Human's are greedy creatures, one will never be satisfied with what oneself had acquired. We need more, we want more, we get more. In essence, Humans are quite similar to the void, someone attempts to convince themselves.
A pair of eyes stare at a circular object, the object is hollow and empty, an opaque black sheen covering it. Suddenly small drops of an unknown black substance enter the object as it darkens considerably. 'Finally, He's awakened.' a voice spoke out in a never ending void.
Look into the void, and the void looks back some say. The void has taken a liking to someone. What will happen when they look into the void?
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2058 - An unknown location
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A cold breeze struck Takami's face, successfully awakening him from his slumber. He touched his numb, cold, face and, in a futile attempt to shed his slothful mindset fuelled by his fatigue, proceeded to try to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Much to his chagrin, when he opened his eyes darkness greeted him with a bountiful smile. 'Am I currently in the void?' Takami wondered, his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, he could make out certain fuzzy outlines of what appeared to be furniture and could hear the sounds of faint murmurs coming from somewhere.
"I see you have finally awoken." spoke Yuki. "Where ... am I?" queried Takami, "Well, fortunately for you, Tobias and I were present when you blacked out, so we were able to help you when you became unconscious due to the heavy strain fighting against the being of darkness had placed on your body." rebuked Yuki with a stern, reprimanding, tone.
After promptly thanking Yuki for helping him out when he was unconscious due to his reckless actions, Takami questioned where he currently was, "Well kid, Tobias took you back to his warehouse where he teaches his apprentices. It seems that he has the intention to take you on as a new apprentice of his." replied Yuki, "Lucky You." he sarcastically added. "Well, how come I can't see anything?" asked Takami. "Dark beings dislike light, that much should be obvious." chuckled Yuki, "You'll have to use the [Void Eyes] technique to be able to see anything in here, since the technique gives you the ability to retain your vision in darkness." he explained.
Focusing on the dark energy within his core, Takami moved it towards his eyes, resulting in them turning pitch-black. Suddenly his surroundings became visible, from what he could see, he was inside a large warehouse. Takami reckoned that the warehouse was about 50 meters wide in each direction, and about 20 metres high. He was lying down on an obsidian coloured couch when he heard a voice, "Tobias, why did you bring a human here? Is he your new body?" enquired the voice.
A deafening silence rang out for a few seconds before Tobias replied, "No, rather he a new apprentice of mine, like yourself.". "What? A human? Why would you take such a puny lower being such as himself as your apprentice?" the enraged voice demanded an answer, his brown hair bobbed up and down as he angrily displayed his confusion to his master by waving his arms around frantically. "He has much potential for the dark arts, even though he is a 'puny lower being', he can manipulate dark energy like you and me without being taught how, he's a natural." explained Tobias with a scoff.
"A lower being able to manipulate dark energy since birth? Preposterous!" exclaimed the voice, their voice laced with surprise. Loud footfalls reverberated within the semi-empty warehouse, garnering the attention of the owner of the voice and Tobias who promptly shifted their gaze towards the source of the sound. "Thanks for your help." Takami spoke, "No problem, you did a number on that lower baron ranked dark being, even if I did end up having to help you at the end." intoned Tobias.
"So you can't even take care of a lower Baron ranked dark being on your own huh, puny indeed." scoffed the voice. "That's enough Markus." scolded Tobias, " I see that your dark core had been replenished through absorbing dark energy from your surroundings, your body must have done this unconsciously whilst recovering since you still haven't learnt how to manipulate dark energy." assumed Tobias. 'Well, not yet thought Tobias.
Markus looked at Takami in awe for a split second before quickly composing himself, "Huh, You still haven't even learnt to manipulate dark energy?" mocked Markus, who thought to himself, 'He nearly beat a lower Baron ranked dark being whilst not even being able to manipulate dark energy? From what I can feel he must be a pseudo ranked Baron at best!'
Tobias and Markus were sitting on chairs around a table drinking a unknown liquid in two different mugs; Tobias's mug was pitch black with small illustrations written in a language unfamiliar to Takami, whilst Markus's mug was a standard black design with a '#1' illustration on the side of the mug imprinted in red ink. 'Tells you a lot about their personalities, huh." pondered Takami.
Tobias stared at Takami then at the chair in front of him, as if asking if Takami wanted to sit down to which Takami happily obliged, making his way over to the chair he sat down, only to be met with a frown, Markus's frown his brown hair moving frequently as if it had a mind of its own.
Nevertheless before Markus could make a comment Tobias spoke, "Yuki, how is old man Zuma? Has he finally climbed the towering stair case?". A few seconds after this Yuki materialised from within Takami with a grimace on his face, "Yeah... Koizuma... he died seven years ago...", a sigh was emitted from Yuki. "About time." remarked Markus with a grin.
Ignoring Markus, Takami enquired how Tobias knew his grandfather, "Yuki hasn't told you? He was a dragon among dark entities, a real powerhouse who fell in love with a human girl like an idiot and threw his own race away." replied Markus with a demeaning tone.
"He was a good friend, a strong being above everyone else." reminisced Tobias, "Anyways, I owe your old man quite a lot; it's my duty to teach you what you need to know about the dark arts, to keep you safe and more if you so wish." said Tobias.
"When do we start?" enquired Takami, Markus giggled with a grin splayed on his face, his hair bobbing up and down energetically, "As soon as you want." replied Tobias. Takami had a bad feeling about this as soon as he looked at Markus's grin but reminded himself of his resolve, taking a deep breath, "Let's start now then." stated Takami.
"That's alright with me, but I recommend that you get something to eat first, you might be out for a while." suggested Tobias. "Since your about to be taught how to absorb dark energy from your surroundings, and unlike many others can manipulate your dark energy to a decent level, why don't I teach you how to materialise objects." said Tobias.
"Materialise objects?" questioned Takami, "Indeed, in order to accomplish this feat you must first clear your mind and picture the item you wish to materialise, there are rules to this though. First, the object you materialise must not consume more energy than you currently have or can store. Second, the object must not alive. Third, the clearer image you have of the item and the deeper level of understanding you have of the item, the less dark energy it requires to materialise." clarified Tobias. "There are more rules, but they are not important as of current." added Tobias.
Takami slowly nodded and closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. Slowly time passed, one minute turned into two, two turned into three and suddenly fifteen minutes had passed. "It seems like humans can not easily clear their mind completely, such a shame." jeered Markus with a proud smirk.
"You will have to practice clearing your mind then, It could however be due to your underdeveloped dark canals restricting the flow of your dark energy, thus inhibiting the manifestation of the item you wish to create.
For now I'll demonstrate Materialisation to you." said Tobias with a hint of disappointment laced within his tone. Tobias closed his eyes for a few seconds before a dark mist started to seep out of his palms, forming a mug of the same black liquid that Takami had seen him and Markus drinking earlier.
"This is condensed dark energy, formed from the materialisation of my dark energy into a consumable substance. Dark beings, such as myself, prefer to consume concentrated dark energy over anything else, hence why they possess humans and use their lifespan to absorb dark energy from their environments to form it." Tobias pushed the mug towards Takami, gesturing for him to consume the liquid.
Slowly lifting up the mug and eyeing it suspiciously, Takami downed the liquid inside the mug. A burning sensation erupted from his throat, as if Takami had just swallowed scalding water. The taste was terrible and the liquid was vicious. As he clawed at his throat, Takami fell on the table in front of him and started to writhe in pain, almost as if he were being choked. "Since he has drank some of my dark energy I can use this opportunity to start the process." spoke Tobias, optimistically.
Tobias moved his fingers together and snapped them together producing a smooth sound, Snap. Takami's expression of agony seemed to multiply tenfold as he glared at Tobias hatefully, unable to bare the pain anymore Takami fell unconscious. Yuki, who had been floating next to Takami the whole time, finally spoke, "You chose the more painful method it seems, making him consume your energy and then making it attack the boy, forcing the boy's body to open its dark canals in order to absorb dark energy and defend against the sudden attack will have its side effects." sighed Yuki.
"He'll be fine, I used the same method on this body, look how it turned out." said Tobias, who proceeded to jokingly pose and comb his fingers through his black hair. 'If he is the offspring of that man, there's no way he'll die because of something small like this. Plus, this method has its benefits, you don't have to go through the usual three month training course to open one's dark canals like normal. It is only a tad bit more dangerous, well since it has a 89% chance of death most dark beings choose not to.' thought Tobias, who had an improved image of himself.
"Human's have a short lifespan, a measly one hundred years, it makes me wonder why old man Zuma chose to rid himself of his pseudo immortality just to feel the 'urgency of death'." pondered Tobias. "We all questioned his actions at the time." replied Yuki.
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2058 - Near the Sovereignty's Capitol
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"Shall I assume that all of the members of [Task Force 5] are present?" enquired a deep voice. A light entity floated forward, representing the others, and spoke, "you would be correct in assuming this. Are you the new commander of [Task Force 5] which I have heard a lot about?".
"That is indeed correct. I have been assigned to this post by the higher ups in the Capitol, [Task Force 5] have been tasked with the destruction of the planet Earth located in the Milky Way Galaxy." declared the deep voice.
The light entity which had chosen themselves as the current representative of [Task Force 5] was wearing a menacing smile, "as the previous vice-commander of [Task Force 5] I, Michael of the esteemed house Cranford, challenge you to a duel for the position of commander." Michael stated.
"Fine, Michael was it? If this will help the cohesivity of our team, then so be it. The name's Thomas, shall we head over to an arena now?" grunted Thomas.
"That would be most optimal, Thomas..." Michael slowly said Thomas's name, looking towards him, receiving a firm nod confirming that Michael's pronunciation was indeed correct.
"Now, now, I doubt the sovereignty would approve of your squabbling. Although I am sure they wouldn't mind their loyal subjects indulging in some entertainment every now and then." scolded another entity. Michael turned his head to his left and analysed the entity, 'Lady Jesse from the house of Fitzgerald, one of the most powerful houses closest to the sovereignty. Jesse Fitzgerald is said to be a prodigy in manipulating light energy, apparently her control over the basic luminous arts is said to be at the level of what the children of the sovereign can perform, thus earning her father, Zack, much prestige within the Capitol. I wonder why she was assigned to a Lower Bracket Task Force?'
Michael sympathised with anyone who Jesse deemed a hostile. Following Jesse's approval, the rest of the members of [Task Force 5] nodded their head in agreement, clearly eager to see a good fight between their current commander and vice-commander. It was not long after [Task Force 5]'s arrival at a large white room, which would serve as the arena, that the soldiers had started to place bets on who would win.
"Peter, 500 xen, equivalent to one month's pay. I bet it all on the new commander, Thomas." spoke Andrew, 'Although he is from common birth, I've heard rumours of his overwhelming strength. Furthermore he must have many connections in order to become the leader of a task force without any previous experience leading a Task Force unlike Michael. He must be pretty frustrated.' thought Andrew.
"You must be crazy, but I ain't complaining about free money." replied Peter who followed their bet with shouts of encouragement towards Michael who was equipping a protective artefact to measure how much damage had been dished out and received, whilst simultaneously protecting the user.
As the two light entities entered the room, Michael produced a spear within his right head and a shield in his left, the artificial light reflected of his equipment producing a blinding gleam as he reinforced his legs with light energy, sprinting forwards and thrusting his spear.
Following this sequence of actions, Thomas synthesised a large war hammer and slammed it into the ground, with one hand, producing a large shockwave which hit Michael and sent him flying backwards. The shockwave itself seemed to cause no damage, apart from making Michael's feet numb, 'This guy's strength is outstanding... Then how about this?' .
Michael produced a large white intricate bow with what seemed to be enchantments engraved into the sides of the bow written in italics, 'let not the truth be obfuscated' one read. They lighted up blue as Michael lifted his right hand outwards to his side, producing a long, sharp white arrow, the head turning blue when inserted into the bow.
A white, thick, pure white mist erupted from Thomas's hand as it fell to the floor, slithered about half a metre in front of him, forming a large white shield about 5 centimetres thick protecting his large body. The shield glowed blue a few times as it solidified signalling that it was fully synthesised.
As Michael pulled back the arrow which he had inserted into the bow, a small stream of white mist flowed through Michael's wrist and onto his back forming two short swords which slotted into his back pockets for holding weapons. This sequence of actions had gone unnoticed by Thomas who had raised his war hammer in a cautious manor.
'Shit.... He's on guard. I was going to capitalise on his carelessness. It's not like I haven't heard about the rumours about his strength.' Michael grimaced as he turned 180 degrees and shot the arrow, the power of the power shooting him like a projectile towards Thomas's shield at a very high speed.
Michael equipped the two short swords from his back and pointed them at the same spot of the shield, the very centre. At the first point of contact the two short swords cut through the shield like butter, shattering it; Thomas had risen his war hammer, smashing it downwards towards Michael. After seeing the set of short swords equipped on his back when he turned around to sent himself flying towards his shield, Thomas readied himself for Michael's attack by preparing a counter.
Michael's legs became enveloped in a white mist, solidifying, as he kicked the front of the war hammer sending it flying out of Thomas's grip as Michael used the opposite and equal force of his kick to perform a summer sault. Now, although it might have seemed to the audience that Thomas's grip strength was not enough to hold onto the weapon, it was quite the opposite in reality.
Letting go of his only weapon, a white mist enveloped Thomas's fists and legs. It was thicker than the white mist that had surrounded Michael's legs, displaying how Thomas was of a higher rank than Michael due to his light energy being more pure and dense, thus being more powerful as a by-product. Thomas was a natural at Martial arts, so his fists were his preferred weapon of choice, not that he would let Michael know that.
Michael leaped towards Thomas, his right and left swords slashing towards Thomas's chest horizontally. In order to guage Michael's strength, Thomas decided to take his attack, raising both his arms as if he were guarding in a boxing match. The edge of the short swords morphed into small teeth, revealing two separated short swords. Thomas smirked, 'This is fun!' he though as he grinned outwardly, it had been a long time since he had an entertaining spar with a somewhat strong opponent.
There was no way that Thomas could fully protect himself from the serrated blades, which he had originally planned to block them with his arms. He no longer had enough time to move his arms away. Serrated blades were more effective when destroying reinforced body parts, due to the layer which envelops the body parts normally being thin, unlike large shields which are good at protecting against serrated blades.
'It seems this guy has learned a thing or two on the children's playground ' thought Thomas, blade morphing mid-battle was something that required quite a bit of battle experience. One must first clear their mind completely to morph or synthesise an item, so to do this mid battle and throw everything away including the fear of death, even if this was a mock battle, was still an impressive feat to do.
Michael grinned, 'This is it! Victory shall be mine!' , in this kind of duel, the first to receive pure damage loses, Michael's blades slowly cut through Thomas's reinforced light energy as the length of the blade connected with Thomas's arms.
Just as Michael's swords were about to break through Thomas's protective layer of energy, they stopped. Michael frowned, he looked upwards at Thomas to find a crazed grin splayed across his face. "I'm not the only one with a few tricks up my sleeve." he spoke. A white mist had enveloped Michael's serrated blades, solidifying and enveloping the blade within his arms.
A thick white substance enveloped Thomas's legs which quickly solidified, Thomas roared as he lifted his large right leg and round house kicked the now immobile Michael in the skull, sending him flying toward the end of the room. In the few moments that Michael had to react, he protected his head with light energy, which was broken by Thomas's legs which were covered in a more dense layer of light energy.
A loud blaring sound erupted within the room, it was clear to everyone in the crowd who had won. "Free money you had said? Well you would be correct, pay up Peter. 500 xen I remember?". laughed Andrew loudly, "Ok, Ok, you were correct, I'll tell the new commander to give you my pay check for next month." Peter grumbled with a large frown evident on his face.
'If I had known that the new commander was above the pseudo Earl rank then I would have bet on him. This just goes to show the difference in strength between the different levels in a rank. He's probably at the lower Earl or Middle Earl rank... Unless he wasn't showing us his full power.' the though sent a shiver down Peter's spine.
'I wonder how strong, the rulers of the universe, the Sovereignty are? ' pondered Peter.