THE ABYSS WALKERS
CH 1 : THE ABYSS
A frail-looking young man with dark pale skin and empty dark eyes was sitting on the grass in a small park. He held a small slice of moldy bread in his hand, but his smile was quite wide—it wasn’t something anyone should eat, but being homeless and poor, he had nothing else to eat, and to him this was something he would call a five-star meal, and it was perfect for his send-off meal.
He was about to die soon.
Enjoying the smell of the bread underneath the mold, he raised the slice of bread towards his mouth, then before taking a bite, smelled it again. Then he took a bite… and immediately smiled.
“Ahh…so good!”
Giving the slice of moldy bread an intense look, Aeron sighed, smiled, and took a couple more bites. Moldy or not, the bread was still amazing to him.
“I would have taken more slices if I knew it would taste so good. Who knew moldy bread was such a good meal.”
Taking the last bite, he looked off into the distance, staring at the abyss blocked off by large fences. Slapping himself, he came back to reality.
“Tsk. Was zoning out again.”
Standing up and brushing off his hands on his pants, Aeron shook his head. People living in this part of the city were rushing past the small park on their way to and from work. They walked past him as if he didn’t exist, and others intentionally walked a distance away from him. Looking thin, pale, with empty dark eyes, Aeron really had no place here. Also, everyone seemed so full. Watching them with envy, he walked towards the park’s exit.
“I wonder what eating a lot of food and being able to throw some away feels like.”
Walking to the exit towards the large towering black building, Aeron stumbled into a small metal garbage bin.
“Ah!!…damn, not right now.”
Stumbling back, Aeron steadied himself and then lifted up his gray tattered shirt. Looking down at his body, he could see the black markings of the Abyss sickness spreading towards his chest.
“Guess I’m really about to die soon…”
Pulling back down his shirt, he walked out of the park’s exit and stood at the crosswalk. As the light turned red, he walked across the road and stood in front of the large black building.
The building was fully black. The windows were tinted and grilled, and looking around, Aeron could see about eight cameras at the entrance alone. As he walked closer, four guards were standing at the entrance, all of them fully armed and holding guns.
Walking closer, one of the tired-looking guards gave him a glance and sighed as if annoyed.
“Are you lost, kid?”
Aeron looked around. As he took in the scenery of the building, he could see small holes in the building where long barrels poked out and pointed towards the entrance. Those barrels were machine guns that were on standby. Every one of the Abyss Sector buildings was built and looked the same everywhere you go.
“Hey! Kid, did you hear me?!”
Aeron looked back towards the guard, then cleared his throat.
“Uh, yeah.”
“So, are you lost, kid?” the guard said again, now visibly irritated.
“No. I have come to turn myself in as a carrier of the Abyss sickness.”
The guard’s expression instantly shifted from irritated to serious. She looked at the other three guards that were posted at the entrance and signaled them over, then looked back over the young man again.
“Lift up your shirt…”
In an instant, Aeron lifted up his shirt, showing the huge black marks that were spreading across his body.
“When did you start showing symptoms of Abyss sickness, kid?”
Aeron shrugged his head.
“I don’t know for certain, but the black marks started to appear and spread around a week ago.”
The guard’s face became visibly pale.
“Shit!”
Turning to the other guards, she signaled him to press the button on his arm.
[Attention Code Purple infected! I repeat Code Purple infected!]
****
The Abyss sickness started to appear thirty-nine years ago after the world was recovering from a time of war and a subsequent outbreak of diseases.
The Abyss sickness was a terrible infection, gnawing at its host. It started as a small pain in the stomach area, followed by dizziness and constant nightmares of creatures indescribable to the host.
After a week, a huge lump of black marks would start to appear on the host’s body as it moved up towards the host’s head. The markings emitted a sweet stench, and once it took hold, it would consume the host’s body, leading to a slow and agonizing death.
Shortly after, the body would morph into a hideous creature of bone and skin that goes on a mindless rampage of destruction.
They are not affected by weapons, and the only things that can stop them are people called “Abyss Walkers.”
⸻
The Abyss appeared at the same time the Abyss sickness came to be. The Abyss appeared and enveloped areas of the earth, turning them into a deep void. When it came, it took people away with it.
After years of research on the Abyss by the government and scientists, a human arose from the depths of the Abyss, spoke of a world beneath the Abyss and how he was able to escape. He said the world beneath the Abyss was filled with huge deadly creatures and races, and the only way he survived was through something called a gift. He used that power to slay the creatures beneath the Abyss.
Then they found a huge gate in which they defeated a monster and managed to escape back to Earth.
He spoke more. He said people with the Abyss sickness were supposed to be thrown into the Abyss because it was the only way to save them from the disease and stop them from turning into Fallen.
With him, they founded the Abyss Sector, in which people with the Abyss sickness would turn themselves in and be sent to the Abyss.
After a while, the same man turned into a Fallen due to staying too long away from the Abyss. When other Abyss Walkers came back after years, they informed that Abyss Walkers only get two years on Earth until they have to return to the Abyss.
——
But for Aeron, none of this information was relevant to a homeless orphan like him up until two weeks ago. That was when he started to see the lump of black moving upon his body.
For the average person, this was a curse as much as a blessing. Kids and adults alike were taught fighting skills, survival techniques, and much more in the chance they were affected by the Abyss sickness and had to be thrown into the Abyss.
Highly ranked families and families with Abyss Walkers in them even trained their young children and servants in the path of an Abyss Walker, giving knowledge not exposed to the public so they could get ahead of others.
They also bought slots in the tubs used to send people with Abyss sickness into the Abyss for their people to go in. This was something that was well known but never really spoken about by the media.
The richer your family was, or lucky enough that one of your family members came back from the Abyss, the better your chances of surviving and becoming an Abyss Walker were.
But for Aeron, he had no family to speak of, and if he did, he was abandoned by them. Most of his time after that, he was struggling for food in the city to even get proper education and training about the Abyss, so for him this place was a death sentence.
****
A few moments later, after the Code Purple alert was sounded on the intercom, Aeron was escorted inside the building, where he was placed in a black empty room with two chairs inside. Guards were at all four corners, posted with serious faces.
Aeron really didn’t care about what was happening. He was focused on what was to come and the pain he was feeling from the Abyss sickness.
Finally, the door behind him opened, and a man fully armed with the logo of the Abyss Sector on his chest entered. His muscular build, short brown hair, and brown eyes towered over Aeron.
“What’s your name, kid?”
Aeron blinked a few times, trying to push through the pain as the man sat down in front of him.
“Aeron.”
The man’s eyebrow rose.
“Aeron, huh. Last name?”
Aeron raised his hand and stretched his head, still feeling the pain.
“Don’t have one…”
The man sighed, then looked into Aeron’s eyes.
“Then which orphanage are you from?”
Aeron, still trying not to hold his stomach in pain and scream, looked back at the man.
“I’m not a part of any orphanage. I was raised by a homeless man in the slums that found me when I was two. He died from pneumonia two years ago.”
The man grunted as he looked at the guards that had been positioned at the door.
“Alright, Aeron, how long can you bear the pain?”
“Uh…not long. I’m feeling pain right now.”
The man sighed again, but this time it was in pity.
“Then we don’t have time to put you through the full procedure. Try to suppress the blacking from reaching your neck as long as you can and listen to me very carefully, okay Aeron?”
Not waiting for an answer, he added:
“How much do you know about the Abyss sickness, the Abyss, and Abyss Walkers?”
Aeron responded as he held his head down to the ground.
“As much as anyone, I guess?”
“I’m not talking about things you’ve seen on television, in movies, or from pea-brained conspiracy theorists. I mean how much do you really know?”
“Don’t you just get sent into the Abyss, heal from the Abyss sickness, get powers, fight some monsters, and come back from the gate?”
The old man shook his head in disappointment.
“Listen carefully. Once you are sent down into the Abyss, you will wake up in a strange place. The area is random, so I can’t tell you for certain where you will be. Once you’re in that place, you’ll see monsters, sure, but people as well. Remember: don’t trust anyone. They are real people, but some of them will use you or try to kill you, so don’t trust anyone.”
“Secondly, you won’t be given a gift as you enter the Abyss. You’ll have to kill the first monster you encounter. It won’t be easy, so don’t think it’s going to be. After you’ve beaten your first monster and gained your gift, just survive until you meet a group of people with a sword and fire underneath it. That badge will indicate that you’ve met them. It will be located on a piece of their clothing, those people will tech you more about the Abyss.”
Aeron, still trying to suppress the pain, forced his head up, his vision now becoming blurry.
“What if…” he swallowed, his voice cracking.
“What if the people with the badge are deceivers? What if they’re pretending?”
The man paused and looked at Aeron. For the first time since he started questioning Aeron, his expression shifted.
“Well that will be for you to decide.”
Aeron brow furrowed.
“That wasn’t a good answer.”
“That’s the only answer that I can give you.”
The man replied as he stood up from the chair.
“Oh, my names Leon Eldrick, kid remember it so when you come back from down come straight to me.”
Walking up to Aeron he placed his hand on his chest.
“Huh…what are you doing?”
“Don’t worry kid, just stay calm.” As Leon said that a white aura came rushing out front his hand flowing around it as it passed through as body.
“Huh, what the hell?…”
Shocked Aeron tried to move away but as tried he felt dizzy as he’s vision blurred, after that he fell unconscious.