When the pain faded, all that was left was darkness and weightlessness. Even with the weightlessness, Jake could feel himself falling. Falling towards nothing, yet falling all the same. The whistling of wind through his ears was the only sound that he could hear in this vast expanse of black. And then he began to hear the voices.

It started out slowly, the wind sucking away most sounds as Jake plummeted from an immense height. He could hear snippets, an infant’s pure laughter, and its cries of pain. A woman’s sultry moans of pleasure, accompanied by her ear-shattering shrieks of terror. A man’s chuckles, filled with love and compassion, were silenced by a rage-filled roar.

As the sounds of happiness and sadness, pain and pleasure, love and hate warred within the darkness, Jake could make out words leaking through the cacophony of sound.

“… help… us…”

“… Failure… lost…”

“… FOOL… MURDERER…”

What the fuck is going on?! Jake tried to speak, but the wind sucked away his words as soon as they formed.

“Where… you…”

“…left…died…”

“WEAK… WORTHLESS…”

The words were coming through clearer, the wind being replaced by screams and moans, giggles and cries, yelling and whispers. And through it all, Jake could hear a deep thump intermittently through the darkness. As if someone was beating a gargantuan drum from miles away.

“Lost... forgotten…”

“…mommy…daddy…I’m…”

Thump.

“DESPICABLE…”

“Wait… don’t…”

“…scared… please…”

“…FAILURE…I…”

Thump.

Gritting his teeth, Jake began to block out the noise. He ignored the cries, ignored the yells, the screams. He forsook the safety of the laughter, the moans of pleasure and the kind words. And as he fell, he realized where he was, and it sent shivers down his spine.

I’m in hell.

THUMP.

The beat of the drum grew louder and louder, the voices screaming in his ears for his attention.

“…you…must…”

“Save her… you are…

“…USELESS…WEAK…”

“...please, help…

“Don’t… you’ll…”

“HERETIC…”

THUMP!

“INSECT…”

“…him…he’s…”

“Dead… you didn’t…”

“COWARD…”

The voices were not relenting, and the beat of the drum was rocking his body with each strike. The hatred, terror and pain that was in the voices resounded through his mind, his body, his very soul. And so he screamed back. He screamed his stubbornness, his disgust and his fears back at the darkness. He would not be brought low by some weak willed creatures that would not even show their faces. He would not bow to these formless voices that whispered and muttered to each other. He was strong, he was himself, and he would not break.

He was the Agent of Change, Jake Roshaven, and he would claw his way back from hell if it was the last thing he would do. Just to beat the ever living shit out of Lilith for forgetting about him.

The darkness cracked. A stream of yellow light, reaching as far as the eye could see, stretched horizontally through the void. The drumming grew more quickly, frantic in its steady crescendo. The tear in the black began to slowly widen.

THUUUUMP!

THUUUUMP!

THUUUUMP!

The seam in the world expanded, and Jake halted his screams in terror. Inside of the yellow glow, an hour-glass shaped mass of black lurked in the oblong yellow, and while the light grew and the darkness receded, Jake found himself staring into an eye. And he was hurtling directly towards it.

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

The glow of the gargantuan eye bathed Jake in sickly yellow light, and the pupil followed his descent towards it. Jake’s throat began constricting in terror, knowing that this was the end of him. Knowing that this chance of life, of living in this new world that he had grown to enjoy, was at its end.

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!!

THUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!!

The eye loomed closer, eclipsing the void. All that Jake knew was the sickly yellow of the sclera, and the hour glass pupil staring at him with undisguised disinterest. Nonchalantly, the pupil moved away with a loud grating sound of massive flesh rubbing against massive flesh. The eye pupil slowly, ever so slowly, moved through the sclera, gazing into the nothingness around it. Seeing nothing, it moved back to the falling speck of dust heading directly towards it.

“Enough.”

And with the sound of a thunderclap, the world exploded into white. Jake slammed into white marble, knocking the air from his lungs. Gasping and coughing, he curled into a ball on the cool stone. Staying there for a few minutes, shaking off the impact and what he had experienced, he slowly rose to his quivering legs and looked around.

The blank landscape, filled with rolling fog, settled his nerves. He remembered this place, and it comforted him. Looking around, he did not notice anything besides the white sky, white fog and white marble at his feet.

Taking a shuddering breath, he began to chuckle. The chuckle grew into gut-wrenching laughter as his stress flowed out of him. After what felt like hours, his laughter began to die down.

Still chuckling, he wiped tears from his eyes and began to walk, grabbing a cigarette from his Inventory as he went. I don’t want to do that shit again. What the fuck was that thing?

“Welcome back, Jake.” Jake froze at the voice, far more deep and masculine than what Lilith’s childlike voice was. Turning around slowly, he saw a figure.

The figure was made out of twisting shadows and smoke, giving it an indefinite shape. All Jake could see were a general humanoid shape; four limbs, a torso and a head. The boiling smoke would occasionally create figures within the figure; screaming skulls, blooming flowers and other incongruities would appear in the figure, giving it an unearthly appearance.

“… Thanks. Where did I go to first? I thought that Giggles said I would be brought back here.” Jake asked the figure with slight hesitation. Something was wrong.

“Ah, Lilith.” The figure’s voice was an amalgamation of a young boy and an old man speaking at the same time, both gravelly and high pitched. “She has been… a pain, lately. Always trying to give more information away than is proper.” The figure gestured behind it and upwards. Jake looked, and saw the small figure of the loli-goddess being held into the air with thousands of tendrils of shadow and smoke. Her eyes were filled with tears as she mumbled through a tendril wrapped around her mouth. Jake blinked at her, then turned his attention back to the figure.

“Umm… Okay? Well, that’s different.” Jake slowly put the cigarette into his mouth. Attempting to light it up, he found that his magic would not work. Quirking an eyebrow at the imposing figure, he asked slowly. “You got a light?”

The figure tilted his head slightly, and a mass of righting tendrils explode from his body. Collapsing together centimeters in front of Jake, the tendrils formed into a pulsing ball of shadow. Slowly, the ball began to constrict within itself, until it was in the shape of a lighter.

“… Thanks.” Jake grabbed the shadow-lighter, and lit his cigarette. Alright, this guy is fucking creepy. Has hentai written all over him. I feel really bad for Giggles right now. Jake took a drag, feeling the toxic smoke sooth his nerves and muscles. Exhaling the smoke, he began to think through what had happened to him lately. But before he could ask the figure, it interrupted him.

“You failed.” That simple sentence stopped Jake’s thoughts cold.

“… How so?” Jake said, staring at the figure. The figure did not move, the rolling smoke that made up its body creating skulls that appeared to be laughing at him.

“You died. Is death not the ultimate failure?” The figure said, his dual toned voice betraying no emotion. His body, on the other hand, was switching between cackling skulls and wilting flowers.

Jake blinked, and his gaze moved over to Lilith’s dangling form. She was staring at him with helpless eyes, tears occasionally trickling down from her face.

“Would you mind if you brought her down? It’s a little distracting.” Jake asked the shadow figure.

“When we are done.” He turned the ball of darkness that was his head to look at the goddess. “She has learned her lesson, but I do not want her interrupting us.” The figure said nonchalantly. He refocused on Jake, his eyeless face seemed to be gazing at him with curiosity. “Do you know why you failed?” He asked with his emotionless voices.

Jake paused, thinking it over. Taking a quick drag, he exhaled it. “I was cocky.”

The figure stared at him for a moment before speaking. “Possibly, but not the real reason.” The figure turned his body slightly, and began to glide across the ground, his legs moving far too slowly for him to move as quickly as he appeared to be moving. “Come.”

Jake flicked the butt of his cigarette into the mist, and followed. Jesus, this guy is a piece of work. But, he’s strong. At the very least, he’s stronger than Lilith. Fucking hell, what did I get myself into?

Jake thought over what the figure had said. “If that was not the real reason, then what was?”

“Think, and you will find the answer.” The figure shot back without turning as he continued to glide through the fog. A skull was fighting a flower on his back, the skull shooting flames out of its eyes while the flower fired thorns from its stalk.

“… I do not know.” Jake responded after a minute, his mind unable to come up with a solid excuse.

“I see.” The figure said, and suddenly stopped. Jake narrowly avoided bumping into the figure from behind. Fuck, I really don’t want to touch whatever the hell that is.

The figure turned around and stared at Jake. Jake stared back, blinking occasionally. The figure turned back around and continued to float through the blank expanse of fog. A moment later, Jake followed behind it.

“What,” the figure spoke up again as Jake strode behind it. “do you have that most other on this planet do not? What would give you an advantage that you failed to utilize?”

This time, it was Jake who stopped walking. Instantly, the figure stopped as well, and turned to face him. Jake looked down, then back up at the figure.

“My knowledge of more advanced science, and my three Masteries with magic.” He said quietly, mind whirling at the thoughts that he had forsaken from thinking.

“Precisely. And why did you fail to utilize these advantages?” The figure questioned.

Sighing, Jake scratched the back of his head. “Don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t want to reveal all of my trump cards, maybe because I didn’t think of it.”

“I see.” The figure stated. “Remember this, Young Jake. You have a mission, and this mission has given you immense power. Do not misuse my abilities again.” With a crack of thunder, the figure disappeared in a burst of light. Flinching, Jake raised his eyes to shield him from the light. Blinking the spots out of his eyes, he looked around the blank landscape. Sighing, he grabbed another cigarette from his inventory and, surprised that he still had it, lit up with the shadow lighter.

“Fucker likes to seem mysterious and shit, doesn’t he?”

A groan came from behind him, and turning he saw Lilith floating slowly towards him while shivering slightly. She looked up at him, eyes still glistening with tears. “Yeah, he does that. But what he said actually does make sense. You’ve kind of been pussy-footing around your magic. I hardly remember you using your Air powers, and even if you did, they were rather basic.”

Sighing, Lilith conjured a pair of chairs and sat down with a groan of satisfaction. “He’s been holding me up there for a while, and, while it is somewhat… exciting, it still hurts.” She gestured to the chair opposite her, and Jake sat down as well.

“I really didn’t need to know that, but thanks for the information. Didn’t expect you to be into bondage.” Jake replied, taking another drag.

“Everyone’s got their kink.” Giggles shrugged lightly, making her dress glimmer through the colors of the rainbow. “Anyways, you’ve got about five hours left before you go back. What’s your plan?”

Jake took another drag, exhaling slowly. “I don’t know. I need to get back with the group. I’ve got a plan for the Elves and Beast-Kin, but it’s pretty convoluted.”

She nods. “It might work, but there are never any guarantees with plans like that. Go in with at least three or four back up ideas, because things never go the way that you want them to.”

“Yeah, figured as much.” Jake sighed, thinking things over. Watching the smoke curl up from his cigarette, he sighed again. “I fucked up, huh.”

“More or less.” Lilith agreed. “I know what you were planning on doing. Having an identity that wasn’t hated by everything and everyone is a great idea, but that’s not really going to help you here.” She gestured through the air, and a table with a steaming pot of tea appeared between them. Grabbing a cup, Lilith poured herself some tea and offered it to Jake, which he waved away politely.

“I know. I just wanted to be able to go into towns without being killed on sight. And now that I dealt with whatever the hell that fucking thing was in the darkness, I definitely don’t want to go through that shit ever again.” He shudders, his mind replaying the gargantuan eye that seemed to stare at him like a speck of dust.

“Well, that was one of the better hells that people could go to. That was the Third Circle, the Dark Realm. It’s where those that regret their choices end up if they have committed evil deeds. And, well, murder is one of those.” Lilith took another sip.

“Fuck, that’s messed up.” Jake sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring up into the white expanse above. He slowly dragged on his cigarette, thinking things through.

Suppressing a shudder as he thought of the Dark Realm, and coming to a decision, leaned forwards and facing the loli-goddess again.

“I won’t hide behind a false identity again. I will be me, with all of my abilities showing. I’ll get your races to cooperate even if I have to drag myself back from death hundreds of times.” Pausing for a second, he thought for a moment. “Hey, by the way, what happens when I do what you want me to do? It’s definitely going to take a while, but since I’m effectively immortal, it will eventually get done.”

Giggles giggled lightly, and placed her cup back on the table. “Took you long enough to ask that. I don’t know! Haven’t thought that far ahead yet! It’s going to be a long time still. You still have around twenty some odd races to meet, kill, and build your reputation with.”

Jake stared at the smiling goddess for a long time, before sighing slowly through his nose. “Of course there’s a shit ton of races,” he mumbled underneath his breath.

Lilith laughed whole-heartedly. “It wouldn’t be a good story if it ended so quickly. I can’t wait to see that Owl-Girls face when she realizes that you’ve been lying to her since you met. It’s going to be sooo good!” She devolves into a giggling fit, while Jake groaned and put his head into his hands.

_____________________________________________________

The hours passed with Lilith making jokes at her Agent’s misfortunes, and mocking him as she described, in detail, how much she enjoyed watching his fight with the Golem, especially after he had burned off all of his clothes by healing himself.

Lilith was bouncing through the air happily as Jake finished off his last cigarette in her realm. “Ready to go?”

Taking another drag, and flicking the butt into the vacant mist while exhaling, Jake nodded at the energetic loli-goddess. “Might as well get this over with. Knowing you, you’re going to send me falling down in the sky again, aren’t you?”

Giggles looked shocked. “What, me? Why would I do such a hurtful thing? It’s almost as if…” The ground underneath Jake fell out from below him, and he started plummeting through the air. “… You know me so well!” Lilith devolved into another fit of giggles, before poking her head through the hole. She stopped laughing for a moment, before pouting. “Oh come on! That’s not fair!”

Jake, having expected her actions, had been deciding the best way to counter act the pit fall. Deciding on a simple spell, as soon as he fell past her domain and into the world of Laeris, he began to cast. Tendrils of shadow burst from his back and began to wrap around each other on the sides of his shoulder blades. Within moments, a pair of large reptilian wings stretched from his back. Completely black, faint purple light could be seen through the membranes of the wings, inky tendrils of shadow arching back and forth beneath the fake skin. On the elbow of the wings, a single large claw poked from the top, glinting in the light of a rising sun. Small wisps of black smoke followed after the wings, giving an eerie look to the wings.

He extended them with a thought, and caught the wind, and he began to glide slowly through the air. It took some adjustment to the new additions, but soon Jake was soaring through the air on his new wings created from shadows. By manipulating the Air around him, he created updrafts to help him gain altitude.

Pulling up his notifications, he went through the fight with the Orc band and what had happened afterwards.

[You have defeated Orc Warrior Lvl 30] [You have defeated Orc Saboteur Lvl 35] [You have defeated Orc Warrior Lvl 31] [You have defeated Orc Warrior Lvl 39] [You have defeated the Orc Shaman, Eit-Varum Lvl 115] Congratulations! You have reached Lvl 39! Int + 13, Wis + 13, 13 Attribute points ready for distribution. New Spell Created: Great Combustion By concentrating the explosive power of Fire into a small area, you cause a destructive explosion within a short distance of yourself. Be careful, for this power can injure the caster. Mana Use: 30 m (50 m/s for charging). New Spell Created: Final Redemption You have ignited your very soul with the strength of Fire. This Soul-Fire consumes all, and depending on the strength of the caster, will obliterate all within a set distance. (Chance to obliterate everything within radius. Increased chance of instant death the closer the distance to the caster.) Mana Use: None Health Use: All remaining health (1% health=1 meter) New Spell Created: Shadow Ascent Now that’s unfair! I wanted to watch you scream and fall and stuff! This is stupid! Mana Use: 100 Mana Sacrificed (Sacrificed Mana will not be regenerated) New Spell Created: Rising Columns What are you doing? You don’t even know how to fly. You’re just falling… with style. And now you create stuff to help you fall in style better. Mana Use: 30 m/s (per pillar of air)

Jake froze for a second, looking over his new level. Well, umm… Okay, I can deal with this. I think that makes me… about a 133? Jesus Christ, this thing is over powered. He threw seven points into Endurance, and the other six went into Vitality, bringing them up to 28 and 29 respectively. Looking down towards the land far in the distance, he recognized that he was still on the road to the Elven forest of Dark and Spooky, or whatever it was called.

Carefully adjusting his wings, Jake formed an updraft directly below him and ascended higher into the air. As he ascended, he looked up and down the road, in an attempt to find any travelers or some sign of where he needed to go. When he got to a certain point, he was able to see a large blackened crater along the side of the road, still smoking in the rising sun. Grinning to himself, he prepared for what he wanted to do.

This is going to be fun.

Jake collapsed the wings, and he began to plummet. Laughing to himself as he rocketed towards the ground, he slowly unfurled his wings, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness for a moment longer. He arced from his straight plummet into a horizontal path, taking him towards the giant smoking crater. Experimentally beating his wings, he learned how to adjust his speed and flight path without relying completely on his Air manipulation. He could not help but laugh at the feeling to be alive, and his heart-felt laughter echoed off of the plains as a figure darted through the sky, trailing darkness behind it as it went.