[Absolute Domain Lv1| Active]
Description: Upon activation, the user is instantly transported to a personal pocket dimension—a fragment of the underworld, manifested by the Witcher’s cursed bloodline. As long as the user remains within this domain, they are invulnerable to all damage and immune to all status effects. All enemies pulled inside with the user lose the ability to regenerate health, stamina, or mana, and any magical or healing effects are instantly nullified.
This should be the lengthiest description Felix has seen for all his skills. But it helped to clear his confusion on the skill change—because it didn’t really change, but was just upgraded.
The upgrade took up the spot for the absent third skill.
Felix wasn’t worried about that anymore, as he felt the skill was still very much powerful and could pass for a two-in-one. He was more focused on the part where it mentioned: "a fragment of the underworld, manifested by the Witcher’s cursed bloodline."
A fragment of the underworld? Cursed bloodline?
At that moment, Felix knew he wouldn’t be getting any rest that night either, not until he explored this personal pocket realm.
It was his, after all. And it was clearly stated he was invulnerable within the domain. So he couldn’t wait even a second more to explore it and find answers.
This should make him the first person to venture into the underworld and back in one piece—he should be able to return, right?
But before that, Felix wanted to be prepared for whatever he might find there and decided to check the descriptions of his new skills first, to see how they might help him in the battle ahead—if there turned out to be any.
The [Spectral Resonance] skill turned out to be basically an ability similar to a sixth sense and a recon skill of a sort. He could perceive the life force and magical energies of nearby creatures and people. He could also sense their general power level, without needing to use the appraisal skill, which had always been vague and sometimes inaccurate. Then he could also identify hidden traps, giving him a crucial tactical advantage in battle.
The second skill [Witcher’s Yrden], which had a name in some language Felix didn’t know of, seemed to work well and hand-to-hand with the [Spectral Resonance] skill, which made Felix wonder if the theme for the skill set was Reconnaissance.
Description: A magical trap cast on the ground that slows down enemies who enter its radius. When cast, it also seals their skills and weakens their physical attributes.
This one was an AOE skill Felix thought would be very useful, especially when he began full-time dungeon crawling and monster hunting.
Imagine casting this on an elite monster, then swiftly taking it out before it could free itself. Or if the beast turned out to be something Felix wasn’t confident he could take on—like a dragon—imagine casting this then running as fast as his legs could carry him with its lava breath momentarily sealed.
With that, Felix stood up from the bed and took out his sword. Not the cheap trash Aaron had given him that had been confiscated by the Sages, but his new sword: The Deathrizzler.
It was the exact same sword Felix had snagged from Lady Morwen’s chest, but was personally rewarded to him by the Quest. It was so sharp that when Felix touched its edge to feel its sharpness, it smoothly drew blood from his skin and drank greedily. Yep—you heard him right.
With this preparation, Felix was now ready to face the truth beyond the pocket dimension.
The floor of the room was suddenly filled with a black fog which began spreading until it swallowed the entire room and Felix within. Like he’d done this before, Felix boldly took steps forward into the fog, unsure if he was walking in the right direction. He knew he was no longer in the motel room and had walked more than the length of the room, when the fog dissipated as swiftly as it came, to reveal a barren territory under the lighting of a black sun and a raging lightning storm across the dark clouds—but no thunder—with the most prominent thing in sight being a tall black castle at the center of it all.
Felix was stunned, as such a place never crossed his mind when he thought about it, even when the skill description had clearly stated it was a fragment of the underworld. Of course. This is what a fragment of the underworld should look like.
Unknown to him that if a certain person had been there, she would’ve instantly recognized it to be the exact same place from her vision of the tomb and the awakening statue.
Felix kept his sword lowered, but ready, as he began heading towards the black castle. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be there, but you never know.
He arrived at its massive doors, which were covered in thick spiderwebs, like the place had been abandoned for centuries. It had large knockers carved with the face of some kind of dark creature, but the size made Felix wonder if they were made for giants, as his hands couldn’t wrap around them.
Just as he made to touch the knockers, the doors groaned like they suddenly came to life, which made Felix backtrack cautiously. But the doors didn’t turn to a maw to swallow him. Instead, sensing his intention, they began shuffling open, grating against the black floor until they stood ajar for Felix, who resembled an ant before the open doors.
At this point, Felix was more excited than anything else as he slowly made his way into the doors that led into a wide hall, with a massive chandelier hanging from above. There were two steps on both sides of the hall and in the middle at the far end was a high table and chair, like a reception area. Then another behemoth door behind the reception table was sealed shut with massive chains and a padlock that Felix was sure he could fit into its keyhole if he were to be a cave diver. The aesthetic of everything was black, black, and black, like it was a goth hideout.
Felix loved it. He loved the vibes it gave him.
At this point Felix’s guard was already down as he explored the massive area while approaching the high table. Besides, if there was anything within, he should’ve picked it up with his [Spectral Resonance], which showed he was the only being there.
But just as he began approaching the high table in exploration, that was when he saw something he’d failed to see if he hadn’t gotten close. A figure.
Felix paused to squint his eyes at what was sitting just behind the reception table, staring right back at him with interest.
It was hard to see their face in the dark, but it was definitely a person clothed in black who might have been smiling—or was Felix seeing things now.
But once again, if Lady Morwen had been there, she would’ve recognized the figure and face to be that of the awoken statue from her vision, and the same Demoness that had come to claim her soul.