Chapter 02: A Dead World

The figure before me, along with the surrounding, void of life suited the analogy of being an embodiment of the empty void. The oddity was that it continued to wait for me to make my next move.

My hands trembled in fear and my body refused to move. My breath stuck in my throat and my heart beat as loud as it possibly could. I wanted to run. I wanted to return.

But I still had a job to do. My promotion depended on it. Mustering all the courage I could gather from my greed for success, I reached for the envelope in my jacket pocket.

As if already aware of my purpose, the figure's intense glare loosened and it made some distance between us.

I could finally breathe a little. I pulled the black envelope out and showed it to the figure before me.

Without a word, the shadow turned around and moved forward. I stood in awe of the unexpected luck. As I was wondering about and reliving in my lucky break, the figure stopped a small distance away.

It was waiting for me to follow. The ground that once felt empty, suddenly felt solid enough to walk. But that was the case for a rope like line which the shadow had already treaded. I took a step forward on the trail already traversed by the shadow.

It was no longer suffocating to walk. As long as I maintained the course, I could walk. The pressure and the ominous feelings remained, but I could walk and move.

The moment I got closer to the shadow, it continued moving forward. It really was waiting for me. The shadow figure lead me without a word.

To be fair, I was terrified to say a word to ask any questions as well. So I quietly followed it.

As we moved forward, my senses gradually synchronised with my surroundings. For the first time I could see the truth of the world around me. It was a "Dead World."

As its name implies, a Dead World, is a world that was dead in all sense. It's a world which had lost all life and the ability to support life. A dead world has no guardian deities, nor does it have any celestial body looking after it. There are no uses or a future for a dead world, and all that waited for it was to eventually disintegrate as time consumed it.

The surrounds were all grey. There was no light, no sound, no breath, no life. The first feeling I felt when I entered this world finally made sense. I couldn't believe it that the beautiful and vibrant Aether had become a dead world. But that raises another question, who was the figure before me?

It's self was empty just like the world, but it moved with purpose and it had intelligent eyes. The fear I felt towards the figure leading me somewhere had now turned into curiosity.

After walking for almost three hours, another unexpected surprise waited for me. Light! I saw light in a dead world.

It was an impossibility but I saw light in the dead world. This was not an illusion like before because I could clearly feel the sensation of life and strong mana from the source of the light. The area with the strong source of life was and encirclement in a deep pit.

If I were to be poetic, an apt descriptions would be that it was an oasis. It was surrounded by thirteen pillars of stone and between each pillar stood a shadow-like figure, just like the one leading me. There was one spot unoccupied. I guess that is where my guide stood? Each figure was just like the other and they all had the same glowing red eyes.

In the centre of the encirclement, was a thin man. He looked rugged, with unkempt long hair that reached his waist and a long beard which covered his neck. The only clothes he wore was a black robe with shredded hems. His dress was like that of a monk in recluse.

He sat cross-legged in the centre with his eyes closed and his hands joined and relaxingly placed in his lap.

Who was he? As I pondered on his identity, the letter in my hand glowed with a light blue glitter. He was the one I had to deliver the letter to. Once again, gathering my wits about, I looked at the guide shadow to figure out what to do next.

The shadow had returned to its position and was waiting for me to enter the circle by making way for me like a guard. I stepped into the circle. As I got closed, I could feel the intense blood-thirsty stares of the figures guarding the circle.

"I greet you well," I said, following the professional guidelines outlined in our training manual. Presenting the letter, I continue, "I am a messenger bringing you this correspondence. I hope you accept it."