"Hmmph." Drakis rubbed his eyes as he woke up. "Where am I?"
As he looked around, Drakis found himself in a weird place. He rubbed his eyes again, almost feeling like he was imagining everything.
After a few seconds the place was still there, so he could do nothing but accept it.
Somehow, he had escaped the clutches of death and ended up here, in a bed far more comfortable than he thought existed.
More than that, the entire room was alien to him.
Across the bed there were some wooden blocks, which he assumed were storage units. There was a huge one on the ground and five of them built into the wall.
They surrounded some sort of magical box. He didn't think this box was some kind of storage unit because people were dancing in it.
It obviously wasn't some kind of play because the location and angles changed too much. There was some dark magic at work there.
Yet somehow, Drakis couldn't help but feel enamored by the magical box. Therefore, he sat there for a few minutes, completely engrossed with the discovery.
Then a loud knock forced him out of the trance.
"Hey! You awake!" A loud and cheerful voice called as she burst through the door anyway.
"Huh?" Drakis murmured, suddenly having his connection with the box broken.
The story was quite interesting too. Some midgets were trying to take a ring across a hellish landscape in an attempt to save the world. He almost wished he could begin a journey like that.
But when the woman spoke again, Drakis decided that he didn't mind the interruption.
"Oh good, you are!" The woman exclaimed, clutching some kind of paper in her right hand. "I've got your first match all set up, so follow me!"
Drakis nodded, already thinking about the upcoming battle. Because he had no Mana or special bloodline abilities, there was no doubt the fight would be tough.
That was no excuse to lose, though. Above everything else, he needed to get stronger. In order to get stronger, it was obvious that he would have to fight.
And fight.
And fight.
"You're a funny one!" The woman said as she tilted her head with a smile. "Most newcomers either shake themselves to death or act like brooding little Sasukes."
"What's a Sasuke?" Drakis whispered as he jumped off the bed.
"Eh, just some character," she said as she shook her head. Then, as if she forgot something, she smacked her forehead before saying, "Hold up. I need to check your status."
With those words, she pulled up his system screen. As Drakis stood there a little confused, the woman shook her head and mumbled, "I always forget."
Drakis watched as her eyes went down the system screen. He already knew there was going to be some snide remark about him having no Mana. There always was.
But not for much longer.
"What's this?" The woman whispered in disbelief, her eyes stopping at something specific. Her eyes darted between Drakis and the system, as if she had seen something entirely unexpected.
"Uh, this is Drakis, right?" she said, trying to force some authority into her now shaky voice. "And, uh, you just got here, right?"
Drakis nodded.
"Interesting." The woman shook her head again before saying, "I think this thing is broken. Let me reboot it."
"It isn't," Drakis said plainly. "I have no Mana or bloodline abilities."
It was the harsh truth he had endured forever. Even if he was born into a position of power as great as the Emperor's son, it didn't matter.
Because he never even had the potential for strength.
However, the woman merely shrugged when she heard his words. Reaching into her chest pocket, she took out some kind of metal tablet thing and began tapping it rapidly.
"That's not it," she murmured. "We get plenty of talentless people here. Some grow strong, some die. Nope, you are an enigma because of an entirely different reason."
Drakis raised an eyebrow as she continued assaulting the tablet. 'She doesn't care about my lack of talent at all? And what was that she said? About how some grow strong and some die?'
Squeezing his fists tightly, Drakis knew exactly which one of those he would become.
"Okay, there we are!" The woman cried triumphantly.
A second later, a reboot message flared in front of him. Then the system went dark for a moment.
Drakis watched the screen intently, waiting for it to turn on again. If there was something wrong, he wanted to know what it was.
[Ding!!]
The second the screen turned on, Drakis studied its contents. However, as far as he could tell, it was completely the same.
And glancing at the woman, he knew he wasn't missing anything. Her mouth was completely agape. She instantly slammed her hand against it, clearly trying to hide her shock.
"What's wrong?" Drakis asked.
"Uh..." The woman quickly forced a smile on her face, though her red hue completely betrayed her. "Nothing. It's fixed now."
'Sure,' Drakis thought. It was obvious she was hiding something big, but he knew better than to press on too hard.
This place was entirely foreign to him, so it would be best to learn more about it before causing conflict.
"Anyway, follow me!" The woman suddenly shouted before leading Drakis out of the room.
As he approached the door, he noticed that there wasn't any room on the other side. None that he could see, anyway. The entire doorway was blocked by some kind of white veil, as if a curtain was draped over it.
However, the woman kept on walking as if it was completely normal. Drakis studied it for a second. Maybe there was some kind of crazy death trap just beyond the door.
But if he just stayed in this room, what was waiting for him? Watching that strange box wouldn't get him his revenge.
Therefore, Drakis decided to kill hesitation and simply walked through the veil as if it never existed.