The being on the other end answered according to the contract made years ago.

  Back in the real world, I awoke from the trans to the accompaniment of a shattering dome spell as the arrows of darkness made their way toward my heart.

  But that didn’t matter.

  An eldritch energy exploded from me, an energy with a will to twist, corrupt, and unmake all it touches. With a titanic flex of my will, I got it under control so that it would not start corrupting everything around me, myself included. The darkness itself was also gone in front of such power.

  Then I opened my eyes, that was the hardest part. I could feel the blood seeping out of them as I gazed upon raw, unfiltered existence. The particles, other planes, and the knowledge of their workings laid bare before my eyes as I struggled to stop the information flow threatening to split my mind in half. Everything I wanted to know and should not be able to know was begging to be understood.

  I could also see the creature in its small, plain-like nest, retreating, knowing something was wrong. Its form, previously layered in shadows, now clear to me alongside the very energy that made it.

  I couldn’t hold out like that for long. It was a miracle I was still standing as I felt my focus slipping. And once I made a mistake, it would be the end of me in the most gruesome way possible. I would be cursed to join the strange procession of pipers of Azathoth, keeping him slumbering until the stars are aligned. Not a fate I was eager for.

  Opening my mouth, I fought with myself to get my muscles under control. The signals my Brian sent to them were lost somewhere in the chaos. I needed to focus. I bit my cheek hard, the pain bringing my control back for a split second, enough to command my tongue to move. Finally, I managed to speak in the eldritch tongue of the abyss.

  Squirming void.

  A strange, otherworldly magic circle with a crack in the middle, in colors no mortal being could describe, appeared behind me. Eight black tentacles squirmed from it, waiting for my command.

  All I had in me was one attack.

  The creature looked amused, thinking that the plane would save it and that I couldn’t attack it unless I made my way to its layer, but that was a mistake. This kind of magic ignored rules concerning planes as it originated in the void itself. ‘Rip’ was the short command I could muster, and the tentacles made their way to the target.

  The creature realized too late, and its hubris was its demise. Arrows of shadow tried to block the attack but in vain. The spell caught the spawn in a tight embrace.

  The last thing I saw was the tentacles moving as if to rip the creature’s body in all directions, and I lost consciousness. I ended the spell and let go of the contract simultaneously, hoping I was fast enough to wake up again.

  ***

  Pain, that was my current state of existence, like the worst hangover of my life times thousand. I groaned, still lying on the hardwood floor, probably exactly where I lost consciousness. It was good news that I even woke up, but currently being alive didn't sound so great with a battle for the first place in suffering between a splitting headache, burning pain in my muscles, and ache in my bones radiating to the rest of my body.

  With a grunt, I opened my eyes, thankfully not to be assaulted by light, meaning it was still night.

  Good, that meant I wasn’t out for long.

  I tried to move some of my magic, but the pain that assaulted me almost made me unconscious once again. My entire spiritual self was a massive mess with mana pathways twisted out of place by the strain of rapid spell casting and my last abyssal spell. And that was really bad news, as I needed to do some magic to find out if the spawn had tried to possess me before it died. The longer that state would persist, the harder it would be to get rid of a spirit later if it somehow survived long enough to try to attach itself to me, and right now, I couldn’t even check for any signs of possession with the condition my body was in.

  Ok, first things first, I need to recover my body to where I can move.

  Struggling and gritting my teeth through the pain, I finally managed to take one of the bottles from my belt and drink its contents. Ironically, the bottle was red. It looks like the video games got it right, I chuckled to myself. Now, it was time to lie still and let the potion do its work. As I lay on the floor, I started to think about what had just happened.

  It was impossible. Two thousand years ago, when the Holy War, later renamed to War of Tears happened, Stan and the God of the bible ended up ripping apart all veins leading mana to our world.

  But now there was one. It should be somewhere right next to me. The dude actually died right on it, explaining how he became a spawn. Even though the vein was small, and by ancient standards, second level spawn was one of the weakest, it should have been an impossible creature in this world.

  After ‘The Shattering,’ as the event was called later, many scholars believed the world would heal itself like a body heals. No one knew how long it would take, as that was a new situation, but they waited for the old days to return. The fantasy races, now trapped on earth without access to travel veins, started to go into hiding. And with time, over hundreds of years, it became clear that the magic wasn't coming back.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The previously abundant energy started drying up. Any spell or enchantment used was burning through a finite resource. Finally, the ancients changed their strategy, trying to preserve what was left of their ways. Many of them built tombs for themselves and their legacies, hidden by enchantments, waiting for a day when the mana outside would return and awaken them.

  Many races and spirits made their homes in hidden forests and valleys, destined to spend the rest of their days in isolation. Other races that needed mana to function went into hibernation, and many spirits dissipated to reappear when the world was ripe for them. But those were legends. It was foolish wishful thinking, and after two thousand years, no one believed in any change for the better.

  But a thought entered my mind. My father must have known something. With the genetic material left from his body, he could create precisely one offspring—exactly one—and he waited over 1300 years to do it, just for me to reach maturity precisely at the time when something like that happened.

  Yeah, that's a huge coincidence, and I don't believe in those.

  I will have to ask about that. My broker was a sworn family friend ever since I could remember, apparently owing quite a bit to my clan, although never telling me what exactly.

  One thing was now circling in my head. Things would get exciting. I made a fist, thinking of all the changes, and quickly regretted my show of excitement as pain shot through me. But that did not matter in the face of chaos and the new world that was about to come.

  Looks like my family and its ancient ways will be making a comeback. I smiled to myself and cursed at the pain in my face immediately after.

  ***

  After about half an hour more of lying on the floor with my thoughts as my only company, I slowly sat up. My joints were stiff, and my head was pounding, but I could move.

  Now, for the most crucial part. I took a blue potion and gulped it down. Then, I went into meditation. My spiritual world was a mess. The mana was all over the place, not under my control, but to my great relief, I saw no permanent damage.

  I could feel the soothing energy of the potion, and I started to direct it to get my magic under control. After half an hour more, I was done. I wouldn't be casting any spells in the next few days, but the pain from my spirit was more bearable now.

  Next was the possession. I thought about checking myself, but in that state, I could miss something, and I had no intention of gambling with my soul. So, instead, I took out the potion with holy water and bone dust.

  With a deep feeling of regret, I took a swig. The soothing, warm energy filled me, and… nothing happened. That means the attack completely obliterated the spawn. I was honestly almost pissed off that it didn’t try to possess me as the potion wouldn’t be wasted then.

  My resources are hurting.

  With a sigh, I made my way towards the doors on the first floor. I would have to get the reward, talk with my broker, and start preparing. If the pathways to other plains are really healing, then I need to prepare and do it really seriously. The first item on my list was a base of operations with powerful security, which would cost a lot.

  ***

  I took an Uber to my client's apartment to get the boring part over with. After arriving, I placed reflective dark glasses on my nose to cover my eyes, not caring it was still dark in the early morning hours, and knocked on the doors.

  “Well, miss, the job is done, the ghost is gone.” I somehow mustered a smile once the owner opened.

  “You look terrible.”

  I grimace at her words.

  “Um well, I-I’m sorry. I meant you look like you didn't sleep, not like you’re terrible, you looked fine before.”

  I stretched my hand to stop her awkward monologue.

  “The exorcism took much more than I thought, and the spirit was really strong, but I succeeded anyway. If you could please prepare the money, I would like to rest as soon as possible,” I said in my best customer service voice.

  After receiving an envelope without even counting it, I returned downstairs and dialed my broker on my way home. After a few beeps, I heard someone pick up the phone. I waited to see if he would start the conversation with an explanation.

  “...”

  “...”

  “Did you know about the veins?” I went to the point after he did not say anything.

  “The veins?”

  “There was a connected mana vein in that place. And a spawns nest in it, almost lost my life.”

  “...oh”

  I silently waited for my broker to pick his words, as I could practically hear the torrent of thoughts on the other end.

  “We suspected something was out of place, but nothing concrete. This case was interesting and out of the ordinary, so we took it, that's all.”

  “You could have warned me if there was even a hunch.”

  “We really didn't know that would be a vein. Look, I think we know much less than you suspect us of. As you probably guessed, your father had some info, and we figured out that something big might happen since he finally created an heir, that's all. It was shot in the dark.”

  “Ok, let's say I believe you for now. So what’s the plan?”

  “The rest of the talk is not for the phone. Meet me at my place tomorrow at 1 pm. We will talk then.”

  The phone clicked. Well, it looks like I will get some answers tomorrow, then.

  I went back home and lay in bed, dreading going to sleep. On the one hand, I knew I really needed it but on the other hand the power I used had its side effects. And as much as I was incapable of having nightmares typically, a night after I invoked the contract was the exception.

  Well, sleep would find me anyway, and with a heavy heart, I closed my eyes.

  That night, I dreamed of the unknowable. I meandered through massive black spires alongside processions of weird creatures with black chitin bodies and membranous wings. I played strange instruments in the halls of the slumbering one. And I drowned, slowly falling to the bottom of the ocean and into something deeper and darker as the city of otherworldly geometry started to reveal its spectral spires. Its ancient master, ready to open the gates for me.

  I finally woke up on the floor trying to cough up the non-existing water from my lungs, my fingertips bloody from scratching the floor. Before waking up, I tried to swim down, deeper and deeper into the dark, cold void.