by Nicol Terra
“I am not dead, fish for brains.” He said.
Time reversed backward, the moment of the lunge, then the bite, and then the moment he swung his blade around to create a yellow glyph. A small yellow light was on top of the glyph this time. He gazed at it momentarily and saw the Leviathan’s plan of attack
He sighed, that minute was over. He concluded, however, his skills were still sharp. He gave off a deep yellow and saw millions of futures of himself and the Leviathan. He picked one, slicing with his blade to cut the beast in half with his blade and forming a black sphere above the beast. In the distance, Duran saw further above the flying creature was a purple sphere of gravity, holding his body in place. Tree trunks fell either on the ground or the lake below. He cut through space itself, with the black patched cut swiftly reforming in an instant.
He pulled the massive beast lifeless body across the sky with his black well of gravity, dropping it on the dirt-ridden ground. He cursed.“Ah fuck, I can't light things on fire.” He said, then he looked at his crystal momentarily.
Duran then saw a pillar of flames appear from his hand into the ground below. He smiled briefly. He was lazy, slicing at trees with his spatial blade, pulling them towards him as on the fire he created. He then slinked the black ball on top of the fire as the large fish cradled above the flame, simmering it, turning by itself in circles.
Within an hour, his fish was cooked. He would grab a piece of meat from the cooked fish with his blade and drop the hot meat on his mouth. It tasted like warm smoke and was distinctly dry, which he enjoyed immensely.
He took pieces of cooked meat from the monster as he burned the food with his Aura. He needed to save as much energy as he can. He wasted roughly a fifth of his Aura the past few days. The larger the beast, the more energy it gave. He had yet to find an explanation on how he can destroy continents like other mighty generals and yet only need to eat as much as an average person.
He sighed and scoffed. He was self-aware of his power. Not out of arrogance or pride, but with a lost sense of sorrow. He always asked himself, what if he didn't train with Aura? What would he be like? He liked history, but he didn't like debating it. He loved exploring but didn't like doing it alone. He loved fighting, but he didn't like unfair fights. His eyes swung over to the part cooked dead leviathan and part skeletal remains that were an unfair fight.
“Hundred Fights, Ten Battles and One War.” He said to himself. “Ninety-five wins, three losses, and two draws.”
He was strong because everyone during his era was without power; he had to defend those with no power. Was he fighting for himself, or others? He then remembered D.J and Ariel, and the many other friends he grew to love.
Even Mudath, someone he disagreed with personally, was far kinder to him than Eraz. He then paused. Was he fighting for himself or Eraz?
He scoffed, finishing the last piece of meat and slamming his sword into the ground. He walked over to the large lake. It looked perhaps serene, peaceful. He then slammed his hand into the lake, boiling the water and in a few seconds, erasing the lake. As he punched the lake, the water disassembled on a sub-atomic level as he snapped all the atoms apart. In an instant, the lake was gone.
He grabbed at his sword and walked forward, his body overflowing with energy. His Aura, even when contained was still leaking out. His raw power and might have continued to shake the landscape.
He looked onward to see not a man. It was a statue with a crystal lodged in the headpiece, held up by the sand. He flashed Blue Aura; it was the same power he felt earlier, but it was closer then he sensed. The walk to find the crystal was supposed to be a few hours longer, was he wrong?“This will do.” He said to himself. This was a new future but he welcomed it as he walked toward to the mysterious crystal.
Duran inspected the blue stone, his eyes devouring its distinct blue glimmer. The crystal felt dominant to the hand, he closed his eyes for a moment, only to then hear a distinct, booming sound inside his head. He fell to the ground, his hand on his right ear as he threw the crystal aside. The blue stone fell on the ground, only to fade entirely from his sight. The sound of space rending and warping was enveloping and shattering his eardrums. He slowly got up, his hands now fully enveloping his ears. Duran felt a faint echo in the back of his head, almost as if someone was speaking to him from across space-time. His stomach became wild, his balance off as when he stood up straight he splurted a vomit of vile from his head. Duran took a few steps back as he grimaced in pain and shake in fear.
"That isn't normal." He thought, he wanted to say it, but he felt unable too. It was as if he lost the free will to do so.
In a few seconds, the loud sound and the pain stopped entirely. Duran slowly opened his eyes, his eyes caught with a marvelous sight. There was a spinning whirl of space-time, a wormhole to a place beyond. The outside ripped the ground and sky in two. The rippling of space-time felt familiar, as he used Spatial abilities before. Unlike other portals, however, this one had no view of the other side. There was no ‘reflection’ of the other side. He took a step back from curiosity. This crystal was powerful, create a portal upon touch and also disappeared entirely. These things do not add up. Crystals can warp space and store power beyond his, but he never expected crystals to dissolve. Crystals also don’t fade, leaving any trace of power or alterations in the landscape
"Unless this wasn't a crystal." He thought to himself. "Perhaps it was something else?"
It puzzled him. He flashed blue aura. He saw nothing. He then grumbled, flashing Yellow aura, where he saw no futures. He was walking in blind; he could expect nothing beyond this point, or expect everything and thus thrust his own life into danger.
He shook his head and sighed. “Well, might as well.” He whispered.
He walked forward inside the portal, his body covered with Ether, soaked and washed with mystical energy. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened and his smile widened. Bright blue stone walls surrounded him. The walls felt like water to the touch; he closed his eyes for a moment. He felt a faint, blue aura inside the walls itself. It was Water. The outside was Purple, and the inside is Water, an alternate dimension made entirely of water. His feet didn't appear to get wet; however, as when he ran his finger across the ground, only then did it flush through his fingers and glisten upon sight. He reopened his eyes to look forward; the walls were getting taller and taller as he looked further. Miles away, he saw a giant, blue tower with a light shining on the very top. The walls wrapped around the tower like a maze. He again tried to radiate Yellow aura. He saw a path to the tower.
He followed his foresight down the winding maze, his eyes looking around the scenery. Who made this? Where was he? What even is this place? He had no answers to these questions, yet it strangely comforted him. Upon further inspection, he realized the walls had a strange text that glowed quietly. He couldn't read it. The lines were too sharp and short for him to decipher. The writing was also magical, and ancient. The sharp and carved angle of each letter looked almost as if it was chiseled onto. When he touched the sunken letters, he felt nothing. He raised a brow, writing this old was beyond his time as a person, maybe even beyond the time of Kulso. The Alternate Dimension as at least the size of a city too, and it looked made. Each wall and walkway carefully constructed to hide the secrets of the tower. If he didn't have his Yellow Aura, you could easily get lost.
Then, he felt it. The walls responded almost as if they knew what Duran was thinking. The walls reshaped, formed and locked into new locations. When Duran looked in front of him, instead however he saw a singular long path. No, they weren't trying to get people lost. They were trying to guide the right people. He gulped, this was place's enchantments started to creep him out.
The walls grew tighter and tighter until they all merged at the entrance of the tower. The kilometer tall tower stretched beyond he could see. When he checked, he saw the purple and violet sky fluctuate and flow, like the ocean yet look wispy air. Blue, Sapphire, and Obsidian all merged to form the c
olors of this tower, crafted carefully into a huge spire that seemed the higher up you go, all the colors shifted to a jet black, and the glass-like construction moved to a hard steel spire that split the sky. Duran sunk his head back down from this wonder as he continued to walk down the single path to the tower.
“This is getting weirder and weirder.” Duran said. What was even more interesting to him, was that he saw no future of this sort. He smiled, walking inside the vacant room. The room inside was massive; a jet black color washed the inside. The sides of the walls were written in the same mysterious language as before, the rough strokes and hard lines were almost captivating to him. Duran swung his head around to the center of the room. The center of the room had a single, light crimson glyph on the floor. The glyph was inscribed with powerful magic, one of the similar vibrations of the previous portal. He walked on the glyph carefully, looking at the black wall.
The next thing he saw was a room of a much different color than before. This room was painted in a light, ocean blue color, with drawers surrounding him. He flashed Yellow once more. Then he felt a sense of glee strangely rush to him. He took a sharp right, inspecting the third drawer to the right. The inside of the drawer had a cotton wrap with a green glow. He unwrapped the cotton, a smile washing over his face. It was six crystals, the same ones used to power the portal. He didn’t need to get the crystal! He smiled, he felt prideful at his unforeseen achievement. He then looked around the room and then forward once more. Another crimson red glyph appeared in front him, just a few dozen feet from the other.
“Already accomplished my mission, might as well satisfy my curiosity.” He stated. He pocketed the six green stones into all of his pockets, four in his front pockets and one in each of his back pockets. He then opened drawers randomly, curiosity overwhelming him. He found a strange metal disk with four letters marked on four different points on it. There was a needle inside, spinning around.
“What am I, in the stone age?” He said, throwing the compass back inside the drawer and continued to search. The next thing he found was a piece of black glass that responded to his touch. He pressed a button on the right, only for the glass pad to show him a red cylinder on the screen. He shrugged.
“I feel old.” He said, throwing the tablet back inside the drawer.
He searched every single drawer, finding nothing more interesting. When he popped out the door, he saw a giant swirling staircase shoot above. His next sight was a room entirely black, with thousands of swirling galaxies around him. In awe, when he turned to his right, he saw a giant spiral that spun around, shining the galaxy light on him and continued to rotate upward. Blinded for just a moment, he shook it off.
Each hundred step, the galaxies spun closer and closer together, swirling faster and faster. The large ones became Ellipticals, and when Duran accidentally bumped into the side of the wall, the galaxy faded until a giant blue ball covered the entire half floor of the tower. When Duran looked down, awe dropping smile overcame his jaw as he saw dozens of planets, swirling around below him. Duran then leaned on the blue light as Duran slid down the wall. He was trapped in the center of reality, and he loved it.
Then, he laughed. His laugh became a howl as he slid his hand down his face and petered out.
"This is it. The map of the universe, from start to end." He said as he looked up to see a door a few dozen feet up. Intrigued even further, he decided to continue upward and open the door.
The door let him back outside as the purple and violet sky wrapped around him. He saw space stretch beyond the horizon as the furthest beyond was nothing but pure white, indeed confirming this was someone's creation. This man was a scientist of some kind, with a deep love for the beyond. Yet, when he took a step out, he started to fall as he stumbled back inside the tower and slammed the door behind him.
"Okay nevermind." He said panting heavily. "I don't want to drop a few hundred feet."
The last floor on the tower was much smaller, similar in size to a bedroom. This room was marked a light blue, with writing identical to before inscribed throughout the walls, with a box on the center of a pedestal. His face turned white as he walked to the stand and uncapped the top of the box. The box had nothing inside. Duran exhaled a giant sigh, his body almost falling to the floor in relief. He then threw the box aside. That was still a box that held a Calamity Stone. It fit the description Mudath told him. It was strangely empty. He then remembered Mudath telling him the Calamity Stone was held in a different universe, a pocket universe where time and space differs from the one Alatorem rests in. He then leaned on the wall, his mind running laps. A Dwarven Ruins, on Sosrow, one he did not expect to see. It only made sense. He was told Argatha was sealed from the outside world since the great storm, over two thousand years ago. Even before then, the continent was only written in legends of passing sailors and explorers. One Explorer, a human from long ago, told of a mysterious room, separated from the universe with a giant blue tower. He scoffed, and then he laughed, that human was right. He suddenly felt a sense of sorrow for the man, according to the tale, he was called a heretic of the state and burned at the stake, a cruel reminder of the lack of freedom during the ‘dark ages’ of Era Zero and Era One.
“So this is a Dwarven Pocket, held together by a crystalline substance, or a glyph.” He said to himself. Why stop there, he thought? If it can be powered via magic or a crystal, Aura probably powered it. He reached for his Holosphere instinctively to take notes, only for him to remember he left it at his hotel. He then gave a soft smile. He never took notes for a report in years. Because nothing excited him like this in years.
Then he remembered in his right pocket was his canteen of vodka, which instead of reaching for it, he shook his head. He also never reached for his canteen to inflate his happiness in years.
He then raised his head and continued to look around the room. The room had a few images, carved into the stone. The one that stood out to him the most was the planet, Alatorem from fifty million years ago, when the world was a single continent. The world was engulfed in flames, with five pillars of light enveloping the planet, what did this mean? Where they moons? He then raised a brow. The picture had no moons. It was just the planet. The Eight Moons, were they here before? This question popped into his head like a balloon. It was a possibility he never considered.
He then touched the picture instinctively, only the carving to sink into the wall. Then, he heard the noise again. He covered his ears instinctively, his eyes blurry and unable to focus. He saw the letters fly out from the walls and surround him. The words then drifted into his head, his mind fully able to grasp the meaning of this word. He sunk into the ground, his eyes turning a deep blue as his soul leaked slightly from his mouth.
In an instant, I saw the stars washed everything In a bright light.
I turned to my right; the world was ripped apart from under my feet.
I turned to my left; I saw my friends die before me.
The beings from the stars won as they erased and remade the surrounding planet.
Time was frozen, fate was written, and probability defined.
We could do nothing, the fire went beyond my vision, enveloping star to star beyond which light can take centuries to travel.
I was the sole survivor to my knowledge as I only escape to watch from afar in a pocket of space I made.
I write this, along with the four others, to safeguard our last hope.
The next generation must find a way.
He stopped speaking; he passed out cold on the floor for a few minutes. He thought nothing; he said nothing. His mind, however, was still active. When he awoke, his vision took minutes to recover. His sense of balance was so bad; he ended up leaning on the wall for support. He wanted to vomit, but he held it in. His face was white. Minutes later, he was recovered. He swung his head around one last time, inspecting the room one last time, he saw nothing. The writing disappeared on the walls. He walked down to the glyphs, leaving the tower.
He
was unsure what to think. He had nothing to connect this day too; his knowledge was limited. He walked back to the start of the maze, back to the outside world, unsure what to think. He felt, small. He felt the dry, warm biting wind scratch across his face. He then raised his head. He felt strong energy behind him. It was a man, shrouded entirely in black. He wore a fedora, with a jet black leather coat and black gloves. He had his eyes hidden. Duran sighed.
“Oh right, I forgot about him.” He thought to himself.
The man reached in his right coat pocket for something, shuffling his hand around. Duran readied his sword, slinking out of his sheath. The man instead, pulled out a black pack. He then snapped the top of the pack up, knocking out a single wrap of tobacco. He pulled out the cigarette, lit it and put the box back into his pocket.
Duran sighed for a moment; he noticed his body stopped shaking.
“Hello Sir, May I help you with something?” Duran asked.
The man said nothing, exhaling with his cigarette. Even in the shroud of his hat laid a single, devilish grin that Duran can see, even though his face was covered with literal darkness.
“I see someone powerful enough can now open the portal. You are indeed the descendant of the gods!” He said, pulling and puffing his cigarette once more. Duran ignored his words. The man laid out demon grin and then clapped his hands together. “Bravo, Bravo!” He said, a small giggle echoing into a more massive bellow.
“What is so funny?” Duran said, his hands still holding tightly to his sword.
“Oh, nothing.” He said, his hand reaching inside his black coat to pull out a black cane from underneath. “I expected it to be someone else was all.”
“What do you me-” Duran started.
“Not like it matters.” He interrupted, he then slammed his cane into the ground. The ground then shook violently. Duran felt his sense of balance become looser as he struggled to stay up straight. He felt the land shook beneath him, similar to that of a magnitude 15 earthquake. He then contacted the ground and continent shake. Duran felt his eyes wince. He was powerful.