The beginning and the cave

Everything was black, but life slowly found a way into Theo. He could hear the hooves of horses stepping on the hard ground and birds chirping in the distance. As he opened his eyes, he saw a blonde man talking to him. "Hey, you. You're finally awake."

Theo was bound by ropes together with nine other people in a small and cramped cart. The sun shined bright, making his eyes take a long time to adjust.

"Anchieta…" He said, still groggy.

There was a group of ten carts carrying humans through a forest path. Around them, orc-like monsters marched, threatening everyone who dragged enough attention to themselves.

Theo was inspecting his surroundings when the guy from before warned him. "One person tried to run already" He shook his head. "Don't, I don't even know how he escaped the ropes, but the orcs promptly smashed his head."

With a huff from one of the orcs, the rest of the way was traveled in silence.

Is it really the past? Did I go back in time? So nostalgic…

After years in the abyss, one begins to treasure moments like these. Humanity was dragged into the abyss with the excuse of being turned into a superior race. Most people often thought it was just some sick god's playground. All of them disappeared from the earth at once. There was no warning.

One million people were transported into the abyss on the first batch. Following that the number of people transported increased exponentially for the following three years until all of humanity was there.

Theo enjoyed the fresh air flowing through his lungs. Anchieta, I'm really here, there's hope.

His start was a bit late. By the time he was transported, a whole year had already passed, and more than ten million people had already arrived. Maybe it isn't so bad. I would hate having to structure those people from the ground up. He shook his head at the thought of those people, his friend Lucas included, who had the patience to make such huge global movements.

The first depth. Depth of the Kingdoms. It all started for him from a simple escape from capture. Orcs were guarding the carts and leading them to goblin pits. It was really impossible for him to escape under the watch of the orcs. His forte has always been preparedness, not brawling, just because I have a penchant for explosions those people call me crazy. He sighed, for now, he could only wait, think, and prepare.

The carts stopped in front of a cave by the side of a huge mountain. The captives were escorted inside. The way was illuminated by ore veins that emitted a dull green light. Inside the cave was a much more spacious dome the size of a football field. There were clay and wooden houses everywhere. It was a village full of goblins. Wooden bridges connected the different entrances to the village and some two-story buildings.

The place was dirty and loud, but as soon as the orcs appeared, all goblins stopped moving and started groveling on the ground. A goblin approached the orcs on the front, one of the few who had clothes on. The orc grumbled a few words to him, which induced a few yelps of surprise from the goblins behind. The murmur was promptly contained with a few grunts and a smashed goblin head.

The group was dragged through different bridges to one of the cave pathways on the ground floor. There were many branches down there. They passed by twenty goblins carrying pickaxes or ores around. The paths were at least not cramped since they were made to support the size of orcs.

During the trip, Theo had been making a mental map of the cave pathways and the village arrangement.

In the end, they finally arrived in a wide room at the end of the tunnel. The orcs shoved everyone inside then shut the entrance with a thick wooden door.

The pent up frustration inside the group was finally released as people started crying, screaming, and clawing at the walls. The saner of them tried to break the door but to no avail.

"Fuck this world! Fuck this shit! I will rip apart every single one of those green worms out there with my hands for that!" A man screamed from the top of his lungs.

That one was clearly heard by all of them. They were all quiet because of a dark aura that appeared in the center of the room. Its contrast with the dull green light that came from the walls drew everyone's attention. From there appeared a black imp. "I will hold you to your word, human." It laughed.

With the height of only one meter and a skeletal frame, the imp was quickly underestimated. The same man who screamed, now with confidence in numbers by his side, threw a kick towards it.

With a swat of his hands, dark energy cut off the man's legs. Before the man could scream much more, the imp cut off his head.

The imp sighed, "what a gory start…" and smiled, "but that's how I like it."

"Welcome to the abyss!" It clapped its hands. "Congratulations, humans, for being part of the races on the path of superior evolution. I'm Imp and came here to warn you that everything is very much real. Forget about the life you had, the past is over."

"But let's start from the beginning…" It paced around, "first of all, you are captives of the goblin encampment in the abyss. Try your best to survive."

It pondered. "Let's see what else I absolutely need to tell you now," and slammed one hand in a fist on top of the other. "The good part! Blessings and power."

It waved its hands, and a seed of blue light got into everyone. "Now, just think about pulling out your information."

As Theo did so, it appeared.

Human - Lv. 0

Blessings

Prompt recollection

Attributes

Physique: 11

Control: 13

Senses: 16

Mind: 18

Spirit: 8

There it was, the blessing which made others think he was the most suited to change the past. Only him, who was able to remember most of his past life, would be able to change the future.

It’s not something abusive as perfect recollection, but it’s much better than some minor one. All blessings had a type and a trait, his being a ‘prompt’ recollection meant he would remember things as his mind received triggers of those memories, or he searched for them.

After dwelling in his blessing for a bit, Theo dismissed the information screen. It’s useless in the end. I am as strong as I am, no matter the number.

As he looked up, everyone was looking into ethereal screens. They were visible to everyone. He observed and memorized what he could about people’s blessings.

After it was satisfied with the crowd’s expressions, the imp continued with a smile. “Good, good. Now I need a volunteer.”

Everyone hesitated. They had seen what the imp had done, the body on the floor was still fresh. This moment of stillness wouldn’t last long, and before it broke, Theo stepped forward. He knew what would happen after all, and there was nothing to fear. Better pull ahead of others as much as I can.

The imp seemed happy with his bravery and exclaimed. “Now extend your hand in the body’s direction and think of absorbing its life force.”

As Theo did so, a blue string of light came out from the man’s body and entered his.

“Check out your info now, it should have been turned into sweet experience. You can use it to enhance any attribute.” The imp smiled. “It’s just like a game, easy, isn’t it? Here have some more to show them the effects, dump it all into physique.” He extended his hand as a thicker blue string transferred to Theo.

And sure enough, there was an extra line.

Experience: 5

For appearance’s sake, Theo assigned his experience to strength. The whole game setup was just a crutch to make it easier for humans to adapt, but it worked wonders. Each experience point was worth one point in any attribute.

Physique: 16

His body got toned and more muscular as his physique jumped up from being complete average to the stronger half of humanity. Five experience is no joke this early.

“I told you didn’t I? You are on the path to becoming a superior race,” the imp exclaimed, “risk yourself, challenge the world and kill. That’s the way of the abyss,” and raised a finger. “But above all, survive.” It showed an image with around fifty armored humans marching. “Your little friends seem to be coming for help.” It gave a creepy smile again. “They should arrive in a week, do your best to stay alive.” The imp disappeared again in an aura of darkness.