**Prologue: Resurrection by Ritual**
**Chapter One**
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**Prologue: Resurrection by Ritual**
And then, my consciousness awakened.
What came into view through a haze of mist was a stone chamber. Lining the walls were bookshelves, and drawn in crimson lines was a magical circle.
The sudden shift from complete nothingness—where I felt no sight, no sensation, no will, no consciousness—was akin to waking from a deep slumber, yet it was an even more vivid transformation.
It felt as if I had been pulled from the depths of hell—or perhaps dragged from a state of repose.
The overwhelming influx of sensory information pressed down on my thoughts. A hoarse voice pierced through the chaos surrounding me.
“Awakened, are you? It seems you possessed the potential… Fresh Man.”
As that voice seeped into my mind, I turned my head. It was then that I realized I was lying on a slab.
The source of the voice was an old man clad in a robe as dark as the abyss itself. His countless wrinkles and sunken features hinted at a life that had defied the passage of time, and his eyes glimmered with a sinister light that belied any frailty. In his bony hand, he grasped a twisted staff adorned with grotesque designs.
I couldn’t comprehend the situation. I could only cast a bewildered glance at him, and the old man continued speaking, as if it were only natural that I would not respond.
“My name is Horos Carmen. A challenger of the arcane, a sorcerer, and your master. Fresh Man, ‘kneel before me.'”
The moment those words reached my ears, a sound that jolted my eardrums, a strange sensation coursed through my entire being. My body began to move against my will. Rising from the slab, I stood up with the clumsy movements of an infant taking its first steps. My body bent awkwardly, and my knees buckled without regard for my intentions. Before I knew it, I found myself kneeling on the cold stone floor before my master.
The musty odor of decay filled the air. The gray stone beneath me was the first thing I noticed. Despite the near absence of light, my eyes perceived the world as if it were bathed in daylight.
A sense of dissonance washed over me. As I began to process the overwhelming information, my mind shifted from external stimuli to sorting out my internal memories.
Suddenly, I felt a dull thud against my head. There was impact, but no pain. In fact, there was no trace of the usual palpitations either. The headaches that had once felt like a dagger twisting in my brain, the agony that had seemed to rot my very insides, and the relentless torment that had scattered my consciousness were now as clear as a freshly sharpened blade.
It was a strange revelation, but in that moment, I felt more normal than I ever had before. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be human.
As I stood there, stunned by the unexpected truth, the voice of the sorcerer Horos rained down upon me.
“Fresh Man, my servant. A returner from the underworld, I shall grant you a name, for you are nameless.”
Nameless. No, that wasn’t right. I already had a name—a name given to me by my parents at birth. A name that had scarcely been uttered in recent times.
Yet, just as I was about to speak it, I hesitated.
An instinct told me that now was not the time to utter those words. Perhaps it was a bad habit born from a life spent in passivity, unable to do much of anything. As I remained silent, my master bestowed a name upon me.
“Your name is End. End of the Fallen. My necromancy has granted you this fleeting life.”
Fleeting life. Necromancy. Even someone like me, who had never attended school and was ignorant of common knowledge, understood what that meant: the ability to manipulate the dead, the abhorrent art of dark sorcery.
The words flowed into my mind seamlessly. And then, I understood. I grasped everything. Given my memories and the words just spoken, it was easy to comprehend.
I had died. And now, by the wicked power of the man before me, I had awakened once more.
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I will be posting every day at 7 PM for a while! Thank you for your support! The story will gradually unfold, and by around the fifth chapter, things will take a significant turn. ( ´ー｀)