MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Darkness.

For a while, this was everything Valyr saw before him.

It didn't matter if he moved his head or his body.

After all, the only thing that greeted him was pitch-black.

Realizing this, the young man gave up on moving about, instead thinking about the current situation he was in from another perspective.

'Is this the memory that's embedded within the fragment?' asked the young man to himself, recalling the other few times he had been subjected to an ever-consuming darkness before him.

One of those times was when he had comprehended the Intent Seed of Shadow Energy. At the time, a void existed for quite some time in front of him, only for it to be filled with the destructive energy he knew as Shadow Energy.

Comparing his current situation to that time, the darkness in front of him seemed empty, as if it was there just for the sole purpose of filling the gaps of what was previously in its place.

On the other hand, the darkness that preceded the birth of Shadow Energy during his comprehension seemed intentional.

In a way, he felt that the darkness back then was the origin of the Shadow Energy he wielded.

'I see.' Pondering over it for a bit more, a look of realization eventually flashed across Valyr's face.

'The other memory fragments contain the part of the memory that's currently replaced by darkness.'

Of course, with the other memory fragments not in his possession, Valyr knew that his conclusion came mostly from his intuition.

But, for some reason, he felt that his idea was mostly true.

Whoosh!

After being surrounded by the darkness for a bit longer, light eventually appeared in front of him, engulfing all of the darkness in the process.

After that, other details began to appear amidst the light, taking on various colors as they slowly became more detailed with the passage of time.

What was initially blobs to Valyr's vision gradually became less fuzzy, transforming into items that he could recognize from a glance.

By the time all of the details seemed to have fallen into place, it was only then did the memory seemingly begin.

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, all of Valyr's other senses were swiftly bombarded with additive details, allowing him to realize that he was currently submerged in what looked to be a small body of water.

However, even though he realized this, he did not feel like he was drowning while he was submerged.

Instead, he felt a slight sense of comfort as he took in the water, feeling like the cells making up his body were greedily consuming every bit he took in.

Step. Step. Step.

Just as he wondered whether this was everything that was contained in the memory fragment, Valyr soon heard footsteps coming from afar, prompting him to turn his head in the direction of the sound.

At the very moment he did, he was greeted by the slightly blurry sight of a man in a white coat with a head of neatly-combed hair.

"It seems Specimen NH-027-A is awake," muttered the man, staring directly into where Valyr's eyes were.

"From the looks of it, it seems to be developing well."

Hearing those words, Valyr felt a bit of confusion.

After all, from what he was currently experiencing, it didn't seem like the memory had anything to do with the quadrant leader he just killed.

Thankfully, it was at that very moment that everything clicked in his mind.

Ignoring the fact that the man was continuing to stare at him, Valyr took more notice of the surroundings, only for his pupils to shrink as he could not believe what he just saw.

Though he could not move his head to look at what was beside him, the young man could still more or less see the multiple large glass tubes that were erected behind the man.

In those glass tubes were humans with multiple cables and the like attached to many parts on their bodies, submerged in what looked to be same type of fluid he was submerged in.

However, as he looked at them for a bit more, he realized that these humans were not humans at all.

Instead, these beings only resembled humans.

After all, all of these beings lacked a heart.

Gazing at the large gaping holes in the middle of their chests, Valyr eventually returned his attention to the man in the white coat, hoping to find out more about the current situation through the man's words.

Unfortunately, just as the man was about to open his mouth yet again…

Whoosh!

Valyr was returned to the empty darkness that surrounded him earlier, causing him to let out a low sigh in response.

'It seems I really do need the other fragments to view the whole memory.' Having to experience the darkness yet again, it went without saying that Valyr's hypothesis was correct.

Letting out yet another sigh, he continued to dwell in his thoughts amidst the darkness.

'The part of the memory I could see is definitely not enough to paint the whole picture,' thought the young man to himself. 'Then again, even if it gave me a lot of questions to think about, it did give me an answer to something I was curious about.'

'The human civilization that existed before the Great Cataclysm has something to do with the enemies we've been facing in the inheritance.'

As this thought lingered in his mind, Valyr mulled over it for a bit more, hoping to possibly extract something else out of it through deduction and logic.

Sadly, no matter how much he tried, he could not infer any other piece of information from it. If anything, he had only gained more questions he wanted to know the answer to.

Such as the question of why the human civilization had created the enemies they faced in the first place.

'Guess I'm gonna have to change my plans.' Feeling that the darkness surrounding him was about to disappear soon, Valyr closed his eyes and allowed nature to take its course.

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, he felt all of his senses shift to another place, eventually feeling the soft sensation of the bed on his back sometime later.

Opening his eyes after he was certain his senses had returned to the tent, the young man let out a faint sigh.

'Though I want to enter the Gates of Awakening with the others, I'm also curious as to what the entire memory holds,' thought the young man to himself.

However, just as he was debating whether to accompany the others or postpone it to a later time to obtain the other memory fragments…

An unexpected notification had appeared in front of him.

Ding!

[You have completed part of the requirements for the quest: Traces of the Past.]