7 The Sigh

"My Eyes. My Eyes. Whys there so much light? I… I can see so much... I can't handle all this information," I said, screaming in terror.

I could see everything, remembering the pain from the fel that flowed through my eyes during the ceremony. Not even the walls could stop my vision as the mansion lay bare before me.

~~~

From the outside, the mansion looked cozy, enchanting, and clean. Stacked boulders and sandstone pillars made up most of the building's outer structure. It's hard to see through the closed windows, but the thrilling sounds from forging can be felt outside.

As one entered the mansion through the heavy wooden door, you're welcomed by a pleasant hint of sulfur and fel essence. The head servant was always buried in work and requests from the clan, but he still welcomed anyone who entered with a friendly nod.

It's as charming inside as it is on the outside. Marble pillars support the upper floor with fans attached to them. They covered the entry foyer with photographs of the blacksmith's accomplishments. Some only weapons and others with cheerful people.

It seemed the Devil Ancestor and his servants were the primary residents here. Several long tables occupied the dining hall in case he had to entertain guests.

~~~

The burly Devil Ancestor was hard at work hammering away in his forging room as he noticed James awake. He hurried to be by his descendant's side.

"Young James… It seems in your thirst for the power of the fel… You destroyed your eyes," said the Devil Ancestor with sadness as he entered the room.

"No, I couldn't have… They are alive… I can see everything!" I said as I looked at my Devil Ancestor and saw a horrifying devil.

The horrific-looking devil was pulsing with elemental energies. Power and strength beyond my understanding flowed through this True Form!

"It's too much!"

I fainted in true terror upon seeing my Devil Ancestor's True Form.

A while later I reawakened to the same horrific devil in front of me. I could see many elemental qi's pulsating around the horrific malformed monster.

This was the True Form of my Devil Ancestor. Something that only those who fought him would normally see. But it lay bare in front of my Soul Eyes.

"You have lost forever your normal vision to the fel energies of the Abyss. Circulate your Devil qi through your eyes and gain control of your world!" said the Devil Ancestor with great care in his eyes.

The care that would rarely be seen from a devil. The care that devils only would show to their closet kin.

"This cannot be, I was in balance with the fel energies. How could they strip me of my vision, leaving me in this unbalanced state?" I said.

"So much information keeps following through my eyes. Closing my eyelids does not even change the constant unending flow of information."

Kogthoz Hudson carried the Hudson devil clan on his back shielding it from the wind and the rain. Although he did not deal in everyday clan operations, he was never the less the backbone of the Hudson devil clan. Being told such grim news from such an old experienced devil, I had no choice but to believe his words.

"Fel is chaotic, but chaos leads to opportunity. It will take time for you to gain control of this new gift. I will be busy crafting devil wraps for you to put around your eyes," said Kogthoz.

"They will ease your burden by stripping you of your vision leaving you blind. Slowly but surely you must learn to use these Soul Eyes of yours."

"You must travel step by step from blindness to having true sight. Only through that method could you master such a gift. Relax it will take some time for you to recover and try to return to a normal life. Perhaps during your recovery, you can learn a bit about blacksmithing from these old hands."

"Yes, Devil Ancestor…" I said before passing out again from sensory overload.

I could see everything, even thou my eyelids were closed. It was a strange and unnerving feeling.

It tormented me every time I woke up. My Devil Ancestor continued his forging, eventually placing the devil wraps around my head.

"It will be difficult for you. To grasp that vision properly will take you much time and effort. I mean these wraps to deprive you of your soul vision, lowering the information delivered to you to the lowest amount possible. Slowly circulate your Devil qi through the wraps and see," said Kogthoz.

He had brought hope to me who had been living in eternal torture the past few weeks, unable to process the endless stream of information I would see every time I opened my eyes. With the devil wraps around my head, I was legally blind.

I had broken through to the Esquire realm at the ceremony. I began pouring a bit of my newly gained Devil qi into my devil wraps to see. My vision slowly returned, a grainy black, and white world appeared before me.

This strange world was different than the overloaded, chaotic world I saw before.

A foreign world with grey, black, and white shapes. I could barely make out the objects in front of me. My vision was not clear at all, I could only focus so much Devil qi into my devil wraps to see. My devilry base limited my amount of devil qi.

However, this was many times better than having information overload every time I woke up and repeatedly passing out.

"I can finally see a bit without suffering. Thank you, Devil Ancestor!" I said as tears poured out from my eyes.

These were tears of joy. The torture I faced the past weeks was almost unbearable.

"There's hope for you yet! In the fel awakening ceremony, you awoke an inborn ability within your eyes. Inborn abilities come at a cost though, they require much time and effort to master. Your normal sight is no more burned away by the fel of the Abyss," said Kogthoz.

"You will learn more of your inborn ability through your self-discovery and there's nothing I can do to help you with this besides giving you the devil wraps to dampen your sight making your alternative world bearable."

"Inborn abilities are rare in the Xertzul Abyss, usually people who have them grow mad as the powers given are beyond their grasp. They are unique to the user."

"Even at my devilry realm I have seen few inborn abilities, I have only read about them in books. People who awaken them are as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon scales. They can become a blessing or a curse depending on your efforts."

"Any devil who has an inborn ability should keep it well hidden. It can become your most powerful trump card. Your new devil wraps give you the reins for you to tame this ability."

"I will announce officially you lost most of your vision from qi-deviation during the fel awakening. You are struggling to gain a semblance of new life as you have hardly any vision left. Since you will have to learn to navigate being mostly blind anyway, it will not be hard for you to stick to this narrative until you are strong enough to protect yourself."

"Supposedly, the founder of the Xertzul Abyss has an inborn ability, however, this might just be propaganda from the royal clan. Whether he has an inborn ability does not matter. That Devil Ancestor founded this Abyss realm which we live in today over a million years ago, leaving his mark forever in the Endless Abyss," said the Devil Ancestor attempting to give me newfound hope and courage in my trying time.