"What do you mean I have to withdraw?" I asked in shock.

"The original plan was to go through with this about a few weeks from now; it might’ve saved you the distress," he said to me. "However, the plan was just recently moved up, and it’s set to go off three days from now, on the exact day of the exam."

"The plan?” I questioned him, “You’re talking about this ‘plan’ as if I’m supposed to know what it is?!" I shouted at him.

"Yes, I have," he said to me, "and I believe it’s about time I explain. I can only hope you come to understand that I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t important."

"Important?!?! Really!?!?" I once again shouted, this time the ground shook below us and my vision became tinted red. “I’ve been training all this time… finally making some sort of progress and you’re just going to tell me it no longer matters!”

“Listen to me!!” my grandfather raised his voice. He stopped for a second before taking a deep breath. "Mistery… tell me… have you ever heard the story of Neptar?" he asked.

"Are you kidding!?" I responded, "What does any of this have to do with a damn fairy tale?"

My grandfather remained silent, staring at the sky, seemingly pondering to himself. He took another deep breath and sat me down.

"There are only a small handful of people in this world who still know the truth about what happened," he said to me with a mournful look.

"What are you talking about?" My voice quivered.

"Neptar’s tale wasn’t just a simple legend."

"W-what?" I said in shock as my vision reverted back to normal.

"The legend is true, though not entirely accurate," he explained to me. "As you know, Neptar was a very powerful warrior, and during a time of crisis, the gods bestowed a great power upon her."

"She was able to use light matter…" I said to him.

"Precisely. She used this power to defeat the evil being known as Distortion, or so that's what the history books would have you believe."

"Wait…" I stopped him, "what does any of this have to do with me?" I asked.

"The truth has been hidden away for years. To be honest with you the entire conflict with Distortion wasn’t even all that long ago in the grand scheme of things." he said to me.

"..."

"Distortion’s soul was only sealed away. In reality, Neptar wasn’t powerful enough to fully destroy the creature. The seal has since been split off into five separate pieces. Each piece containing a fragment of Distortion's soul"

"But, why tell me all of this?" I asked him.

“Parts of that seal have gone missing. We at the interplanetary council haven’t been able to find any clues as to where they could be; however, we know for certain that he has not yet awakened." He explained to me.

“Enough with the stories!!” I shouted.

My grandfather let out a sigh, "We need you to go out on an expedition," he said to me, "to find and retrieve the missing pieces of the seal and bring them back together, where they can be kept locked up for the rest of eternity. Without that seal locking him away, his power will continue to grow until it consumes us all."

"But, why me?" I asked. "I mean, you just said Neptar died trying to stand up to this creature, that she wasn’t strong enough to defeat him. Neptar! The legendary warrior from our history books. How do you expect me to do what she couldn’t!?"

"Mistery…" he said to me in a lighter tone of voice. “There isn’t much I can say in regards to all of this. At the end of the day it wasn’t my choice…”

I stood back and listened.

“There are larger powers at play here, larger than you or I could hope to understand. But you have indeed been chosen.”

"I-I don't understand..."

"You received a certain gift from someone did you not?"

I reached into my bag and pulled out the small black tablet from a while back.

“You mean this?” I asked

“So it’s true, he has chosen you…” my grandfather seemingly pondered to himself for a moment before nodding his head. "I can say with almost complete certainty that this is the right course of action to take.”

I was unable to respond.

“I was instructed to send you alone, but I adamantly refused. I will be sending Reaver, the prince of Otoma, to aid you in your travels. Should you run into trouble, there's no doubt in my mind the two of you would be able to overcome it together.”

I clenched my fist, gripping the tablet as I did so, before succumbing to his words. “I understand…”

----------------------------------------

There are many stories we are told as children. The Tale of the Five Gods, The Lost Land of Ofris, The Great God of the Light—but by far the most impactful one had to have been The Story of Neptar. Our planet was named as such due to the actions of one individual.

But in order to talk about that, we must first learn about the monster responsible for it all: Distortion.

Legend has it that long ago, a man known by the name "Neuro" was created by the gods. This man was tasked with overseeing and protecting the newly created mortals that had recently begun to roam the universe.

Neuro was a cheerful young man, full of energy, and always eager to do his job. He wanted to please the gods and, more importantly, his father, Lucidus, the Great God of Light.

Neuro had a strange gift, one that allowed him to look within anyone's heart. Paired with his divine nature, it made him a true force to be reckoned with.

Years passed, and Neuro slowly started to change over time; the task he once viewed as an honor became but a chore to him, and he no longer had that same eagerness in his eyes as he did before.

With each passing day, months became years, and he began to become unstable; his emotions became sporadic, and his temper had risen; he was starting to change.

During one of his many expeditions, he noticed a strange black marking around his arm. The marking was similar to a wound, but instead of blood, a black mist would secrete from his body. Neuro never spoke a word about this to the gods out of fear—fear that he might've been cast away and exiled from the holy land of Ofris.

What he had come into contact with had been known as "dark matter," one of the seven primary elements of this world and one that has long been lost to time.

Today, only five of the seven primary elements exist. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning. These are the very foundations on which each of the five planets were created.

Light matter was known as a piece of divinity, only known to the gods and too powerful for mere mortals to understand.

Dark matter, however, has always been thought to be but a myth since the beginning of time.

As time passed, the dark matter within Neuro’s body continued to grow, and combined with this gift of eternal life, his mind became distorted, his morals changed, and he had been reborn anew.

And thus, the story goes on from there. He rebelled against his creators and severely wounded the Great God of Light. The being known as Distortion had been born into this world.

----------------------------------------

As we each walked towards the opposite sides of the field, I felt a strange sensation inside me.

My grandfather wanted to test me, maybe in order to determine for himself whether or not this person who ‘chose’ me was correct.

Unlike my previous bouts, the man standing before me was the peak of what I must overcome in order to achieve my dream. I was actually eager to see how far I’d gotten. But I was also scared, not of my grandfather, but of the weight of all this responsibility I now had to bear.

My body felt incredibly light, must’ve been a result from my extra training sessions. So with no hesitation, I instantly charged towards him, throwing a flurry of attacks.

He didn’t take a single step, yet with one hand managed to block each and every attack thrown at him; he deflected my left arm away from me, leaving my face wide open. He then placed his palm out towards me and I felt a powerful force push me. I was sent flying.

"Was that wind?" I wondered.

There was no way he could use wind; I mean, he was a Neptarian, wasn’t he?

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I managed to regain my composure in midair and blast a few small fireballs towards my grandfather which would’ve hopefully psyched him out, but… to no one’s surprise, he managed to dodge each fireball with his left arm still behind his back.

As soon as he dodged them, he sent one of his own back, and unlike any of mine, you could feel the sheer power emanating from it, the flame looked like an arrow piercing through the wind. The flame was so intimidating that it could probably bend space itself.

I managed to dodge the arrow by just a hair before it got too close and seizing the opportunity I instantly charged towards him afterwards, throwing a wild kick.

My grandfather finally took a step backwards to dodge the incoming blow. As I thought

Not even he was immune to the massive drawback flame placed on one’s body. To think not even he had the stamina to produce a large quantity of flames.

We continued to exchange blows, but like before, I couldn’t land a single hit on him. It was as if he already knew what was going to happen; could this have been his abnormality? He would always have his hand in a position to block before I had even thrown the attack.

I grew frustrated at my inability to leave a scratch on him. Throughout our countless training sessions it would always end this way, it was like he was toying with me by allowing me to throw out as many attacks as I could just to shut them all down completely.

My growing frustrations eventually led to a trigger.

During one final struggle where he attempted to kick me off the ground, I seized the opportunity to use all the strength I had to quickly propel myself behind him. I spun and launched a kick to his head; he still managed to dodge the attack, but only barely. I had grazed his left cheek.

For just a fraction of a second my power had unknowingly activated granting me a massive increase in speed. I was able to dash onto a cliff behind him and push myself back towards him.

He clapped his hands. "We’ll end it here; good job you finally managed to land a hit on me," he said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, but… I mean, it was only a graze," I told him.

"Mistery, listen to me. I can count the number of people I know who can actually defeat me with a single hand. All you need is more practice." He told me.

"Gee, thanks for the words of encouragement!" I collapsed on the floor.

I was exhausted. I had completely used up my energy during that last attack, though luckily, it seemed that due to my inner power activating for only a split second, my body didn’t suffer a massive backlash like it would before.

"The mission is set to go off three days from now; take these days to rest up and prepare for the journey ahead of you," he said to me.

"You say that as if it’s something so simple..." I quietly whispered to myself.

----------------------------------------

Later that day, I decided to wander around the castle, looking for anything to take with me on my trip. I had already gathered a few combat manuals that might be important for my journey either to keep up with my training or just to relieve myself from boredom. I packed a few basic flame activities and the ancient book Hope had gotten for me, as well as the arm bracers.

"Hey, Lydia."

"Yes sir?" She turned toward me.

"Do you by any chance know where I left my dagger holster?" I asked her.

"That old thing?" She asked, "You haven’t used that thing since you were a child, my prince; do you need it for something?"

"I…" I stumbled, "I just wanted to take a look at it." I laughed nervously.

She began to laugh. "I’m just pulling your leg, I know you’re going on an expedition," she said to me, "it should be in your grandfather’s bedroom somewhere."

"A-alright, thanks." I said to her as I slowly waddled away.

I rarely ever go into his room, so I didn’t have the slightest idea of where to look.

Once inside, I noticed that he had remodeled quite significantly since I had last entered. As usual, everything was a mixture of golden and red, his signature colors. I guess I can’t judge him too much since my room is the exact same, just in black.

There was a small scroll lying on the floor; it must’ve fallen off one of the many shelves in his room. I picked it up, and it was much heavier than I imagined. The paper was extremely thick, though judging from the quality of the paper it appeared to be quite old as well.

I opened the scroll, and the first words I saw were "Confidential" so I got quite worried.

I looked around and made sure no one was behind me, and being the respectable and responsible person that I am... I quickly skimmed through the scroll.

The scroll contained various techniques. There were many warnings about the repercussions; some were incredibly destructive, and others were simply dangerous to the user. I eventually made it to the bottom of the page, where the name of a certain technique caught my attention.

"Cataclysm," I read. "Upon use, the caster’s source of energy will become compressed. The amount of compression will cause a chain of events that will convert the caster into a living bomb. Everything around them, including the caster, will be completely incinerated. Death is inevitable." The instructions on how to activate the technique were extremely precise, down to the last tiny detail.

I quickly rolled the scroll up before turning towards the door.

"Snooping around, are we?" Aura whispered in my ear.

She had snuck in.

I got really nervous. "Huh..? No, nothing like that."

"Really? What's that you’ve got in your hand?" She squinted at me as she slowly approached.

"It's nothing; don't worry about it." I quickly placed the scroll high up on a shelf where she couldn’t reach.

"Oh, ha ha, short joke, I get it," she said with a spiteful tone.

"What are you even doing here?" I asked her.

She sighed. "Someone’s at the door, here to see you," she said to me.

"Who would want to...?" I was confused.

"Oh, I don’t know, maybe your little girlfriend."

"S-she’s not...ah, forget it." I bolted out of the room.

I had completely forgotten the plans I made with Hope the day before.

I gathered my things and left them on my bedside before going out into the courtyard to greet Hope.

"Oh, hey! Sorry about the wait," I said to her with a nervous smile on my face.

"It’s okay; I actually came a bit earlier than we planned."

"Really? Why is that?" I asked.

"Joule asked if she could tag along," she said to me.

She was hiding behind the bushes.

"O-oh, I didn’t see you back there." I stumbled on my words. "Yeah, I’m fine with it," I responded with a faint laugh.

"A-are you sure?" She asked with a shiver in her voice. "I wouldn’t want to intrude."

"Intrude? I mean, we’re just going to the festival," I said to her.

Every year before the placement exam, the knights academy holds a huge festival in order to hopefully raise spirits for all the entrants as well as attract attention.

"Unless you two want to make it a group outing. We could even invite Blade." I teased Joule.

"I-I… umm…"

She attempted to scurry away but was quickly stopped by Hope as she held onto the back of her shirt.

Hope gave me a sly look.

"You... already invited him, didn't you?" I sighed as I held a hand to my face.

That would explain Joule’s eagerness to come with us.

Once we arrived at the town, we met up with Blade, who had been waiting for us. And instead of dressing up for the occasion, he was wearing his usual armor.

"Jeez, don’t you ever take that thing off?" I said to him.

"It’s not like you’re any better," he remarked.

Hope and Joule both began laughing.

"Anyways, what are we doing here?" Blade asked with a sigh. "I’m supposed to be out preparing for the exams."

"You’ll be fine; we all need a day or two once in a while to rest up; the exam is still three days out," I said to him.

"I’ve rested enough," he said to me.

"Oh, don’t be such a downer."

He gave a sigh of defeat.

"Come on, you’ve gotta lighten up once in a while." I said to him.

"So can we get going? Because I think this one’s getting a bit anxious," Hope said to us.

Joule was hiding behind her.

"T-that’s not true!" she responded.

"Oh, you brought Joule with you," Blade had noticed as he peeked around Hope.

Hope looked at Blade "Yeah, she’s kind of the reason I decided to invite…"

"DON’T SAY THAT!" Joule had dragged Hope away.

"Anyway… How’s your training been going?" I asked hoping to break the awkward silence.

Blade shivered as if he were about to cower in fear. "Your grandfather is an absolute monster."

"Tell me about it. I've lived with him my whole life, and I just now realized."

"I mean, it’s not even close…" he said to me, "I’ve sparred with several soldiers and even Captain Strek himself, but he’s on an entirely different level."

"I mean, what do you expect, he is the king after all?"

"Strange to hear you say that."

"I’ve learned to accept that fact," I said with a slight chuckle.

Hope had then come back, practically dragging Joule by the neck of her shirt. Oh, that poor girl.

“Are we ready to head out?” I asked the group.

Blade let out a sigh, "I still don’t see the point in us coming here; I mean, I don’t even have any money on me to spend."

"Well, if you don’t want to come with us, that’s fine, but if that’s the case," Hope walked over to Blade and placed Joule in his arms. "You can take care of her," Hope said to him.

"W-what? I don’t think I can…"

Hope grabbed my arm and dragged me away.

I stopped her once we reached an empty alleyway.

"That was pretty evil," I chuckled. "I hope you’re ready for an earful once she wakes up."

"I mean, he is the reason she wanted to tag along."

“I hope things go well for her. But you can’t force it, you know." I responded.

"Yeah… I know," she said to me in a silent tone of voice.

“Well… we should get back to them…”

Hope tugged back on the sleeve of my shirt.

“Hope…?” I turned back to look at her.

“There’s… something off about you today.” she spoke out to me.

“W-what do you mean?” I let out a slight laugh, trying to mask the look of worry on my face.

“I don’t know… I can’t quite put my finger on it. You just have this look of sadness about you. You would always be so excited whenever you got a chance to show off your progress, the exams are in a few days aren’t they?”

“I’m sorry…” I whispered. “I wanted to tell you before it was too late, but I…”

It was about time I broke the news to her.

"I have to leave for a little while."

Hope began to walk closer and placed her arms around me. Her skin felt cold to the touch.

She remained silent.

"I promise you," I said, "this won’t be like last time."

I placed my hand on her head; she was about a head and a half shorter than I was.

"How long will you be gone for?" She looked up at me with a seemingly blank stare, one that yearned to express an emotion it couldn’t.

"I-I can’t say," I responded, "It’ll be for a few months at least. I was given a mission of the utmost importance and there's not much I can reveal about it. I really wish it didn’t have to be this way."

She nodded her head as she leaned against my chest.

"I understand you have to go; I just… wish I could at least come with you."

I placed both of my hands on her shoulders, held her at arm’s length, as I stared into her eyes.

"I will come back." I said to her, embracing her for a final goodbye. “You have my word."