Return to Terra

One moment Domison was floating in the void of space, the next he opened his eyes to find himself at the bottom of an incredibly deep pit. He took in his surroundings slowly while he sat cross-legged in the cooled molten wreckage at the center. The hole he was in seemed to cone out as it reached toward the sky, and Domison could see gray clouds milling about in the air far above.

The walls running up the sides of the sheer cliff face seemed to once be some sort of metal structure, but after a supreme heat, the metal had run down the sides. Some of the molten metal cooled before it sank to the bottom where Domison resided, appearing almost like blackened rivers stretching up to the surface. Interspersed with the hardened metal rivers were chunks of thick black glass, seeming almost like a jigsaw puzzle.

After only another second of contemplation, Domison realized that he was right back at Sublevel 12. The bottom level of the ProtoElectrica facility had been devastated by the blast. Domison stood then, walking towards a point he believed he could begin scaling to make his way to the surface. As he approached the wall, a piece of black glass that was oblong and taller than himself caught his eye. Although the reflection was blurry, he could see his faint outline looking back at him.

Domison could hardly recognize himself. His once lean and tall form was now emaciated. It almost appeared as though every muscle in his body had pulled in on itself. Curious, he walked closer to the glass and attempted to manipulate it with his right hand. To Domison's surprise the large piece of ebony glass that had to weigh at least 200 pounds, shifted with ease. His eyes widened slightly at that, even though he appeared to have lost most of his muscle mass he felt stronger than before. As he experimented further, Domison realized it wasn't exactly at the level of a superhero from the old comics he read as a child but he was exponentially stronger than he had been.

'I feel incredibly light.' He thought to himself as he flexed his fist, the corded muscles on his forearms standing out sharply. 'It's almost like all of my muscle tissue just condensed to an insane degree.' Right as Domison came to this conclusion, a voice began to speak into the back of his mind.

'That, little reaper, is the start of your Abyssal body.' A small, imp-like body seemed to step from behind the piece of ebony glass Domison had shifted earlier. The man was confused, as it was pressed almost flat against the wall, with seemingly no room to maneuver behind the glass. 'The harsh environment we subjected you to was in order to start the process of you being able to form the said body. The more you are able to condense in the beginning, the more complete your body will become along your path. Fortunately for you, in my eons of serving the master, I have never seen one able to condense to the degree you have. And in only two months? You should be very proud.'

At the imp's last words, Domison's eyes widened in surprise. "TWO MONTHS!?" He bellowed in question. When the imp only stared back, Cheshire smile widening ever so slightly, Domison spoke again. "I need to get the fuck out of here right now. I need to get back to my family IMMEDIATELY. YOUR BOSS said that he would PROTECT HIM!" He could hardly keep his tone under control as he thought of his puppy sitting alone at their shanty apartment for so long. His hands balled into fists and nails began to dig furrows into his palms.

'Ah, ah, ah.' The little Imp tutted, waggling its too long in Domison's face. 'Master always keeps his promises, so never doubt. Your "family" as you say, is just fine and he will continue to be fine for as long as it takes us to return.' The creature held Domison's gaze for several moments, waiting for another outburst. When none came it continued, 'there is something we must do before we can move on from this place. Even though your body is considerably more durable than it was before, the tutorial has already begun after all. The system advent occurred in this area and you would be torn to pieces crossing the landscape above us. You must cultivate further and discover at least a modicum of your new abilities before we leave if you wish to survive long enough to make it back.'

As the small creature finished its sentence, an arm stretched out and gestured behind Domison. After only a moment of hesitation, Domison followed its gesture, laying his eyes upon a black orb ringed in bloody red un-light floating in the center of the room. He felt a slight tugging sensation at his navel as his eyes landed on it. It was only the size of a watermelon, but Domison could feel the weight that it exerted on the world from halfway across the room now that he was aware of its presence.

'First things first then.' The little imp said. 'You've done this already so it shouldn't be too hard. Absorb that piece of the Abyss into your core.' When the man stared for several seconds without any motion or response, the creature huffed slightly. The air passing through its needle-sharp grin sounded raspy and rough, nothing like the voice that came through in Domison's mind.

'You must grow your inner core, continually cultivating it to accelerate the growth of your accent. You have an enormous head start compared to the pitiful population of this world, but if you do not continue to walk the path that advantage will not last. Once you have accepted this piece into your core and cultivated it through your internal system, I will teach you how to start grasping at the edges of what is possible. You will have to make each step with your own power, but you can think of me as a guide in this new world. So, LISTEN TO ME!' The last words were at a volume that caused a painful reverberation through Domison's skull.

Without another word the man turned on his heel and stalked over to the floating orb, grumbling slightly under his breath. As he approached he noticed that this orb was extremely reminiscent of the black oozing liquid that was once held in the vats of this facility. The only difference was it seemed much denser, almost appearing like a solid, black, tungsten ball. The weight it exerted on the world slightly warped space around its edges and the bloody un-light surrounding it seemed to eat away at any sunlight that got too close.

Domsion pulled a deep breath through his nostrils before he sat cross-legged and plunged into his inner world. Just like before he saw a silhouette of himself, a little black hole right above his navel. The ball of energy at his core seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat but Domison knew now that he had much more control of the ball than that. With a slight exertion of will, the black hole started to form a whirlpool and the world around the man shuddered slightly. A small tendril separated from the floating orb and began to approach Domison's navel. After only a moment it connected and the man jerked slightly, his face reddening in concentration.

The stream of abyssal energy grew and grew, yet the ball in front of the cross-legged man did not seem to change in size. After 10 minutes it had shrunk only by a quarter and it took another half an hour of intense concentration before it had disappeared completely. As soon as the orb winked out of existence, the imp spoke to Domison again.

'Good, goooood. Now, begin to circulate that energy throughout your body, imagine it coursing through you. Try if you can to run it deeply through every fiber of your being. Guide the energy passing through your muscles and bones, filling your cells. Incorporate it as much as you can and then allow the remainder to flow back to your core unmolested.' Several more minutes passed as Domison followed the creature's instructions.

He had no idea why he was blindly following its orders, but for some reason, the little beast felt akin to family. It didn't make any sense to Domison, but the creature reminded him of a long-lost uncle. He just shook his head, not deigning to think about this issue any longer as his eyes flashed open. Where there was once a pearly white sclera, now shadows shifted and stretched across the white expanses of his eyes, making them appear grayish in color.

As soon as the man's eyes refocused, they fell upon the Imp now floating directly across from him. The grin never faltered on the thing's face, and it began to speak into Domison's mind once again. 'Good, the easy part is over and done with. Now, shall we get to the fun?' Its eyes gleamed with malicious excitement as it reached forward and pushed Domison down into the shadow below his own feet.