Genesis Mage

"How many days has it been?"

Fighting back exhaustion, Skye slowly opened his eyes.

"It's the same blood-red sky."

Tired beyond measure, he stopped thinking and simply stared upward. Time slipped by unnoticed as he lay motionless.

"No! This can't go on!" he thought, forcing himself to resist the urge to remain still. Shakily, Skye pushed himself to his feet.

An uneven landscape stretched before him—rivers of magma, pits filled with lava and corrosive substances, temperatures high enough to vaporize nearly anything.

And souls—endless, tormented souls scattered everywhere.

It was the only place Skye could think of that matched this description: Hell.

Shifting his gaze, he looked at himself—or rather, his soul.

Ever since arriving here, his existence had been plagued by one overwhelming problem: his soul couldn't withstand the scorching heat. It evaporated rapidly but regenerated just as quickly, thanks to the strange energy saturating this realm. The result was a painful equilibrium that left him in constant agony.

Closing his eyes briefly, Skye steeled himself. As a soul, he possessed the peculiar ability to choose whether or not to "see," but avoiding the harsh reality wasn't going to help him survive.

With newfound determination, he opened his eyes and took a step forward.

The pain was unbearable as his foot sank into the lava, but he ignored it. Step by step, he walked across the molten terrain, the agony a constant companion.

Everywhere he looked, the topography of Hell remained the same—seas of molten rock, endless streams of lava.

"How many years has it been?"

Skye pondered as he passed by countless souls, their faces twisted in silent screams, mouths moving without sound.

One of Hell's cruelties was its suppression of speech. No matter how much pain you endured, you couldn't utter a single word.

"Why did I end up in Hell?"

The thought arose unbidden, and as he glanced at the tortured souls around him, the answer felt obvious.

"Why wouldn't I? Doesn't everyone belong here in the end?"

"You may have been a good human, but to other creatures, are you?"

The chain of thoughts continued until Skye stopped in front of the soul of a humanoid creature.

"He seems to be from an intelligent race."

Unsure, Skye attempted to communicate. Without the ability to speak, he resorted to gestures, but the humanoid soul remained motionless.

He expected as much. Every soul he had encountered so far seemed to have surrendered completely.

After silently observing the creature for a while, Skye moved on.

As years passed, his thoughts began to evolve.

Was Hell merely a place of punishment? If so, what of Heaven?

Hell stripped you of your will to exist, while Heaven's endless comfort might lull you into a desire to disappear.

In the end, weren't they the same? Different methods, same result.

A burning resolve grew within him.

"I want to become strong."

One day, Skye found himself standing over a motionless soul sprawled beneath him.

"I don't like his face," Skye thought, an unexpected wave of irritation washing over him. The longer he stared, the more infuriated he felt.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. With a sneer, Skye kicked the soul, sending it tumbling into a nearby lava pool.

The act felt strange.

"No, something feels off about this. I need to be sure."

Without hesitation, Skye leaped into the lava.

"Where is he?"

Though the molten depths pressed heavily on his soul, Skye's vision allowed him to see through the lava.

Hours passed as he swam deeper, and eventually, he found what he hadn't expected: not just the sinking soul but also a dim, blue, egg-like stone lying on the lava bed.

An inexplicable urgency gripped his mind. "I need it."

Skye pushed forward, ignoring the pressure and searing pain, and grabbed the stone.

The moment he held it, a connection formed, flooding his mind with information.

The artifact was called the Blue Egg of Fortune.

It could guide its owner toward lucky encounters, but it required energy to function. The amount of energy consumed depended on the scale of the request, and crucially, the energy had to originate from the artifact's owner.

After calming his excitement, he ignored the other soul and swam upwards.

By the shore of the lava pool, Skye began absorbing Hell's ambient energy to charge the egg.

Years later...

"It should be enough."

Skye controlled the Blue Egg of Fortune, using it to search for other artifacts, magical items, anything that could strengthen his soul. But there was no reaction. Bits of information flickered in his mind, telling him that it wasn't possible.

A little disappointed, Skye controlled the artifact again, this time to search for a way to escape Hell. But the Blue Egg showed no reaction either. A message appeared in his mind, confirming that it was still not possible.

"It may not be possible right now, but maybe in the future."

And so Skye continued using the artifact, checking it yearly.

Skye didn't need to close his eyes or focus anymore. His control over his soul had become so refined that a simple thought was enough to absorb energy and simultaneously feed it to the artifact.

Time passed...

One day, while passing time swimming in the lava pool, Skye noticed a humanoid soul excitedly running toward him. Skye gave him a quick glance before continuing to swim.

Throughout his stay in Hell, he had encountered a few souls like him. But the problem was, no matter the method they used, they simply couldn't understand each other. Sign language, writing in the sand, even attempting to invent new languages—all attempts ended in frustration. Everything the other souls said appeared as gibberish. It was clear that something in Hell was restricting communication between souls.

The excited humanoid soul stood on the shore, trying to communicate with Skye through strange movements.

"Just go away already," Skye thought, floating motionlessly in the lava.

The humanoid, thinking he had made a mistake, dejectedly left after a while.

Years later...

Going through his yearly routine, Skye used the artifact to search for a way to escape Hell, while also gaining extreme power, incredible talent, and all sorts of things. As usual, the Blue Egg showed no reaction and told him it was not possible.

Then, Skye used the artifact repeatedly, but each time he lowered his requirements.

Finally, he asked for a way out of Hell—specifically, to a planet where supernatural powers existed—with the condition that his first few years there would pass smoothly.

The brightly glowing Blue Egg finally showed a reaction. In a flash, a huge chunk of energy stored in the artifact was consumed, dimming its glow. Moments later, an image of a location appeared in Skye's mind—a spatial crack that would soon open.

"I need to hurry!"

Skye swam to the shore of the lava pool and began running. Even as he sprinted, he continued feeding energy to the artifact, ensuring he wouldn't miss any opportunities.

His resolve burned brighter than the molten ground beneath him.

What pushed Skye wasn't just the desire to escape Hell—it was the drive to become stronger.