Jack stared at the figure blankly. No matter how he tried to replay what the figure had said in his head, he could not make any sense of it. With a frown, he said, “Different Time and Space? This isn’t some kind of a joke right? Even if you could interact between different Time and Space, every movement could have disastrous effects.”
Although he wasn’t the smartest student or a genius in any regard, it stood to common sense that Time and Space were relative and very fragile things. From basic physics he understood that everything had mass and you can’t just break something up into atoms and just put it together somewhere else. That was also the reason why scientists have not been able to produce portals or teleportation devices as of yet.
Because they have not been able to figure out how to put together what they had disassembled somewhere else. The figure chuckled and said, “What is not possible through your technology, is possible through what you call magic.” It walked closer a few steps and said with a grin, “Although, Magic also has it’s limits and rules, they are not that different from your rules of physics, it’s just that to use Magic, you need the perception to see and feel Mana.”
Jack took a step back as he looked at the figure warily. “This absurd interaction is just a dream, ain’t it?” As Jack thought to himself, the figure said, “I am afraid that this is not a dream. I truly am here to ask you to become Earth’s Summoner, the representative that represents this Time and Space in Elun.” Jack did not know what to say to that.
This kind of an adventure was something every teen dreamed of, to go to some other world and be a Hero, he himself also day dreamed of doing similar things from time to time, however, now that the opportunity was given to him, he hesitated. He hesitated, because of the responsibility, and said as calmly as he could, “I am sure there are better options than me out there.”
With a sad smile he added, “I am no genius or anyone special. Heck, in school, besides a few subjects, I am completely average.” He took a deep breath and a step forward with strength and said resolutely, “I have no big weaknesses but I have no strengths either. I am completely average.” After saying that, he let out a deep breath and waited for the answer.
The figure was silent for a few moments and then nodded with pleasure as he said, “Being this resolute is the biggest strength you can have. This opportunity is what you have fantasized about and read a lot of books based of this same thing. To turn it down so resolutely because you think you can’t bear the responsibility for it truly shows your mind set. It is resolute, thinking of the big picture and not power hungry.”
Before Jack could say anything, the figure added, “By becoming the Summoner, you will be become the most powerful person in this world. Your word will be law. Few could turn down this offer.” As the figure grinned, Jack stayed silent. “Of course I thought of that and was tempted by it but I would also have to be responsible for everything. I am not up for that.” As he thought to himself that, Jack said out loud, “So, I am sorry but please pick someone else, I am not up to the task.”
The figure then looked deeply at Jack’s eyes and said with regret, “I am of the same opinion as you however, I can’t pick someone else.” Hearing this, Jack blanked and asked, “What the fuck does that mean?” The figure then said, “To become a Summoner, you need certain qualifications. You can’t just pick a random person off the street and then appoint them.”
It took a breath and continued, “First of all, you need the affinity for Mana. Although you haven’t been trained to use it, you can sense it, can’t you? A feeling mysterious feeling, something you feel is there but can’t see or touch?” Jack nodded his head as he truly had been having this feeling for years now. That there was something in the air, that was different from normal.
The figure then raised his hand and put up two fingers as he continued, “Although, there exist other people out there that also have affinity for Mana and also have a means to harness it, a Summoner can’t be chosen from people that are a part of a Faction of sorts.” He waited a moment before adding, “This is to prevent a Faction from gaining dominance over a world and to try and prevent a second Empire from coming into existence.” Without waiting any more, he raised a third and a fourth finger and said, “Third, they can’t be older than 20 years of age and fourth, they need to be able to put the bigger picture in front of the immediate benefits.” The figure then turned around and said, “You satisfy all of the four requirements and as of current, there is no one else in this Time and Space that does that. So, unfortunately, there is no one else but you that can take this role.”
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Jack started at the figures back mutely stunned. This was all a lot to take in, however, in the back of his mind, he was still hoping this was some sort of bizarre hyper realistic dream. The figure then turned around and said, “We have wasted enough time, I am going to bring you to your Space now, there your Aide will explain everything else concerning all of this to you.” With that, Jack felt his mind go blank as his vision slowly started to grow blurrier, however before he hit the ground, he felt a pair of arms catch him.
Just as the last bits of consciousness were about to fade, he hard a deep sigh, “I honestly didn’t want to bother anyone one from your bloodline with this task due to your ancestors contributions to the war but the current state of things leaves me no choice….” Then with a tender tone it added, “Maybe we will see the reason Earth was part of the original Council of Thirteen when it was founded. I wish you the best of luck and may we meet again someday.”
As the words grew fainter and fainter, Jack felt his whole world turn to black.
**
As he felt his consciousness return to him, Jack wearily opened his eyes. What greeted him was an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. With a jolt, he turned his head sideways and cautiously scanned the room. Seeing a completely unfamiliar unadorned room in front of him, there was a simple night stand, a desk and a bookshelf in the room. The walls were all made of stone and so was the floor. There wasn’t even a carpet on the floor.
As he took in his surroundings, the door slowly opened and an older gentleman in a butler uniform walked in. He wasn’t exactly built but he wasn’t scrawny either. The man saw that Jack was up and gave a small bow, “I see that you have awakened Master Jack, I am Nalser, your Aide. I take care of your day to day needs and also supervise the daily operations of the Space. Jack looked at the man and asked, “It wasn’t a dream was it?”
The man sighed and shook his head, “I am afraid it was not, sir. The Recruiter informed me of your unwillingness to take on this burden but I am afraid that we have no other choice, sir.” Jack fell quiet for a while and then asked, “May I be alone for a while?” The butler put a small tray with a teapot and a cup on the table and lightly bowed as he exited the room. Jack stood up from the bed and looked over himself. He was still wearing the same long sleeved shirt and jeans he had been, his backpack had been placed next to the table.
He walked over to the table and on it, next to the tray, was an envelope. Without giving it another glance, he walked over to his backpack and opened one of the smaller pockets. Inside it was a box cutter. He took the box cutter and sat on the bed, looking at it deeply.
After a few moments of sitting, he slowly rolled up one of his sleeves and revealed his arm. On it were some deep scars, all healed and there did not seem to be any fresh ones. He traced his scars with his finger and looked lost. “Thanks to meds, I haven’t cut for half a year….” When he had been ten because he had not known any other way of dealing with the stress and his thoughts, he resorted to cutting himself.
Never on the under side of the arm where the veins were but on the upper side. For years, it had been calming to feel the pain of the cut and then see the blood flow, with the flow of the blood, he felt as though all of his worries and problems flowed away with it. In the beginning, he had been able to excuse the cuts to his parents by saying he fell when playing outside or he got stuck on something and ruined his shirt as well, however, on one exceedingly bad day, he had thrown caution to the wind and cut at home and just as he was mid cut, his mother had walked in to the room.
After a lot of crying and screaming, he went to see a doctor and was prescribed medication to help deal with the depression that made him see that cutting himself was the right thing to do. It wasn’t an easy road but for the past half a year, he had managed to refrain from cutting when things became bad. He still carried around the box cutter nevertheless.
After taking a deep breath, he slowly put the tip on his arm and slowly applied more force until the sharp tip broke his skin. Then after feeling the pain for a moment, he slowly started moving the blade in a line, cutting a straight line across his arm. After a few centi meters, he stopped and put the knife away. As he looked at the cut, the blood flowing from his cut, he didn’t feel better. As he stared at the cut, his mind was blank as the same questions flowed through his mind, “Why me?” “What can I do?” “I am no one special.” As these thoughts kept spinning in his head, the outside slowly started to darken and the cut itself had already stopped bleeding and the blood had clotted already.
As he looked at the scab, there was suddenly a knock on the door. This brought Jack out of his thoughts and he quickly stashed the knife in his pocket and pulled down his sleeve. “Come in.” He said after putting everything away. The door opened and the butler entered the room and looked at Jack with a complicated expression for a moment before saying, “The dinner has been prepared, sir. Please follow me to the dining hall.” Jack wanted to turn down the dinner as he wasn’t hungry but just as he was about to open his mouth, his stomach rumbled loudly.
With an embarrassed smile, Jack stood up and said, “Please lead the way.” With a slight bow, the butler led the way to a large multi storied stone building. When they got closer to the building, Jack could smell the food being cooked and his stomach rumbled even more loudly.
When they walked into the building, the merry atmosphere in the dining hall suddenly went quiet.