Nickel woke to find himself laying on cold, sand-covered gray stone. He sat up, carefully observing his surroundings.
He was in the middle of a small plaza, stairs leading down from it to his left, right, and front. Behind him, rose a tower. Constructed without any rhyme or reason, it seemed to infinitely pierce into the dark-violet sky. At the bottom of the stairs, a desert of flat sand flowed into the distance.
Though it seemed to be infinite, you could never move more than one hundred meters from the base of the steps, no matter how much you tried.
In all four directions, at an immeasurable distance, colossal, perfectly balanced scales rose out of the sand.
As he peered around, Nickel's gaze narrowed. He sighed, massaging his temples. Why the hell was he here? His Internal World was only supposed to be accessible once he Awakened.
The Internal World held everything a Pathfinder could need on their path. A representation of the three Pillars, an armory room to house bonded artifacts, rooms to track the progress of Aspects, and the Trials of the Gates.
The problem Nickel now faced was that the Internal World was only supposed to be entered voluntarily. What was he doing here? And why was the last thing he heard the voice of the system.
Nickel got to his feet. Not really expecting an answer, he couldn't help but wonder aloud.
"What is unsealing? And how can I be forced to appear here?"
Whatever, it's not like the system ever answers questions.
[THE SYSTEM MAY BRING USERS INTO THE INTERNAL WORLD WHEN NECESSARY SHOULD THE USER BE UNABLE TO DO SO THEMSELVES]
Well, it usually didn't answer. Not expecting to hear the voice of the system, Nickel flinched, quickly bringing his hands up into a defensive stance. Before he could figure out what was happening, another message appeared in front of him, and the system sounded in his head again.
[USER NICHOLAS SILVER HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE INTERNAL WORLD DUE TO USER'S BODY BEING PLACED INTO A STATE OF REST]
"...So I'm asleep?" Nickel frowned. "Why is my body asleep? How long will I be asleep for?"
[IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE USER'S BODY SHOULD BE PLACED INTO A STATE OF REST TO ENSURE THAT THE UNSEALING PROCESS ENCOUNTERS NO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. THE USER'S BODY SHALL REMAIN "ASLEEP" UNTIL THE UNSEALING PROCESS ENDS]
"Ooookay. What is this unsealing process? And why did I need to be brought here?"
[THE UNSEALING PROCESS REFERS TO THE REMOVAL OF THE SEAL CURRENTLY PLACED ON THE USER]
[THOUGH IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE OPTIMAL STATE OF THE BODY DURING THE UNSEALING PROCESS IS REST, A LARGE PORTION OF THE UNSEALING PROCESS REQUIRES THE INPUT OF THE USER. THEREFORE, THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF USER NICHOLAS SILVER WAS BROUGHT TO THE INTERNAL WORLD]
Nickel rubbed his temples again, doing his best to understand his current situation. Getting a grip on it, he questioned the system again.
"What seal was placed on me, and why is it being removed now?"
[THE SEAL PLACED UPON THE USER IS THE SEAL OF VICE AND VIRTUE. A TIMER WAS ADDED TO THE SEAL WHEN IT WAS PLACED, SET TO END ON USER NICHOLAS SILVER'S 16TH BIRTHDAY]
"So what, this was all planned?"
[AFFIRMATIVE]
"...By who?"
[USER LACKS NECESSARY CREDENTIALS TO RECEIVE THAT KNOWLEDGE]
A dark look appeared on Nickel's face, a light of fury beginning to burn in his eyes. Before it grew too large, the system spoke again.
[IF THE USER HAS NO MORE QUESTIONS, THE PORTION OF THE UNSEALING PROCESS REQUIRING USER INPUT WILL BEGIN]
He took a few deep breaths, slowly smothering the fire in his eyes. After a few minutes, he responded, "Go ahead."
[AFFIRMATIVE. FIRST: THE USER SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF WHAT WILL BE LOST DURING THE UNSEALING PROCESS, DOES THE USER CONSENT TO THIS KNOWLEDGE]
"Sure."
[AFFIRMATIVE. ONCE THE NEXT SECTION OF THE UNSEALING BEGINS, THE USER WILL LOSE CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES, INCLUDING: SKILL LEVELS AND STATS]
"WAIT WHA—"
[SECOND: THE USER SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF WHAT WILL BE GAINED IN EXCHANGE FOR WHAT IS LOST, DOES THE USER CONSENT TO THIS KNOWLEDGE]
"Yes, yes," Nickel hurriedly nodded. "Tell me what I'm getting!"
[AFFIRMATIVE. IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LOSS OF STATS, THE USER WILL RECEIVE SKILL POINTS AT A CERTAIN CONVERSION RATE, AS DETERMINED BY THE SYSTEM]
[IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LOSS OF SKILL LEVELS, THE USER WILL BE GRANTED SKILL POINTS AND ACCESS TO THE SKILL MENU TO PURCHASE SKILLS, BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THE UNSEALING PROCESS]
"Wait, the skill menu? What Skill Menu?" Nickel squinted at the message, suspicion on his face. "Do.. Do I have skill points already? And what's the conversion rate? How is that determined?"
[THE USER CURRENTLY POSSESSES [0] SKILL POINTS]
[THE CONVERSION RATE OF STATS INTO SKILL POINTS WILL BE DETERMINED BASED ON THE USER'S CURRENT RAW POWER LEVEL, COMPARED TO THE PROJECTED RAW POWER LEVEL OF THE USER, HAD THE SEAL NEVER BEEN PLACED]
[CURRENT RAW POWER LEVEL OF THE USER: [21.5]]
[ASSUMING LIFE EVENTS REMAIN AS SIMILAR AS POSSIBLE, PROJECTED RAW POWER LEVEL OF THE UNSEALED USER: [ERROR]]
A deafeningly loud shattering sound echoed through Nickel's mind, and a pain worse than the time he burnt all the skin off his arms stabbed through it.
He fell to his knees, clutching the sides of his head in complete agony.
After several seconds of excruciating pain, the system sounded again, in a voice he'd never heard before.
[ADMIN DRAGON'S TOOTH IS EXERCISING THEIR AUTHORITY]
All at once, the pain receded from Nickel's mind, and a soothing feeling saturated his body. It reminded him of something he hadn't felt in two years. His mother's healing magic.
A message popped up in front of him, though there wasn't any sound accompanying it.
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: Sorry about that, Little Silver. We finally got the old girl to be able to properly support you after the unsealing, but I guess the calculations she made were too great for her to be able to support the version of you she was simulating, so she crashed.]
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: Don't you worry though, so long as she doesn't try to make any more crazy calculations, the likelihood that she crashes again is only around 0.013%. So, try to keep her from doing so. She should listen to you, as long as you're in here. Which is the only place you'd be able to speak to her directly, anyway…]
By now, the pain was gone from Nickel's mind, and the soothing feeling started to recede. Sitting up, a thousand questions ran through his brain, but the one he finally settled on was:
"Do you know where my parents are?"
A few minutes passed without a response. Nickel clenched his fists hard, his nails elongating into claws. Blood trickled from his palms.
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: …I was really hoping you wouldn't ask that, Little Silver. I would hate for you to come to dislike me before we meet face to face.]
"...please…"
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: All I can tell you, is that they're alive. You'll find answers you seek in the dungeon they disappeared in.]
"...Thank you." Nickel lay back down on the sandy stones of the plaza, relief washing over him, a weight carried for two years finally lifted.
The fire was back in his eyes, burning with resolve.
Another few minutes passed in silence.
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: I need to go now, Little Silver. Once I have, the unsealing process will resume. Assuming our girl doesn't crash any time soon, it'll be a long while before you hear from me again. Fight well. Grow Stronger.]
[Admin Dragon's Tooth: Good luck, Nicholas]
The unknown voice resounded again.
[ADMIN DRAGON'S TOOTH RETRACTS THEIR AUTHORITY]