What would you do if you find yourself in a dire situation without a way out?
James is a cave explorer, slim body, average height, auburn hair, above average looks, and passionate personality with no fear of adventure, he enjoys hiking and looking for a cave to dive in. Even though his hobby is dangerous, he doesn't mind and often ventures alone.
One day when he was hiking on the Himalayan mountain range, carrying a bag, wearing a blue winter coat, black winter gloves, thick trouser, a cane, a furry hat and goggles, he spotted a cave at the corner of his eye. At the same time the blizzard is becoming more intense, making him delighted by the discovery.
"A cave! I'm so lucky and the cold is starting to affect me".
He was warned earlier about the possibility of a blizzard but ignored it anyway thinking it wouldn't be a problem.
"I thought that it was going to be a smooth journey but after only about two hours of hiking I already encountered a blizzard storm! And who would have thought there is a cave here hahahaha".
The cave has a relatively narrow entrance to the point that if someone were about a hundred metres away, they would have a hard time spotting it even without the blizzard to block their view due to its narrow entrance and the thick layers of snow.
James excitedly entered the cave, and was surprised to find out that the inside is relatively big compared to its entrance, so he took his flashlight and started looking around hoping to find another entrance that led to the deeper level of the cave.
After looking for some time he saw a hole on the left side of the cave and put down his bag, lying down crouching his way in.
"So narrow, I wonder what I can find at the end of this path."
After five minutes of struggle he finally reached the end, and what he found shocked him. It was another space bigger than the last one, as he was wondering why he could see, he suddenly saw a bunch of grass that emits blue light.
"What in the world... Luminous grass! Wow, it's my first time seeing so many of these".
As a cave explorer James is not too unfamiliar with luminous grass as it can be found in many caves.
After the initial shock, he continued surveying the area and saw a glowing purple tree.
"What the hell is that!". He screamed, his voice echoed through the space startling him back to reality.
The tree has purple body, purple leaves and purple flowers. At the same time it emits purple lights. It looked like a cherry blossom but instead of pink, it's deep purple. And when he looked closely he saw five fruits hanging on it.
"Hmm... I wonder if it's edible?" He pondered.
After a while of hesitation he picked all five of them and reluctantly ate one out of five. Suddenly he noticed a slight change on his perception. His sight actually improved after consuming the fruit and it doesn't seem poisonous at all.
"Woah, how many times can this place surprise me. It actually has a tree that bares fruit that can improve one's eyesight".
After a spending a few moments to compose himself he started eating the remaining four, and his sight was improved to the point where he can see colours in the air startling him.
"Good god, am my hallucinating!? Do these fruits causes hallucinations?". James instantly panicked after seeing colours in the air. It was blue, red and purple that form like mist and layered in the air.
" I gotta get out of this place immediately. This is driving me crazy".
James hurriedly picked up the pace and turned around. But after doing so he suddenly fainted after seeing what's in front of him.
...
After a few minutes James woke up with severe headache after fainting and smashing his head into the floor. Realizing his no longer in the cave, he panicked.
He immediately stood up to make a run for his life but was stop by a raspy voice that does not sound human at all.
" Whatever is your trying to do give up, you already consumed the fruit of evolution, you are now bound to come along with me wether you liked it or not."
James slowly looked at where the voice came from and once again shocked by what he saw.
It was robot, four metres tall glowing in both dark and light blue like flames, it has fiery eyes but does not show any signs of hostility, on its lower body there is no foot just simply flames, it was FLOATING!
Its upper body is covered with metal and strange runes around them, its arms is two metres long with long pointy finger nails and circular hole on its palm.
The domineering looks of the creature almost made him wet his pants.
" Wh-who are you? Where am I? What's happened to me and my vision!" He shouted.
The robot took another glance at the human in front of him and calmly replied with its raspy voice.
"My name is X-9 you may call me Nine, as for where we are, we are at the innermost part of the cave, and what is happening to your body is the result of you consuming those fruit."
"What are those fruit?" He pressed.
"Those fruit that you have eaten are called fruit of evolution, they are some of the most rarest object on the whole universe that grants anyone the power to transcend.
"Only a handful individual with talent and has been trained for a certain amount of time will have a chance to consume those fruit and only a few can manifest its gifts, while those who failed will remain as a simple creature.
"After discovering that this planet has tree of evolution, I was tasked on guarding it waiting for it to grow and bare fruit. But a certain someone suddenly barge in, stole the fruits and ate it without any thoughts."
James was speechless as he can't have any courage to refute.
"But how does it explain about what's going on with my body?"
"Well, it looks like you have talent human, and very rare at that".
After hearing the robot's reply a flood of thoughts suddenly surfaced on James's head awakening his adventurous and fiery spirit yet again.
'wow, aren't I amazing! To think I have a talent, and a very rare one at that.' But afterwards he suddenly became gloomy again.
"You said earlier that I have to come with you... What do you mean by that?"
"It's exactly what I have said. After you consumed five fruits, you unlocked the highest grade possible, and leaving you here would be a waste of talent.
"Plus your powers might corrupt you or lead you astray, that's why you have to come with me. You are lucky human since I was created by a grand perfection archmage from the central galaxy, and he just happens to be the headmaster of the most prestigious academy in the whole universe.
"In that academy they will teach all the awakened about everything they need to know."
"Uhm, excuse me, you said that I have unlocked the highest grade possible, what do you mean by that?"
"In consuming the fruit one can unlock their powers and its potential is based on grades, the lowest being one, and the highest is five.
"Even though everyone starts at one star their limitations is based on their potential's grade. If your potential is only at one star then you cannot advance to two star, same for two and three star, they cannot advance and just stuck on the potential that they have.
"But if you have a four or five star potential then that's a different story. Four star can advance to five star and beyond same for five sta-"
But before Nine could even finished its sentence, James suddenly interrupted it.
"Wait a minute, I thought you said that there are only five star, but why did you say beyond five star."
"You will learn all of that after entering the academy. Now it's time to send you to the central galaxy, I will personally introduce you to the headmaster so don't worry about the enrollment."
James looked at the giant robot with pleading eye saying:
"Do I really have no choice?"
"No." The robot coldly replied.