Reinhard felt himself falling.
All around him was utter darkness, with a bit of light shining above. He stared above with a dazed look, trying to recall what had happened before.
Right, we were in the ceremony and then. Reinhard thought scattered as he felt himself freezing. His body hung in the air before being turned in the air and then resuming falling.
A fall that only lasted three seconds before he hit the ground, that was pure black. The first thing he did was move his hand to his chest to find that there was no hole. He sighed in relief before then recalling the place that he and the others were sent to.
Then an ear-splitting sound rang out!
Pieces of the black ground exploded out with black roots rising up. Their roots started out small but then continued growing bigger and bigger as they formed a miniature forest.
Reinhard blinked as he saw the roots interweaving with each other and then towering over him. He furrowed his brows as he took a step back, glancing from left to right of the forest of roots.
Then a root burst out from behind him before wrapping itself around his waist. Reinhard felt himself being thrust through the air, instantly reaching the top of the roots.
The root released him, causing him to stumble on top of the miniature forest of black roots. He shivered before looking up to see a figure on top of a towering root that reached toward the sky.
The being sat upon a massive warhorse with its blue flames like mane and sparks of light trailing from its hooves. The horse had eight legs with streaks of blue at the top and gold at the bottom.
Above the horse was the being wearing dark jagged armor covered in lines of glowing blue that shone with patterns of gold. Their horned helmet hid their face, the small opening masked by shadows that Reinhard couldn't see through.
Behind the being was a long, tattered cloak trailing from its shoulders.
But what caught Reinhard's attention was the massive spear in its right hand. The spear was a black-blue jagged spear with streaks and engraving on it, with blue wisps of energy trailing off it.
The light from the weapon seemed to cut through the darkness, granting some color to the roots near it.
Reinhard stared in disbelief and shock, unsure of what to say. He had dreamt before about what his beast might look like, but this was beyond anything he actually believed in.
Just the figure's presence alone was enough to make him shiver and feel infinitely small before it.
Then the figure's steed turned its head, and Reinhard felt its blue eyes locking onto him. A wisp of blue smoke flowed from the horse's mouth as the rider turned its head.
Then a crimson-blue light appeared from the helmet of the figure as it peered down on Reinhard.
Then a calm voice rang out from the being. "What is your desire? What do you seek for my power?"
Reinhard will blink before gritting his teeth and smacking his face with both hands. Then he placed a hand on his chest to calm himself down while the figure continued watching.
Then Reinhard looked up to the figure and said. "I want Divine Medicine. With it, I can cure my little brother."
The being stared at Reinhard before saying. "The Core Disease."
Reinhard eyes widened as he asked. "How did you-"
"But is that all? You don't wish for something else?" The being asked with its horse tilting its head.
"No. The only thing I care about is getting the medicine."
The being stared at Reinhard in silence for a couple more seconds. "You should be more selfish, little ant."
Reinhard furrows his brows as he says. "More selfish?"
"You aim only for the bare minimum and are unwilling to step further. Is it because you're afraid or your past has limited your view?" The being continues. "Have you never wished to stand above all others?"
Reinhard raised a brow. "That sounds like a lot of work."
"But it's worth it for a better life. After all, isn't that why you struggle so hard to get here? Or will you save your little brother but still allow him to rot in that place you called home?" The being bluntly said, leading Reinhard to glare at it.
"Why do you care?" Reinhard asked while clenching his fist and thinking of various ways of punching the being above.
The being didn't say anything and simply raised its spear. Reinhard began trembling from the overwhelming presence that began crashing down on him.
It felt as if he were drowning or something was being pressed down on his chest and making it hard to breathe. His knees buckled, and his vision blurred as the being fully raised its spear.
Reinhard saw the blue wisps trailing from the weapon shifting into crackling arcs that illuminated the darkness around. His heart hammered against his chest while every instinct screamed at him to not run.
Because the moment he does, everything will end.
The roots beneath his feet began to tremble and crack under the pressure. Some of the smaller ones withered and turned to ash simply from being too close to the divine weapon.
Then instantly, all of that pressure vanished and left Reinhard stunned. He blinked once before saying. "Who… Who are you?"
The being said nothing and simply threw its spears.
The spear illuminated everything in the colors of blue and crimson as it turned into a streak of light. Reinhard watched the spear approach, but found it odd that it was slowly drifting over that. It was so slow that he believed he could outrun it, but his instincts kept denying it for some reason.
As the spear reached, it didn't strike him but the roots, inches away from him. Once the spear struck the roots, all of the black began to shatter and be swept away.
Reinhard's eyes widened as the darkness around him began cracking like glass and being peeled away. Then a brilliant light swept through, and snow began to appear from the white light. He stared in surprise at the flakes brushing past his face and swirling around him.
The black roots beneath started to grow and rise up into the sky until Reinhard found himself standing on the trunk of a massive tree.
Its bark was covered in white, with branches stretched high above him and vanishing into the storm clouds that had appeared above. He blinked before a fierce blizzard roared to life around the tree and forced him to cover his face. As the wind rushed past, it made him shiver from the ice and sting him.
The rider's voice rang out. "Here is some advice. All is equal here except for their ability to think."
"W-What are you talking about! Never mind that, what is this-" Reinhard looked up desperately through the swirling snow and wind.
But he didn't see anyone, even as he glanced around, and he could only see the silhouette of the branches and snow.
Reinhard gritted his teeth as he walked towards the bark of the tree. Then he held on for a bit while closing his eyes as the blizzard continued for ten more seconds and then died down.
He then sighed in relief before looking around once more, but not seeing anything.
"Damn it… At least tell me what I should be doing here?" Reinhard muttered before his gaze shifted up to the massive tree and then blinked. "Is that it? Should I make my way up to the top where it was? But there is no guarantee it's up there…"
It was then that Reinhard saw smoke coming from the bark, leading him to take a couple of steps back. His eyes widened at the crimson words forming on the tree, and it was spelling out, to the top.
"So it's to the top? I wonder…" Reinhard then moves to the edge and glances down to see a black abyss below. He blinked once, then again, before sighing as he turned back around.
"Then it's up we go then."