The obelisk stood dauntingly over the town, an extremely unfamiliar sight for the rural village. Its mere presence cast a heavy air over the town’s general mood. Somehow, such a gleaming pillar of stone managed to bring about a gloom that was comparable to the threat of war. Every person who’d ever had to experience such a thing recognized it for the hammer of reality that it brought on them.

Rahdin and his father had already left the group behind and were searching for an inn or stable they could tie their horse to. Fortunately, Rahdin’s father had friends in town, as after a quick meet and chat with a friend at an inn, they’d already brought their horse to a stable and left it there. With that, Rahdin brought out the paper they’d been given a few months prior from the kingdom, detailing where Rahdin needed to be and when.

Thoughts kept swirling in his head as he read, noting the important details: “What’ll happen if it turns out I don’t have any capacity for essence? Would I be stuck here?” Though he didn’t think his father led a bad life, risking his life everyday to hunt animals and sell their meat and hides to town folk seemed no fun. Of course, he could study in the local academy, then take tests to determine whether he had any ability in math, history, science, anything of the sort. If he was lucky, a local store might need an accountant; if guided by fate, he’d find a job in one of the bigger towns.

Yet, this all paled in comparison when considering the possibilities of having essence. Joining the military was a sure thing, but afterwards brought the possibility of joining a research team. Experimenting with new ways of using essence and technology, they received funding that rivaled the military itself. Perhaps he could join government, developing himself and others further. More possibilities played themselves in Rahdin’s head, but one in particular stood out; striking out on his own.

“Radhin! Let’s get going, it’s already 12, ” his father called to him. “Alright,” came his reply, with Rahdin joining his father and walking towards the town center. He was relatively quiet, in comparison with the other kids who seemed to talk endlessly about whatever interested them and with their parents. Even though Rahdin and his father were quiet, they would have blended in easily were it not for their clothes; thick, fur coats that covered their entire top of their bodies and part of their legs distinguished themselves from the more regular jackets and pants that others wore. It made sense, but this combined with their relatively tall heights drew quick glances.

Rahdin always enjoyed watching the world around him. Smells of food and drink he didn’t even know existed drew his attention to restaurants, some with open dining areas that seemed to seat more affluent people. He thought of the jerky in his father’s bag, but then smiled and took some out to eat. His father noticed, ruffling Rahdin’s hair before he saw Rahdin’s hand already full with jerky for him as well. He smiled, saying “Look at you, son. You care about your dad so much.” Rahdin nodded wordlessly, but suddenly stopped.

His father, walking forward, quickly noticed and turned around, asking “Are you alright?” Rahdin nodded and continued walking, but as he walked a sense of unease grew. His head had begun buzzing, very slight at the moment, but as he walked towards the center of town and thus the obelisk, it grew more pronounced, though very slowly. He grabbed his dad’s hand, trying to comfort himself in his grip. His dad, noticing, squeezed back in response.

Finally, they found a table manned by two guards: the one on the left was a woman, dressed in a grey armor, more compact and adorned with red stripes on the arms and helmet, while the on the right was a man with more black armor, adorned with green on the legs. As Rahdin and his father approached, they looked up, the woman asking, “Are you here for placement?” With a nod, the man took a paper and began writing, asking for Rahdin’s name. When he asked, “Parent status?” Rahdin replied, “Father, alive, mother, deceased.”

A quick stare, followed by hasty writing. He thinks I’m a creep, Rahdin noticed.

“Go the the line on your right. There will be a group of children. As for you, Mr. Shufo, you may join the parents on the left.” The woman spoke quickly, looking behind the two at the line that was starting to form. Rahdin looked back towards his dad, who simply smiled and said, “Go on, Rahdin. I’m here.” Rahdin gave him a hug that he seemed to hold a bit longer than usual, then started walking into the line, the buzz in his head growing to be like an electric current but calmer, with just higher intensity.

Once he joined the group of kids, he sat down, closing his eyes and immersing himself in the world around him. Those around him chatted with much enthusiasm, generating a sense of both excitement and dread in the air. The buzz in his head had stopped growing, but its presence was very real, slightly disrupting the words that others spoke. He burrowed his head into his arms and knees, breathing slowly to calm the unease in himself. The obelisk was but a block away, its presence an overbearing bully on his mood. A sense of nausea within him began to grow.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“0.0033.”

A voice, different from his own, suddenly made itself known. Rahdin jerked his head up. Who was that? It sounded so old! His thoughts collided, unsure of how that thought came to him. Whatever the voice had said, however, made no sense. Only its interruption, made creepier that it seemed unbidden by his mind, made it noteworthy.

In the next few moments, his thoughts came to a close, as the buzz in his head suddenly lessened considerably, as a voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once boomed throughout what must have been the world; “The testing has begun. Order and conduct yourselves accordingly.”

With that, strange lines and markings, indistinct before from the stone it was etched on, suddenly began to glow with yellow light that seemed to move upward, uncovering more of the runes. Rahdin’s head, in response, seemed to give birth to a monster, the buzz returning with a sharper, more pronounced sound that reminded him of steel grinding against steel. The unease and nausea returned, but this time, Rahdin stood up.

“I am Rahdin Shufo, son of Surada Shufo. I’ve come to see how my future may yet be written on the parchment of time. These…distractions, are nothing more than an oddity.” Memories of him watching other kids play while he said in a tree, watching the others and more intently, came to him, but now a sort of will was awoken within his splitting mind.

“Begin.”

In an instant, soldiers seemed to appear in an instant on roofs and from the general crowd that was enclosed within the various buildings of the town. A path for him and the other kids seemed to open up to walk forward. As if guided by strings, each person next to Rahdin stood up and began walking forward down the street, towards the obelisk. After a moment, Rahdin got up too, feeling a bit out of place with the rhythm others had.

As they walked, he kept looking around. Each soldier’s helmet covered the entirety of their face, but upon closer inspection there seemed to be slight holes around where their eyes might be. There were swirls of orange that seemed to pulse across their armor, thought not as pronounced. Rahdin looked up at the obelisk, noticing that there seemed to be an overall “pulse” of light that highlighted certain carvings more intensely at times. It was only when Rahdin lost sight of the light pulse on the obelisk due to its height that the swirls seemed to calm down. Somehow, they’re linked, he thought.

This state of observation soon grew nigh’ impossible, as the buzz killed these thoughts too. Though his head did not hurt, per se, he felt his head seemingly grow sharper, as if he became more aware of the buzz- no, of everything. Each sound seemed to be a clap, each smell seemed sharper, the taste of his saliva now being slightly distinct, the air on his exposed skin like needles while the fur coat he wore felt lightly prickle him. At this point, Rahdin hugged himself, focusing only on walking forward. The roar grew ever louder, actively interfering with everything he heard at that point.

He didn’t notice until he bumped into the kid in front of him, but they’d stopped walking. He stopped too, nearly tripping himself and the boy in front. With his brain nearly overwhelmed, Rhadin could only try and make out what was happening from what he saw. Peeking ahead, he saw kids one by one walk towards to obelisk which was now right at front of them. He vaguely noticed that size wise, even the width of the obelisk seemed immense, like a wall that extended forever upwards. The carvings from afar now appeared in greater numbers, little details that seemed countlessly etched into the stone. Had he been able, he would have tried to track them all in his head, but the struggle to maintain even a consciousness was too much.

Finally, the kid in front of him walked forward, leaving only him. The kid seemed to try and punch the obelisk, with seemingly no response by it of any kind. He seemed disappointed as he walked to the left into what must have been the crowd of parents. Rahdin looked around, trying to see whether there’d be any indication of when to go, but when none seemed to come, he walked forward.

Each step he took now exponentially made the sound grow, actively causing him pain. He didn’t want to walk forward, his body telling him, “No more, please.”

One step; his legs were on fire.

Two more steps; his arms were being torn into by formless knives.

Another three steps; his ribs seemed intent on tearing themselves out of his chest.

At the last step, Rahdin was no longer completely conscious. If his consciousness was manifest now, it would have been a small ball, cut off from the world around him. A single thread would be connected to something into the void that represented his senses, maintaining a singular line of command. However, after a few breaths, Rahdin finally came to a realization about…something. He seemed to look down at himself, not outside of his body but as if he looked in on a ghostly version of himself. His consciousness seemed to return in this state: the pain was still there, not lessened in any way, but he seemed to finally be able to cope with it.

He punched forward, his fist coming into contact with the stone, blood splattering from his fist from the sheer force he mustered. As others looked on, the seemingly puny fist, caused the obelisk to stop pulsing. The light stopped moving, each carving still lit up but the light now stuck. Suddenly, a dark light from the base overtook the other light.

At first, it creeped upwards, slowly highlighting each carving in its deathly black light. Once it met the level where Rahdin’s fist made contact, it suddenly skyrocketed upwards. Unbeknownst to him, the orange swirls on each soldier’s helmet suddenly changed color as essence started actively swirling in all directions around them. However, they seemed less surprised and more excited.

As the light finally met the top of the obelisk, it seemed to gain an intensity until finally, it shot into the sky. A large, black column of light that seemed to imitate fire shot intensely into the sky, splitting the clouds. A man, sitting on a hill far from the town, looked up from his book as he smiled, saying, “Who’d think that in a place like this, there’d be potential.”

In town, all recognized one thing; amongst their midst, there was an essence user.