New Slate?

"Spurt!" "Cough!!!."

The sound of someone violently coughing out a mouthful of blood, echoed in an otherwise silent and empty place.

[-7Hp] [Hp: 5/175]

[Critical Alert! If you continue the revitalization skill and lose concentration again, the consequences will be fatal.]

"You don't say." Duke said mirthlessly.

He'd retreated into the Realm of Rest (RoR) with the aim of resting and recuperating with an Heavenly rank skill but reverse was the case in actuality.

The *RoR* was a piece of land that was cut off from the sage realm a thousand years ago. Within this land, time wasn't in existence and the weather was just perfect.

It was specially prepared as a place for meditation and there was a definite 75% chance of success in breaking through to the next level, and every skill set practiced here had certain benefits added to them. How he was able to access this realm however, was another story entirely.

So, considering all these, why was Duke not recovering?

It was because his attention was divided.

He really was trying to focus on using the rich energy flowing gently around him to heal himself, but the memories of his past wouldn't let him rest.

Immediately he'd sat in the lotus position and began using the revitalization skill, his mind began replaying scenes from a few years ago.

Because of his zeal to achieve something greater than any human being could ever hope to achieve, he'd personally been the catalyst to untold destruction.

So many things began happening at the same time that the entire world couldn't comprehend or contain and it led to what could only be called an ultimate chaos.

What happened?

There somehow was a complication in the second phase that caused the first phase to resume at a speed twice the original. In other words, the Psionic energy ball continued gathering, moving past 50% really fast.

And that was not all. He himself was directly under the energy, his body continuously being modified by the help of the D-stabilizer, and just after a few minutes, the first explosion occured.

With that explosion, the sky turned dark in an instant and in quick succession, portal-like circles began appearing in the sky, many of them in different colours.

Duke was in terrible pain as the D-stabilizer he was locked on to, continued it's work of imprinting the Psionic energy into him. His veins were popping out and his eyes were bloodshot.

His newly grown hair began cutting off of his head till he was bald, and his skin got pale and paler by the seconds.

It wasn't any better for the scientists themselves. They had all tried to stop all experiments once they noticed there was an override, however before any meaningful work could be done to shut the system down, the explosion left them all paralyzed.

Blood gushed out from all orifices and the only part of their body that was still functional was their ears, sadly leaving them to the continuous screams of agony that came from Duke as his body slowly dissipated.

Outside the Priester Labs, people's businesses were immediately put on hold and many fled under the 'protection' of their homes. No one understood what the sudden change of atmosphere was nor the meaning of the appearance of glowing circles in the sky.

But that ignorance didn't last for long.

No one from the outside could come near, talk more of entering into the Priester Labs due to the intense atmospheric pressure that somehow formed a force field around the Lab.

For two days, while Duke went through torment, the world experienced total darkness, the only source of light being the glowing circles in the sky.

Finally, on the third day, the Psionic energy reached 100% and another wave-like explosion occured.

This one was a massive explosion that caused all the glass of the Priester Labs to shatter all at once upon impact with the destructive wave released by the intensely effervescent energy ball.

Surprisingly, nothing exactly happened to the test chamber despite the wave shattering all the glass of Lab and completely erasing the bodies of the scientists—who were long dead—and every other thing and being within a seven (7) mile radius.

At that moment, the Priester Labs shone as bright—if not brighter than—the sun, finally illuminating the whole city that had been dark for three whole days.

A few years had passed after that accident, but even as Duke sat in the lotus position in the Realm of Rest, he still clearly remembered the words of the A.I just as clearly as he could tell the difference between day and night.

'Psionic energy at 100%... modification complete.'

And just after it said that, a huge beam blasted out from the purple ball of energy, heading straight for the sky. Simultaneously, the pain Duke had been enduring intensified exponentially as his blood literally began to boil and he began bleeding from the very pores of his whole body.

By now, one could only describe Duke as a skeleton.

Once the beam touched the skies, the ball disappeared, plunging the city once again into terrible darkness. The beam that had shot into the sky caused a reaction of lightning and thunder rumbles and in a few breaths of time, rain began falling. White, diamond shaped rain.

This very rain would cause the bodies of multitudes to wither and decay before finally exploding some days after.

Others would suffer intense pain for days and even weeks as the Psionic energy pervaded their blood and organs, before finally, after it was successful, they would become deviates now inbuilt with abilities unimaginable.

And perhaps it would have been a comfort to them who survived assuming the glowing circles in the sky didn't begin to activate and different extraterrestrial, fear-striking, and even world-ending beasts began to pour out of those circles.

(It was later known that those circles were in actuality, portals to other dimensions.)

Naturally, the destruction that followed became a scary story to tell in the dark.

In a nutshell, Duke's experiment really did change the world, but at a priceless cost.

And just like that, Duke moved as fast as a race car from the top to the bottom of the heap. Just like the board of directors had expected.

Many, many other things happened after that, like the two deities he'd met in the Heavenly realm, him becoming a wanted man, him attaining a system that claimed to be a "Phantom System" and so on.

But he'd had enough of reminiscing. He'd thought he'd be able to bear the full brunt of his deeds, but it was absolutely clear that it was merely a dream.

"Fuck it! Let me try one more time." Duke said, promptly closing his eyes and began to circulate the rich energy around him using the revitalization skill he'd stolen from a noble.

He took deep breaths as a colourless aura materialized around him and slowly began to revitalize his body. He made sure he made his mind as blank as a moonless night.

[+2Hp] [Hp: 7/175]

[+4Hp] [Hp: 11/175]

And the notifications slowly poured in, and it would seem like he was finally going to have the energy to push through for some months if he kept a low profile, however fate other plans.

Just then, an image of a large orange door suddenly appeared in his head, completely enveloping his attention as voices behind the door began calling unto him to peek behind it.

The door slowly began opening and golden beams softly busted out from the small opening. The ethereal voices became louder and he could literally feel their pull on his soul.

He tried to resist as he knew enough not to be beguiled by shining doors, however, at that point in time he had no control over his soul and swiftly, he felt his soul leaving his body.

But just as his body was about to fall to the ground, lifeless, he heard another voice which was much louder than the other voices coming from beyond the door.

"You poor thing. You should have accepted my offer."

That voice silenced those other voices at once and restored his soul. However, due to losing concentration while using the revitalization skill for the second time, he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

[–20Hp] [Hp:0/175]

As Duke opened his eyes, he found himself in a white room. This room was virtually empty and the only thing that was attention-seeking was a peerless goddess adorned in a floral red gown. Her face was glowing in a bright golden light and her waist long red hair slowly rippled behind her. She was floating above the white ground and so was Duke.

At this moment, Duke couldn't feeling any pain within him. Infact, he felt as fit as a fiddle.

"You again..." He said. This was the second goddess he'd seen at his former death five years ago. Wait! Now that he was here again, did that mean that he was dead yet again? "Why am I here? Am I—"

"Dead? You will be, once you leave here." The goddess helped him complete the statement. Her voice was tranquil and it reminded him of himself when he was still on top of the world.

Sadly, that was now his past. Now, he was a fugitive.

Or rather, he was dead.

"So what now?" He asked. As far as he was concerned now, it was for the best if he was sent straight to hell.

"I'm giving you one last chance to accept my offer."

"The 'new slate' offer?" Duke asked with raised eyebrows.

"None other."

Duke sighed. Perhaps this was for the best. He could finally start from the very beginning. There were so many possibilities that were just too juicy to glance over, not in his present predicament.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" He asked with a slightly serious expression on his face. She'd already told him what the offer entailed the first time they met. But he just wanted to be sure.

"Maybe. Maybe not. You'll have to find out yourself." She said, calmly.

"Fuck it. Just do it."

And just like that, Duke's soul vanished into thin air with the snap of her fingers.