Third Person: Transmigrating into a Transmigrator's Story

Outside the window, the scenery had begun to shift. The rail line had curved into a sharp downward angle, far steeper than I expected. It was like a descent into a launch tube. We were not just travelling, we were diving.

The incline pressed the world at a strange diagonal. The horizon bent upward as we sank toward the underlayers of the planet. But still no sensation. If I wasn't looking through the window, I wouldn't know what was happening.

We were exiting the Forge, going down to Babel, the least bit of normalcy in my current surroundings.

'Why am I getting sick, was I afraid of heights?'

I thought as we kept on diving to the ground. There were two ways of exiting Forge.

One was the railcar, where I was on, and the other was jumping to your death. Well, it was more of sky diving since Forge was on a floating island but that was beside the point.

And then I saw it. Babel.

It almost felt like it was a dream.

A city with towers alive with light, its air clean and sweet, at least from what I could gather from Ronan's memories. It was also the current seat of power of Humanity.

But we weren't done.

The railcar pierced the surface and slid seamlessly into a submerged tunnel. The windows shifted to a translucent mode revealing water on all sides.

It was breathtaking.

Not because of the view but in the literal sense.

I couldn't breathe, my chest tightened while my palms became clammy. My mind almost blanked for a moment. I knew we were safe but all I could think of was what if the glass cracked? What if water started pouring in? I couldn't shake the image of being trapped down here, drowning.

My shaking hands slipped on my signet ring.

It was instantaneous, Like flipping a switch. The fear dulled and then disappeared entirely as if the ocean outside was just scenery and nothing more.

My hands unclenched while my heart slowed and for the first time, I actually looked out the window. It felt like riding through an aquarium only one you couldn't escape from.

I caught my breath, curse or no curse, it was beautiful.

Finally, the railcar slowed down and lights along the walls began flashing in a calming rhythm. It pulled into a brightly lit inland station deep beneath the city's crust.

The doors opened with a soft sigh.

I stepped out with my legs a bit unsteady. I took a moment and forced myself to breathe.

'Now where to?'

During the Fall of Babel later in the story, Varek found the relic in one of the ravines that ring the city.

One of them had to be right.

I spotted a line of vehicles waiting along the edge of the platform. They were matte black and humming low. I walked up to the nearest one, climbed in, and let the door seal behind me.

The inside was similar to the Railcar. I passed my NexBand over the obsidian slab near the dash and said, "Take me to the Sable Gash."

A soft chime answered, and then we began moving. Or at least, I assumed we were from what I could through the window.

I leaned back into the seat and stared out the window as the broken outskirts of Babel slid by in silence.

'Get the relic fast,' I thought. 'Then train the rest of the week.'

I glanced down and frowned.

'My stomach's already starting to round out.'

Now I know this might be a bit contradicting to how I felt when I woke up as Ronan but let me make one thing clear, a lot of things have changed since then.

When I woke up, I felt like a stranger in a new body, but now? I knew how out of shape I was after getting Ronan's memories. I was painfully aware of how much debauchery filled Ronan's life.

Even though I still looked good, something I was still thanking the heavens, all of Ronan's imperfections and insecurities were brought to light.

For me to achieve, or even survive, what was coming, I needed to change things.

'Still, it's impressive I look like this even without working out for the last year. I guess the gains were permanent.'

"Ding!"

The vehicle's soft hum faded as the signal pinged alerting me that I'd arrived at my destination. I stepped out as the Sable Gash stretched before me.

It was a jagged and steep ravine that swallowed the horizon. The walls were deep and slicked with moss.

The ravine itself was wide, too wide for my senses to fully take in at first glance. The air smelled faintly of damp stone and earth with the distant sound of water trickling somewhere deep below.

It was almost peaceful in a strange unsettling way.

I squinted up at the sheer cliffs on either side of me. The place was vast and endless yet the book had given no real landmark to help guide me. There was nothing distinctive about it. No particular formation, no unique marking that stood out.

Just a ravine.

The only clue the book offered was the description of a critically wounded Varek, washed into the ravine, who had stumbled upon a cave in his delirium.

Nothing else.

I set off ignoring the creeping unease that settled in my chest. My footsteps echoed off the rock walls and my eyes kept darting around, looking for something, anything that would help me pinpoint the location.

I trekked for hours still hopeful, no, I had no option.

The ravine twisted and turned, narrowing at some points and widening at others. Water pooled in the cracks of the jagged stones making the whole place feel alive but not in a comforting way.

There were no caves or obvious signs of the relic's resting place. Just the oppressive silence of the ravine and the whisper of water in the distance.

"Why can't I find it?"

Every rock seemed the same. Every stretch of the ravine blended into the next.

'I don't even know what sign I was looking for.'

I was about to turn back when something caught my eye. It was faint, almost hidden beneath the overgrown vines and moss. A worn stone, just barely visible beneath the tangle of roots.

As I leaned closer, I saw the faint markings. A series of interwoven lines and spirals met in the centre and a symbol that looked like an eye which was an ancient symbol of protection.

'Yep! Blue and Moist.'

Varek had used a whole paragraph to describe it while the landmarks were flavourless. Like why would someone voluntarily like rocks? And he even used it to kill that other guy.

I stood slowly as I scanned the surrounding rocks. The ravine twisted here narrowing dramatically as the walls seemed to converge at this very spot. Like it was guiding me towards this peculiar stone.

I followed the direction of the carved stone and moved deeper into the ravine. The air felt cooler now, the humidity thickening as I descended further into the shadowed gorge.

Then, just as I was about to give in to the growing sense of frustration, I saw it. An opening, the opening.

My breath caught in my throat as I pushed the vines aside. The passage was dark, but the moment I stepped inside, a faint light flickered from somewhere deeper within.

I moved cautiously, the tunnel stretching before me like a secret waiting to be uncovered. At the end, the space opened up, revealing a small cave.

'Finally!'