-- y. 2099 S.U --
In the beginning of my birth, my fate was already decided. I was left behind inside the forest of the 99th floor inside a casket, vulnerable. Fortunately for me, a human lady with long green hair and golden eyes picked my casket up to look at my face, and covered her mouth in shock.
"Who left this poor, weak human child in this forest?"
The baby stares at her with teary eyes, which the woman had enough sympathy to not let him be. Just then, the woman notices something written at the side of the casket.
Hmm? Kaiser... He doesn't have a surname.
She thinks for a short moment and decided to keep him in. Even if the baby was royalty, she couldn't ignore the vulnerable baby out in the open.
The baby perplexed by the sight of a person carrying him, he cried in fear. But, after a few ten seconds or so, he stopped. For some reason, he felt an odd but welcoming aura surrounding her.
The baby had never felt this aura before, as he vaguely remembers seeing a shadow figure before waking up in the middle of the forest.
After spending a couple more years with her, I felt happy despite our social status living inside this town, dwelling in the deepest parts of the abyss.
From the moment I set my eyes at her, I felt that I would be safe from any danger. I believed that she was my mom. She is the kindest person I have ever known and every day, I try my best to make her feel proud.
-- y. 2104 S.U --
4 years and 363 days have passed, and we see Kaiser and Miori walk in the streets.
Kai walks outside for the very first time in his life, while he clutches Miori's hand for balance.
He closely observes the lively town, with all its chatters and murmurs. Amazed, he excitedly asks his mom where they were going. But the mom didn't get to hear his request and asks him a question instead.
"Aren't you scared Kaiser?" Miori asks.
"No, I'm not mom..." Kaiser replies while smiling and shaking nervously, with sweat running down his face.
Miori hysterically laughs from the sight of this, and reminisced about the old days about her and her parents...
Strangely, every information about her parents were erased in her memory after their passing. She didn't forget what they did for her, but she forgot who they were in the first place very instantaneously without any prior sign.
All she knew about them, was a shadow.
Deep in thought, she spaced out and looked above, stared down the benevolent sky in veneration. Kai confusingly looks at her face, which he then gently grabs to her shirt which was a success on making her divert attention.
"Ah.. Sorry Kai! Let's go by some yummy ripened starberries in the store!"
"Yeah!"
A few hours later...
The town dimmed in darkness and the syntheticite on the street lamps glowed a bright white, and both Miori and Kaiser was walking down the street like normal.
As they were walking, numerous people noticed the shining blue hair and eyes that Kaiser had. Unfortunately, anywhere you go no matter what universe you traverse, gossiping still remains.
"That blue hair and eyes.. It's a sign of royalty."
"Eww.. What's a noble like him doing here? Is he feeling sympathetic to us? Really?"
Kaiser lowers his head in embarrassment while he grabs on the palm of Miori.
"Don't worry Kaiser, you're special. They don't know anything about you, only you know yourself the most." She says, with a warmhearted smile.
Kaiser smiles back, and Miori remembers something.
"So Kaiser.. It's almost time where you get your talent examination! Are you ready?"
"Yes!! I'm excited on what my talent will be!"
Talent Examinations uses a plate made with a special kind of stone called Archaic Stones. which if you place your hand on it, the stone plate will write the talent on which you are born with and can show which talents you can polish. Kaiser can legally take his examination when he turns 5, which he will on this midnight.
The next day, Kaiser's Birthday. December 31, 2104 S.U.
Kaiser has officially turned 5 years old, he is technically old enough to take the Talent Examination.
He wakes up while sitting on his bed lost in thought, while feeling nervous and excited at the same time.
"Kaiser! Let's go!" Miori yells while preparing her purse.
"Yeah! I'm coming mom!" He replies.
A short while afterward, Kaiser and Miori take a stroll through the streets towards the Examination Building located near the central square. As they walk, Kaiser's legs tremble with nervousness.
"What's up Kaiser? You feeling scared?" Miori asks him, sarcastically.
"No..! I'm not nervous.!" He replies.
After filling up a few forms and waivers, they proceed to the test area with the stone placed in front of Kaiser.
The test examinator wore a grey uniform and had black hair and brown eyes. He reassured Kaiser that nothing bad would happen.
"Now kid, all you need to do is lay down your hand on this stone, and close your eyes and focus on nothingness."
Focus on nothingness huh. This black eternal space...
"This might be hard to get at first, but all you need to do is relax, no need to tense up and focus."
2 words begin to form in the stone tablet, which were "μαγεία, ξιφομαχία".
As Kaiser opened his eyes, he remembers a remnant of a memory from his past. Possibly a clue on who his parents were.
"Woah, kid, you got magic and swordsmanship talent! If you polish your skills, you might become very powerful soon!"
"Anyways, forgot to introduce myself but, my name's Lance Augustine."
"Ah, Lance, thanks for examining my son's talent."
They both move outside the area after a while. But Kai gains an uneasy feeling, as he looked back at them, all he could feel was a variety of intense gazes from innumerable people.
Huh.. What's wrong with them? Something's wrong with this town..
"Mom, what's wrong with them?" He asked.
"Kai, don't ask that question in the open. They're acting quite strange today." Miori replied.
After walking for a few ten minutes or so, they reach their house. But the unusual happened, a knock was heard and a bunch of shadows started appearing outside the house, as if something was controlling them.
Something's not right here.
Miori thought, and the noise didn't stop either. More extreme actions were done, such as breaking of windows, and loud metal clanking.
"What's happening? Why are all the people around our house?"
"Don't worry Kaiser. Mom will take care of this. Hide here in the bedroom, I'm going to set up a magic barrier here to protect you. Until then, just wait here. Alright?"
Miori quickly ran towards the balcony of the house and scans the town for any outside raid, and she sees someone clothed in a black hoodie that controlled stygian magic. He was the cause of the townspeople's hypnosis.
"Wait right there!" Miori yelled, and diverted her focus to chanting.
"O great tree of Risutin. Grant us magic for eternal protection, Volare."
She started to fly without wings, by using flying magic. Shortly after, she caught the hoodied man near the alleyways and confronted him.
"Hey! What are you doing, invading the Hidden Town?!" Miori screams, frustrated.
The hoodied man pulls up his hoodie to reveal his face, which shocked Miori.
He was a teenager in his 17's, he had golden hair and had a badge of a C-Rank Mercenary of Orukia, the city of the 54th floor.
"Huh? What's a guy in the 54th floor doing here?"
"I'm simply following orders, that's all. Just to make you not forget... My name is Rishiki Owen." The boy replies calmly.
He fled the scene by using stealth, an item-based magic.
Rishiki.. Owen?
The town turned back to normal as if nothing happened, which Miori rushed to their home to check if Kaiser was alright.
She spots Kaiser laying down on his bed while sleeping peacefully, and slightly chuckles from it.
Seriously... What was that?
After that incident, the town became happy again and a new defense unit was formed, until 10 years later, a new star appeared.
-- y. 2113 S.U --
Miori notices the familiar sound of the door chime and habitually welcomes Kaiser, until she noticed two peculiar-looking kids at the back.
"Hmm..? Kai? Who are these kids?"
"I saved them from a wolfmen attack. They held on pretty well."
She calmly asks for their name, which both of them replied at the same time.
"Rishiki Zion."
"Rishiki Talia."
Her eyes widen as she heard the very name "Rishiki". As she grinned, she questioned on what these kids would become in the future.