"MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!"
The helicopter tremble around the air uncontrollably in spite of the soldiers anxieties, some of them have already accepted their fate.
"B-RA-O -, DO YO- CO-Y ?? DO Y-U CO--? UPD-T-E Y-UR S-ATUS!"
Bullets flashes by like cruel string of light as the pilot stops moving, adding much to the despair already in the air, before anyone of them could react, a loud crash sound happens and everything fade to black.
From the dust of the newly crash helicopter, surrounded by dead bodies of soldiers, one of them survived to stand up again, gravely wounded, he crawls his way to the nearest empty building. The building, missing a roof allow him to see rain of bullets and smoke pass by. Feeling his last moment is about to end, he takes out a picture, on the picture is a woman alongside a child with him standing with them. A tear shed down from his hollow eye as he accept death. But then the door in front of him crash down, a man roll in, bloodied from head to toe, he look at the dying soldier and try to stand up but failed and fall down, his vision slowly blur away as both him and the dying soldier meet the cold hand of the grim reaper.
.....
In the quiet asylum of nothingness, the soldier feels like his body is floating endlessly, he tries to remember what he fought for, his name, his identity, his wife, his family... but to no avail. His head aches, his memories slipping away. Suddenly, a light comes up, he quickly got sucked in...
"Lord Miyakoto, it's a boy!"
"Oh good grace!"
"Yes my queen! The prince has been birthed successfully!"
"Woah, 3 kids at once?"
....
In the library, 10 years later..
A boy walk quietly walk around seemingly trying to hide away from the maids and workers, desperately looking for his desired book about magical powers. From birth to now, it's only him that hasn't been able to show any noble perks or powers unlike his 2 siblings who have already taken controlled over their hidden ability and continue to grow as they do. Much to his father disappointment, the king of their prospered kingdom of Heaven's Grace, the most powerful and dominant kingdoms compared to other realms. However his mother, the witch of Gold never stopped believing in him, trusting that he is a late bloomer like her in her youthful years.
"Young master Joshua!"
a soft voice frightens Joshua, much to his dislike, the librarian has found him for the fifth time this week.
"Are you sneaking in again? Seriously you can just ask if you wanna borrow a book"
Joshua frowns,
"If i do that, father will know!"
The librarian reply nonchalantly,
"Of course young master, this is the Lord's castle after all."
Joshua quickly turns and walk away quickly,
"Don't tell anyone you saw me, okay?"
The librarian whisper to herself,
"How are you gonna rule our paradise if you keep doing these things?"
A few hours pass by, at the luxurious dinner table filled with food made by prestigious chefs from across the country, it should have been a moment to cherish and to share with the family, but only tensions float in the air as the high and mighty king question his third son.
"Joshua. Have you been able to control any element or anything magic related today?"
Quiet fills the air as Joshua nervously look at his father, catching his cue, the second son, quickly jumps in,
"Doesn't looks like it."
Joshua's mother, Heiwa defends him
"Don't talk to your brother like that Hanei, don't worry Joshua, it'll come eventually. I'm sure of it."
The eldest son speaks up
"But mother, how long is eventually? Last time i checked, the long history of our proud bloodline has never had anyone this late to awaken their powers. Not to mention the fact i can't even feel any bits of magic essence from him."
Joshua frustrated,
"Hey! What do you know? What if it just takes really long for me? I'm the youngest so... so.. it takes tim-"
His father slams his hand down the table, shutting Joshua up in an instant, his overwhelming aura flood the child's soul with fear.
"Enough."
With just one word, the room is again occupied with silent as everyone eat their meal and move on one by one, leaving only Joshua left in the room.
The history of the Miyakoto is a long and noble one. Joshua's father, Eiko, is a famous warrior that once was just an unknown samurai roaming the world, but one day he settled down with his wife, Heiwa, to build up a kingdom of their own, in the making of it, hardships and forces have take away many things, leading up to Eiko hardening himself even more. Born in a family of slaves, from a young age he was indulged in crimes and dirty works, being raised to be a scum at such an age has given him a dreadful view of the world, until he met the witch that would bring him warmth and love for years to come. They travelled together, fight their foes and overcome lost by each other sides, but as time goes, as his power grow, his humanity slips away, leaving spots for only the overwhelming power and status to take over, despite this, he still keep his wife close to him, maybe she is the only thing standing between tyranny and peace.
.....
In Joshua bedroom, late at night when the vicious animals come out to hunt. There lie the little ambitious child studying off the notebook his loving mother left for him, he wish to one day be on an adventure of his own, let it be taken with thrill, shock, suspense!
Tap tap tap tap.....
As the footstep comes closer, Joshua hurry to hide away the notebook to pretend he's sleeping, entering the room is a maid of beauty and elegance, she steps closer to Joshua, checking on him. He feels the terror of the maid's eyes staring at him seemingly without blinking, but then she walks away.
CLAMS! The door close and only the so familiar quiet atmosphere is with him again.
But he is paralyzed with fear when the notebook is nowhere to be found. He can only sleeps and pray for tomorrow.
...
Usually someone would come in his room to wake him up but today is different, to his surprise his room is empty and desolated, he walks outside and swiftly runs to brush his teeth, after preparing himself, he goes to the morning dining room. Where his father is waiting for him, in his hand is the notebook.
"Joshua. Eat your breakfast and come with me."
He can only follow his father order without saying a word, almost like if he dare to even speak he would be hurt by the man that has been raising him all those years.
After finishing his breakfast, they walks to the castle training ground, the place Joshua spites the most, he doesn't dislike training, he hates the fact that no matter how hard he tries, nothing happens.
"Spar with your brother Joshua."
Oh what a nightmare this has become. To make it worse for him, everyone else is here , his mother, the maid, the librarian.
"Father... bu-"
Before he can finish talking a line of wind pass through, leaving a cut on his face, furious by this, he charged forward without thinking and started punching with all his might. To him he is trying his absolute best, but to everyone else in that room he was just a weak jester trying to prove his worth as his brother evade everything. After 10 minutes, his brother speaks up,
"times up Joshua."
Everything then instantly faded to black...
Waking up again in his room, he realized night has already fallen, he quickly gets out of bed and run out of his room, walking in the cold hallway his heart ache from the humiliation in the spar. Soon he reach the castle garden, the only place that brings him peace. Sitting down on the cool grass he looks up to the sky and stare at them, even though the stars never talked, they have always been there whenever Joshua looks up, it feels like they are his only friends who wouldn't leave or judge him harshly. Tears slowly fall down his warm cheeks, his heart started to feel colder by the second.
Years pass by quickly, still no signs of him awakening his magic, even his mother lost faith in him, the castle he calls home slowly become a suffocating place. He realized he was only well treated because he was the prince, he was the Lord third son...
Humiliated and mistreated, the third son of the gracious King has disappeared without a trace, as much as he is a disappointment to the bloodline, as much of a disgrace he is to everything his father holds as a legacy, his mother still loved him even though she won't be able to anymore. Years then pass by.
Despite this, no one looked for him, but soon he will meet someone to his partner in life, romance or not, that person will change his wheel of fates, giving him a second chance for his life full of... THRILL - SHOCK - SUSPENSE!
Somewhere in the kingdom of Heaven's Grace....
Huff...huff...huff
"VOID!"
Half of the can of food disappeared, the rest started flowing out
"Ah ! The food!"
The magician quickly runs to turn it sideway to prevent the flow, then start chugging it down.
"Guh... well that was good"
The magician stop training for the day and go to his room to prepare clothes for a bath. Suddenly, outside the window a shadowy figure flash by, the people around are scattered quickly,
"Huh?!"
Running outside to see, The Magician sees one of the prince, Hanei chasing some thieves and with ease, stop them with ice magic.
"Ice Delicacy!"
The air around him started to freeze up the outlaws but miraculously is harmless for the innocents, he proudly announced
"It's alright everyone! I have subdued them successfully! Please move on with your days."
Overflowing with charisma, he quickly grab the criminals and disappear as the cold air warm up. It was nothing but a show off to feed his ego to the Magician though. Unamused, he goes back inside and diligently clean himself up.
This is Kanjuden Relicta, a 17 years old with a dream of conquering magic. This has all started when he first encountered the "void" in his childhood and he remember it like it was yesterday, it was a gloomy day perfect for catastrophe, he came from a village in the outskirt of a kingdom that was, at the time, at the war with another kingdom, his village was not noble but full of humble and hardworking farmers. Living with his parents, he used to dream of continuing his father's work and work as a farmer to provide for him and his future family. That reality would soon be shattered by the cruel blades of starving and rogue barbarians. They came in unexpectedly, used women and children as sex outlets, killed all the men and robbed the hard earned food, the moment they came into the village, he was still just sitting on the family table, chewing rice with his mother like everyday, a soldier came in, stabbed his mother through the heart and kicked him to the ground, the giant's kick was more than enough to suffocate the rice in his throat and made his vision blurry, confused and scared, he cries out but to no avail, running outside he sees everything engulfed in flames. It was a vision no one should experience in their life. Sprinting to the farm, praying his father would be there, but to his horrors, his father was there... as a lifeless corpses, organs out on the fields, it painted a brutal painting of the wheats in scarlet. Unknown to him, a soldier appeared from behind preparing to behead him until he disappeared. Turning back, he sees the soldiers slowly disappear one by one, without a trace, as if they are being evaporate... no, simply cease to exist. Then, out of thin air, a figure appeared in front of the scared and teary child.
"Poor one, you must be scarred by these cruel pigs inhumanity."
He could not uttered out a word, frozen in place, scared from everything. This was too sudden, too quick for a child to handle.
"Take my hand child. If you have the will and self control. You shall conquer even the void."
Not understanding what the figure is saying, yet instinctively grabbing the stranger hand and in that moment, everything faded to black in an instant. Waking up in Heaven's Grace, he was found by the scouts of the kingdom, he was taken in, his life continued from there. Although not a single day pass without him training his newfound magic to his maximum physical limits, he sometimes knock himself out, sometimes everything just turn black, sometimes he wouldn't be able to move for days. Despite all, he craves to have high mastery of his blessed ability to one day, void all that pains him.
Somewhere in the forest of Grace, a forest that was conquered by the King of Heaven's Grace...
The defected prince walk around, dirty and a mess, he is looking for something to hunt like everyday. An easy prey catch catches his eye, before he could barge in like a wild beast, he was stopped in time.
"Again Joshua? Come on you're better than this, shoo piggy!"
Looking up, he displeased after realizing its his friend in the forest, a dryad named Lyra.
"Come on, come back to the village, we'll have some soup." The beauty walk off into the distant, leaving the frustrated guy on the ground.
"Good grief."
Somewhere in the hidden dryad village of the forest.
"AHAHAHAHHDSJAJHDJK OH MY DAYS JOSHUA. LYRA GOT YOU DOWN WITH 1 MOVE???"
A man laugh hysterically like its the first time he ever laugh, Joshua wasn't as entertained as his friends in the village. Every since he disappeared from the kingdom he had gone to the forest to hunt for food and decided to train his physical strength to make up for the lack of magic in him. On his journey of becoming a stronger warrior than he is currently, on a faithful night, meeting his match in a beast ever so unexpectedly, it struck him down ruthlessly, but in the aftermath he had caught to the fact that it was indeed, not a wild animal out of control but a spirit summoned and controlled by a dryad of the forest. She had mistaken him for one of the barbarians from a kingdom full of raging warriors, as an apology, she offered him shelter and food in exchange that he works and keep any outsider out, sort of a guardian of the village. He started living there ever since, obtaining knowledge and techniques on the way. He had grown physically and mentally.
The next day...
Walking down the rocky path, Joshua patrols the forest in case of an intruder or a rampaging beast, although it has been ages since there was a beast the dryads couldn't control. He quickly spotted a figure walking through without any weapons on them. Thinking its just a lost wanderer, he decides to observe the person for a bit more to determine his final action.
"And i thought this place was desolated. I guess the rumors are true after all."
Before he could pose any question, the tree branch he was standing on suddenly vanished without any explanation.
"You... why are you stalking me?"
Stunned by the stranger but quickly recover his composure, Joshua reply
"I gotta ask you that. Who are you and why are you here."
The stranger stands still like a menacing statue for a few moments before answering,
"I'm Relicta, Kanjuden Relicta. I'm practicing some magic. Now answer the same questions."
Unable to find a course of action quick enough, Joshua simply choose to reply.
"I'm Joshua. Miyakoto Joshua."
"Wait you can't be the so-"
Catching the stranger off guard, Joshua swiftly take him down to the ground with insane speed and throw out a potion made by the dryad to the ground, causing hard vines to pull out and restrain the stranger movements.
"Hm. Futile."
The stranger smirk,
"Hey keep quiet, i don't want anyone to get hu-"
The vines that was restraining the stranger disappeared just like the branch he was standing on,
"You say so? Void."
Sensing incredible danger, like a thunder bolt moving as quiet as the wind at him, he dodge to the side without thinking, but nothing happens... until Joshua look back to find the boulder behind him has.. no surprise, vanished.
"A nimble one aren't you, no matter."
Charging toward Joshua with malicious intentions, the stranger started to get closer and closer, but this was all in the defected prince's plan.
"Too predictable"
While running toward Joshua, the suddenly fall down a hole that was hidden by leaves and rocks.
"If i can make vines grow, don't you think i can also just make them rot and maybe a hole? Oh the oldest trick in the book."
The stranger is wounded and ashamed that he fell for such a trick, nonetheless he stands up but realized he had run out of mana since he used too much void magic. Right now he can only sit down and wait for the next thing to happen.
"Calm down Kanjuden or Relicta, whatever you wanna be called, i dont plan to hurt you, i'm just patrolling around to make sure no one is destroying and seeing things they're not supposed to, but now that we've fought, your magic is... quite foreign to me. Mind telling what you're using? Promise i'll let you go afterward"
Relicta laugh out loud, seemingly mocking Joshua proposal
"Are you serious? I'm not saying anything. Beside, i didn't came here to kill or to explore, i'm simply finding a quiet place to practice my magic with the equipments i already brought along with me"
Joshua starting to get irritated,
"Hey hey hey, watch your tone. What i decide to do here can change a lot, if you really mean that then i'll just let you go, no problem. Just don't do anything funny, i'll get you out of there"
Relicta surprised by the calm response, gladly comply
"Didn't know you was that chill, sure how are you gonna get me out?"
Joshua proudly laugh,
"Well just get on my back! One jump is all it takes!"
Relicta looks at him like he is looking at a dumb monkey,
"This hole.... is 10 feet deep."
Joshua reluctantly jump down and face-to-face, tell him
"Trust me."
Relicta while not sure what to do, can only follow his orders and get on. To his shock, only with one jump, Joshua has swiftly got them both out of there, further more, Relicta was not the lightest person to carry, it only adds more impressiveness to what he just did.
"Oh hell, you actually did it" Changing his tone entirely, Relicta compliments him
"Well now that i know you're the real deal, are you familiar with this forest?"
Joshua look at him and back away at a safe distant just in case.
"Hey hey buddy, didn't i just told you not to explore here? I also have one more question, the magic that you are using... is that teleportation or something? I never saw anything like that before"
Relicta looks away a bit to start thinking, moments like this he looks like a statue however you look at him. Like a polished doll, maybe discard the reckless part.
"My power is granted to me by someone that saved me long ago, it's power is very complicated to explain but simple as day, if you truly want to know it, then it is already there for you to see. Or is it that you are blinded by the foundations of the already-too-well-known magic types? Open your mind Joshua, think what i just did, where did everything go."
Joshua puzzled by Relicta, choose an easier path.
"Alright i'll just bash your head in then look from there."
Shocked by the reply, Relicta answer
"Get yourself together.. Fine. I'm using "Void"."
Stunned, he started to remember what he learnt back in the village. He know a great magician dryad named Danville who once told him a tale of the ancient rulers, an era of gods, dragons and mythical beast. An age of war and absolute dominance. In the old days every being ignored every divine things. There were no evils or goods, only power and those too weak to grasp it. It was heaven for those with power and hell for the weak. Among the old rulers one of them stood out from the rest. Silent, mysterious, no other gods really knew anything about that thing. It couldn't even be called a "being" or even exist, but it was there, among them all. They knew it was capable of fearful ability, they call it "Void". To completely vanish any being and any matters at will, it was a force to be reckon with, in both ways. Then came the god of purity capable of purifying everything, it was something to revert anything to its purest stage of it's span of being. That god challenged the Void and won against it marvelously. But came consequences alongside it's "death", reality started to shred and new entities entered the world. It was a day of reckoning for the gods and the world for that matter. Different realms formed, new species sprung into life, with this event it was a clear declaration of a new age.
Joshua not buying what he was hearing, casted it aside.
"Don't fuck with me, that's impossible, you're probably just a shadow caster. Now answer me Kanjuden, what is your purpose here, the true one."
Relicta wait for a bit, again he was standing there thinking of an answer.
"I'm here to investigate a dungeon you see. If you live here then you probably know what i'm on about. I heard it's a secret to the public, something about a hundred floor deep dungeon with divine blessing at the end."
Joshua looks at Relicta shocked, this was something he'd never expect to hear.
"Oi oi oi, you just made this a lot worse, if you was you i would head back home and fuck off to bed plus forgetting today ever fucking existed. THAT dungeon you speak, is a trial for specific chosen people you see, SPECIFIC. The chosen ones are meant to be tested with 10 trials. ANY beings that aren't chosen, WILL in fact, suffer a fate of 100 floors full of danger, and i'm sure if you run out of breath after casting your magic twice or thrice, you'll die a gruesome death."
Relicta laughs maniacally
"PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT! LEAD THE WAY JOSHUA."
Surprised and pissed off, Joshua started walking away,
"Nah nah, you can look for it yourself, i'm going"
A tsk came out of Relicta but he doesn't mind the rejection
"So be it."
TO BE CONTINUED...