Chapter 13: Into the Abyss

As the excruciating pain washed over him, Ezekiel's vision blurred, his senses overwhelmed by a searing agony that tore through his body like fire. He cried out in anguish, his mind reeling as darkness consumed him, enveloping him in its suffocating embrace.

When the pain finally subsided, Ezekiel's eyes snapped open, but instead of the familiar sight of the training grounds, he found himself surrounded by a ghostly apparition. The spirits of Damian and his fallen comrades hovered before him, their ethereal forms pulsing with a faint, otherworldly light.

Ezekiel recoiled in horror, his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to comprehend the sight before him. The spirits gazed at him with silent accusation, their eyes burning with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine.

 He felt a strange sensation wash over him. The spirits seemed to flow into him, their essence merging with his own in a symbiotic union that sent a jolt of energy coursing through his veins.

Ezekiel's consciousness drifted into a realm that existed beyond the physical world he knew. He found himself standing in a desolate plain, the ground beneath him barren and featureless save for seven ominous blocks scattered across the landscape.

Each block pulsated with dark energy, emanating an aura of malevolence that sent shivers down Ezekiel's spine. He approached them cautiously, a sense of foreboding weighing heavily on his mind as he gazed upon the haunting symbols of the spirits he had consumed.

As he drew closer, Ezekiel could feel the weight of their presence pressing down upon him, their spectral forms reaching out to him with ghostly tendrils that seemed to beckon him closer. He hesitated, unsure of what lay ahead, but a primal instinct urged him to press on.

With a deep breath, Ezekiel reached out and touched the first block, his fingers tingling with a strange energy as he made contact. In an instant, memories flooded his mind, vivid flashes of the battles he had fought and the lives he had taken.

Each block held the essence of one of his fallen adversaries, their spirits trapped within the confines of this otherworldly realm. Ezekiel could sense their anger and resentment, their voices echoing in his mind with haunting clarity.

As Ezekiel stood amidst the seven ominous blocks, pondering their significance, a voice echoed in his mind, cutting through the eerie silence of the otherworldly realm.

"Welcome, Ezekiel, to the Mind's Abyss," the voice intoned, its tone both soothing and unsettling. "You have gained access to this realm through the power of the Eyes of the Abyss, which now reside within you."

Ezekiel's eyes widened in surprise as he listened to the voice, his senses alert and his mind racing with questions. He had not expected to hear from the system in this strange and unsettling place, and the revelation only added to his growing sense of unease.

"The Eyes of the Abyss have granted you the ability to peer into the depths of the human psyche, to see beyond the veil of the physical world and into the realm of the spirits," the voice continued, its words echoing in Ezekiel's mind with a surreal clarity.

As Ezekiel absorbed this information, he wondered if he should've just let his attackers give him a little beating because this was taking far too long and he genuinely wasn't ready to be in whatever realm he was in right now while only wearing a towel and holding a bloody sword in front of 7 demigod corpses on earth.