In an endless expanse of darkness filled with stars, a huge gold temple is seen floating. In the temple was a vast hall, and within that hall stood a long table in the shape of a half-circle, with twenty-six seats arranged around it. Twenty-four of them were occupied by people with a presence similar to, and for some, greater than that of the man from the ivory tower. One of the empty chairs was at the center of the table, noticeably larger than the rest. The other vacant seat was at the end of the table.
In the hall, there were ten women and fourteen men. Currently, they all faced a gigantic screen. A woman—the same one that had appeared on the screen in the ivory tower—stood by the screen's side, controlling its display with a device in her hand. Turning to the other people, she said, "As you can see, the garden has been opened, and 80% of all races have already entered." She tapped her device, and the screen changed to display a chart. "Can you show us the names?" one of the seated individuals asked. "Of course," the lady responded.
She tapped her device again, and the image on the screen transformed into a list of names, millions in total, each accompanied by a picture. She began scrolling through the list at a speed that made it a blur to ordinary eyes, but to those present, it appeared slow. As they scrolled, a calm voice spoke, "Stop." Immediately, the list halted, and the person who commanded it stood up, eyes fixed on the screen. "Why is he here?" the woman with long golden hair in very revealing clothes asked.
"Who?" the lady at the board inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Him," the woman with golden hair pointed at a particular image—Nicholas's. "He is here because he met the requirements." "No, Anansi, take him out now," the woman said in a low voice. "I'm sorry, Destiny, I can't do that. 'HE' commanded it." "But he's... he's a cage. I can't allow it." Destiny's voice calmed down as soon as she heard who had commanded it. "I know what they did to you was terrible, but that was in the past. You have to let go," Anansi said.
"No, I'm not letting anything go, I can't, which is why I will do everything possible to destroy him, no matter the cost. At least I have nothing else to lose." With that, Destiny left the room.
In an unknown area, Nicholas' POV continued.
Oof oof. I coughed as I slowly opened my eyes. I looked around and found myself in a huge black void. A line of messages appeared in front of me: "[Welcome gardener to Eden, God's garden.] [All requirements have been met, beginning transfer to the garden.]" 'What the heck is this? How is this even possible?' As I pondered, my surroundings changed.
I appeared standing in a large rose field, under an oak tree; the place looked beautiful, akin to what it would have been without the fire and the burning trees and fields caused by two beings fighting in the sky, a large black bird and a man wielding fire. Before I could organize my thoughts, a large fireball headed towards me.
The fireball was about to hit me when someone suddenly slammed into me from the right, sending me out of the fireball's path. "Why are you here? Leave now!" the man who saved me exclaimed. He was tall, about 183cm, with black hair and deep black eyes. He stood up from the floor where we had rolled to and spoke in a loud voice amid the noise from roaring flames and screeches of the bird.
"..."
"Can't you speak, child?"
"..."
"Well, screw this. Let's get out of here," the man cursed as he picked up my unmoving body and fled the scene. We had only run for a few meters before a voice and messages popped up in my mind:
[Beginning awakening... Error!]
[You have entered the vicinity of a rank B trial]
[Requirements not met... Error!, 'superior command' has been activated]
[Beginning forceful transfer into the trial] [Trial will begin in 3...]
[2...]
[1....].
And with those words, my vision turned black.
---
In a faraway place, a woman with long golden hair and storm-colored eyes was seen touching a crystal ball with a satisfied smile.
---
In the garden, I opened my eyes and stood up. "Now where the heck am I this time? And where is that man who was with me just now?" I murmured while looking around. I was in what looked like a room with a bed, a side table with a chair, a bathroom, a dresser, and a chest filled with clothes. The wall was made of some kind of black stone and looked worn out.
'At least I woke up in a good place compared to the others.' I didn't know where I was, so I didn't want to be hasty. I had checked the room and found nothing to use as a weapon, so I had to be careful. I sat on the bed, trying to plan my next move. "The voice, alongside those messages, said that I'm in a trial of sorts, but what is the trial all about?" As I thought, I heard a knock on the door and instinctively picked up a pen from the table beside me. "Who is it?" I asked.
I heard a confused sound as a feminine voice responded from the other side, "Um, it's room service, sir." "Oh... Okay, come in," I responded after a short pause. Hearing my answer, the person entered the room. She was a girl in her late teens, with shoulder-length pink hair, light pink eyes, and a cute face that refused to look at me. "How may I help you?" I asked in a calm voice.
"Um, sir, I was instructed by the innkeeper to check on you," she replied in a tiny voice, facing the ground.
"Why?"
"It's because you missed breakfast, sir." As soon as she mentioned breakfast, my stomach growled, realizing that I hadn't eaten anything for the past twenty-four hours. I looked at the girl and asked,
"Is there...?"
"Yes, there is."
"Okay, lead the way."
I followed the girl out of the room and into the hallway. Dozens of injured people passed by us, with occasional severely injured ones.
"What happened to all those people?" I asked the girl. She looked at my face for the first time but immediately looked away when she saw me looking at her.
'She reminds me so much of Cassie,'
I thought.
"They... they are soldiers fighting against the elves," she stuttered.
'Elves?' I had a strange expression. Weren't those creatures from kids' bedtime stories? I was baffled but knew I couldn't say anything strange, so I complied and said,
"Why are the elves attacking?"
"I... I don't know. I woke up one morning, and the whole town's on fire. Isn't that ridiculous? I know the elders have done something; why else would we be attacked..." Her former shy and timid demeanor suddenly disappeared.
The girl continued to talk, seeming unhappy about the town's current situation. Finally, we arrived at the diner just below the inn. Throughout the walk, I had gathered a lot of information, both useful and useless. All that was left for me to do was filter out the unnecessary details.
I sat down at a free table close to a wall, allowing me a full view of the entire diner, including the door and the stairs leading to the inn. Before sitting, I examined the chair and table. The girl watched my strange actions for a bit before asking what I would like to eat. I told her anything would be fine.
As she was about to leave, I asked for her name.
"I'm Mandy," she said.
"Nicholas," I replied, extending my hand for a handshake. As our hands made contact, the whole building began to shake, and screams echoed from many angles. Amidst the chaos, Mandy had a look of horror on her face.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"It's... it's the elves. They have entered the city."