Chapter 00 - Prologue
Thyur Nation.
A squad of knights approached the capital of this kingdom. They had been walking for close to a minute now. Nevertheless, they stayed focused on the task given to them by their king.
They had approached the capital from Neverforest, a system of forest ranges that connected the kingdom of Thyur together. Noticing that they had entered a plain field, their eyes squinted as the capital came into sight.
The captain of the knights whispered, “What in heaven’s name?”
About three kilometers ahead of them was the famous capital. But something seemed wrong!
The more they looked ahead, the more surprised they were.
Those that have visited the capital before didn’t find this version of the capital similar to the capital in their memory.
There were piles of rubbles where there should be towering buildings.
Finally crossing the borders of the capital, the squad observed the black smoke and grey ashes that moved everywhere. They suddenly increased their pace.
The captain of the knights led them to the capital’s square, where they began their investigations.
Not long after, one of them said, “Captain, I don't think a natural disaster can do this…”
The captain thought deeply about what the other knight said.
If anything, now he was sure.
Something leveled the capital… something related to the impossibly loud explosion they heard all the way in their kingdom.
One of the knights made a sudden frown. His eyes squinted as he alerted, “Captain, do you hear that?”
"Yes, it's faint. Follow me," replied the captain.
He took them to one of the piled-up rubbles in their vicinity, a few meters away from the city square.
Instantly, he punched a hole in the rubble and used his hands to dig further.
The others, noticing the seriousness of the situation, joined him.
In less than ten minutes, they had successfully dug away the rubble and reached the ground. Their eyes almost came out of their sockets as they saw a young girl with bruises lying unconscious underneath all those broken bricks and building materials.
She must have been courageous as, even while unconscious, the young girl still held a doll tightly in her bloodied arms.
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Hastily, one of them ran up to her and performed a brief medical examination, “She is still alive, barely. She must have survived by sticking to one of the empty spots when her home fell. I must say, her luck is mightier than a horseshoe.”
He carried her like a princess and brought her out of the enclosed space. The knight then handed her to his fellow comrades.
Soon, he spoke again, “Listen, there should be others like her on their last breath, buried under their respective homes.”
The captain nodded his head after confirming this. He pointed his longsword at the sky. A bright blue energy coursed from him into the sword and shot into the sky. After reaching a certain altitude, this energy bolt exploded into countless specks of light.
“Reinforcement will soon arrive. Let’s do the best we can for now. All of you, get to work!” the captain hollered.
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Darkness. A concept so mysterious yet filled with intense emotions.
It was dark… as dark as the silent void, blacker than even the inkiest starless nights. The lack of life in this infinite space was unsettling.
Yet, here he was, floating like a balloon.
He could not look at his body.
It was only at a certain time did his mind start to function.
He asked himself, ‘Where am I now?’’
There was no answer he could find in his blank memory. It was just as empty as his current location.
‘Who am I?’
No answer to that either.
It was then his existential crisis kicked in. A sense of panic enveloped him as he realized his lack of identity.
Nothing was making sense.
This was not normal!
His breathing became unstable as his perspective of the void changed. He started to think he was caged in this void as if beyond this infinite space was where the real him was.
He was locked in a black screen, and the other side was reality.
The certain feeling of being submerged in a lake and struggling to come out.
He was drowning… drowning in the apathetic void.
It was then he had a random thought. Maybe he wasn’t here?
Maybe the void represented his unconscious state?
Maybe he was trapped in his mind? And by the looks of it, his mind wasn’t pretty.
The more he thought of it, the more it sounded plausible. A normal person would think this is life after death, but that thought never crossed his mind.
Something in him, something innate… intrinsic, told him he would survive this, and foolishly enough, he believed that voice.
“Wake up!”
“Wake up!”
“Wake up!”
Just when he thought there was no hope, he heard a thundering voice that jolted the stability of the void, “Wake up!”
The next thing he knew, he was blinded by harsh rays of light. He closed his eyes for a second to adjust to the change in his situation, or maybe……location.
He could hear something.
A pulsating sound was echoing from him. Such sound could only originate from an organ that belonged to living beings!
His eyes back open, the first thing he saw was the scary closeup view of a figure surging with intense light.
The tiny natural light particles burnt his eyes. It was only after a few seconds was he able to make out the true state of the figure.
It was a man dressed in silver armor from head to toe.
Out of nowhere, he touched his cheeks, feeling the searing pain rubbing on them.
Instantly, he gained a clue of what was happening, “W-What did you do to me?”
The silver knight replied like a guilty kitten, “Aye. I did every medical procedure I knew on you, but you wouldn’t wake up. So, I tried the most natural one. And guess what? It worked!”