Sky was coloured dark like the black of the night. Winds were howling like a bad omen. Streaks of lightning occasionally illuminated the entire world, like a deserted road by a damaged streetlight. And then…
The world was veiled in a stormy night.
Across the garden, there was a convenience store. Frequented by most people visiting the garden to relax, play or hang out. Usually, it was a place to satisfy cravings and desires for adults. A wonderful candy store for children.
But, in the torrential deluge it looked like a lighthouse. A safe heaven for travellers.
'Shit! How can my luck be this bad?'
A few minutes more, free from this pelting rain, and Neer would have been comfortable in his bed!
'I will not be able to make it without drenching from head to toe.'
Running in the heavy downpour under the shade of trees, he searched for cover.
Seeing a familiar convenience store standing like a lighthouse in a storm, he ran as if a bulldog was giving chase for his life. Finally, reaching under the roof, he took a moment to even his breath.
'The weather forecast is becoming more and more unreliable than before.'
For the past months, the world's weather had become absurd from one day to the next. Deserts were flooded with all kinds of storms. Frozen poles began to unfreeze, and then, the next day, back to their frozen snowstorms. However, this was not all.
Due to the randomness of the weather, the daily life of each and every person around the world was affected in one way or another.
Developed countries pressured and criticized the small and underdeveloped nations for their environmental policies. This led to huge protests from small nations and various sections of society, plunging every nation—in fact, the entire world—into an era of tension.
Scientists were unable to find the exact cause of this weather anomaly, but suspected that the damage to the protective layer of Earth was responsible for this irregularity.
"Here, use this."
An old lady with a motherly smile passed a towel to Neer. Giving a heartfelt gratitude to her, he took it. Neer knew this kind grandma; in fact, she was the owner of this small establishment.
A calm, kind, and caring person who was liked by everyone in the neighborhood. And being near to his apartment, it was inevitable that he would become a regular customer of hers too.
While drying himself, he lazily assessed the environment around the store.
There didn't seem to be many people. Including him and Grandma, there was only one more person—
A middle-aged obese person.
Sitting on a chair, chewing his food while appreciating the stormy beauty unfolding outside. His tummy was the size of a big balloon, which seemed to be trying to free itself from the confines of his clothes.
Giving him a pitying look—most probably because of his tummy—Neer returned the towel back to Grandma with a smile.
"Thank you, Grandma."
"It's okay, Neer. Do you want anything to eat?"
"I will take it. Please, don't force yourself and rest there. It doesn't seem like part-timers are on time?"
"Yes. They called me a few minutes ago telling me that they will not be able to make it on time due to some important work."
Curious about something, he asked.
"Advik is not present?"
Grandma gave a worrying smile.
"Advik is ill. So, he also can't come. You know them. They are good kids. They must have something important."
After giving him another motherly smile, Grandma went back to the counter.
Neer stood there.
Rain had a special effect on Neer. Maybe it was because Neer was born during rain, or his name—given by his parents—means water.
He didn't know.
But he knew that seeing rain, listening to the tick-tick of rain on glass, brought calmness to his heart.
Looking outside the glass, appreciating the lightning forking into branches like broken glass, illuminating the sky in a flash of light in the backdrop of a dark sky—like a big bang in the utter darkness.
He could see the beautiful garden across the convenience store. Adults and childrens were exiting it in a hurry. Seeing them brought a smile on his face. 'Thise kids sure are enjoying the rain. Poor Mothers'. He glanced towards the glass.
Raindrops traced silver scars down the glass, their paths melting into each other like tears that refused to fall alone. Beyond them, the world blurred into a cacophony of sounds.
'Something tasty with this scene will be wonderful. I should eat somethi—'
Boom!
Crackle!
Rumble!
The sky tore open with a crack that split the night-like sky in two. Lightning forked like glowing claws, lighting the trees in stark white shadows. Then came the thunder, roaring and rumbling like a thousand drums, shaking the ground beneath his feet. The wind howled, the rain followed, and the world became a wild, living thing.
Neer was amazed by this scene! Not knowing this was the start of his nightmare.
A sharp pain shot through his head!
'Ouch!'
It didn't stop there! It spread like vibrations all throughout his body. He collapsed on his knees, clutching his head.
'Wh-what is… this!?'
Vibrating his whole body for a few moments and then, it disappeared like nothing happened!
'What was that!?'
Rubbing his forehead, he tried to figure out the cause of his sudden agony.
'Am I ill? No! It can't be! Before, there were no symptoms. Maybe I should check with a doct—'
[Earth has been matured enough for the awakening of energy type mana.]
[All the occupants of the Earth can now ascend.]
"...What is this?" he muttered to himself while kneeling on the smooth floor. Golden letters appeared in front of his retina.
"Mana? Ascend? What the heck is this!?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing but decided to take it as it was for now. He started thinking of different possibilities.
Engrossed in his own thoughts, he couldn't pay attention to what was happening outside. What he didn't know was that the world he once knew was no longer the same.
A shriek crossed across his inner world, flinching him, bringing him back to the present world.
In the world beyond the glass…
Adult women and little childrens who were trying to escape from the rain were now frozen in their places. They seem to be trembling a little. From his place, Neer could not see the source of their attention.
Cold sweat formed on Neer's forehead. His back clutched in an icy grasp when he heard it—
A low guttural sound. A sound made by a beast. A starved beast.
A bad, very bad sensation spread throughout his body, as if a predator was looking at its prey—that was him.
And in the next second, all hell broke out!
Grrr!!!
A guttural roar filled the store! The source? Coming from his right side, where the middle-aged man was eating his food.
Without checking the source, Neer turned back and lunged toward the shelves. A wave of air passed over his back. He landed with a thud on the floor between the shelves, a range of pain blooming from various parts of his body.
Without looking back, he rushed forward, searching for something among the various shelves. His survival instinct kicking to the maximum.
'It should be somewhere here!'
He took a momentary glance backward. And his body trembled involuntarily. A monster in a human flesh. His eyes were vacant. Mouth completely opened as if to chew him down to death.
He was getting tense and scared! A literal unknown monster was after him! Rushing across shelves, he finally reached his destination!
Neer took a turn and froze in his place.
'What the hell!?'