The Warlock's projection stares at me, galaxies swirling in his eyes. I'm frozen in place, not just from the shock but from the feeling of connection—the ring on my finger pulsating with each word he speaks, like it's translating his presence directly into my bloodstream.
"Uh, hi? Look, no offense, but I was kind of aiming for a quick grab-and-go. Who exactly are you, and what's with the light show?" I manage to ask, my voice barely hiding the tremor beneath.
The Warlock regards me with ancient, knowing eyes, a flicker of something resembling amusement crossing his severe features. "I am the vessel of this legacy, the archmage who sealed his power here. I am Aurelian Solvaris. The Warlock."
I blink, genuinely confused. "The Warlock? Who?"
The projection shifts slightly, radiating a mild annoyance. "Come now. Aurelian Solvaris. The greatest archmage to ever live? The strongest of the last era? The hero who saved the world from the SSS dungeon calamity? Surely you've heard the tales!"
"Nope. Can't say I have. Never heard of you." I shrug, glancing at the pulsating ring on my finger. "Look, I just got hit by a truck a few weeks ago, so maybe I missed the history lessons on legendary old dudes."
The Warlock throws his incorporeal hands up in dismay. "Oh, for the love of—! The sheer disrespect of the next generation! Are the current historians teaching nothing of value? I curse the entire curriculum for its inadequacy!"
The holographic figure then composes himself, the amusement vanishing, replaced by profound gravitas. The light show intensifies, and I feel the weight of genuine power pressing down on me.
"Enough frivolity. You hold my culmination, my lifeforce, my Gift" the Warlock states, voice booming with power. "I did not seal my legacy in the hopes of just anyone stumbling upon it. Everything was set up for someone worthy to find traveler. For the one destined to inherit my understanding."
I frown, my confusion growing. "Set up? What do you mean?"
"The tests were already in motion. I needed a successor with both curiosity and resilience, someone whom the world can not for see. My first test was immediately upon entering the labyrinth—the choice of the passageways. It tested your inherent sensitivity to concentrated magical flux, your intuition for mana pathways. You chose correctly"
The Warlock gestures toward the vast chamber. "The second test was one of strength and immediate comprehension—how quickly you could adapt to true danger and utilize the raw skill latent within you. You faced a heavily armored C-Tier Guardian Beast yet survived using technique over power. Impressive."
The Warlock smiled faintly, a slow, knowing expression spreading across his ethereal face. "And the third and final test is when you put the ring on... but that is if you wish to continue."
My mind raced. I glanced down at the simple iron band that had fused to my finger. It looked innocuous—just a dull gray circle without gems or markings—but I could feel it humming against my skin like a living thing.
"Wait," I demanded, my voice strained. "Are you telling me this 'Third Test' started the moment my skin touched this ring?"
The Warlock nodded, his projection entirely serious now. His translucent form shimmered with azure energy, casting strange shadows across the ancient library.
"The transfer of the legacy can only proceed under the pre-established conditions. The trials confirmed your eligibility. Now, only your will can complete the ritual."
I stared at the Warlock, considering the profound power stored in the ring—the culmination of the greatest mage to ever live. I thought of Ashwood Haven with its gray stone walls and cold cells, the terror of the Dark Forest with its glowing eyes in the darkness, the raw injustice of being pushed to my apparent death by Crowe's smug face. I needed power. I needed control.
I took a deep breath, the thick mana in the air filling my lungs like syrup. A slight, reckless grin touched my lips.
"Well," I muttered, focusing not on the ancient archmage but on the absurd reality of my situation. "Y. O. L. O."
The instant the ring fully accepted my presence and began the transfer, an excruciating, searing pain exploded behind my eyes. It was immense, immediate, and felt like someone was trying to force a star into my skull. I cried out, clapping my hand to my head, falling to my knees on the cold stone floor.
Then, the psychological attack began. The pain receded slightly, replaced by a torrent of voices echoing my deepest insecurities, using the exact vocal tones of my past life.
First, the voice of my father, cold and dismissive: "Colin, you need to work harder. You'll never amount to anything just reading those fantasy books."
Then, the sharp, judging tone of a bully from high school: "Look at the nerd. Still pretending he's some kind of hero? You're pathetic, Colin. A spineless loser."
Suddenly, my own voice from Earth, filled with doubt and self-loathing: "Why bother? You were never good at anything. You wasted your whole life. You got hit by a truck—that was the universe telling you to give up."
My mother's strained voice followed, laced with disappointment: "We had such hopes for you, and all you do is hide in fantasy worlds."
The voices piled up, a deluge of doubt and trauma, aiming to shatter my will before the transfer completed. The sheer mental assault was unbearable. I saw the shadow of my former self—spectacled, frail, hunched over my computer—mocking the current me.
"You failed then, and you'll fail now. You're just an extra in someone else's story. Give the power back! You're worthless! You don't deserve to live this second life!"
I squeezed my eyes shut until shimmering blue tears tracked down my sweat-streaked cheeks. The pain, the voices—it was designed to make me surrender, to psychologically retreat and fail the trial of the soul.
But I, the former otaku who dreamed of adventure, who had already decided I would not be a disposable character anymore, found a core of defiant stubbornness.
I clawed my way back from the abyss, forcing a raw, ragged whisper that tore through the phantom reality.
"No!" I roared, my voice trembling but firm. "I died already! I'm owed this second chance! I am NOT an extra! I'm Cael Ardentis, and I will live this life the way I choose!"
I focused on the sensation of the ring, pulling on the pain, absorbing the voices, turning the trauma into defiant energy. This time, when the phantom version of myself mocked me, I spat a single word: "Observe!"
The mocking image flickered, momentarily paralyzed.
"I survived a truck, an orphanage, and I just fell off a cliff! You think those pathetic memories can stop me? You're wrong! I am taking this power!"
The voices screamed one last time, a simultaneous chorus of raw psychic rejection, which reached a deafening peak before abruptly collapsing like a glass mirror shattering.
The searing headache vanished. The noise stopped. Silence, absolute and profound, returned to the Warlock's Library.
I collapsed onto the cold stone floor, utterly spent, my body shaking from the massive psychological exertion. I had won.
A soft, clear chime resonated where the screams had been.
[Legacy Synchronization Complete.]
[New Gift Acquired: Infinite Eyes.]
[The Warlock's Legacy has been Transferred.]
* * *
I drew a ragged breath, my entire body trembling with exhaustion. The stone floor beneath me felt like it was spinning, and every muscle screamed in protest as consciousness fully returned.
A low groan escapes my lips as I shift slowly on the cold stone floor, the world returning in groggy, painful waves.
"Finally, you're up. You took longer than expected."
I slowly pushed myself up onto my elbows. The towering figure of the Warlock's projection still stood before me, the swirling galaxies in his eyes now seeming a little dimmer.
"Really?" I rasped, my throat dry. "You couldn't have warned me about the soul-crushing trauma induced by voices of self-doubt? That was unnecessarily cruel."
The Warlock simply shrugged, the non-corporeal motion uncannily human. "You'll be fine. Now get up, we don't have much time."
I used the desk for leverage, stumbling to my feet. My legs felt like jelly, and my head throbbed with a dull ache that pulsed behind my eyes. Something felt different—like my vision had sharpened beyond normal limits.
"What do you mean, 'don't have much time'?"
The Warlock ignored the question, adopting a formal stance. His translucent form straightened, shoulders back, chin raised. The casual demeanor vanished, replaced with something ancient and ceremonial.
"Listen now. I hereby announce you my one and only disciple."
The iron ring on my finger suddenly flared with a brilliant, pulsing purple light, radiating out from my hand and momentarily bathing the massive library in the color of raw power. The light seemed to penetrate my skin, flowing through my veins like liquid fire. I gasped as I felt it rush up my arm and spread throughout my body.
"There," the Warlock announced. "Now you have my power. Understand this: this is no simple gift. I doubt you have the body to handle its full capabilities yet, but I believe the System you have inside you will guide you well. Use it wisely, my apprentice."
I snapped my head up, shock momentarily overriding my exhaustion. "Wait! You know about the System?"
"I can see it within you now, yes," the Warlock confirmed. His galactic eyes flickered with interest. "It is integrated with my power, a rather fascinating construct. Now, you must leave the chamber. It begins to close in on itself."
"What?!" I looked around frantically. "You set up a self-destruct mode?"
The Warlock let out a soundless laugh. "Of course. A failsafe, just in case someone unworthy found my artifact. Wouldn't do to leave all this knowledge lying around for amateurs."
I took a step back, realizing the walls' barely perceptible vibrations were increasing. Small pebbles on the floor began to dance. A deep, ominous rumble emerged from somewhere far beneath us.
"Then wait! Where are you? Are you somewhere else in the chamber?"
The Warlock shook his head slowly, and an intense melancholy settled over his features. His eyes—those swirling constellations—dimmed slightly.
"No, Cael. I have long since perished. This persona, this consciousness, is merely a sophisticated imprint I left within the ring to allow for the transfer to go smoothly. From here on, you're on your own."
He paused, his galactic eyes fixing on me with final, urgent intensity. "Be careful. Once people hear of my disciple, or someone with the power you now wield is loose in the world, they will not stop until they kill you. I am not telling you to conceal your strength, but be careful how you reveal it. You are my one and only ever disciple. Do not disappoint me."
With that final pronouncement, the Warlock's projection shimmered, dissolved into a cascade of glittering white and purple particles, and vanished, leaving me alone in the thrumming, unstable silence of the massive library.
I stood in the aftermath of the Warlock's projection, staring at the intricate design of the library's ceiling, my thoughts racing. Wow, so that actually happened.
I shake my head to clear the lingering disbelief. This isn't a dream; it's a reality I'd never anticipated. The vast room is filled with knowledge, secrets, and the potential to change everything I know.
Maybe I can grab something before I leave, I think, stepping back toward the nearest towering shelf. But before I can finish that sentence, the entire chamber begins to shake violently. Books tumble from their places, the deep burgundy and midnight blue spines cracking as they hit the floor. The illuminated symbols on the walls flicker ominously, pulsing between azure and crimson.
"Shit!" Panic surges through me as I turn on my heel and run back the way I came. Every instinct screams at me to flee. As I pass the body of the C-Rank Guardian Beast, I don't bother to look back—my focus is solely on survival.
The tunnel ahead darkens, but I can see faint escaping light from the archway. The sound of stone grinding against stone fills my ears as dust and debris begin to rain down. I push myself harder, not allowing the fear to seep in.
With one final, desperate movement, I dive through the archway just as the tunnel begins to collapse behind me. The weight of the rock crashes down, sealing off the passageway as I roll onto the earthen floor of the canyon, gasping for breath.
I lie still for a moment, chest heaving as the reality of my situation settles in. I'm out, but the library—a trove of knowledge—is now lost to me.
"Alright," I say, mustering an exhausted sigh as I sit back on my heels. "Let's check out this gift he was talking about."
I inhale deeply, force my heart rate to slow, and concentrate. "Status," I say firmly, summoning the familiar System interface.
A notification flickers across my vision, shimmering with urgency.
[System Alert: You have a bunch of notifications.]
"Yeah, I figured," I mutter to myself, shaking my head in disbelief.
As I dig into the notifications, a mixture of anxiety and excitement floods through me:
[You have obtained the gift: Infinite Eyes]
[The legacy has been fully transferred and fused]
[You have obtained the Eternal Convergence Bloodline]
[You have obtained the talent: Elemental Mimicry]
[Infinite Comprehension and Elemental Mimicry are resonating with each other]
[You have obtained the rare exclusive talent: Absolute Assimilation]
[You have received the Archive]
[You have unlocked Inventory]
[System has upgraded]
[You have awakened the eye of space]
"…Okay wow"
To be continued….