I barely had time to register that something had grabbed me, before I was released again. A vague sense told me that I'd been moved an unfathomable distance in a mere second, and as much as I wanted to react to the clearly bad situation, I couldn't. If I'd felt suppressed from feeling watched before, the feeling was amplified many times over now. I vaguely recalled that some goats would freeze up and fall over when faced with danger, and felt the comparison to myself at this moment wasn't too far-fetched. I had no clue where I was, or what was emitting the terrible pressure I was currently feeling, but I'd only ever felt anything similar once.
When Caedus' god descended during our final battle, I felt similarly suppressed. In the presence of what was clearly one of the Nineteen, I hadn't been able to do anything but roll over and hope I didn't die. Somehow, this was worse.
“Another one of the systems whelps,” a deep voice rumbled, clawing at my very being just from hearing it.
“It was insulting the first few hundred times…” a lazy voice answered, equally grating on my soul. “I've grown indifferent to these aberrations; they rarely amount to anything…”
“The system may let them imitate us, but they are still weak… pathetic,” a higher-pitched voice butted in, this one causing a more piercing pain than the dull scraping the other two caused.
A deep, warbling sound came next, and I had to curl up into a ball, as I could actually feel my HP decreasing while listening. I flinched at the loud whip sound rupturing my eardrums before my ears could seal themselves. Luckily, or unluckily, I didn't need to hear to understand the void language, since it was “spoken” by vibrating mana in specific ways.
“Stop talking like that, you're killing the poor thing,” the high-pitched voice said, apparently having smacked the warbling one. The fact that I was in danger merely existing somewhere close to these beings wasn't lost on me, and I desperately wished I was literally anywhere else right now.
“If this disgusting mockery of a voidling can't even handle the ancient language, it doesn't deserve to exist,” a fourth voice replied, probably the warbler. I was not liked, that much was clear, but I couldn't help but notice that he had switched to regular void language, implying the higher-pitched voice was either stronger or held some authority over it.
“A mockery it may be, but we are bound to at least not kill it,” the first voice said to my relief. “We've all signed the contract, and since we're the ones seeking refuge, it is in our best interest to not violate the terms. Why do we have to go over this every century? I'm growing tired of repeating myself.”
“I know… I know…” the warbler replied. “But look at it! It's disgusting! The system insults us by allowing this thing to exist.”
Being insulted over and over again wasn't doing wonders for my confidence, but at least I knew I was probably getting out of this alive. I still had no idea who the voices belonged to, not even my void feelers picking up the speakers in my vicinity. The void had this odd shifting quality to it, so I could never be sure if it was regular void shifting I was seeing, or if something truly gigantic was moving about. I had to assume that a handful of giant voidlings had me surrounded, since anything else didn't make sense. If I had to guess, these were actual ancient voidlings, since they apparently spoke the language. Could they feel the ancient voidling aura I was giving off, and wanted to take a look at the new oddity invading their home?
“You too, were once a weak and pathetic creature,” the second voice reprimanded. “Even if you keep acting like you never were.”
Another outburst of warbling caused my HP to plummet, until a impact heavy enough to shake reality shut the ancient voidling up. My everything was hurting, down to the deepest part of my existence, as I felt like I was slowly being ripped apart just listening to the voice. Yet I couldn't do anything but hope that they'd grow bored of me soon and let me go.
“Shut it, before you actually kill it by accident,” the high-pitched voice said, clearly the one to hit the warbler. “The system will take offense.”
A low grumble could be heard, implying the warbler had a lot more to say, but chose not to. A few seconds of silence passed, as I could only assume a stare-off was taking place, until the awkward moment ended.
“Right, you there, what's your name?” A voidling appeared out of nowhere before me, judging by the voice it was the warbling guy, and I felt like I was looking into a mirror. It had perfectly mimicked my appearance, reminding me of Liam.
“It's… it's Gary…” I stuttered awkwardly, before hastily adding something at the end. “...Sir.”
“Gary, you are a traveler, which makes you a precious existence to the system… somewhat,” the voidling explained, without introducing himself. “Which means we technically can't kill you, no matter how mad some of us get at your existence. BUT! You are still transgressing on eons of history. You are nothing but a pale imitation of a true voidling.”
A tentacle came out of nowhere so fast I only barely registered it thanks to my void feelers. Another shockwave sent me tumbling backwards before my momentum was arrested. I had been grabbed by another tentacle, which was connected to what I could only describe as a whole mess of tentacles. It was a wriggling mass of differently sized and colored tentacles, a few of them seemingly shifting in and out of existence, replacing ones that had just vanished.
“You are insufferable,” the high-pitched voice came from the direction of the mass of tentacles. “You have to excuse my associate, he gets grumpy every time this happens.”
“It's… quite all right…” I said slowly, unsure how my opinion mattered at all while stuck in between colossi of the void. After all, might makes right in this world, and these voidlings stood at the pinnacle. Who was I to excuse anybody here?
“It's really not, but that's besides the point,” she (?) replied. “The issue is that the system deemed it appropriate to bestow you with the aura of an ancient voidling. Yet, you are a whelp. A being not even a century old. A true ancient needs to exist for untold eons before making the transition, and here you are, only having to pick an option presented to you by the system to reap the same reward. I'm sure you can see how that might be an issue?”
“I think I do,” I said lamely, not sure where all of this was going.
“Good,” the mass of tentacles writhed and vibrated, which I assumed was an expression of approval. “While it is a problem, my associate tends to overreact, as it is not nearly as big of a problem as he makes it out to be. You types are usually nothing but a footnote in our history, most not even managing to live for a measly thousand years. The problem is that the other voidlings will still treat you like one of us through sheer exposure to your poorly imitated aura. We grab travelers like you to make sure you don't get too full of yourselves.”
After her words ended, an aura descended on me, almost causing me to go unconscious. This was nothing like the slight pressure I was able to exert. This aura had volume to it, a tangible weight. It carried the pressure of history with it, telling of an existence that had fought, killed, struggled, loved, hated, mourned, ruled, and lived. All of it was weighing down on me, and I could tell that she was still holding back. The aura of a true ancient was something to behold, something truly special and unique. In comparison, I was but a small boy pissing in the wind.
“I think you understand that, while the system gave you some benefits, we are nothing alike,” the pressure vanished as quickly as it came, and I couldn't help but agree. “Still, we know that it certainly wasn't easy to get where you are. The system only rarely gives out voidling evolutions, and it crowning an emperor is even rarer. We have an agreement with the system to leave you guys alone, as long as you keep in line. So, feel free to carve out your own piece of the void. Build a small kingdom if you please, or don't. We don't care. You'll vanish soon, like all the others before you.
“But don't go thinking that you're a big deal, because you're not.”
Still reeling from having felt the aura of a true ancient, I limited myself to nodding. I hadn't considered myself to be a bigshot or anything, merely a random guy with some advantages that others didn't have. But who was to say that it'd stay like that in the future? Sure sounded like the other voidlings would treat me highly by reason of my aura alone. Constantly being treated like the best thing since sliced bread could get to somebody's head right quick, and while that would be a new experience for me, I couldn't rule out that I was immune to it. I guess that was why these guys put up a little show of force for the new kids on the block, making sure the gap in power was seared into my brain for the future.
“You understand, good,” the mass of tentacles quivered. “Now, get out there and have fun. Life is short for some, so enjoy it while you can.”
The tentacle that had grabbed me whipped around and I could feel myself hurtling through the void. I could barely make out the massive bodies of the two voidlings that hadn't assumed their smaller forms, barely comprehending just how big they were. But even with their size, they vanished from my sight in short order.
I let myself zoom through the void for a while longer, trying to process what just happened. I'd met some ancient voidlings, that much was for sure. But, somehow, it felt more like I met the biggest guys around trying to intimidate the new guy? After all, all they did was tell me not to get too big for my britches, before telling me to go do whatever I wanted. They were impressive, and I certainly would never forget the aura I'd felt. All of them definitely were existences for which the Nineteen would be called to handle, should they go out into the expanse to wreak havoc.
Yet they also felt a bit childish.
Unsure what to make of the encounter, I vowed to not get on their bad side, but otherwise continue according to plan. I'd come here to say my thanks and to get a drink. Fortunately, I could do both of those things at the same place, and, lord knows, I could really use a drink right about now.