Reko floated through a dark space. His five senses had been seemingly cut off along with his sense of time - he couldn't feel anything. Seconds stretched for hours, and hours felt like seconds. Even his thoughts were hazy, barely coherent. He could tell he was still alive somehow, but that was it.
Reko continued floating through the nothingness for an indeterminate amount of time until he saw something. A shimmer of bright light flying through the black space. Its target was Reko. With no way to put up any resistance - not even the thought - the light crashed into him, and his whole vision turned white.
The snowy colour persisted for a couple of seconds before fading. First, Reko felt his thoughts clearing up, followed by his sense of time and finally his five senses. Reko's vision and hearing were the last to return, as his eyes slowly slid open. His vision was still blurry.
"Oh! He's waking up!"
Reko could hear a familiar voice nearby, followed by a pair of rushing footsteps.
"See, I told you he'd be fine! He wouldn't kick the bucket so easily."
Reko's vision slowly came back into focus. The first thing he saw was a bundle of blonde hair hanging above him.
"Thank God! You're alive."
The unknown figure threw his head back and laughed in celebration. He seemed truly glad at his friend's survival.
"Morning, sunshine. Didn't get enough sleep last night?"
The bundle of red hair and gunpowder teased Reko, although he also wore a bright smile on his face. He seemed to feel a bit guilty about his friend's state.
'Right, Ash and Steven.'
He recalled what had happened in that forest. He remembered his final wish and couldn't help but smile. Although he wasn't really dead, it felt like he may as well have been if he hadn't wished to try again. He felt a new bit of resolve ignite within himself.
'I'm going to escape this hellhole alive, no matter what. I'll tear my way out if I have to.'
The memories of what happened a few moments before he'd passed out hit Reko. After Reko fell and would've soon been eaten by the giant eye, Ash had saved him somehow. But how? Reko had plenty of questions, but he decided to put them on hold for now. He raised himself off the cold ground he'd been lying on up until now.
"So hell is next to you two after all. Very fitting, I see," Reko said, trying to lighten the mood.
Ash and Steven both grinned, knowing Reko didn't like being worried about by others. Looks like their young friend was fine after all.
"Good to see you too," Steven ruffled Reko's hair.
"Hey, Reko. How do you feel? You had a pretty nasty wound on your back," Ash asked, as his eyes darted towards Reko's back.
"We did some first aid with some of the stuff lying on this floor. We're not sure how much it'll help, though," Steven added with a slightly concerned expression.
Reko took a look at his body, and that was the first time he realised it. He was fine. The wound that should've left him reeling on the ground didn't hurt as much. It still hurt like hell, but it wasn't completely lethal, like it should've been.
Then another realisation dawned on him. His body felt stronger, more powerful. He felt his muscles were overflowing with an unusual amount of vitality. He felt like he could continue the expedition for another 12 hours, even in this beaten state.
He remembered the burst of speed he unleashed at the crossroads before passing out. Reko was at a complete loss. Had this change already occurred back then?
Ash saw his friend's confusion and smiled.
"Seems like you noticed. This might come as a shock, but congrats, you're a Gifted now. Or, well, something close to that."
Reko paused for a moment, leaving the room silent. He tried to comprehend what he'd just heard.
The possibility hadn't even crossed his mind earlier, but it was the most logical way to explain this newfound strength. Still, after a moment of silence, his eyes turned into two big saucers. Seems like Steven wasn't very shocked, as Ash had seemingly already told him something while he was unconscious.
"What!?"
Everybody dreamed of the chance to become a Gifted. Back when the Great Essence Storm came, plenty of people naturally awakened their powers, since their bodies had a great affinity with the Essence the Storm brought.
New technologies were invented a couple of years after Essence first came to Earth, which measured a person's affinity for becoming a Gifted. Reko's entire family got tested, and none of them had an ounce of aptitude for becoming a Gifted. He remembered crying a lot. His dreams of flying around the Earth and splitting mountains were utterly crushed. But he moved on and accepted it. There was nothing he could do about it.
Faced with a revelation which would've allowed him to live out his childhood dreams, Reko wasn't as happy as one would think. He wasn't a complete kid anymore. Being a Gifted was dangerous in more ways than one, and Reko happened to value his life. However, he couldn't help but feel excited about the opportunity. Not to mention surviving and escaping the Pit would be easier. It's just that if he managed to get out, his life would be much more complicated.
'Was the vision of the forest related? And how does Ash know about...this!?'
That was a worry for the future. He didn't currently have the luxury of pondering on those matters, as there were much more pressing issues at hand.
After a few minutes of excitement and panic, Reko managed to settle down. He recalled what had happened before he fell unconscious.
"Alright, we've got bigger worries at hand. Tell me what happened. I remember being flung through the air before I passed out. Did you...?"
"Yeah, like you probably guessed already, I'm also like you - something like a pseudo-Gifted."
Ash paused for a moment before continuing.
"My hands began tingling a lot one day, and I constantly had the urge to smash them against something. During a fight with a particularly nasty Voidbeast on the lower floors, I just felt something in me pop, like an explosion. I felt the urge to clap my hands together, and that's what I did. The fucker was already quite weakened, so after I clapped my hands and thought about hitting its face, its brains blew up all over the walls."
That confirmed Reko's theory. Back at the cafeteria, he already had a vague hunch that Reko had become a Gifted somehow, although he dismissed it, since it seemed impossible. He became a bit more cautious of Ash. He seemed to know a strange amount about these matters.
It also seemed that Ash's Ability was very befitting of him. But it also raised a question in Reko. Did he also gain an Ability? Currently, Ash's story had revealed something much more concerning, however.
"Wait, so when I was flung through the air...Did you try blowing me up!?"
"Of course not!... I blew up the ground beneath you. I can also vaguely control my explosions, so I redirected a lot of the impact away from you, so that you wouldn't be hurt...too badly"
Ash muttered the last part under his breath, although Reko heard it. He decided to ignore it as he was still grateful for his help. He'd be dead without him. Steven continued for Ash.
"After Ash caught you, we made a run for it. We got lucky and found the entrance to the next floor a couple of halls away. There weren't many places to hide there, so we went to the next floor. We kept going for a couple of floors before we found the room we're in right now."
"Wait, what floor are we on right now?"
Reko's brows furrowed. He dreaded to hear the answer.
Ash and Steven looked at one another before the latter responded.
"Floor 32."
Reko's heart sank. He'd never been this deep before. His previous record was floor 29, but he struggled to move due to the Essence and decided against going further. But here, the Essence in the air alone should've made it nearly impossible to move. He felt fine, though. It must've been one of the perks of becoming a pseudo-Gifted, as Ash called it. Although he didn't quite understand the difference between it and a regular Gifted, he could figure it out another time.
Reko looked at Ash, recalling he had an expert of the lower floors with him, and he felt a bit more at ease. They could just wait for a while and hope that the monster leaves, and then head back to the lower floors. Everything will be fine!
Ash noticed Reko's gaze and gave him a subdued smile.
"Small problem, though. The Consumption started."
Reko didn't even flinch at this point. He'd had too many shocks today to even be surprised anymore.
"Alright, so we'll wait it out."
"What do you think we've been doing? Reko, you were out for like 10 or so hours, snoozing away, and we've been sitting here for six. The Consumption started around the time we got here, so it's been six hours. Ash went and checked the entrance to the lower floor like 5 times already, but nope, still blocked."
Steven let out a mocking laugh. He'd lain himself against a nearby wall. Upon closer inspection, he seemed to be completely drained. His face was pale, and dark circles had formed underneath his eyes.
Running all the way from floor 28 to floor 32 wasn't exactly easy, and the increasing amount of Essence in the atmosphere probably didn't do him any favours. It was impressive that he managed to run all the way here.
"What? It should've ended already then."
Reko began pondering, as it seemed like everybody wanted to rest a bit longer. Him included.
'No time to despair. The more I figure out, the higher our chances of survival.'
The Consumption was a strange phenomenon that randomly occurred in the Pit roughly every day or two. Essentially, the entrance to the Pit was blocked off by a weird mound of indestructible flesh. Nobody could get in or out. Once the flesh barrier disintegrated, all the floors had new layouts and new scrap lying around.
'So it appears inside the entrances of the Pit floors as well?'
The phenomenon only lasted for a few hours, but anybody inside the Pit during that time won't make it back out. However, they had been here for more than enough time. Needless to say, their situation was a bit unique, since they were actually inside the Pit while the Consumption was happening. He didn't know what was normal and what wasn't during this time. Maybe they'll die later?
Reko had a hunch that Ash would know something. He walked over to the pyromaniac, who was tinkering with all sorts of wiring, improvised shells and mixing strange powders. It seemed he managed to grab his backpack before they ran.
'It's going to be a pain gathering all of my stuff again.'
It took him years to gather the tools and items in his treasured backpack, so naturally, Reko was a bit upset. At least he was alive.
He set aside his lament about his own backpack and inquired from Ash.
"So you still gotta make explosives on your own?"
"Yup, can't really use my Explosion Ability too much. I got two to four charges in me before I basically collapse. So, what do you need?"
Reko didn't beat around the bush.
"Why are we not dead? I've never seen anybody come out of the Consumption alive before."
Ash paused his tinkering and took a look at Reko. He was slightly hesitant
"Not many Divers have been above the 29th floor, so you wouldn't know since it's a bit of a tightly kept secret," Ash said, pausing to assess Reko for a moment. "Starting from the 30th floor, the layout doesn't change."
Steven, who was also listening in, flinched at the news, but didn't say anything.
Reko immediately put two and two together. He came to another shocking revelation.
"Wait, so the Consumption only happens on the upper floors?"
"Seems so, although nobody from the Divers has been on the lower floors while the Consumption was ongoing. We're the first, except for the Gifted squads they occasionally send to the containment zone."
Reko rubbed his chin, thinking about what this could mean. He came up with a few theories.
"Time dilation, maybe? Definitely not impossible. But that's not going to help us. I've got a feeling that waiting isn't the answer here. We'll probably die from hunger or thirst before it's over."
Ash turned to look at Reko with glee in his eyes, while Steven's shoulders seemed to slump slightly.
"I like where you're going with this."
Reko looked at both of them before speaking. He personally didn't really like this solution either, but he'd just vowed to try again. He couldn't give up so easily. Even if he wasn't dead, this is his second chance. He wasn't going to waste it.
"We'll rest up a bit, then we're going down as deep as we can."
Ash slammed his hands on the ground, and Steven looked ready to hang himself. Before Reko could lie down on the cold floor of the desolate storage room they were in, Ash perked up.
"Actually, there's one more thing we need to do before that."
"And what's that?" Reko asked, giving Ash a questioning glance.
Ash smirked.
"Aren't you curious about what Ability you got?"