Before the light disappeared, something fell out of it, a person.
Connor didn't even care anymore. He was dying. And yet...he sat up and looked to the fallen figure. It was a fair-skinned woman who seemed to be in her twenties, with silvery white hair. Her most noticeable features were the feathery wings poking out of her back, but they seemed damaged, reduced in size.
She stared at the scene with her golden brown eyes.
"Oh, hell no," she muttered, before turning away and walking the other direction.
"Wait!" exclaimed Connor with a weak voice.
"Who are you?" the boy ended up asking.
The winged woman gave him a quizzical look. "Well, as you can see from the wings, I'm an angel. But, uh, I just got banished here a moment ago...so I'm a fallen angel, I guess."
Connor looked a bit perplexed, but quickly accepted it.
Crazier things have happened, so this is more believable, he thought.
She was mumbling to herself. "This is the Void, right? A dimension connected to the world of Etheria....Ugh, Etheria? Even if I escape, I'll be in another universe. This punishment is a little too severe."
She looked at the forest's distorted vegetation with disgust.
"So, did you actually come from Heaven or something? What did you get punished for? What's your name? Do you know the way out? And can you help m-ARGH!" asked Connor, unleashing multiple questions before coughing up blood.
"Woah, that's too many questions...and you're bleeding to death."
The boy just stared at her from the ground with empty eyes.
Save me or don't save me. I don't care anymore.
A look of sympathy crossed her face. "I can survive here on my own and I know how to get out...but it'll be pretty hard. And I don't need a useless little kid. But I'll at least heal you."
A soft glow emanated from her palms as Connor was suddenly awake, the healing caused immense pain, but he was no longer dying (on the outside, at least). His shredded leg healed completely and his wounds closed.
"Can't do anything about the missing arm, though. Else, I would have already healed my wings," she added.
"Thanks for healing me, even if it was out of pity. But, what I can't understand is...I'm useless? How are you even surviving this place?"
She wore a white dress, had white wings and had silvery hair. She'd be easy to target in the darkness. Plus, she didn't have any weapons.
"Angels can use attack spells," she said simply, before walking away.
"Aren't you gonna help me?"
"Follow me if you want. Just don't get in the way."
Once the pain subsided, Connor stood up. "Wait, maybe you're acting like you won't help me, so that I'll be less suspicious of you when I do convince you to help me and that's when-"
"Wow, trust issues much? Jokes on you, cuz I also don't trust you," said the angel, before turning towards the dead guard and the knife held by the boy. "But this man betrayed you, right? That's why you killed him. I can't blame you for being distrustful."
Connor approached the corpse and began to loot for items. He grabbed a bottle of water, a belt bag, and a pocket knife. He didn't take the armour since it was too large.
Connor looked towards the angel, when-
Wait, there's a-
A shadow wolf jumped at her from behind. She turned around and split it in half with a beam of light that seemed to materialize around her.
She planted her hands on her hips, chin lifted, with a smug expression. "Minor angels like me are actually pretty strong. My power level is around high-A-rank, low-S-rank."
Then she got electrocuted by a golden light.
Welp, her moment of looking cool did not last long, thought Connor.
He still approached her out of concern. "Hey, you okay? What just happened."
"I'm so cooked," muttered the woman.
She adjusted her silver hair and turned towards the boy. "My attack spells got sealed just now, another punishment from Heaven. I can't fight anymore."
Her nonchalant attitude immediately disappeared. She stared at the darkness around her, and the horror slowly crept into her face.
Connor held his obsidian knife as his heart began hammering in his chest. Sweat trickled down his face as a horrible grumbling sound was once again erupted from nearby. The approaching monsters were here.
Suddenly, behind the trees, a swarm of things emerged. They had the shells of monstrous crabs, jagged and reddish-brown, and thick bear limbs burst from their armoured carapaces. There was something unsettling about the way they crawled.
The angel backed away in fear, no longer confident.
I still have to fight? I only survived because of luck and adrenaline...
Connor stopped thinking. Instead, he charged aimlessly.
The closest monster caught him in the chest, taking the air out of him. He stumbled and rolled. Immediately after, another creature spat acid that splattered his back. He screamed in agony. A bear arm grabbed him, digging its claws in him. Connor almost lost consciousness as the crab-like creature opened its maw.
What am I doing? I say that I want to die, but I'm struggling to live...I can't die now! That angel is useless right now, but she did heal me...I have to return the favour. I can't come back from death only to die again.
Connor jabbed his knife into the monster's eye. The abomination let out a screech as it dropped Connor on the purple grass. Then, the injured monster started getting devoured by its peers, their focus no longer on Connor.
I've seen those things before in illustrations about the Void...Umbra‑Kragor...that's what they were called. There's no doubt that the legends are real.
Connor looked around to see the angel running away from a singular Umbra‑Kragor, this one was bigger than the rest, standing at the top of a small hill. He sighed, put a pocket knife's handle in his mouth and quickly rushed up the pile of rock. After a few minutes, he reached the top and jumped on top of the creature. He jabbed his obsidian knife into the shell, pouring enough mana to crack into it. Holding on to the regular knife with his mouth, Connor stabbed it into a gap in the shell.
He was thrown against a wall of stone, pain travelling into his already acid-damaged back.
"Agh!"
Footsteps were heard and the silver-haired angel was now standing beside him. She put a hand to his back. It healed his injury, but something else happened. A surge of powerful mana awakened inside of Connor.
"What did you do?"
"I can't attack, but I can still share mana," said the angel, her expression was grim, but she gave him a nod, "I know the way out. I'll rely on you to survive...haha, I've got no choice, huh?"
The Umbra‑Kragor lunged with its claws. Connor ducked to the side, getting surprised at how quickly he was now moving, before slamming against a wall.
"You have to control it!" explained the angel, now standing at a safe distance.
Connor cleared his mind, steadying his remaining left arm.
The creature's front claws swung like hammers, but he kept sidestepping, countering its hits with the mana knife. Sparks of golden energy flared as he jabbed the knife, barely piercing the thick shell. The shared mana cleared away his pain and exhaustion, sharpening his focus. Mana surged, enhancing his reflexes and senses. He dodged faster, predicting the crab's wild, scuttling attacks. Each strike chipped at the beast, the boy's movements becoming fluid, almost instinctual.
Finally, with a precise thrust, he ducked underneath an in-coming attack, used his momentum to lunge forward, and drove his knife through the abomination's stomach. The beast shrieked, then collapsed.
"I thought you ran off," said Connor.
The angel had a relieved expression. "I'll be honest. I'm gonna use you to guaranty my own safety. I don't even know your name."
"It's only natural to rely on others and stuff. My name's Connor Gardeva."
"Gardevoir? Your surname is a Pokémon? That's so cool."
"It's Gardeva! And what's a Pokémon?"
"Oh, yeah. You're from Etheria, some generic fantasy world with no internet."
"Generic fantasy world? Are there different worlds? Is that why you said some stuff I don't understand?"
"Yes, there are different worlds...and also different versions of "Heaven". I'm from a certain nebula that oversees the multiverse. Can't go in any more details, sorry. It's secret."
"The multiverse? I read about the concept at school...It really exists, huh."
She extended a hand forward. "I'm Lumi. Nice to meet you."
After leaving the area, before the Umbra‑Kragors noticed them again, they walked and walked. Lumi channeled mana into her eyes to find the forest's exit, she also found safe paths whenever she detected danger. They eventually left the forest.
Connor sighed in relief as the ground was once again transparent. It was safer than the forest, at least.
A ruined store was in front of them. It was completely out of place.
Lumi immediately went inside to find some new clothes. Connor couldn't find any food. The only items worth picking up in the rotting store were a jacket and some boots.
Lumi came out of the changing room with a simple black hoodie, grey jeans and some shoes. Her damaged wings were hidden underneath the hoodie.
"These clothes are pretty comfy...but unfit for an angel like m-"
"An angel who needs to rely on some 'useless kid'?" added Connor.
Lumi rolled her eyes. "We have to reach the edge of this platform. We can jump from there and drift off into empty space. I'll use my mana to find a portal."
"How do you know all this?"
"I had to study your world for a test."
Connor suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his leg. He stared at it to see a small, crystal-like branch growing out of it.
"What?"
Then, he noticed it: a small mosquito-like insect was buzzing around. He looked up to see even more coming out of a large nest on the store's ceiling.
A surge of light emanated from Lumi. "Use mana! Their bites won't affect you that way!"
Connor felt for the last bit of shared mana and ran with Lumi. But then, numerous branches started sprouting out of his limbs, pinning him to the ground. He held his knife tight in his left hand and swung away the insects swirling around his head.
They're too small and fast. I need flames.
Flames started engulfing the obsidian blade.
"You're using too much mana! What are you-"
"When I say 'go' we get the fuck out of here!" exclaimed Connor.
As his mana's pressure destroyed the crystal branches that were trapping him, he aimed the flame-enhanced blade at the nest; the surrounding insects backed away at the flames.
"GO!" yelled Connor as he threw the knife at the nest.
They bolted out of the store as a burst of flames erupted from the ruined building. The explosion's shockwave sent them on the floor. Soot covered their clothes.
"Are you crazy? You wasted a lot of mana and lost your strongest weapon."
"I don't have as much mana as you to protect myself from those things," said the boy as he painfully ripped out the crystal twigs from his legs and chest.
He collapsed from the pain. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness: Lumi went over to rip out the remaining crystals from his arm. Connor fell asleep for the first time since he got trapped in this place. It felt peaceful.
***
Connor awoke, lying on the ground with a blanket. Some fruits lay near him. He bit into the sour fruit without considering if it was poisonous. It tasted fine.
A silver-haired woman covered in slight injuries approached, carrying a backpack and a sword at her side. The glowing sword seemed to be made of aura. It was a creation spell.
"You were sleeping for so long. I had to fight. But I was cautious enough to avoid strong monsters and-"
"It's fine. You don't need to give a whole exposition about your experience," mumbled Connor tiredly.
"Calm down. I had to carry you all the way here."
He looked around. "We're only two kilometers away from the store..."
"And it's true that you're short and skinny. It was easy to carry you."
"I'm average for my age. And I haven't hit my growth spurt yet," retorted Connor.
"What?" asked the boy as the angel let out a laugh.
"We're talking way too casually for people who just met," she explained, "and it's scary how fast you adapted to fighting."
"Yeah, I mean, this situation itself is unnatural...hey, do you think I've gone crazy."
"I think you need to go a little crazy to survive this place. You'll be fine."
She pulled out a rectangle with a glowing screen. "Here, you can have my smartphone. Manhwa chapters are downloaded. You can read them."
Connor held the smartphone in fascination. His appearance reflected in the screen: messy, dark blond hair and tired green eyes.
Then, he looked towards Lumi. "You're not a close-range fighter...so how-"
"My healing spells are good so I can just tank hits while swinging my sword. You can't be the only one who puts their body on the line," she said a bit hesitantly.
"Wait, how much mana do you have left? Cuz I can't use any right now."
She stayed silent for a while. "It's fine. I have enough."
Connor decided to drop the subject.
In ten minutes, Connor figured out how to use the weird device. He opened up some chapters of "manhwa", some sort of eastern comic and started scrolling through them.
This is so good.
Maybe it was the need for escapism from the horror of the Void, but he thought that reading manhwa was now one of the greatest experiences of his life.
Lumi was laying on the floor, deep in thought.
It was pure silence, until Connor decided to start a conversation.
"Do you miss anyone from home?" he asked, "I sound so corny, but I mean it. Okay, look, I'm just gonna talk about my friends. Listen if you want."
When he was eight years old, Linda, the old maid who worked for his family, had invited some of Connor's classmates to hang out at the mansion. It was embarrassing: adult inviting people you didn't even consider friends.
At the start of the school year, Connor had friends, but they started ignoring him when he ended up being one of the only kids who hadn't developed an affinity yet. He also had poor social skills and lacked the same interests. It wasn't even about social rank since the school was mixed with nobles and commoners who got along.
They ate all the snacks and played football in the mansion's gardens. Connor had tried to join in, but it was clear he wasn't included. He was ignored most of the time.
A few of his classmates had told him to hide as part of a hide-and-seek game. He had hidden in the mansion and waited...an hour passed.
"Woah, there's someone here!" an Asian boy had exclaimed, "It's obvious that they told you to hide to get rid of you. They're taking advantage of your house. Are you gonna do something?"
"I knew it...I want them to leave."
"Haha, you're such a loser."
Connor had thrown a punch.
Him and the Asian boy had gotten into a fight. And that was how he met Kazuto.
Kazuto and Connor were covered in bruises.
"Who are you?"
"I've been in your class for months. How can you not know? I'm Kazuto. And-damn, your punches hurt!"
"Sorry..."
"Anyways, you can tell that maid about your classmates." Kazuto had said.
"Linda?"
"The other one."
Monika, twelve years old at the time, was in the guest room, completing her middle-school homework. Once she learned that the "young master's" classmates were just there for the snacks and the gardens, she sighed, went to the football field and scared them away with her hydro mana.
Kazuto was flabbergasted. "Damn, that was some powerful mana arts."
A random boy with glasses walked out of the living room. "Connor, your house has some really good books."
"Oh, I want to introduce you to Anthony. This guy was reading during a party. Can you believe this nerd?" Kazuto had said.
"I was doing something productive, you lazy-"
"I know you were reading comics."
Connor had been weirded out by the two remaining classmates in the mansion.
"I'm hungry. Do you have somewhere to eat?" Kazuto had asked.
"Uh, how about ramen?"
"Because I'm Japanese? As expected of a racist."
"No, I didn't mean it like tha-"
"It's also racist to assume that White people are racist, Kazuto." Anthony had said.
They had started bantering.
For the first time that day, Connor actually felt annoyed. He had told them to leave in an irritated tone.
"After we eat, how about you use that anger to train? Come on, I know a place."
Then, the three 3rd graders had sneaked into a mana gym and made a fool out of themselves.
"Hey, Connor. Maybe I'm just pretending to be nice to exploit you like those other guys." Kazuto had said.
"Well, even if you think that, we could still become friends...and you paid for my food so I don't think you're like that."
"I'm also not like that, just saying." Anthony had added.
And that was how they became friends.
Connor finished the story. It was cringe, but it filled the silence.
After a while, Lumi opened her mouth.
"I have a person I respect back home in Eden. I don't know her that well so she's more like an acquaintance. Her name's Uriel, she's a huge fan of yaoi! While, I obviously like yuri!"
Connor was taken aback by terms he didn't understand. "Yaoi and yuri? What do they even mean? That wasn't the direction I thought it was going."
After resting, Lumi handed an aura sword to Connor. On their way, Connor fought off some shadow wolves, finishing them off quicker than before. Lumi tried healing the mutilated people who were still conscious and floating in the darkness, but it didn't work; they were too damaged. So she killed them, freeing them from their agony.
Overhead, something moved across the hovering debris. Connor thought he saw a massive, two-headed centipede. It moved away in a flash.
"Stop," whispered Lumi, pointing towards a crouching figure.
It was a humanoid shadow creature. It crouched down, hugging its knees. The shadow around it was slowly disappearing. It was like a cicada shedding its skin. They slowly walked past it.
"I've been wondering how there haven't been that many monsters around. And how was I safe when I fell asleep? Tell me if I'm wrong, but...is it your aura that's keeping most of them away?"
"Yup. My magic is still quite strong even without attack spells."
"Magic?"
"Oh, you're from a fantasy world so you don't call mana abilities "magic" do you?"
"You know, in that manhwa you showed me, the protagonist's original world seemed more like fantasy to me. I mean, the internet? That's magic."
Lumi suddenly turned around. "It got closer...that humanoid thing...I swear it was further away."
Connor turned to look and saw the humanoid shad- no, its shadow had faded away to reveal an ashen-skinned, human-like thing with long limbs. It was hugging its knees, waiting for them to turn around.
I've had enough, thought Connor.
He looked to the aura blade that he held with his remaining left arm. Focusing on its structure, he absorbed the mana, making the blade vanish and replenishing a bit of mana inside of him.
He held his hand, gesturing at Lumi to give him her aura blade.
Lumi frowned slightly, still not trusting him completely. But she complied.
The boy immediately dashed forward. The humanoid gave up on its act and immediately leaped towards him in a flash. Its claws reached forward grabbing Connor's blade, until it disappeared, absorbed into the boy's fist. That split moment of confusion gave him enough time. A mana-charged fist punched into the abomination, sending it flying into the distance. It might not have killed it, but it did plenty of damage. It won't be coming back.
Connor wobbled a bit. Trembling, covered in sweat and breathing heavily, he steadied himself. He gave a look to the angel, as if to say: I'm okay.
After another 30 minutes, they arrived.
The edge of the platform overlooked into an even greater abyss. In the grand distance, Connor could barely make out colossal shapes moving around. A chill went down his spine.
I have a feeling this place is only "level one" of the Void, it's kinda like a dungeon. I was lucky to end up here and not the more dangerous areas.
Lumi grabbed his wrist and they both stepped off the platform, lifted into the darkness.
The angel's eyes glowed with detection mana as she pulled Connor towards a certain direction.
They avoided the large debris, corpses, and unidentifiable structures. Transparent platforms, all facing multiple directions, shifted around.
Soon, they were in front of a blue mass of energy. A single star in a night sky.
Connor checked the time on his watch: 1:07 a.m.
He spent nine hours in the Void. And now he was finally going home.
The boy and the fallen angel both drifted into the portal.