Ascension

By Balus Tudor

The fall, rise, and honing of someone who just realized he exists.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781447505082

Book preview

Ascension

Contents:

1. Beginnings.......................................................................2

2. First Encounter & The Three Creatures...........................3

3. Awakening & First Lessons..............................................5

4. Bonding & Turbulent Growth..........................................7

5. First Level........................................................................9

6. Second Level & The Strange Ones.................................11

7. Mystery & Discovery......................................................16

8. The Ascetic.....................................................................19

9. Renunciation and Acceptance.......................................21

10. R(e)villusion.................................................................23

11. Inner worlds, outer worlds..........................................33

12. Cleanup and comprehension.......................................44

13. Visiting old friends.......................................................50

1. Beginnings

It all started with one color: red. It covered his vision like a sea of blood. There was nothing before this mysterious color; no notion of time, existence, colors or anything else. But as the blanked slowly moved away, he reached a point of realisation: part of his shoulder was torn open and blood was spewing in his eyes. His enemy had its fangs deep in the wound and was frantically pulling on it, trying to remove the limb from its joint.

With rage and determination he bit successively in his opponent's back and left limb. The bites were swift yet deep, focused primarily on and surrounding the bulging muscles of his opponent. After his enemy's left side became covered in red, he felt the grip wane, if but for a moment. Then he made his move: he jumped on his left side, hitting the enemy against the ground. The manoeuvre coupled with the weakened grip made the teeth come out of his shoulder but also dislocated it. Both of them briefly screeched in pain as they distanced themselves from eachother and checked their enemy's state.

His shoulder and left limb was unresponsive, but he felt nothing. His enemy looked him in the eyes and then looked at his shoulder. He was clearly in a poorer condition, so his opponent rushed to finish him. He waited briefly, not knowing how to react. His enemy was closing in at a blazing speed and there was no obvious was he could take him on. No! He will win! His story just began!

In a moment of inspiration, he decided to bite his opponent's nose as he reached him. Although not a vital area of the body, it was highly sensitive, which made his opponent screech and loose all will to fight. He won the battle but the blood and rage made him go on. He bit his enemy's skull as he tried to retreat which made him yell even louder. The enemy turned fast to run in the opposite direction, which saved its life since a fatal blow was rushing towards its neck; said blow now landing on his shoulder.

The enemy kept yelling and struggling to run away as a new fatal blow was prepared. He tackled the enemy down between his front limbs and looked him in the eyes. There was no escaping this time! A shadowy figure of a tall creature entered the battleground. Said creature only used two of its limbs for movement yet was pretty fast considering how much larger it was than him. It doesn't matter, he will take his prize and then deal with this new being! Such a powerful blow came from one of this new creature's limbs that it sent him flying a few steps from his prey. He paused for a moment on the ground, his wounds starting to show their gravity under the impressive blow. He looked as the creature went close to his opponent and made strange low sounds as he move one of its limbs over his enemy. The creature roared and rushed to him. He barely managed to get up but knew that this would be his end.

Suddenly another similar creature appeared between him and his new opponent and his opponent stopped and yelled with other strange sounds. His limbs felt weak and his body heavy; he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was his new opponent lifting and taking his old opponent with two of his limbs as two other limbs lifted his own body. Everything went black soon after.

2. First Encounter & The Three Creatures

His eyelids rose to find himself in a gray room with a small opening through which he could see green objects that calmed him somehow. It took him little time to grasp the concept of light and what it does as he played with his limbs around and on the opening. The thick lines on the other side of the chamber impeded him from exploring further. they didn't seem big but the moment he used his limbs or teeth on them he realised they were stronger than anything he's ever seen of that size.

The silhouette that picked him up earlier came and stood behind the lines. He looked warily but curious at the creature as it stood in front of him. The creature was much taller than himself and bigger all around, his body imposing a slight fear in him. Through a weird limb motion and using what seemed like a smaller line, the creature touched the big lines and moved them aside. He was impressed by the feat since what seemed impossible for him looked quite easy for the creature.

The creature approached and moved its limb closer to him. He didn't know how to react but the moment he felt that limb touch his head, an unimaginable rage took over him and he instantly bit it. The limb quickly retracted and a powerful blow came from the other one. His head was sent flying in the opposite direction and by the time he got a chance to grasp what happened another blow came which sent him hurling towards one end of the chamber. The creature made some loud noises of rage and left the chamber, putting the lines back in place. To no avail he tried to imitate the creature in moving the lines aside.

Time passed and he studied his surroundings closer and closer. He understood that the chamber allowed him a certain amount of mobility, but not too much. There was a soft material in one corner for him to sleep on. He understood that sleep was needed and welcomed to mend his wounds, both of body and of mind. He quickly realised that there were others that looked like him, but still different. They each had a chamber of their own which could be visible were he to look beyond his lines. There was something strange with the others; they didn't act like him.

As some more time passed, he discovered that his strength was waning no matter how much he slept and an ever increasing pain came from his mid section. Reaching the point in which the pain and weakness were unbearable, he let out a long and bellowing howl of agony. Surprisingly, soon after that the creature he met some time ago came to his chamber. It stood there motionless, looking at him.

Initially his head was up to meet the gaze of the creature, but his last drop of power got drained and he lowered it down and closed his eyes. He was done; he just wanted the pain to end. The sound of the lines moving was heard and he opened his eyes to see the creature in front of him once more. It hesitated a few moments and then its limb once again reached for him. He didn't have the strength or will to fight back, so he just closed his eyes and waited for whatever was coming next. The limb touched his head; it was warm.

He opened his eyes and looked at the creature's eyes which were focused on him. The limb started moving slowly on his head. It felt good and soothing, but he couldn't enjoy the feeling much as his midsection was aching and making strange noises. As the creature heard the noises, it immediately got up and put his limb into his weirdly coloured skin. From there he got a colored piece of skin which he pulled on and brought down to his face. As soon as his nose was in front of the small piece of skin, a strange reaction occurred: his eyes widened and he instantly burst towards the skin with his face. He started chewing on the contents with passion and energy which he thought he didn't have. He then understood what hunger and food were and what their relationship was.

The creature moved its mouth in such a way that it was showing its teeth and made strange repetitive low sounds. He backed off a few feet and studied the creature cautiously. The creature realised his tension, so he emptied the skin's contents on the ground, closed its mouth and took two steps back. He quickly rushed to eat more since the sensation was unimaginably pleasing.

As he was done, he looked the creature in its eyes. He wanted to transmit something to it but didn't know how; he wanted to thank him. Their gazes didn't lock for long since three other similar creatures came. They exchanged some noises with the first creature and them started fighting it. The three were noticeably bigger and stronger than the first so it took few moments for the battle to be decided. As the first creature fell to the ground, they continued hitting it until it stopped moving.

Something took over him; an uncontrollable rage built up inside him. He couldn't stand and watch any more. He felt his chest puff and his muscles tighten as he jolted for the three. He reached the first one and sunk his teeth with such force into its limb that blood started gushing out from all points. The creature screamed as all three got distracted. It started hitting him with its free