Colors flashed around me, swirling, merging, diverging and warping in some sort of demented kaleidoscope. There was no gravity but a sense of falling, no wind but a sense of a strange pressure carrying me away like a leaf on the breeze. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shut out the strange shifting reality that surrounded me. It didn't feel right; it felt wrong, like it was something I wasn't supposed to see. At least not yet. I'd only looked into the swirling kaleidoscope for a few brief moments, but I could already feel a massive pounding in the back of my head; it felt like someone had hired a team of dwarven miners to excavate my skull cavity. I kept my eyes squeezed tightly shut as I continued my fall to wherever the destination was. It was like I had fallen through a hole in the side of reality and had seen the underpinnings that supported what we saw and accepted as reality. I wasn't willing to risk another look; it felt like that way lay only madness.

  I fell for an eternity, I fell for only a moment, it was hard to tell what was going on. Heat, cold, light, dark, wet, dry, it all seemed to blend together as I fell through the open space. I went from feeling like I lay comfortably on a tropical beach to the freezing cold of the northern Alps, to deep under the ocean water, where there was little warmth and even less light. Unable to open my eyes and confirm anything, it was one of the single most disconcerting experiences of my life.

  The strange world around me jerked; it was as if the cosmos was tilted. The sense of wrongness intensified; it was different this time, however. Previously, it felt like I was seeing something I shouldn't have; this felt like a different kind of wrong. All around me, the mad riot of colours and sound dimmed away and disappeared as I felt my endless fall cease. I risked a look, cracking my eyes open, and I was greeted by an endless void. I froze, hanging there on the edge of oblivion. The feeling of wrongness intensified; it made my bones itch. This was wrong. This endless blackness should not be. And I shouldn't be here.

  Deep within that endless abyss, I felt something. Something awful. Abominable. It did not belong in this world, this cosmos. I felt hunger from deep within that endless void.

  Crack.

  Reality tilted back the other way, and my vision was filled once again with the riot of colour. I was hurtling through a cosmos of colour once again. Thankfully, I could still feel Vipera nestled away inside of me, and I drew comfort from her presence. Whatever came, we would survive it together, just like we had survived the Soul-Sheer. If it weren't for her presence within me, anchoring me, I may have lost myself to the madness that swirled around me. The kaleidoscope of colours began to slow its frenzied dance, gradually coalescing into more distinct patterns. Streaks of crimson and azure stretched out before me, intertwining like ribbons of light. Emerald and amethyst hues swirled together, forming intricate spirals that pulsed with an otherworldly energy. The chaotic maelstrom of pigments started to align, shaping itself into a tunnel of breathtaking beauty. I was grateful that, for whatever reason, the sight of the maelstrom around me wasn't clawing at my mind any longer; I could actually open my eyes and see where I was going.

  As I hurtled through this newly formed passageway, I marvelled at the ever-changing tapestry surrounding me. The walls of the tunnel seemed alive, shimmering with an inner radiance that defied description. Fractal patterns bloomed and faded in rapid succession, each more intricate than the last. It was as if I were travelling through the heart of a living rainbow, each moment revealing new wonders. At the far end of this mesmerizing corridor, a single point of shadow emerged. It stood out starkly against the vibrant backdrop, a pinprick of darkness that seemed to draw me inexorably towards it. As I approached, the point grew larger, expanding into a yawning maw of black that promised an end to this falling journey. The black that made up this spot was not like the endless expanse of black I had witnessed before. This felt more like a door closed in a dark hallway, with just a sliver of light peeking out from beneath.

  I reached the maw.

  I tensed, waiting for impact as my heart pounded.

  There was a feeling of warping, of extruding and retracting, twisting.

  The impact never came.

  Instead, I found myself lying on my back staring up into a familiar night sky, feeling cool, damp grass against the skin of my palms. For several long minutes, I lay there in shock and stunned, just feeling the grass against my skin and the gentle breeze brushing through my hair. I slowly sat up, my head spinning from the otherworldly journey I'd just experienced. The familiar night sky above me was a comforting sight, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something had fundamentally changed. I closed my eyes, reaching inward to check on Vipera. Her presence was still there, a warm, reassuring pulse within my soul.

  "You okay in there?" I asked mentally.

  Her response came as a mix of emotions and impressions rather than words. Confusion, curiosity, and a hint of concern washed over me. She had experienced the journey too, but seemed just as baffled by it as I was. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. I was in a small clearing, surrounded by trees that seemed to reach into the night sky.

  No, not a clearing. A park.

  I looked around, seeing the familiar chain link fences, the playgrounds I'd occasionally visited as a child. Memories flared in the back of my mind. I'd been going for a walk in this very park when everything had changed. Everything had wavered, as if viewed through a heat haze. I'd tried to run but found myself trapped by invisible walls. The world had gone white, then dark, as if I'd lost consciousness. Then I'd woken up in the Soul-Sheer. The sounds of the sleeping city pressed in on me. My senses were far more acute than they had been. The sounds of traffic were sharper, the smell of the grass and trees of the park mingled with the faint tinge of exhaust and pollution.

  "I'm back," I whispered to no one, a laugh bubbled up from deep inside, a laugh with an edge of mania to it as I barked into the night. "Alright, alright, first things first, I should-" Whatever I thought I should have done was cut off by a screen opening in front of my eyes once again. The moment felt a bit familiar, but tilted in a different way this time around. I wasn't the same man I'd been when the system had first popped open a window in front of me back at the beginning of the Soul-Sheer. If I were being honest, I was still just as clueless as to what was going on, but I was much, much stronger than I had been. And I wasn't alone this time.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  What I saw was the single longest message I had ever received from the system.

  Holy Hell, that's a lot of upgrades. Shiny new Class, new bloodline skill, and not one, not two, but four new class skills. Plus a new Title, just for good measure.

  At that moment, something shifted in my mind. It was like gaining a new limb. The disorientation sent me crashing to my knees as my brain overloaded with new information and new stimuli. I groaned in discomfort. I could feel my head pulsing like an oncoming migraine. I was suddenly aware of everything around in a way I hadn't been before. I stayed where I was, kneeling on the grass, trying to get a handle on this new limb of perception. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on this new sense. It was like suddenly gaining a sixth sense, or perhaps more accurately, like having a dormant sense awakened. The world around me pulsed with energy, each living thing giving off its own unique aura. The trees in the park radiated a soft, steady glow, while small animals scurrying in the bushes flickered like tiny flames in my perception.

  I took a deep breath, trying to center myself amidst this new sensory onslaught. As I focused, I found I could adjust the intensity of this new perception, like turning a dial up or down. I gradually dialled it back, where before I was sensing everything within a sphere of perception that I estimated at about thirty feet in diameter, the sphere shrank down to around six feet with me at the center. Standing up slowly, I looked around the park with new eyes. Everything seemed both familiar and alien at the same time. The playground equipment cast eerie shadows in the moonlight. I stood there for a long time, flexing my focus on the strange aura that I emitted.

  Inhale. The Aura shrank down to my skin, almost completely cutting off this strange new sense of mine.

  Exhale. The aura surged outward a little farther, even than it had been before, perhaps forty feet.

  Inhale.

  Exhale.

  Expand.

  Contract.

  Every exhale brought new information about the world around me, every inhale a short rest. Soon, I adjusted to the sensory information I was receiving from my Aura. I could feel the grass around me, the trees swaying in the breeze, even the ones I couldn't see in my field of vision. The small animals were bright points in this new sense of mine; they glowed like lit matches in a dim room. I focused on one particular light, which darted around on the ground, quivering in excitement as it rushed around. I focused on that small light, a mouse, and I realized the longer I watched it with my aura senses. I reached out with these new senses towards the mouse, using my aura sense to draw my gaze to the small creature. The small mouse writhed on the ground, its body twitching and convulsing under my aura's influence. I immediately withdrew my focus, feeling a pang of guilt for causing the creature distress. My newfound ability had already caused harm, and I couldn't help but wonder what other unintended consequences it may bring. I took a step back from the mouse, watching as it slowly regained control of its body and scurried away into the bushes. This new power of mine was dangerous. The mouse was like a dim candle. I imagined a human would be much brighter and much less affected, but still. I would have to be careful; I had the distinct feeling that my aura would respond to my emotions as much as my will. If it lashed out in anger, the results could be bad.

  I retracted my aura as much as I could, until it was like wearing a second skin. I could return to it later. The dangerous aspects of my [Aura Manipulation] skill drove me to check on my other new skills. I wasn't in the Soul-Sheer anymore. I couldn't afford a lack of control over my skills; the ones hurt wouldn't be monsters if I lost control of my skills here, it would be innocent people. I didn't want that on my conscience. Or the head ache that would surely follow.

  I pushed my will at [Auric armour], willing the skill to activate. Instantly, I was covered in ghostly grey plates that floated about an inch over my skin. I felt a drain within me; it wasn't massive. Relatively minor, actually, but I had felt my energy levels dip when I'd activated the skill. It was a bit of a guess, but I was going with the assumption that it required energy to activate, similar to how I could push Vipera's Venomous strikes beyond its normal limits. This would take some getting used to. Now that I had at least one skill that was more magical in nature, I'd have to pay closer attention to my energy levels.

  Turning my attention to the results of the Skill, I found the armour was strange; it looked almost like hazy glass. The strange, magical armour was mostly flat planes and sharp edges, forming simple but effective defences against physical attack. The haze glass covered my legs with various smaller plates that reminded me of a simplified medieval armour. The same went for my chest and arms. My head was surrounded by a strange fractal-like formation of plates that shifted easily and naturally from side to side as I moved my head around. I would have to test more later. I dismissed the skill.

  Instead of moving on this time, I called up a screen for all of my class skills.

  A cursory read through told me I had a lot of practicing ahead of me. A lot, a lot.