A Hard Choice
The headmaster took a step forward and said, "Masir, stand down." Masir, confused but still calm, stepped back. "What just happened?" Shayan asked. The headmaster looked at him and answered, "I reversed time a little."
"You can control Time? So, you just reversed time? You can send me back to the day my parents died, right?" Shayan asked the headmaster, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. The headmaster saw it coming;
"There are rules and laws and restrictions to powers like mine."
"So, you can but won't. That makes sense."
"You need to calm down. We don't have enough time to argue. It's time for you to meet your Eldris. So, you can awaken your Eldris's vessel."
"What is this, Eldris, now?" He asked with a sigh.
"Eldris means spirit of fire. I don't want to throw more information about forces and other stuff you will learn in the academy. In short, our bodies emit an energy all the time called Nur force, and we need the Eldris Vessel to contain and store energy in it. And then use that energy to perform Prodigies. Of course, there is much more to it."
Shayan, with confusion, asked, "So, by we, you mean Aurians? And you all emit Nur Energy all the time?"
The headmaster answered, "You can calm your curiosities later but for now let's get you to your Eldris so he can bestow a vessel to you."
"Okay. How do I get this Eldris Vessel?" He asked which, and the headmaster pointed his finger towards Burhan. He advanced his hand towards Shayan
"Put your hand on mine." Shayan placed his hand on Burhan without any question. He then asked Shayan to close his eyes. He closed his eyes. Burhan also closed his eyes and said, "Anadi Bik!" The second he said those words, Shayan opened his eyes, they were glowing with white light, and suddenly his whole body started glowing. Burhan left his hand and stepped back. Shayan's body seemed to be emitting a strange light.
For a whole minute, his body emitted white light and others just stood there watching him. Shayan's body was motionless, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a garden, the sky was raining black blood down and a big mountain was shining brightly in that darkness. Shayan was standing in between all that, confused and scared when he heard a voice "Finally, I am awake. Now I can conquer the world or maybe destroy it."
Shayan turned back to see. When he turned around, there was a boy, probably 4 or so, standing behind him. He was wearing a long, dark red trench coat, black pants, and a dark red cowboy hat. Shayan couldn't speak because of shock but he looked calm. That thing looked at him carefully. "Ah, man, are you scared of me? Isn't that cute? Been inside you for like 2 years- that was a double meaning - I mean with you. And you are still scared of me. Well, maybe that's because we never met. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself I am your Eldris."
The Eldris stopped his blabbering and looked carefully at Shayan "Hey, are you fine? Oh, you are thinking that I saw you doing dirty stuff, I didn't see most of it. You see I can't just see everything you do. I sometimes hear voices. - -"
"Just stop talking," Shayan shouted.
"You are that Eldris thing," Shayan said. The Eldris took his hat off and placed it on his heart while bowing to me "Yes, the one and only." Then he stood up and while putting his hat on his head
"That was rude. I mean I'm not a thing. Well, I'm not human either, neither am I an Aurian, Alien or p-o-r-n-star. I am a being made out of energy- - ah I think that does make me a thing." He blabbered non-sense.
Shayan stepped back "So, how this meeting is supposed to go?"
"Ah, it's simple you make a contract with me."
"Okay! How?"
Eldris took out a knife from his coat, and his body turned into an adult all of a sudden. Now, he was 6 feet tall, his clothes expanded as well.
"You want Eldris vessel so that you can store your Nur energy in it, give me something in return. I'll simply take anything of value from you."
"Something valuable to me? I have nothing but, my life to give."
"You have plenty to give, believe me. So, I am going to give you two choices, but before that, you need to say 'Anadi Bik'. It means you start now and after saying it you will have to choose one of those choices. But you can reject me by just saying anything that means No or I reject just don't use curse words or any of the F-words. And remember after you say, Anadi Bik you will have to choose one of the choices or I'll choose it myself." Shayan stood there and thought things through "So, I have to give something valuable that you decide; to get Eldris vessel? Give me some examples of what you might take."
Eldris was playing with his knife when he suddenly threw it up in the sky and caught it before it hit the ground. "It can be anything like your sight, your sense of smell, or your taste."
Shayan didn't even pretend to think about it, he just scuffed. "Anadi Bik!" He shouted.
Eldris looked happy, he grinned like a total freak of nature. "Life or Emotions, you choose?"
"My life, but giving my life doesn't sound fair. What am I going to do with Eldris's vessel if I'm dead?" Shayan voiced his thoughts.
"Giving up your life doesn't mean dying, it just means you won't be living. Let me elaborate on both choices that you have, if you choose to give up your life you will live but, your body will be in consistent pain, and you will be hungry but no matter what or how much you eat, you won't be able to get rid of hunger, you will be sleepy all the time but you won't be able to sleep. Thirsty but won't be able to quench it. In short, you won't be alive, you will be like a walking dead, a zombie who has his mind. On the other side, you have feelings. If you choose it, you will lose your feelings, you won't feel pain, and you won't feel pity or anything of that sort of emotions. Just like a machine. No emotions, no feeling… You will become hollow."
Shayan didn't answer or even speak for some time, maybe it was fear of losing his sanity or losing everything that made him human, his life. Or maybe he was thinking of which one is less valuable. Eldris threw the knife into the ground right in front of Shayan. There was a number written on it '10'. "You have ten seconds to pick that knife and choose what you want to stab. If you don't stab your head or heart, it will choose automatically. You can't say I don't want to choose if you do, it will choose automatically and your time starts now. Stabbing the heart means you want to keep your emotions while putting it in your head means you want to keep your life."
Shayan rushed and picked the knife up without even figuring out what was Eldris saying. Eldris grimed again. "It won't hurt." The knife showed number 3, 2 Shayan swiftly stabbed his heart with that knife. The second the knife touched his chest, blood started flowing from his chest and mouth. Eldris had said I won't hurt, but it most certainly was painful. "You will lose the things I mentioned. Pain, sleep, hunger, thirst, restlessness should be your new companions and would stay with you until the end." Eldris said with a heavy tone. His body was slowling falling apart.
Everything around him started fading in the air; the mountain, garden, and the sky. Eldris was turning into the air when he said; "We'll meet again, my precious friend. I will take care of your Life that you have given me."
Shayan felt his body turning into sand, and before long he had become a stautue of sand.
Shayan's body in the real world fell. It stopped glowing. Burhan rushed towards him with a glass of water in his hand. Laid Shayan's head in his hand and glued the glass to his lips. "My head, it's spinning. Everything is spinning." Shayan said with a distorted voice. Burhan pulled the glass back; "It's nothing just a minor headache. Your body and soul are transforming. And what you gave to your Eldris has started to fade. It's going to take time but you will lose whatever you gave him."
Shayan's eyes started shutting down. "He needs to rest, The headmaster," Burhan said to The headmaster. The The headmaster asked Masir to carry Shayan to his room.
Masir picked up Shayan and walked out. The headmaster looked concerned; "What did he give away?" He asked. Burhan shook his head "He gave away his ability to eat, sleep, drink, and much more. It's the last time he will be sleeping."
"He chose eternal pain. What was the other choice?" The headmaster asked with concern.
"His sanity, his emotions. If he had chosen it, he would have become hollow. And he wouldn't feel pain or anything, he wouldn't feel anything about the time he saw his parents get slaughtered." Burhan said as he sighed, he seemed troubled.
"He gave something of value and he will be experiencing pain and restlessness for his whole life. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power. I think his vessel for NUR force is above 'A' grade, maybe even above S grade."
"So, he might become a Prodigy Knight?"
Ihaan walked towards the door as he heard those two talking. "If he doesn't kill himself before that. You gave him Eldris vessel so, he could join the war. It will be on you if he commits suicide. He won't be able to control his body. You think a 20-year-old kid who has never known pain will be able to live through a lifetime of pain, hunger, thirst, restlessness, and mental torture?"
Ihaan opened the door and walked out. "Because I don't think so."
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