted to something common, influenced to be something common. Wait, does that hint of yours suggest that unique people less prone to be…. indoctrinated?

'Actually, makes sense. Brainwashing/indoctrination works better on a group than on one individual. And, as unique people have unique, different from the rest, mindset, they have, basically, more complex resistance to brainwashing.'

Okay, no reaction, either I'm completely wrong, or you're holding for your life. Ah, eye twitch, common sign of the latter. Ok, next. My uniqueness worked as some sort of an armor for my mind within the Void. Does this mean, that Void whispers to its inhabitants? Well, not whispers, clearly some other sort of influence, but my point still stands. But why my armor was better than divine variant of it?

'Hmm, gods would learn or create the way to replicate uniqueness to some extent, plus their natural resistance, granted by their aspect, I presume?' A nod, thanks. Then, why was I better, no…. more durable? 'Durable…. wait, was I really durable, or were damage numbers on me lower, than they should've been? Regeneration…. nope, clearly was bad on that front. By the way, since when am I using gamer slang?'

"Since armor, I guess. Stop reading me, by the way, less difficult, less fun" 'While i agree with 'fun' part, reactions are my chocolate, so bear with me.'

So back to business. If the lower damage is a primary theory, why? Regen, nope. Some sort of another armor, like a xianxia ancestor came to help me? No, if I learned one thing through all that talk, Void is…. immense, basically too powerful to be protected from. Uniqueness protects from the 'whispers', not…. the Void itself! Wait, that's it! My damage received was lower, because some of it was not even damage! So that means…. the Void is a part of me.

"Okay, that was scary. Should've just told. Well, technically the human is a part of you, not the Void." Huh? 'What? My dad was the void or what?'

"Nope. you were human, born and raised. Without a doubt. Ok, guess it's time for answers, again. And I could've just thrown you…. wherever you're supposed to be." 'No comment'

"So, while being there, your 'armor', saved you from the Void calling, basically tests your mental fortitude. But then, you just had to admire the scenery, hadn't you? And so, admiring the view, you unconscientiously started absorbing the Void inside of yourself. And, as the only thing you had was your soul, well…." Guess, gluttony isn't good. 'I, mean, it's clear that was bad, but please, reassure me.'

"Your word is my life, milord. But, seriously, listen. So, the void started…. corrupting…. closest word I can find, but not in the bad way, it'd just accelerated your, let's say, assimilation. Okay, yeah, my bad. But, here I step on the stage, being so kind that I, out of pure desire to help, bring you here." 'Crickets, you can come out now, we desperately need your song'

"Oh, screw you. Back to explanation. Empty room, one goddess, one Void/soul chimera. Then, as I already wanted to do that, I gave you the Gamer. Yeah, not really much to tell you, without you exclaiming 'Oooh, I know that. And that. Please tell me something new', you little…. sorry, side stepped too much. But, as expected, but not predicted, Gamer started giving you THE skills, you know, Body/Mind pair. Here is unpredicted part, your Void part started assimilation with that pair, basically making you 66,7% Void being, while the rest 33,3% being the only thing now clear from any Void trace"

'So, let me see, if I got it. While swimming in some trialground for not-sheep-people, I actually ate part of it. Got bad stomachache, which nearly zeroed me. Then, you saw you're f*bleep*d up, you take me out of it. By the way, thanks. Then, you were like 'Hey, I see some sort of dimensional anomaly, a know quite a bit of nothing. And behind me is another dimensional thing, they will work like a happily married couple. Nothing will go wrong' Now, sometime later, I am now 2/3 Voiding, while the only human part – my soul. Got that right?'

"Less sass please. But yeah, you got it. Good work, champ" 'No. . . . Just, no.'

You know what, I need a break. Oi, Gamer. Can you start up, please?

.

.

.

Fine, be it your way. 'Status'.

[Name: Chris Cassidy

Race: Human / Voiding

STR 10;

CON 10;

AGI 10;

WIS 10;

INT 10;

CTR 10;

PER 10;

CHA 10;

LUC 10]

10, huh? Interesting, is it average, or is it my, better half? No EXP? Or even level. So, different type of progressing. Skills, maybe? 'And no, please no hints, don't take my explorer joy from me.'

"Ok, you won't get any points, if you even deduce something." 'Thanks for the hint, beware, the glare could return.' But seriously, guess the training for stats useless, Void body/mind perks, I presume. By the way. 'Skills'.

[Void body 

Being submerged in the Void longer than supposed to be possible, player's body was converted into Void state, which allows to survive without any sustenance, in any condition. Human part still remains.]

[Void mind 

Being submerged in the Void longer than supposed to be possible, mind of the user transformed into Void state. Impenetrable for external influence. Human part still remains.]  

[Void sight 

Being submerged in the Void longer than supposed to be possible, user's perception of reality warped to Void state. Shows every piece of information Player is capable of knowing] 

'Damn, that's powerful.' Okay, brief analysis. Void body, I guess should be immortal, basically no bullet, laser or knife holes. No poison or anything. And then the nerf. Guess both body and mind connected to the soul, so the influence still there. Munchkin part of me screams 'F*bleep* you, give me back my invincibility', but somehow I feel, I should be grateful for still having Human part. Maybe some energy imbalance, of a sort.

Mind basically the same, nothing could affect my mind. I mean, the Void is an Omniversal power giant of a sort, so I guess, against me, Itachi=Kurenai, in illusion, of course. Human part, *humming sound*, maybe internal influence untouched? Like, emotions, if so, it's a win-win. No cold-blooded slaughter just for a spare penny, so that's good.

And then enters the observe. Capable of knowing? It's either useless, don't leave me, only showing me something I already know. Or, if I know about some nasty poison, I could then Observe every wine bottle with safety in my heart. Well, no testing, no answers, I guess. But I'll leave it for later. 'Now, was the universe already selected, or I actually have a choice?'

"Already preselected." One less choice for me. "Funnily, I think I would miss you. Actually decent talk. So ready to live again?"

'Couple things, actually. First, could you contact me through UI, stop time, bend space, or something, and sent an invite. I'll call it 'vacation from the life'. '

"Surprise me more, will ya? But I'll think about it. Vacation sounds nice. So the other thing?"

'Yeah, that's strange one. So, I'm pretty sure I'll arrive at some fictional universe I know something about, so here is my wish: Can you erase my meta knowledge about the universe, or any that could've been exploited. The only ones I want to stay are my personality defining ones, vocabulary, and I guess all trial/gamer/Void shenanigans.'

.

.

.

"What?!" 'Huh, so even higher beings can go deaf? Well, old age and all that. I guess Time is cruel. So, do I repeat, or…'

"I HEARD!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ACTUALLY WISHED?!?" 'I actually wished for a million cats inside mi mind?'

.

.

.

"*deep breath* You know, that not only that Universes knowledge will be erased, even your native world's knowledge, that can give you some leverage will be gone! Sure your stated will stay, you will even save some reference one, but…" 'Oh, better than I thought, thanks.'

"…. Why? That knowledge could've been crucial. Someone could die, someone could suffer, just because of some stupid emotional thing that flew to yo…." 'Yeah, I know, your point being…?'

.

.

.

*Crikets – The Deadpan*

*deep sign* 'You are stupid emotional thing. Your Elders are stupid emotional things. I am stupid emotional thing. Every living being is stupid emotional thing. Yes, I know, someone will get hurt, because I wasn't prepared, or something. But if by being in the Void I learn only one thing, it's that life is bad. And good. No matter if it's a joyful or depressive part, it's still your life. And if I will start living anew, I am pretty sure I don't want to be some speedrunner that just begin preparations from the start, just to prevent something I never even experienced. You can't know the difficulty of the path, until you walk through it.'

.

.

.

'Okay. sorry for being rude. Needed to stop you, from, well, answering me emotionally. Not sorry for the point, though. So….'

"Didn't expect that. So, 'with convictions', added to the combo, heh. And, I guess, sorry for being…. well, you know. Guess we're even" 'Sounds good. Vacation is still available, if that scared you.'

She dares to relived-sign me, that little s.... Sure, ok. 'Also, what am I hearing behind my back? Swirling, but it's not water, it's…. energy?'

"Have a fun ride, Chris. I will take my revenge, if you don't mind."

Oh, well that's gonna be…. something. My deadpan shows her my, let's say discomfort. And her eyes, of course, are full of mischief. Haaaaah, and the push. I really would like to say I took it valiantly, but....

*30 seconds of really loud scream, and 2 and a half minute of almost equally loud laughter later*

"Vacation will be fun, I can see it. See ya, Voiding with a human soul."