It was a peaceful evening in the 'Drada village', when a pillar of light shot from the sky and struck in somewhere east of the village, in the forest.
This phenomenon went completely unnoticed as the villagers were gathered on the opposite end of the village to receive an imperial decree.
All hail the emperor!!!!
All hail the emperor!!!!
All hail the emperor!!!!
A tall man and a cavalry of armoured knights stood in front of an intricately designed carriage, decorated with pure gold strips and frilled curtains, it spoke volumes of whom it belonged to, etched upon the curtains was a symbol, a sphere with rings around it in a cross shape , the crest of the Royal family, two flags fluttered at the top of the carriage and pulling it were two muscular steeds, there eyes blazing with raw intensity of a predator.
The man held a big red parchment and before him, people of various shapes and sizes knelt in reverence, their heads lowered to the ground, paying respect to the decree.
When he spoke, his voice held unmistakable authority and pride , his tall and muscular build exuding effortless elegance and a single horn protruded just above his right eye, indicating his non-human lineage, he wore a long, high collared midnight-blue coat lined with velvet stripes , with a golden brouch on his collar signifying his higher rank, beneath it lay an ivory brocade tunic fitted perfectly for his build, his waist held a sword sheathed in velvet scabbard, clearly meant for combat .
He raised his hand and the voices fell silent .
"Receive the royal decree" he said, his deep voice resonating throughout drada village .
"The emperor had graced you, 'numbers' with an opportunity to rise above the ranks" he spoke, his voice held an unmistakable note of disdain, a ripple of gasps and shock spread through the crowd, but no one dared to even raise their head .
"Those with talent shall rise, and serve the emperor as the ancestors have shown us an opportunity to recover what we lost, a tournament will be held in the royal capital to decide which commoner has the strength to stand with the prodigies of this generation, the winning candidate will be given the rank of an honourary knight, and their village's status will rise", he closed the parchment and ended the decree.
"Now those who want to participate must register at the house of village chief by tomorrow evening, only those of below 18 years of age are permitted." He concluded.
With that, he turned, and climbed back in the carriage, like nothing else matters to him, moments later, it departed with its entourage , heading straight toward the village chief's house.
Once the carriage was out of sight , people started raising their heads and wispers started to spread, their faces showed disbelief and joy, it was the first time something like this had happened, no one from the capital had ever visited their village before, but soon, the crowd slowly dispersed and people rushed to their homes to get their children ready, it was evident with only one carriage, they will most likely take one or two kids with them and Numbers couldn't let such an opportunity pass.
The village was beautiful and one with nature , houses were not made of tree but instead houses were trees themselves, it was like trees were molded into the shapes of houses, some were at the ground and a huge canopy above them, whereas, some were high above at the top of trees , some were small and hidden behind the leaves, and some big enough to span over ten trees .
The village was surrounded by a forest from all the directions, with winding pathways connecting two opposite sides of the village. When looked from above, no one could distinguish where the village starts or ends, as it was completely blended in the forest, only difference being people living there. There was nothing separating the village from the forest no walls, no fortifications just a seemless blend of nature and civilization.
A river ran through the forest in the east of the village not much far from it, and an ethereal golden cat lay on its bank, at one glance this divine looking cat seem to be resting after a satisfying meal, but if one looked closely, its face was twisted in agony, and his body was curled up like a ball, twitching and trembling in pain.
( mc point of view )
When Erebus arrived , he was bathed in the golden light, he opened his eyes groggily, like he just woke up from a deep sleep and looked around, but all he could see were trees, he was in a forest, well, at least i am near a river, thats a plus, he thought, but just as he was about to take a step forward, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell to the ground.
Huff…huff…
"What is this ??"
Huff… huff.
He felt like there was a hole in place of his heart, his blood ran cold and his body temperature dropped significantly , a cold sensation washed over him like he was about to die, his emotions exploded like a dam broke loose, all the jumbled mess in his head formed a swirling mass of negative thoughts,
Huff… huff…
"The go…goddess… power…."
Huff…huff…
"I guess… huff…. Wasn't…. Permanent..huff…huff…"
He spoke, with a broken tone in between gasps.
He told himself that everything was alright, everything will be alright, this is his new life, past is in the past, he had accepted it, he had already avenged them, but nothing worked.
Images of laughing faces of his family, came rushing into his mind again and again, their deaths, his helplessness, everything combined made him almost loose his mind again, he could hear wispers of self loathing in his own voice , but he never gave up , he mustered up all his will and opened his eyes , the world had turned into distorted illusions of his past , the ground rose up and held him in his place, and the water level in the river was rising and falling forming the shape of a giant , ugly monster, looking at him with a menacing gaze, the trees took shapes of people he had killed, with permanent grins plastered on their faces, they began throwing and latching their branches on him, pulling him towards them,
the only normal thing he could see was a blue screen flickering in front of him , showing
[system assimilation in progress]
[20%…..25%...30%]
It came as a becon of hope for him, he could only wait and wish it will do something when it completed, now having a goal to survive till the assimilation completed, he willed all his consciousness to focus on it .
[35%….40%...50%]
Despite all his efforts he could feel it , he was dying, his heart rate had dropped to an alarming degree and he couldn't breathe at all.
"Survive, survive, survive, live, live, live, i . Am . Alive . I . Am . alive ."he started repeating it like a mantra again and again.
[60%….70%….80%]
His eyes become bloodshot, he was gritting his teeth so hard that blood started seeping out of his mouth. His mind was on the verge of collapse, the ground had already reached till his neck, and the water monster had opened his maw wide about to swallow him whole.
[90%….100%]
[Assimilation complete]
[Initiating system protocol]
[connecting to the world]
[connection failed]
[connection failed]
[….failed]
[….fAiLe…
Erebus seeing this, jolted, his hope shattered, for a moment everything stilled,
Then as if realizing something, the voices around him started laughing, the distorted, screeching laughter almost made him despair, even the text on the system screen become deformed and crooked.
[DeTeCting hoSt's liFe in daNger]
[InitiAlizIng paRtiaL actiVatiOn]
[TitLes activAted]
[Evolution detected]
[Evolution halted due to lack of authority]
[Emergency quest generated]
[Find a way to planet 'Nexar']
[Reward - full system activation]
[consequence of host being unable to complete the quest is deactivation of system]
[ Duration - 1 month ]
Following these notifications, distorted world around Erebus suddenly paused, and then vanished instantly, like it never existed.
Slowly colour started returning to Erebus's skin, his eyes which turned lifeless a moment ago, now shone brighter, brimming with life.
Huff…huff…haaa….haaa..
Erebus took sharp breath , gasping for air .
Huff…huff…
A wave of weakness, relief, confusion and tiredness washed over him, his eyes closed, slowly his breathing steadied and he fell asleep.