Pitch-black darkness.
Miche opened his eyes, only to be welcomed by the pitch-black darkness around him. And from the looks of it, he seems to be floating in nothingness as well.
"Am I dreaming?" Miche frowned as he tried to move only for him to be unable to properly move. It is more accurate to say he felt like he was bound by an unknown force. He can still wriggle around but moving his limbs around is a struggle.
As he tried his best to move around, he suddenly saw two bright red lights shine up in the middle of the darkness. Then, it was followed by more similar lights all around him. It is so dark that those red lights shining in the darkness are quite eye-catching.
Trying to make sense of what those lights were, he then realized that those were not lights...but the eyes of a beast. A shadow beast. The rest of the red lights are also revealed to be the same as the first one. Soon, he realized one thing, the pitch-black darkness he had seen before was not actually real darkness...but the bodies of those beasts. Soon, they are approaching Miche who is struggling to move. He tries to break free, only for the invisible binds to tighten and stop him from moving.
"No, don't come closer...NOOO!"
.....
.....
.....
BUMP!
Miche bumped his head on the window where he was leaning in, jolting him awake from his slumber. He hurriedly opened his eyes looked around his surroundings, and realized he was currently riding on a train.
"Hey boy, are you alright? You were screaming all of a sudden," the old man sitting beside him asked.
Miche finally realized that the scene earlier was actually a nightmare and he just embarrassed himself by screaming inside a public vehicle.
"Ahaha...sorry about that, I just happened to have a nightmare," Miche scratches his head, hiding his embarrassment.
"No worries there, boy. Happens to the best of us. It seems you are stressed or perhaps tense that is why you got a nightmare when you fell asleep. Maybe because you are going to enter the Black Fang Academy?"
"Eh? How did you know?" Miche was surprised when the old man guessed his destination.
"It's natural, especially with your black uniform. Considering that is the only school with a black uniform for all students, everyone immediately knows you are attending that Academy. Gonna say you must be some kind of big shot if you actually got in."
Miche can't say much about it especially when he just got in due to the "raffle" his mother applied with his name listed and won a prize to attend the Black Fang Academy. It was one of the prizes and although her mother wanted to get the cash prize, having this is already enough considering that he is also going to be attending the academy soon.
Thanks to this scholarship, all of the expenses that they would have to pay naturally will be paid by the school itself...as long as his grades remain in a passing grade. But considering Black Fang Academy is an Elite Academy, Miche is worried that the lessons at that school would be a bit too much for him.
"By the way, if you are indeed going there, does that mean you are a Mythia Tamer?"
"Ah, no. Not yet. I am a freshman."
Hearing this, the old man nodded.
"Good to hear. Here, I think this will help you out in the future. Treat it as a congratulatory gift from me for getting into the academy."
The old man grab Miche's left hand and put on a black bracelet on it, surprising Miche for the sudden gift.
"Eh? But we just met! Why give me a gift all of a sudden?!"
The old man chuckled and stood up from his seat as the train was nearing the next station. "Let's just say that I somehow had a liking with you. Don't be shy, that bracelet will surely be beneficial for you in the future."
After saying some cryptic words, he walked out of the train and got off to the station, leaving Miche confused as he looked at the black bracelet now on his arm.
"At least this bracelet doesn't look bad. It suits my style for a bit," Miche muttered to himself as he touched the bracelet for a bit. It has a smooth surface for a bracelet and it looks quite intricate in design.
The bracelet is similar to DIY bracelets that are made of simple materials like beads and other stuff but upon closer look, the one holding the design just looks like it was some kind of rope but was actually metal. As for the design itself, it was like a dragon eating its tail and coils around his arm. It was all color black and it looks quite stylish due to how it was designed. It doesn't look plain and in fact, it looks like it was crafted by some master craftsman due to how the tiniest detail is present, and even if the design itself is color black, the details can still be seen, making it seem like it was like a real dragon.
"But how do I take this bracelet off?" Miche inspected the bracelet for a bit and tried to look for the clasp that would unlatch the bracelet off of his hands. But for some unknown reason, he can't even find a way to remove the bracelet. He can't also manually remove the whole thing by pulling it up on his hand. It gets stuck on his wrist, stopping him from pulling it off.
Eventually, he gave up doing it. His wrist has gotten red from trying to remove it but it didn't even budge.
"Damn, how did that old man put this on me to begin with?!"
He looked out of the window to check if the old man was still present at the station but he couldn't find him anymore. Looks like he has already gone far already so he gave up catching up on him and let the bracelet remain in his hands.
It didn't take long for the train to depart from the station. His destination will still take some time so he decided to return to his nap. As much as his previous nightmare was troublesome, he needed all the sleep before he started having no sleep in the future.
But right as he was about to drift off to sleep, a hollow voice echoed in his mind.
"[One stat point deposited]"
This jolted Miche awake. He looked around him in search of who said it but there were no other people near him. The passengers behind him are asleep while there are no people in front of him. The seat beside him is also empty so he is confused about who was doing this. He also checked his phone in case it was his phone that said those words but it wasn't that either.
Miche recalled what he just heard and he was quite sure that he heard "One stat point deposited." What makes it weirder is that the voice sounded mechanical and this is something that made him feel weird.
"Perhaps that old man was right. I might be too tense to the point I am hearing things."
Since the voice no longer be heard, Miche immediately forgot about it and fell asleep once again. Little did he know, that voice would change his life, but for now, he still had no idea what that will be.