Stretching far beyond the horizon, the pipe extended to remarkable lengths. Like a sinuous black ribbon, it coiled and wound through the surroundings. Its shape and color indistinguishable from the surrounding web of organic black vines.

If the boy hadn’t noticed it by accident, it would’ve been impossible to find.

The sun was steadily approaching the vista, casting fiery streaks of crimson across the sky.

Currently, the boy sat on a rocky contour as the environment visibly darkened around him, examining a rock pillar a few meters in front of him.

The pipe, after zig-zagging across the landscape, was climbing vertically across the pillars stone surface. This particular pillar was different compared to its other rocky kin.

It was far larger, easily twice the length and four or five times the girth, it towered over the neighboring columns.

The pipe, one of countless, defied gravity as it climbed the pillar’s rock exterior before burrowing into its solid surface. Pipes came in from all directions and tunneled into the pillar at different points along its length.

Clinging to the pillar’s surface, they coiled and twined around it, mimicking the pattern of the black vines covering all the pillars around it.

A quick look would’ve seemed like the pipes were simple black vines enveloping another rock pillar.

A closer look revealed a person-sized gate at the bottom of the rugged rock pillar, camouflaged to pass as an extension of the rock itself.

The gate looked heavy-duty, its surface echoing the surrounding terrain and featuring intricate crevices that imitated the rock tower.

The only reason the boy had caught sight of it was because the pattern was scrapped off on one side, revealing patches of metallic sheen underneath that were glistening in the waning sunlight.

“A camouflaged artificial tower…..this thing is practically screaming it has secrets inside.”

However, getting inside the tower was going to be complicated since there were inhabitants already living inside.

He had found the gray furless rat and not just one.

There had been a dozen huddled together near the top of the tower. Their bony bodies squeezed together to form an unsightly mesh of gray skin.

It seemed they had been revolving around the rat with the swollen cheeks, probably begging for food.

They had chittered and clattered for a few minutes before squeezing inside through a carved-out tunnel around one of the burrowed pipes.

“This is going to be tough. Two choices, either I tough it out outside in the dark or I duke it out with the rabid rats inside.”

He remembered the giant demon crab with its silent unnerving movements and shuddered. The choice was obvious, the rats did not hold a candle to the dark crab.

Also, the tower was obviously artificial it had to contain some information.

Information that he desperately needed.

“It would be too optimistic to think those rats would flee after taking a look at me, right?”

Highly unlikely, the higher chance was they would probably be happy that dinner had walked in on its own.

It was certain he was going to have to fight.

The boy was no stranger to violence, he had countless memories of encounters from his past life but the rules of engagement in this world were different.

Actions were preceded by different colored auras that enhanced strength and speed.

The dark crab had shattered an entire cliff with its flaming blood-red strikes while the squirrel had moved faster than a speeding car after getting a boost of golden energy.

He himself had been saved by a blue shimmering barrier emanating from his suit and his red glowing sword had cut clean through the dark crab’s steel cord of a tail.

These “auras” were an integral part of combat and he didn’t know anything about them.

He tries piecing together everything he knows.

“The dark crab glowed red just before striking just like my sword, so red is for attacking. The blue glow dispersed the force behind the red strikes and every other collision impact so blue might be for defending. The squirrel glowed golden just before speeding, as did the crab so gold is for speed.”

His suit was capable of producing the blue glow for defense but the other two glows were up to him.

He distinctly remembered his arms glowing red when he was in the grip of the dark crab’s tail so he knew he was capable of using that energy himself.

“Maybe I have been using them all along?”

His body was barely that of a child but he had not only survived an encounter with a predator a hundred times his size but also explored a hostile land with little food and water.

No child was capable of this, especially one so young.

His strength, speed, and stamina were well beyond the abilities of an eight-year-old which suggested one thing.

“I might’ve been using these energies subconsciously.”

He looks at the rock pillar beside him and positions himself in front of it. He raises his arm with a clenched fist, making a punching stance.

Looking at the place he is going to strike he focuses his strength on his arm and fist, tightening his muscles before striking.

His arm begins to spark with a faint red glow.

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“Fuck yeah that’s it, so you have to focus on attacking for the glow to come out.”

The glow is faint, much fainter than the shine exhibited by the creatures he had encountered but it was there.

He concentrates on the image of him striking the rock in front of him, imagining the tower as the accursed dark crab, and tapping into his aggression.

The glow shined brighter, enveloping his arm up to his shoulder. It was still nowhere near the glow he had seen on the dark crab but he could feel power stirring in his arm.

However, before he can unleash his punch the ring on his finger erupts in a white light after coming into contact with the red energy emitting from his arm.

The black band of the ring flies off his finger and disintegrates into an amorphous black cloud around the ring’s dull red stone. The amorphous cloud changes into the shape of the black sword he saw before, centering around the stone which becomes the emblem he had seen on the sword’s hilt.

The process happens in less than a second and he feels his right arm tip down under its weight.

The sword had manifested into his right-hand grip.

“FUCK YES! There it is, so all I had to do was channel some of that red glow into it.”

He grips the black grip with both hands and tries to lift the heavy doubled-edged blade but is unable to lift it up.

“Okay this thing is way heavier than I remember, wait wait maybe I’m doing it wrong.”

He mentally imagines a target he can slash at, once more focusing the feeling of aggression through his body and into his arms.

His arms begin to tingle with the now familiar reddish glow, boosting his strength.

He tries to lift the blade again and this time it feels a lot lighter. The sword is still too heavy for him to swing around willy-nilly but compared to before it doesn’t feel like an impossible task.

“The red glow increases strength just like I thought but I remember the sword glowing too.”

He had to figure it out fast. The sun was halfway below the surface and shadows on the ground were spreading outwards, forming into a permeating darkness.

He looked at the emblem engraved into the sword’s hilt and began to channel the flow of the red glow, tightening his grip over the hilt.

He imagined using the sword as a weapon to slash as he concentrated on the grip.

Red lines begin to form on the black texture of the grip. They move upward, following faint carved-out paths inside the grip.

Like veins of ethereal power, the glowing tendrils ascend toward the engraved emblem at the base of the sword's cross guard.

The energy lines converge upon the emblem which begins to shine like a radiant jewel at the hilt's core. Within the emblem, a swirling vortex of light echoes in the rhythm of his own red aura.

The emblem ignites into a brilliant flash of red blaze that engulfs the whole blade into a dark blood-red shine.

The blood-red glow emanating from the sword was far stronger than what his own arms had produced.

It was easily as bright and strong as what he had seen coming from the dark crab.

The boy is mesmerized by the beautiful glowing color.

“I’m guessing the shine means its got some serious power.”

He notices a protruding rocky contour on the column beside him and aims the sword at it.

He didn’t have much experience with a sword but his body subconsciously positions itself in an optimal striking stance as he raises his sword with both hands.

The downward slash is swift, a flurry motion that is undisturbed by any obstacle or blockage. The blade follows a deliberate arc, tracing a trajectory that moves through the rock as if it were tissue paper.

The boy looks wide-eyed as the rock severs off the tower in a clear, clean cut. The cut edge was uncannily smooth as if polished by an expert craftsman.

“….its almost like a light saber at this point.”

He had seen scenes like this in high-budget fantasy movies in his past life but seeing the whole thing happen in real time in front of him was a completely different awe inspiring feeling.

“The sword has its own built-in source for that red glowing energy.”

The emblem on the sword shined with an ethereal glow as if to confirm his observation.

“My suit also has its own source for that blue energy….so the energies can be produced by organic bodies as well as through artificial sources although in this case, the energy I create is a lot weaker in comparison.”

He thought back to when he had sliced through the dark crab’s tail. It hadn’t been his strength but the energy bursting through the sword that had cut the crab’s tail.

“I’m not sure how advanced the technology on this planet is but I think this stuff is definitely cutting edge.”

A silly joke that brings a smile to his face.

“This is good, so now all I have to worry about is that golden aura but before that I have to get inside quickly.”

By now, the sun had completely passed over the horizon.

For a heartbeat, it gave off a brilliant streak of light before disappearing behind the skyline.

The day had turned to dusk with darkness fast approaching.

The boy releases the tension in his arms, in response the red glowing energy recedes from his arms and fades away.

The burning blood-red energy enveloping the blade dims in response and slowly withdraws back to the glowing emblem in its hilt.

As the energy sinks back into the emblem the blade slowly shrinks along with the hilt, changing back into a black flowing material that coils around his arm.

He feels a soft sensation as the material eventually compresses and forms a band around his finger, transforming back into a ring.

“That was pretty smooth.”

He inspects the ring before lowering his hand and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

“I’m as ready as I can be and times up anyway. Let’s take on some overgrown demonic rats.”

He approaches the artificial tower slowly and cautiously, scanning the tower to ensure nothing is peaking at him for an ambush.

Dusk was quickly giving way to night and he was losing visibility fast.

He walks up to the gate of the artificial rock pillar. It towers over his childish frame.

“Now how do I open this thing?”

He could use the same opening the rats had used but he did not want to risk climbing in the dark again, it was blind luck he had managed to do it the previous night.

Not to mention he could potentially be face to face with a dozen angry giant rats in the tunnel leading inside.

He checks the side of the gate to see if there is a terminal that could open the gate.

Surprisingly there was a terminal. Placing a hand on the outer rocky texture beside the gate engaged some automatic motion. The exterior receded to reveal a sci-fi-looking high-tech display.

There were no buttons or symbols on the display.

“Okaaaay and what do I do here now?”

The display suddenly turns green and immediately a light pops out of the top of the gate, scanning him from head to toe.

After the scan, the light turns off and he hears some faint whirring sounds coming from inside the gate.

The gate begins to shift, its large panels moving with a calculated elegance. The sections slide into the rock walls on their sides, the movement revealing their thickness which was comparable to a stack of books.

Despite the long time they had not been used and the weight of their thick sections, the gate’s components glide effortlessly as if they were built yesterday.

From the heart of the door’s hidden interface, an electronic voice emerges, crystalline and calm. It resonates as if from all directions, yet clearly emanating directly from the core of the gate.

“Access granted. Greetings lord Alfzaar.”

“Alfaa what? Did the door just recognize me?”

The information from the gate rattles inside the boy’s head as he tries to decipher its meaning.

“….lord alfzaar…..that’s my name? I knew the insignia meant this was some lord or king-related stuff but I’m just a kid so why do I have access to a high-tech secret facility?”

Instead of clearing his mind, the information had just raised more questions.

He peers inside the open gate.

The space inside was lightly illuminated with a red color but still dim enough to not be able to make out anything.

The boy hesitates to step inside on account of the low visibility but remembers the horrors waiting outside in the dark.

He looks back at the surrounding landscape.

All light had faded as blackness overtook everything, cutting his connection with the wider world around him.

His world had shrunk to his immediate surroundings, illuminated by the faint glow of the gate’s display and the dim lights within.

He takes one last look at the sky.

It was a gaping void of darkness that spread out everywhere, melting into the world around him.

There was no light, shine, or glimmer in the dark expanse.

He steps inside the faintly illuminated hall and is bathed in the soft ambient light emanating from sleek concealed sources.

However, his observation of the hallway is cut short by an eerie chittering noise coming from the darkness outside.

It was a collective whisper of creatures that sent a shiver down the boy’s spine, coming from all directions of the now black wasteland.

“Looks like the bugs are awake and coming out of their pits. Yeah, it’s probably much better to go in than to stay outside.”

He softly voices his opinion as the gate closes behind him.