《Ishbula-na' (I've joined the family of the lord of the 7th ring of the Abyss, help!)》


 Prologue: Ishbula-na

    ¡°Ishbula-na, sir, this is my friend, Jake¡±


    The lone eye surrounded in darkness blinked once before a guttural sound surrounded everything in the vicinity. Both people could feel chills traveling through their spines, while Jake, in particular, stood tallas if a rod had been inserted in his-


    ¡°¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±


    Mike gulped once the non-existent saliva within his dry mouth, while at the same time he stuttered once to answer, while Jake felt his head spin at the strange sounds he¡¯d just heard.


    ¡°Yes! he is staying overnight at my place; he¡¯s got an exam early in the morning tomorrow, and well, his University is closer to my place, while he lives two hours away¡±


    He looked content and proud of being such a great friend, while the eye blinked a second time, Jake thought for sure the room had trembled when this happened.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±


    Mike placed both index fingers against one another while muttering out almost inaudibly to answer, ¡°Well, we were having a few drinks and he wanted to use the restroom so I told him to take a left, and well, it was my left¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Mike hunched over a bit, almost as if trying to put himself in a fetal position while standing, while Jake¡¯s spine was about to snap in half because of how straight he stood. Mike tried his best to avoid eye contact, feeling truly embarrassed at that moment.


    Jake looked back and forth between the two of them,beforeleaning over to whisper into his friend¡¯s ear, ¡°good news, I don¡¯t need to use the restroom anymore¡±.


    ¡°¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±


    Mike looked up as fast as his body allowed him, then at Jake and back atIshbula-na, before exclaiming an ¡°are you sure about that?¡±, immediately followed by ¡°of course you are sure, you are the overlord of the seventh ring, it''s a given you wouldn¡¯t be second guessing yourself¡±.


    He looked at Jake, and Jake looked back with a questioning gaze that begged for an answer or explanation. Mike smiled and showed both rows of teeth to answer his lifelong friend, who gulped hard as that was a pair of rows he''d seen everytime they were about to do something incredibly stupid in the past.


    ¡°Congratulations Jake, from today onwards, you fight for sire Ishbula-na¡±


    ¡°What.¡±

 Chapter 2: Sorry for killing you more than once

    The world began to quake, startling Jake out of his socks. He could feel the void becoming darker by the millisecond; soon he realized it was all starting to coalesce towards himself. Soon the void began to condense into pitch black smoke, and seeing it coming at him quickly, he jumped back to try and escape away. In a split second he turned around to run the other way, but just as quickly he stopped dead in his tracks as more smoke was coming from that side.


    He began to laugh hysterically, before feeling all strength gone from his body, he dropped down to his knees and could feel his teeth clattering together because of fear.


    The smoke collided with his body and circled around him at ever faster speeds until his body could be seen no more. The black smoke soon entered every orifice of his body, and quickly disappeared, a fading dream that never was. Jake began to scream in pain, he could feel his brain being pressured hardly against his own skull. He grabbed at his own hair and pulled hard, just short of ripping his scalp away.


    Mike walked closer and began to pat his screaming friend on the back, like a friend helping a vomiting drunk pal. Except instead of vomit it was Jake¡¯s sense of self and sanity. He continued to pat his friend¡¯s back, but his view turned towards Ishbula-na¡¯, his eyes filled with worry and concern.


    ¡°Sire, are you sure he¡¯ll be fine? You¡¯ve grown stronger since the days of my ancestors¡±.


    The floating eye blinked, before smoke began to exit Jake¡¯s body, who began to shake uncontrollably on the floor, foam exiting from his mouth, his eyes rolled back and his back slowly arching forward.


    The same guttural voice from before could be heard, this time clearly to the point the convulsing Jake could make out the words, albeit on an off from the sound of his own bodily fluids being flopped around as he jumped around like a fish out of the water.


    ¡°You are right, I might have overdone it a bit¡±, Ishbula-na¡¯ said, the eye staring intently at the flopping Jake. Mike tried to hold down his friend, in an effort to stop him from biting his own tongue off. He could feel a vein popping on his head, and he snapped out a ¡°you reckon, sir!¡±.


    A very guttural gulp could be heard, and a few seconds later a purple gem the size of a tennis ball fell from the sky, next to Jake and Mike¡¯s position. Mike took a hold of it as soon as his eyes lay upon it, and he placed it on Jake¡¯s chest area. He pushed hard enough blood seeped out, and he began to speak in a strange tongue, producing the words ¡°Vasa¨ˆ¨ˆsl As¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±.


    The gem lit up in a purple light, that quickly wrapped around Jake¡¯s body. His convulsing body stopped flopping around, and his back relaxed. His eyes rolled back to where they were supposed to be, and after coughing loudly once to push away every last bit of foam in his throat, Jake sat upright quick as a bullet.


    He looked at his friend, tears beginning to form on the corner of his eyes. He seemed close to a full-fledged breakdown, but instead, he hugged his savior very strongly.


    ¡°Thank fuck you did that Mike, I was scared as shit mate, god damn it¡±


    Mike laughed strongly once, and he patted his friend¡¯s back again, as he was being asphyxiated because of how strongly he was being held. ¡°if you are swearing this much you¡¯re fixed but scared, you¡¯ll be fine now Jake¡±.


    Jake let go, and he turned around to face the floating behemoth of an eye, and he exclaimed in a fit of anger towards him, ¡°What was all that about Ishbula!¡±


    The floating eye looked away from Jake, and a small guttural whistle could be heard coming from everywhere in the room. it looked back


    ¡°Where the na¡¯? Ah, forget it, I¡¯ll forgive you since we are now family. Jake something something, from now on you are hereby called, Jake Grim¡±.


    Jake could feel a vein popping, but instead, his eye just twitched and he exclaimed through gnashed teeth, ¡°Family, you say! you almost killed me just now!¡±


    Small guttural laughter could be heard from everywhere, and Ishbula-na¡¯ said with a cheerful voice, ¡°Don¡¯t sweat the small stuff son¡±. Jake heard this and he truly wanted to rip his hair out. Mike gave him a pat on the shoulder, before addressing Ishbula-na¡¯ without the same respect he showed at the beginning.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take Jake outside, you guys can speak again once he calms down. I¡¯ll explain everything to him, you can watch the fort Ishbula, alright?¡±


    The eye blinked once before black smoke took the shape of a vortex. Mike dragged Jake through it, and once outside they were back at Mike¡¯s apartment, inside Mike¡¯s bedroom.


    Single bed with red sheets, a white drawer to one side and a window to the street on the other, a brown closet opposite of all these things. Jake sat on the bed, a massive frown on his face. He felt like he¡¯d just been fed horseshit for dinner, and quite so, as that smoke didn¡¯t particularly taste like chocolate pudding.


    Mike scratched the back of his ear with a smile on his face and sat down on the floor in front of Jake. He knew his friend tended to get pissy sometimes, and at such moments he¡¯d completely lose control of his TPO filter.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright brother, you are fine now right? Cut Ishbul some slack, he hasn¡¯t added anyone to his family in close to five centuries, since my first ancestor¡±


    Jake sighed like a deflated balloon, before dropping back onto the bed. His frown relaxed, and soon enough he was back to his usual laid-back self.


    ¡°Alright, but you need to promise you¡¯ll answer every question I pester you with alright? no more secrets. I¡¯m still a bit pissed you¡¯ve kept this from me for the past 20 years we¡¯ve known each other for¡±


    Mike stood up and sat on his desk, a big smile on his face. ¡°Sure thing, fire at will pal,¡± he said.


    Jake raise a single finger, a very particular one, to begin with. ¡°Alright, first question. How in the crap do you have a portal to, if I remember correctly, the seventh ring of something something on the room opposite the bathroom?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Mike pursed his lips while evading Jake¡¯s gaze. He seemed to be struggling, but finally leaned back, his spine against the wall behind the desk.


    ¡°Well, Ishbul has been working on a project lately, and he needed my help with the logistics of his operation. Opening and closing the portal takes too damn long, so I just kept it open these past few weeks¡±


    Jake could feel a vein popping on his forehead. He counted to ten before asking a follow-up question.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll ask you about that project later on. What does it mean that I now have another surname? It¡¯s a bit disgusting to have a floating eye of doom as a stepfather¡±, he said, immediately pointing with his index finger while following with, ¡°as cool as that may or may not sound¡±.


    Mike stretched his arms lazily and yawned, he could see the question coming a mile away.


    ¡°Ah, not much, honestly. You will be able to make a portal to enter Ishbul¡¯s home at the abyss, use the type of gems I used to patch your sorry ass and you¡¯ll be partially immortal, just that¡±


    Jake¡¯s eye twitched, he really wanted to punch his friend at that moment.


    ¡°Okay, I figured the first two on my own but ¡®partially immortal¡¯?¡±


    Mike sat straight and looked at his friend in the eyes.


    ¡°Well, not immortal per se; you can still die it¡¯s just, uh, think of having a cat¡¯s nine lives but for real. You can die, hell you probably died three or four times back there. Your soul was strengthened by Ishbul¡¯s smoke and that¡¯s why you¡¯ve got more lives now. Also, that¡¯s part of the reason you died a few times, as he kind of overcharged your soul with power¡±


    Jake blinked twice, deciding to ignore the calm yet terrifying revelation he¡¯d just been given. He played with his septum using his fingers, before continuing.


    ¡°Alright, so how many times can I die? Can I like throw myself onto the train tracks and walk away fine?¡±


    Mike stood up and patted Jake on the shoulder, he looked a bit worried and began examining Jake¡¯s head for a concussion. Jake slapped his hand away and Mike sat back down.


    ¡°Are you suicidal? why would you throw yourself there? Anyways, It¡¯s more like a strange play on fate; whenever you are about to die Ishbul will freeze time, reverse it and try to stop your death from the abyss¡¯ plane of existence¡±


    Mike blinked once with strength, and his eyes took a strange blue hue to them. He looked over Jake¡¯s body, moving his head to get a better of him from time to time.


    ¡°Your soul can take maybe 50 more time reversals for now. Of course, sometimes Ishbul is going to need to go back a lot further back, to the point where you could consume 10 of your lives in one go, So please don¡¯t go and do stupid shit like throwing yourself on the rails or something¡±


    Jake rolled his eyes, and at the same time he opened his mouth to ask another question, Mike interrupted him.


    ¡°One more thing, you can strengthen your soul by fighting in the abyss. I know you like to play these shitty RPGs from time to time, so you can think of it as you leveling up. you¡¯ll be able to use stuff like what I used to heal you in no time¡±


    Mike nodded, an excited smile beginning to form on his face.


    ¡°Shit, sweet. So can I like, throw fireballs and shit?¡± He said, as he played with both hands and made strange sounds with his mouth.


    ¡°Uh, sure bud. Weirdo¡±


    Mike coughed to grab Jake¡¯s attention, before producing the purple gem he used earlier.


    ¡°This is a force stone, you can use it as a catalyst to cast shit and what not. if you don¡¯t have one you can still cast stuff, but you¡¯ll use part of your soul in exchange. Also, you could probably make out a single word or so from when I healed you, don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll understand more as your soul grows¡±


    Raising his chest like a weirdly shaped cockatoo, Jake harrumphed and interrupted Mike, ¡°I¡¯m only missing a few words, I¡¯ll be able to in no time¡±.


    Mike rolled his eyes while saying ¡°Sure thing bud,¡± under his breath. Jake glared at him, who ignored this and continued speaking.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, ¡°Where was I? Oh yeah, the Force stones¡±.


    He leaned forward and opened the drawer, revealing it to be filled with gems of many colors: red, green, purple, yellow and a few black, with a single white on stashed at the back of the drawer. ¡°These are the force stones. It doesn¡¯t matter what color they are, uh, I think. Anyways, pick one, so you don¡¯t go and kill yourself in about 30 seconds¡±


    Jake looked at him with a strange face, while grabbing ahold of the single white gem sitting lonely at the back of the drawer. Mike stole it right from his hand, and Jake exclaimed and was taken aback. ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s just a pretty rock I found on the beach¡±, he said.


    Deciding to ignore his friend¡¯s antics, he chose one of the black gems in the drawer; neither the smallest nor the biggest, the perfectly average sized one.


    ¡°God, what a nerd you are mate. Have you seen too many shows, you massive edgelord?¡±


    Jake blushed a little, he did choose it because of that, but he wouldn¡¯t readily agree to what was just said. ¡°Just get on with it, fuckface!¡±, he screamed.


    ¡°Alright alright, chill. Now, this is something super simple, I¡¯ll teach you how to look at someone else¡¯s soul so you can tell how much power they have. Their power level, if you will¡±


    With a single roll of the eyes and a nod from Jake, Mike raised the gem and placed it on his chest, with Jake copying this action. ¡°Alright¡±, he said, ¡°now you don¡¯t need to say this out loud, just think of these words in your mind.¡±


    Mike gulped, both ears perched up. ¡°Oogity boogity I¡¯m just fucking with you¡±, And right before Jake exploded then and there, he continued. ¡°Alright, now seriously relax. Just think of the words ¡®Varisa Alma¡±, he said, as his eyes took on the same blue hue as they¡¯d taken before.


    Jake closed his eyes and repeated the words in his mind. When he opened them, he looked at Mike, who now had a strange orange halo surrounding his body. When he focused more, he could make out white lines perpendicular to his body, too many to count, really small, as well.


    ¡°What do you see?¡± Mike asked.


    ¡°You have an orange outline with strange white marks, what does that mean?¡±


    Mike chuckled before touching his index finger to the side of his temple. ¡°You are making this way too hard on yourself. Those white lines are the power of my soul, you can have it represented as you want, be it numbers or letter or whatever you choose. It¡¯s taken this strange shape because you are making it be this complex, just go back to one of those games you enjoy playing, maybe imagine a number on my chest or something dumb like that¡±


    Jake groaned, before closing his eyes once more. He opened them and took a look at Mike. The orange outline was still there, but the white streaks were gone, a number sitting above his head, a weirdly shaped 605.


    ¡°Alright, you have a number above your head, a 605. what does it mean?¡±


    With a smile as half an answer, Mike explained. ¡°That, my friend, means I¡¯m fairly strong. How much I¡¯ll let you find out tomorrow when you look at yourself in the mirror to compare¡±


    Jake stood up, moving towards the door. ¡°Alright, jackass. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, I still have to take my exam, hopefully, I don¡¯t completely shit the bed¡±. Mike stood up and patted Jake in the shoulder. ¡°Good luck tomorrow, I¡¯ll take you hunting in the abyss so you can play around a bit, you damn pyro¡±


    ¡°Fuck you¡±, he said, as he exited the room and went to his own, falling asleep like a log as soon as he touched the bed.

 Chapter 3: Vermilion

    After walking through the portal, Jake leaned over and gagged. Crossing dimensions had a strange nauseating effect to it, or so Mike had told him a few minutes ago; He¡¯d get used to it eventually.


    They were standing on a floating platform made of rock inside a dark starless void, instead of the closed space where Ishbula-na¡¯ resided.


    ¡°This is just outside the seventh ring, these platforms we are standing on form a path connecting the different rings in the abyss¡±


    Mike walked towards the edge of the platform while signaling for Jake to follow him with his hand. They leaned over and looked below, and a desert-like environment could be seen. Strange reddish black scaled life forms could be seen roaming here and there, each one about the size of a regular SUV.


    ¡°Those are Vermilion, they are a plague down there, chomping on everything around them and destroying complete ecosystems. Alright, use your eyes to look at them¡±


    Jake closed his eyes and once they opened, they¡¯d taken an orange hue to them. He looked down below at the different Vermilions that roamed around, they had varying degrees of numbers ranging from 40 to 150. He looked over to the horizon, and because of the orange border to the bodies, he could spot a few Vermilion he¡¯d missed before.


    He chose one of the Vermilion with a 56 above his head and pointed towards him. ¡°Do you think that one will be fine to fight against?¡±


    Mike scratched his chin, before jumping down from the platform, followed by Jake. Silently casting a skill dubbed feather fall by Jake, they both glided down in a controlled speed until they touched the ground.


    They were both wearing light training clothes, a pair of shorts and a tee, while Jake wore a backpack in addition. They walked side by side until they were 20 meters behind the Vermilion, where Mike stopped and Jake continued to walk.


    Raising his fist that held onto the black gem he blinked once, and once his eyes opened a red hue had appeared. He moved his lips without saying a word out loud, and three fireballs the size of a tennis ball each formed, surrounding his fist. They all shot towards the Vermilion, two of them missing to the left of the Vermilion and the last one exploding on its back, lunging it away and crashing against the sand, drifting a few meters after.


    The gem on Jake¡¯s hand had a few fractures show up on its surface, but he held it tight and began to move his lips again, ready to shoot again. The Vermilion shook his head from side to side to get rid of the dizziness, then turned around to face its attacker.


    The fireballs flew through the air, but the Vermilion jumped from one side to the other, dodging with ease the attack. Jake grunted, then slammed the fractured gem against the desert soil, his lips moving once more. Meanwhile, the Vermilion began to run towards Jake fast on his feet, its mouth ready to chomp his head off. 9 meters. 7 meters. 5 meters. At the 3 meter mark, Jake¡¯s mouth stopped moving, and the sand began to vibrate, before five spikes grew from the soil, four of them impaling the Vermilion, the last one growing in a strange direction and completely missing.


    The Vermilion stopped struggling after a few more seconds, its eyes losing their shine. Jake raised his fist, a frown formed on his face. He looked at the black gem on his gems, which had now countless fractures on it, a few seconds later turning to dust, the countless shards flying away with the wind.


    Jake looked back towards Mike, who was now approaching him. He didn¡¯t look happy at all; he had to use a very taxing skill to get rid of the Vermilion, and now he would have to use a different gem to continue.


    Mike walked past Jake and approached the Vermilion while producing a small letter knife from his pocket. He put his hand to the head of the beast, and with the other, he pierced it between both eyes. He slit in a circular shape with a practiced motion, and a hole was revealed, with a red gem behind. He used the tip of the knife to produce torque, causing the gem to fall from the Vermilion¡¯s head.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Jake crouched and grabbed the gem, which was a similar size to the one he¡¯d just lost. Mike shrugged, then opened his mouth to speak. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much, at least you didn¡¯t go negative, so just do it better next time¡±.


    He was supposed to use the single black gem to take down two beasts, and in that way they would farm them up, using one out of each five surpluses they produced to strengthen Jake¡¯s soul.


    ¡°Yeah, you were right. The fireball looked cool, but I should have used a piercing strike as you told me to¡±


    Mike smiled faintly, before pointing with his head towards somewhere else that had a similar leveled Vermilion on it.


    They walked slowly, with Jake having his mind somewhere else. He¡¯d flunked his exam, as he was too preoccupied with the things that had happened the day before, so his mood was very off now. He was using the hunt to vent off some steam, but now he had failed, to his eyes.


    Fifty meters away a second Vermilion standing sideways could be seen, and by using the skill Jake looked at its number, a 61, a bit stronger than the previous one. It seemed to have caught a glimpse of them on its peripheral vision, and it turned around towards the pair, growling loudly at them while revealing its teeth.


    It began to run at them while zig-zagging along the way, a strategy it had learned from fighting with other lifeforms. At the fifteen meter mark, Jake raised the red gem on his hand, silently moving his lips. The gem began to slowly turn purple, and at the eight-meter mark, a blue bolt of lightning flew towards the Vermilion. It was zapped, and by the act of its own momentum, it crashed and slid through the sand, stopping a few meters away from Jake.


    A grin popped on Jake¡¯s face, before he kissed the gem between his hands, at which point he immediately remembered where it had been a while ago and he began spitting at the ground with a disgusted look on his face. Mike looked with a smile on his face, followed by an approving nod to his friend. The gem on Jake¡¯s hand had a few small cracks on its surface, but at least it hadn¡¯t turned to dust like the previous one.


    Mike went and collected the gem from the Vermilion, which he then threw towards Jake, who had to jump high to catch it. He glared at Mike but then shook his head, a tiny smile still on his face.


    A few hours later, they were back in Mike¡¯s room. Jake opened up the backpack and let the gems fall onto the bed, revealing 14 gems of different sizes. He grabbed the two biggest ones, to which Mike shrugged his shoulders. Mike put the other twelve gems into his desk and once he turned around to face Jake, whose eyes were shining with anticipation, like a dog looking at a squeaky toy.


    Mike burst out laughing at his face, only stopping once Jake slapped him on the shoulder. Mike shook his head and sat down at his desk.


    ¡°Alright, the process is super simple, touch the gem you want to absorb into your temple, then think of the word ¡®Absorb¡¯¡±


    Jake blinked twice, he was a bit taken aback by how simple the process was. He put one of the two gems to his temple, then thought of the magic word. His view was filled with countless spots of light, and he felt a bit lightheaded. His ears were ringing, and he felt as if he was inside an empty room, where every sound produced a small echo. He put pressure on both eyes, as he thought he might pass out, but soon after the feeling went away. The gem on his hand had disappeared, having turned liquid that was then absorbed by Jake similar to solar sunscreen. Mike handed him a small hand-held mirror, and Jake used it to look at his number.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a 65 now, I won 15 points from that one gem!¡±


    Mike nodded, before receiving the mirror back. Jake held the second gem to his temple and took a deep breath, ready to be tortured once more. Half a minute later, he received the mirror once more. He now had a 75 floating over his head, the second gem had only given him 10 points.


    Jake jumped up once, making a fighting posture as he did so. He flexed his non-existent muscles and then laughed loudly. He thought to himself he¡¯d catch up to Mike in no time at that pace. His mood had completely recovered, while Mike just shook his head at his antics.


    He looked at the drawer filled with gems with drool on his lips, but Mike put his leg over it, blocking it from view. Jake faked a frown, and he said, ¡°cheapskate¡±, in a low voice.


    They prepped dinner, and once the dust settled, they waved goodbye and headed to their own rooms, where Jake fell down like a log, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

 Chapter 3.5: "鈻撯枔鈻撯枔 鈻撯枔, 鈻撯枔鈻撯枔"

    ¡°Ishbula! Why isn¡¯t Mike breathing! You were supposed to save him, why did you have to let him die!¡±


    ¡°¨ˆ¨ˆke ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±


    He cried on his knees over his friend¡¯s body, the tears fell on his lifeless chest, which Jake hit over, and over, and over again in the hopes it¡¯d start beating once more.


    ¡°He told me you could reverse time, then do it! If you can¡¯t be the one to save him, I will be the one! Ishbula! do it, before it¡¯s too late!¡±


    ¡°¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ, ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ¨ˆ ¨ˆ¨ˆ¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, this can¡¯t be happening, you can¡¯t leave me, brother, you were supposed to be there for me at my wedding, to godfather my child. You can¡¯t do that from the grave, Mike! I¡¯m speaking to you!¡±


    ¡°JAKE!¡±


    Covered in sweat, Jake opened his eyes. The sheets were strewn over the floor, and the shirt he¡¯d slept on was ripped in half. He had tears streaming down his face, yet he couldn¡¯t remember what he¡¯d just dreamed of. In front of him, Mike looked with a worried face. He heard thrashing and muffled screaming coming from the visitor¡¯s room, and he found Jake like that once he opened the door. It had taken ten minutes for him to wake Jake up, who was struggling around and wouldn¡¯t stay put. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    He held Jake¡¯s head with both hands, staring him square in the eyes. He looked shaken, still anxious about whatever he¡¯d just dreamed of. With a shaky voice, he asked his best friend, ¡°Jake, what happened? Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Mike looked confused, but before long his eyes regained their shine, and he focused his gaze on his friend. His eyes drifted for a few seconds, as he tried to remember any detail about what had just happened, to no avail.


    ¡°Just a bad dream, must be a side effect of Ishbula-na¡¯s naming¡±


    Neither of them believed this statement, but both silently agreed to put the matter the rest for the moment, as no clear answer would be found out of the blue. Jake stood up before he felt dizzy and sat back down on the bed. His eyes became extremely sensitive to the daylight, and he could feel as if ten lightbulbs were pointed at each of his eyes. This feeling lasted for a few seconds, and it was gone as Jake shook his head from one side to the other.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go take a shower, I still need to go to class¡±


    Mike looked at him worried, he really seemed to want to say ¡®Are you sure that¡¯s the best idea?¡¯, but decided against doing so, as he knew Jake could be a real pain once he decided on something.


    ¡°Just, be careful alright? Do you want me to join your classes incognito in case something happens?¡±


    Jake smiled faintly, before shaking his head and standing up, before moving towards the door to the room. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said, "I''ll be alright on my own".

 Chapter 4: Emily

    Every day there were 2 hours reserved for students to have lunch. Jake enjoyed sitting on a spot dubbed by everyone ¡®Green pastures¡¯, both because of the green grass which grew there in abundance, next to a few benches to sit on while gazing at the sea far away from the elevation. And because many students enjoyed smoking green grass in that place, where no one seemed to give a damn about it, for the most part.


    With a foam cup that held warm tea within in one hand and a ham and egg sandwich on the other, he looked towards the distant sea, where a few boats could be seen, a single cruise ship sitting pretty near the coast. He yawned once, before giving a final bite to his sandwich and throwing both the paper and cup into a nearby trash can.


    He stood up and once he turned around, he spotted a girl with long straight brown hair who waved at him as she approached him. With hazel colored eyes, she had a pretty figure for someone a bit over 1,60 meters tall.


    ¡°Hey there Anna, I thought you didn¡¯t like this place, what brings you here?¡±


    Anna had a small frown forming on her face, giving Jake the impression she wasn¡¯t there for something good.


    ¡°You missed the first two classes, what happened? That¡¯s unlike you¡±


    Jake avoided her piercing gaze, and his eyes darted around the horizon thinking about some excuse to give her. They¡¯d been friends for the four years Jake had been there, ever since they were put together in one of the first classes they¡¯d had, along with other two students who had since dropped out from their career path. While not particularly close, he did think dearly of her, albeit not romantically whatsoever.


    He sighed, before raising both arms up in the air.


    ¡°You got me, I got a hangover from drinking last night with Mike after I flunked the exam. I feel better now, though¡±


    Anna narrowed her eyes and looked closely at Jake, who moved his eyes to avoid her own, before giving a sigh of her own.


    ¡°Put your act together Jake, you still need to go through a year of this before you join the workforce. I¡¯ll give you my notes to copy them over, just make sure to give them back by the end of the week, you know I like to study 2 weeks in advance for tests¡±


    Jake laughed awkwardly while scratching his nape. They continued to talk about meaningless things for a little bit, but soon their chit-chat began to mellow down. They sat down on the bench side to side, while looking at the boats sailing on the sea.


    ¡°How are things holding up in your family? You told me the other day your mother was sick, has she gotten any better?¡±


    Anna looked at Jake a bit saddened, her back hunching a small bit.


    ¡°She got diagnosed with cancer; she¡¯ll fight, but things aren¡¯t looking pretty¡±


    Jake was taken aback, and while he felt a slight bit bad for throwing off Ana¡¯s mood, he was glad to have asked, as she would have probably kept it to herself if he didn¡¯t ask.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure everything will sort itself out, she¡¯s a very strong woman. Your job now is to get straight A¡¯s, that will cheer her up, I¡¯m sure of that¡±


    Anna smiled faintly, yet a few tears welled up on her eyes. He didn¡¯t press the matter, and they silently watched the sea for a few minutes. Jake was deep in thought, and finally, he gulped before raising his voice once more.


    ¡°By the way, is she staying at home or was she interned to the hospital near?¡±


    Anna answered truthfully, as Jake had many times in the past visited their home to have dinner when they were to have a study session, as he lived far away and so he would many times stay over their house.


    ¡°She is staying at home, but she¡¯ll be in the hospital for a week beginning two days from now¡±


    Jake bit his lip while his gaze steered away for a bit.


    ¡°Anna, do you trust-, uh, actually, nevermind. Do you mind if I come with you today? I want to pay your old lady a visit before she goes to the hospital, I don¡¯t want to bother her once treatment begins¡±


    She looked at him with sadness in her eyes, while she nodded without much strength without saying a word.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll see you after class and we¡¯ll go together alright?¡±


    She smiled weakly while muttering in a low voice, ¡°Thank you, Jake¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Jake gave her a hearty grin, before exclaiming in a cheerful voice, ¡°What for? She did cook chicken soup for me when I got sick, of course I¡¯m going to pay her a visit!¡±


    He looked at his watch, before standing up in a hurry, while Anna looked at him with a strange look on her face.


    ¡°We¡¯re late for class, I¡¯ll see you later today, then!¡± he said, before running away while waving her goodbye.


    After walking past the front gate to the University, he took out his cell phone. He browsed through his contacts list and once finding a certain someone¡¯s number, he pressed ¡®call¡¯ and put the cell phone to his ear. He heard a beeping sound, which let him know the number was occupied, and after trying a few more times, he gave up trying to call Mike.


    He went to class normally, his mind drifting somewhere far away from time to time.


    Once the day was coming to an end, Jake approached the front gate, where Anna stood waiting for him. They waved at each other, and walked together towards the train station, as Anna lived three stations away, or about 15 minutes by train.


    ¡°Were you able to focus on class? I could barely listen to the professor''s lecture, what a nightmare¡±


    Anna laughed awkwardly while scratching her left cheek with her index finger.


    ¡°It was the same for me. Mom told me to put her off my mind while in class, but we¡¯re only human, right?¡±


    Jake chuckled quietly while shaking his head side to side.


    ¡°That woman, she¡¯s a real trooper, isn¡¯t she? No wonder you grew up to be so hardworking¡±


    Anna hit him in the shoulder playfully, while sighing in exasperation. Once before they had both flunked a particularly hard physics test, after which Anna¡¯s mother forced Jake to stay over for two days so he and Anna could focus solely on studying for the exam that followed.


    They exited the train station while speaking about various things, with most of the focus on Anna¡¯s mother, and how she enjoyed acting as if she were Jake¡¯s own mother. He rented a one by one two hours away from the city, solely because it was cheaper than renting an apartment in the city, and transportation for students was subsidized.


    Walking through a few streets, they came to a stop in front of a two-floor beige house. They walked past the fence, and once they were at the door, Anna began to rummage through her belongings trying to find the key to her house. Movement could be heard from the other side, and a few seconds later the door opened. A slim man with short black hair wearing a pair of rectangular glasses opened the door, receiving both Anna and Jake with a warm smile on his face.


    He looked at Jake with a certain kindness to his eyes, a certain joy that came from people caring for his wife.


    ¡°it¡¯s good to see you, Jake. I¡¯m guessing Anna told you about Emily? She¡¯s in her bedroom¡±


    Jake extended his hand to give the man a handshake, but instead, he closed in to hug Jake. He patted the man in the back, breathing once after the fact. Matthew Fletcher was a fairly strange man, who acted on his current mood at all times and as such was very hard for Jake to read.


    ¡°Yes, Mr. Fletcher. I¡¯m here to wish her a fast recovery, I¡¯m sure she could survive a nuclear blast if it came to it¡±


    Matthew looked at him with a tiny smile on his face, while the backside of his jaw tensed a bit, which Jake caught a glimpse of.


    They walked towards Emily¡¯s bedroom without exchanging any words. She was at the moment sleeping, as the medicine made her drowsy and drained her energy.


    Slowly opening the door to her room, they entered while making sure to not make much noise, as they wouldn¡¯t want to startle her awake. Laying on a king sized bed, a middle-aged lady with hazel colored hair the length of Anna¡¯s own hair slept soundly, her breathing steady and calm. Matthew walked closer to Emily, before reaching out and grabbing her hand with care, slowly caressing her to gently wake her up.


    Emily opened her eyes slowly, which seemed a bit glossy. Her lips were dry, and her skin had a certain sicken paleness to it. She slowly looked at everyone in the room, smiling weakly while doing so. She focused her gaze on Jake, before opening her mouth and taking a deep breath.


    ¡°You look good Jake, thanks for coming to see me¡±


    Jake smiled at her while feeling both warmth on his chest and a few chills traversing his spine.


    ¡°You look good yourself Miss, I hear you¡¯ll be back in the field in just a few days?¡±


    Emily chuckled for a few moments, after which she stopped and made a gesture for Jake to walk closer. Jake walked closer, and once at arm''s length, Emily grabbed him and whispered to his ear, as if telling him a secret.


    ¡°You¡¯ll take care of Anna for me, I¡¯m hoping?¡±


    Jake was taken aback; he couldn¡¯t say much of anything and instead, he held his fist tightly, his eyes having taken a resolute look to them.


    ¡°Of course I will, but you still need to recover fully, right? you wouldn¡¯t want to miss anything¡±


    Emily laughed with mischief and let Jake¡¯s hand go, shaking her head from side to side weakly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to those words, so you better not squirrel out of them later on, alright?¡±


    Jake shook his head as well, he could never beat Anna¡¯s mother before, and he probably never would be able to, in the future.


    Emily yawned and her eyes became slightly wet, which neither of the three thought much of.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling sleepy again, all this medicine is driving me crazy. Why don¡¯t you guys let me rest? I need to sleep all I can so my body can do its thing¡±


    They all exchanged a few smiles before they exited the room and walked towards the living room, where they spoke about Emily¡¯s sickness for almost an hour straight.


    Anna walked Jake to the door, her eyes were slightly red, and she seemed a bit depressed. Jake couldn¡¯t think of the correct words to say at the moment, so instead he closed in and hugged her, who looked surprised at the act but didn¡¯t push him away, while neither returning the hug back, simply pushing her head against him.


    Jake walked away, his shoulder area where she held Anna had a small stain, while his eyes looked resolute and filled with conviction. Slowly taking his cell phone out after turning around the corner, he dialed Mike once more.


    ¡°Hey, Mike? I need your help¡±

 Chapter 5.1: Favour

    ¡°Sure, just make sure you¡¯re not seen by regular people¡±


    Jake jumped with his fist pumping towards the air, while Mike blinked in disbelief. They were supposed to ask Ishbula-na¡¯ for permission, and Mike was not too optimistic about it. It¡¯d been almost two centuries since the last time their family was allowed to use the gems in the outside world, and that was only because a conflict had sprung between two ring leaders and their families outside.


    Mike was happy, that much could be seen on his smile, yet his eyes painted a different story; one of surprise and questioning over joy. His eyes darted all over Ishbula-na¡¯s dark void he called home, looking for an answer until he decided to instead simply raise his voice for one.


    ¡°Sir, why so suddenly? you didn¡¯t allow me to use them before, what changed?¡±


    Ishbula-na stammered, an imaginary sweat drop forming on his sole eye. He seemed to have fallen deep in thought, even though a single eye couldn¡¯t be as expressive as a regular human, Mike could feel it thinking twice, thrice and then a fourth time for an answer to give him.


    ¡°That¡¯s, uh, a gift for the new member of our family, of course¡±


    Mike let his arms fall in defeat; if Ishbula-na didn¡¯t feel like speaking, he simply wouldn¡¯t do so. It had happened in the past, and it would probably happen in the future. They weren¡¯t exactly equal, no matter how much shared history they had together. He trusted in his judgment, and he had both the knowledge and wisdom to make the right decision most of the time, if not all the time, he believed.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Fine, if you feel it¡¯s better to put it that way, it¡¯s fine for me. Still, thank you, sir, I¡¯m sure you can tell this makes Jake thankful,¡± he said while turning his view towards the still cheering Jake to the side.


    Jake Stopped cheering, and he raised an open hand towards the floating behemoth, a smile still hanging from ear to ear. He didn¡¯t come with high hopes, as Mike had told him time and time again over the phone how terrible an idea it was to get involved like that. About fifty years ago, the lord of the Eight ring Larue had to step down from his position, as he¡¯d made a huge mistake and let one of his followers use the skills out in the open to help a resistance in the middle east, which in turn resulted in a small cult being born, which had to be put down for the sake of keeping everything secret.


    ¡°Thank you, Ishbula. Truly, thank you. If there¡¯s anything you need my help with, you can count on me¡±


    Ishbula blinked once before his lower eyelid produced a mischievous grin with pointy teeth within. Jake froze still, before gulping once; he felt as if he¡¯d just sold his soul to the devil, and maybe he just did. He looked over to Mike, who didn¡¯t seem worried about it at all, which in turn let him calm down, although he could still feel his back turn cold.


    Mike Turned towards Ishbula, whose mouth had disappeared and was back to his usual staring self. ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°we should get going. I¡¯ll let you know how it went once it¡¯s over,¡± before a portal opened and he walked through with Jake following in tow while leaving behind a nod towards Ishbula-na.


    Two days later, their plan was set in motion.

 Chapter 5.2: The hospital

    At three in the morning, two shadows lurked from one side to the other at the dimly lit hospital. At night, only every other light would be on, and to them, this was a blessing. With a small pouch to his side, Jake silently handed an orange gem to Mike, who played with it with his fingers.


    His lips moved, and soon after his figure completely faded from view, with Jake repeating his feat shortly after. It only took them a few minutes of walking slowly as to not produce any sound to reach the front desk, where an old lady with short white hair and a pair of small round glasses wrote something on a small notepad.


    Jake approached her from the side and peeked at her writing; it read ¡®...and then, she slowly lowered his pants and stared with shining eyes at his throbbing¡­¡±, he stopped reading and held on to a gem which he held on his right hand. His lips moved and the lady¡¯s hand slowly stopped writing, her head lowering gently onto the left side of her keyboard.


    They moved the lady¡¯s moving chair to one side and then entered the Hospital¡¯s system, where they looked for Emily¡¯s room. When they finished, they moved to the front of the desk at which point Jake snapped his fingers and the lady slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head, rubbing her eyes and releasing a yawn, as if she fell asleep on the job regularly.


    After moving up three floors and wondering what was up with the way they numbered rooms, they moved step by step towards room 512B, where the small sign below the number read: ¡®Emily Fletcher - Abraham Burr - Bethy Pilsen - Jannete Curie¡¯.


    Jake peeked into the room by using the small glass panel on the door, where he could see four separate curtains; the outline of a bed with a person sleeping on them could be seen behind each one. After making sure nobody was up, he pulled the small lever down and gently entered the room while attempting to make no sound, looking at every curtain to make sure nobody woke up while doing so.


    With Mike in tow, they each pulled on one of the curtains separating each patient from each other; neither had found Emily, yet they couldn¡¯t exactly see each other so instead, they closed their curtain and moved to the one next to them. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Jake closed his curtain and moved towards the last one in the room, where Emily soundly slept on her bed. A small mask sat on her face, but she didn¡¯t seem too bothered by it; it probably helped her rest.


    He took out two small gems which and left them by the feet of her bed, where they turned visible just to disappear shortly after. Mike moved to the side of her bed and gently put one of his hands to Emily¡¯s temple, while the one that held both other gems moved towards her abdomen. He first put her to an even deeper sleep, so that she wouldn¡¯t wake up once she began healing.


    He put all of his weight to her abdomen and her body lit up, while blood began to stain the white bed sheets, blood which then touched the gems. Her back arched forwards involuntarily, and her calm face turned into a frown. Her forehead began to sweat profusely, while her left hand tightly gripped the side of her bed.


    Slowly the light began to fade, and her expression turned gentle once more. Two sighs of relief could be heard, and a few seconds later they exited the room.


    Going back down the steps, Jake peeked at the old lady who was once more writing something. He shuddered once and then followed Mike outside, where they both turned visible once again.


    They both walked without saying much, and soon they reached a small playground, where they sat down on a bench, right before they began to laugh in joy. Jake hit his friend on the shoulder with a grin on his face, before shaking his head side to side.


    ¡°That was amazing. Thank you brother¡±


    Mike¡¯s smile continued to linger before it slowly faded away; a few tears forming on his face. He leaned forward and hid his face from view, while his lips were still in view, moving slowly without much sound being made.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jake, I truly am sorry¡±


    Jake¡¯s face turned hard and he didn¡¯t react for a few seconds yet before long, he patted his friend on the back.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it wasn¡¯t your fault nor Ishbula¡¯s; life is like that, and he¡¯s not Superman, neither are you. I¡¯m just glad we could save Anna¡¯s mother¡±, he said, while moving to clean a few tears that had formed of their own.


    They sat in silence for a few more minutes, before they went back to the apartment without much of a word, where each went to their respective room and slept on it; a small smile on one¡¯s face, a knot on the other¡¯s throat.

 Chapter 6: The door.

    Jake opened his eyes to the now familiar ceiling of Mike¡¯s house, where he had planned to stay for a day but had been staying at ever since he joined a new family. He sat upright on the bed and lazily yawned once, before standing tall and stretching his body. After checking whether the bathroom was in use by knocking twice, he entered and turned on the shower, where he cleaned his body with cold water.


    After 10 minutes he felt a new man, and after putting on some casual clothes he exited the house and locked the door behind him, calling the elevator right after. Whenever someone entered a simple greeting followed, and whenever someone exited a simple goodbye was in order.


    After waving the security guard, he turned left and began walking towards the train station, where he bought a ticket for one and sat on a near bench to wait for his transportation; 15 minutes later he entered the train, his gaze moving from one side to the other looking for a spot to sit.


    Sitting next to the window, he peeked outside while waiting for the train to departure and a short few minutes later it did just that. He watched the tall mountains in the distance slowly inching away from view, the blue sky void of any clouds and the bright green grass that gave life and fed a few cattle running wild.


    A seemingly endless hour went by, and he lazily exited the train and began moving his feet. after going up a few hills and walking through an unpaved road for a few more minutes, he stopped in front of a massive silver gate that was half opened.


    A small angel stood next to it, its head bowed and its hands together in a prayer; on the other side of the door six rows of cypresses greeted visitors and gave life to the final resting place of the deceased. They were well kept, and the love and care put into each tree were almost palpable.


    Jake walked through the silver gate and turned left, passing by four mausoleums; two on each side. He turned right and continued to walk in a straight line, passing by hundreds of graves and finally stopping in front of one in particular. A tombstone with a cross in the middle and a pillar to each side, along with a single jar filled with different flowers in the middle with an inscription that read: ¡®Rose Miller, fought to the ends of the earth for her children, her husband and herself. 1976-2001¡¯.


    He stood in silence in front of the grave, doing nothing but scratching ever so slightly his thumb with his index finger, a small gesture he had picked up from a long time ago when his father did so to calm himself while speaking at his mother¡¯s funeral. He couldn¡¯t remember what his father was saying at the time and simply stared at this gesture; before he knew it, he had begun copying him.


    At the age of eleven, he had lost his mother to cancer and it broke apart his family. She fought against the disease with everything she had, yet nothing seemed to work. He didn¡¯t quite understand why his mother began losing her hair, or why she sometimes had trouble walking. He knew she was sick, but he didn¡¯t grasp the fact that the fire inside of her was running out of fuel.


    He was at school when she gave her last breath. The principal went into the classroom and called for him, he said he needed to stay near the front gate, that in a few minutes an auxiliary teacher that was on his break would take him to the hospital, where his father and older brother were. He couldn¡¯t understand why the principal who he barely knew and couldn¡¯t remember ever speaking to was giving him a hug and telling him to ¡®be strong¡¯, and contradicting himself by saying it was okay to cry.


    Shock. He didn¡¯t cry until two years later when he was doing his homework and all of a sudden, he broke down. Without knowing why, how or what made him break in tears. It just happened; he cried himself to sleep that day. Neither his father or brother were there for him when it happened; one was at his father''s side grandparents indefinitely, the other had gone outside to drink.


    The following week he moved in with his grandparents from his mother¡¯s side, seeing his father only occasionally since then. He continued to be at the same school, where Mike also studied. He felt more like family than his own, and he would usually have dinner at his place before being dropped off at his grandparents'' house. And so he moved on, visiting his mother¡¯s grave every few months since then while doing his best to get good enough grades to get a scholarship down the line.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    He couldn¡¯t blame Mike; he wouldn¡¯t. Human life was short and filled with small pebbles that made it even shorter. Medicine had made things better, yet at the dawn of the day it would all come to an end eventually, that¡¯s why he tried to be his best self at all times. He didn¡¯t want to become an emotionless machine, he just wanted to be someone his mother would be proud of.


    Jake turned around, walking in a straight line past endless lines of graves, turning left at the end and passing by the mausoleums of some famous people who had died a long time ago then turned right, exiting by the silver gate.


    He took the last the train back, this time his shoulders felt a lot more relaxed, and even a small smile could be seen. He opened the door to Mike¡¯s apartment, then went on to knock on his door, which was half-open. Hearing no response, he opened the door slowly, and could see the portal to Ishbula¡¯s place was open; he walked straight into it, this time feeling a lot less sick compared to last time.


    After opening his hazy eyes, he found himself in the same patch of darkness that Ishbula-na¡¯ called home, yet he couldn¡¯t see the floating eye anywhere near, only a single massive wooden door behind the place where he always stood guard.


    It had a strange symbol on it, which looked like two cubes intertwined with a circle in the middle at an angle, two small rings to pull below this symbol. It felt very heavy when he tried giving it a small push, and when he tapped it, he could feel it was an extremely hard kind of wood, with a feeling to the touch similar to concrete in hardness and temperature, while still soft and almost slippery to the touch, like treated plywood.


    Suddenly, the room began to rumble, while the door began to slowly open. Jake backed up and when it was open enough for a person to go through, a bloodied Mike entered the room. He was holding his left shoulder which had blood dripping from it, while his right cheek had four claw marks going from the base of his ear to his lower lip. Jake began running towards him while rummaging desperately through his pocket, from which he took out a purple gem.


    ¡°Mike!¡± he cried, while running towards his friend and holding him from the other side and helping him down. He placed the gem on Mike¡¯s good hand, a worried look on his face. Mike put the gem on his chest and began moving his lips in silence, a few drops of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. His body began to glow slightly, and particles of light began to float from his wounds, leaving behind a healed body. He regained his breath and looked at Jake with a serious face.


    ¡°It¡¯s not good,¡± he said, before pushing the gem onto his chest with a wince once more, while more light particles began to form and float into the sky. He seemed to be on the verge of passing out until he bit his down his lower lip so strongly blood began to seep out until a few light particles formed and left him healed once more.


    ¡°Remember the project I was helping Ishbula with? It has backfired us, and now the sixth and fifth ring are trying to hunt him down¡±


    Jake looked completely out of sorts, he didn¡¯t understand much of anything. He never heard what the project was all about, and didn¡¯t understand how or why it would backfire.


    ¡°I managed to get rid of the people chasing him, but he will have to stay hidden until things settle down and we find a way to cool things off.¡±


    Mike stood up, before making a hand gesture towards Jake for him to follow him outside and into his room. He walked through the portal with Jake in tow and on the other side they found themselves back in Mike¡¯s room, where the portal closed again behind themselves.


    Jake sat down on Mike¡¯s desk, while Mike lied down onto his bed. ¡°Well, what was the project that had you guys turn into a bunch of targets all about,¡± Jake said, a small frown on his face. Mike laughed slightly, before coughing hard and cleaning the side of his mouth where a small bit of blood had seeped out. Jake looked down and grabbed a gem from the desk, which he threw next to the lying Mike, who took it and healed himself for the third time.


    ¡°He wanted to kick the lord of the eight ring out. Remember how I told you he was fairly new? We wanted to put someone else into his post.¡±


    Jake frowned, failing to understand from just that. ¡°And why would that make the fifth and sixth rings try to murder you both?¡±


    Mike laughed again, rubbing the underside of his nose. ¡°Well, the thing is, he wanted to put a human in that post, something that never happened before in the history of the Abyss.¡±


    ¡°A human?¡± Jake asked in confusion, wondering for what purpose, and more importantly, who.


    ¡°Yes, he wanted to make the lord of the eight ring, me.¡±