Warlock of War: My Ares System

Does he really trust us? Is it worth it trying to gain his approval? Does everybody else think the same way I do? Did he ever like us? Did he ever think we were friends? Were we… no more than just tools to him this entire time? 

It was impossible to find out without asking him directly. The facade that he had taken up prior to falling into hell was scary and I got to see it firsthand used on various people. Even the most powerful and influential people were no more than mere pawns to him and the fact that he is willing to risk his life makes the possibilities of his influence so wide that it could one day snare entire dimensions in his net. 

Feeling Nell's eyes disappear and her presence begins to back away, I shifted my eyes back onto the dark elf who looked to be brainstorming anything to try and recruit me. And, just as she began to bite her nail, I gripped her hand and gently moved it away, bringing my mouth close to her. 

"I want you…" I smiled, leaning in with a gentle and welcoming expression. "... Only then will I join your clan." She smiled back, her lips approaching mine, but just as I was about to meet her amidst all of these jealous students, she dodged the last second. Her smirk was teasing and as she shook my grip from her hand, she cracked open those lips once more. 

"Not here… but maybe later," She winked. 

…

(Cy POV) 

As I opened my eyes, the entire world around me had become darkness. I felt the eyebags around my eyes droop once more while the surrounding darkness practically clung to my face. It was like a sticky substance was gripping my skin with each step that I took, attempting to weigh me down into the vibrant green grass below. 

It was the only source of color that popped into my vacant world now, as that vibrant source of brightness ended within only a few meters. It sounded a bit weird until you learned of the fact that I was currently training on an island amidst a world of darkness. 

"*sigh*... So bored," I groaned, not even a single echo bothering to resonate back to me. It was almost pitiful how lonely I was, but I guess that was the point of this training. I needed to become one with the darkness until the island around me fully crumbled into oblivion. 

I was not allowed to leave this place until I finished the training, meaning I was allotted practically an infinite amount of time. Although, I didn't wish to use it as I needed to meet back up with my friends so I could help and support Orion on his quest to conquer. 

After shaking off the insanity which had slowly latched onto me under this continual watch of darkness, I sat down in the middle of the island. I focused on circulating my mana just as Beezlbub had taught me and I began to absorb the infinite amount of darkness around me. It swirled around my heart like a whirlpool, pouring into it, or… something else? 

It was a strange sensation and it felt more like it was pouring into something behind my heart. It was something else devouring and converting all of this dark energy that even my system had trouble allocating and absorbing. 

[Absorption of Darkness has been completed]

[150% out of Infinite Potential has been converted]

This was pretty much the same panel I got every time I started one of these meditative states. I couldn't really tell if the darkness was affecting my mana or if my mana was infecting the darkness around me, slowly breaking it down so the absorption process could be easier. 

Tick… tick… tick… tick… tick… 

My internal clock had been fucked up. I've been unable to get sleep physically as I just couldn't even enter such a state, but for some reason, I kept having nightmares whenever I did actually get to sleep. Maybe it was the darkness I was absorbing, but I felt my mind literally begin to rot with insanity. 

Tick… tick… tick… tick… tick… 

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, pouncing upwards and chipping away at the edge of the island with my very own foot. Nothing really happened but a few tumbling chips of dirt fall off. 

For a few minutes, I unleashed all of my anger onto the edge of the island, trying to break it down and give myself an easier time, but for a moment I lost all sense of reason and jumped on both feet. The world around me gave and I tumbled down into the infinite void of darkness, that seemed more like the depths of the ocean rather than a vacant void of nothingness. 

The darkness invaded my mind, making me pass out instantly as I attempted to swim back up. It dug its sharp claws into the inner folds of my brain and injected a liquid so potent that it rid the insanity from my mind and…

"Huff… huff… huff… huff… huff… I can't… do this any longer…" I muttered, feeling my body gently float down onto the vibrant patch of grass sitting atop the cone-shaped island. I had unfortunately been teleported back up. "I have to leave this place. There must be a way. This place feels way too much like an ocean for there not to be something else to this…" 

Even though I told myself that, the looming threat of being away from the island still hung. If I wasn't able to counteract the darkness that eats away at my mind, I had no chance of even hoping to escape. 

"Thankfully I can breathe… making me a bit suspicious of the properties of this ocean, but… maybe if I obtain a skill. A skill that allows me to resist [Mind Rot] since I'm positive that is what this is… hmmmmm… maybe I can use this dark energy?"