Ash spent around 5 gold to get into a small inn. He was a bit sad about spending 5 gold just for a one-day stay, but this was the cheapest one he found after checking multiple inns.
He then looked at the bright side and thought the room would be very big if it were over 5 gold for a one-day stay. As he walked through the hallway on the first floor to find his room, he bumped his shoulder into a man wearing a blue coat with fur lining on it, his face covered by the hood.
"Sorry." "Sorry."
They both apologized to each other and shook their heads, but the man also muttered something silently, loud enough for Ash to hear it.
"Come to the tavern at night, I'll be waiting."
The man then left without hearing a response. Ash looked at him as he left and got a bit captivated by the black scythe on his back.
'He seems interesting, I'll be there.'
The man then pumped himself up, 'I sounded so cool back then.'
Ash then left to see his room and eventually got to his room number 105. He was ready to feast his eyes on a beautiful, massive room.
As he opened the room, the joy on his face kept decreasing every second.
The room was small and had only one bed in it. The bed reached from one side to another, and it was so short that Ash could touch the roof if he raised his hand. He went and felt the bed, expecting something comfortable in this room, and luckily for him, it was a soft one.
'At least the bed is good.' He sighed as he rested his body on it.
"What a day this was. First being at a peaceful garden, then to a stupid trial where I almost died twice, then into a simulation or memory of me dying, to coming here and getting some mysterious powers."
His eyes then widened and he jumped from his bed, "POWER! I still didn't try mine."
He got out of bed and took out the ebon shroud from his inventory. He then held the sword with both his hands and kept it in front of him.
He then took a deep breath and started to use his ability...
But nothing happened. Ash ignored it and tried again, but nothing happened.
"Did I do something wrong?.. Why can't I use my ability still!" He grumbled a bit, very confused.
He looked down at his sword and smiled, "Hmm, that's very strange."
Ash saw both his legs in front of him, without his upper body, just standing there with a white smoke-like trail arising from them and attaching to him. He looked down to see that he had no legs.
"So those are my real legs."
He then tried walking normally, and his legs moved when he attempted to move to the left. His legs went left. He then tried jumping as he would, and his legs jumped up, but all this time, his upper body stood still.
'This is very weird, but it is fun... Can I move my upper body?'
He then concentrated all his attention on his upper body and ignored his legs. He then moved forward.
"Yes."
His upper body flew forward too, and he then happily flew all over the room as his legs stood still.
"This is fun."
He then slapped his leg as hard as he could, thinking he wouldn't feel anything, but unfortunately for him, he felt the full force of that slap and instantly stopped flying and screamed in pain.
'Why did I do that?'
He slowly flew to his legs and patted the injured area while hugging his legs.
Slam,
The door slammed open, and an elderly man came in shouting.
"STOP SHOUTING..."
Before he could say anything else, he saw Ash hugging his own legs and became visibly confused.
"Umm, this is awkward."
He left his legs and waved hi to the elderly man.
The man slowly shut the door and spoke from outside, "Ay, youngin, don't shout, there are other people in this building... don't ruin my business."
"Sorry, I won't shout again."
Ash then fell down, his face became red, and he stretched out his hand.
Plop,
Both his hands left his body, only being attached to it by a white smoke.
'Whoa, I can do so much more.'
.....
9:55 p.m.
Ash was naked from the waist up, his back covered in sweat, as he put his robe back on and made the ebon shroud disappear.
He looked out of the window to see the dark sky.
"Time to leave, I need to meet that scythe man."
He left his room and walked directly to the tavern near the inn. His mind was still on the training he had just had and on his ability.
As he walked, there was a small trail of smoke behind him.
...
He entered the tavern, which had no one else in it except for one person sitting at the counter drinking a pint of some dark-colored beer.
'Why is there no one? The town was filled with people in the morning.'
Ash took a seat next to the man and instantly spoke with no hesitation in his voice.
'I can't act weak, I need to dominate this conversation.'
"So why did you call me here?"
The man signed for another pint and then spoke after he took a sip, "Why straight to the point? Let's have a talk first."
"Sorry, but I don't have enough patience for this."
Ash put the ebon shroud below the man's neck.
The man chuckled and took a sip of his drink, then he kicked the counter and pushed himself back. He then stood up and did a turn, bringing his scythe to Ash's neck.
He did all of this in the blink of an eye and surprised Ash.
"That won't be enough to scare me."
Ash gulped, knowing he was in no position to do anything; one wrong step and his neck would be gone.
'Why is everyone I try to fool always strong?'
"Ok, I'll listen to whatever you say."
The man laughed and spoke.
"Did you sleep?"
'Did I sleep? What kind of question is that?'
"No, I didn't." His voice was a bit hesitant, not knowing what the man was on about.
"Oh well, you're gonna have a rough night."
'What is this dude on about?'
The clock on the wall ticked 10, and the whole ground started shaking, and he heard a large amount of grumbling from afar.
'What's going on?' He turned towards the man to see him not surprised, and just very calm.
The man turned to him.
"My name's Phantom, and I'm a person who came to the abyss 5 years ago."
'5 years!'
"Just follow me for now, I'll explain everything later."
Phantom then ran out the door, and Ash followed him. They both went to the nearby forest.
They stopped at the castle gates and just saw a bunch of soul beasts trying to climb the wall on the side. Phantom turned to see Ash's reaction.
'Oh, I wasn't expecting that reaction.'
Ash had no reaction; he just looked at the beasts for a second, then suddenly his mouth moved on its own and curled up, forming a smile.
"You don't have to wait for me, let's go."
Phantom jumped down and did one slash with his scythe, and after a second, every single beast trying to climb the wall was split in half.
He then landed and, while spinning his scythe and slamming it on the ground, there were more monsters in front of him.
But he ignored them and slowly turned to Ash.
"What are you doing there?... Come, let's see how strong you are."