Vale pushed himself up, though his body resisted, it felt sluggish and unwilling. Whether it were the lingering effects of death itself or the consequence of being transported to the Demon Realm, he couldn't say. Either way, he took his time, steadying himself as he rose.
Once upright, he scanned his surroundings. The cavern walls and ground were covered in jagged, navy-coloured rock, their uneven surfaces gleaming faintly under the dim light. Above him, sharp stone formations jutted from the ceiling, vanishing into the pitch-black recesses of the cave. The air was cool, carrying a faint, earthy scent that clung to his lungs.
His eyes followed the cavern's ceiling to a massive opening—a gaping tunnel stretching upward, at least a hundred meters. Its edges were smooth, worn down by time, as though something had once clawed its way out. Through that tunnel, the moon hung in the night sky, pale and distant, casting its ghostly glow over the dark stone. The dim light shimmered against the jagged walls, while a faint breeze whistled through the hollow, an eerie whisper in the dead silence around him.
For now though, it seemed like he was alone.
Vale exhaled deeply, his breath steadying. He wasn't in immediate danger. That was good enough for now.
Wasting no time, he shut his eyes, pushing everything else away from his mind. He focused on a single thought.
"Status Window."
At once, a translucent rectangle flickered into existence before him. Lines of text materialized across its surface, appearing just as he had read in books. This was the moment every child in Verythmia dreamed of—the moment they first saw their status window.
*****
Name: Vale
Core: Dormant
Artifacts:—
Relics:—
Abilities:—
Unique Ability: [ Ravenous Spark ]
*****
His focus shifted toward his unique ability.
Unique Ability Description: [ Endlessly hungry, the spark devours all as it continues to grow ]
"Huh? That's all?"
A frown appeared on Vale's face. He did not have high expectations—in fact, he had none, but after reading the description of his unique ability he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
There were many different types of unique abilities a person could get. They could range from offensive, defensive, supportive or even knowledge type ability, but Ravenous Spark? It didn't seem to be able to do anything.
Wasting no more time guessing what the spark does, Vale closed the status window and shifted his mind towards his newfound ability.
He felt a hint of energy burst from inside his abdomen, and move toward his hand—and soon after, above his outstretched index finger, a tiny black spark materialized.
Tiny was an understatement. The thing barely existed, smaller than an opened peanut, its form appeared unstable—more fluid than flame. It gave off no light or heat. In fact, if not for the cool sensation tingling against his fingertip, Vale might have thought he was imagining the whole thing.
Vale spent the next couple of minutes testing his unique ability, giving it a variety of commands, but no matter what he said, the spark refused to move—lingering lifelessly in the air.
He stared at it for a long moment.
Then, with a single thought, he dismissed it.
The spark vanished instantly, leaving no trace behind.
A deep frown settled on Vale's face.
He had no weapons. No armour. His Core was still Dormant, meaning he couldn't even use the most basic forms of mana reinforcement. And now, his Unique Ability, the one thing that could help him in this dire situation, appeared completely useless.
Questioning how he was supposed to survive the Demon Realm like this Vale looked around his body.
Dressed in nothing but his pajamas, and his fists as his only weapon, he felt both powerless and defenceless.
He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to focus.
Sitting around and feeling sorry for himself wouldn't change a thing.
He needed to find something—anything—that could help him survive.
Pushing away all his thoughts, Vale moved around the dark cave.
He moved cautiously, although he believed if anything was there with him he would have been attacked already, one could never be too cautious in the Demon Realm.
Thanks to the moonlight falling in the cave through the hole in the ceiling, Vale was able to somewhat navigate around the nearby surroundings of the cave. However, as he moved away from the dimming light, his surroundings darkened.
As his vision was about to get consumed by a total darkness, he noticed a small crevice in one of the rocky walls. Its size wasn't great, but large enough for him to squeeze through.
He pushed himself into the small opening.
Just as he fell onto the rocky floor on the other side of the crevice, he instantly noticed a difference in texture.
Vale exhaled, steadying his breath as he ran a hand over the smooth floor beneath him. Unlike the jagged, natural rock of the previous cavern, this surface was worn—polished.
His expression darkened.
This place wasn't abandoned.
His muscles tensed as he slowly rose to his feet, eyes darting across the cave. The air here felt different—heavier. It clung to him, damp and stale, carrying the faintest hint of rot. He could no longer hear the distant wind from the sky above, only an eerie silence was pressing against his ears.
Vale's fingers twitched, wanting to summon the tiny and useless Ravenous Spark again—just not to be empty handed, but he stopped himself. He didn't wish to trigger anything that may lay in this damned cave.
He took a careful step forward, pressing himself against the wall of the cave, as his eyes adjusted to the near-total darkness. His foot barely made a sound against the smooth stone.
Then he saw something faint in the far distance.
Light.
It wasn't the moonlight from before. No, this was something deeper in the cave—a dim, flickering light emanating from the distance.
His heart pounded against his ribs.
He placed his left hand on his chest trying to calm his racing heart, but it was to no avail.
Vale didn't know whether he should feel happy or terrified, but compared to the darkness currently consuming him, he thought any light was better than none.
He would much rather be attacked under some light—where he could see, than a complete darkness. And so he slowly walked toward the source of light.