"What's happening here?" a young man barely in his teens thought to himself as he stumbled upon an intense battle between two warriors. Both were clad in gleaming golden armor, unlike anything he had ever seen before. One had hair as radiant as the sun, while the other had hair that was an almost ethereal white.
"Where the hell is this place? I was in the forest moments ago," he pondered, bewildered.
Just a short while earlier, he had been in the forest, collecting firewood for the winter. Then, for the first time in his life, he sensed something peculiar, almost familiar, calling out to him.
Following this strange feeling, he found a glowing white mass shaped like a gate. Curiosity got the better of him, and he opened it and stepped through. The next thing he knew, a powerful shockwave from his left side had sent him flying into a boulder ten meters away, knocking him unconscious.
When he came to, the scene before him looked like the aftermath of an earthquake. Craters dotted the landscape, surrounded by half-destroyed mountains. In the midst of this chaos, he saw the two men fighting, their every movement creating shockwaves powerful enough to force him to cling to the boulder to avoid being swept away.
"Who are those people? How can they be so powerful?" he wondered.
His mind was racing with questions when suddenly, a mass similar to the gate he had seen before, but more ferocious, rushed towards him.
"Did they find out about me?" he thought, panic rising. He had no experience in fighting, not even the basics. Contrary to his fears, the attack was deflected by sheer coincidence to where he stood.
"Ahhh!" he screamed involuntarily.
The two warriors, realizing someone else was present, stopped their battle and instantly moved to where the scream had come from. In a flash, they crossed the distance, their eyes scanning the area with urgency. The ground beneath them cracked and crumbled with each step, and the air seemed to hum with the residual energy of their previous attacks.
"How can a human be here? You made sure no human could enter this place, right?" the golden-haired man said, his voice a mixture of anger and confusion, as his sharp eyes fixed on the boy.
"I did. A purple-core human wouldn't even be able to detect it, let alone pass through," the white-haired man answered with a stern expression, his gaze narrowing as he assessed the situation.
They approached the boy cautiously, their golden armor gleaming under the strange light that filled the battlefield. The boy, sprawled on the ground. His body was battered, his skin charred, and blood trickled from numerous wounds.
"Then how do you explain this? This kid doesn't even have a mana core, and yet he was able to detect and pass through the gate!" the golden-haired man exclaimed, examining the boy's body with a scrutinizing gaze.
"What do you mean he doesn't have a mana core? Everyone born on Grofal has a mana core, even animals and monsters," the white-haired man replied, his brows furrowed in disbelief.
"Check for yourself," the golden-haired man challenged.
The white-haired man closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they glowed with a yellow light. He scanned the boy's body and was shocked to find not even a drop of 'Anima' in him. Where there should have been a core, there was only a hollow void, devoid of everything.
"You were right, Kellian. This kid doesn't have a mana core or even an ounce of mana," the white-haired man said, sounding more intrigued than surprised.
"Don't even think of using him as a test subject, Carl. We took an oath to never harm any being on Grofal. That's why we created this space to fight without causing harm to the surroundings," Kellian's words brought Carl back from his reverie.
"The boy's skin is charred, covered in his blood, and his internals are crushed because of the impact. Just how the hell is he still alive?" Kellian thought, his concern deepening.
"So, what are we going to do about him? Somehow, he's still alive, albeit barely, after getting hit by my attack. We ought to save him," Kellian said to Carl.
"You know that's going to be difficult. He doesn't have a core. We can't just pour life force into him; he won't be able to survive it," Carl replied, adopting a more professional demeanor.
As the two men discussed, the boy's body began to undergo a transformation. His charred skin slowly started to regain its color, and his hair grew back at a speed visible to the naked eye. The two warriors watched in astonishment. Neither knew what was happening.
Simultaneously, they poured Anima into their eyes, shifting their vision to see the tendrils of Anima connecting the boy to the world outside their created space. Remarkably, the Anima was not being refined while being absorbed into his body, as if the world itself was trying to save him. However, the tendrils lacked the energy needed to save him because they were inside the isolated space.
Exchanging a knowing glance, the warriors nodded, understanding each other's intentions without words. They began gathering Anima around the boy, connecting it to the tendrils to infuse him with energy. Their efforts paid off as the boy's condition started to stabilize.
Suddenly, the boy awoke and screamed in pain, clutching his chest. The warriors feared he might die.
The boy, regaining consciousness briefly, saw the two men up close before the pain overwhelmed him, causing him to pass out again. The two warriors, perplexed, checked his body and found him healthy, but something was different.
"Kellian, are you seeing this?" Carl asked, astonished.
"Yes, but what is it? It's not a core," Kellian replied, equally bewildered.
A small, star-like entity now resided where the void had been moments ago in the boy's body.
"It seems to be pulsing," Carl observed.
"Do you think it's alive?" Kellian asked, worried something had gone wrong.
"The kid, yes, but I don't know about that thing. It doesn't seem to harm his body, so I think we should just leave it," Carl suggested.
"We should first get this kid out of here," Kellian insisted.
"Alright," Carl agreed.
They moved the boy back to the forest where he had been before he passed through the gate.
"Do you think we should just leave him here?" Kellian asked, worried about the boy's safety.
"Yes, we've moved him to the nearest human settlement. Someone will find him easily. We should leave before others become aware of our presence on Grofal," Carl responded.
"Alright," Kellian conceded.
I will be keeping an eye on him. It's the first time in a while I've seen something interesting. He could be a good test subject Carl thought to himself.
Hope he isn't planning anything stupid that will get us both into trouble Kellian thought, glancing at Carl with a sigh.
With a wave of his hand, Kellian opened a portal, and both men passed through it.
-Little did they know, the boy they rescued would one day stand at the crossroads of destiny, a figure of both salvation and potential destruction, his path yet unwritten, his future uncertain. -