HORDE

Without enough strength to hold himself he collapsed and fell however not before tapping the ground twice with his feet signalling the simulation to pause.

it took a while for him to come around, about 2 hours and he couldn't help but think he was being too unrealistic, he thought maybe he was unnecessarily punishing himself, maybe he thought too far of that nightmare,

"Am I maybe overestimating myself",

with the sudden hardship pushed against him and the slight setback he faced, doubt began to grow, and how could it not he was a mere orphan teenager who had been tormented since childhood by a nightmare he knew next to nothing on, trying to keep up the facade of a cool student pretending that everything was fine and he had nothing to be worried about.

However all those barriers he kept up and all those masks he put on were completely shattered along with his psyche which was currently being held together by a seal he had no knowledge of, by a seal that could break off at any point of time.

So this minor set-back was in fact enough to plant his face in the ground, both literally and figuratively.

That was when the beat of his heart sounded a little louder than normal, albeit only a beat, a barely half second LUBB that coincided with a line of vi retreating from his brain releasing a tid bit of his memories, before rushing back into place.

unfortunately or rather fortunately it served its purpose as Arius had began sweating again and this time it wasn't due to his vi, this time it was a fear, a fear so deeply ingrained his pupils were dilated as they darted frantically, his state of mind flipped on itself, refusing to continue in his pathetic state he tapped the ground twice and resumed the simulation.

It was akin to a student who had not been studying consistently throughout the semester, and few weeks to the exams had a dream of failing the exam, such student afraid of failing the exam entered god mode, reading like crazy to avoid the foreseen outcome.

A feeling of hope, of having the ability to change the outcome with only a little more effort, that was exactly how Arius was feeling, amidst the abyss that tormented him, the small bright light of hope didn't escape him. Standing by the corpse of the beast that he killed he stood erect, determination brimming in his eyes making them look more brighter than they naturally were.

He knew what was coming now, a horde of no less than a hundred of this same beast it had taken almost everything out of him to defeat, however he was determined and had made his decision, he won't waver not now and surely not in the near future.

....

While Arius was preparing himself for what he wasn't fully sure would come, another group of people with masks obscuring their faces and long black robes hiding their bodies where gathered in an underground facility somewhere beyond the walls of Arcem seemingly holding a meeting,

"So you all also felt it" a deep rumbling voice sounded from a from a figure amidst the group of individuals sitting around a very long table having nothing on it if one overlooked the black globe hovering mere centimeters from it

" after almost a century of waiting, they've finally reached us" another voice commented,

"It would be wise to not conclude yet, the feeling was faint and ended as quickly as it came" yet another voiced his opinion

"Regardless, it is true they've made contact, however they are still a good deal from us, the astral projection we felt wasn't even directed towards us, rather it was an insignificant human that received the message" the deep voice said again.

"It is however a fact, their sights has been set here and i estimate a little over half a decade before they arrive, we must prepare and welcome them properly"

"So should we begin the plan"

" yes today marks the beginning of the end, inform every apostle around the world, we will begin the plan for Ragnarok"

As the voice finished speaking, all the figures nodded their heads and the orb in the center of the table gave off a ting sound like hollow metal being struck marking the end of the meeting as they had come to a decision. Immediately all the figures began disappearing leaving behind the one with the deep voice who also seemed to be the one in charge of this small assembly.

seeing as everyone had left he stood up and walked around the table until he reached the ball of black, and as he took off his mask black wisps spread out gently from his face, when he finally took off the mask, needless to say, the suspense was unnecessary as there was no face, just a mass of swirling black attempting to form the outline of a face, and as he caressed the ball of black he couldn't help but mutter

"we await your arrival, my lieges"