A maddening wide grin, one that looked positively crazed without any hit sanity, was currently stretched out on Cain's dirty face.
Finally, finally….after so many arduous years, he finished the ritual that will transform his life forever!
A continuous sense of elation swelled every inch of Cain's weary mind and body. To come to this point, Cain had essentially ignored his deteriorating health for years.
And yet, he simply didn't care at all for his current bodily state.
Dirt and grime stained his face, along with several large ugly bags under Cain's eyes. If anyone else were to spot Cain at this moment, they would undoubtedly identify him as a deranged homeless man.
But to Cain, all of this dirt was absolutely worth it. His eyes stared with fervent excitement at his own handiwork in front of him.
A profoundly ancient-looking ritual painted in a unique color black ink was drawn on the rocky ground.
This would be the kind of ritual most, if not all, modern people would mock upon for being so out of touch from reality.
Cain, however, didn't see it this way. Instead, he saw this ritual as his ticket to leave his stale shit working life and ascend to a higher world full of luxurious riches!
Such deluded thoughts could only exist inside Cain's deranged mind.
Almost everyone, even down to people who do believe in the supernatural, believed Cain was just a crazed lunatic who's lost touch with reality. They all figured he was just another person looking for a way to escape the suffocating mediocrity of his life.
But Cain never argued or cared about others' opinions. For he himself knows this would one hundred percent work. And his reasoning came from two objects that were currently tightly clutching in his hands.
One hand held a shiny green emerald while the other had a rusted, antique-looking book.
For the antique book, Cain spent years searching far and wide for this old legend. He went on the deepest region of the internet, uncovering old forums and anything else suspicious just for any tidbit of information.
Eventually, after dedicating his life to searching, Cain's luck struck gold. That day was still so fuzzy in Cain's memories. He could barely remember what happened before striking gold.
But on that lucky day, he came across one specific forum that told about an ancient book buried deep in the Earth. And apparently, this old book holds secrets of entering into Godhood!
The way this person wrote was honestly highly persuasive as if he could charm anyone just through words on the screen.
Moreover, this person even went out of their way to post a picture of an admittedly haunting-looking grave that looked it was swarming with supernatural occurrences.
When Cain read more into the forum, he read that numerous people already attempted to go to this very spot and find this book.
The results?
Everyone said it was a complete hoax! People even went so far as to take pictures of the spot they dug up to prove this fabled book doesn't exist.
However, no matter how many times the forum was proven wrong, the original poster would always claim, 'You simply did not have the Origin Link within yourself.'
Cain wasn't discouraged at all at the apparent lack of results and went to look for the book for himself. When he eventually arrived at the spot, he found that the previous dug-up hole was all filled.
So with his own anticipation rising, Cain dug up the same spot, and long and behold, that old ancient book was waiting for him at the bottom!
Initially, Cain believed he would need to spend even more time trying to decode this old legend. But luckily for him, he could perfectly understand all the contents inside the book.
This antique book had only one page. And instead of it detailing how to reach Godhood, this page had detailed instructions on how to reach a place named "The Domain Of Gods."
Just that title alone was enough to convince Cain.
'The Domain Of Gods' is a name he would exactly see in one of his favorite Light novels!
Furthermore, while there wasn't much background information inside the book, what was there also helped reaffirm Cain's mind.
The book had only briefly explained that those with demented Wills can cross to the land where Gods roam about. And the mystical energy of the Chaotic Force will carry him there.
Other than that, Cain had no additional background information. However, this didn't bother him much. He boldly assumed he will gain more details later and focused on recreating the ritual described.
The possibility of this being fake or a host never crossed Cain's mind. If he were to have any seed of doubts planted in his mind, then all of his fierce dedication would be for naught.
Plus, why, out of all people, was he the only one that managed to dig up this book? This just had to be a sign!
The amount of crazed delusions Cain had is what helped him through collecting all the materials needed for this ritual in any case.
The most elusive item he needed for the ritual was the very shiny green emerald in his other palm. Cain basically used all of his life savings just to travel around the world and dig up this gem as per the ancient book instructions.
As far Cain read about, this lustrous gem was named the Chaotic Emerald and would be the central key on his ascension to 'The Domain Of Gods.'
In a concise snippet, the book explained this Chaotic Emerald will directly link him to connecting with the Chaotic Force, which will then teleport him to 'The Domain Of Gods.'
And now, all of his time, effort, and deteriorated health would finally be rewarded.
Cain had one simple dream that is surprisingly complicated to achieve.
The dream to simply have absolute control over his life! For too long, he believed he's been chain down, forced to stay in his lane because there was no other option.
Others could find stability and happiness in such a stable, average lifestyle.
But Cain couldn't accept it all, less he wanted to become more crazed than he already is. No longer would he be confined to normality.
Everything he will do would be because of his own initiative, no matter the consequences or results. And Cain was entirely determined to do whatever it takes to become a great expert and achieve total freedom.
'Maan….if she was still here, she would be jumping for joy….'
For a moment, Cain felt slightly sentimental when recalling the one important person in his life who wasn't with him anymore.
But now wasn't the time to get sentimental. Cain knows he would have plenty of time for that when he ascended to a new world.
Shaking his head to clear away such thoughts, Cain then proceeded towards the center of the ritual and plopped right down the rocky floor.
Before doing anything, Cain took one last look around his current scenery.
To achieve this ritual, the book told him to set it up at a place far secluded from any sign of life. So naturally, a cave far in the middle of some rural country woods was Cain's best choice.
While just taking in the last look of this Earth, a slight content smile curved up Cain's lips.
Even as the place he wants to go to would be a vicious, cruel world, Cain knows he'll never regret making this choice. The aspect of being truly unchained in life, having the ability to roam as free as the sky, was all too enticing.
And Cain wasn't some naive person willing to believe everything would go his way in a new world. No matter the cruel hardships he could potentially suffer, he would use all means necessary to be a soaring expert.
Just like how he used all of his means to prepare this ancient ritual.
With his excitement levels rising to unimaginable degrees, Cain held the emerald right at the center of his chest while also putting the ancient book on his lap.
At this moment, Cain quickly calmed himself. When everything is finally prepared, he now needs to rely on the energy from his soul to stir this mysterious emerald power.
The antique book explained that apparently, every living being has soul energy locked deep inside them. This soul energy is what forms a being's core personality and sense of self.
And commonly throughout life, most living beings would never have access to their soul energy. The ancient book described it as this modern world has no need for it or they didn't have immensely strong enough will.
However, those whose Wills are just that frantically intense can achieve a slight glimpse into soul energy.
The usage of more soul energy is what gives any living being the ability to do the seemingly impossible on their Modern Earth.
To any average person, this explanation would seem crazily fantasy-like. Most people wouldn't be willing to believe that they have a mythical energy inside of them that has been with them since birth.
But for Cain, his deluded enough mental state was exactly what needed to gain access to his latent soul energy. Years he would practice bringing more of this energy out, and his results weren't high at all.
At the very best, Cain could only feel a slightly different sensation run through his entire body. This sensation would imbue him with power he never felt before, and Cain identifies this as soul energy.
Cain couldn't precisely tell the amount of soul energy he pulls out. In actuality, the sensation he feels would only make him slightly stronger than before.
But the fact he can bring out more soul energy was enough.
Sitting in the same spot, remaining completely still for hours, Cain slowly gathered his soul energy.
Then finally, after a lengthy amount of time, Cain felt the sensation of soul energy course in his body.
Immediately, the emerald in his hand began to shimmer a faint green glow. When the flickers of green entered Cain's vision, he promptly opened his mouth to say,
"The Seven Orders of Origin. Transfer me through Chaos!"
'Chi!'
In a shocking twist that would utterly bewilder anyone on this planet, the emerald and the ritual below Cain suddenly ignited in a bright green glow!
The intense green shine was too blinding for Cain's eyes. He was forced to shut them tight as a burning sensation painfully coursed within his eyes.
And the pain just wasn't in his eyes.
All throughout his body, Cain felt like he was getting roasted alive! This pain far surpassed anything Cain had ever experienced in his life.
At this moment, any average human would already be squealing at the top of their lungs.
The pain was worse than actually dying. Worse than getting slowly burned alive by molten lava or getting one body chopped into thousands of pieces.
And yet….nothing, not even a slight groan leaked from Cain's lips.
His expression essentially became the epitome of utter insanity. Instead of frowning from the pain, an utter mad smile split across his face.
Only a few seconds passed, and Cain felt like hours went on from this level of torture. However, in his mind, he repeated one phrase like it was a soothing mantra.
My new life starts here!
Right then, when thirty seconds passed, Cain suddenly heard a mighty voice boom into his ears.
"Chaotic Force!"
'Chi!'
An unfathomable energy pulse broke the entire cave!
For miles in secluded barren woods, a blinding green flash covered everything. Just looking at the green flash would blind any unsuspecting person's eyes.
Then, after exactly two seconds, the green flash immediately dispersed. Everything went back to normal as if the green flash never happened.
But at the cave Cain was in, there wasn't any trace of him there
….
Darkness. Complete and utter darkness.
That was all Cain could seemingly see as his conscious slowly came awake. As he gradually became more aware, scrambled memories began to flow through his mind.
Images of all kinds of different figures, ones that Cain had never seen before in his life, popped up in the darkness like a flashbang.
With all sorts of information blasting in his mind, Cain started to feel a massive headache coming along.
Before anything could worsen, Cain focused himself, forcefully ignoring the jumbled mess of his mind. He steeled himself to recall only the last thing he did before coming to this endless darkness.
'I was….I was….nng….inside a cave and….Ahh?!?'
With a startled fright, Cain suddenly flung his eyes wide open. His body sprang right up as sweat poured down his face like a river stream.
"This-Arrg…."
Cain didn't have a chance to make bearings of his surroundings. Not when his head suddenly started pounding, and a cascade of sensations warped his entire body.
Cain honestly didn't know what to describe his feelings at this moment.
Pain was most for sure there. But there were also other odd sensations. At best, he could say it was like experiencing power, familiarity, fatigue, and sickness all at once.
"Haaah….well that went as well as I-" As Cain was murmuring to himself, he abruptly stopped, going entirely rigid.
After taking a few seconds to calm himself, Cain finally realized something massively critical.
What he was sitting under….it wasn't dirt or rocks.
It was a fluffy bed! In fact, this bed was the softest he ever felt!
'If I'm no longer in a cave….then….' A gradual buildup of realization crossed Cain's mind.
Slowly, Cain forcefully pushed past the pain and raised his head.. As he did so, his eyes began to widen in awe and excitement.