《Chaos》


 Prologue: A beginning that is an end, and an end that is a beginning

    "A time before time is also during and after time. Without time, everything has happened, is happening, and will happen. Without time, all things take up an instant, and yet an eternity."


    A voice from the void


    ~~~


    It looked at its creation with satisfaction. One day, It would become known as the Primordial Chaos by those It had created. As It pondered this idea, It reveled in the beauty of Its creation. One day, It would. A "future." Had created. A "past." It had given some order to the cluttered thing that had been Its existence. And It had only taken a moment, and yet an eternity. It could not wait to see how Its creation grew, and yet It basked in the experience that was waiting. Having properly organized the events to come into a timeline, It was no longer forced to suffer the mind-numbing boredom that was omniscience. How wonderful.Howinteresting.


    Howfun.


    ~~~


    "I do not remember who I was.


    I do not know, do not wish to know, what I was.


    I cannot recall how I died.


    I have no thought of how I lived.


    I cannot ache for what I loved.


    I know only the wretched creature before you.


    So why would you believe that I deserve to know?


    I am a being born from lament.


    A being whose misery was from existence.


    A being whose life was from suffering


    Suffering from the pain of being completely.


    And utterly.


    Alone.


    So why do you believe that I should be rid of this solitude?


    I have not known warmth nor compassion.


    Nor fury nor sorrow nor joy nor regret.


    Emotions were a foreign concept, humanity a simple myth.


    For myself I felt only emptiness, and for life, apathy.


    The hell of agony to end my solitude.


    Yet I needed to be cured of life, the state of being alive, the action of liveliness.


    So why do you insist that I suffer through it again?


    I have preyed upon the lives of hundreds of thousands.


    Ripped souls from bodies and annihilated the bodies of souls.


    My very presence is enough for the sky to bleed black and lament in a downpour of tears.


    My existence makes blood run cold and instills the air with despair.


    I feel no remorse, I feel no pleasure, I feel nothing at all.


    I am a monster without, a demon within, and purgatory given form.


    So how can you possibly say that there is humanity within me?


    I took you from your home, I took you from your friends.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.I took you as a captive, and again and again, reminded you;


    It is hopeless to hope. It is useless to believe.


    I took the people who were your hope and ended them before you.


    So why, at the end, do you still reach for me like you care?


    I feel my wings burn, but there is no pain.


    Ashes we were and ashes we will become, just dust in the wind.


    I do not know why but I reach for you, in vain.


    Because I turned my gaze to yours, expecting jubilation.


    And instead there are tears, glittering bright.


    I was the monster that stood for all you hatreds, all you denied.


    So why, as I was fading, did you still accept me?


    You showed me the weakness in my strength.


    You showed me the fall within my flight.


    You showed me how I was broken behind my mithril walls.


    You showed me the blindness in my omniscient eyes.


    You showed me the heart I never had, buried and beating in yours.


    You showed me your brightest light in my darkest time.


    The light that I always wanted.


    The light that ever eluded my eyes.


    The light that escaped between my fingers.


    For I never realized


    That in my unnoticed quest


    All I had to do was open my eyes.


    And now they will close forever, and I will never see that light again.


    Do not cry for me. Do not mourn for me.


    I do not deserve the small piece of your heart you have given me.


    But then again, you have always done what I least expected, what I never saw.


    As I turn into ash and ash into dust, my memories of you will fade.


    Because beautiful things always fade."


    Unknown


    ~~~


    A war to end the world. Ashes of slain deities fell from a crimson sky. Ten golden suns blazed over fields of death, where mortal and immortal alike fought and died.


    A titan with a scythe cut through time itself as he met three foes on the field of battle: one wielding the power of thunder and lightning, another with a trident that shook the earth and called the seas, and the third with a helm that inspired terror in the hearts of his enemies, wielding twin daggers and commanding armies of the dead as he flickered in and out of view.


    A god wielding a fearsome hammer called on the power of storms as he struggled to the death with a gigantic serpent.


    A flaming god shrouded by hieroglyphics was consumed by another tremendous snake, one who seemed to warp the laws of the world around it.


    A one-eyed god was devoured by a titanic wolf, who in turn was stabbed in the heart by a second god.


    An immortal man with the wings of a bird struck down another bearing those of a bat.


    A mortal hero wielding a legendary bow shot down nine golden, three legged crows, suffering terrible burns in the process, only to be burned to ashes by a tenth. As each crow fell, its golden figure dimmed and vanished, followed by the disappearance of a sun from the sky.


    As the war raged on, fissures appeared in the fabric of reality itself. Oceans of blood spilled on mountains of corpses, and beings of all shapes and sizes lost their lives.


    The sound of something snapping was heard.


    And suddenly, all was darkness.

 Chapter 1: Awakening

    "Regardless of size or structure, every dungeon has its source of power, be it a mana crystal, a magical artifact, or even a living being. The size and danger level of a dungeon is in direct correlation with the power of the artifact. Without its power source, the dungeon would collapse."


    Dungeon Depths, by Sagius Sergen


    ~~~


    It was dark.


    When the boy opened his eyes, he could see nothing but darkness.


    He did not know who he was. He did no know how he had come to awaken in this dark place. A slight nagging feeling told him there was something profoundlywrong, but he did not know what it could be. Or rather, there were too many things it could be. The darkness around him? His lack of memories? The absolute stillness of the cavern? The strange chill that came with being underground, surrounded by stone?


    For now, he used a familiar trick of the mind to lock that feeling away, neatly sealed as if it had never been there. Perhaps this was also why he was missing his memories? It seemed likely, but he did not know for sure. For now....


    What he did know was that he wanted to get out of this cave.


    Standing, he stumbled forward, hands waving in front of him, until he made contact with a wall. He hesitated, glancing to both sides despite the pointlessness of the action. After a moment, he took a deep breath and turned to his right, holding his hand against the wall as he made his way forward, stumbling every now and then and keeping his eyes wide open, searching the darkness ahead for any hint of light. He carried on in this manner for what felt like an eternity, occasionally falling over, and sometimes rushing forward at some imagined spot of brightness. His scraped limbs throbbed, and his feet were raw from walking on the unforgiving stone floor. His mouth began to dry and his stomach complained loudly of its emptiness. The rough clothing that covered his body did little to keep out the cold of the empty caverns. Eventually, his wide eyes began to close and he looked more downwards than ahead.


    As time passed, he felt he could almost see the outline of the ground. He froze. Not just almost, he could actually see the floor! Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his head and looked forward. He could see light! The boy jumped and gave a whoop of joy, no longer caring about the abrasions on his arms and legs or the soreness of his feet. He sprinted forward, as if the light might disappear at any moment, racing towards the patch of sunshine with his heart racing.


    After rushing out of the cave, he was instantly blinded by the sudden radiance of his surroundings. He shut his eyes tight and covered them with his hands, squatting down as if physically struck by the dazzling glow of thesky overhead. After a moment, he slowly removed his hands, hesitantly opening his eyes by a tiny slit, squinting at his surroundings as he adjusted to actually being able to see.


    He was in a grassy clearing, surrounded by trees, with the sound of running water pervading the air. The earth was soft beneath his sore feet, and the layer of grass minimized his suffering. Turning, he caught a glimpse of the cave he had run out from before the ground rumbled and it collapsed.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    He gulped, his throat bobbing as he stared wide-eyed at the spot he had rushed out of only moments before. After a moment, his stomach grumbled loudly once more, and he was reminded of his hunger and his thirst. Following the sound of running water, he left the clearing and walked through the trees. As he progressed, hehalted when he heard a bellowing roar in the distance, staring in the direction the sound had come from. His stomach growled. After another moment of hesitation, he continued forward.


    After several interruptions by various roars, screeches, and crashing noises, the boy no longer stopped upon hearing them. As he proceeded towards the sound of water, he pondered the matter of his memories. He was able to think clearly, and definitely remembered a language, or rather, various languages. He knew the definitions of various words, and he retained knowledge of facts such as fire being hot and even some basics of magic and hand to hand combat, but he had no clue how he had come to learn these things. After some thinking, he decided that his situation could be described as having retained most of his "knowledge," but having somehow lost the memory of the experiences from which this knowledge stemmed.


    He arrived at his destination, discovering that the sound had been a rather shallow, clear stream. Kneeling down, he cupped his hands and cautiously brought a mouthful of water to his face. Upon discovering that it tasted clean, all restraint disappeared and he dunked his head into the stream, coming up only for mouthfuls of air.


    After drinking his fill, he stood began to walk along the stream, following his knowledge that where there was water there would likely be food. Soon, he came upon a relatively still section, almost a pond, which preceded a series of rapids where the stream joined with a river. Peering at the reflection, the boy found his appearance to be familiar and yet foreign. He was wearing a rough tunic that was essentially a sack with holes for his arms and head. His hair was almost shoulder length everywhere except for the front, where it was long enough so that in its dry, naturally tousled state it wouldn''t get in his way, but since it was soaked it seemed determined to get in his eyes. He tilted his head.


    After a moment, he picked a strand of long green grass that was growing by pond and used its stem to tie the longer part of his hair into a short ponytail. Examining his reflection once more, he nodded, satisfied. His appearance was rather androgynous as it was- he had rather fair skin and a defined jawline, with high cheekbones- and he felt that in general a man with long hair would wear it in a ponytail. In fact, from his knowledge the only people who did not tie their hair were noble ladies, and he most certainly did not want to deal with- he tilted his head. Strange. Why is there no sign of civilization? True, he had not travelled very far yet, but the land in this area was clearly rich and fertile, and yet he had seen some plants that never existed anywhere near human settlements. For example, celi grass would die the instant a human touched it; it would be fine to contact the fur of animals, but was unable to tolerate something about the oil in human''s bare skin, which led to its value as a medical herb; demand for it was on the same level as a normal cabbage, but supply was so low that a single stalk would costthe average commoner''s life savings. And yet, even from the spot where he stood now he could see multiple clumps of it, flourishing in this environment.


    As he contemplated potential reasons for the lack of settlements in this place, a thumping sound was heard. Dismissing his thoughts, he turned in the direction of the noise, crouching down quietly. The thumping continued. Soon, a creature thrice his height, with furry, striped legs as thick as his torso, claws longer than his fingers, a pair of huge, towering horns that formed a U shape, and fangs the size of his forearms, dripping with the blood of a fresh kill, appeared on the riverbank, bending its head down for a drink.


    The boy crouched even lower, tightly grasping a nearby rock.


    His stomach growled, and he grinned.Food.

 Hiatus (though weve been like this for months already) and explanation

    Sorry it''s been ages. I feel like I should give some sort of update so basically.... I really want to push all the blame on college apps, but it''s also because of my own lack of motivation. Frankly everything I''ve written ever should''ve been a rough draft, but I''ve been posting incomplete and unpolished writing that just isn''t up to par. I do think I''ll eventually get back to writing this story after my college apps are done, but even at that point I think I should only start posting after I have a complete and decently polished story to post. In other words, don''t expect me back for at least a long time if not forever, but if and when I do return it should be with an already finished story so regular updates can be expected then. Again, sorry for this. I should have waited to form some proper resolve before beginning a story. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.