For a long time, Inundation had learned to rely on its five senses. The songs it once listened to had fallen into eternal quietude, and with Black Garden came new music in foreign notes, languages, and systems. Ysan sensed it too. The realms of Black Garden weren’t just alien to Serpent’s Ramble, they were otherworldly: molecules, laws, patterns. These things appeared to operate in normalcy, but they were independent—incomparable. Even electromagnetism here was different. The realities beyond Black Garden were far more difficult for Inundation to manipulate. This was the best, and perhaps only time the swordfish may get to converse with Ysan in secret. Hazahnahkah and Hwayoung were still beneath the waters, and everyone was quite busy in their spare time.
Inundation whispered to Ysan through her water arm. “Ysan…”
Ysan took some paces away from her company. She was still harnessing the waters of Serpent’s Spillage for her Ramble. Her voice almost hissed. “What?”
“I was correct to invest in you. I will rapidly wane as we approach the event horizon. I have evolved for Serpent’s Ramble and no farther.”
Ysan was loosely familiar with The Inundation’s plans. “So this is it then, the end of the world you dreamed of?”
“I am not sure what happened. Vrast still gives us dreams, so Yurreth’s rust has not killed her. Nazki is alive as well. There are other things I have discovered in the knife’s dreams. Things she may not know even about herself. Fragmented things. Things only you for now can know.”
“You know I hate it when you lead me on like this.”
“We are about to come face to face with something much more powerful than all the Rapscallions combined, and it will take everything I have to ensure those like yourself survive it—this world isn’t what we think it is. We are all here for one reason… education.”
“Since when was I so important?”
“You are one of the few here who care more about those Bankanzaku has wronged than Bankanzaku himself.”
“Well, of course. Ul’s waiting for me. I’ve got to get back to her… Once I ensure The Fawn Cities and Placenta are in relational alignment—”
“There are far greater things here than the marriage of Yurreth and Zalaster, Ysan. The Incarnates aren’t who we think they are. All of them are lying—even to themselves.”
“Hazahnahkah is an Incarnate. You’re saying he’s lying?”
“Yes, and I have reason to suspect that if we survive this Vrast will be watching us even more closely than she ever has before. I have prepared an alibi for myself within the dreams she gives me… but she may kill me if—”
“Inundatioooon! Ohhh Inundatioooon!”
The swordfish stopped speaking. It narrowed its attention on the voice.
This annoyed Ysan. She didn’t seem capable of hearing it. “What?”
“Listen,” it said.
Ysan’s brows furrowed. She leaned in aimlessly. Her mouth puckered. “It’s faint. Is that a… voice calling you?”
“It’s directed at my exact location in physical space. That’s the only reason you can hear it. Someone is watching us.”
“So you can hear me,” the voice said. “Why aren’t you responding? Why is everyone ignoring me lately? Is this… the SILENT TREATMENT?”
Its increase in volume was agitating. Inundation whispered immediately back to it with an equally powerful electromagnetic wave—but the voice didn’t reply. The swordfish tried again, this time speaking with its mouth. “I can hear you. Can you hear me?”
“Hello?” it asked. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes. Hello?”
“Hello? HELLOOOOO?”
The Inundation winced. For the first time since its inception, it was actually getting quite agitated. “Yes, I can hear you.”
“I can hear you. Can you hear me?”
“YES! I CAN HEAR YOU!”
This increase in volume blasted Ysan to the side. Her water arm absorbed the full force of the vibration. She pivoted to one foot, pretending she was getting water out of her ear. She rattled her water arm angrily. “I thought you said to be quiet?”
“Sorry,” the Inundation managed.
The voice laughed at them, as if it knew it was being a hindrance. “Oh, so you can hear me. Why didn’t you just say so earlier?”
“I did. Through electromagnetic vibrations.”
“But you don’t even know where to send them, that’s not my fault.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m the one who woke you up.”
The Inundation didn’t dismiss this or believe this. True or not, it would have been entertaining to see what kind of excuse this voice could conjure up. “Why?”
Irritatingly, the voice did not even entertain the question. “Your omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience… you can feel they’re all almost completely useless compared to before. Can’t you?”
“This isn’t new information. Or helpful.”
“Then why haven’t you acted on it?”
“And how am I supposed to act on that?”
“Dream,” the voice said. “Rest, develop a new Ramble. You will be needed before The Song Where All Songs End.”
“So you serve Vrast.”
“Of course not,” the voice replied, clearly offended. “Do you think Vrast’s dreams and songs are all that there are?”
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“They’re all we’ve heard.”
“So then you haven’t heard mine.”
And with that, the presence was gone. It hadn’t even occurred to The Inundation that someone seemed to be sitting there, in front of it. Someone very powerful. Far more powerful than a mere Rapscallion. The swordfish shivered. Very likely, this voice couldn’t reach anyone who was within Serpent’s Ramble.
So after this, there was no turning back.
The Inundation needed Ysan to press forward for it. Its thoughts drifted to Hazahnahkah, the living sword, and it wondered at the nature of a soul that could bear to be parted from one wielder after another, again and again, and yet never dull, never falter. There was an astonishing resilience there, a devotion not to flesh or voice, but to the path each wielder set before him—and an almost reckless trust that someone would wield him well. If The Inundation had been created to guide, to educate, to endure beyond flesh and voice, then why did it feel this narrowing, this approaching end, as loss rather than completion? It could trace its origin to a soul, a singular mind whose fear and brilliance had braided it into being, yet that origin now felt distant, almost irrelevant, like a shoreline abandoned by retreating water. Had it ever chosen its purpose, or had choice only been an illusion permitted by power? The question frightened it more than annihilation. To wane was one thing; to discover that even its doubts were prewritten was another. And yet—if it could ask this now, if it could fear being used rather than merely expended, then perhaps something had changed. Perhaps this, too, was education. Perhaps the final lesson was not survival, but whether an instrument could, at the end of its design, decide what it would become when the hand that forged it was no longer there to give command.
Ysan has bathed in Black Garden, training 30,000 Agility over the course of her long journey and its rewards of legendary waters.
Health (source of vitality and abilities): 18,700
Energy (source of stamina and abilities): 37,200
Agility (speed of actions): 11,000 → 41,000
Regeneration (rate of recovery per hour for Health and Energy): 90
Tenacity (resistance to unwanted effects): 2100
Strength (physical or mental reality manipulation potency): 550
[Water Memory] has absorbed [Serpent’s Spill].
Serpent’s Spill: Restores target Health by 1,000,000,000 over one hour.
Ysan was done collecting the sacred waters of Serpent’s Spill. The Inundation pulsed its gills, and from its pink filaments it released the trace fluid it had carried all this way from the deepest waters of Serpent's Ramble. It was more of a mist than a fluid. Ysan took notice immediately, used her Ramble to analyze it, and still raised her voice in confusion.
“What is this?”
“Darkwater.”
“Darkwater,” Ysan said, staring blankly.
“You have learned to formulate fluid, and form yourself from it. It is far more useful to you than to myself.”
“You want me to… drink it?”
“You’ll find it most exquisite.”
“That… was in your gills.”
“You literally eat fish. Besides, I am more storm than anything.”
Ysan’s brows raised tiredly at this. She drank the water.
-Ysan has enhanced her physical organism with a liquid of incredible property. +50,000 Attributes points to invest. [Water Memory] has absorbed [Darkwater].
Darkwater: This cures any ailment. Restoratives mixed with this fluid deal double damage equal to Health healed.
Health (source of vitality and abilities): 18,700
Energy (source of stamina and abilities): 37,200
Agility (speed of actions): 41,000 → 91,000
Regeneration (rate of recovery per hour for Health and Energy): 90
Tenacity (resistance to unwanted effects): 2100
Strength (physical or mental reality manipulation potency): 550
-Ysan has carried The Inundation outside the boundaries of its home. She has excelled from wanderer to wayfarer. Learned [Wayfarer’s Wish].
Water Ramble: Can create and control approximately ten gallons of liquid in [Water Memory]. This liquid will always have trace amounts of water in it. Expends 10 Energy per gallon created. Expends 1 Energy per gallon controlled per second.
Water Memory: Liquids Ysan has interacted with and understands may be replicated near-perfectly. Notable liquids include: The River’s water, drinkable fluids, medicinal tea, basic antivenom, Ysan’s blood, Serpent’s Spill, and darkwater.
Water Arm: An arm of water which may hold items and change shape. Objects held by the arm are inevitably soaked.
Wandering Whiplash: Ysan may expend 10% of her total Energy to cause any of her attacks to occur an additional time for every 10% spent.
Wayfarer’s Wish: When healing a target, heal equal to that amount.
Soon, the fluid then seeped out of the stub of her arm by the gallons. The Inundation had never seen so much of home in a great many years. Home looked like the night sky. Ysan's water arm was black, but the little particles within it occasionally pulsed with molten veins. This wasn’t pure darkwater! It was Serpent’s Spill! Ysan had combined them into a terrifying power that could both restore and obliterate. It was no longer just an extension of Ysan—it was an apex of her power, a single appendage capable of rewriting the battlefield with every strike, a river of judgment and salvation intertwined. The swordfish hadn’t done this intentionally; it might have created a sixth Rapscallion. If Ysan wanted to kill Bankanzaku, her current abilities could be enough.
Ysan stammered. Her real arm hovered just beneath the forearm of the darkwater she had formed. “I— Is it safe to touch?”
“It’s you.”
“Yes, I suppose it’ll take some getting used to.”
Ysan adjusted herself. Her developmental decisions were obvious. With the combination of [Darkwater] and [Serpent’s Spill] she could deal damage billions beyond her Strength. This, in conjunction with [Wandering Whiplash] and [Wayfarer’s Wish] she could be replicating the ability twice, thrice, or even more over while simultaneously healing. Her lifesteal was better than Bankanzaku’s [Tiger’s Talons]. Still, the woman looked worried. It was because of her speed.
Health (source of vitality and abilities): 18,700
Energy (source of stamina and abilities): 37,200
Agility (speed of actions): 91,000
Regeneration (rate of recovery per hour for Health and Energy): 90
Tenacity (resistance to unwanted effects): 2100
Strength (physical or mental reality manipulation potency): 550
It was clear Agility was her weakest point if she was to go up against Bankanzaku, especially if she was relying on not being struck at all with how low her Health was. The Inundation was certain that it could solve this problem for them. Vrast was, after all, much much faster than Bankanzaku. The swordfish had been saving a trick in its scales for a long time in preparation for this.
“You’ll need to get used to this as well,” The Inundation said, closing its eyes as it began to focus its attention outwards.
If done intensely enough, the electromagnetic waves were enough to put even the most powerful projectiles to a halt. Even if Inundation was temporarily incapacitated, the effect would continue. At least in sleep it wouldn’t be completely useless.
Inundation’s Aura: The Inundation is granting a barrier to Ysan equal to its Energy (850,000,000,000) and a boost to her Agility equal to 50% of its own. This condition is hidden from most observers. This condition can be sacrificed at any time to summon [The Inundation].
Ysan cringed at this. She wavered. “I thought you had plans for Haz. You said you’d be able to help me get him back. You promised so much at the end of all this and now you’re going to sleep again?”
“Sleep is how the most powerful Rambles develop.”
“That’s just an excuse,” Ysan said. “You were supposed to tell me what to do, what Vrast is planning—”
“Don’t worry about Vrast. Don’t even think about her. You need to focus on Hazahnahkah because that’s something only a human can do. Even with my Rambles, I cannot do this.”
“Why?”
“Keep Haz close, but do not wield him.”
Ysan exposed her teeth with a lip bite. Yurreth’s forces were beginning to stare at her. Hazahnahkah and Hwayoung would also be resurfacing at any moment. Everything The Inundation knew needed to be kept a secret. Ysan was smart enough to respect this. It tried not to grin mischievously at her frustration.
“So I just watch Yurreth conquer the world, is that it?” she asked.
“Goodnight, Ysan.”
Ysan grunted. “... Goodnight, fish.”
Dreamlike LitRPG Psychological Thriller
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Alex Dawson's quiet life of classes and gaming shatters when he dreams of a crimson sky, a fallen moon, and a stranger on a mirror-like sea.
The dream doesn't fade. An ancient system awakens, and Alex is dragged into the hidden realms of dreams where some want him to awaken, others want him to break, and one wants him back.
Free to read on Royal Road
