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Eternal Hell – 18th Layer: Bone Collectors Den
The air in the 18th Layer was a choking haze of blackened mist, thick with the stench of marrow and iron. Bones taller than fortress walls loomed like monuments to an ancient slaughter, their jagged ends protruding from the earth as if the ground itself had tried to spit them out in disgust. The ground was soft not with soil but with layers upon layers of decayed flesh, compressed over centuries into a grotesque carpet. The place was silent, save for the crunch beneath ones boots and the distant groan of titanic chains that swayed far above, connected to nothing visible.
In this place, misery was not a feeling it was the air itself. Every breath tasted of regret. Every sound carried a weight of despair.
This was the Domain of the Bone Collectors, executioners of the 18th Layer, whose purpose was to gather the remains of everything that failed to survive here. Their skeletal forms were draped in scraps of black hide, their eye sockets burning faintly with pale blue flame. To meet their gaze was to feel your will erode.
And it was here, amid the bones and despair, that a boy named Kaiser wandered.
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Kaiser
Kaisers body was wiry but built from years of survival. His hair was a tangled white mane streaked with black, his eyes molten gold with a faint ring of crimson around the iris an aftereffect of his Mist Brand, the sigil that allowed him to remain in the 18th Layer without being instantly reduced to ash.
Power radiated from him in waves, though it was an odd kind of power not pure destruction, but adaptive predation. Here in the 18th Layer, the power system revolved around Misery Resonance the ability to draw strength from suffering, fear, and decay. The deeper one sank into despair, the greater the potential strength they could access. However, every use of this power took a toll, slowly eroding the mind until the wielder forgot what it meant to be human.
Kaisers primary ability, Domain Shift, allowed him to tear open a private reality a small territory where he dictated the rules of nature. Inside, he could conjure food, manipulate terrain, or create constructs to fight in his place. But the cost was steep for every minute inside his Domain, his life expectancy shortened by an hour.
He had other talents too gifts stolen from those who had fallen before him
Bonecraft Manipulation – the ability to reshape bone into weapons, armor, or monstrous constructs.
Hungers Gift – the power to devour spiritual essence from anything slain, converting it into Misery Energy.
Predators Instinct – a danger sense heightened to near precognition, allowing him to anticipate lethal attacks.
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Kaiser crouched behind the ribcage of a fallen behemoth, gnawing absently on a piece of dried marrow bone. His eyes darted toward the horizon, where a dozen Bone Collectors slowly picked apart the remains of something enormous.
Wow glad I did not get too close he muttered, watching one Collector rip a skull the size of a house in half. His stomach growled violently. Man I feel hungry. If there was anything even remotely good to eat, I would kill for it. He paused, then grinned faintly. Alright lets go to my Domain Shift.
The air around him warped, the mist folding inward like a black tide. In an instant, he was gone.
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The Collectors Conversation
Far behind, the Bone Collectors continued their work. One of them their bone white jaw twitching spoke in a deep, hollow rasp.
The tournament has been planned.
When asked another, its skeletal fingers tightening around a massive femur.
A year remains. It is about time we send him to a pocket world to cause havoc.
This one will live that long at the 18th Layer
I think Murium would be best the first replied, scraping marrow into a black jar. Time there flows much faster. One year here will be twenty years there. When he returns, we will have a strong fighter representative.
The other Collectors said nothing, but the pale flames in their skulls flickered in something resembling amusement.
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Power System of the 18th Layer
Misery Resonance – The primary energy source, drawn from emotional despair, environmental corruption, and physical suffering. It can be stored in the body or objects, but decays rapidly if unused.
Mist Brand – A sigil required for survival in the Layer. Without it, the poisonous mist corrodes flesh and bone within seconds.
Bonecraft – A common combat technique among survivors, involves manipulating skeletal remains into weapons, armor, or constructs.
Hunger Conversion – Killing a creature here releases its spiritual essence, which can be consumed to recover energy or heal wounds.
Domain Techniques – High level abilities that allow the wielder to control a localized pocket of reality. These drain lifespan or sanity depending on the users affinities.
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