Inside a dark room in one of the many apartments in Tokyo, Japan, a man's face was being illuminated by the light blue screen of his computer. His face, that was by no means attractive, scrunched up as a flurry of texts were reflected by his glasses. As he furiously typed away on his keyboard, the large dark circles under his eyes became visible. The man was Cain Lorin, an American who had immigrated to Japan, and he was what someone would call a keyboard warrior.
"Ahaha! You think your garbage dedication could match my supreme intellect in the lore of Mighty Magical Girl!?"
Cain shouted his thoughts to no one in particular and smiled triumphantly as the normies in the forum slowly left. He spent all his time browsing the web and was a certified NEET.
As the tension from battling the other NEETs on the internet slowly loosened, he looked down at his desk at a small book. The book was eerily similar to something you would find in a murim manhua. The book had writing in simplified Chinese that, once translated, would read Eyes of the Heavens.
Cain looked at the technique's name and scoffed. "A rather arrogant title for something that was probably fake. Well, whatever."
Quickly, he opened the book and started to read. While the actual content of the book looked extremely boring, his interest peaked at the mention of a ritual. Not feeling the need to read the rest of the nonsense recorded, Cain set out to gather the items needed for the ritual. By that, he ordered them online and awaited their arrival.
Cain stood in his living room, which was empty, and started to prepare the ritual that he had read about.
First, he took a bottle of wine and poured it into a small wooden bowl. This bowl sat to the north. Next, he placed a basket of fruits and vegetables in the east. Afterward, he placed a basket of rice and bread in the south. Finally, a small piece of meat was placed in the west.
Cain sat in the middle, clasped his hands together, and read aloud the incantation from the book.
"Heavens that knows no end,
The Overseer of secrets of untold times,
The Ruler of Gold and Silver, controller of good luck,
Let this lost soul find itself embraced by your immortal glow."
Cain kept his eyes closed for a few seconds before looking at his supposed offerings; however, he sighed in disappointment at their presence. Although he knew that the ritual itself was not real, a man could still hope to be able to summon gods and devils. Right?
Cain slowly got up off the floor; however, his vision suddenly flipped. Everything seemed to come to a halt, and a darkness that shook his mind took hold of him.
Lerisen City, Imperial Calendar 1078,
The howling winds from an open window awoke Cain as he sat at his desk. His eyes groggily opened, merely glancing around him. Just when he was about to say something, a weird soothing feeling washed over him, and new memories and feelings forced themselves into his mind.
"W-what the hell?" Cain stammered. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep. No, wait, wasn't he doing some kind of ritual?
He tried to place his finger on the last thing he could remember; however, everything was scattered.
Cain slowly placed his attention onto the desk in front of him. His desk was neat and tidy, with a journal placed perfectly in the center. Right next to the journal was a revolver. Cain picked up the revolver and found its chamber missing a few bullets. His eyes noticed that the journal seemed to have been soaked in something—a liquid Cain identified as blood once he opened the first page. The writing was neat and tidy but ruined by the stains of blood.
Cain stared at the book in slight horror; however, he still started to read through the journal.
"Finn Sinclair's Daily Logs."
"Imperial Calendar 1077, 23rd of May,
I finally graduated from the illustrious Lerisen University of Language. The languages and history around the world amaze me every time I look through them. My mentor and teacher, Professor Jarvis Eugene, has invited me to help transcribe and analyze a historical document that was recently discovered. This document seems to be a notebook from a family of the past that held power equal to, or even surpassing, the current imperial family."
"Imperial Calendar 1077, 15th of December,
This is simply hearsay! Hearsay, I say! This notebook claims that the Solace Family held the secrets to godhood. Moreover, they even claimed that the world held more secrets than any one person could fully keep. I still have more work to do. I shall start to brew the coffee for this late night."
"Imperial Calendar 1078, 30th of January,
Kill me... Please... whoever is reading this... whatever you are, demon or god, please kill me. Tell the voices to leave me alone! Leave! Tell them to leave! I want to leave this godforsaken land and rest for an eternity in darkness. Ah yes, a place to achieve this eternal rest has come to me. I remember now. In—in that cursed paper, it detailed the closest place to god, the Templepids Mountain Range. Ah yes, I shall venture to the lady's side at once. I must begin the preparations."
Cain wished to read more of the journal; however, only a few pages were even legible. Most of the pages in the beginning were soaked in blood and illegible, while some later pages in the journal contained the ramblings of someone insane. Whether it was a long list of alien symbols or pages filled with lead forced into the paper spelling out only a few words erratically, "Kill me."
Cain couldn't understand how someone who seemed so excited for the future would have become so suicidal within only half a year.
Just then, a small knock echoed throughout the room, and a rush of pain assaulted his mind. His entire perspective of the world—his views, values, and even memories—were slowly being altered, corrupted.
"Ahh! W-What the hell!?" Cain screamed out and fell to the ground. Although his entire body screamed with pain, he still forced himself to pull himself off the ground and place everything on his desk into a drawer. While he wasn't quite sure of the reason, his body instinctively tried to protect whoever was at the door.
Slowly, the door squeaked open, and Cain fell onto the ground once again. However, this time, he wasn't the only person in the room.
"Brother? Brother!" A woman's voice entered his ears; however, he could barely process it at the moment. After what seemed like decades, Cain slowly started to see the world clearly once more, and he looked around him. To his surprise, a total stranger was standing over him with a face full of worry and anxiety. However, what really surprised him was his own voice, which swiftly called out the stranger's name:
"Samantha, I'm sorry."
A/N
Hello gentlemen and ladies, this is my comeback story! While I would appreciate any comments, collections, powerstones, reviews, etc. I mainly wish everyone enjoys my story. :)
First off, chapter titles? While I plan on sticking to the Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.... Would you all like to see traditional chapter titles as the first line? For example, this chapter title could be, "The Birth of Finn Sinclair" or just keep it as is where the chapter immediately starts?