The jewel emitted a blinding light, creating a stunning display around me that resembled a combination of fire and lightning. Within moments, the light transformed into a suit of armor that encased my body.
“Wow, this is awesome!” I shouted, absolutely ecstatic.
The armor truly was amazing. It had engravings that were perfected to the mere point, it was solid but flexible and it fit as if it were no more than mere clothing. It took me a moment, but I suddenly realized something very important.
“Wait, won’t people be able to see me in this?” I questioned.
“Only 4th World guardians are able to see me and Cadeyrn in materialized forms. There are a few non-guardians that can see us, but if you remember to mask us with the proper seal, they can't see us either,” Inazuma replied in its same robotic tone.
“Riiight....well we should probably get going before my mother wonders where I am. You can explain more to me on the way home,” I said as Inazuma unequipped itself and returned to its jewel form.
----------
Thirty minutes into the slow walk home, a noise seemed to go off in my head. This was briefly followed by the flooding of noise from Cadeyrn and Inazuma about the alarm.
“There seems to be a disturbance nearby,” Cadeyrn stated.
The silence preceding Cadeyrn’s announcement was incredibly discomforting. I paused for a moment to check for any passersby, and after determining I wasn’t being watched, I ducked into a small alleyway between two shops-it was too hard to think about all this while walking.
“What do you mean...disturbance...?” I asked, wondering if they were referring to my previous conversation with Cadeyrn.
“These disturbances are the events caused by excess quanum that has not been diverted into the 4th world. In most cases however, they have resulted in monsters attacking anyone nearby in attempts to absorb their quanum. This is such a case,” Cadeyrn stated.
“What?! We better hurry then!” I yelled as I started to run in the direction that I felt I was being pulled towards.
“Well then, let's get started, my Master,” Cadeyrn said as it started to glow faintly.
“Right,” Inazuma said as the light show from earlier began once again.
“Umm...ok? Start what?” I questioned.
“First call me out,” Inazuma stated as I continued my run.
“Uhh…Like this? Inazuma, defend me?” I called out questioningly and suddenly I was once again wrapped in armor.
It was an odd sensation with no noticeable change in weight, or restrictions to my movement as I continued running.
“Armor activated,” Inazuma said in its robotic tone.
“Next, call me out and in what form you wish me to be in. My system allows me to change into any weapon you see fit,” Cadeyrn stated.
“Oh, um…Cadeyrn, spear form?” And as the words left my mouth, a big flash of light emitted and Cadeyrn had transformed into a spear that fit snugly in my hand.
Despite the newness of all this, it was clear to me that the spear was not just a pointy metal pole. The spear seamed to emit a powerful energy that misted off into the air around it.
“This is pretty damn cool. Alright then! Let's go!” I said, observing my surroundings a bit more closely now.
A red beacon shot out from Inazuma pointing towards the target, almost like a video game. I chased after the beacon as quickly as I could until Inazuma stopped me and the beacon changed positions.
“We've arrived. Target confirmed,” Inazuma stated.
Turning my head in the direction of the beacon, I noticed the monstrosity towering 10ft over a young woman. It had her pinned to the ground with its claw-like hands. They seemed too heavy for even the ground to hold as they cut into the concrete sidewalk like butter.
“It's huge...and...It’s going to hurt that girl! I’ll never make it in time! Damn it!” I yelled, pouring all my energy into a sprint.
Immediately Inazuma chimed in. “Make haste. Lightning dash.”
“Uhhh... Lightning Dash?!” I yelled, questioningly.
Like the name suggested my body dashed to the woman at lightning fast speed. With unnatural reflexes, mid dash, I managed to pick her up and move her out of the way of an impending attack. There was a loud crash behind me as I turned to see the monster had left gaping wounds in the concrete.
“Run!” I yelled, which seemed to startle her out of shock.
Luckily she listened, since as far as she could tell some invisible force had just moved her from some beast and then yelled at her—I should probably work on my people skills a bit more…
The monster turned towards me, unnaturally so. Its dark purple body and sharp yellow eyes shot fear into my very soul. Suddenly, with a loud intimidating roar, it went on the offensive throwing a clawed punch straight at my head.
“Barrier!” Inazuma chimed loudly as a barrier formed around me, absorbing the hit, and redistributing the force into the asphalt below, shattering it into pieces.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Thanks…Inazuma,” I panted, breathing heavily, and yet my heart which should be pounding was mostly still - odd.
I felt like I should be reacting a bit more than I was. Perhaps more adrenaline, or the feeling of my heart going through my chest, but there really wasn’t anything - perhaps Cadeyrn assisted in that regard? I wondered.
“No problem my Master,” Inazuma called, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Quickly I dashed towards the monster. Tightly gripping the spear, I placed my full weight behind it, and in one swift motion I thrusted my spear forwards. I could feel the power propelling me forwards, it felt liberating, but as my spear collided with the monster it bounced off with a clank. My eyes went wide as my spear deflected upwards, leaving my torso entirely undefended. Luckily the monster seemed rather dull and didn’t take advantage of such an obvious opening—if it had, I would have been dead for sure.
“Why didn't that work?!” I yelled angrily as I dodged a clumsy swing from the monster.
Just as clumsily, I managed to get behind it using another Lightning Dash but I was unsure of how I was supposed to hurt the damn thing once I was there.
“What should I do?” I asked hurriedly, as the monster started to recover and reposition for another attack.
“It seems really dense, so normal attacks likely won’t work. Call out Blazing Pierce,” Cadeyrn stated calmly.
“Right…,“ I said, readying my stance this time before calling out the attack.
Locking eyes with the beast for a moment it seemed as if my fierce stare stunned it—or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“Blazing Pierce!” I yelled as a mass of energy collected around my spear and set ablaze with fire.
With a powerful lunge I was propelled forwards, piercing right through the monster. The monster's agonized cry echoed throughout the air as I drove my spear through its chest and out through its back, causing a sickening squelch. The sounds it made were particularly horrendous, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction at finally defeating the creature.
“HAAH!!!!!” I screamed once more as the adrenaline coursing through my body took full effect.
“Now, seal it quickly!!!” Cadeyrn yelled.
“Wait, how am I going to do that?!” I questioned, surprised as the monster started to reform itself.
“Quickly, repeat after me! Shadows of twilight, quell your rage and be still,” Cadeyrn stated quickly.
Wasting little time, I repeated Cadeyrn’s words with as much conviction as I could muster.
“Shadows of twilight, quell your rage and be still!” My voice boomed through the street, light flashing in front of me and quickly followed by a dark aura engulfing the monster, sealing it into some sort of void.
“W-well then…I gue-,” before I could finish I collapsed onto the ground, my consciousness fading.
I could somewhat hear Inazuma and Cadeyrn’s voices resonate in my head.
“He must be tired,” Cadeyrn stated.
“Should we then?” Inazuma questioned.
“Yes. We can't leave him here,” Cadeyrn said with slight concern.
“Warp activate. Destination 186, 975,” Cadeyrn and Inazuma called out collectively.
I felt a strange sensation as if I was being stretched across the universe before losing consciousness completely.
-----------
I awoke and sat up abruptly, barely able to get my bearings as I searched my surroundings. It was dark, and I could feel something soft underneath me. Slowly the familiar environment soaked into my senses.
“I’m…in my room?” I muttered groggily, taking notice of the clock.
“What? It’s 6:09pm?! Oh man!” I shouted, surprised, temporarily snapping out of my groggy stupor.
Hearing footsteps outside my door I watched nervously as it creaked open, it was my mother.
“Oh, so you are up,” she said, shaking her head gently and smiling, but the anxiety displayed in her eyes was palpable—why did she seem so concerned?
“Ahaha...yeah…” I said looking up at her, smiling back and rubbing my eyes.
“Well, it's dinner time are you coming down?” She asked gently.
“Yeah...I’ll…be down in a minute…” I said, still a bit dazed.
“Hurry up, or it'll go cold…” she said as she headed back downstairs without saying anything more.
It would have been pointless anyways, young boys will have their own troubles and she knew that I guess, still seemed odd to me for her to act that concerned. Regardless, I was more interested in what had transpired since I was last conscious.
“Cadeyrn...Inazuma...What happened? How did I get back home?” I asked, telepathically.
“We decided it would be best to teleport you back instead of leaving you out in the open,” Cadeyrn replied.
“I see... How kind of you,” I said sarcastically. “And the girl? Did she get away safely?”
“Yes, she was unharmed and the monster was successfully sealed. A masterful job considering it was your first time with no training,” Cadeyrn praised.
“Thanks I guess…” I said, shrugging.
“I should probably go down for dinner now…” I remarked to myself out loud, hearing the exhaustion in my own voice.
On my way down I noticed something strange. I could physically see and feel an aura that was emanating from outside the window on the landing. Just as I was collecting my thoughts on the last 12 hours, something new had propped up—great.
“What is that…? It couldn't be another guardian could it...? It looks to be around where Alden lives. I’ll have to check it out after dinner,” I said to Cadeyrn, who oddly didn’t reply.
I took it as a response to my earlier attitude and ignored it. I continued down the steps, and as I did, I could feel energy slowly returning to me with each step—that’s intriguing, was my quanum recovering me naturally?
I reached the dinner table where a meal consisting of steak and potato awaited. It smelled heavenly, this was definitely the work of my father. My father loved to cook but was often too busy to get a chance to do so. When he did get a chance, it would usually be a week-long cultural adventure of different foods. It would always start with his signature steak and potato dinner, he had to set a baseline after all. Oddly enough, we never thought to ask where he obtained his large retinue of culinary delights—perhaps I would do that at some point.
“Thanks for the food!” My family said happily, as I joined them at the table.
Having finished dinner, and feeling entirely revitalised, I decided it was time to check out what that strange aura was.
“I'm going out for a bit mom!” I yelled to her, heading for the front door as fast as I could.
For some reason my parents were incredibly carefree. As long as I was home before 11pm I could come and go as I pleased, although I was never out past nine.
“Again? Don't be out too late!” She yelled back.
“Ok!” I responded quickly as there wasn’t a single second to lose, it had already been too long since I had noticed the aura.
I ran for roughly 10 minutes before making it to the location where I had seen the aura. There was nothing there, which was terribly surprising, but Cadeyrn couldn’t even find a trace of any residual quanum.
“There has to be something here…I just know it,” I grumbled aloud.
After passing the same pothole for the seventh time, I decided the street had grown tired of being trot over and I lamented.
“Damn it! I can’t find anything!” I yelled in frustration. “This is a fairly remote area….why would anyone be around here anyways...” I whined.
Reaching in my pocket I pulled out my phone to check the time.
“Hmm, it's 8:15pm I guess I’ve been out long enough,” I declared, sliding my phone back in my pocket and headed towards home.
Before making even three footsteps towards my house, I stopped dead in my tracks and observed the ground once more. The ground was bone dry, the trees were still, and yet I felt as though I had been through a raging tempest. I had been so absorbed in searching that I had completely ignored this strange sensation. As I continued focusing on it, I could feel an uncomfortable chill seeping into my bones.
“Cadeyrn, what is this?” I questioned in a serious tone.
“Unknown. No Quanum detected,” Cadeyrn responded.
I continued to stand for a minute or two more before ultimately deciding to continue my journey home in silence.