Darkness

My consciousness faded as the black void swallowed me whole, suddenly all feelings, senses, and thoughts were gone. In that millisecond of my nonexistence, a void stared directly at me without moving its gaze anywhere else.

Then a sudden flash of lightning beamed across me, and a warm feeling enveloped my spirit as I slowly became conscious. First, the feeling of my body woke me up from my mindless slumber then, I could finally fathom a sound.

The sounds of water droplets hitting the floor were the first things that my ears paid attention to, second to that were the distant sounds of multiple persons speaking. Finally, I was fully aware and capable of living again as my eyes opened for the first time in this new life.

Taking a first breath, I inhaled and exhaled, immediately noticing the bad smell of rotten meat inside the place where I currently reside. Taking a couple of moments of self-reflection I turned my head right of me only to see a disgusting sight.

To my right, a corpse of a human lay with its back against the wall, not so tiny rats used the rotting meat as their food source. At first, I was confused by my surroundings, surely God was supposed to give me some nice and safe spawn point, not this crap.

The room I was in was visibly old as heck, walls covered in moss while the only source of lighting was a small window next to me. One simple medium-sized bed was placed right back in the corner, the rest of the room was filled with emptiness and a rotten smell.

Deciding my fate I calculated that the best thing for me to do right now is to remain quiet, to prevent anyone from hearing me. The window stood quite a bit over my height which made things complicated, in the end I had to stand on my tiptoes.

As my face approached the window, I swept the dust from it with my hand. Looking outside, I could see vast open fields of rocks and cliffs streaming into the horizon. The terrain around me was sturdy and rocky, with flat open fields of hard rocks around it. Judging from its appearance, I could only guess that this was an infamous place called Shreme Old Castle Ruins.

In this location where Bell had his wargame against Apollo Familia, I found myself reborn before the main events of the story. This seems fortunate as it gives me a chance to grow stronger before the anime's events unfold.

As the voices approached, panic gripped me and I hastily sought refuge behind a door in a small, dark corner. Thankfully, the voices passed by my room, offering a reprieve. Judging by their deep and menacing tones, I identified them as bandits.

In this world, bandits are typically falnaless but their danger persists for someone like me who is currently powerless. Reflecting on my situation, a lightning flash triggered a recollection of my third wish. However, scanning the surroundings revealed no grimoire as promised.

Before I could ponder further, the book materialized in my hands without any indication of its arrival. I could swear it wasn't there moments ago, but given my inability to comprehend godly powers I dismissed such thoughts.

The book's cover, reminiscent of Lovecraft's descriptions sent shivers down my spine. An ugly face and a cover made of skin-like material, likely human skin presented a disturbing sight. Despite the unsettling appearance, I couldn't dwell on it for long.

Upon opening a page, I found myself ensnared by multiple green tentacles emerging from the book. A small green rift portal covered the first page and the tentacles seized my neck, rendering me powerless. Unable to make a sound, my strength vanished as the tentacles invaded my mouth and eyes.

Although I felt no pain, my eyes were gone the moment the tentacles gouged them in. In the next moment, my consciousness faded.

In this void, I stood surrounded by unsettling emptiness, a profound darkness often referred to as the Void. Devoid of any atoms, it seemed utterly vacant except for my solitary presence. Amidst this vast nothingness, I grappled with the realization that the only company I had was the emptiness itself—or so I thought.

"What do you desire?"

A voice that sounded exactly like mine echoed from nothingness. I looked around but couldn't see anyone or anything in my sight. Deciding to answer its question, I thought about my response—a thing I desire.

Even in my past life, I have desired nothing. No, that's not the case. I desired a true adventure and a life of freedom, away from corporations and a corrupted system. That's what I always desired, a life where I wasn't obligated to be a slave to rich companies.

"I desire a life of freedom where I can do whatever I want, and for that I need the power to achieve such a thing," I answered somewhat nervously. For the first couple of seconds, no response came from the mysterious side—only a black emptiness of the void around me.

I felt instantly tired as if I had just worked my ass off. Having to lay on the black empty floor, I rested my back on it and closed my eyes shut. No sounds could be heard for a few moments, I felt nothingness inside me.

Then I felt myself levitating. A strange buzzing sound rang in my ears, making me open my eyes, only to notice a truly strange sight in front of me. I found myself deep in the ocean, standing in front of the sunken greenish, alien-like city.

The city itself was covered in dark greenish moss, its houses had a weird shape unlike any architecture humanly known. Seeing all of this, I instantly guessed that I found myself inside the sunken city of R'lyeh, a city where Cthulhu resided.

But before I could walk any further a tentacle stopped me. It appeared again from the green rift just like before, grabbing me by the torso. A tentacle dragged me back inside the portal, much like a mother cat dragging her kitten away.

Opening my eyes, I found myself lying on the dirty floor of the castle. However, I felt a strange warmth inside me. A book was placed right in front of me, and upon opening it, I could see my name carved on it—Niall.

Flipping to the next page, I saw a notice message written perfectly: "Mortal, I expect great things from you in your new life. The things you just experienced were abnormal by themselves, your existence in this place is an anomaly, so its world laws are trying to inspect you. But worry not, as my powers are realities above them. The city you just entered was the city of R'lyeh. It is yet unknown how you found your way in there, but we had to drag you away since you are yet powerless to resist its energy.

Use this grimoire to gain your powers and seek answers for them in the future. You can summon this grimoire by demanding it in your head, same as that to resummon it. For you to grow you need to find your way outside the castle by any means necessary for you to take." Reading it all, I sighed at the thought of having to escape the castle right away.

'I just spawned, and immediately I have work to do...' I sighed and turned the page, aiming to check my abilities. 

--- --- ---

Name: Niall

Race: Human?

Level: 1

STR: 0 I

END: 0 I

DEX: 0 I

AGI: 0 I

SKILLS

(Azathoth's Blessing)

● Gives a user a different state of mind, removing emotions and offering protection against charms and any attack on the mind of a user.

● Granting the user his own self-efficient Falna that is connected to the Necronomicon. In exchange for needing an achievement to level up, the user must max out all its stats to 999 to level up. Blessing will grant limit removal if they wish to pursue greater strength.

(Chaos Sultan)

Sends a spatial energy wave that nullifies any armor, once the wave hits its opponent, the receiving side will experience fatigue and stamina loss. 

--- --- ---

I couldn't comprehend the things I just read. By the looks of it, I may have enough power to escape from this shithole. But the thing I need to do first is try it out. I don't think there are any invocations, so I tried imagining it inside my head and saying its name silently.

Perfectly timed, the moment I extended my arm and chanted my newfound skill a group of bandits entered the room I was in. I didn't give them time to react when the green-like wave hit them, sending them flying directly onto the wall.

They didn't even have time to scream or yell in pain, their weak bodies were crushed against the hard, sturdy walls of the old castle. Blood splattered around the walls, creating somewhat satisfying sounds as it sprayed.

I didn't feel anything, not even a single ounce of remorse for killing another human being. 'It looks like this skill does that...' I murmured before making my way outside. Also, one more thing that I failed to notice before is that I don't have a magic tree and my skill does the same thing that magic would do.

This could only mean that magic is locked for me but instead, I have these absurd skills that don't cost me any mana, which is pretty overpowered if you ask me. I could hear the sudden rush of voices of people coming my way. Casting my book back quickly, I prepared myself to face my enemies.

The castle interior was in pretty bad shape, and the rest of it looked the same as the room I was in previously. My gaze turned to the stairs where rushing steps stormed toward my direction. Pointing my hand onto the stairs, I patiently waited for the enemies to arrive.

The moment the first bandit appeared, I immediately cast Chaos Sultan upon him, sending him flying directly into the wall along with his comrades. They all flew like mere flies, slapping them back and forth on the sturdy and mossy wall.

Judging by their strength, it's quite obvious that they don't possess a falna's blessing, which makes them perfect practice targets for me. I don't know how many of them are here, but not like that matters, I want to clear this castle once and for all. 

Casually walking around, I noticed that I had a bunch of fancy-looking green clothes on me. 'Going in with style!' I thought and laughed at my totally good joke. One thing I never understood from all the fanfictions I used to read is why the MC never checks the gear of a bandit or bastard they killed.

I always looted every opponent I killed when I used to play Skyrim, so years of experience taught me to loot my kills. Checking the first bandits I blasted away from inside my room, I found a few bags of valises in their pockets. 'Just like in Skyrim,' I murmured as the sounds of coins pleased my ears.

Their gear wasn't anything special, just like any others, they had simple steel weapons and rusty armor. Looting their bodies, I made my way down the stairs in pursuit of an exit, blasting any bandit coming my way with my skill.

I was really happy with my power because I don't see myself as someone who's constantly carrying a weapon. Having to maintain a weapon is too much of a hassle for me. The only thing I took, however, was a simple backpack that would help me carry food and other stuff with me on my travels.

Another thing that bothered me was how I would possibly enter a dungeon since I can't join any familia because the falna won't work on me. To become a proper adventurer, you need to join some patron's familia, although I don't know if some God will take me in despite my powers.

Casting my worries aside, a large group of bandits blocked my path toward the main hall of the castle. Around ten or twenty bandits were lining up and blocking my way. This time, they all stared at me with fear and anger, wanting to avenge their fallen comrades.

They were awfully quiet for some reason, which is pretty off for a bunch of bandits. Bandits usually curse and charge aimlessly at their enemy, but this time that wasn't the case. Then, the bandits moved to make way for someone. It was a woman in full-plated steel armor carrying a war axe.

"You bastard, from where the fuck did you come from?! And what did you do to my comrades?! Not only did you trespass into our territory, but you killed my men like they were mere ants! You know I'm going to take my time killing..."

I stopped her blabbing with my Chaos Sultan. My attack ignored her armor and pierced right through her. Her already dead body flew back, and everyone else stared in fear and shock as their supposedly most well-equipped comrade died in a single hit.

Not giving them any time to react, I disposed of them using my skill, quickly making the whole area into a huge blood pool mess. This power was pretty amazing, but I don't know how it would go against adventurers with falna or dungeon monsters. For now, the important thing for me to know is that I can defend myself from bastards like these.

Taking my time in looting their bodies, I found my backpack eventually full of a bag of valises, fancy jewelry, and other valuable stolen stuff. 'The grind never stops' I said and smiled at the feeling of my heavy backpack on my back, the problem of money is off the charts for now.

Exploring the area around me I couldn't find anything valuable except a few dead rats and mouse traps. For a couple of hours more I disposed of the remaining bandits, and in the end, I cleared the whole inner area of the castle. I was memorizing how many bandits I killed and I numbered forty of them in total, which means that my stats most likely improved.

Materializing the Necronomicon on my hand I cringed again upon seeing the ugly face on its main cover, opening the book I turned a couple of pages before rechecking my status.

--- --- ---

Name: Niall

Race: Human?

Level: 1

STR: 52 I

END: 16 I

DEX: 12 I

AGI: 9 I

SKILLS

(Azathoth's Blessing)

Gives a user a different state of mind, removing emotions and offering protection against charms and any attacks on the mind of a user. Also, the user is not obligated to achieve any feat to level up, once the user maxes out the conditions to level up are met.

(Chaos Sultan)

Sends a spatial energy wave that nullifies any armor, once the wave hits its opponent, the receiving side will experience fatigue and stamina loss. 

--- --- ---

My Magic and Strength stats rose pretty well, pinpointing that I have a boosted growth for my skills. Skills like endurance, dexterity, and agility haven't risen much since I casually walked during my time here so that only could explain it. Also, one good factor is that I don't have magic skills to grind so one less skill for me to waste my time on.

The night slowly fell as if the moon replaced the Sun from overseeing the sky, and a cold, chilly night wind replaced the warm sun rays while I was taking care of the room where I was about to sleep. I managed to find one half-clean room near the main hall where the previous battle happened. Moving one of the bedrolls I found nearby, I quickly made myself a nice-looking sleeping room.

Locking the doors with the key I found on the nearby bookshelf, I secured myself inside the room from any unwelcome guests. Covering myself with a comfy mattress, I closed my eyes and fell into a nice slumber.

--- General POV ---

Inside the dungeon city of Orario one primordial god sat in his chair. His presence alone could make any mortal kneel in respect and obey. Most of his time in the mortal plane, he spent his time praying to the dungeon.

Praying to a dungeon was the only thing that kept it at bay. Even powerful first-class adventurers couldn't keep up with the unleashed dungeon. The god is known as Ouranos, the first god that descended upon the mortal plane. He also acts as the leader of the guild itself.

Staring at the dark hallway, Ouranos suddenly felt a disturbance. His divinity was telling him that something wasn't right. For the first time in his existence, he felt such an emotion—an emotion filled with confusion and pure fear, fear of the unknown.

"God Ouranos? Are you alright?" His loyal servant, an undead mage who has lived for many centuries, ignoring the mortal binds, asked. For the first time, Fels saw such an unstoic expression on Ouranos' primordial face.

Ouranos calmed himself down, staring down at his servant he responded, "Something strange and abnormal has entered the world, something yet unknown to me. I cannot grasp the vision of it anywhere, but I feel its presence, although I can't sense if it's malicious or not."

Fels gasped in shock after hearing the primordial words, only thing he could do was to refrain from any question and keep quiet. Ouranos's divinity couldn't help him any further in this matter, the only thing he had to do was to try to find out more about this unknown anomaly that just happened.