Steps..! Steps..!
The sound of his own feet was the only thing Noren could hear. He walked on a path made of soft light. The path stretched out in front of him, a long, glowing line in a sea of empty, dark space. He could not see where it ended. It was so long he could not see any destination yet. He felt no tiredness in his legs. His mind was clear. If he were outside of this nameless dimension, he knew he would have gone mad because of all these mysteries. But here, a strange, unknown power filled him. His mind, his body, and even his soul felt relieved. He no longer felt confusion, panic, or the fear that used to grip his heart. He just walked on, calmly looking for the destination where the way was heading.
He could no longer estimate the time. He did not know how many hours had gone by as he tried to reach the destination. His watch, which he had looked at when he first entered, was now useless. But in the end, he reached it. Before him was a sight he could never have imagined. A huge, celestial stage floated in the void. It shone with a soft, white light. Four demonic purple hands, each one larger than a house, held the stage from its four peaks. The hands seemed to be made of dark energy and came from the deep void itself, yet they held the stage firmly. On the stage, there was a person covered in a dark cloak. An enormous energy, like a quiet storm, was released from this figure. On his left side, there was a staff. At the top of the staff, something kept spinning slowly. It looked like a tiny, beautiful galaxy, with countless stars moving in a silent dance.
"How fancy," Noren thought to himself. "Everything around that figure looks like it is fancying." Before Noren could complete his inner thoughts, a voice came out. It was deep and powerful, and it seemed to shake the whole place around them.
"Ignorance."
Following the voice, a heavy pressure started to gather in the space above Noren. He could see the very air thickening and pushing down, about to crush him. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion to Noren. He saw the pressure gather, but it never reached him. Just before it touched his head, the pressure vanished into nothing. At that same moment, Noren heard a strange, clear voice speak inside his own head.
[ Life threat Detection: Confirmed ]
[ Gravitational Pressure: Countered ]
"What is wrong with my head?" Noren wondered, feeling confused. "I am hearing strange voices that talk nonsense. This started from the very beginning when I entered this place. Maybe because I am alone, my mind has started to generate strange thoughts. I should forget it. I have not spoke a single word out loud. All of them were my inner thoughts. But maybe he can hear my thoughts."
"How strange," the entity on the celestial stage spoke aloud. His voice was full of surprise. "Someone really exists in this realm who can defy my mind reading spell. He even canceled the effect of my gravitonio spell. What a powerful will for a human."
At that moment, Noren felt dumbfounded. "I only thought about how his appearance looks fancy, and now he talks like this. Fortunately, he did not gather the pressure again. This time he might not cancel it in mid air."
Noren cleared his throat. "Ehm," he said, adjusting his tone to be as polite as he could. He spoke out loud for the first time. "May I ask, sir, who are you?"
As soon as he started to speak, the feeling of the space around them changed. A soft, low music began to hum in the air, as if the entity had changed it with a thought.
"Human," the entity said, and his voice created majestic echoes in the space around them. "Do you really wish to know about me?"
"Did I really ask anything wrong?" Noren thought. Then he spoke aloud. "Sir, please forgive my tone. That is the most polite approach in my world." He stated this without hesitating.
"I never said you are wrong," the cloaked figure replied. "In fact, I liked your approach from the moment you entered this realm."
"Approach? Me?" Noren thought. "Just now I started to speak. Before that, all of them were my inner thoughts." Then he spoke again. "I am sorry for interrupting you. A way of light led me here. That is why I enquired about that."
"So you discovered the way to open the first ancient stone gate and reached me here," the entity said.
Noren's eyes widened. "That means there is more than one gate?"
"Indeed, there are three," the entity confirmed. "But they are not in the same dimension you are from. They will randomly spawn in each world. But once all three of them are opened, they will no longer appear again until someone is destined to find them."
Noren felt a spark of curiosity. "What makes the gate so special?" he asked politely.
"Each gate has a way to open," the entity explained. "But the gates themselves are not what holds the speciality you asked about. It is the space inside that is special."
Noren felt a wave of frustration. "Damn this guy," he thought to himself, careful to keep his face calm and show no expression. "What happened to the effect that refreshed me? His talks are a bit hard to understand. He is talking about something I do not understand at all."
He then spoke aloud, trying to sound patient. "Please do not get mad, but I do not understand what you are talking about."
"It is my duty to explain anything you ask," the entity said calmly. "Go ahead."
Noren's heart leaped with a sudden hope. "Is he really going to answer me?" He felt a surge of joy and could not hold back his questions any longer. "What happened to my world? What was that light that took people? Why am I left alone?" The words tumbled out of his mouth.
"That was your destiny to face," the entity replied, his voice firm. "I am not allowed to answer about that. But from your impatience, I can tell you have no idea what is happening to your world."
Noren raised one eyebrow. He felt a new frustration. "That is what I asked him, and he is just refining the question with fine words. Huh? Should I just jump ahead and kick his face? Since I do not see his appearance, lets forget the idea."
He then spoke to the entity with a careful tone. "Astonishing. Just by looking at me, sir, you have exposed my whole story."
The cloaked entity thought to himself, "If I could really do that, I would have killed you when I heard your thoughts before. But now my power is not working on him. A mystery asking about a mystery. Hmm, interesting."
Then he spoke aloud to Noren. "You will get your answers when you leave this realm."
"My sincere thanks to you, sir," Noren said. He decided to ask a different question. "Anyways, what is this realm?"
"This is the realm where time is accelerated by the folds. Time moves much faster here than in your world, for as long as you are here."
A cold fear touched Noren's heart. "Would not that reduce my life spawn?"
The cloaked entity laughed. His laugh was a majestic sound that filled the space. "Only your consciousness will enter this realm. The lifespan of your body will remain unaffected."
"Then what about my body outside?" Noren asked, feeling worried.
"Do not worry about it," the entity assured him. "Both your body, soul, and mind will be reconstructed by the progress you make here. For that purpose, your body is in a separate, safe space."
"Why should I make progress?" Noren asked, feeling a bit defensive. "I am a normal human being. What is so special about me?"
"That is why you are here," the entity replied. "To find out. Whether you are special or normal, it will be exposed by this."
While speaking, the entity waved his hand. A small piece broke off from the glowing celestial stage. It floated through the air towards Noren. More pieces followed, gathering together in front of him. They formed a flat, celestial plate which had the print of a hand on its surface.
"Place your hand on it," the entity commanded. "And stay focused."
Noren was excited at that moment. In his heart, he had tons of theories that were waiting to be confirmed. Yet, he forced himself to be calm. He took a deep breath and placed his right hand firmly on the cool, smooth surface of the plate. He closed his eyes and tried to focus all his thoughts.
He stood there for what felt like a very long time. He felt nothing. No new power, no sudden knowledge, no warmth or cold. The atmosphere remained unchanged. He opened his eyes and looked at the plate, then up at the cloaked entity.