Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Damon was lazily glimpsing around, dreary eyes surveying the surroundings, with zero recollection of what he’d dreamt.

Of course, what he could remember was an embrace, an embrace with a loving berth he’d only recently been made aware of.

‘Why was she in my dreams?’ Damon was quite confused. Why would a Goddess watch over him? Inquisitive, but content, he overlooked it pretty quickly, as he rubbed the drowsiness from his face, sitting peacefully upon the throne.

Looking to his shoulder, he saw Ember and Dirpe curled together, in each other's embrace, worry apparent on their faces, and upon closer examination, they were both stricken with tears, as well.

What were they worried about? What would make them cry? Nothing, as far as he knew. But it couldn’t be nothing.

The duo had seen Damon’s experience of the dream, or more aptly, the nightmare. They’d seen and felt him shaking and stirring within his sleep, and then, they had witnessed him begin to tear at his flesh, drawing a near infinite gush of blood to pool beneath him, gallons upon gallons flowing from his titanic form, unnoticeably being transferred to the Barrel, but far quicker than its nearly inconsequential movement, the blood pooled.

And after having seen the pooled blood on the throne and on his form, Ember and Dirpe had, after various attempts to draw him from his slumber, from his horrible dream, watched on in horror as their loved one nearly tore himself apart, for quite a while, with worry overtaking their instincts.

But as they were stumbling and hyperventilating over their helplessness, they felt a sudden sensation, and as they saw Damon calm, and slumber peacefully once more, they too, fell into a deep slumber.

…

‘What was next?’ Damon was wondering past his lethargic haze, he briefly thought back to what he’d last checked out from his recent gains, before remembering the Ability Rip skill he’d gotten, choosing to ignore the interesting, although quite suggestive title, for now at least.

Damon assumed the Ability Rip would enable him to take abilities from various sources, something for later, but what was this Eldritch Combustion?

Damon opened a portal to an unexplored segment of the ocean, millions of miles from any signs of life, a particularly deserted, lifeless section, and as he began to scan the area with his overpowered vision, he started to charge up Eldritch Combustion.

And as it was charging, the pressure from the spell was astounding, and as he lifted the portal from the surging explosion, it reached a thousand feet above it, and he set the spell off.

What followed was an unimaginably intense explosion, far surpassing the might of his Greater Dragon’s Breath.

Suddenly, a gargantuan sphere of a deathly aura manifested, quickly growing, reaching a thousand feet wide in under ten seconds, and after two minutes, the spheres had increased to tens of miles wide.

The destruction of the sphere was unbound, and as the black, voiden blast began to dissipate over the next hour, the ocean slowly filled in the water which had been displaced by the blast, and the oceans floor, which was stricken by a grotesque char.

Damon was utterly shocked at the devastation of the spell. It would most certainly be useful in the future, for the destruction of many things.

Now, what is Divine Word? Damon decided to leave it for later, as well, as he saw the effects of the notifications, each of his stats had increased by a few hundred points, and having gained two Immunities, being both Holy and Light magic.

But far more interesting, was the newest Status Effect on his screen.