Death Is Only The Beginning

'Ugh'

An annoying pain creeps onto my very soul as I looked around me.

Thousands of bodies lay unmoving as brilliant specks of lights floats above them.

I then looked at my body. It was ghost-like. My feet weren't there as I floated on the surface and every inch of my body was glowing white, a hue similar to the floating specks of lights around me.

'AAAaaaAagHh!!!"

Though- I didn't get the chance to inspect my body a little longer as the annoying pain turned into a soul-searing pain.

I could see my body crumbling and my brilliant glow fading.

I looked around desperately, hoping to see something that can relieve me of my misery.

I tried to grab the body below me, but to no avail.

My hand just passed through him, just like when a ghost tries to touch something in the physical plane.

'Sh*t!'

I was slowly losing hope as I tried to grab anything within my reach.

Then, as my finger grazed one of the specks of lights floating around me, it merged with me.

I clutched my head when the searing pain intensified.

I felt like dying. The pain I was experiencing wasn't something a normal living being could hope to endure as it directly attacked my soul.

My body slowly gained its natural glow and my body stopped crumbling.

The headache also lessened by a huge amount, turning it back into an annoying pain once again.

Terrified of the new experience, I moved my ghost-like body and hoarded as much of those specks of lights. Though, it was futile once again as they all disappeared the moment they came in contact with me.

'Where am I?'

I gained my ability to think clearly once again.

[Welcome]

'Huh?' I blurted, startled by the unexpected voice in my head.

'Where are you? And who are you?'

A sudden voice appears inside this clearly desolate and corpse-ridden place as soon as I stopped myself from potentially dying? Suspicious.

[I have no material or immaterial body as I am a law of the universe]

[I am one of the systems birthed by the universe to aid its inhabitants]

'A system?' I frowned as a piece of memory appeared in my head.

I had a life before all of 'this'. I was the son of a politician, and was kidnapped for ransom. I assumed that they hit me a little too hard in the head as that was my last memory. Well, so much for a hostage experience. I don't quite remember my name though.

[Would you like to begin the tutorial?]

The 'system' interrupted my journey in my memory lane.

'Wait'

I looked around once again, trying to get a clear analysis of my surroundings.

I noticed the there were fewer specks of lights than before.

'They're fading'

I didn't know what they were but I definitely needed them so I floated around, absorbing as much of those floating light orbs as I can.

After about a dozen minutes, I felt 'full'. For a ghost, I was surprisingly agile. I guess me not having any weight and friction as I didn't have a physical body contributed to that.

'I'm surprised. I didn't know that ghost can feel full' I mused.

I reached out to one of the floating orbs to my right and then...

[Evolution Available]

[Would you like to start the Evolution Process?]

'Evolution? What is that?'

...

No answer. I guess it isn't one of those human-like and talkative systems in the novels.

'Wait'

I said once again. I didn't know if it was good to halt the tutorial or the 'Evolution Process' but I didn't give a fck as I continued to absorb the floating orbs of light.

*bzzzt*

'Bzzt?' I raised an eyebrow in my mind.

*bzzzzt* *bzzzzzzt* *BZZZZZZT*

'The heck? Where is that coming from?'

I looked back n forth, left n right but to no avail. Then, I looked up.

There, two massive orbs of light clashed like yin and yang, warping everything around them. One of them was pitch black with a hint of purple and red and the other was pure white with a majestic golden hue. These huge orbs daddies grew bigger and bigger while also slowly merging like black holes gobbling up each other.

Huge chunks of debris fell from the sky as a result of the clash. Wait- sky? I looked up once again, an intricately carved ceiling perched above me.

'How come I didn't notice those until now?!' I shouted while floating away from the two huge orbs while also dodging the debris.

Not even a few seconds later, a small but deadly-sized debris appeared on my head. Bracing for impact, I covered my head and then...

*woooosh* *BOOOOM*

It passed through me and landed below where my feet were supposed to be. I still wasn't used to the fact that I didn't have a physical body anymore.

'HAHAHAH dumbass' I ridiculed myself.

*BAM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM*

Now that I wasn't floating around fearing for my life, I focused on the two huge orbs above me. I looked at my hand, and then at the huge orbs, then back at my hand again.

'Can I absorb them?'

A crazy thought popped into my head. If this were a cartoon then a lightbulb would've materialized above my head.

'Although they look a bit different, they still look very similar to the orbs that I absorbed earlier.''

'So I can and should be able to absorb them, right?'

I didn't know why I was applying logic into my situation considering what I just went through but I just had a feeling.

A feeling that maybe just maybe, this crazy thought will work.

'Well, fck it. No use in thinking about it. Either I get devoured by them or I devour them.'

'Raaaaaaaaghh!!!!'

I let out a war cry as I flew towards the orbs.

'HAHAHA I can fly!'

Pleased by this newfound ability, my motivation and my speed rose.

As I flew closer and closer to the two orbs, I could myself getting crushed just by the mere presence of them.

'AAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!'

Swirls of purple and golden energies circled the orbs and hit me with gut wrenching force.

I felt like they were whipping and shredding my very soul. That would make sense since I was a ghost after all.

[Warning! Severe damage to the user's soul. Further damage may lead to a permanent soul collapse!]

Thanks for the warning system but I couldn't back out now. I'm way past the event horizon of these two orbs.

I endured the torture as I flew and flew closer and eventually, my middle finger made contact with them.

And then, there was no then.

Time seemed to have stopped as if it was surprised by this scenario and the colors of my surroundings dulled. The swirls of energy ceased and the average sized floating orbs above the dead bodies froze.

My consciouness slowly faded as in the corner of my soul, I felt a million times more of the pain that I felt earlier.

'I guess this is the end.'

[Evolution Available]

[Would you like to start the Evolution Process?]

'Sure. Why not.'

I released one last coherent thought before I entered my slumber.

[Evolution Process has begun]