Totem Ascension
1302 Words
Karl held on to the glowing stone and let it pull in his soul, this time not with violence, but with calm, deliberate grace. There was no pain, no tearing sensation. Just surrender.
When his eyes opened again, he found himself in an ethereal realm: a vast, hilly meadow of emerald grass beneath a star-filled night sky. The air shimmered faintly, as if reality itself were breathing. Karl rose to his feet and stepped forward. Wherever his feet touched the ground, the grass bloomed with a bright cyan glow, rippling outward like light through water.
Glowing butterflies drifted lazily through the air, joined by fireflies burning with soft blue flames. They hovered, danced, and spiraled around him, illuminating his path. The world felt unreal, too perfect, too gentle, like a beautiful dream that could shatter at any moment.
Karl watched the insects swirl together before him, their lights tightening into a spinning cyclone of brilliance. A smile crept onto his face, wonder breaking through his caution...
Until the lights scattered.
The insects dissipated into nothingness, and standing where they had been was a tall, shadowy, hooded figure.
Karl’s smile vanished.
The being’s cloak was dark and shredded at the seams, as though it had weathered countless battles and ages long forgotten. A heavy hood concealed its face entirely, and in one hand it held a massive scythe. Its presence alone drained the warmth from the air.
It was death given form. The collector of souls. The end of all journeys.
"Who are you?!!, why did you bring me here?!!" Karl demanded.
The figure did not respond.
Karl broke into a run, charging towards it, but with every step he took, the distance between them remained unchanged. The being did not move, yet never grew closer. Karl skidded to a halt, breathing hard, mind racing.
"Azareal?!" he called.
The hooded figure slowly raised its head. Two glowing eyes ignited within the pitch-black shadow beneath the hood.
"It's you isn't it?" Karl said, his voice shaking. "You gave this to me" he held the pendant.
"Why?!, why choose me?!!, what do you want from me?!!"
Azareal slammed the base of his scythe into the ground.
The meadow shattered in a blinding burst of light.
Darkness swallowed everything, then light returned again, cruel and red.
The world had been laid to waste.
The sky and earth burned crimson, soaked in blood. The air reeked of smoke, decay, and death. Karl staggered and coughed violently, his lungs struggling to draw breath.
A sharp stinging sound sliced through the air, followed by the snap of unfolding parchment.
A magic scroll hovered before him, its surface etched with ancient symbols. Though the language was unfamiliar, Karl somehow understood every word:
'Karl Wilhelm, son of Ludwig Martin Wilhelm III, this is the beginning of your journey, do you accept this challenge?'
"What challenge?, what is this ab-"
Pain exploded inside his head. A deafening noise crushed his thoughts, driving him to his knees.
"Yes!!, Yes!!!" he screamed.
The pain vanished instantly. The noise faded. The scroll’s words shifted.
'This is the inner world of your totem, the Azareal stone, this is where your mission begins, son of Wilhelm'
"And what mission is that?" Karl snapped.
The scroll vanished, then reappeared, glowing brighter, this time bearing only two words:
'Totem Ascension'
Karl stood frozen, struggling to understand, but the text began to change again.
'You have been chosen by the fallen, to bring his glory onto the realms, as a vessel of his Almighty essence, and his weapon of justice'
"And who is the fallen?" Karl asked.
The scroll answered plainly:
"I who stands before you"
Karl spun around, he could hear an actual voice this time.
Azareal stood behind him once more, his face still hidden beneath the hood.
"And...how do I fulfill this task of yours?"
The scroll reappeared.
'Train, grow stronger, ascend above all else, that is what you're here for, that is what you were created for'
The scroll stretched wider, revealing rows of information.
'Level: 0, Items: One dagger, one healing potion. Skill level; 1, no special abilities, Accept challenge to level up'
"I... accept" Karl said, doubt lingering in his voice.
The scroll cleared.
'First mission...'
The ground trembled violently. The sands beneath Karl’s feet shifted and collapsed as the earth split open, swallowing him whole in a roaring cascade of sand and dust.
He crashed into a vast underground chamber carved from dark stone. Flame torches flickered weakly along the distant walls, barely piercing the darkness.
The scroll appeared again.
'...defeat the level 1 beasts, demon dogs'
"What?!!" Karl shouted as a sharp dagger materialized in his hand.
Clicks, growls, and snarls echoed from the darkness. One by one, pairs of glowing, bloodlusted eyes emerged.
Karl tried to count them, twenty… twenty-five… then he stopped.
"What now?!!" he cried.
Footsteps thundered toward him.
"Behind me!!"
He spun and slashed.
The demon dog’s head flew clean from its body, collapsing at his feet.
"How did I do that?!!" Karl wondered, but there was no time to think.
The pack charged.
"s**t!!"
As they rushed him, something changed. He felt them, every footstep, every breath, every movement. Even blind in the darkness, he knew exactly where they were.
His body moved on instinct.
Kicking, slashing, spinning—he tore through them. One bit down on his leg. Karl howled and slammed it into the ground, driving his dagger into another simultaneously. Blood soaked the stone floor.
Soon, nothing remained.
"Ha!!, come on!!, that was easy!!"
The torches flared brighter. Karl stared at the bodies, the blood coating his hands, his clothes, his skin.
"My God..."
The scroll appeared again.
'Mission complete, phase two initiating...'
"What?!..."
'...Defeat the desert serpent, ascend to level 1'
The chamber shook violently.
A massive red serpent slithered into the light, its fiery eyes locking onto Karl. Its forked tongue flicked in and out, sending chills down his spine. He tightened his grip on the dagger.
"Come on!!" he shouted, false confidence ringing hollow.
The serpent lunged.
Karl leapt aside as it smashed into the wall, then spun back at him instantly. He sprinted, ran up the wall, and launched himself toward it, dagger raised high to strike.
The serpent anticipated him.
It surged upward, caught him in its jaws, and burst through the ceiling, hurling them both into the open desert above.
The serpent flung Karl skyward, opening its mouth beneath him to swallow him whole.
"Not yet!!"
Karl kicked off the edge of its jaw, twisting free and landing hard in the sand.
"I'm not dying yet!!"
The serpent observed him, then struck again, faster than Karl could react.
Its jaws clamped around him.
Karl wedged the dagger between its teeth and held its mouth open with everything he had. His muscles screamed. Veins bulged. He cried out as his strength began to fail.
His vision dimmed.
Then he saw it, a card lying inside the serpent’s mouth, fallen from his suit. A sword was etched onto it.
His body finally gave in.
The serpent snapped its jaws shut.
It slithered away, satisfied... until it wasn't.
A blade erupted and tore through its belly with terrifying force. The serpent collapsed, its entrails spilling across the sand.
Karl emerged from the corpse, drenched head to toe in blood. He stared at the sword in his hand, then watched it vanish.
He dropped to his knees, utterly spent.
The scroll appeared once more.
'Mission complete, Desert serpent eliminated, Totem Ascension, Level 0 moving to final phase...'
"You can't be serious!!"
The scroll vanished.
Azareal stood before him again, his hood still over his head, but this time, he wore full battle armor beneath.
Karl’s jaw dropped, not in awe, but in primal terror.
'Totem Ascension, Level 0, Final phase, Kill Azareal...'
- Writer
