HHm, where am I? Michael's voice echoed in a blinding white void, an expanse so vast it swallowed all sense of direction. He blinked, expecting the ache of his sixty-year-old body, but felt nothing"no heartbeat, no breath, only a strange weightlessness. Was I sleepwalking or something? He glanced down, and a gasp escaped him. His hands were wisps of shimmering energy, like smoke laced with starlight. His entire form was a translucent wisp, yet he could feel his limbs, a phantom echo of his mortal self.
Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but white"a suffocating, featureless light that pulsed faintly, as if alive. I think I'm still sleeping, but it feels too realistic,†he muttered, his voice trembling. “Somethingâs not right. He tried to breathe, but there was no air, no need for it. “Wait, there's no air in here, and I'm not breathing, but I can see and hear myself. This doesnât make sense.†His mind, shaped by years of reading novels like The Beginning After the End, churned with possibilities. Was this Dicathenâs afterlife, a realm beyond Sapinâs mana-lit skies?
He wandered, or perhaps floated, through the void, the sameness gnawing at his sanity. Hours passed"or was it days? Time dissolved in the white expanse. Then, a black dot appeared, a speck of shadow in the endless light. Maybe that's the way out, he said, hope flickering. I'm a hundred percent sure this isn't a dream. Maybe I died, and this is my soul form. Hmm, that makes sense.†He recalled TBATEs lore: souls bound by aether, Asuras wielding fate. But what is this white place? Is it the afterlife or something? Only one way to find out.â€
He moved toward the dot, his wisp-like form gliding effortlessly. The void was a test, he decided, like the trials of Dicathens Relictombs, where mages faced ancient riddles. Sapins mages trained their mana cores"Light Red to White"seeking power. Perhaps this was his initiation into such a world. The dot remained distant, taunting him. “For those who seek something must pay something of equal value, he recalled from a novel. His payment was mental stamina, for while his soul felt no fatigue, his mind teetered on despair.
The white expanse was relentless, its light a mirror of Dicathens mana storms, where raw magic overwhelmed the unprepared. Michael clung to memories of New Yorks grit, his parents loss, his firing. I've endured worse, he told himself. He pictured Ashber Town, its mana-forged lanterns glowing against the Beast Glades roars. The Triad Councils tensions"human, elf, dwarf"hinted at war. If this was his path to Dicathen, he would not falter.
I don't know how much time it's been, he said, his voice hoarse. “A year or more, I don't know. And that damn black dot isn't growing any bigger. It's like it's so close but so far. He didn't hunger or thirst, a trait he likened to TBATEs high-tier mages, sustained by mana. This is some kind of test,†he decided, his novel knowledge guiding him. Any reader would know these types of trials. The dot was his goal, like a mana beast's core, promising power.
After endless drifting, the dot surged toward him. Its moving! he exclaimed, fear and excitement colliding. Damn, is it good or bad? I don't know, but I might die"wait, aren't I already dead? Whats the worst that can happen, right? He braced himself, but the darkness swallowed him, a cold wave that drowned the white. He emerged in a cosmic realm, stars swirling around a massive throne of obsidian, etched with runes like those in Dicathenas ancient ruins.
On the throne sat a being of breathtaking beauty, its form defying descriptiona"neither man nor woman, with eyes like twin nebulas. Michaelâs soul-form solidified, his white hair and wrinkles returning. He met the beings gaze and instinctively looked down, his instincts screaming danger. A wise choice, the being said, its voice shaking the stars, “for if you looked any longer, you would have perished, mortal.†Michael steadied himself, sensing this entity rivaled TBATEs Asuras, perhaps even Kezess Indrath.
The being had crafted this trial, a gate to Dicathenas world of mana and war. Michaelas journey had just begun, in a land where Sapins mages clashed, Elenoirâs forests whispered, and Alacryaas shadow loomed.