Unknown location.
There was some kind of white unlimited room, seemingly infinite, with nothing but white, absolutely empty, except for one person, a young man who was exploring the area.
- "... ugh!!! I'm done with walking! It seems like it doesn't matter for how long I walk or what way I go, I won't get anywhere..." shouted the young man before falling to the... floor? Ground? It was hard to tell for the young man, especially when it seemed to be soft, even more than a bed of feathers.
- "Hard, isn't?" suddenly a mysterious voice came to Feran ears. The boy due to the surprised, immediately raised his head and started to look around frenetically, yet, he saw no one.
- "... hahahaha, this is it, I either lost my mind or... it seems like I wasn't as lonely as I thought" Feran said with a little smirk.
- "you're wrong, you are indeed alone in this place... there's no one except you".
- "really? So that means that you either are on my mind or... you are not in this place and yet somehow you can communicate with me, so which is it?" Feran this time talked with a mocking tone.
- "hahahaha, wouldn't you like to know? Although I can see it, you still don't understand my nature... but, you are not far from getting it, hahahaha" the voice as well as the laugh came from every direction in the mysterious place.
- "fuuu... I'll take your answer as none of the options. Hmm... then what's left?".
- "you shouldn't waste your time asking the wrong questions" the voice stated in a solemn tone.
- "so, not where you are... but rather... who are you? Or should I ask, what are you? What kind of existence are you?".
- "hahaha, that's a better question. Well, I'm just an existence in this and any other world, I can't be determined, my nature is beyond comprehension for the likes of you, even if you knew how I came to exist, you still wouldn't really understand the depths of me, what I am, and why I am..." at that answer, Feran remained silent for a few seconds before snorting a little.
- "Tch... you are not funny at all, you make me change my questions and then you answer with a lot of words that don't make sense" Feran shrug his shoulders while faked anger, not like he was actually angry, after all, although the answer was a little irritating, at least know he had something to talk to.
- "Hey! By any chance do you have any idea where am I?... and please just answer the question this time" the young man asked with a tired expression.
- "you are inside your soul, this space is just a tiny little fraction of a higher realm where souls connect, we could say that this is your room, your soul... I'm here just to give you some company" the voice talked this time with a peaceful and harmonious tone, yet, it wasn't enough to calm Feran down.
- "... what? My... my soul? How could it be?" Feran was confused by the words of the mysterious voice, luckily, or unluckily depending on how you see it, it took him just a few seconds to remember his own death, that guy Liger, the Beastiale, the spear piercing through his body while he got in front of it to protect the young man Liger, he even remembered the last seconds of his life.
- "so... I'm finally dead... fuuu... so many years struggling with being alive, even considering death, and it finally reached me" Feran said with a sad smile while sitting down and holding his knees to his chest.
- "No! You are still alive! True, you were killed and stayed dead for some time, however, you are no longer dead" the voice said with a calm yet firm tone that got Feran's attention.
- "What is that supposed to mean?".
- "can't you guess? You are a smart boy, aren't you?".
- "Hmm... eh? Wait! Maybe... maybe I was brought back to life? But that's impossible, it can't be".
- "a giant door opens in your world, next thing you know, you appeared in a world where even your wildest fantasies might come true... how could be bringing someone back to life impossible?" at the voice reply, Feran eyes got wide open and his mouth hanging.
- "how do you know about that? And who brought me back? Was it Liger? Did he bring me to this place? I mean, he is the only one I "know" in this weird world...".
- "... I can't tell you how I know what I know, at least for now, but... I can tell you this, he indeed did something to save you from death, yet, he didn't bring you here, this place is part of your transition, you did die after all, and everyone who dies as to come here, to their souls".
At that moment everything just seemed so weird, Feran was really feeling a headache starting to get to him. So... he died, he can remember that, but the voice says he was actually alive now, but at the moment he was inside his own soul, how was he supposed to react to all that?
- "Tch... so, now what? Oh, so great mysterious voice inside my soul... is this some kind of scenarios like in books and TV shows or video games in which after entering your soul or whatever, you learn or acquire some sort of superpower that will help me fight and survive in this new world, will I become some kind of overpowered character in a story..." Feran said with a playful, yet tired tone, the headache has definitely got to him, he was confused and irritated, everything seemed like a bad joke to him at this point.
- "hahahaha, of course not, I mean, this is certainly not a video game, also, it could be but is not like that, being here won't help you to get anything... at least not this time. I just decided to give you some company while you are recovering" the voice stated with such a happy and excited tone that its laughter resounded in the whole place.
- "I see..." Feran said while covering his ears due to the strong voice. It takes him a few seconds before he realized something.
- "wait... hold on for a minute! Wait! You know about video games?" the boy asked with curiosity, it was very unlikely that this new world would have video games, so... how did this existence know about video games?
- "of course I do, I'm an existence that lives and exist in all the universes, all the worlds, I've been keeping an eye on certain things related to certain matters that I can't reveal, but I can say that I learned a lot about many of the things those worlds have created, that includes video games" that answer only served to confuse Feran a little more, he could understand what the voice said, it was just kind of weird and hard to imagine.
- "I see... hey, you said you came to keep me company... why?".
- "it just... I can move and exist through more worlds that you could ever imagine, I've seen many things, planets literally burn to dust, and other planets be reborn from the ashes like a phoenix, and yet, when I felt your life force leave your body, I didn't think it was correct to just let you die alone, however, by the time I reached you, your friend was already bringing you back".
- "... huh?" it's the only thing Feran can muster. he seemed to either get irritated, confused, or curious the longer he spoke with this existence.
Feran and the mysterious voice didn't say anything during a second, Feran didn't really know what to say, he was just unable to think of something to keep the chat going.
- "Hmm... I think it's time, I have to go, however, I wish you luck in your journey, and just a little piece of advice, the rules of this "new world" are not so hard with you, hahahaha... good luck, son..." with those last words and one last laugh, the voice was gone, and for some reason, the air seemed heavier now, with was considerably quieter, yet, it wasn't a pleasing feeling for Feran.
- "Eh? No, wait! I just..." he said, but the words left his mouth just a little too late.
- "Damn it! For a moment I didn't know what to say and now the voice is gone and I'm alone once again... ugh!" Feran was certainly tired and frustrated, it took him only a few seconds before he finally fell once again to the ground and started to feel like floating, and little by little, he started to hear the sound of the exterior.
- "Eh? Might I be recovering my conscience?" he said while his eyes were slowly closing and the white surrounding him started to become darkness little by little.
Meanwhile, In a town at the border of the country.
In a very big bedroom, there were 3 beings, 2 of them were carefully observing the young man who was sleeping in the bed of the room, suddenly the boy started to move slowly.
- "huh? I believe he's about to wake up" stated a young girl with light green skin, pink hair that reached her shoulders, flowers growing on her head, and shining yellow eyes, with a yellow dress and a tunic with images of flowers.
The guy in the bed stirred a little before he slowly began to sit up.
- "... huh? Where am I?" Feran asked while slowly rubbing his head and watching his surroundings.
- "fuuu... so good you have finally wake up, you got us pretty worried, you know?" the one talking was a Serper who was sitting beside the window of the room.
- "Hmm... oh? You are the snake man that told me to be careful in Shield-town" the boy indicated with a smile.
- "I'm a Serper, and yes, I'm the same one, although it seems like you didn't follow my advice since you were killed no long after we talked... fuuu... honestly, you are lucky someone was there that had a way to bring you back, otherwise you would be dead for real by now" the Serper stated with a tired tone while looking the casual smile in the face of Feran.
On her side, the girl with green skin seemed to be rather impatient, so she just went straight to Feran and started to examine him.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
- "Please don't move too much! Now tell me! Are you dizzy? Does something hurt? Is there something bothering you? Did your death affect your psychological state and/or health? Are you taller or shorter than before your death? Maybe thinner? Can you see correctly with both of your eyes? Can you breathe without problems? Tell me!” The girl asked a lot of things while inspecting Feran's body, touching everywhere she could, taking his temperature, checking his eyes and mouth, she seemed quite excited.
Her continuous touching was making him feel uncomfortable so he started to slowly get away from her reach.
- "I'm fine, don't worry so much about it, I'm just... a little confused".
- "fuuu... I'm sorry for her behavior, but this young lady over here is a healer, so for her is quite obvious to be worried about someone who is injured" the Serper replied in a kind tone.
- "I'm sorry, I never had the duty to take care of a dead person before" the girl give Feran an innocent and wide smile, Feran on his side had a tired expression and just could sigh.
- "well, as you can see, I'm not really dead" the boy calmly stated before getting out of the bed. At the sight of him fully up, the girl covered her eyes while her face turned red, she turned around immediately. Feran noticed it and looked down, finding himself completely naked.
- "eh?... where are my clothes?" he asks quite calm to the surprise of the Serper, who after listening to the boy words, took Feran clothes that were in a wardrobe and give them to him.
- "you should seriously get dress quickly or the little girl will get traumatized for life" the Serper had a nervous smile, while the girl still didn't look in Feran's direction, the boy on his side just gave both a confused look.
- "I have no idea what you are talking about, however, I'll dress up quickly, I don't really like to be naked" the boy stated calmly while getting dressed.
The Serper only gave the young man a look while waiting for him to be ready, while looking at the boy, the Serper couldn't stop from thinking "is this guy really a human?... for what I saw he doesn't seem one", that thought made him get too into his own mind, that was until he heard the snap of someone's fingers.
- "I'm ready! Now, can someone explain what is going on here? First of all, How did I get here?" the boy asked while sitting down on the bed.
Now that Feran was fully dressed, the girl looked back and then moved beside Feran in a second.
- "first of all, we'll introduce ourselves, My name is "Sakura", I'm a Beastiale from the "Herber" race, and you are no longer in Shield-town, this is "Path-City”, you were brought here after being revived" the girl said with a happy voice.
- "... right, I died trying to protect Liger, I wonder if he's okay..." Feran looks at the Serper for an answer.
- "that's right, the young hybrid is alright, however, you are the one who actually impressed me kid, not many creatures, especially humans, would protect other species" the Serper indicated with a little admiration towards the young man.
At the words of the Serper, Feran only snorted a little and his expression became somewhat dark, it was as if his eyes lost their shine, and he slowly gave a serious look to the Serper.
- "of course they wouldn't, it's just natural, you know, the whole "it's not my problem" thing, or even to put yourself first and not worry for others... fuuu, I suppose I need to be fair though, it's natural to be selfish, to survive, to win, we need to choose our fights, yet, finding a human who is actually willing to do something is quite rare... it's in our nature, to predate others... especially for our own gain... don't you think?" the calm yet hard words of Feran surprised the Serper, the boy seemed so serious, and yet, a dark smile appeared in his face.
Both Beastiale were confused and a little uncomfortable, for the Serper it was due to the sudden change in the way the boy showed himself, way much less to see a human with such a vision about its own species, it seemed more like the way Beastiale refer to humans than anything else.
Sakura, on the other hand, by being beside Feran, felt chills just by seeing the change of attitude of the young man, but most important of all, she was afraid of what could happen.
- "Please don't say something like that, the master might hear you" Sakura stated with a little fear.
Just as Feran turn to see the young girl, the floor and the whole building started to shake, then the door flies open and Feran was thrown away through the window by a mysterious force.
- "hehe, to think you would be either brave or stupid enough to insult your own species in my presence, as the master of an "Open Guild" where we accept every species, I can't leave this go so easily" the voice came from a huge shadow, about 2 meters 10 centimeters tall, that was now standing by the door while releasing a stupidly high amount of pressure.
- "Master, you released too much power, you sent the hurt boy through the window" the little girl chastised the shadow before pointing at the place where it used to be a window.
It takes some time for Feran to react, and when he finally did, he noticed that he was flying through the air, he just got out of a big 3 floors building, from his position in the air he sees the little girl getting closer to where there used to be a window.
- "oh? Hahahaha, I didn't notice" the voice of the big shadow replied with a nonchalant tone.
- "Master! He was still recovering, you can't just show up and throw him through the window" after saying that, the girl once again looked in the direction Feran was falling, she then started to focus and stretched her hands directing them in the direction where the boy was going to fall, then green and yellow energy was released from her hands.
- "Protective Petals" the girl shouted with confidence. Just as Feran was about to hit the ground, an incredible amount of flowers got out of the ground and their petals formed some kind of protective shield that softened and then stops the guy's fall.
- "... what is this? Magic?" the guy said to himself while looking the direction in which Sakura was, he saw her sigh in relief as he was alright, then is when he also noticed a huge shadow behind her.
Feran was able to see the man clearly after a few seconds, it seemed to be an old man for his facial features, he seemed tall, like slightly taller than 2 meters, his body was incredibly muscular, tan skin, long gray hair fixed up in a ponytail that made his hair fall a little over his waist, a prominent but carefully done beard, the man was only wearing a pair of pants and big boots, and over his waist he was basically only wearing a pair of wrist gauntlets with weird symbols.
- "Hmm... what a shame, I wanted to see just how strong you are, I supposed... I will need to throw you farther away this time" the old man had a wide smile and a defiant look on his eyes.
- "Hmm... you look human, even though you are a monster, that's interesting..." Feran said with a defiant tone as well.
Before anything else could be said, to Feran surprise, the old man that was more than 10 meters away from him suddenly appeared just right in front of him, it took Feran from the head with just one hand and raised his body.
- "do you think this is funny? You have no idea how much I hate people who talk shit about others especially their own species" the pure pressure that the presence of the old man released was enough to have Feran barely breathing correctly, soon blood started to pour out of his mouth and his whole body felt like breaking.
- "was I... was I... wrong? Did I... lie... about... anything?" the young man did what he could just to answer back to the old man, that fact surprised and impressed the man a little, so he released the boy from his deathly grip, and at the same time stopping to release such a distinctive and powerful pressure.
Feran's body fell to the ground, he was breathing erratically, his body aching as never before, spitting blood that didn't stop coming out of his mouth.
- "we... humans... the ones with power... they will always end up... hurting the weak... they do it for many reasons... including pleasure... selfishness... pride... and don't care about us... weak and lonely... I'm free to say what I think... what I feel... I just say... what I've seen... what I've lived..." Feran said with difficulty while trying to get up.
- "... it's just the rule of nature, boy... the only one thing that judges us all... the survival of the fittest..." the old man replied seriously.
- "... Fuuu... haha... believe me... I know... but... humans always see themselves... over... nature itself... animals... or others... so tell me why... the ones with power... intelligence... resources... don't use to guide others... weak will always exist... but... it doesn't mean we can't improve ourselves... isn't?" his body was still shaking from the effort, he was barely standing, with his body inclined.
The old man was both surprised and interested in this young boy, his words and the way he kept trying to get up were sort of fascinating for the old man, it reminded him of himself in his times of youth, after a few seconds observing the boy, this one finally manages to fully stand up.
- "oh? Well... if you are brave enough to talk so much, why don't you try to hit me, boy..." the old man said while using his finger to challenge the young man.
Before the man could realize what just happened, Feran was already in front of him, no fear in his eyes, looking straight at him, with those eyes full of a strong resolve, is then when the boy punches the old man in the face, yet, the hand and arms of the boy completely broke just at the impact while the old man received no damage at all.
- "AAAAAGH!!!" the boy scream due to the pain, however, he prepared himself to hit the man once again. The man looked at the kid, and just one question came to his mind.
- "do you hate humans?" he said, slightly surprising the boy who for one moment seemed too confused to react.
- "... I... I don't really know... yet... I've seen something they do, so many things actually... some of the worst things they can do... believe me... I don't think I hate them, but... I don't like them either... as far as I'm concern... as far as I've known... just a few people... were actually worth it... to me... and... the rest have just shown me... that I've only got me..." after listening to his words, the old man finally accepted the kid.
The boy was obviously a little hurt, but despite that he seemed to still have some hope, even if he felt alone, the man could understand, there was a time in which he also saw it, that side of humanity, but not only in humans, he has seen some of the worst of this world, that's why he could accept this kid, his thoughts, but most of all, his resolve, one that used correctly, could bring so much good. Then, the man give the young man another look, his eyes had a certain fire burning in them, he had obviously quite the peculiar spirit, is state was trashy to say at least, barely standing, full of blood, broken arm, and yet he was still there, not stepping back, not letting himself fall down, looking at him straight to the eyes, no fear, no arrogance, and a certain glow that the man hasn't seen in a long time.
- "hehe... hahaha... HAHAHAHA!!!... I like you kid, you are quite the brave one to stand up in front of me and defy me with those eyes and that way of talking, even though I don't like when people talk bad about their own race, especially mine, I get your words and understand it, and you're right, I can't really stop you from speaking the truth, but I still have hope kid, don't ever forget to have hope, kid..." the man now showed himself as very kind and had a wide non-threatening smile on his face.
Feran stayed quiet for a while, not saying anything, just looking at the old man in front of him, after some time, he relaxed a little and give the man a wide smile as well. The man was excited to see that the boy now was more relaxed so he decided to slightly pat his back, yet he was far too strong and too excited to measure his own strength correctly and ended up making the boy fall face-first to the ground.
- "... huh... I'm sorry, sometimes I can't restrain my own strength, hahaha!" the old man once again laughed and helped Feran to stand up.
- "... eh? Old man! What are you doing with that human? I told you he died because of me, what did you do to him?" Feran and the old man turned around just to see Liger was carrying a huge bag full of things.
- "Hi!" Feran said with a casual and friendly smile that only irritated Liger.
- "don't say "Hi" so casually, you idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I was? you were sleeping for several hours" Liger walked to Feran and give him a few light hits on the head.
- "... hehe... I think I'm going to pass out..." the young man replied barely able to talk correctly.
- "hahaha, we better take him to the tavern, Sakura will deal with his wounds in there" the old man then lifted Feran's body as if it was just a feather, and proceed to walk to the building.
- "This is unbelievable, how is it that I bring you someone unconscious, and it ends full of blood with a broken arm and almost dead?... did you test him? You test him, didn't you?" Liger gave a nasty glare to the master of the guild, yet the old man just let it be without worrying.
- "hahaha, you know that the initiation test is very important, even if this is an "Open Guild" that doesn't mean that we can trust everyone, besides, this kid definitely passed the test, he's a little dark and maybe messed up, but it has an incredible spirit and his mind is not lost yet" the old man had a wide smile while opening the front door of the building.
- "I'm... right here... you know?" the voice of Feran was barely above a whisper, yet he was heard by the old man and the blue-haired boy.
- "huh? What about it?" asked the man without much interest, Feran only sigh at his answer.
- "forget... about it... you said Open guild, what... what is that?" Feran voice sounded a little better, a little louder, a little stronger, although he still had some problems to breathe correctly.
- "Stop talking, you big idiot! You have to wait until we heal your wounds" scolded Liger with an angry tone while the old man just started to laugh out loud.