2 Years Part 5

"Ahh" pant...pant...

I flew up my hand reaching towards the sky....Ah shit this is one bad dream. I glad to be back on...

Splat! A bug was just crushed beneath my other hand. I looked around. I could finally see what I was looking at. In fact I could see much more than that. I could see the slight auras that emanated off of the creatures of the forest. The vibrant and lucid colors mixed and meshed in my vision before returning to normal.

I was in a dense lush forest. I was on the forest floor. I could tell it was daytime even though no light came through the tops of the emergents.

'So everything i just experienced was real? What was that being that wanted me to find its prison. Sigh. Well i guess ill find this 'mother' person'

I focused my mind on finding this mother. Suddenly an orange lingering aura trial started to form infront of me. I reached out to it and it wasn't a physical thing. It was like a bit of smoke in the air and if I lost focus I couldn't see it anymore. So again I tried to focus my mind.

The orange smoke trail appeared again. But something came to me. I thought of Will Davie Belle and Apathy. Now four trails appeared in my vison. One blue another , white and one purple.

' Hmmmm...4? but not 5? The blue one is obviously Davie , the Purple Belle , and the white might be Apathy or Will but i dont think its Will. Everything about him screams gold. but why white for her? '

I ignored these thoughts and began to head in the direction of the orange smoke.

1 hour later....

Ive arrived but its not what I expected. Its a giant swamp. And above it all was a hut. A large circular hut which encompassed the entire area of the swamp below.

Reeling in my shock and awe I followed the aura up a ladder and onto a balcony. But I was surprised. There was another person here.It was a small little girl.

I wasn't immediately shocked by her presence but seeing her after meeting my gaze atleast told me one thing she wasn't afraid in the slightest.

Each giving our own preliminary examinations of one another i could see that she was about 5'4 and slightly younger than Will. She had on a orange floral dress and wore something similar to ballet shoes. Her black hair was tied neatly behind her head. Noticing i was done staring. Her brown eyes mystically shimmered before returning back to normal.

Her expression changed slightly.

" Hello young one. What brings you to my swamp?"

Belle taken aback. Began to activate her newly enhanced spirit vision and as the mass of bright colors slowly meshed together. She could see the the slightly orange mist stopped right infront of the little girl. But as she tried to look a little deeper her eyes began to bleed.

The little girl spoke again not waiting for Belle to recover. Now her voice wicked and ancient.

" Rule number 3. of witchcraft avoid gazing into the abyss at all costs."

As she continued her voice trialed back off into that of little girl.

Wiping the blood that had made streeks down her cheeks Belle nodded calmly before standing up. Belle's vision was still filled with lucid colors and images.

" Deactivate your spirit vision now. Before you hurt yourself more."

She tried her best to calm her mind and suddenly everything returned to normal. But a slight headache was incurred as a result of her 'peeping'.

Nodding at the results the little girl skipped off into the a room.

" Follow me"

Belle reluctantly followed behind her. As she entered the room. She could see lamps of bioluminescent bugs hung from lamps to illuminate the darkness within the room. Ingredients for potions laid bare on every nook and cranny. Lizard eyes hung from thin threads on the ceiling. Necklaces of scrotums. She passed numerous jars containing all manner of liquids both clear and murky. Some had labels while others just had little skulls on them. She watched as the girl hopped over a taxidermy alligator carcass. And she did the same. Being careful not to disturb its slight slumber.

Mama then began to search around for things as she did she spoke.

" You've recently advanced to a shaman. " without letting belle ask how she replied. " I can see the fluctuations in your aura. Its turbulent. "

Without letting belle get a word in she continued.

" Im sure you can sense the changes within your abilities and the acquisition of new ones. Your comprehension of Molratres has become better. You now feel more attuned with the world around you. You can activate spirit vision now. All good things but they're all useless if not manipulated properly as anyone who walks the path can do as you do. But you can do it better...." her voice trialing off into slight madness.

The little girl took out a butcher knife and pulled a giant cockroach out of a jar. She held it down on a cutting board and then chopped causing a sticky brown fluid to ooze out of the carcass that had been split in half. Leaving belle speachless she immediately drained the carcass of its fluids into a filter funnel connected to a pestle. The thick brown parts remained on the filter paper and what seeped through was a clear crystalline liquid

" like what you did earlier. Trying to confirm my identity by attempting to peer through my physical body. The realm of shamans is not one frequented anymore. Its hard to survive as a young shaman. All of your " superpowers" as a low level are auxiliary at best. "

After draining the fluid and throwing out the brown matter build up on the papar. She crouched down below her workspace and picked up a jar. It had " coal ashes "written on its lid.

Using a ladle she scooped clumps of the ashes and

Placed it into the pestle. She then used the mortar and began to mix.

" Do you know why the term " Village shaman " is so popular in old folk tales and rituals? "

Belle silently began to ponder on the fact that most of the abilities related to her realm were things that village shamans did to help or experiment on those that came to them. Continuing this thought process aloud.

" Does it mean that most of those 'shamans' belonged Realm 8 of the Divination Realm? If so why would they actively reveal the existence of witchcraft?"

As the crystalline fluid and the ashes mixed. The formed a black mixture. She left the black mixture on the table and continued to add little things here and there. Sometimes it was an animal part or fluid other times it was flowers and nectar.

" to advance on the path of corruption and madness you must gaze deeper into the abyss. This was a quote by an old friend of mine. " A deep sadness could be felt from her childlike figure as she mentioned that old friend.

" You must embrace the pathway in order to advance. Some call it acting some call it ' practice' but all your really doing no matter the realm is preparing yourself to sink deeper into the abyss. Think of witchcraft as a well in the shape of an inverted pyramid. You consume the uniqueness of that realm to allow you to get more powerful. Its ' practicing ' or ' acting ' that allows you to keep your head afloat. The further you advance more of the abyss surrounds you. It has a better grip some say so the harder you have to try and stay afloat. "

Sounds of grunts from continuous grinding echoed for a brief moment.

"Uniqueness?"

" Yes that is the proper names of the items and brains you dissolve in a cauldron and bathe in to advance. Oh i have to remind you of this. Do not forget who you are while practicing. You may just find that you are no longer yourself. "

Belle shuddered at the thought. Using all what the little girl had just told her she could finally ascertain why in all of the stories about the shamans. Even though their intentions were good their form of help usually involved creating a problem to solve a problem. They had succumbed to the 'act' and lost all form of self. Providing charms with little curse or conditions.

She briefly thought of a story her mother had once told her ; about a fish who wished to become human but in exchange lost her voice to a shaman of the sea.

Finally she did something unexpected she picked up the viscous liquid that was still in the mortar and then placed it into numerous vials ensuring to cover the tops of them. She then randomly picked up a vial of the liquid and popped off the cover. She then threw her little head back and began to slurp the coagulants out of the vial. Watching the little girl give a hearty swallow she did not expect herself to not feel discomfort. Instead her brain was intrigued as to the effects of mixing all of those seemingly random ingredients. As if an itch needed to be scratched.

Suddenly the little girls body began to writhe and bulge. As if she was being inflated by an invisible force the sounds of her bones snapping and her tendons releasing the tension of being strained to their elastic limit. Muscles snapped and regrew.

As her skin continued to balloon add elongate to accompany her new form. All while this occurred not a single moan escaped from the little girls mouth.

Until finally the process stopped and standing before her was a woman who looked to be in her 30s. If she didn't see the remains of the floral dress doing its job and covering what little could be covered and the torn ballet shoes she would have expected this to be a different person.

Her brown eyes mystically shimmered once more. This time it was noticed by Belle. Who instinctively looked for the nearest exit.

In a mature yet alluring voice she suddenly manifested behind Belle.

" Mmmm how I missed my youth. But that young form is so limiting. And besides you my precious little girl need a mature hand to guide you."

She began to wrap her arms around belle. " Don't think just because you practice you can escape the madness. The moment you entered this world of magic. You've already fallen into deprivation. We all have a bit of madness in us all it just takes the right push to guide it out."

Somewhere....Just....Somewhere...

Where am I?

Why do i feel so warm?

Slowly pealing their eyes open they found himself staring at a ceiling. The framework of the roofing was so intricate and meticulous it seemed as if it had taken eons to craft something so sophisticated. Lines of words they could not comprehend littered the tapestry. Woven together by illusory threads just looking at it filled them with a sense of awe as if they were looking at divinty.

I can't move. He could feel that nothing was holding him down but was unable to move as if his body was took weak to even begin to move freely in this space. I was just knocking at death's door so this is an improvement.

The he started to contemplate the warm feeling that had been encompassing him this entire time. He looked up again to see two pitch black eyes. Full moons hung where both of the pupils were and clusters of constellations and stars shifted and drifted in her gaze.

" I finally found you.....Will "

---------------------------

Alright it took me literally over a month to come back. And the first thing i write is a cliffhanger. If i was a reader I'd hate me.

I have no excuses. I could say i was busy. I could say i was dealing with personal drama but i have a duty to you my readers as an author to provide you the best possible experience i can. I don't release a chapter I can't read all day. And because of that i stopped reading completely. I started reading books again last week. For 2 months I struggled to touch a book more or less pick up and pen and plan out my own. Every time id open the app to start jotting down ideas or the structure of a new chapter id get a sickness in my stomach that made me weak. But one day i decided to push through the sickness and read a book that got me into writing in the first place LOTM by the cuttlefish that loves diving. And after reading it I realized that i loved writing to entertain but more importantly i loved writing to create a world a new world something never hear of before something new although everything might not be original or planned out. I just loved watching a scene play out in my head and finding just the right words to describe it on paper.

And that fire that was smoldering away into ash had gotten some fresh fuel. Id finally hyped myself up to read more books. Even the overly used system novels started looking good to me. And as i feel back in love with reading i built up the courage to write the final chapter of volume 1.

Although it took me way too long and i probably lost all the people who liked my book in the first place thats fine. We start anew. This end has brought a new beginning. Volume 2 will be leagues above volume 1 in terms of detail and world building i can promise that.

Don't worry i wont disappear for a month again hopefully the first chapter will come out before the week is up. Anyway i just have to say thank you to the 6k people who even bothered to read my book. I really do appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time.

-Z