In The Abyss As A Toon Character

As Dante's faded consciousness clawed its way back from the darkest pit of his mind, a swarm of questions began buzzing in his aching brain. "Where am I?" Puzzled, he thought to myself, trying to recollect his memories. "Ah, right, "Discord" sent me to this place."

His senses could barely pick something. Everything was dark, and the silence was deafening. Dante tried to move his arms and legs, but the heavy darkness surrounding him felt oppressive.

Any attempts to move his body yielded no results. Unexpectedly, a moment of calm washed over him. He felt a strange sensation surge through his body. It was like a cocoon was breaking, and he was being unveiled to his surroundings. His eyes caught a crack in his enclosure. The crack became larger and larger till a blue screen materialized.

Dante's eyes widened with fear and confusion as he muttered, "Where..." But even in the midst of his terror, he couldn't help but notice a strange beauty in the moment. The sensation was both exhilarating and terrifying like he was on the brink of something incredible but also something dangerous.

As he stared at the blue screen, he noticed that it began to pulsate with a faint light. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain coursing through his body. It felt like someone tore him apart into little pieces. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips. Leaving him feeling helpless and alone.

"HURTS!!!..." His face winced in pain as he clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Now that the intense pain subsided, he found himself lying on the ground, gasping for air. He felt drained and weak as if all the energy had been sucked out of him. Slowly, he sat up and looked around, trying to make sense of what had just happened, and the blue screen reappeared. "Initialization complete. Welcome to the pre-tutorial."

Dante is a little confused. After all, the first thing that he sees is a blue screen. As his thoughts gradually became less foggy. With his voice shaking slightly from the earlier experience, he asked, "What or who are you, where am I? And why do I hear you inside my head?" Dante's eyes darted around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. But all he could see was a blue screen in front of him, flickering with strange symbols and codes.

With a cold and monotonous voice, the blue screen starts speaking

"1 You can call me "System" "

"2 Pre-tutorial"

"3 I am connected to you now."

Dante recalled all the novels and mangas he had read, "System? Perhaps that's the gift he told me about," But he quickly discarded it. Discord said he would have to work for it. While contemplating the possible answers, he stopped thinking about them and asked more about this place: "What's your function, and what's the pre-tutorial?"

The metallic voice of the System replied, "1 your soul is compatible with "The Fountain." My function is to work as an interface so you can interact with "The Fountain." 2 Here, you can ask any questions before going to the tutorial, or your limit of questions runs out."

Dante thought, "Well, I'm running out of Questions, and I don't know what the hell I'm going to do, "continue.""

The blue screen answered in its emotionless tone. "The pre-tutorial is a filter consisting of a pocket dimension designed for players to learn how to use their abilities in life-and-death situations."

Dante was still processing the information. "What is an ability?" he asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"An ability is a unique power that allows you to do things beyond the scope of normal humans. You will learn more about them in the tutorial," the blue screen explained.

Dante asked, intrigued, "Who made you?" but the System quickly replied, "Your question limit is over Teleporting..." Before he could even say another word, he began shining in a bright blue beam.

As Dante looked around, he couldn't believe his eyes. Before he had even realized it, he found himself transported to what appeared to be a completely different world. The sky overhead was dark, with an ominous grey, and the town around him was nothing more than a post-apocalyptic wasteland ravaged by some unknown catastrophe.

Despite the devastation, he could still see trees in the distance, but the area where he stood was barren, with few obstacles in sight. The most striking feature was a massive crater in the far, far away, its jagged edges looming menacingly in the distance, telling him something crashed a long time ago.

The System's voice echoed in his head, "4 players found initializing..."

Then, the System continued, "You will need to complete the given mission. For this, your basic class ability was awakened. For more information, open your interface. The knowledge to be able to open it and the ability to communicate with each other has been granted."

"To complete this mission, you will have to work as a team and figure out how to use your abilities. If you do not pass the tutorial in the given time, you will be executed. You will have 5 minutes to organize yourselves and clarify your doubts. Good luck."

As soon as the System finishes speaking, Dante's interface opens. He could not explain it, but he knew that they could do it. It was a strange feeling.

-----------------------

Name: Dante

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Race: Human

Class: Aspect of Aqarath

-------------------------

Abilities:

Omnilingualism Basic LVL 1

M.L.P.T LVL 1

-------------------------

Stats locked (Finish the tutorial)

Locked (Finish the tutorial)

-------------------------

Primary mission: someone from your "Party" kill the gorgon 0/1

Penalty in case of failure: death

Time limit 2:00 hour

-----------------------

While Dante was inspecting his system, his eyes were fixed on the RPG-like style. He was trying to make sense of the curious name of his ability and class when a male voice broke his concentration.

He looked up to see a tall, muscular man with jet-black hair who appeared to be around his age. The man's clothes were mostly white, making him stand out from the rest of the group in the room. "Nice to meet you all. My name is Daniel, and my ability is "Aura." How can I refer to all of you

Dante doesn't know why, but this person caught his attention, maybe because of his style of clothing, which is very curious. It is mostly white and reminds him a bit of an astronaut suit, while the others wore normal clothes according to his criteria, but this man stood out. 

Despite his caution, Dante decided to trust them. Maybe this was all just an illusion, and he was still wandering around that deserted black abyss. "My name is Dante and my ability is called M.L.P.T. I still don't know what does." As Dante spoke, he continued to study the group in the room. They all seemed to be around the same age as him, except for one.

A man with a big beard, looking in his 40s, introduced himself next. "Magnus, as far as I know, I can create weapons."

As soon as he finished introducing himself, a young woman with blonde hair spoke up. "Nice to meet you, I'm Shannon. My ability is something simple, pyrokinesis."

Before they could continue, Magnus interrupted. "I have an idea of how my ability works. Do any of you know how to use it?" he asked. Dante was still a little confused about his new reality, but it seemed that his companions had already adapted. He found that a bit weird but decided to focus on the conversation at hand.

"I think so," Daniel and Shannon replied.

Shannon opened her hand, and a flame erupted from it, illuminating the place with a small burning glow. "Yep, I know how, but it's not very strong, damn those "Enhanced" made it look so easy."

We're all confused by what Shannon said. I was about to ask her about that, but Daniel laughed and interrupted me. "Heh, I think it was kind of stupid to base it on Shannon," he smiled like a child who was playing with a new toy.

The reason for that comment was that Daniel tried to copy what Shannon did, but the only result was some blue energy coming out of his palm, making him feel a little tired.

Dante couldn't help but feel a little left out. He tried to use his ability; he felt something running through his body, but it didn't result in anything. He even asked the System, but it didn't answer. "I don't know how to use it," he said out loud, feeling a little frustrated.

"Well, I won't know what my 'gift' is for the moment," Dante thought to himself.

With the situation already assessed, Magnus spoke up again. "I don't think your skills are very useful at the moment, so I'll lend you a weapon. I can only create edged weapons. Any preferences?"

No one said anything except for Daniel, who immediately voiced his request. "I would like a sword. I'm quite good with it," he said with a small tone of confidence.

After handing Daniel the sword, Magnus turned to Dante and Shannon. "Well, since you don't know how to use an edged weapon, I'll give you a machete. It's a pretty simple weapon to use, par excellence in my unit," he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

 Hearing that, Dante asked Magnus, "Did you go to the militia?" Dante began thinking, "Having someone who actually knows how to fight will help tus a lot. He may have some tricks to help us win."

Magnus looked at him with a serious expression on his face while raising an eyebrow. "If I did? I'm an officer from KG-" he was instantly cut off by the System, "Time's up."

Suddenly, in the distance, A red flare shot into the sky, illuminating it with a blinding light for some seconds before it vanished; after a moment of silence, Dante spoke up. "I think we should go to that place, even if it's not there. Maybe they are 'players' like us, and time isn't with us right now. We can't be picky."

With worried glances, everyone nodded in agreement except for Magnus, whose face became more serious when he heard what Dante had said.

They quickly positioned themselves, with Daniel and Magnus in front leading our way, scanning for any threat because they were more perceptive, and Shannon and Dante in the back, covering the rear.

As they approached where the red flare was, Dante had a feeling that something was off. Nevertheless, he suppressed his doubts and concentrated on the task at hand.

...

Finally, they arrived at the place a few minutes later, but as they approached this particular area, a sense of unease began to wash over them.

I commented, "I have a bad feeling about this..."

The buildings around him were neglected and abandoned, with the smell of death hanging heavily in the air. The surrounding area was being accompanied by a pile of corpses and many eggs around an edifice.

Daniel sets his eyes on the towering structures. His face turns into one of disbelief when he sees them. He seemed more intrigued by the design than by the bodies.

Magnus quickly took a mental note that Daniel had no problem with bodies or blood. He carefully scanned every nook and cranny of the place: bodies, belongings, clothes, and insides; as he stood up and looked around, he noticed something strange about the eggs. They were pulsating with a sickly yellow glow, remembering a similar creature of his world.

He discovered a few more things, but with the time ticking and everyone probably lacking monster knowledge, Magnus finished for now, sharing the basic insights, his fingers aimed at the eggs, "They died from the bite of whatever is the mother of those eggs, and the bodies were preserved probably they are food for the hatchlings, so the mother should be near."

"What..." Dante was extremely surprised about Magnus pulling all of this. He wondered if he had already had a similar experience before, "but that would be impossible unless he had already lived this or a monster existed in his world."

Dante's mental wandering is suddenly interrupted. The sound of voices in the distance causes everyone to spring into action. Magnus, taking the role of leader, whispers to everyone to seek cover and hide.

They quickly dart into the nearest building, trying to muffle their footsteps as much as possible. Through the walls, Dante and his companions are barely able to hear a piece of their conversation. "Are you sure it was a good idea to come here?" says an unknown voice. 

"Well, the flare must be part of the system. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense that they would have launched it," replied another. He fell silent for a few seconds before continuing. "And I don't think any of these corpses would have launched it."

"And I don't think any of these corpses would have launched it."

As Dante listens, a loud roar reverberates in the place, making the decrepit old houses tremble slightly for a moment.

One of the unknown players says, "See, I told you. Now, all that's left is to hunt that son of a bitch down and get the hell out of here."

Magnus motioned for us to approach, his hands held up in a gesture of caution. As soon as we were close enough, he whispered to us. "Depending on how strong the gorgon is, we'll either go out and steal it or fight them."

Dante couldn't help but feel a sense of confusion and hesitation as he peeked at the group of players on the other side. "Wait, aren't we supposed to be working with them?" I asked,

Magnus turned to face him and replied, "The System told us that if someone in our group captures the gorgon, we pass and they don't seem to be part of our group."

As everyone remembered the penalty they would face if they failed to capture the gorgon, a feeling of unease settled in the group. Magnus looked at them sympathetically and said, "I'm sorry, it's them or us."

Dante seemed to be the most affected by this information, his face contorted with conflicting emotions. Daniel, on the other hand, seemed to have taken it in his stride, while Shannon appeared to be a little shaken.

Suddenly, a loud roar broke their silence, causing everyone to gaze at where the sound came from. One of the "enemy" players shouted, "Let's get that fucker!"

Magnus rushed to the window to get a better view of the fight and described what he saw to the rest of the group. "Its shape is similar to that of a snake. The only difference is its tail, which is shaped like a blade, and its color pattern, which is purple with bright blue."

"Only one of them has shown his ability, which seems to be small barriers; the rest are fighting with pipes, knives, and even a steel bat. The gorgon looks strong, but it seems he is weakened. He has a deep wound, and if this keeps up he will be killed soon."

Magnus then turned to his new comrades and said, "We will go all in. First, we kill those who can't use skills. We don't want them to learn in the middle of combat."

Dante's mind filled with the sound of his own labored breaths and the echoing of a single sentence: "Them or us."

Inside Dante, on one side, the primal instinct for self-preservation urged him to kill his enemies without hesitation. On the other, a flicker of humanity resisted the idea of taking lives, even if they were enemies.

Dante could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to make a decision. The seconds began ticking by slowly as Dante stood there, lost in thought.

--------

Sorry for mixing third and first. Right now, I'm wondering what perspective to use. Perhaps I'll use both

Also, I wanted to edit this chapter more, but I have a mental deadline. Whenever the chapter passes that deadline, I consider it not worth it anymore. After all, I gotta keep uploading normal chapters... 

FF: Friendship isn't magic Friendship is Power or Witchcraft, depending on who you ask