Under the three moons that illuminated the town of Alderom, a sight both horrifying and grotesque met the eye. Mounds of bones and haphazardly strewn bodies littered the outskirts of the simple town, hidden by dense purplish fog that writhed and shifted like living smoke.
In the epicenter of the malevolent sight, an obsidian rock stood resolute in the middle, its visage greatly highlighted by the absence of the dense purplish fog that dominated the landscape, in a 50-meter radius around it.
Rex madly dashed forward towards this ominous-looking rock, as he dashed forward he could not help but take notice of the current state of the battlefield.
The sheer volume of humans within the battlefield had more than tripled from what it was since the battle commencement, not minding the high mortality rate of the battle. The growing number was a result of the able-bodied members townsfolk, all who had rushed to offer aid and actively resist the relentless invasion.
Gone were the shambling forms of the grey common skeletons; now, only the imposing, much stronger, weapon-wielding dark skeletons remained on the field of death. As the full weight of the scene settled upon Rex, he could not help but feel a thug in his heart. The graphics were brutal.
The several unawakened residents of Alderom, had formed mini gangs, that were each fiercely battling a Dark Skeleton, but not minding their ganging up. The dark skeletons continued to cut down this unawakened humans with ruthless efficency.
Rex focused his gaze on the obsidian rock, he was about to enter the zone around it that was completely devoid of purplish fog.
'DUUUuuuuu….'
He felt a tremble in his mind, like as if his brain were a finely tuned string, plucked and left vibrating. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, yet he steeled himself and resumed his urgent dash towards the obsidian rock.
A few moments later, 'Duuuuuu…..'.
The sensation came again but much stronger, Rex switched from a dash to a slow walk towards the rock, doing his best to not turn tail and run as the throbbing sensation in his head made him feel.
When he reached within the 10-meter mark of the rock, the sensation grew much stronger. It felt like his brain was being turned into mush from the intense vibrations. He paused his advance, he had no idea when he fell on his knees.
He could hardly form any thought under the throbbing pain in his head; the small iota of thought that clawed its way through the pain, was a single word.
'BAN'
A word that filled him with repulsion, he had tasted the reality of cosmic ascendance; his experience so far was mostly filled with pain. But he will be damned to let it go. Amidst the thawing pain, he could spot several skirmishes between human and skeleton that raged on around him.
The residents of Alderom fought desperately as they battled to protect their town from the invasion of the undead. Rex could visualize Balhrok having to hold back two of those humongous fleshy creatures, maybe even more by himself.
He recalled the little girl he had saved when the invasion began, maybe it was all a bunch of high-level quantum processing, but the emotions they filled him with was real to him. Rex gritted his teeth and stood.
"ONE..TWO..ONE…TWO…" He muttered under labored breath.
'It's that easy he thought as he resumed his march towards the meteorite. It was already within rich. He could already spot the unnatural patterns that ran all across the body of the obsidian rock.
Rex kept reciting his 1-2 mantra as he put a foot before the other, he had no idea about his exact level of progression, but before he knew it, he stood face to face with the glossy bark surface of the obsidian rock (Meteorite).
All across its body, he could spot a certain texture. As he concentrated on it, he noticed clearly that this pattern was formed from very tiny glyphic markings that spread all across the body of the rock, covering every inch of it.
He did not unnecessarily stop to take in the wonder of just how micro the glyphic markings were, or the marvel of how much effort it would take to cover the massive rock with it.
Rex stretched his hand forward to touch the rock, just as his visions had alerted him.
The ache in his head was blinding, but it did not stop him from noticing the changes that happened as his hand stretched forward toward the rock. The hustle and bustle of the battlefield disappeared.
As his hand approached the rock crackles of static current pulsed between Rex's hand and the obsidian rock.
Rex did not even notice the rock, his being was flooded with another sensation.
INTIMACY
It felt like it was only he and the rock that existed in the world.
Like the current reality was a construct solely for his interaction with the rock.
Rex was too occupied to notice, but as his hand approached the rock the activities all around him progressively slowed.
Dark skeletons held their swords in fixed, unmoving poses, and residents of Alderom ceased their resistance as they stood frozen place.
Balhrok's struggle with the two humongous creatures froze.
Luna's stood still with her Arma drawn, an emerald pulsing arrow lodged in it.
Time itself slowly came to a halt as Rex's hand drew closer and closer to the obsidian rock.
The moment his hand touched the rock, the throbbing vibration of his mind stilled.
The sensation was so sudden and therapeutic.
Before Rex could fully appreciate the sudden relief, his mind was assaulted with a new kind of sensation. This one felt like his mind was being dragged out of him with a forceful thug.
Ahhh!!!, Rex exclaimed sharply.
Before his scream escaped his mouth the sensation was gone, but several things were suddenly unsettlingly different.
Rex could not immediately put him mind to what exactly was different, but the realization slowly came to him.
He first noticed his hand, he had touched the rock with one hand, but at the moment his hands were making contact with the obsidian surface of the rock.
'The rock'
'It had changed.'
He noticed the second wrong development. It felt less like an object he was touching and more like a surface beneath him, a thought that had not fully formed before he realized that he was no longer standing but kneeling on this obsidian surface.
Rex slowly raised his head, away from the obsidian surface.
He was no longer standing in a deathfield of humans and undead. He was currently in a very large hall.
As he took in the observation, A dark tab pulsed in his view with a single string of word that cleared the remnant of his disorientation.
OVERLORD TRIAL COMMENCED…