"GASP!"
"Haaa… Haaa… Haaa… Blurgh… Haaa… Haa… Haaa…"
Mira fell on her hands and knees gasping for air while also puking in between breaths. She couldn't believe what just happened!
One second she was screaming in agony as she fell into the abyss then the next second her body was teleported and thrown onto the ground like a rag doll.
Her senses, memory, soul, and body were slowly coming back to her, but that couldn't prevent her from throwing up and gasping for air.
As memories of the pain she just went through came back to her, Mira's body started to shudder and she could still feel the phantom pain of the torture even after she passed the test.
She felt her soul trembling at the mere thought of having to go through whatever the fuck that messed up torture session was. She would almost prefer to die rather than having to go through such a thing again.
In fact, the only reason she hasn't completely lost her mind right now is largely due to this place not permitting such a thing. Especially now that she passed the previous test, whatever this place is has made sure to put back into tip top shape for another round of torture.
Recalling everything she's experienced up until now, Mira can say with absolute certainty that she is terrified right now. This place scares the hell out of her! Unfortunately, she can't leave even if she wanted to. No, she can't do anything that's not in line with the rules of this place.
Even if she wanted to die, this place wouldn't make it easy! At this point, Mira truly understood what it means to be a slave or worse. At this point, being a slave would be considered a good because at least a slave would still be able to make some choices for themselves.
She doesn't even have a choice. She either suffers and dies or she suffers and lives. Either way, she has to suffer. The only difference between the two is how long one has to suffer.
Actually, no, that's not even correct. This place is so fucked up that maybe even those who die aren't even able to rest in peace but are kept around after death to suffer for the rest of eternity.
It wouldn't come as much to a shock to Mira if the people who 'died' during one of these tests are the ones who are truly suffering…
That thought just freaked Mira out even more. Just the thought of having to go through another round of that soul pain she just went through caused Mira to shiver.
Mira continued throwing up while her body shuddered from phantom pains for a few more minutes before, somehow, she was returned back to her peak state.
If one looked closely they would still notice her body shivering occasionally, but her body was perfectly fine, her soul was in perfect condition, and her mind was working properly.
She stood up and looked around, but similar to every other room she was thrown into prior to this, there was basically nothing. The room was completely empty except for a massive staircase in the center of the empty room.
However, this staircase gave off an extremely ominous feeling. It was unlike anything Mira has ever felt before. She felt small, tiny, weak, helpless, and despair just by looking at these stairs. Not only that, but these stairs didn't lead up, they led down. Mira felt like she was looking at the stairs that would lead her straight to hell.
A purplish-black fog covered most of the staircase except for the first few steps and Mira immediately knew that she didn't want to touch that fog. If she had a choice, she would definitely not want to be in the same room or even within kilometers of this fog. She would very much like to get as far away from this place as possible.
But what choice did she have? None! Not only that, but the longer Mira stood there NOT descending the stairs, the more her instincts screamed at her that something bad was about to happen.
She assumed this must be a 'safety' measure that was put in place to make sure the people being tested were actually… tested.
As Mira walked a bit closer to the stairs, she noticed a sign right next to the entrance of the staircase. It said:
TOMB OF HEAVEN
ABYSSAL TORMENT STEPS
…
"Wow~ That totally doesn't sound ominous at all~ Just the name alone makes me feel like I'm walking into a lush green field as the crisp autumn breeze brushes against my face~ NOT! FUCK!"
Mira said sarcastically to try and put herself in a better mood, but it was impossible. If even this fucking shit hole is warning her of the dangers these stairs possess, then it must be bad. Worse than bad, actually! Things probably couldn't get much worse than these fucking stairs in front of her.
With 'happy' thoughts like that, Mira stepped closer to the staircase as the feeling of dread and helplessness within her increased. It wasn't to the point that she couldn't deal with it, but it was incredibly annoying. But that's not what bothered Mira. What bothered her was that she was already feeling like this and she hasn't even started descending the stairs!
She also has no clue how many steps there are! Will there be 100? 200? 1,000? 10,000? How will she feel then? Probably much worse than she feels right now!
However, Mira's instincts were now screaming at her that if she didn't start descending… she will definitely meet a bad end.
So with a heavy heart, Mira took her first step down the ABYSSAL TORMENT STEPS and as soon as both feet landed on the first step, a multitude of things happened.
She felt her mind being invaded by the fog as thoughts of suicide, dread, helplessness, and weakness flooded her. Naturally, these thoughts were rather weak and Mira could ignore them without a problem. She also felt tiny pricks attacking her soul and although it didn't damage her, it was quite annoying. Like an itch you can't scratch.
Then came a pressure bearing down on her body which made it harder to move but with her strength and will, the pressure wasn't much at this point.
However, none of these things were what mattered. What mattered is that her body caught fire as soon as she stepped onto these stairs!
