The young man rose after sitting motionless, driven only by the despair that had taken hold of his heart. He could do nothing after being unintentionally teleported by something beyond comprehension.
"Why must I bear all of this? Ema... I want your warm embrace." Tears began to fall from the corners of his eyes, streaming down his cheeks like polluted river water.
In his mind he remembered the maid who had always cared for him with so much love, Ema. She was also the one who had given him the name Celis.
He clenched his hands so tightly that blood began to seep from between his fingers from the pressure. "It's all my fault... You even sacrificed yourself to save me. Maybe I should never have existed." Suddenly one of his hands slapped his own cheek very hard.
Celis saw another version of himself reflected before him.
"Are you going to waste her sacrifice after she saved you!? Are you worthy of saying that!?" the other Celis snapped, standing in front of him.
"You should fight... Don't be a coward!" Celis slapped himself hard again. "You must be yourself... Do whatever it takes to reach your goal." The other Celis slowly faded—vanishing into the darkness.
Celis fell silent, head bowed, staring at the ground. His eyes showed no trace of hope. He walked slowly toward a towering stone, clenched his fist, and struck its surface. His hand, soft as cotton, was hurt—red liquid spilling from skin battered against the hard rock.
"Damn... Hahahaha!" He laughed wildly, as if losing control.
"All right... I will try here," he said with closed eyes, slowly seeking the calm he had never known.
Crack! Crack!
The sound of fissures splitting echoed from the towering rock. Celis immediately stepped back a pace when he felt something strange in the stone before him.
"What is that?"
Suddenly a blinding white light burst from the crack. The fissure widened and crumbled little by little.
Celis instinctively raised his right hand to shield his eyes from the glare. When the dazzling flash subsided, he lowered his hand.
From the opening emerged a gigantic hand, slowly reaching toward Celis. He had not yet realized the danger standing before him. When Celis finally understood that a colossal hand—one he had never seen in his life—was before him, he was half stunned; his body froze and his heart nearly stopped. Despair once again took hold of his mind.
The monstrous hand radiated a thick aura of darkness—an aura that would hold anyone motionless like a lifeless stone statue. Wherever the dreadful aura touched the ground, the earth cracked and eroded as if swallowed by shadow.
Celis could only stare at the creature's hand with empty eyes. He resigned himself to his fate—there was nothing left he could do, even if he gathered all his strength to survive.
Slowly Celis's vision blurred. His eyelids grew heavy as the giant hand moved toward him. He finally lost consciousness.
His body remained standing even though it should have collapsed; some will forced him to remain upright.
In his subconscious, Celis stood within an endless void—dark, silent, and utterly empty. He looked around with a mixture of wonder, fear, shock, and curiosity. He saw things he had never seen in his life.
From the immeasurable emptiness came a mysterious voice, heavy and resonant. Each word echoed through the void so powerfully that Celis's eyes, ears, and nose bled.
"Hahahaha! At last, the chosen one has come!" the disembodied voice proclaimed, each syllable deafening and able to rend the endless reality.
Celis only stood there, scanning the void for the source of the voice.
"It's useless for you to try to find me."
Celis looked at the emptiness with vacant eyes, without hope to spur him on.
"What do you want from me?" Celis asked flatly, not hoping for a miracle to save her.
"Me? Want something from you?" The voice sounded contemptuous. "I merely want to tell you that you have a duty you must carry for the rest of your life."
Celis offered a faint smile—one of resignation to whatever would befall him.
"Duty? What duty is that?" Celis wanted to know what mission the unseen being would assign him.
"Your task is simple, but it was very difficult for me to reach you."
Celis lifted his head again, trying in vain to find the form behind the voice.
"How could it be difficult? Shouldn't it be easy for something abstract like you?" Celis said coldly, as if devoid of emotion.
"You would not understand, human. No one knows of me except you." The voice replied without offering further detail about itself. "Briefly, I am bound by a law," it continued, without telling him what law it meant.
"You may become an interesting spectacle for me; I will look forward to that," it said dismissively, as if Celis were merely a toy for its amusement.
"What do you mean by me becoming your spectacle?" Celis whispered. He hunched his shoulders and tightened his grip.
"I see a cruel fate awaiting you," the voice echoed, "But before that I will give you a mission."
Celis stared upward into the void. "What is my mission? Might it be too heavy?" he asked, curiosity stirring slightly.
"Simple—you must search for the secret Akashic records throughout the world."
"That's all? How do I begin?" Celis asked, raising a hand and clenching his fist tighter.
"Calm yourself. I will explain this world to you. But I am limited in what I can tell."
Celis braced himself to hear the incomplete explanation from something abstract.
"This world is founded on magic, but there are also other energies, and each race possesses a special energy. Perhaps you will not understand because you cannot use magic."
"So this world is different..." Celis murmured, his eyes still void of hope.
"A few things you should know: the universe you have come to contains billions of worlds. The cosmos is called Starhollow. I only hope you will accomplish your task."