...
...
...
Several minutes went by without a word being said by either person until Kay finally gathered his composure, managing to speak once again.
"...Pardon?"
The divine figure with its 3 booming voices laughed right in Kay's face.
Kay stood still as he began to really grasp the situation at hand. His death, the fact that Arteria might actually be real, and the fact that he might actually become a damn fly.
"W...What?" Everything was a bit overwhelming for him, his body shivering despite not being cold.
The overall mood of the divine figure quickly changed as it stopped laughing. Despite its face not being visible, Kay could tell the being was now annoyed.
The divine being who was several inches taller than him lowered itself to Kay's level, making eye contact with him despite its eyes not being visible.
"You are a fly." The being reaffirmed, this time right in Kay's face in a belittling manner.
Kay always thought of himself as a relatively confident individual, however, in this very moment, he couldn't speak.
The being stood, unmoving and completely in control.
Not knowing what else to do, Kay began to walk away from the figure who stood still, staring at him. He began to pick up the pace, running through what seemed like nothingness. He didn't know where he was or even where he was heading but he kept running.
As he ran, an impossibly huge swarm of flies erupted from beneath Kay, completely engulfing him.
((So...This is it, huh...))
As the impossibly large swarm of flies consumed his body he was unable to move, his body feeling completely numb. The last thing he had the displeasure of hearing was the loud arrogant laugh of the being who looked down on him.
Kay slowly gained consciousness, the soft sound of rustling leaves being the first thing he could hear.
As he came to, he quickly felt nauseous as his own vision puzzled him.
He was startled, his vision confusing like looking through multiple cameras pointed in different directions at once. He couldn't understand what he was actually looking at which caused him great discomfort.
He tried moving, extending his front legs while shaking his abdomen on the rough bush branch he found himself perched on.
From what he could deduce, he was in a forest somewhere, the trees looking more like huge towers to him and the bushes and grass, expansive and wide. He took a moment to calm down, really scanning the area he was in while slowly getting used to his new vision.
((...It seems I'm in a forest of some sort. Though after what just happened, I doubt I'm on Earth... Am I really...in Arteria?))
As Kay's mind raced, so did the world around him as the sound of hurried footsteps reverberated inside of his tiny body.
A creature resembling a deer speedily ran past the bushes' branches, slightly shaking the branch, and Kay as two other humanoid figures followed in hot pursuit. Kay moved to the edge of the branch to get a better look at the two people running.
Kay noticed the two figures were wearing light armor with emblems on their backs.
((Are they... Cosplaying??))
Kay attempted to follow them however he was still far from mastering the movement of this new body.
As Kay watched from afar, one of the armored men stopped and raised his right arm in the direction of the deer. Kay watched in anticipation as the man started shouting a language unknown to him, a small warping orange ball of flame materializing in his outstretched palm. Kay's tiny body began to tremble with awe as the orange ball of flame increased in size rapidly. The man, after finishing his mysterious chant, screamed at the top of his lungs as he launched the orange sphere of flame at the deer who had made it a few feet away before the flames charred it, completely paving a path of destruction in the process.
Kay was astounded at the sight.
((I can't believe it... This must be a dream... Hold up, am I lucid dreaming?))
The old man next to the spellcaster suddenly hit him over the head.
"YOU IDIOT! I THOUGHT I TAUGHT YOU HOW TO HOLD BACK!"
The man who cast the spell flinched.
"I'M SORRY! I still can't control it properly..."
The old frustrated man shook his head in frustration before walking over to the deer-like creature and grabbing its charred corpse.
The older man scoffed.
"I know you just recently unlocked your mana but you should know better, This was probably the last animal in this goddamn forest. What're we gonna feed the slaves with now?!"
The spellcaster remained silent as he was scolded, the other man continuing.
"If we can't find any other animals, I might just feed YOU to them!"
The spellcaster flinched at the thought of that.
"If they die, we don't get paid...Remember that."
After a moment of awkward silence, the spellcaster walked over to the other man and the creature's corpse, silently laying his hands on the charred creature, chanting another spell again in a language unknown. A soft green light began to spread from his palms and illuminate the surrounding area as the charred flesh of the deer was slowly, miraculously healed. Kay, perched on the branch couldn't believe what he was witnessing as the once charred corpse of the deer was now cleansed.
"Well look at that youngin', you did something useful for once." The cynical old man chuckled before throwing the corpse of the deer over his built shoulder.
"Let's take this baby back to the grounds, once we drop it off we'll head to the castle to see what to do about the food shortage situation."
((Castle?!))
The spellcaster nodded and they both took off in the direction they came from.
Kay stayed perched on his branch for minutes after the pair took off, completely stunned by what he'd witnessed. Somehow the prospect of magic completely overshadowed the fact that he was a fly and only one thing was on his mind.
((Learn Magic!))
Just as he found new hope in the futile new situation he was put in, the branch he was perched on broke off.
Kay fell to the ground, almost getting crushed by the branch, his view of everything aside from the sky being obscured by giant blades of grass.
((SHIT!))
He limped over to a blade of grass and attempted to shimmy up it but to no avail.
((This can't be happening.))
...
...
...
He sat in the dirt pondering his options.
((WAIT A MINUTE, I'M A FLY!))
Kay focused hard, tensing his entire body. He felt a slight wind coming from behind him as his wings began to flutter.
((I have to fly and survive if I wanna learn magic, now comeon!))
Kay flapped his insect wings, the flapping increasing in speed as he felt himself hover a bit before falling back down.
((Come on... I can do this...))
He tried again, this time running forwards with his little legs in an attempt to gain momentum before smacking his head into a blade of grass.
Kay really started to resent the divine figure who made him this way even more than before.
He began to really put everything into perspective
The feeling of insignificance slowly began to take a toll on him. He realized that at any moment, another human could come from nowhere and kill him without even knowing it or a tree branch could fall and kill him instantly. Hell, if that deer-like creature from earlier ran a few centimeters closer, he probably would've died.
He shook his head, not wanting fear to get the best of him despite knowing that he was right.
Instead, he started wondering if a fly could even learn magic.
((Wait a minute... Dad's notes said that every creature in Arteria has Mana...Then could I really?))
Kay began to focus hard, this time for another reason.
He outstretched his right appendage, envisioning himself the best he could as a fly conjuring up a huge fireball like what he saw before but to no avail.
((This is hopeless...))
He began to focus his energy back to flying, flapping his wings and jumping aggressively which seemed to allow him to hover for a few seconds.
((I'm a damn fly, this should be the easiest part!))