《Reverie》 Dark Reverie The stench clung to my frail body, and violated my nose. The gastric juices from my stomach could no longer force itself out of my burning throat, and cracked lips. The rippling pain continued to tear into my body, and something slowly ate at my flesh from the inside. I stared at my fingers, bony, and frail, no different than the living dead. As I ignored the pain, I stared at the white mountain in front of me. A mountain made of varying sizes of decayed bone, from children, women and men. The sky rumbled as something tore open the blackish red, and tearing away the thick dark clouds, it was a fat, bulbous red hand several kilometres wide, with thick dark claws, that had torn human body parts clinging to it. It scooped the mountain of skulls, and brought it into the dark abyss above, the loud sounds of crunching reverberated throughout the sky. ¡°So that bastard is having his snack, huh.¡± The head of the creature was so high up, I could never see it''s face, that thing was the one that devoured all life on this planet. It was an existence that hid in the far corners of the terrifying universe, devouring races, souls, planets, and gods. The time in this world was made meaningless, the cycle of death, and rebirth on this planet was made asunder. As I stared around me I could see the marching of transparent humans, tied up in chains, marching in a ghostly procession towards the distance, where that thing sat. They were the souls of those devoured, the flesh of mortals were not enough to sate it''s appetite, even the souls would be destroyed. Everything was at it''s whim, the laws of this world were merely it''s play thing. This world is dead, it had died one thousand year ago, the last vestiges of what could have stopped this things birth had long been soiled by the empires, heroes, and men long past. If not for those damned fools, how could the world have ended this way? I slowly felt my life trickling away, I closed my eyes to accept my end. As I opened my eyes again a loud rumbling could be heard in the distance. The bright blue sky started to form a ripple, the birds flew away in panic, and the army of soldiers watched in terror, as a gigantic eye the size of the morning sun distorted the very reality of the world itself. The horses neighed in fright as wagons, and men toppled over. As I stood up from my frenzied horse to shout out commands, I felt a sharp cold steel piercing my flesh. I turned around to look at my assailant, but all I could see were the trees flying past me, and eventually the dirt on the ground. No thought entered my mind as I sunk into a deep abyss. Explosions woke me up, I got out of my bed and put on my shoes, after exiting the tent I could hear the screams of men. Balls of fire decorated the skies, as they bombarded the land below, men were burnt to ashes, and tents were set aflame. I could only stare idly in shock, when I was about to finally regain my senses, I felt something slam into me, causing my flesh to burn in agony. The series of deaths repeated again, and again. I died while fishing when I was a farmer. I discovered something in an ancient temple, as I ran away with the prize, my fellow adventurers murdered me. When I went to magic school, I studied as an artificer, I learned to imbue magic properties into weapons. When I went home in the middle of the night, I was robbed and murdered, the pool of blood escaping my body, caused me a slow, cold death. I was the sister of a young noble, the noble one day discovered something he shouldn''t have learned in the ruined fane. My brother disappeared many days later, and I along with him, a week later. The lives, and deaths flashed across me over, and over. Eventually all things stopped, and only a warm darkness could be felt. The darkness was thick, and heavy, I felt something tickling my cheeks, as I woke up, I saw a rough pink tongue licking me. It was a fluffy white cat, the cat immediately stopped when it noticed me awake, and gave a cute mew sound. I shook my head trying to get rid of the momentary dizziness, as my mind began to clear up, the images of all those deaths, and experiences, bombarded me like a tidal wave. The anger, revulsion, hatred, and despair, consumed me, threatening to tear my soul into shreds. The disembodied voices seeped into my mind like cool water, pouring into dry soil. The images frightened me, the experiences made me want to vomit, and the things I''ve seen caused my spine to freeze. I quickly closed my eyes, and curled up in my bed, trying to absorb the information crushing me. My body slackened as I was continuously assaulted. The tiny white cat lay beside him in concern. Large tendrils of blue light leaked form the walls, and slowly converged on the boy, creating a thin blue film protecting his body. Day turned to night, the warm gentle winds, turned into frigid cool winds, clear green grass, turned to white fluffy snow. Days became months, and months into years. The sparse forest around the single black tower jutting out steadily grew over time. The thin frail branches grew thick, and ancient. The sparse forest grew thick, and bountiful, the flawless black marble tower,lost it''s lustre. Vines started to spread across the black isolated tower, forgotten by man, and time. The inhabitant of the tower remained still and silent, not a single person could be seen, or a sound that could be made. The silent scenery that had been still for many years, finally saw movement. A small young boy in a large black robe walked out of the solitary tower, his deep black eyes looked aged, and tired. Not a trace of innocence could be seen, it was the exact opposite of his cute, and childish face. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°That was fucking horrible, I felt like my damn body was about to be torn for the fifth time!¡± Any who heard the young boy cursing violently would be shocked in dismay over his choice of words, and, actions, despite his cute, and young appearance. ¡°I can''t believe those fools actually allowed the world to become ruined!¡± The young boy around ten years old was cursing, and gesturing violently. The boy rampaged over 20 minutes before finally calming down. ¡°Oh right, what was my name again?¡± Due to experiencing many branches of future lives, his own identity became blurred, and distorted. Likely his original personality had long been wiped out. All the experiences he felt, and saw merged together into a wholly new being. He stared at the unusual tree in front of him. ¡°Fine, Acacia it is.¡± Names were merely labels without substance, it did not matter what people called him, even wood was fine, since the tree he first recognized is an Acacia, then that was the name he decided on. The boy named Acacia gripped his hands tightly, and punched the tree in front of him. The knuckles were white, the skin was torn, and barely a dent was made on the tree. ¡°Can''t believe I''m in the body of a little kid, so weak, so frail, and so disgusting.¡± The end of the world gave him many bitter experiences, even though this was his original body, it angered him no less. There were too many things he had to accomplish, and too many errors that needed to be corrected. The frail body of a ten years old boy stuck in bed for many years, was not an ideal starting point at all. Occasionally torturous images of the future, clung to his mind, it made him nearly vomit. The disgust at what was done to the world angered him, the hatred of his fellow man who allowed it to happen disgusted him, and the weak frail body he had, gave him despair. Men were used as play things, women were violated, broken, and devoured, children were cannibalized, and tossed around like broken toys. The thick red blood formed lakes, and rivers. The little boy coughed violently as he smashed his fists against the nearby tree, further bruising his pale, delicate hands. His eyes were filled with complex emotions, and his smooth childish face, looked terrifying. The white fur ball whined, and patted his leg lightly. Acacia saw the cat looking worried, and slowly calmed down. ¡°Those useless leaders, that stupid hero party, that annoying demon lord, that arrogant church, those idiotic citizens, so many people to blame! They ruined the world for the rest of us!¡± Acacia took in a deep breathe, and slowly breathed out, clearing his fragmented mind. ¡°No, the main point is to prevent those fools from preventing her birth, ugh what year is it today?¡± Acacia shook his head as he marched back into the black tower. The first floor was completely invaded by plants, and animals. Bunnies, deers, and insects roamed about, taking over the first floor. Acacia climbed the stairs to the second floor where a bunch of pixies were darting left, and right, occasionally tugging at his robes in a playful manner. He ignored them completely, and arrived at the third floor, in that chamber was a large room, and in the centre sat a large skeleton of what was once a person, Acacia bowed deeply to the skeletal remains before reaching the fourth floor. Where his room was, he continued on, and on until he reached the final floor at the 20th level. It was a large observatory with a telescope jutting out from the tower, the floor was filled with books, constellation charts, calendars, and mapping tools. Acacia was breathing furiously trying to catch his breath. ¡°I hate this damn body!¡± He manipulated the large telescope with tools made from clockwork, springs, and hinges, trying to find something in the sky. The top of the tower rotated slowly, along with the telescope. Eventually it stopped, and Acacia saw two moons floating closely to each other. The twin red, and blue moons, only intersect once every 100 years. When he entered a deep trance to peer into the future, the moons were just out of intersection, meaning over a century had passed. He stared at the calendar pasted on the wall that said year 1450 of the imperial calendar, so around year 1550 now. Sifting through his distorted memories, he remained still for over an hour, finally he remembered a certain incident. ¡°I have seven years to take advantage of that. At the moment I''m too weak, let me first gain a better body before I try anything too dangerous.¡± He stared at his frail hands, and sighed. ¡°Better fill my body with some meat first. Everything else will come later.¡± The cat mewed lightly and sniffed him. Acacia sniffed his arms, and curled his lips in disgust. There were too many worldly matters he had to do, but apparently eating, and bathing was at the top of his current concerns. With a large exaggerated sigh, he slowly walked down the tower, while the hunger was torturous and his body smelled horrible, he had felt much worse, and had encountered scents from much more disgusting sources. Compared to what he''s seen, and experienced, this was nothing. This boy in this isolated tower began to set in motion his plans for the futures to come. Notes: There should actually be more tags, but honestly I consider them spoilers so five only. Direction Three days had passed since Acacia had regained control of his body, after a century of merging together the aspects of his future selves, desperately containing their thoughts, emotions, consciousness, and knowledge. If not for the protective runes embedded within the black tower, his soul, and body would most likely have been broken down into an empty husk. Loud violent coughs echoed from the walls in the enclosed tower. ¡°Damn it! I thought this was a health issue, but this is abnormal!¡± Acacia coughed violently, he felt an empty chilliness from inside his very soul growing larger, and more deadly. A black scar started tattoo decorate his chest, and a deep profound fear enveloped him. While Acacia did not see the scar, he felt it''s existence, and could feel the darkness converge at the centre of his body. ¡°To think temporarily being in the same time period as that creature already tainted my soul! That bastard is actually trying to consume me from the future!¡± Acacia''s face distorted in fury as he drew the vast mana residing in his body to isolate the growing black scar forming on his skin, and in his body. ¡°Scram!¡± With a violent roar, Acacia forced his internal mana to crush the invasive magic in a primitive, and violent manner. After a vicious episode of coughing; did he finally calm down. That thing lives at the end of time for this planet, however that thing still lacked the power to exist in the present, and the past. But who knows how long before that reasoning no longer holds, and it obtained a state of omnipresence in this world. From the corner of his red eyes, a white fur ball eyed Acacia curiously with it''s large blue eyes. ¡°Mew?¡± ¡°So what do I intend to do right?¡± ¡°Mew.¡± ¡°In order for me to ensure that kid''s birth, means I make an enemy of nearly half the world, and that''s not considering how I can safeguard her life until she grows up! A lone kid like me with no money or influence can''t do anything against those odds.¡± ¡°Mew.¡± ¡°Correct! You are a genius Pinky. In order for me to oppose them I need help!¡± ¡°Meow!¡± ¡°No! Humans in general are tied to each other, and society, they are sheep that inherently like to flock together, they wag their tails to those in power, they would betray me at the drop of a hat, no sane person would side with me, unless thoroughly brain washed or incredibly dependent people. This is why many thieves guild recruit their members from orphans, and street kids. They are the easiest to control, and claim loyalty from.¡± ¡°Mew.¡± ¡°Elves, Demons, etc, they all have a functioning society, morale compass, and deep seated attachments, they are no good either, don''t forget most of the well known developed races moved against her birth.¡± ¡°Meww?¡± ¡°Good question. Let me ask you, in these past one hundred years, what happened to these Vajra lands?¡± The fluffy miniature cat gestured, and danced around. ¡°Hmm, as expected a sweeping air borne disease wiped out many villager around this region, eventually forcing them to abandon these lands, and allowed the wilderness to expand unchecked. Over the course of many years various monsters have made their homes in these lands. Primitive gremlins have taken over the hills, Lamias have invaded the swamps, Nagas have built primitive temples in the rivers, and Wyverns have taken over the ancient forests.¡± ¡°Mew!¡± A vicious smile formed on Acacia''s face. ¡°Correct, they are also apart of this world, what is wrong with having them save it? I''ll force salvation down everyone''s throat with a sword pointed at their backs. In order to prevent that future, I won''t hesitate to burn half the world!¡± ¡°Mew?¡± ¡°A lot of them lack real intelligence, or concepts of modern culture, I''ll have to find way to work around that, and form communication magic with all those species, in some cases I might have to forcefully dominate them.¡± ¡°Mewo, Mew meew meoow.¡± ¡°You''re half right, Pinky¡± The cat lay on the floor, while cleaning her fur. ¡°I still intend to have some people help me, do you know a major event that will happen two years from now?¡± Pinky rolled on the floor exposing her tummy, Acacia walked up the fur ball, and scratched her belly. ¡°In two years time, a legendary brigade of bandits that terrorized the countryside were all found dead in the Parl hills, next to thirty corpses lay a single young girl around 8 years old. The little girl was needless to say dead, covered in fatal wounds, however in her hands was a blood soaked dagger. It was said the little girl had slain these legendary bandits by herself. Apparently her race, name, family, and nationality were all shrouded in mystery. The event created quite a buzz, so even when I wasn''t directly involved, I still heard of it.¡± The tiny cat tilted it''s head in confusion. ¡°Whats the big deal you say? Each one of those bandits were elites, that could easily kill several veteran soldiers, if the rumours are true that kid is a natural monster!¡± Pinky snuggled around Acacia''s leg, and purred softly. ¡°You''re a smart one! Yes, I intend to save that kid from a torturous death, and have her as my disciple, with my various knowledge, and talents, I will forge her into a legend. Their were too many burgeoning talents that died young, or unjustly. Never to make a mark in the annals of history.¡± ¡°Mew?¡± ¡°Since my tainted body has too many uncertainties, I will have her as my sword, and shield.¡± The cat looked at Acacia with bright glowing eyes. ¡°Of course I expect failure, but it never hurts to try. A fool who only plans for success, and never failure is naive!¡± After an incredibly long conversation between child, and cat, Acacia went out of the tower to collect food by picking plants, herbs and berries. In one of his future selves he was a hermit that lived off the land, so he could discern edible plants from non-edible ones. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! He could on sigh in depression occasionally, ¡°I could not control who I am in the future, or their actions, so a lot of useless information was passed on to me. Apparently one of my future selves was a lousy, and useless debauchee that spent most of his life, visiting brothels, and gambling, what kind of a useless bastard I was, If only I could strangle that useless asshole for wasting my time, when so much in the world is at stake!¡± He also witnessed scenarios where he walked into a well and died, when he died from food poisoning over a mushroom he found in the woods, or was caught cheating with a powerful noble''s wife, and executed. Acacia wanted to strangle each, and everyone of those idiots. While picking fruits he accidentally pricked his finger, the bright red liquid oozed out of the tiny wound. I stared at the blood absentmindedly, a powerful headache assailed me, and vicious images of the future caused me to choke on my spit, and nearly scream in terror. I bit my lip tightly till blood oozed out, the shock of pain cleared my mind, and allowed me to regain control of my body.] My entire body shivered as I desperately tried to blot out those memories. ¡°Shit! Even though I''m going to see a lot of blood in the future, to think just a little sent me into a frenzied mess!¡± A deep sense of hatred, embarrassment, and anger enveloped me. But those feelings were useless if nothing productive came out of it. After exhaling a long, slow breath, I decided on my course of action. ¡°For now, I should train in my magic, it''s not good if I have memories of it, but no physical foundation, or training in my body for it. Since my body was made inactive for so long, and my soul finally became anew, I need to re-familiarize myself with the world.¡± I walked up the spiraling staircase into the entrance of the 8th floor. My master has made some of the floors as a training ground for harmonizing oneself with the elements. Unlike Wizards who primarily spend a vast amount of their time studying, us sages feel the laws of the material, and immaterial world with our bodies, and minds. My teacher sought to gain a deep understanding of the laws of fire, wind, earth, water and spirit. While studying also has its merits, it is secondary to first hand experiences that us sages value. However that same precept causes the majority of the civilized world to look down on sages, because our training borders on self torture. I entered the empty room, that had runic carvings plastered all over the walls. A single elevated stone platform sat in the middle of the featureless room. I closed the metal door behind me, and went to sit on the platform. After crossing my legs, I emptied my mind, and allowed the mana to flow around my body form the centre of my being. Mana felt like a gentle warmth expanding in my body, I moved the mana towards my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and exposed skin. By moving mana towards all my senses, I heighten them to become more sensitive, and alert. Mana has a multiplier affect towards physical characteristics of the host that it covers. For example, if mana was poured into a spider web, it could enhance several specific characteristics. A spider web can be sticky, soft, flexible, and depending on the creature that created it, hard. By manipulating the mana of an object, I can multiply the stickiness attributes of the web. The same theory can be applied to the human body. As I cleared my mind, a gentle tingling sensation could be felt in the room, drops of water slowly rained from the ceiling. The cool water brushed gently against my skin. Eventually the gentle summer rain turned into a thunderous rain storm, pounding against my body. I could sense a building pool of water growing larger, and larger. It reached my legs, then my arms, then up to my neck, eventually the entire room was filled with water, and I was locked in the platform I sat in. I could feel the oxygen leaving me, the cool embrace of water enveloping me, and the silent pressure weighing down on me threatening to crush me. My body eventually felt rigid, and I could feel the threat of death looming. The cool water, turned colder, and colder. At first my skin felt itchy, then numb, then the water felt like thick cold blocks, that burned my skin with an icy cold flame. My body was frozen in Ice. I could feel my mind slowing down, my warm legs eventually turned into numb lead, my body rapidly shivered in futility trying to warm up, and flashes of pain extended all over my body. I could feel bit, by bit, inch by inch my body was slowly slowly dying. The elusive grasp of a bony hand mired by the stench of death reached out to me. As it''s bony hand was about to touch my soul, the ice turned to a thick mist, and the walls sucked up the mist, leaving the room completely empty. The lone figure in the room sat still for many hours like a frozen statue. Eventually the eyes wavered, revealing piercing red eyes. ¡°To be at the imperceptible border of life and death, is to finally know your true self, and the world around you. I don''t think I can ever get used to this, master.¡± Acacia weakly hobbled to the exit, the tiny cat sat patiently outside the door waiting for him, it began to rub against his leg. ¡°No need, I''m not gonna feel warm from something like that.¡± The cat eyed Acacia curiously. Acacia coughed irritably, he transferred the mana to his muscles, organs and bones. He then stared back at the cat. ¡°Can''t stop now, I still have to deal with the other elements.¡± ¡°Mew.¡± ¡°Who the hell are you calling a masochist!¡± Notes:Long weekend, so I''m posting a chapter because I have free time, btw I just realized the description explains almost nothing about the plot or direction I plan to go. This chapter was specifically made so you can generally understand where I''m going with this. As for why I don''t fix the description? I like being vague, and slightly misleading.