Saryn instinctively leapt back in fright.
His muscles tensed as the figure in the mirror, who donned his appearance yet bearing another's actions, tilted its head upwards toward him and chuckled.
"Who are you?" Saryn spoke while cautiously studying the mirror.
"I am Marduk, the creator of this place, and also the person who has blessed you." The figure replied.
Saryn twitched in discomfort. It was an extremely peculiar sight - his own reflection replying to him, arms crossed behind its back.
A panicked voice escaped his mouth, "How are you in the m-mirror?" He stuttered before asking, "What is this place?"
"Gather yourself, Saryn. These weak acts are unfitting for the inheritor of Tiamat's will." Marduk, or rather the man hijacking Saryn's reflection in the mirror, spoke.
'This guy is spouting nonsense!'
Saryn thought to himself, before quickly gathering himself and standing upright.
"Good, as I had told you already, this is the Deepforge. As for my method of communication, refrain from questioning it." Marduk replied to Saryn's earlier questions.
Saryn was stuck in thought, remembering that Marduk had indeed mentioned the Deepforge. Except that last time, the voice came out of nowhere. He also wasn't paying attention because of the memories that came with the mention of his name.
He asked his next question.
"What do you mean by having blessed me? So far i've gone through nothing but torture."
Upon Saryn's mention of the word "torture", Marduk's expression slightly wrinkled.
'Seems like I struck a nerve.'
Saryn thought.
"Torture? You have been bestowed the results of my four thousand years of work! Your potential has been increased to boundless limits! You are one of the only successful results in millions! And despite this, you dare to call it torture?" Marduk replied threateningly as the mirror's spotless surface slightly rippled.
Saryn cautiously flinched at Marduk's sudden outburst, before recomposing himself.
"I'm sorr–"
"My apologies. I really shouldn't lose composure over your stupidity." Marduk cut Saryn off.
'And for a moment I thought he would actually be polite.'
Saryn sighed deeply, he needed answers, but this identity thief was making things difficult.
"As I was saying before, you, Saryn, have been injected with a serum containing the blood of Tiamat, a powerful sanity beast who lay at the pinnacle of power in this world, of course, Tiamat was slain by I, four thousand and thirty two years ago." Marduk explained.
Saryn twitched involuntarily at the information, feeling a heavy burden be placed onto him.
"After thirty two years of painful research and dissecting, I had crafted the serum, and plenty of it, it was my prized possession. However, use on myself was pointless, my lifespan had reached its end, and I would most likely not survive anyway. Before my body's decay, I assimilated my soul and will into this construct, the Deepforge, and used it for four thousand years as a lab for my experiments."
"There have been millions before you."
"And so, millions have died,"
"Thousands mutated into indescribable mindless beasts."
"Hundreds lost their sanity, dying briefly afterward."
"Only dozens have survived for a period, and yet, all of them died in their feeble attempts to clear the trials."
"You got that? Many others have already survived to this point before you, your journey here has only begun."
Saryn felt the burden upon him get heavier as he gritted his teeth.
The sound of these "trials" are really terrifying me
He thought to himself before turning back toward Marduk.
"So what do you want me to do now? How can I get out of here?" Saryn muttered short breathed, almost as if talking to himself, well, he kind of was but you get it.
Marduk looked speechless, before smirking confidently.
"You want out?" A short chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Saryn, you haven't even stepped inside yet."
Right as Marduk finished talking, the mirror in front of Saryn shattered, each of its pieces dropping to the ground, causing a choir of not-so-pleasant sounds.
Saryn looked surprised, making the same speechless expression Marduk previously had, before an eerie noise, like that of a burning crackling flame, erupted behind him.
A sort of gateway or door, so deeply blended in with the wall in front of the throne, had lit, constructing some sort of lilac portal that burned intensely, as if waiting hungrily for Saryn's arrival.
And so, Saryn stepped forth, with each careful step, he glanced into the remaining three mirrors, almost as if Marduk would jump out and spout nonsense again, but instead, he was greeted with his own normal reflection copying his own movements, just mirrors doing mirror-things.
After passing by his obsidian throne of torture-and-doom, Saryn noticed the rough ball of obsidian on the floor next to it, bringing back painful memories of when the ball had seemingly jumped out of his shattered chest.
'Souvenir'
He bent down and picked up the orb, before standing back up and facing the purple gateway.
"Good choice, Saryn." A voice resounded throughout the room.
'Does this weirdo really have to watch every single thing I do?'
…Of course he does.
Saryn quickly dismissed his fruitless thoughts of somehow escaping Marduk's watchful gaze.
He studied the orb in his hand. It was made of a similar material to the throne behind him, it wasn't a perfect sphere, being covered in countless ridges, bumps and spikes, almost like a curled up armadillo. The surface of the ball occasionally slightly glowed purple when he contacted it, but other than that, it was extremely dull and dark.
But most importantly, the orb felt like it was… rejecting him?
Almost like two magnets pushing themselves away from one another. Saryn gripped tighter, not allowing the pesky orb to escape.
Not because of his own childishness, but because he felt some sort of belonging to the orb, as if they shared a connection.
Saryn tilted his head back up, looking at the portal, hesitating.
It burned intensely, like a bonfire, but instead of exuding heat, a petrifying cold washed through the room, causing Saryn to stiffen.
"What are you waiting for? I don't have all day." Marduk's voice tortured his ears yet again.
'He's right, what am I waiting for?'
Saryn steeled himself, before entering the ominous gateway.