Outworld: Awakening

Separation

Flying through the desolate skies, night fell on the flying ship. Unlike before, the ship tore through the skies above a vast jungle. Men, women, and children reclined on their seats which had adjusted to form beds. The lights in the cabin dimmed, and only the silver luminescence of the dual moons partially illuminated the silent cabin.

Adam and Wallace remained seated, with Adam fast asleep.

"It's happening again… I wonder what's wrong with him," Wallace whispered as he stared at Adam's trembling body.

Over the last couple of days, he had noticed that Adam's body trembled whenever he fell asleep. He did not know why, and he did not bother to ask Adam, but it piqued his interest. Although Adam's body trembled, Wallace did not wake him up. Because, the first time he did, Adam instructed him not to worry about it.

"I wonder what happened to Biamal. Dratol… Hopefully, my time there will be better than my stay in the Wazar Expanse," Wallace muttered as he slowly closed his eyes.

Like most of the passengers who were fast asleep and experienced a myriad of dreams, Adam stood in the shallow waters of a familiar space. His gaze lingered on the star-studded skies which stretched as far as the eyes could see. Silence enveloped the space, and Adam could only hear the drops of the water falling from his clothes.

"This dream again? I wonder when it will stop…"

Adam's words trialed off as he scanned his surrounding, and his brows creased when he couldn't find anything.

"Where is he? Did he—"

"Adam. You looking for me? What a disgrace you have become."

A smile crept on Adam's lips as he heard the demonic voice. Lowering his head, his smile brightened as his gaze fell on his reflection in the water. Unlike before, it had turned hazy and black, like a shadow.

"What are you smiling at? A weakling like you? You killed your own parents, yet here you are. Doing nothing about it. How many years did you waste training with that human? Huh? How many? Seven good years, yet you are still trash!"

The animated shadow wiggled as its sinister laughter echoed.

"Come on, Adam. Release me from these binds. I can give you power, real power. Not that nonsense you have learned. Don't you want to avenge your family? Free me, and I'll show you how to access The Omen. Trust me, you haven't scratched the surface of The Omen. Release me, and I will teach you." The demonic voice softened, turning feminine.

"Tell me where I can find Korgrath, and—"

"Release me! Release me!"

Thunderous explosions filled the Adam's ears as ripples formed over the crystal-clear waters. The voice of the being below had turned violent. Adam watched as the lean hazy shadow morphed into a massive aberration with five horns and crimson red eyes.

At that moment, the whites in Adam's eyes turned black, and he met the gaze of the aberration.

"Eventually, I will escape from this confinement. On that day, I will sunder the remnants of your pitiful soul. No. That is too merciful of a worm like you. You will spend the rest of eternity wallowing in ignominy and despair. On this I swear."

"You have grown more desperate, and its only been seven years. What a shame," Adam retorted as he slowly shook his head.

"Adam, do you enjoy living powerless like you are? I can give you power that will make even that Vicar tremble. If you had power, the conductor or the idiot sitting behind, would not dare offend you. Power that would make your feared, awed, envied and respected in the Outworld; I can give you that kind of power. I'm you and you are me, I know your d.e.s.i.r.es and you know mine. I know you want this power, so why deny your d.e.s.i.r.es?"

"I wonder why, who would turn down such a power?" Adam sneered.

"Adam, what do you fear? Do you—? Hey! Where are you going! No matter how many times you run from me, I will always be here. I know you Adam! I know what you d.e.s.i.r.e. I await the day you will seek for me! Hahaha…"

Unperturbed, Adam continued walking on the shallow waters. He did not bother with the words of the aberration. Five seconds later, his vision distorted. A spilled second later, Adam's eyes slowly opened.

"Are you okay? Were you having a bad dream?"

Adam's body shuddered as he heard the familiar voice, and he did not dare to lift his head.

'That was close. What the hell is she doing here?' Adam thought as flowery fragrance filled his nose.

"Are you okay—?"

"Please leave. I need to sleep," Adam interjected.

Without raising his head, Adam stared at Elliana's feet as she walked away. However, barely seconds after she left, two other men followed. Raising his head, Adam stared at the back of the trio.

'Why does she keep trying to hypnotize me?' Adam thought as his eye shifted towards Wallace who reclined on his seat fast asleep. Turning his head towards the window, Adam's eyes widened.

"What the hell is that?" Adam muttered.

An obsidian cylindrical tower, reaching the skies came into view. The flying ship resembled a mosquito as it flew beside the tower. Adam's mouth opened, but words didn't come out. Unbeknownst to him, the whites in his eyes turned black, and his blue irises seemed to glow. Staring at the tower as if he was in a trance, a loud declaration echoed in the cabin.

"We have arrived at The Bloodfall Catacombs. We have arrived at The Bloodfall Catacombs. All passengers stopping at the dungeon, please prepare to disembark."

'So this is a dungeon…'

Adam thought as different passengers rose to their feet while the announcer repeated the same message.

'Huh? Where did all these guys come from? How come I didn't realize there were a lot of strong guys in this cabin? Did they purposely hide their strength?' With no exception, Adam felt a sense of unease each time a passenger went past his seat. Unlike Vicar's clones, they were far stronger.

While Adam watched the passengers, Wallace voice reached him, "Boss, are you okay? What happened to your eyes? Why are they black?"

Without a second delay, Adam covered his eyes while slowly mumbling inaudible words.

"Boss? Are you—?"

"Captain, keep your voice down. Don't worry about it," Adam interjected. Raising his head, the whites in his eyes had returned.

'Did I see wrong? No. Definitely not. His eyes were black for a second… he just keeps getting weirder,' Wallace thought as his brows creased. Although he had further questions, he knew Adam was not the type to give answers.

"I knew you were one of us. I knew you smelled familiar."

Wallace shuddered, and he subconsciously raised his head. Meeting Elliana's gaze, he donned a wide grin while his eyes dimmed.

"Please sleep," Elliana said.

With no resistance, Wallace reclined on his seat, closing his eyes.

"Be careful. You don't want people seeing you with that," Elliana whispered as she pointed at Adam's eyes.

"Unfortunately, I have to go now. I remember your smell, so I'll find you eventually," Elliana added.

Donning a smile, she turn around to leave; at that moment, however, Adam's voice reached her, "Who are you?"

For the first time, their eyes met. Elliana mouthed inaudible words at Adam, before leaving.

A few seconds later, the doors of the cabin opened; however, the sleeping passengers did not feel any howling winds from the opened doors.

Adam and some passengers awake, watched as Elliana and the others jumped from the flying ship, free falling towards an extended platform on the side of the dungeon.

A few seconds later, the doors shut again, and the announcer's voice followed, "Our next major stop is Dratol. We are expected to arrive in a month. Passengers heading to Siena, Warren..."

Adam did not pay attention to the announcer. His brows were furrowed and his face distorted into a scowl.

'What did she mean by that?' Adam thought as he pondered on what Elliana meant by her inaudible, mouthed words.

Deep in thought, Wallace's snore broke his concentration. Wasting no time, Adam slapped him on the cheeks.

"Huh? Who? What? Where?"

Dazed, Wallace's eyes scanned his surrounding while his hand rubbed his cheek.

"What happened? why does my face feel so sore?"

"A mosquito bit you. Don't disturb me," Adam said.

"Mosquito? What's that? Damn it. I was having such a nice dream, too. If I lay my hands on that mosquito, he would wish he had never been born," Wallace said.

Saying nothing further, he returned to sleep.

One month later.

Dratol, Outworld.

After two months of flying through vast deserts, seas and jungles, the flying ark hovered besides a magnificent, glistering edifice which towered hundreds of feet above the ground.

On an extended platform beside the hovering ark, the passengers slowly disembarked. Among them, Adam and Wallace could be seen. Unlike the others, their mouths dropped as their eyes scanned the dreamlike view below.

"So beautiful," Wallace muttered. Adam fully agreed with him. They saw towering peaks coated with snowy caps, and a vibrant greenery below.

Rivers spanned the length of the land like wiggling snakes, crisscrossing and branching out as far as the eyes could see. From where they stood, hundreds of high rising buildings came into view, glistening under the radiance of the sun. However, it all paled in comparison to the massive golden tower at the center of Dratol.

"My word, although I have seen it a thousand times, The Labyrinth of the Nameless, is truly a wonder."

Unlike Adam and Wallace who were ignorant, the other passengers only stated at the golden tower in passing.

"Boss, thank you for bringing me here. I don't think I would have ever had the opportunity to see such a magnificent sight," Wallace said, and he meant every word.

"Yeah... you're welcome," Adam said. Like Wallace, he had yet to recover from the shock of seeing something to beautiful.

Thirty minutes later, Adam and Wallace, along with the other passengers climbed down a series of stairs. With the towering edifice an flying ship port, hundreds of people crowded the building.

Having made their way to the lower floor of the tower, via an elevator-like construct. Adam and Wallace, as well as the other passengers, had to complete the final phase manually.

"Captain, do you understand what I'm saying?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. But, boss. This is a very big country. How am I supposed to find that Erik Gilmore? Don't you have any other clue? By the way, hundreds or thousands of people could be bearing that name," Wallace said.

"Use the clue I mentioned earlier. You will definitely find him. Here take this," Adam said as he placed a sack on Wallace's hand.

One could hear bouncing coins as it dropped on Wallace's palm.

"Boss, I couldn't—"

"Take it. You need the money more than I do. Remember, don't spend it all in one place. Come find me in Varidan Academy if you have news. I don't know if I'll be able to get more coins anytime soon, so find a job to support yourself once it runs out," Adam said.

"Oh. If you abscond with the money. There is really nothing I can do about it. However, if we should ever meet again... Well, let's just say it won't be pretty. Take care of yourself, Captain Wallace. Hopefully, we'll see each other soon," Adam added as he tapped Wallace on his shoulders.

Saying nothing further, Adam continued down the stairs. Meanwhile, Wallace held the sack tightly. Different thoughts went through his mind as he watched Adam's figure disappear into the sea of people. A few minutes later, he, too continued on his journey. He had made his decision.

Unbeknownst to the duo, a familiar figure observed their movements from a hidden corner.

"Dominic, should we chase after the two of them?" A young man asked.

"Don't bother with the fat one. Go after the one with the white hair. We are in our own turf now. Let's see who will save that bastard."