Warning: gore, mentions of suicide, psychological torture through sensory deprivation.

Very heavy chapter.

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Cold droplets of water fell to the floor of the dungeon, making quiet splashes as they impacted the cobbled tiles. I had to hold back a groan as I realised that I would be stuck in this damp shithole for who knew how long, since trials could take days in extreme cases. I had no other choice. This dungeon had been meticulously prepared for me over the past few months, ever since I told Doran that I would be tiering up at the guild. He had relayed that information to Andross, who had stuffed the dark room full of black crystals, which he assured me could help during some trials.

Somehow, he had forgotten to look for a better spot, that wasn’t leaking like this room was.

Oh well. I had to admit that my frustrations were just a way for me to express the stress I was feeling at the moment. The last trial had been a true ordeal that came out of nowhere, and they were supposed to get harder and harder. Even worse, I had no idea what was in store for me.

At the end of the day, there was nothing for it. Time to begin.

TIER 2 MAX LEVEL REACHED

Advance to tier 3?

I nodded in affirmation.

Ding! Class evolution initiated....confirming background....noting behaviour....noting status....calibrating....

Ding! Commencing evolution!

Then, I passed out.

-scene transition-

I woke up to an empty landscape. No, THE empty landscape. The one I had found myself in, all alone, at the end of my last trial.

I was surrounded by white emptiness, standing on an ocean of dry, white dust. The horizon was as blank as that of the sea, with no building or sign of life in sight.

I remembered this place. This had been my end, the end of the empty path I had followed in my dream. And yet, this time, I felt in control. I could walk, run, and talk. I remembered my family, my friends and what I had achieved. This time, the trial couldn’t control me... I was sure of it.

All I had to do was find out what the trial wanted, before I could move on. Maybe it would attempt to show me more sad scenes...

And so, I waited. A few hours passed, I think. I waited for something to happen, someone to appear, for something to do.

But nothing happened.

I waited a little more. A few days, maybe?

Nothing.

With no other option, I decided to start experimenting. I attempted to dig through the dust, but couldn’t pierce the crust below me. Then, I tried running around, in search of anything that could help me progress. Still nothing. No matter how far I ran, everything was the same. I tried flying upwards, since I had plenty of mana to spare. Still nothing. Mental palace? Didn’t work.

Eventually, I got bored and decided to continue waiting in one spot. A few more days passed. A week, a month, which eventually turned into years, possibly decades. A long time. There was no sun here, but I could see in the dark.

Still, nothing changed. Nothing changed about me, nothing changed in my surroundings, nothing changed at all.

Was this it? The end of my life? Would I forever be remembered as a kid that got stuck in a trial for eternity?

I asked myself for an answer a thousand times, but I got tired of hearing my own voice after a while.

-scene transition-

I think a few more years have passed by now. The system hasn't let me go yet. Everything feels the same. Practicing skills feels pointless; nothing changes or grows. I've tried everything, but it all feels pointless after a while, like I've been chained in an invisible prison. I'm still alone, I still can't feel anything...

My memories are becoming blurry and I think I might have forgotten my name. I know it'll come back after a while, the memories I lose don't tend to stay gone. Well, not like it matters. At this point, I've spent more time here than outside, I think.

When would something set me free? I would do anything for freedom...

Then, right when I was about to lose all hope, something finally changed. Finally, after all this time, something happened. A small white bowl appeared in the middle of the big empty. A pedestal appeared underneath it and slowly pushed it out of the ground, until the bowl reached my waist.

I walked over, and felt immense pressure come over me. The sudden change had pierced my world like a cold blade. I hadn’t seen anything change, ever. Yet, here it was. My muscles tensed and released tension sporadically as I hobbled over, the stimulation too much for my body to bear.

But I had to see it. See what was inside the bowl.

I reached it, and looked inside.

A... squirrel? A squirrel, and two words, that were engraved on the edge of the bowl. I recognised these words.

‘Sacrifice it’ was all it said, with no punctuation.

I stared at the squirrel. It wasn’t moving, its eyes were glazed over. Hesitantly, shivering, I reached into the bowl and grasped the unmoving body of the creature. It was warm. But it was dead. Only now that I felt the warmth of the creature, did I realise how cold I myself was. I almost envied the little critter.

I tried to prod it, talk to it, inspect it… Nothing made it move. Was this all I had to do to pass this trial? I had no qualms with killing creatures, but this seemed a bit cruel.

Yet, as the soft fur of the little animal brushed against my skin, I couldn’t help but desire its warmth for myself. I couldn’t help but imagine what sensations I would feel if I ended this fake creature’s miserable pseudo-existence.

I squeezed.

The creature broke. Warm fluid ran down my fingers, and its innards spilled out of my hand, into the bowl.

I revelled as the sensations spread across my hand, then my arm. The feeling of something that wasn’t dust, wasn’t metal. I almost cried and started laughing, I was so excited to feel again. This creature had died so that I could feel something, anything.

That wasn’t how it was supposed to be, I remembered. But I had lived like an empty vessel for such a long time, why couldn’t I enjoy it a little? I deserved it... Everyone did, but especially me. I needed... more. It was already dead, anyway, its warmth gone... what was the harm?

Slowly, I reached back into the bowl, and continued to play with the squirrel inside. I squashed and broke it, until it turned into a sticky paste. The feeling was... riveting, strangely.

Then, the red squirrel disappeared. It was gone. It didn’t come back.

I screamed, cried out for it to return. I mourned its loss. I begged the system for anything...

Days passed. I begged louder.

Weeks passed. My voice gave out.

A month passed. A boar appeared in the bowl.

I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of ripping the boar into pieces, but it, too, disappeared.

I waited, and waited some more.

A cactus, a beetle, a beehive, a bear, a bird...

More creatures appeared. They were all fantastically interesting, for a while. And yet, the trial didn’t let me go. By now, I realised that I wasn’t in control after all. It wasn’t supposed to be like... this. But I was.

Every time something appeared, a bowl of the appropriate size would grow out of the ground and tell me to sacrifice whatever it carried. For some reason, I kept doing it. It never grew boring, unlike everything else in the world. I knew I shouldn’t like it, but I had nothing else.

More creatures came and went. Sometimes, I tried to resist. I kept the creature around for a while. I comforted myself with its warmth. But then... the creature lost its warmth, by itself. That’s when I knew that no matter how much I loved them, the creatures would always become worthless or die by themselves.

That’s why I sacrificed them for a long time, until it became an instinct to do so.

One day, I tried to sacrifice myself, too. An existence like this wasn’t what I had wanted, at first.

But I couldn’t. I wanted to live.

Eventually, an upside-down bowl appeared. It was massive. Large enough to contain a monster, even. But it was upside down. To get what I wanted, I would need to get inside.

I lifted the bowl, only to be greeted by pure darkness. I couldn’t see inside, for some reason. Wasn’t I supposed to be able to see in the dark? Oh well. Maybe I could sacrifice the darkness, this time.

The bowl seemed to disappear as I stepped inside. Instead, I was surrounded by pure darkness. I began to move, reaching for the walls of the bowl, but couldn’t find any solid surfaces. Just pure blackness. Then, a voice came from the darkness.

“Arthur? What are you doing here?”

That voice... It couldn’t be...

“Cerion?”

“Arthur! It’s been such a long time! Where have you been?”

Before I knew it, a dark figure enveloped me in a hug. I couldn’t see him, but I knew Cerion was there. Carefully, I tried to hug him back. Instinctively, I squeezed. I felt his body compress. Cerion broke and fell to the floor, dead.

“Cerion? Cerion!” I screamed out into the darkness. It was no use. He was gone.

I stood still in shock for a while, until I heard another voice.

“Art! I finally found you!”

Dad.

“You’re not real, not real, not real, not real, not...”

“What are you muttering about, Art? Of course I’m real!”

I squeezed. He broke. I think I cried.

Again, I considered killing myself. Then, I considered destroying everything I came across.

But, I refused. Doing either of those would be the same as admitting defeat to the trial. I had persevered for years and survived near-endless solitude. Giving up made It all worthless.

So, I swore not to compromise with the system. I wouldn’t pick any of the choices it was forcing on me.

I wouldn’t sacrifice anything, anymore. I would live endlessly in this emptiness if I needed to, without breaking anything.

More voices appeared. My mom, Andross, Doran, Cerion and dad again... even little amber’s bubbling. All fake. The system showed no mercy.

More and more voices, all of them I recognised. They spoke simultaneously. They tempted me, they hugged me, kissed me, loved me. I hated them. But I refused to kill them.

My fingers dug into the impenetrable crust of the big nothing, and the darkness wrapped around me like a cloak.

Days passed. Months. The voices persisted.

My fingers dug deeper and deeper into the crust.

A year passed, I think.

The voices were loud, and constant. They never seemed to give up.

My fingers dug a little deeper. Until... I felt them pierce through the crust. Finally. I squeezed. Everything around me... broke.

The voices stopped, and the darkness lifted.

I woke up on the cold, hard floor of the dungeon, tears blurring my vision.

Ding! Class evolution complete!

Assigning class....[Hollow essence knight]