Chapter 2: The Awakening

Nemesis sat up, holding his throbbing head. The abnormal white light left a ghastly silhouette in his eyes. Blinking a couple times, Nemesis finally regained his vision while still holding his head. Rubbing his forehead, he got a huge shock when his hands felt something poking out of his head. Panicking, he rubbed his forehead again, feeling the rough object. He traced over it with his fingers, and realized what it was.

"A horn?" He whispered, aghast. Looking down, he realized that the runes he touched a moment before disappeared.

...e ....rs

A ghastly voice called out inside Nemesis's head. Swiveling his head around, Nemesis backed up into a tree.

"Who's there?" He called out.

...ne .....ers ...cy

The vague whisper sounded out again. Slowly, the whispers got clearer and clearer.

The last inheritor of the rune keepers, i pass upon you our legacy.

Listening to the whispers inside his head, Nemesis was in confusion.

"Who are the rune keepers? What do you mean by your legac-"

Before Nemesis could finish, he felt another stabbing pain between his eyebrows. Opening his eyes, Nemesis found himself in a white world. In front of him was 6 pedestals. Each pedestal had a different kind of weapon embedded in it. There was a katana, bow and arrow, spear, broadsword, and a shieldlance. All of the weapons had a domineering aura surrounding it. The last pedestal was shrouded in darkness, and emitting a deadly aura. For some reason, Nemesis felt drawn to the darkness as he drew closer and closer to the sixth pedestal. Brushing the darkness with his fingers, his arm suddenly jerked and was pulled inside. He heard a voice ring out.

"Nemesetz'ah Karumeth.

Attribute: Darkness

Avatar: Hades

Optimal Training Technique: Death's Embrace

Optimal weapon: Hellfire Scythe

In the orphanage, a practised rhythm was droning on, created by the orderly lull of children doing their chores silently and diligently. The calming sound, however was abruptly disrupted by the front door being blown open. Shocked, the children stared towards the open door as a figure armed to the teeth stepped in with a loud thump.

thump thump thump

A commotion came from upstairs as an elderly lady hurried down. The death of her husband a year ago still showed on her haggard face as she approached the intruder. Eyeing him carefully, she invited him to talk upstairs where they could have some privacy.

“Sir, I told you I have never seen a boy with discoloured eyes, and if I did, I would surely remember,” the old lady said carefully. The man eyed her for a while before he abruptly turned around and left. The purpose of his travels here were to find and capture a young boy by the age of around 5 who had the distinguished features of heterochromic eyes. He was informed that the boy might have been taken here some years ago and dropped off. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was not the case, as the intimidating man eyed every orphan that he came across on his way to the exit.

Nemesis woke up to the singing of birds that could only signify that it was morning. Suddenly remembering something, he swiped his hands over his forehead only to feel complete smoothness.

“Guess it was all a dream,” he said to himself and made his way back towards the orphanage, sighing at the berating Hilda would give him for staying outside for so long. When he got back, he tried to discreetly slip his way inside, but froze when a childish female voice called him out.

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“Nemesis! Where’d you go?” A little girl around the same age as Nemesis asked. She had soft cheeks and pale brown hair which faded in colour the further on it went, with hints of pink towards the edges. The little girl’s name was Luna and she was one of Nemesis’ best friend over the years he had been in the orphanage. A boy with the stature of an 8 year old approached and joined in their conversation.

“Wow, I kept telling Luna that you were probably kidnapped by baddies and fed lollipops until your tummy exploded,” the taller boy laughed. His name was Chad and he along with Luna were the best - and only - friends Nemesis had in the orphanage. Chad was the same age as Nemesis and Luna but had the size of children a couple of years older. Although his size was intimidating, he was not extremely talented in the intelligence department, and he always insisted that baddies fed lollipops to children after they kidnapped them as a way of torture. And so Nemesis fell back into the easing lull of his orphanage life, his disappearance for a day seemingly unnoticed by anyone other than Luna and Chad.

-12 years later-

A young man walked through the forest with his two companions, a young woman and another man. The three would have looked like any other civilian except for the fact that they... looked anything but ordinary.

The sole lady of the group of three was stunningly beautiful. Her golden pink hair flowed like a river as she walked, the ends fluttering just above her toned thighs. Even though her garb looked poor and simply made, it couldn’t hide her beauty from anyone who looked at her. All the men from the town would have flocked to her if not for one of the two male companions she was constantly with.

The man was huge. He dwarfed his two companions when walking with them due to his abnormal size. It seemed as if the man was made from pure muscle as the heads of normal people only reached up to his stomach. His thighs were as thick as an average man’s waist, and his body was a mountain of pure muscle.

The young man walking in the middle was slim yet his hidden muscles told of explosive strength. His muscles were dense as defined, but they were hidden under his shabby tunic. He had raven black hair, and his face was sharp and handsome. The most striking part about this man, however, were his two eyes: One green and one gold.

As the three friends were walking, they started discussing about their future.

”I’m so nervous about the upcoming talent exam. I really hope I get to become a sentinel,” Luna said as she stepped over a fallen log.

“I hope I can become a guardian,” rumbled Chad before he let out a rumbling chuckle. It seemed as if he didn’t lose his simpleness, but he was only a little bit behind on his intelligence. Given his stature, nobody seemed to care about his lack of thoughtfulness though.

The three were on their way towards the annual talent test having turned 18 this year. But first, they were having a stroll in the familiar forest not far from the orphanage.

“Who do you think will be placed the highest?” Luna wondered before Chad laughed again, shaking the loose ferns around them.

“Whoever gets the furthest in 10 minutes will be placed highest!” Chad challenged before dashing away into the forest. Luna let out a light giggle before chasing Chad into the forest.

“Hey,” Nemesis uttered before sighing and sprinting after them. After ten minutes, the three stood, panting in a large clearing.

”Haha! I win,” smiled Chad as he triumphantly raised his fists.

“That’s not fair you big cheater! Who can beat you in physical prowess before having their talents awoken?” Luna shouted while laughing. Luna turned to Nemesis who nodded in agreement.

”Cheater,” Nemesis spoke before he looked around them. A sense of familiarity clouded him as he swept his eyes around the area.

“Have I been here before?” He whispered to himself before Luna snapped him out of his thoughts.

”We’d better go. Wouldn’t want to miss the test after all,” she said as Nemesis nodded. Taking one final look at the clearing, Nemesis turned and followed his friends heading back out the forest.