A moment of quiet

None of the information in the popup was that surprising to John. He had already noticed Orianna’s carefree attitude towards seemingly everything, and even though he thought it was a bit strange she liked him this much, it was already evident to him. Apart from that, only a few things were notable. She was surprisingly high-level, given Ember, who was a field operative, was actually lower than her. John began wondering how levels actually worked in regards to others. The safest assumption was that they were merely estimates of power that increased generally as the person became more skilled and or stronger. The other main option was that his powers changed how others worked when around him, but John dismissed that option out of hand, it was a nonsensical idea to think about in the first place. The other thing was one of the emotions she was apparently experiencing right now. “Horny” it said, ever as nonchalantly as the rest of the screen. It made John wonder, was he the cause of that status, or had she just been constantly aroused since she last had sex. Her libido, after all, was quite approximate to his own, and significantly above the average as he had established it from his ventures in using Observe on ordinary people. That, however, apart from piquing the young man’s sexual curiosity, was of no importance at the moment. And luckily, she had not noticed the strange looks he had began giving her after seeing that.

The whole situation quickly passed from his mind, however, as John remembered the multitude of popups that he should have gotten, and they soon appeared one by one.

Level tasks completed: Orb of Light and Observe levelled up

Observe levelling up was quite a welcome surprise. John needed all the information he could get if he wished to continue living in the hostile landscape he now understood the Abyss presented. Perhaps, if he had this before, he would have known about the test beforehand. He might have been able to act differently in Graham’s mindscape, or he might have been able to gain some information on Ingrid. As possible as all of those were, it could have also done nothing, but with how limited his arsenal was, any such upgrade seemed like a ray of hope. After all, his life was at stake.

Unlike Observe, Orb of Light levelling up was nothing of much major note, though it would help him deal with similarly dark situations in the future, it was a small upgrade. And that was definitely not the tool his arsenal was most lacking.

A few moments later, John noticed another popup appearing, this time seemingly a new quest.

The popup told him what he already knew, his objective held beyond it the rank of Explorer, and a membership in the Council. It was his goal regardless, as he did not know what else to do in this foreign place. But as it was concretely stated, it helped him realize it’s significance, which was beyond simply preventing him from going insane from being stuck in this place with no purpose or guidance.

Getting a new quest also reminded John of one thing he had forgotten to do for far too long given how many Abyssal people he had encountered in the last few days. The question of what was Gaia. A moment later, he posed that same question to Orianna.

“Who or what is Gaia?” John asked, his curiosity superseding his patience.

“God,” she nonchalantly responded.

That was a surprise he was not ready for. The existence of any being that could be so easily spouted as god, and that being the direct source of his powers and quite likely the person who was designing them, almost blew John’s mind. At first, he couldn’t believe it.

“What do you mean by that? The christian god? What proof is there that whoever that is even exists?”

“Not any specific god, though most of the ones you might think of do exist. But unlike her, they are just extremely powerful beings. She is the closest thing to an actual god the Abyss has. As for proof, there isn’t a lot. She has shown up on earth more than once in the past, but that’s a rare occurrence.”

John now discovered his mind could be blown further. Not only was there a real god, or the closest approximation to one possible, but other gods existed as well, and if she had shown up before there must have been some merit to her. Plus, she was powerful enough for that Order organization to consider her god.

“Well, thanks. I had a quest to ask about it,” he said, nonchalantly, attempting to keep the chaos of his mind in check.

“That’s strange… Whatever. I’m glad I could help,” Orianna responded, smiling.

Barely hearing her confusion, John handed in the quest he had been waiting on for what was probably almost a week now. He got his reward in a popup a few moments later.

Before John even noticed that the new skill he would be gaining had a name, he saw what came before it. First, he was now extremely close to another level, needing only about 40 XP after that 100 XP boost. Second, it seemed the person who had been talking to him and who was probably making his skills was indeed that entity that had requested him to learn of her existence. Or as Orianna called her, god. The consequences of that understanding was not something John could deal with. The simple fact that “god” had apparently given him powers was already far too much to handle, so he put it aside for now.

New skill obtained: Ingress

That was an incredible spell. One that would allow him to get out of here at any time. The problem was, it would probably be one way for now. John was not sure he could find the Gateway’s entrance again, and given the dangers Ember mentioned if he didn’t join the Council, it seemed that returning home would not be as simple as just using the spell. It would also mean abandoning Orianna here, which was not something he was willing to do so easily. No, he would beat this test and get out of there the right way. Regardless, it seemed prudent to talk to her about it.

“Orianna?” he began, she had returned to eating in the time since John had asked her about Gaia.

“Yeah?”

“What would you do if I tell you I might have a way out of here?”

“Nothing much, it’s not like I don’t.”

“Wait… But I thought you were stuck here?”

“If I ever want to be an explorer I am, but no one is forcing me to take this test. It’s my own fucking stubbornness that’s responsible for that.”

“And three years here haven’t been enough to change your mind?”

“I don’t really have anywhere else to go. I could probably find some job as a low level fighter somewhere else in the Abyss, but it’s way more risky than staying here. As hard as it is to get through this, if I ever do, I’ll get a life that’s much more safe and secure than most places in the Abyss. The same goes for you, I’d say, unless you manage to slink back into some unknown hole and stay there long enough for people to forget you. I’ve heard there are a few who tried that, a few failed, the ones people don’t know about, those are the ones who might’ve succeeded,” she answered, returning to eating after doing so. She said all she thought was necessary, it seemed. John tended to agree, his mind had also begun settling on the idea of staying there. A moment later, another popup interrupted any further thoughts he had.

2 Guards Neutralized: 100 XP Gained

The next popup brought with it his next level, and also the knowledge that he could gain XP from more than just killing enemies as in most normal RPGs. Which was a welcome surprise, as John did not want to go around killing people to become more powerful. More importantly, however, it reminded him of what had happened seemingly a few hours ago. He had only gotten the XP for defeating the guards that were placed around Ember's prison now. He was happy to have that over, but it seemed that the quality of life upgrade he had gotten had delayed all popups. It was something worth investigating, later.

You levelled up: you are now level 5, +5 stat points

John quickly put the points he now earned into his Endurance and Strength to raise them to 10, both hoping that he would gain skills as powerful as Gravitas and realizing he required better physical abilities.

Another popup soon followed relating to his level up.

Perk system unlocked: Perks are earned for every 5 levels. Perk for levels 1-5 has already been chosen.

It seemed to John that he had discovered how he got Gravitas and why similar skills would not soon follow. A perk system of a sort was his answer. Which explained why Gravitas was so unusually powerful. It was perhaps disappointing because he would not get such powerful abilities so easily, but also utterly exciting given the enormous possibilities such a system would bring with it. He couldn’t wait until he was level 10 to see the crazy perks that he could get, such systems were ones he loved in video games, owing to the numerous fantastic usages of such systems for character development and player expression. Eventually, that excitement faded as well, and he began to think back to the last few days.

There was finally a second of peace now, some time for John to process all that had happened. The whole thing was a mess, and he still understood very little of it, but there were three things he knew.

'It's probably now or never, the chances that I will ever get an opportunity to do something like this ever again, even if I do make it out there in the Abyss…' The short description Ember gave him all those days ago was enough for him to know that, a place that has potentially infinite worlds to explore was something that represented a chance he could not give up on.

Second, Ingrid was probably his best bet for learning more about his powers and developing them, because it seemed very likely that she was also a Psychic mage.

'I hope Alice is alright… I have no idea how she took me disappearing, and she herself is at risk if anyone in the Abyss comes after her. If I die here, there's no way I can keep her safe or let her know what happened. And I doubt the Council would do either, even if Ingrid wishes to help me. More than that, what would happen to my parents? They'd be ruined if they didn't know what happened to me for so long... whatever happens, I have to make it out of here alive, for all of them, if nothing else.'

Just the thought of never seeing them again sent shivers down his spine, 'I can't die here without seeing Alice again, either. There's no way I'm not making it through this!' it was a cliche sentiment, but nonetheless that thought drove him forward. There was nothing to be done but to move forwards now, the fire was to his back and staying here was not an option.

Quickly completing his thoughts, he spoke a few simple words to Orianna.