The Void Day 2
Yana slammed onto one knee, the sudden, internal agony forcing a strangled cry from her throat. Her familiars instantly moved to form a protective semicircle, their shadows merging. Jasmine, the Dimensional Wraith, slipped out of Yana's soul and cloaked her body, attempting to buffer the shock. The pain was deep and absolute, as if her entire consciousness was being stretched and torn. It seemed to last for hours, and when the System finally released its grip, Yana was trembling, gasping for breath.
As the System screen stabilized before her eyes, Yana focused on the one line that mattered most: Soul Depth: Grey Void. The pure blackness was lifting.
SOUL SYSTEM
Name: Yana ????
Age: ????
Location: Pa Void
Soul Depth: Grey Void
Rank: Shadow Novice
ABILITIES
Dimensional step: Adept
Shadow call: Adept
Shadow Walk: Adept
Shadow control: Adept
Shadow step: Adept
Shadow dispersal: Adept
Discernment: Adept Seer: Adept
MAGICS
Spell weave: reset to level 1
Shadow manipulate: reset to level 1
Shadow create: reset to level 1
Fate: reset to level 1
Illusion: reset to level 1
Dimensional door: reset to level 1
Pets: 2
Starguide
Name: Starlight
Abilities: Star Walk, Star Void Magic
Level: Advanced
Dimension Wraith
Name: Jasmine
Abilities: Wraith Walk
Level: Advanced
Familiars: 4
Shadow cat
Name: Amber
Abilities: Shadow Step, Shadow Weave
Level: Adept
Dark Fae
Name: Tasha
Abilities: Shadow Dimension Walk, Void Step
Level: Advanced
Marked Demon
Name: Demon Dust (DD)
Abilities: Shadow Kill, Void Rip
Level: Intermediate
Shadow Doll
Name: Alisha
Abilities: Shape Shifter, Shadow Flame, Shadow Weave
Level: Intermediate
The next prompt snapped her attention away from her soul.
Ongoing Task: Leave the Void.
You have not left the Void.
One day has passed.
You have been punished.
TASK TIMER: 3 days 20 hours 30 minutes.
Yana stared at the timer. Had she really been on her knee for three hours and thirty minutes?! The time was rigged, and she felt she may not have a real chance of finishing this task.
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‘System, are you deliberately working against me?!’ Yana demanded through soul speech. The prompt instantly replied: 'The main purpose of the System is to ensure a timely increase in magic levels and soul structure. The secondary purpose is to ensure System Owner does not die. Third purpose is the safety of the System Owner. The System is not responsible for the System Owner’s happiness or comfort.'
Yana re-read the cold, ruthless lines. Treacherous. The System was openly declaring its mechanical indifference to her suffering.
She sensed Void Beasts all around her. She became alert, summoning her shadow scythe and taking a defensive stance, but DD moved before her and took the lead. Using Void Rip, he tore open the darkness, instantly revealing and dismantling the Void Beasts hiding within. The next moments were a massacre. DD annihilated the creatures before the others could even see them, leaving few strays. Yana couldn't help but be impressed by their brutal efficiency as they carved a path through the inhabited area.
As they moved forward, she saw light rushing toward her again. She watched as it streaked toward her so she could track its origin. Just as it neared, the scythe came up, and the black weapon sliced through the light, absorbing it in the process.
"I was sure you hadn’t learned your lesson," Tasha commented.
Yana looked at Tasha, a slight smile on her face. "Actually, I almost allowed it to hit me. I can tell I get a benefit from it, but I’m not sure we have time."
‘System, leave task timer visible,’ she commanded mentally.
'Insufficient leveling for that task. Would you like a twenty, ten, or five minute warning?'
Yana spoke through gritted teeth. ‘Give me a twenty minute warning.’
'Twenty minute warning set. You will be informed when you are twenty minutes away from the end of a day.'
Yana shook her head. "Come everyone. I saw where that streak of light came from." She used Dimensional Door four times, increasing her proficiency before ending with a Shadow Step.
"You knew where it was the entire time. Why didn’t you just do a Shadow Step from the beginning?" Alisha questioned.
"She is trying to level up, Alisha. Calm down." Amber interjected.
Alisha sighed, and they began moving forward. They quickly arrived at a raised platform with two large pillars in the middle.
"It’s a dimensional door, but my level is not high enough to even think about opening it or using it. Jasmine, Tasha, what do you two think?"
They both stepped up to the pillars. Tasha shook her head slightly as Jasmine walked around it and through it.
"I sense it, but I cannot open it," Jasmine's voice echoed directly in Yana's soul.
Tasha looked to Yana with pursed lips. "That’s better than me. I can’t even sense it."
Yana nodded as she walked up to it as well. "Then it is not of Shadow is it?"
Tasha’s eyes went wide. "Most likely not."
Yana looked at Jasmine. "Come over here with us. We are going to open this door."
Yana repeated Jasmine’s path, walking around and through the massive pillars three more times. She focused intently, pulling subtly on Jasmine's and Tasha's Advanced abilities to supplement her deficient Dimensional Door magic. She used Discernment and Seer like a fine scalpel, mapping the correct void lines and predicting the result. A low hum built to a roar, and the space between the pillars shimmered, splitting open into a black, swirling portal.
Yana smiled triumphantly. You have successfully opened a Dimensional Door four to five levels above yours. (Dimensional Door) has improved.
"Come before the light understands that I am here." She phased everyone through the door. They were still in darkness, but not the oppressive Void darkness. Had they escaped the Void? Before she got too excited, DD spoke up.
"Hmm. Seems like we are in a void space. There will be a dimensional door here to get us to a dimension outside the void."
Yana almost cursed. Then she sensed light rushing to her and she began using her abilities and magics. Yana pulled from Jasmine’s energy to empower her attempts. First, she used Shadow Call (gaining three full shadows—paltry, but useful), then Shadow Create seven times. With her ten shadows, she quickly performed Shadow Manipulate, weaving a dense shroud that covered her from head to toe. She avoided two streaks of light in the process.
The light streaked toward her, hesitated at the impenetrable shadow shield, and dissipated harmlessly. "Okay, let’s find this door." She sighed. "Any ideas?"
"Yes, you need to get your memory back now!" Tasha ran her hand through her hair in exasperation. Yana expertly ignored her.
She quieted and used Seer and Discernment to figure out which way to go. She faced two directions and got nothing, making her want to give up on the idea. She forced herself to face a third direction, and when she did, she felt the tingling squirm of her discernment. She still turned to the fourth direction, and when she felt nothing, she almost bit her lip.
She stood there for a brief moment, but then the words of her System lit up before her eyes, and she cursed out loud.
Task warning alarm!
Task warning alarm!
Task warning alarm!
You have twenty minutes until second day ends
Amber and the others looked at her confused. Then Alisha’s eyes went wide as she sat on Yana’s shoulder.
"The second day is ending?"
"Of course not. It hasn’t been...." Tasha stopped speaking, her eyes also going wide as she watched Yana nodding her head.
"Twenty minutes, let’s go this way." She used Shadow Step this time, taking everyone in the direction her Discernment had indicated. While she stepped, she continued using Seer and Discernment to make sure she was going the right way.
She suddenly stopped when her Seer ability showed her a painful premonition of herself.
"How has it been two days? I assume I don’t need sleep because I am a Shadow, but the rest of you?"
DD spoke, instantly moving into a protective stance. "You need sleep. We all do. But we can all go without for two to ten days."
Before he finished, the soul pain struck. It was extreme, but Yana braced for it, handling the agony better this time, and recovered quicker. When the system flashed, she saw the change:
SOUL SYSTEM
Name: Yana ????
Age: ????
Location: Pa Void
Soul Depth: White Void
Rank: Shadow Novice
ABILITIES
Dimensional step: Adept
Shadow call: Adept
Shadow Walk: Adept
Shadow control: Adept
Shadow step: Adept
Shadow dispersal: Adept
Discernment: Adept Seer: Adept
MAGICS
Spell weave: reset to level 1
Shadow manipulate: reset to level 1
Shadow create: reset to level 1
Fate: reset to level 1
Illusion: reset to level 1
Dimensional door: level 1.5
Pets: 2
Starguide
Name: Starlight
Abilities: Star Walk, Star Void Magic
Level: Advanced
Dimension Wraith
Name: Jasmine
Abilities: Wraith Walk
Level: Advanced
Familiars: 4
Shadow cat
Name: Amber
Abilities: Shadow Step, Shadow Weave
Level: Adept
Dark Fae
Name: Tasha
Abilities: Shadow Dimension Walk, Void Step
Level: Advanced
Marked Demon
Name: Demon Dust (DD)
Abilities: Shadow Kill, Void Rip
Level: Intermediate
Shadow Doll
Name: Alisha
Abilities: Shape Shifter, Shadow Flame, Shadow Weave
Level: Intermediate
Ongoing Task: Leave the Void. You have not left the void. One day has passed. You have been punished.
TASK TIMER: Two days 23 hours 0 minutes.
She stood up, having lost a mere hour this time, and immediately began moving in the direction her Discernment had indicated.
