The darkness wrapped around him like a blanket, the air thick with the earthy scent of stone and dampness. His eyelids fluttered, his mind still drifting between the haze of dreams and the sudden sharpness of reality. Where am I?
He groaned, the sound echoing around him, and blinked his eyes open. Above him, jagged rock formations jutted out, the ceiling of a cave — a dark, ominous cavern that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. A cave? He wasn't sure how he knew that, but somehow, the realization struck like it had always been true.
His body felt… strange. Heavy and light at the same time. Solid. Strong.
He raised a hand, expecting the dull ache of stiff muscles, but instead, the movement felt effortless. His fingers moved with precision, almost robotic in their exactness. He pulled himself up, feeling the raw power in his limbs. What is happening to me? His heart raced, but there was no fear — only curiosity.
His surroundings blurred for a moment, then sharpened. He could see every crack, every particle of dust suspended in the air. It was as if his senses had been dialled up, heightened to impossible levels. Supervision… or something like that, he mused, his mind racing to process the flood of information.
Instinctively, he reached deeper into himself, feeling a surge of energy course through his veins — not blood, but something hotter, something primal. His thoughts raced as fast as his heart. Parallel thinking? I can handle multiple streams of thought at once.
Then, a whisper of memory surfaced. He wasn't… human. Not anymore.
Valorian.
The word came unbidden, but it felt right. A Valorian — a species born for war, forged in conflict. Invulnerability. Super strength. Super speed. He clenched his fists, testing the limits of his power. His muscles responded like coiled springs, ready to unleash their full potential.
Flight.
He frowned. How do I—? He pushed his body off the ground slightly, expecting gravity to drag him back down. But instead, he hovered, weightless. The cave floor was a few feet beneath him now. A slow grin spread across his face. Okay, that's new.
His mind raced through more realizations: biokinesis — control over living tissue. Heat vision — the ability to sear through steel. Radiation absorption — the power to soak in raw energy and convert it into strength.
Who am I? The question gnawed at him. The memories were fragmented, slipping through his fingers like sand. He knew things, concepts, powers… but who was he before all this? Was there a before?
Why here? He glanced around the cave, searching for clues. But there were none, only the echo of his thoughts reverberating in the still air. It was like waking up in a story, the first chapter of a novel with no idea how the plot would unfold.
"I need answers," he murmured aloud, the sound of his voice almost foreign to his ears.
But first, he had to understand this power. What was it that made him this way? And more importantly, what was he now?
He clenched his fists again, feeling the latent energy waiting to be unleashed. This wasn't fear; this was curiosity — the drive to know, to understand, to use these powers for whatever purpose lay ahead.
The young Valorian knew one thing: this was just the beginning.
And the world? Well, it better be ready.