A boy who lived in the city of Ethereal was walking the streets alone after his parents told him to. He was walking along the roads sulking; his parents had no care for him whatsoever. He didn't know why they didn't just send him to an orphanage. Sometimes he was even hit when his dad was at his most angry. The boy scoffed.
"Ha, they just want to feel better about themselves so they can convince themselves they're good people."
He looked at the tall layered top of the city. The center of the city was a layered tower with one town on each layer. The base had the largest town, with the towns getting progressively smaller and richer as they went up. The richest one was the top, where the king lived, and it was a single castle. The boy lived on the base. His family was poor, but not poor enough that they had to live at the very bottom of the kingdom, which was a warzone of crime where morals went to die—though the crime had seemed to stop lately for some reason or another. The boy's family loved the king, but the boy himself had no opinion. He muttered to himself:
"If my parents love him, he's probably a tyrant, but hey, what do I know?"
In the world of Myrravel, the kingdom that the boy was in was one of the four great kingdoms, all of which had a king who was powerful not just in influence but in strength as well. The boy recited these things, and he found the rest of the world—and his kingdom, Ethereal… interesting. He continued to walk in the alleyway until a man walked nearby. He looked to be in his mid-20s, contrary to the boy, who was almost 13 years old. The boy ignored the man; he looked too suspicious, too pretty, and almost… scary. It was hard to explain.
The man continued to follow the boy until he suddenly walked a little faster. The boy walked faster as well. The man smiled slightly and full-on sprinted toward the boy, and before the boy had a chance to run away the man grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him over to the edge of a narrow extension of another building that looked like it had people in it.
"What is your purpose?"
The boy looked annoyed.
"Who the hell are you to corner me like this? What do you want?"
The man chuckled.
"Answer me, boy… or you will pay the price dearly. After all, you lack worth… I can tell." The man gripped the boy tighter. "So I won't repeat my question, boy. Answer it."
The boy looked up with a nervous face."My purpose? Well, I suppose it's to do good deeds—you know, like giving to charity and being kind to people. Is that a good answer?"
The man chuckled."Must I ask you why you do good deeds?"
The boy frowned."Because that's morally right."
The man gave the boy a serious look."Well I guess you could say that morality is a purpose. But what matters is one's purpose. Does morality give you a true sense of that? Are you living a fulfilling life? Purpose is the only way to define true worth, after all." The man leaned in closer. "Why do you insist on doing the right thing when you don't contribute anything to your cause? You don't give out charity money, and I don't think you're an angel. You're simply a boy who was told what to think by foolish people."
The boy lashed out."I would never listen to whatever the hell my parents have to say!"
The man shifted to lean back against the wall in the alley."Tell me, boy: why do people exist? It's to fulfill their worth. Without it, they're nothing."
The boy began to look frustrated."But I've always had a purpose. My purpose is to do good. Without it I'm nothing."
The man smiled lightly."But it's not like you do much good anyway. Serve me and you can accomplish your true purpose. You will have one of the greatest worths in the world, and you'll be given love and care by me on top of that." The man reached out his hand to the boy. "Come along with me."
The boy looked even more frustrated."But I have a family at home. It's not like I like them, but leaving them would make me no better than them. It's the equivalent of them putting me in the orphanage."
The man leaned forward until he was right in the boy's face."Your mom and your dad merely existed to birth you. You'll be a king under me, a person of true worth. Why do you feel you have to repay people you hate? You confuse me. If you believe you have to repay them, then abuse them yourselves." The man scoffed. "In the end, you'll realize purpose is the only thing that truly matters."
The boy stared in shock, absorbing the man's words. He had never thought about abandoning everything he had known, but this man was almost convincing him.
"W-Why do you want me so badly?"
The man stared at him."Because I care about you. I want to make you your best self. I care about you more than your parents do. After all, they're pretending to be satisfied with a son while actively neglecting him. They only keep you there because they birthed you; by their standards they are forced to keep you. I am not. My words speak from the depths of my heart. Serve me and you'll realize your purpose in life."
The man reached out his hand to the boy. The boy slowly reached his hand out to the man's, but he stopped in his tracks. Should he follow this man's words? He had never met someone so respectful of him. Yes—he would join this man. After all, he would regret it if he let this pass by.
The man chuckled as he grabbed the boy's hand."We'll do great things together, I assure you."
He grabbed hold of the boy's hand gently, and they walked through the alleyway to the other side.
The boy continued to walk cautiously with the mysterious man. He spoke in a cautious tone."H-Hey… do you know where you're taking me?"
The man smiled gently."I'm taking you to my home. You'll live there from now on."
The man continued to walk, his strides almost demanding the young boy keep up with him.
The boy nervously asked,"W-Why do you care about me so much? I-I'm nobody special. My parents are nobody special. What potential do you see in me?"
The man kept a straight face and continued to walk."Potential? What is Potential after all? There is no fate that binds either of us,I wish to craft you into somebody truly great. You have nothing spectacular about you. You are somebody random who will die with everything, there is no 'why' to me choosing you. I saw you and accepted you. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were clay, I knew that I could mend you into something we both could be proud of, that is the case with all, but know that I chose you."
They reached a house that almost looked like a mansion, and they entered. The inside was even more stunning than the outside; the ceiling looked to be twenty feet high, and the stone walls made the house feel important.
"Hey, mister, I don't remember asking you your name. I—I apologize."
The man stood with a blank expression, but after a couple of seconds he smiled."My name is Purpose. I gave myself that name."
The boy gave a confused look."What kind of name is that?"
The man chuckled."Now, now, you were being so polite earlier."
He lowered himself to the boy's level."Say, how about I start working you up? You'll feel much better afterward."
The boy took a moment to decide but eventually nodded reluctantly. Purpose and the boy walked through the house and entered a room that looked almost like a potion room. It was the largest room in the house, almost taking up all the space.
The boy looked around nervously."Why did you take me to this room? W-What are we going to do in here?"
The man chuckled lightly."Young boy, this room is the room where I'll make you into something truly special. You won't regret it. After all, once you're done, you'll notice the results more than the actual experience. That's is how the mind sees things."
The man walked over to what looked like a long wooden table and pointed for the boy to lie down on it. The boy walked over and reluctantly lay down.
The man smiled softly."Now it begins."
He walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a glass container that carried some kind of purple magic. He walked over to the boy and poured it into a slot—part of the table had a little extension for this sort of thing. The substance went through the machine, and the process started.
Four needles from all sides of the table extended and pierced the boy's skin. The purple goo entered the boy's blood and flowed through it. The boy screamed in pain, and the man watched with an unfazed expression. But once he saw the needles pushing deeper into the boy, he smiled softly.
"He's going to be something special… like the rest of them. No—he's even better," the man said quietly to himself.
After around thirty seconds the needles retracted and the process stopped. The boy groaned; the pain he felt was the equivalent of having five swords piercing his body. He had already hated needles, but this would probably give him a permanent phobia of them.
The man now looked close to grinning."Arise from your nap. Your purpose has come. You are now a man who serves me truly. You are not a child anymore. You are a god in purpose."
The boy looked at Purpose strangely. He felt different… the needles, despite the pain, had made him feel almost better.
Purpose walked up to the boy and reached out his hand."Arise, man of worth