World 23467 — Void’s Territory

❖

The energy used for magic is called mana. It exists in both the environment and in the user. To make it easier to understand, Cu understood environmental mana as particles in the air. In order to use magic, the user must tap into their own reserves in order to make the particles do what is wanted. 

Mana in the environment is thin; the particles are not condensed, and a lot of beginner magicians use it up very quickly. An average adult trying to use a common spell is likely to burn up all of the environmental mana multiple times before having a successful use.

This is what Lru told Cu about magic.

“Uncommon: Spears of Ice!”

This was the twentieth time Void casted this spell. By now Cu was starting to feel exhausted.

‘Did Lru lie to me, or is Void just that strong, which is it!’

Cu attempted to make her way closer to Void, but when Void activated his spell, multiple spears made of ice would appear near him and fire at her. The first time he casted the spell she almost got hit, but as each one went by, her senses got sharper and sharper.

‘I definitely wouldn’t be able to dodge these spears if I was human. Void said that devils were naturally stronger but—’

“Uncommon: Spears of Ice!”

*Swoosh! Crackle!*

‘—Aside from dodging these, can a devil also think rationally in tense situations? If I was a human right now, I wouldn’t even be able to think about any words, or my actions.’

“Uncommon: Spears of Ice!”

Whenever Void used this spell, something holding her attention was the space around the spears right as they formed.

‘I think I’m getting a better understanding of environmental mana. I can see the space around the spears warp a little right before they form. Is it the change of mana particles to the actual spell?’

“Uncommon: Spears of Ice!”

*Swoosh!*

Cu ducked the spears, causing them to shatter on the unharmed floor. She shuddered, though the spears were broken, little pieces of ice still remained.

‘The damn ice is lowering the temperature in the room, and when it’s warming up it’s making the ground slippery. I don’t know what’ll happen if it gets too cold, but I hope nothing extreme.’

“Uncommon: Spears of Metal!”

‘A different spell?’

Two spears made of a silver metal formed from the air above Void. However, something was different about them.

‘Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I’m not sure how to describe it but… It’s the same feeling as when you run out of gas in your car and the engine stutters. It was like the mana particle was stuttering.’

Even while thinking about what that could mean, she still had the ability to dodge them. 

*Clatter!*

The seconds passed, Void should have fired another spear at her by now.

‘He stopped, does that mean that I was right? There’s no more mana particles?’

It was faint, but Cu could hear Void’s steps.

Though he had a body of darkness save for his eyes, his footsteps made it clear that he was a tangible being. In his hands, he held a staff around his height.

‘Jesus. Void’s like… around eight feet? That’s a long staff—’

Suddenly, Void swung at Cu. The staff grew in length with his swing. From eight feet to ten, to twelve, to twenty. It kept growing and by the time the staff reached her, its length went past her.

“Ha!”

Cu jumped into the air, going much higher than she expected. Void continued walking coolly. He knew his swing missed, but he followed through with the motion of his swing and as the staff got closer to the walls, its length shrunk until it was back to his height.

‘He definitely wasn’t trying with that attack. That was just a warning of what he could do.’

Cu looked behind her, at the metal spear on the ground.

‘He’s not doing anything else yet. Is he telling me to pick it up?’

She glanced at Void who was still only walking to her despite being able to attack at any moment. Cu took the chance and ran to the spear to pick it up.

‘It’s heavier than I expected… I know the spell’s called “Spears of Metal”, but is it made one-hundred percent of metal? Ugh, and it’s cold since it was touching the ice.’

*Woosh!*

As soon as Cu turned around, Void swung his staff. It was already right next to her by the time she realized it was there. She was able to swing her torso around and block the staff with her spear. However, she couldn’t block the force of the attack and was slammed into the wall. The damage on her body was tangible, but the wall was not bruised because of her.

“Argh! Phlegh!”

Cu looked at her hands.

‘I coughed up blood? I coughed up blood!’

Under normal circumstances, Cu would’ve been squeamish. However, after what she’s been through, she’s only surprised to see blood after fighting for so long. She slowly got up, cautious to not slip with the wet ground. While standing up, she saw the condition of her spear.

‘It’s bent. He bent it in the middle with that attack? He bent it like a cupid’s arrow with a heart in the middle—!’

Void swung again, this time from above her. 

*Clang!*

Cu was able to block the strike with the spear, holding her ground this time.

‘He’s pushing down on me… even harder… than before! My spear’s bending..! It can’t take another attack.’

Unable to hold out any longer, she titled the spear to her left side and pushed the staff away. Void could have attacked again, but decided to retract his staff.

‘A chance?’

Cu dashed over to her right, running to get the spear. She was only feet away from it when she heard something coming at her. She looked to her left, at Void and at his extended staff, but she did not see the end of it…

A cold feeling sprouted from her left foot. Pain injected into her center of it. A cold material rubbed against open flesh. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it. His staff stabbed through her foot.

The staff tilted down and left her foot in an awkward position to get a stable holding on the ground. 

*Woosh!*

Void flung through the air, using the staff as if he was pole jumping. As he got to the top of his jump, the staff grew shorter and Void got closer to Cu. In just a few seconds, Void was only ten feet away from her.

Despite her injury, and a foreseeable injury coming rapidly, Cu gave a sadistic smile. 

Perhaps it was adrenaline, or it was another perk of a devil. During his jump, Cu could ignore the pain and lifted her foot up and down the staff to see how well she could control it. The answer was completely. The staff eradicated any bone, nerves, tissues, or any form of matter that may have made it harder to move. 

She moved as though the staff was just a part of her body. Right as Void was approaching her, she swung her foot out and messed up his planned trajectory. For a second she could have sworn she saw some concern in Void’s eyes despite them only being red bulbs in the dark.

*Bmmmmmm.*

It was perfect, it seemed perfect to Cu. With her changing his trajectory, she left his side open for a jab with her spear, but he blocked it with his left hand, still holding onto the staff with his right.

With just a hand, he ripped it from Cu’s hand and threw it away like it was a rock. Now right in front of her, his hands closed into a fist. But before his fist could reach, Cu fell over.

Earlier, Cu was able to have a solid standing despite the wet floor. However while Void threw away her spear, she continued to hold onto it as best as she could. As a result, she was tugged too far for her right foot to keep stable contact with the ground.

She managed to dodge Void’s strike, but fell on her hip.

Instead of falling down with her, he rotated his wrist that held onto the staff to land straight on the ground before retracting it.

*Gush!*

Blood oozed out of her foot, yet it didn’t matter to her. Now on the ground, what she was trying to get was now in her possession. 

“Haaaah!”

Holding the unused spear, she jabbed and twisted it into Void’s leg.

*Bmmmmm.*

“W—wha…”

It was ineffective, the spear crumpled like paper upon reaching his leg.

‘Wasn’t the spear made of purely metal? It’s broken just like that? Does that mean this is the end..?’

*Step, step, step…*

She blinked and kept her eyes closed for a bit. When opening them, the only thing she could see aside from darkness was Void’s red eyes. They were red bulbs that attempted to rip into her eyes. Something about them clawed away at her. Her vision blurred.

‘Is he getting ready to kill me? Does it end..? Just like this? I did good… I hoped I did good… Will I see my family then? Yeah that’s right… I’ll get to wake up from this dream now…’

“Oh wow, uhm... I didn’t know devils could cry like that.”

Using the last of her strength, Cu focused her vision and saw the room again from the top of her vision. In front of her was Void kneeling down and offering a hand.

“You did well, you exceeded every expectation I had for you.”

Cu bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stay conscious. She slurred her words while she spoke. “S—s—so you’re not killing me?”

“No.”

Her tears swelled more. “Y—y—ya…” Her words came to an end.

Cu faded between consciousness and unconsciousness. During this period she could faintly remember a smile on Void’s face, though considering he was literal darkness with red eyes, she wasn’t sure how.

❖

“Oh? That’s a devil?”

“Yeah, don’t get too close to it, you don’t know what could happen.”

“Hm? What’s that book next to it… Nevermind, I don’t think I want to get close to it. Its breath stinks!”

“Be nice, that’s what you’re gonna end up looking like when you die.”

“Ha, you wish!”

“Hey, just be grateful that you’re not a human.”

“True… you have a point there…”

❖

The weeks passed by and…

Cu opened her eyes, staring into a well lit room.

‘I—it’s so bright…’

She slowly practiced her vision, getting it used to the light.

‘Is this a hospital or something? The light’s way too bright. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a hospital on Earth so… This must still be the Middlegrounds, but do they have white lights here? Isn’t this a fantasy world?’
After a few minutes, she could see well enough. She picked herself up and laid with her back against the wall. She looked around the room.

‘No one’s here… The floor’s made of white tiles… There’s a bunch of beds in the room, but they had me sleep in a cot on the ground? Well… I would’ve been too big for those beds…’

She sighed, “it still hurts… My left foot still hurts and my whole body’s sore…”

Cu stretched around before bumping into something. She looked at the object in question.

‘What’s that book?’

Next to Cu laid a plain, brown leather book. She picked it up.

“Did Void give this to me?”

The covers had nothing on them. She opened the first page. Inscribed in the inner part of the cover read “World’s Torch.” As she looked over to the next page, scripture started to form in black ink. It was written in English and read:

“This Sigil Action belongs to Cu Cole. Please read the next page to continue.”

‘What the…’

Curious, she did as instructed. Again, scripture formed before her eyes.

“Quest Log!

Quest 1: Survive against Elliot Raker for 3 minutes.

Please read the next page to continue.”

‘What the hell? Who’s Elliot Raker?’

Confusion swirled around her mind, but she flipped to the following page again.

“Quest given! Survive against Elliot Raker for 3 minutes.

Reward: World’s Torch, Useless Achilles.

Penalty: Death.”

But as she finished reading that, new text formed.
“Quest completed! Survive against Elliot Raker for 3 minutes.

Reward: World’s Torch & Useless Achilles.

Indicate the reward you’d like to receive.”

‘Indicate a reward? What the hell is this book? How am I even supposed to choose?’

Cu jokingly tapped the book as though it was a tablet, but the text “Useless Achilles” glowed before staying as blue ink. Something else was written after that.

“World’s Torch & Useless Achilles chosen! Information about the abilities can be found in the ‘Abilities’ Section of this Sigil Action.

Please read the next page to continue.”

At this point Cu had already turned off her brain. So much had happened that it was hard to be constantly surprised. There was also another reason she wasn’t as surprised about what was happening.

‘I think I might know what’s happening here…’

Instead of going directly to the next page, she flipped around the book and found the “Abilities” section near the end of the book.

“World’s Torch: This book is the Sigil Action of Cu Cole. Through this, the user will be given tasks to complete to receive benefits and rewards once the given task is completed, or failed. Further information is locked.

Useless Achilles: The passive ability to fluently understand, speak, write, and read in any language.”

“Hah!” Cu chuckled aloud. 

‘I knew it! I’m not sure what a Sigil Action is, but I have a system! I read some of these stories before, but I can’t believe it happened to me! This is great, but going back to Elliot Raker…’

Flipping to the quest page, she muttered the name, “Elliot Raker… Survive against Elliot Raker for three minutes…”

‘Elliot Raker… Is that Void? He’s the only one I’ve fought. Then, did he give me this book? Does that mean there are other people with systems out there? Well, I should look at the next page like it’s asking for.’

*Flip*

“Quest given! Fend off at least one attack from Metz.

Reward: The Flow, equal amounts of stat points as attacks blocked

Penalty: Nearer the Bone, Sweater the Meat.”

‘Fend off Metz’s attacks… I’m assuming I’ll be meeting someone named Metz soon. I somewhat held my own against Void, so I’m feeling confident about this. The second reward I’ll get are stat points… Usually in stories that have systems, you can upgrade your abilities or your body with those. Will this be the same? Though I never heard about getting an ability for failing a quest, at least I assume the penalty is another ability.’

“Whatever, this is great!” 

She couldn’t contain her excitement. Though being a devil seemed to give her an edge over others, she had known nothing about this world. At least this way, she had something to feel secure about; she had some sort of power.

While hugging the book and praising it as though it was a treasured item, Cu heard something at the corner of the room.

*Creak…*

‘The door’s opening? Who’s there..!’