Kaelren arrived home, still struggling to comprehend the recent events.
'Maybe this is all just a bad dream..'
he thought, slumping on his bed with a soft sigh. As long as he remains conscious, he'll be seeing these eccentric narrations all around him, as if his whole life has already been planned before his birth. Which he found deeply unsettling.
< Story will continue. >
< Your new journey will unravel in the span of 2 days. >
'Just what the hell is happening? And what story?' Kaelren's mind wouldn't put itself to a rest.
Kaelren persistently questioned the origin and reasoning behind this phenomena. 'What journey?' He'd think to himself. He was just an ordinary civilian that engaged in parcel distribution.
It wasn't long before his eyelids started getting heavier. The day's exhaustion was finally hitting him. But he felt as if sleep would not come readily.
< Vessel must get 6 or more hours of sleep. >
What in the world? Even with his eyes closed, he heard the narration in his ear like some sort of annoying pest. He sighed. 6 hours of sleep, huh? That's manageable. For him, 8 would be maximum. There was no minimum.
[ "Kaelren, you should probably get some rest," ] Covis' voice rang through Kaelren's head, as the man exhaled deeply.
'What are you, my father? But I will.'
[ "I'm not your father, but I'm just helping you. If you do not follow the instructions that you get narrated, there will be penalties." ]
'Penalties? Why? What will happen if I get 5 hours of sleep?'
[ "I'm unsure. But trust me, you will not like it. The management will make sure of it." ]
'Management? What management?'
[ "Simply put, people who will decide your future. It'll take a toll on you physically and mentally if their punishment is higher than one of B grade." ]
'Woah, hold up. There's graded punishments now?'
[ "Yes. And they are not sympathetic. I've told you the easy way, so do not make it harder." ]
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Kaelren opened his eyes to the sun beaming at his face. His pillow felt as hard as the road— Because it was. Kaelren abruptly straightened himself, his appearance tousled and disheveled from sleep. His eyes widened as he took in his surroundings. It definitely wasn't his bedroom. It didn't even look like his hometown.
[ "panicking once more?" ]
Kaelren jumped, but sighed before saying anything.
"Gosh.."
He slowly stood up, scanning the environment surrounding him.
Streets left in shambles as if a meteor hit, but the buildings stood tall. Though, some buildings had vines around them— something that Kaelren never expected to see in his lifetime.
'Where the hell am I?'
Kaelren asked, more to himself than anyone. Or maybe, because he was alone.
Not entirely, though. [ "We are in… Nekropolis. ]
'Nekropolis? Isn't that—'
[ "This is another planet, in short." ]
'WHAT?! You can't just take me out of earth and put me on some other planet!!'
[ "it's not something in my power to control. I'll be here to help you out. You must continue, though." ]
Kaelren let out an exasperated sigh. He supposed it'd be risky, but there wasn't much of a choice for him.
He turned around, and started walking slowly, yet cautiously through his new surroundings. He placed one hand in his pocket, the other staying still at his side.
But— he felt something inside his pocket. He carefully took it out, and saw it was the fragment. The fragment, 'Blade of searing', if he recalled correctly. He stared at it, wondering why it was in his pocket. He had kept it on his desk at home.
Nothing ceased to surprise him.
He placed the fragment back in his pocket. He walked through the broken streets and abandoned buildings.
Then suddenly— Kaelren felt a presence beside him. He turned his head slowly, then froze completely.
A small, toddler sized figure stood beside him. Grey-beige skin, that looked textured, black sclera and plus sign pupils. It had hair, black with a streak of grey. No lips, but a line indicating its mouth. The tiny figure wore a neat and well- fitted suit and tie. It.. looked a bit creepy, but wasn't ugly.
"This keeps getting weirder…" Kaelren muttered, while backing away from the creature. It didn't look like a threat so he didn't become too alarmed.
[ "Why are you backing away?" ] Covis asked.
Kaelren's jaw dropped, internally. 'Is that you?' The man asked, standing still now, unable to react properly.
[ "Yes, this is the form I take." ] Covis replied. But his mouth didn't move. Kaelren slowly stood a bit more proper, as he'd had his arms retracted in front of him from shock.
"You.." Kaelren started, but failed to think of a coherent sentence.
[ " Why did you stop? Keep going." ] Covis stated bluntly.
"...You can't just appear like that out of the blue! And especially… looking like…" His voice trailed off, not wanting to call the little figure 'that', which could mean a variety of things.
[ "Looking like what, Kaelren?" ]
< You have obtained your own personal guide, of the Vylnari species! >
The narration this time played beside Covis' figure, in the shadows.
'What in the world is a vylnari?' Kaelren meant it literally.
[ "Vylnari Is a species that controls the fate of people that are on Nekropolis. Only chosen vessels can enter, and through portals that can be made with magic on earth." ] Covis explained calmly, walking forward— no, floating forward?
That's what Kaelren saw.
"I see. And.. Did I enter as a vessel or through a portal?" Kaelren asked curiously, following behind the tiny yet powerful figure.
[ "You weren't supposed to be here. You were meant to make the portal yourself with magic," ] Covis went on to explain, while Kaelren listened, pretty interested.
[ "But the system had a glitch. Besides this is way too early for your incarnation to handle. Otherwise saying, you're too weak right now." ]
"Weak? For what?" Kaelren inquired further.
[ "It is currently too complicated to explain. I have to leave, before I get penalized." ]
"Huh? Penalized for what?—" Though, before Kaelren could finish his sentence, Covis disappeared. His form vanished into thin air, leaving the question and his curiosity lingering in the air.
Kaelren refused to believe he was chosen as a vessel. For what, though? A vessel for what? What kind of vessel? Was he in danger? He had many, many questions. Yet, they'd go unanswered.
Kaelren formerly exhaled, then continued his stroll through the unknown city.
CLANK.
Kaelren's ears picked up on the distant sound of what seemed like metal against metal. He tried shaking off the weird feeling that it was dangerous, and instead walked towards the sound.
He peeked over the corner of a building. He saw two people. One male and a female.
A beautiful dark Purple haired woman, with pale skin. He couldn't see much details, but he could tell that she was a seasoned fighter.
As for the male, he was blonde, he was wearing a long grey blazer jacket over a black shirt and black jeans.
Both of them were fighting, and the blonde seemed to be winning. Landing attacks from sides, then effortlessly killing the woman. Kaelren's eyes widened. He stood stunned, not uttering a word. He did not want to get caught up in that.
But he couldn't look away. He was frozen. He wasn't used to seeing such gory scenes.
The woman fell back, as the blonde male retracted his sword out of her body. She laid there in her own pool of blood.
'Poor woman..' Kaelren frowned slightly.
Kaelren then got an idea. It was a bit risky, but he was willing to try it. He slowly walked out of the corner, walking into the building that he was peeking over prior.
He entered, cautiously. He looked around, careful not to make too much noise. He walked over to the back door of the ground floor, hoping it'd lead him out where he wanted.
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[ "Shouldn't he be teleported back to earth? He's too weak at the moment." ]
"No. It shouldn't be kept as is. If a human goes through dimensions too many times within the span of 48 hours, it'll severely affect his health." Spoke A high level Vylnari to Covis. But Covis didn't want to back down so easily. Plus, he wasn't going to let the incarnation he was in charge of die so pathetically.
[ "But he'll surely die if he stays there! There are already incarnations at a higher level than 20 there! He's barely level 3!" ] Covis argued angrily.
But he was then put in his place.
"Covis, you mustn't argue with me! You are a measly level 40 Vylnari!" Argued the higher rank, yelling at Covis.
Covis' anger flared up, but he didn't dare argue back.
"We already know his destined fate. It will not change unless we do so."
[ "But he's there at least twice as early as he's supposed to be! There's no way that's in rule by his written 'fate'!" ]
The higher level Vylnari looked down at Covis, seething. He sneered.
"So what if he dies? We can always find another vessel."