“Emberlain,” Justin awoke to a sharp voice that had an unnatural, metallic edge to it.
His eyes snapped immediately snapped open as his memories came flooding back to him, the flaming building, his control over the flames and then finally, those words that had magically appeared in front of him.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the infant girl was still tightly wrapped in his arms, her curious eyes taking in the surroundings.
That reminded Justin…. Just where was he?
His gaze shifted to the surroundings, only to be greeted by a whiteness that seemed to stretch onto infinity itself.
“Emberlain,” the voice once again echoed out, and Justin’s heart almost leapt out of his chest when he finally noticed the hooded figure that had been seemingly standing in front of him this whole time.
Two violet eyes with snake-like pupils welcomed his sight, the unknown being’s scaly, golden visage coming into view. It’s exterior was mostly humanoid, barring the sharp claws in place of nails and it’s sharp teeth, comprised entirely of shark-like incisors.
Questions flooded his mind, but Justin just retreated with the infant held in his arms.
“It is not I you should fear-agitate over, Emberlain,” his sharp voice echoed out commandingly, and with that Justin realized that he had lost the ability to move.
Fear crept over him as the reality of how helpless he was in this new situation was starting to sink in, but Justin had no idea how to react to this new…. dimension he found himself within.
“I am an envoy of the cosmos, Emberlain. I cannot harm-injure you even if I wished to. By all means try to run-escape, but all that lies in this land is emptiness,” The being, or rather, the envoy, seemed unimpressed by Justin’s reaction.
Justin felt the invisible restrictions over his self loosening, but he did not move to run any longer—- the endless white expanse stretched out for longer than what should be possible, and there was not even a hint of any structure or signs of inhabitation. Whoever this envoy was, and whatever this place was, the message was clear— Justin did not call the shots here.
“Explain,” Justin’s voice came out more commanding than he had intended to, but the entity did not seem to mind in the slightest.
“The cosmos, universe, or whatever term you prefer, is real-true,” The envoy patiently explained.
“I know that,” Justin replied, giving the envoy an odd look.
“Pardon me. The cosmos is real in the sense that it is alive-living. The same way you have a government that enforces its laws upon you as a citizen, the cosmos has it’s own methodology of regulating the universe. Planet Earth, under the Aegis Protocol, met the conditions for initialization 43 minutes 23 seconds and 3 milliseconds ago.”
“What were the conditions?” Justin asked, a sinking feeling causing his chest to constrict as he waited for an option.
“There are a variety of conditions, but the most important one, as you have likely guessed-estimated, is the possibility of Unique Callings in sapient beings. In other words, you, Emberlain.”
Justin sighed, holding back an urge to curse at the envoy. His act of saving a child had unleashed an alien civilization upon his planet— the universe itself, if he were to take the envoy’s words at face value. The sheer scale of it just left him more bemused than anything else.
“What does this ‘initialization’ entail?” Justin asked, his tone harsh yet his words still retaining a semblance of politeness.
“I cannot divulge-reveal that information.”
“What can you divulge?” Justin tried, his voice cracking as he struggled to maintain his composure.
“My purpose is to acquaint you with the script, to increase your chances of survival,” The envoy calmly stated, the implications of his words only hitting Justin a few seconds later.
“Did you not just explain my importance? Chances of survival? Does that mean people will die in the initialization?” Anger started to rise in Justin’s eyes as he glared at the envoy with unconcealed fury.
“You mistake your own importance, Emberlain. In simpler terms, you are a proof of concept. Your precedence does not increase your order of importance, however, it may give you an indelible advantage— if you play your cards, correct-rightly.”
Justin fell silent as he absorbed the information, unsure how to react as he realization sunk in— he might not have just unleashed an alien civilization on Earth, but Apocalypse itself.
“Now, shall we move on-over to the script?” The envoy asked, and for now, Justin just nodded.
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The envoy clapped his hands, and the blue screen that had greeted him earlier reappeared.
[Name: Justin Kerr
Age: 19
Calling: Level 1 Emberlain
Path-Skills: -
Title: The First Emberlain
Zal : 0
Rukh: 1
Rul: 2
Nok: 0
Mana: 0
Chi: 0 ]
“Ah, my apologies. Perhaps this connotation-phrasing might be more apt,” The envoy clapped his hands together, the words upon the blue screen suddenly shifted.
[Name: Justin Kerr
Age: 19
Calling: Level 1 Emberlain
Path-Skills: -
Title: The First Emberlain
Assessment:
Spatial Awareness (Zal) : 0
Physical Body (Rukh): 6
Physical Reflexes (Rul): 4
Mental Acquity (Nok): 5
Mana: 1
Chi: 1 ]
“What… is this?” Justin asked, his voice clearly unsettled. He was tempted to ask how and what they had done to him, but had the sense to limit his questions to productive ones for now.
“This, Emberlain, is the script. The cosmos has assessed you based on its parameters, and these are the results. Zal refers to your understanding of the spatial laws governing the world and the universe, Rukh assesses the capability and strength of your natural physical body, Rul quantifies your body’s ability to react to external stimulus and finally, Nok judges your mental awareness and computational-judgement abilities.”
“What is Mana. And Chi?” Justin asked, even though he failed to see the point of this assessment.
“Mana is the fuel that will allow you to create fire, Emberlain. Chi is an energy that amplifies the physical body to limits far beyond what you humans consider possible.”
“Why though. Why give me this power?” Justin asked, the panic seeping back into his voice.
“Normally, I would not be allowed to answer this question. However, as the first Unique, that question is within your rights to ask. With the right vested in me by the cosmos, I shall allow it.”
Justin waited, his chest lightly heaving, as he hoped salvation from the outcome he had in his mind.
“Do you recall the specific conditions required to unlock your calling, Emberlain?”
Justin cringed, as the memories came flooding back to him. He was angry. Far more angrier than he had been in his entire life, his wrath so furious it was almost tangible, and he had been in a burning apartment building.
“The cosmos has identified the signature of your calling as something unique to only you, Justin Kerr. But as for the conditions required to unlock your calling, would you agree with me if I called it an extremely specific event that would almost never occur had you chosen to live your live normally?”
“So… your purpose is…,” Justin found himself inching closer to the truth, but he wasn’t quite there yet.
“Extreme duress is an extremely effective way of unlocking latent callings,” The envoy’s voice held no emotions within them, his serpentine face unabashed despite what Justin thought he was proposing.
“What makes me unique?” Justin asked, for some reason not as emotionally disturbed as he should have been.
“Others follow a defined path, Emberlain. But you have the opportunity to forge your own. Find what makes you unique, and then harness that power. Or meet your end trying.”
Justin fell silent, his eyes gazing back at the envoy’s serpentine visage as he took in the new reality he had unleashed upon Earth,
“What about her? Do you animals have no sympathy?” Justin asked, his anger once again rising to the forefront as he brought up the innocent infant cradled in his arms, that looked around curiously.
“Of course we do. She will be taken to the Nursery, where she shall be taught the art of combat, mana-control and chi-manipulation, among other disciplines. Eighteen years later she will be returned to Earth, expected to undergo the initialization the same as any other adult is. You now have an option: would you like to assume guardianship of this child, or register her as an orphan.”
“Her parents?” Justin immediately protested.
“Gone,” the guardian emotionlessly replied.
“Any other family?” he asked, though the hope in his voice had already fallen.
“None.”
Justin clenched his fist as he remembered the scene at the sight of the fire. He was the man who had unleashed an alien civilization on Earth, and she was the child he had done it for. Like hell he would abandon her after all that.
“Fine, register me as a guardian. But I want you to swear, on your so-called cosmos, that no harm will come to her until eighteen years elapse.”
“How amusing, that you do not understand the significance of what you ask. Very well though, I, Salik Val-Dhan, Swear an oath in the name of the cosmos, that no harm will befall this child until eighteen years elapse.”
[An oath has been sworn. This oath shall be enforced by the cosmos.]
Justin fell silent as the Envoy approached him, gently taking the infant away from his arms.
Silence befell the white expanse, before Justin added a low, “Thank you.’
“That concludes our time here, Emberlain. Now, choose a weapon,” The envoy snapped his fingers together, causing a plethora of weapons to seemingly manifest out of nowhere before slowly floating around him.
Silence reigned in the hall for a few minutes as Justin examined the selection of swords, spears, axes, bludgeons, daggers and more that had been arrayed in front of him.
The moment Justin made his selection, the Envoy careened forward with impossible speed, gently tapping his chest with a single finger. The impact send him tumbling back, and the next thing Justin knew, he was falling.