Inside of it, on the rocky floor, were three massive white rings. They practically took up the entire surface below me, and as I stepped onto them, they shimmered a dim blue light, its familiarity gracing me with the presence of mana.
"I see… so this is it," I smiled before quickly closing my eyes and reopening them, finding myself back at the foot of the steps meant to break and reform me. I was determined to grow stronger, and despite the fact that I just barely managed to adjust to the pressure of the first floor, I continued on.
Once again, my foot lifted up and pressed onto the first step. It was easy. So, I took my left foot up and pressed it onto the second step. It was easier. I then took my right foot up once more and pressed it onto the third.
I continued moving up. The fourth step. The fifth step. The sixth step. The seventh step. The eighth step. The ninth step. It was definitely getting harder, but not enough to completely break me. And so, as I placed my right foot on the tenth step, a crushing pressure weighed down on my body, the world serpent ready to devour me if I lost hope.
So, once again, just like on the first step, I sat on it. But it was tough. I was losing consciousness, and I didn't feel or see any signs of me getting it back. Yet, I still remained on that step, taking a meditative lotus position, straightening my back, letting my hands relax in my lap, and then breathing. In and out. In and out. In and out.
Everything was so calm. So quiet. So effortlessly silent that I couldn't help but take a peek at the outside world beyond my solitude and darkness. And as my eyelids pried open by the will of my curiosity, I discovered myself in a forest of white.
[You have entered the First Layer: Limbo]
The ground had been blanketed in a soft sheet of white. It was just enough to cover the grass but not so much that it completely devoured my foot upon me, taking a step forward. That's right, I was no longer sitting but standing in this wonderful world of white.
Trees creaked and groaned with their decaying wood, eaten away by the harsh nipping cold of the tundra climate. Each and every single leaf of theirs was gone, disintegrated by the world, but replaced by a thin layer of snow, covering each and every branch as if it had been glued to the wood itself.
In the distance, a sight that made my pupils dilate, and my eyes slightly widen revealed itself to me. The small figure, no taller than 5'4, stood in front of me, his large white coat dented in by the sniper rifle pressed up against himself.
Ice-A. What a beautiful name for a sniper. I had yet to understand the meaning of the name or even why such a weapon was named that, but from the depths of my heart, I could understand it. I could feel it. I could see it. Taste it. Smell it. Hear it… it was especially beautiful.
"You've grown taller than before," The man smiled, his dull gray eyes and neatly trimmed turquoise hair glistening in the sun. The lower half of his face was once covered by his scarf, forcing me to anticipate just what was under that. But I could see now that it was a nice sight and worth waiting for.
"I'm not who you think I am-"
"I know," He continued to smile, walking towards me. "I know."
"I've kind of given up on the path of a sniper. To be honest, I have no interest in wielding a gun anymore, but your granddaughter, she's still crazy good at it," I nervously chuckled as the man then stopped, only a single foot away from me.
He was so short, and I was so tall that he had to lock his head upwards to even attempt to get a good look at me, while I had to do the opposite. But, just from his eyes, I could understand his message, and what he wanted me to do, so quickly I kneeled before him.
"You're still taller than me, even on one knee," He chuckled, raising his gloved hand and placing it on my shoulder. "And don't worry about following the path of the sniper. There's no need to listen to my old and outdated words. Follow whatever path you want."
"I'm sorry… I let you die…" My bottom lip crinkled as my teeth sunk down onto it.
"Don't be sorry, I was destined to die, and hey, look at you. If I could save somebody like you, I wouldn't mind sacrificing myself hundreds of times again."
"Shit… I seriously didn't deserve you as a teacher," I muttered, but before the man could reply, a chilling, atmospheric, bending amount of bloodlust scraped the back of my neck. So, as fast as my flesh could move, I snapped my head around, only to find nothing.
"Calm down, this place isn't normal. Somehow, I know how this place works and the reason why I've been revealed to you… although it's a bit more boring than you would think."
"What is it?" I eagerly asked as the sensation of something stalking me only intensified.
"To calm you and these municipals… or something like that," Simo spoke, and just as he finished saying those words, a hollow ringing of voices echoed in my mind. They bounced back and forth within my skull, staying infused into the flesh of my brain, eating my sanity from the inside out, all while I was forced to just listen and listen. It was torturous.
As I fell to both of my knees and then fell onto my back, I gripped my temples while squeezing my eyes shut. I attempted to enter a meditative state, but before I could even attempt such an idea, a light-blue cooling light throbbed in my vision of black.
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