Kai's body relaxed as he focused on the strange sensation emanating from his penance core. He felt like he was on the brink of achieving something significant when suddenly the door to his room opened, and two guards strode in.
"Really? Couldn't you have picked a better time mate?" Kai quipped, thoroughly unamused by the untimely interruption.
The guards stared at him with an inscrutable expression, exchanging a furtive glance before turning their gaze back to him.
"Stand up and come with us," the guard with the deepest voice commanded.
Kai slowly rose to his feet, an uneasy feeling gnawing at his gut. He had no idea what was happening, but he was certain it couldn't bode well - or perhaps, it could be the break he'd been longing for.
"Life in this world had been nothing short of an adventure, and if this were a novel, I would certainly be deserving of a break," He mused to himself as he trailed behind the stoic guards down the dimly lit hallway.
"Say, why are the walls so barren?" Kai attempted to spark some conversation, but the guards remained silent, much to his chagrin.
"Well, I guess they are committed to the whole stern-soldier act," Kai thought wryly, as they arrived at a strange metal door. One of the guards deftly entered a code into the keypad, and the door slid open with a hiss, revealing a pitch-black void.
"Get in," the guard barked, shoving Kai inside.
"Now what?" Kai got in and demanded, feeling increasingly anxious about this whole encounter.
"You're such a nuisance," the guard spat irritably. "This is just an elevator for Psion's sake!. Now if you'll step aside, we can escort you to the exit of this facility and be done with this."
Kai shrank back, feeling utterly foolish. The guards stepped into the elevator, and one of them swiped a card at the panel in front of them. The elevator hummed to life, its lights flickering to illumination.
'Ahh!... What do you expect me to believe if you don't answer me and give me the dead eye look and then tell me to go in a dark room,"
He thought to himself annoyed, even though he had an inkling of where they were going.
Kai was taken aback by the silence of the elevator's descent - it was eerily quiet. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something momentous was about to occur, and he braced himself for....
"...Nothing?"
The elevator finally came to a stop, and the doors slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a bustling crowd of people going about their daily business.
Kai blinked in surprise, momentarily taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere. The guards ushered him forward, leading him towards the exit door.
As they walked through the crowd of people, Kai couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between the stark and sterile environment of the facility and the vibrant energy of the world outside.
People were laughing, chatting, and going about their lives, seemingly oblivious to the prison that existed beyond the walls of the facility.
Kai's thoughts were interrupted by one of the guards who nudged him slowly, signalling for him to move faster. He quickened his pace, eager to leave this strange place behind and return to the relative safety of his own home.
"Wait! I don't have a home here!, so the only place where I may be going is the training facility of the awakened, where I will be trained for...well survival."
He groaned thinking of all the training he had to do.
As they were walking he looked at the people again and was surprised to see they were so nonchalant seeing these officers.
One thing he did notice was that the architecture was a little different from how it was on Earth.
They finally reached the exit door, and the guards swiped a card to unlock it. As they stepped outside, Kai breathed in the fresh air and felt a sense of relief wash over him.
He turned to see if the guards were still there, but they had already vanished back into the facility.
Kai looked at the building in which the facility was located and he couldn't help but marvel at the intricate architecture of the facility's building.
It was unlike anything he had seen before, with sleek lines and a polished exterior that gleamed in the sunlight.
He looked at the sky and found it to be a brilliant shade of blue just like it was on Earth and the same old sun shun brightly delivering its warm grace on everyone and breathed in a mouthful of fresh air.
Kai stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of the wind whistling and birds chirping and the sound of people going about their day.
'After all I have been through after just arriving in this strange world it's good to see the civilised world again.' Kai sighed.
Just then an irritated voice came from his right.
"Hey!, stop looking foolishly in the sky and get in the vehicle, the world isn't gonna wait for you and certainly neither am I"
He moved his head to where the voice came from and was surprised to see a small bus filled with a lot of people in the same age as him-as far as he could tell.
And also a head sticking out of the driver's seat looking at him impatiently.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
"Hey! Didnt you listen!" The driver linked honked this time.
Kai quickly made his way to the bus, feeling a bit embarrassed about his moment of awe.
"Well, who could blame me?, new world, new powers, monsters and a different realm connected to this world and a bit of...backstabbing, It almost feels like a dream" Kai sighed and stared at the bus while he made his way to it.
As he climbed aboard, he was greeted by the sight of a group of young people who all looked like they were in their late teens or early twenties, their faces dull.
They looked at him curiously, but also with a bit of sadness, there seemed to be something hidden beneath their curious eyes, something like fear.
'...Fear? What are they fearful of? Of going into the training facility or going into the Awakened's Nexus? Maybe going into their first nexus is scaring them off and perhaps it should scare them! after all these people should also have survived their first trial and who knows how horrifying it must have been for them or what vile creature or situation they must have faced.'
'But...'
'Why am I not feeling this fear, after all I should be the one most affected by this, but...'
'...I was enjoying the sky and birds chirping.'
Kai glanced at his hands and they were shaking and he had labored breathing.
'...Why am I still not feeling fear. if I am not feeling fear then why am I shaking'
He moved his head upwards and saw that every one was looking at him weirdly but strangely there was compassion in it.
'Have I really changed that much or am I in the process of changing'
He realised that the bus was already moving and he was just standing in the middle.
After this strange realisation he didn't have the energy to start a conversation, so he made his way to an empty seat at the back of the bus.
The bus moved ahead as intended, and Kai stared out of the window, watching as the city passed by in a blur, his mind occupied with what happened from the moment he came to this world.
He glanced at the buildings and saw that those that were tall and imposing, with futuristic designs that looked like they were taken straight out of a sci-fi movie.
But other than these most of the other buildings had simple designs like they were on earth.
The bus finally came to a stop in front of a large building, and Kai stepped out, feeling a little apprehensive about what lay ahead