Pain. That's what Karl could feel at the beginning. He was constantly being electrocuted by the lighting which came crashing down to the pedestal.
But for a strange reason, he didn't give up trying. He felt that there was something useful or fascinating beyond this hard time. This reason supplied him enough courage to bear with the immense pain he was feeling all over his body.
Slowly, the pain began to invade his soul. He could clearly feel his soul being damaged by some strange energy. That strange energy covered his entire soul, making him almost lose consciousness. But, still, that strange feeling never left his mind. The more he felt pain, the more strong that feeling became.
He shrieked because of the pain in his body and soul. He could feel his soul was being broken into small particles and they were being eaten by that strange energy. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. Pain overflowed his mind making him unconscious.
He woke up in a forest. Yeah, it was a forest. Thick bushes were spread all over the floor with sky-high trees shadowing the entire surroundings. Karl got up and walked on the small foot road which led to an unknown location. He just followed the road because he felt he should do it. There was something he must watch. That's the feeling in his mind. Soon he reached a grassland which was bathing in the moonlight. Of course, it was night. Earlier he couldn't feel if it was day or night because of the darkness in the forest.
He saw a deer lying on the grass with closed eyes seemingly in sleep. It was enjoying the quietness of the surroundings in sleep which he could understand by looking at its face.
But, he felt danger arriving at the place. A predatory aura began to spread through the whole grassland which made Karl to be on alert. He observed the surroundings carefully for possible threats and it didn't take much time for him to find the enemy with his spiritual energy.
On the north of the deer, there was a pack of wolves moving carefully towards the sleeping deer. Karl waited while getting ready for the possible attack. The pack stealthily reached towards the grassland and started to surround the sleeping deer. Karl identified from the first place, he wasn't a target but the deer. But Karl didn't try to leave because something told him that he had to take action for this incident.
The wolves waited for a few seconds and jumped at the deer with the speed of lightning giving no chance to the just woken-up deer to take action. At that time, Karl made a decision. He appeared in front of the deer and stabbed the nearest wolf with a sword, which he didn't know how it had come to his possession.
The wolf howled in pain with blood gushing from its wound on his chest area. It fell on the floor, struggled for some time and died.
When he was about to stab another wolf in its chest, he felt an immense pain invading his mind. That pain was not quite painful as before yet he struggled to keep up with it. The memory of the wolf showed in his mind as if he was watching a movie.
Before the pack of wolves located the deer, they were escaping from an ice-cold area which had been their previous homeland. Earlier, that area didn't have ice covering the entire surroundings. It was very much peaceful for them with lots of food to rely on. They lived as a family while enjoying hunting at night. That place has the perfect balance. Both the predators and the other animals suffered from natural disasters and other sorts of problems including water problems. In some seasons, of course, they suffered from shortages of water because of the lack of rain. But still, they enjoyed their life until the day catastrophe fell into that place. The whole area became frozen from ice making the place inhabitable. The pack lost so many members from lack of food and water which made their life more grieving.
So they decided to leave that godforsaken land hoping to find a land which is comfortable for them to live in. They had travelled past so many lands trying to get accommodation but failed. Finally, they reached the forest; Karl was in, and at the time they reached there, they smelled the scent of the deer. Hunger and sadness had driven them towards the direction of the sleeping deer.
The wolf jumped and in the next moment it could feel immense pain in his chest and then the whole world went black.
Karl regained his consciousness and rolled up on the floor and coughed several times.
Suddenly he felt guilty of killing the wolf.
Karl looked around and found that all the other wolves had retreated to the wilds and the deer was still there looking at him.
Karl got up and reached the deer.
" Sorry man, I have to find the truth."
He lifted his sword and cut through its throat in a flash making it dead in an instant.
Again he felt the pain in his head and memories of the deer started to flow into his mind.
The deer had a comfortable life in the jungle alone. He had escaped from predators and all sorts of dangers that a wild animal could face.
These memories made him more guilty of killing that wolf.
" You decided to kill the wolf because it was a wolf. You never cared about the condition of the wolf and its family.
On the other hand, you just decided to save the deer because it was a deer. And you just broke the balance of nature.
You messed with it. Did you actually have to save the life of that deer? By doing this you just let a whole pack of wolves die from hunger. You grabbed their meal! How dare you!"
A voice screamed in his head.
" I didn't know. I just…" Karl knelt while clasping his head with both of his hands.
" No one has the power to break the balance. You thought you did a good deed by saving the deer. Think, did you actually do a good deed or bad?"
After a long minute of silence, Karl muttered.
" I- I don't know!"
" Yeah, you don't know. Then why did you do it?" The strange voice asked in his head.
"Because- because it's me."
" Yeah, it's because of you, the real you. Then what kind of person are you?"
" I'm a person who helps people who are alone."
" Why are you trying to be the Supreme of the Universe?"
" Because, I don't want to be alone anymore!"
" Do you think supremacy can solve your problem?"
" I don't know!"
" Then see this."
Again another wave of memories started to flow into his mind. The pain skyrocketed again.
There was a boy, who had been abandoned by both of his parents. He was taken into care by an old high-ranking official in the Empire. As he had been spending time alone for 5 years living on streets before that old man took him in, deeply he had the desire to get revenge from all of the people who had mistreated him. He knew to do that he must become the supreme of the world.
He worked his ass off to get power to do so. He studied really hard and mastered various cultivation techniques and martial arts which made him unparalleled. Even the emperor had to give respect when he was interacting with him.
After gaining this fame and power he started to hunt down all the people who harmed him in any way. Earlier he thought, by doing so he would be able to live a peaceful life which he could not have before.
But to his dismay, he couldn't get that expected life to spend. He was all alone as the supreme of that world. No one dared to interact with him. He never thought of having friends or lovers to spend his life with. He had thought it was a waste of time and resources for him to do that!
And at last, he couldn't bear it anymore and committed suicide.
Karl's view again changed to the scene of the forest.
" Now, you know the answer." The strange voice was again heard in his mind.
" That was my past life, right?"
" Perhaps. Perhaps not. And it doesn't matter now. Now you know who you are. You are a person who hates to be alone. Now, tell me what you think about Magic"
Karl started to think deeply about what he had experienced here.
Soon, a dawn of realisation shone in his mind.
" Magic is also a type of energy which hates to be alone, just like me. So, it deals with all types of energies in the entire universe. It keeps the balance between them because it doesn't want to be alone."
The strange voice chuckled softly.
" For the first time from the beginning of the universe, you have managed to find the real you with the help of the Divinity of Magic. Well done, boy! You did well! Just don't make Magic feel alone. If it is not alone, you can do anything with it. Keep up your good work. Show the whole world the power of Magic!"