I was now in a bar, wasting myself on whiskey. I think gin would’ve been better, but the taste didn’t match up.

I let out a sigh, staring at the empty cup. Sure, it didn’t make me drunk, but it still had the burn.

I was happy even an hour ago, but it deteriorated just as fast. Sandy came out in a fit, as I left her in an actual dump! Which really did cheer me up.

And to make it worse, I ordered her to get back in my subconscious space, which she complained a lot about for a while. Seeing me not bothered, she started pleading how she would become an adorable sprite from now on.

It was still far from enough to make me feel sad for her, so this time, I more or less threatened her, and she complied unwillingly.

The ear-to-ear laughter waned after a while, and I was getting bored! So, I asked her to come out, and I was sort of delighted to see her in bad condition.

Her wings were gone, and her petite figure slumped beside me, rasping for air. Seeing her overdramatic breathing, I wondered if they too needed to breathe to survive.

Anyway, that can wait. I was more interested in myself, and I wanted to know more. One thing I was sure that I was no longer human, but I still did have a human appearance. There was no mirror to check myself, but I was sure I had two small protruding in my forehead, somewhat similar to mum.

After Sandy calmed down a bit, I asked her, ‘So, how do I make a portfolio, like the one you showed me?’

She replied dryly, ‘It’s quite simple. After all, you know yourself better, but things like that are far easier for me.’

She paused for a bit, her pitch rose a bit, as I saw glitters in her golden eyes, ‘I can make one for you, but you need to mold your subconscious as I want!’

I looked at her sheepishly, ‘Good try!’

‘Okay, at least! You can change it to something else than toilets?’ Sandy sounded so desperate that it made me feel bad.

‘That I can try,’ gave an ensuring smile to Sandy. She also perked up a bit.

Sandy closed her eyes for a while, then a page appeared in her hand, which she gave to me. She seemed happy.

I complained, ‘It’s plain. You could’ve made it more-grand like yours!’

Sandy shrugged, ‘Simple is beautiful!’

I just gave her a blank stare and started checking the paper.

Name: Weiczny Garm

Race: Devil (Dire-wolf)

Traits:

Superior Fire & Heat Resistance Superior Fire Affinity Malevolent Extra-dimensional (Partial) Shapeshifter (Shared) Superior Regeneration Superior Enhanced Senses Diffused Core (Inherent) Lullvoker (Other-Worldly) Earth’s Dearest

Skills:

Divine Obscurance Abnormal Superior Regeneration Thermal Fluctuation Resistance Hypnopompic

Gifts:

Other-Worlder: Congratulations! You’ve successfully managed to traverse worlds. As the system is wise and merciful, one of your desires is granted. You’ve been gifted a trait ‘Lullvoker’.

(‘Lullvoker’ has been enhanced by Primordial Gaia & Earth)

Gaia’s Hope: Once a primordial with reverence, now a forgotten entity. The mother of humans, titans, and all, was a figure of prosperity and well-being, now lost and sealed. Gaia, with the last bit of her divine spark, has brought you into this world to fulfill her destiny. She will protect you till you grow. You’ve been gifted ‘Divine Obscurance.’ Earth’s Dearest: Earth, the very place where you existed. A planet thriving with life. Even in your death, your fondness for Earth has made the Earth happy. Though you may not be there anymore, but she is there. A fraction of her will lives in you. Wherever you go, life will flourish. You are a personification of her tiniest will. An Earth Sprite, one of the lost legends, be your guide.

(‘Earth Sprite’ has been modified by the system and Gaia, according to the current world.)

Scion of Sesyll: Sesyll, a legend, if fulfilled, might’ve been the youngest to sit on The Pantheon. Alas! A half-step Goddess yet perished! But her legend still lives. You, her son, have inherited her will, skills, prowess, and a fragment of her memory. This is but a keepsake, a gift for the legend to be reborn through you.

(Sesyll Velnas’s skills are being processed by ‘Sandy’.

Current Progress: 07%)

After I was done with the page, I’ve got a terrible feeling about all these. The Gifts sounds rather ominous, especially the one with Gaia, and Earth’s been flashing the red light since the beginning. I glanced at Sandy, making me sigh longer.

‘Hey, why is there no description for the traits and the skills,’ I asked sandy.

‘They are much personal!’ Sandy shrugged.

‘So!?’

‘You need to feel them out yourself.’

‘And how may I do that?’

‘Dunno!’

‘At least you can give a bit vague idea, right?’

‘Nope.’

‘Then how the fuck there’s a description with the gifts?’

‘They are sort of shared.’

‘Okay, that doesn’t make any sense. If you have no idea about my skills, then how are you gonna help me in battles?’

‘That, I think I will manage.’

‘Not helping. So, are they like what the name suggests?’

‘Yeah, sort of like that, except some minor changes.’

‘So, malevolent makes me evil, extra-dimensional makes me 4d, Wait am I even 3d!?

shapeshifter enables me to change shape, fire resistance makes me good enough to swim in volcanos?’

‘Yeeeaaah?’

That certainly doesn’t sound good. If I’m correct, hypnopompic is a med term. I can’t remember!

‘It’s sort of a hallucination one experiences when they wake up?’ Sandy chimed in.

‘Yeah, so it means I will get hallucinations every time I wake up?’ I mused at the thought, ‘Not shabby!’

‘Okay, you can leave. We’ll leave after I take a nap. Oh! I fixed my subconscious space,’ I assured Sandy.

I wasn’t practically a revenge-driven person, nor do I’ve any desire to do so. I just wanna sleep for the remaining days peacefully, doing whatever I like.

Last life was good enough. I lived a decent life. I was in the late 40s and didn’t feel like I missed anything. So, I’ve no fucking idea why I ended up here. All I wanted was to sleep eternally.

And so on, I kept thinking about the cause. I knew I got isekaid, but luckily not to kill the demon king or whatever bs. I might’ve enjoyed adventuring if it was my younger days, but now I’ve no idea. Maybe…

I drifted off.

I was in a haze. My vision blurred from the sudden light. My vision normalized slowly, and I discovered myself in a lush forest. It was young and still wet from the last rain. Its canopy was eclipsed by broad-leaved evergreens, and morning light danced through their crowns for a range of herbs, shrubs, and thick flowery bushes to nurture in the bed of moist Earth and pebbles.

Was I dreaming? Am I on Earth? Or no, as I saw the sandy creature, the only out-of-context thing standing before me.

Sandy happily greeted, ‘Welcome, Master. I love it in here!’

I scratched my temples, ‘I’m glad you like it, but I thought you would prefer more of a desert biome.’

‘Oh, no! Did you think I was made of sand?’ Sandy’s voice had a hint of amusement.

‘Are you not?’ I asked, puzzled.

‘Nah. It’s just my preference. If I wanted, I could’ve chosen something like treant, or something made of mud. Cool, isn’t it?’ Sandy’s nose pointed to the sky, engrossed in her smugness.

I sighed, shaking my head in agreement.

But the thing that bothered me was, ‘why?’ I looked around, this steadily got up, ‘Why am I here?’

Now that I sorted out the weird feeling at the corner of my head, I felt a faint connection to myself, I mean my physical body. It’s weird! It’s as if I am sleeping but not asleep, and this feeling, I didn’t like at all.

Sandy still was out of this world, basking in a moment of self-glory. When she was out of it, she cleared her throat, ‘Ahem, you slept and came here.’ She looked at me dubiously, ‘Isn’t that how it works?’

The realization is only putting me in a bad mood. I barbed, ‘You sleep when you sleep!’

Sandy flew closer to me, put her small hand on my forehead, and exclaimed, ‘You, okay?’

True, even I didn’t know what I meant by that. I said without vigor, ‘I don’t know!’

And to check out my suspicion, I tried sleeping few more times. After the 4th time, I was on the verge of jumping from Burj Khalifa in my subconscious space.

I can’t sleep anymore! Never! And the realization made me shiver and depressed. How am I supposed to live without sleep?

I loved to laze around and sleep. Taking that away is like putting me on a death sentence!

And to fight that depression, I was chugging down cups of whiskey, which really was of no help. Sandy, on the other hand, enjoyed my misery.

She poured glass after glass of every drink I could think of. I wanted to get drunk! But just as I thought, I couldn’t get drunk in my own mind. That was okay, but what wasn’t okay was not being able to sleep!

I couldn’t even consult a doctor because, to them, I would appear asleep. I muttered more curses under my breath as I chugged one more shot of vodka. The buzz wasn’t even close. Maybe my traits also helped to ruin it. I ordered, ‘Spirytus Stawski, one bottle, please.’ ‘Coming,’ Sandy chirped with a hint of professionalism. I chugged down the whole bottle in one go, but it only worsened the mood. Sandy murmured in my ear, ‘When are we leaving, hon?’ I stared at her obliviously, ‘Not helping, and that was cringe!’ She fixed her posture, ‘Master, you’re aware that we’re in a dungeon, protected by an illusionary array?’ I nodded. She sighed, ‘Your mother cleared the path for us, but if we get out of the array too late, the dungeon monsters will respawn. And we’re quite the deep in.’ I nodded, arms crossed on my chest, ‘If I remember, we’re on the 21st floor, a floor littered with rampaging trolls!’ She assured. ‘Give me something stronger, maybe with 100% alcohol?’ I tapped the bar stand,’ I ordered. ‘Arrggh~ I hope you die, Master!’ Sandy seethed, pushing a bottle of pure alcohol to me. I picked off my ear and took a sip, ‘Ah~ that sort of hit the spot.’ Another sip later, I empathized, ‘I would gladly if I can sleep!’ . I don’t know how long our charade went on when I finally woke up. I gazed at the endless grassy plains. I AM BREAKING! I wasn’t happy with the development, not at all! The enhanced senses made things much worse, but I also enjoyed it more than anything. The world looked crispier, the air smelt more vibrant, and I believe I can hear things much clearer and all those stuff. Honestly, I enjoyed drinking without getting drunk! But Sandy started nagging after a while, and I was depressed. I didn’t like getting nagged at, not by a tiny sprite! And to make it more miserable, Sandy accompanied me outside, and she still was nagging, seeing no initiation by me. I wish I could stop hearing things much clearly! ‘Superior Enhanced Senses’ there was more than the name suggests. I could feel it. I tried focusing on all my senses slowly, which was quite hard to pinpoint. After a while of trying, I was amazed to find that there’s a 6th sense. That was cool. Far later, I could finally discern between the senses of sight, smell, and hearing. They were connected by six fine threads, which were enmeshed and met at a single point. As for the other senses, there were too many of the fine threads to discern, at least for now. More fidgeting with the three senses, I finally found the two fine threads dedicated to each one of these senses. I wonder what will happen if I somehow manage to cut the threads! That was my next focus, cutting the two threads which represented my sense of hearing. It was easy, just as I thought, the threads snapped in half, and the world suddenly felt silent. I looked at Sandy. Her mouth was still moving, reassuring me. She cringed, seeing me stare at her, with an ear-to-ear smile. I laughed, for the first time, a bit relieved with how things developed. Not hearing anymore, I can survive with that! Now I need to find a way to actually sleep. I enjoyed the silence, in the illusionary plain, for hours, gazing at the distant horizon. Sandy gave up after an hour, leaving me alone! But I shivered, remembering how garrulous Sandy can be! Well, not that I can hear any of her endless yammerings! Despite all the sad things and my depression, a tentative smile drew on my face! I sprang to my feet. The depression made me more fatigued, I guess. I willed of getting out, soon the pain dissolved into dense mist. Sandy also came out. Her eyes practically sparkled. She said something, which I couldn’t decipher. I wasn’t good at lip-reading, and I didn’t want to be. The sky was replaced by another similar sky, but this one had much more shades of greys and sky-blues. The mist dispersed quickly, leaving me bare on an overhang of some rock. Rocky terrain with sparse verdant. And most of it was littered in blue monstrosities of more than 2 meters. I flinched as a pungent stench of blood invaded my senses. It was fresh and strong. I gazed over the fighting trolls from the overhang. They, without the slightest care in the world, hacked each other in halves. They were brutal and gruesome. The rocky plain was matted with purple blood and entrails, brain matters, and mushed organs. I looked at them with horror and awe. Even after cleaved in halves, they got reattached and once again entered the fray! It was painful to watch. I hardly managed to stop the urge to throw up. Once the horror in me settled a bit, a new feeling took over my system. It was excitement! I somewhat started to enjoy the carnage and also wanted to be a part of it. I glanced at Sandy, who didn’t portray any specific emotion, but she seemed a bit bothered. Catching my glance, she told me something, to which I only nodded, not understanding any of it. And she puffed out of existence. And another massive tree cracked, as a flying troll became almost paste against it! There were a lot of rocks and boulders. They, too, were huge! Something screamed suddenly inwards. I steered left to see a troll rushing me at an insane speed, with a huge club in one hand. It crossed the distance before I could move and swung the club in an overhead strike! The time slowed, or rather my reflex was way too fast that everything seemed sluggish! The club leisurely waved over my head as I ducked and took one step closer to the troll. Its mouth was open, showing two rows of dirty teeth and stench! Its eye slowly widened as it saw me move so fast. I was only over a meter tall, so I needed to jump to reach its chin and punch with all the force I could muster. I felt something crack when my fist met its chin, which too slowly caved inwards, and the troll blasted away, crashing against few more trolls who felt my presence! All of it happened in less than a second, and I gracefully landed on my feet, dumbfounded! I gawked at the troll with the drooping chin and the other four trolls, who also failed to react and were now lying on the ground. The troll that got punched stared at me. I could feel its murderous intent directed. And strangely enough, a sinister smile crept on my face! I sidestepped on right, the ground beneath reverberating from the impact, as bits and splinters of broken rocks and hardened soil flew in all directions. I glanced back to see another hulking troll with yet another club! I pivoted on my left, kicking the troll’s calf with my right, and I felt it crunch. I really wished I could hear the sick crunch! It wavered, hunching a bit. I instantly kneed it in the face. Its whole face caved in. It felt like breaking a watermelon. Bits of brain matter and purple blood splattered on my knee. It fell limply, not dead! I looked at the troll with awe as its broken mush of a face regenerated at an awful speed. And it was hard to watch. How the fuck one survives with a mashed head! I snatched the club from which was still clutched in its right hand. And started beating the helpless troll, like a maniac! The troll bent and broke unnaturally under each blow yet managed to regenerate. So, I started making a puree out of its head, which seemed to slow down its regen. My 6th sense tingled, and to check the source, I looked around to find an army of trolls heading my way. Some trolls were still unaware of me or didn’t see me as a threat, as they were busy killing each other. And the four trolls with the one with broken chin stood dumbfoundedly! Not moving at all, I slowly approached the five of them when a sudden wrongness alerted me. I ducked, rolled left, instantly springing on my feet, tilted my body, transferring all my weight on my right leg performed a clean inward crescent kick. But instead of sending my opponent fly, a gut retching pain erupted, making me flinch. I felt my mind getting white for a milli-sec! It seemed slow; a battle-axe cleaved my left leg from the shin. I screamed in pain, stumbling face-first on the ground. But rolled again to dodge getting cleft in halves. Bits of rocks assaulted my prone form; some even drew blood from my eyes! Inches away was the battle-axe shimmering in all sorts of iniquitousness! I felt it again, the sense of wrongness, as the battle-axe-wielding troll slashed the axe at a low angle. Its edge glowed faint red with hints of blacks. The haft was dripping purple fresh from troll blood! The moment once again slowed. But I was in no shape to dodge it completely. I tried my best to perform a vault, but I was too slow, as I lacked a limb! I shielded my vitals with bare forearms, tilted my head backward to avoid the grunt of it. The axe chopped them clean like butter in slow-mo, and time again, ran normal. I finally saw the troll. It was a barrel-chested hulk, almost 3 meters. It had a stocky build and only wore loins for cloth, wielding a sinister battle-axe. The triumph expression on its face changed to one of irritant, as it failed to decapitate me. I looked at my leg. A stump was already growing out from the chopped leg. It itched so bad, but trying to scratch it would mean death! With little more intent, the process was completed, and the unbearable itch subsided too. Another instance of intent to regrow my forearms produced two pristine forearms with a brief itch. The sheer rate of recovery made even the troll winch, not to mention about me! I just gawked at my forehand! But soon, I broke out of my stupor as the axe-wielding troll lunged at me with the axe over his head. He moved with insane agility despite his burly built! But his size left a lot of opening for my far smaller frame. I dived beneath him, totally avoiding the blow, and rushed to a group of trolls far north. They seemed much easier targets to deal with. I leaped to the spear-wielding troll first. Easily dodging a torrent of piercing jabs, I closed in and dug my bare hands in its fleshy throat. It didn’t even budge, making me wonder if it even felt pain! I jumped vertically, performing a mid-air spin and yanking out whatever fleshy part was in my grasp. Before I landed, it flinched as a fresh a deep gash ran across its shoulder to stomach length and sprayed purple blood. Another troll with a machete caused the wound. I used gravity to land my feet behind the currently writhing troll. A quick spin later, I appeared before the machete-wielding troll and decapitated the spear-wielding troll with a flying-spinning-back kick. It fell in a lump, dead! And if I was to guess why a troll, almost unkillable from physical injuries, died so easily, is because of my trait ‘Malevolent’. ‘Malevolent’ didn’t necessarily make me evil, but it coursed within every devil, making this trait one of our defining traits which set us aside from other races like demons and all. ‘Malevolent’ impeded all sorts of regeneration, and if I was to guess, it also corroded vigor with time, giving a major edge in one-one, or against creatures with insane vitality like trolls, treants, golems, etc. How do I know all these? Thanks to mum! The feeling became more evident, and now I can feel the malevolence flowing in me, empowering each strike. I danced through a flurry of punches, kicks, slashes, and stabs. Leaping sidewise, ducked another slash and plucked the spear from the dead troll. I parried few slashes with the spear’s shaft. It felt natural, as if I had been practicing spear techniques since born. Well, factually speaking, I was born in this world only a while ago! The spear smoothly pierced the solar plexus of another troll. Tweaking the spear out of the writhing troll, I parried another slash performed a push-kick, sending the rushing troll fly backward. It crashed against a boulder and looked lively. Tsk~ not dead! I gained some distance from the trolls and used the spear as a javelin, skewering another troll. I instantly covered the ground between the skewered troll and me, snatching the broadsword out of its hand. And in a single upper-crescent-slash, decapitated it. I stepped on the corpse of the troll to pull the spear out. In the meantime, I glanced around to assess the situation. It was hectic as before, and a lot of trolls were almost on me! I searched for the axe-wielding troll, who was busy killing another fellow troll. I threw the spear to the oncoming army of trolls with all my might and leaped in the frontline with the broadsword. The sword was massive for me as it was made according to troll anatomy. Either way, with its heavy frame, and sharp edge, I mowed the trolls. I was in a frenzy when the sense of wrongness bubbled in my mind, once again. The time slowed as I saw my doom approach from my right! A troll, a bit shorter than the normal ones, wielded a katana, and his hand was stretched in a long crescent arc. Both the troll and its blade glowed in the same sinister red, and despite the slowed time, the troll moved in a blur! I enjoyed it! It was one spectacular slash, and I finally understood what the wrongness was. It was mana! I knew I wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge it, so I just enjoyed the perfect maneuver. Its speed cut the air. I felt a cold line caress my jugular vein, drawing out a small line of red blood! The blade didn’t even reach, but the pressure already dug an inch in my neck. The tricking blood now formed a geyser, and the world unfroze! My vision swirled violently as if I was in a tornado; a kaleidoscope of colors formed and vanished. Something burned and stung terribly, but I could no longer feel my body. Soon the burning sensation seethed, and it started to cool down rapidly but not too cold. Millions and millions of needles poked my brain. Oh~ maybe the needles were dipped in extra spicy sauce! The spinning came to an end as it bounced on the ground face first. After few bounces later, my head settled on the ground, upside down. The only thing I saw was the vast sky of the dungeon. It seemed a bit greyer, and oddly enough, it calmed me...