Chapter 4 – Alchemical Arcane Elemental Sigil
[Arc 1— No Light Left For Us]
….
[Rejoice…]
Raven awoke.
Cold water slammed against his face, soaking him to the bones. He startled, scrambling to his feet, but his muscles felt like lead. A deep, hollow fatigue settled into his marrow, making every movement a chore.
It was as if whatever strength he once carried had been siphoned away while he slept.
'...fuckery,' he muttered.
Waking up in the middle of a shallow, dark ocean was hell of a way to start a day.
Still, he took a quick inventory; arms and legs were still attached. That was a shred of positivity he could work with.
Now, where was he?
Knee-deep water stretched in every direction— a vast, silent mirror that reflected nothing. There was no shoreline, no land in sight, no stars in the sky. Just a thick, suffocating darkness that had become too familiar lately.
A cerulean panel appeared before him, similar to moon's panel but less threatening and with no daunting voice.
[Mortal, your sequence awakens]
[Prepare for ascent]
Raven was utterly confused. 'What does that mean?'
After receiving no reply, he began walking, searching around.
There was no direction to choose, so he chose one at random. But then, he stopped. He heard something— a sound. Whispers.
Raven's head snapped around.
Nothing. The horizon was empty, a void of black and glass.
So, what exactly was he hearing?
The whispers lingered, the water around his knees growing colder.
Then the whispers went dead.
Silence.
He didn't know how he knew, but he could feel that the presence was gone.
He stood there, shivering and shaken. He wasn't exactly used to being mocked by the void, but right now, his ego was the least of his worries.
"Find an exit," he muttered to himself. "Just find an exit."
Explanations could wait
Moments after wandering to no end, he finally spotted something— something promising. At a distance, a dim glow stirred, rising from the depth of the shallow.
[Prepare for ascent]
[Sequence initiating…]
Raven didn't hesitate. He broke into a splashy run, rushing toward the light as if it were a lifeline. The instant his fingers brushed against the glow, it detonated, blinding him in a sharp, absolute radiance.
When his sight returned, he stood in a world of light.
[Initiating sequence….]
'I guess I'm world-hopping, these days," he muttered dryly. "That will look good on a resume."
At this point, he believed anything was fair game. Surprises only worked when you didn't expect it, and he was currently expecting a fuck ton of shenanigans.
He exhaled.
"Alright, what now?"
As if answering his thoughts, interchanging magical sigils began to flutter into his field of vision. Their geometry defied symmetry yet felt deliberate. Foreign scripts spiraled along their edges, luminous and fluid.
He had never seen them before.
And yet—
The longer he looked, the more they made sense. Not intellectually. Instinctively. As if it had always been a part of him, vital and unnoticed as the air in his lungs.
Raven gleamed into the first script, and the sigil hummed in strange vibrating excitement.
[Name: Raven]
[Initiating sequence…]
[Prepare for ascent]
Suddenly, a faceless silhouette carved of pure light walked past him. It stopped,pivoted on a dime, and began marching toward him with terrifying absolute purpose.
"Listen. And listen carefully."
Fear gripped Raven's heart as he took a step back, but the silhouette's march could not be avoided.
The sigil stirred once more, revealing more scripts.
The silhouettes' hand shot forward, plunging straight through his chest. Yet he felt no pain. It passed through his ribs like a ghost through a wall— but the violation made his soul shiver. The figure pulled its hand back, gripping something invisible, something made out of "nothing", and began to study it with eerie focus.
Then, the sigil turned again.
The silhouette, wholly focused on the unseeable object in its hands, whispered to the empty air.
"Originating from the depths of the mysterious ether, Arcane Sigils are tokens of the Anima Covenant forged beneath the Alchemical Star. Covenant bearers must partake in this ancient binding and receive their rightful boon. But beware… it is unknown what lies on the other side—"
The silhouette vanished abruptly amidst its narration, leaving Raven standing in a state of immense confusion.
But then, he felt his limbs beginning to fray.
His body was dissolving into the very light that surrounded him.
'Wait—' he gasped. 'The sigils!'
He squinted.
[Sequence initiated]
[Marvellous awakening, mortal]
[...And so it begins]
....
[Name: Raven]
[Race: Human(Hemiling)]
[Rank: [Mortal: Calling], [Class II—Acolyte] ]
[Sequence: [Alchemical Arcane Sigil], [Seventh Sense] ]
[Alchemical Arcane Sigil: [Immoral Garden of the Wild] ]
[Vestiges: [Starless]---]
....
The dissolution hit his eyes, consuming him whole. He managed to read one last script before submitting to the light.
…..
'I'm back.'
In a world of a bleeding moon and a silver horizon, a young boy's eyes flickered open with a violent start.
The moon seemed to welcome him back, shining brighter than ever.
They say if you miss it, it is probably home.
'Seeing the red moon brings me warmth. Oh, how I have missed light of any kind!'
For a brief second, warmth flickered in his chest, but that vanished, replaced by annoyance.
Yeah. Maybe not home. But it was the next best thing, right?
'At this point, I'm not even—'
Raven's words cut to a dead stop. Something was wrong.
He remembered the events that led to his collapse and arrival at the shallows. He had been preyed by a foreboding sense of doom. One he couldn't pinpoint. Then, his mind twisted and fell… like the others.
…the others!
He had forgotten about them!
Raven was about to pan, but his movement was checked by a sound.
It was a crunching noise. No—a symphony of crunches echoing from every direction at once. It was a wet, rhythmic sound, laced with a sickening mushiness, like a heavy jaw grinding through a bar of chocolate with patient enjoyment.
Raven froze, his blood turned to ice.
He felt it instantly; he was sinking, deeper and deeper into the ground as if it had become quicksand.
'The ground! The ground is a monster!' Raven realized.
He could sense it.
Somehow, the image beyond shot into his mind. A horrifying visage creeping into his brain; he saw the horror for what it was, and he instantly wished he hadn't.
Just meters beneath his feet were rows of jagged teeth slowly enclosing him. Mudstained teeth that seemed as sharp as the sharpest and burdened with only one desire—to consume and rupture into its prey. It was the perfect trap and the perfect monster.
Suddenly, a wet substance lashed against his teeth, slowly caressing upwards like a gentle mother. Yet, not an ounce of ease appeared in Raven's eyes.
No, what appeared was fear… unadulterated terror!
It was a tongue. The monster was tasting him, surely savoring the salt on his skin before the eventual bite.
Raven gritted his teeth. 'I have to do something.'
A sudden thought lightened in his mind. It was a bit hopeful, but light in the dark was always valuable.
Raven took a deep breath as he glanced at the rest of his group, still asleep amidst all the madness, unaware that they were slowly being consumed alive by monsters. Perhaps that, in itself, was a blessing. Maybe it was better to die dreaming.
But Raven wasn't ready to be a snack.
He reached into the ground and crunched a ball of dirt. Then, with a mighty swing, he hurled it at his group, repeating the same act for every one of them