"Come on! Almost level 490! Just a few more demon king boss fights and I'll be there!" A boy silently cheered to himself in the middle of the loud classroom. The intense taping on his phone, demonstrating the immense skill he had in gaming, that's what he thought.
"Pfft, you must be hungry after all that gaming, Keir. How about you get a taste of your desk!" A hand suddenly came from behind and forced Keir's head into the desk, slamming it with harsh force. The loud bang caught everyone's attention, however, once they saw who had made that sound, they turned away in fear. Standing over Keir were three boys, but the main leading boy was the real threat here.
He held immense magic power in just his first year in high school, Bradley Bedwell. 6'3, decently toned body, and short black hair, but the true power didn't reside in his physique. It all came from his rare lightning ability and his family status. "Did the desk fit your taste, ability-less Keir?" The group mocked and laughed with each other while poking at the poor boy. Keir hated the nickname with a boiling passion, but what could he do? He was ability-less and definitely not physically fit either.
"Come on, Bradley…that hur-"
"Who said you could speak back, huh?!" Bradley lifted Keir's head from the table and slammed it back down with double the strength from the previous slam, shattering the glasses that framed his face, "And let me do you a favor." Bradley picked up the ongoing device on Keir's desk and looked at it, "You're always playing these dumb games and these virtual monsters, but can't fight even a goblin in real life. Do you guys see his level in this game? 489!" He mocked along with his lackeys and they all laughed and sneered at the boy below.
Bradley looked back at Keir, who's nose began to bleed a bit due to the shattered pieces of his glasses, "Pathetic garbage, get a life. You can't possibly go out on a vortex outing, you wanna know why?" He leaned down and lifted the shaking Keir by the hair, "Because you're a useless, ability-less, loser who sits on the game all day." With a flash of light, Keir saw his phone suddenly erupt with a spark of powerful electric energy and the screen went black and blank. "No, no, no! Stop!" He shouted in protest, but the others with Bradley held him back and made him watch the sparks increase in intensity until the phone cracked completely.
It was a simple display of power, yet enough to strike fear into anyone like Keir, weak and defenseless. Keir's heart dropped at the scene and Bradely tossed the phone to the side, purposely allowing it to hit the ground with a loud thud. "See ya' around, ability-less Keir." The group of boys laughed and high-fived each other as they fled back to their seats.
Meanwhile, Keir's heart dropped down into his stomach as he saw his only friend, and source of comfort destroyed and shattered on the ground. He disregarded tha pain and broken shards in his face and crouched to the ground, grabbing his phone and holding it. "N-No…the data card is fired too…" Keir felt like he lost someone important as his gaming meant everything to him. No matter how much he tried to fix his phone, nothing worked at all, he couldn't even save his data and it was now lost in space.
"It's all over…"
He slumped and the bell rang, signaling that the end of the day had arrived and everyone should head home or to club activities. No one batted an eye at Keir as they walked out of the classroom.
"Wanna head out to that new buffet down-town?"
"You bet I'm down! I heard they had that new magical boar meat right now."
"Nice! I'll invite a few girls and see if we get lucky with them, too."
"Hey! Don't leave me out of the fun and food!"
"Me too!"
The chatter faded as students left the school or went on to their clubs. Keir slowly gathered his things and started to leave the school as well. No friends, no family, not even a phone anymore. How could the day get worse? It couldn't. Keir walked down the stairs of the school building and onto the afternoon streets. The walk home was about twenty minutes for him, and it wasn't like he had anything to do anyways.
"I wish I had an ability like everyone else… I probably can't even get permission to attend the upcoming vortex outing when I get to my second year…"
The vortex outing would consist of second-year students and more under the supervision of the military and professional adventurers. Well, there was no reason dwelling on it when he couldn't even form a small mana ball in combat class. Keir growled as his gaze was fixated on the ground. His face was throbbing with pain and his vision was blurry from the lack of glasses, the pain was also mixed with anger and resentment towards his own existence.
His phone was destroyed, his face was still actively bleeding, and his image at school was beaten down even more. During his inner turmoil, Keir failed to notice a lingering black aura forming a few meters away from him, he was too focused on trying to get home and away from the world. The black aura shifted and swirled into a round shape, resembling a portal or spinning vortex.
"I don't have much time…I need to find someone worthy enough to inherit this power before the…others find out."
A voice said to themself, and a tall, cloaked figure stepped out of the portal, being made out of nothing but dark energy. The passing cars and walking civilians didn't seem to see this figure, but eventually, Keir did and looked up from the ground, but the figure spotted the boy too and appeared by his side.
All the color from Keir's face, aside from the dripping blood, drained as he laid his eyes upon the tall figure. He felt his heart pounding as he could tell that this entity wasn't human with just one glance. The figure tilted their head in a curious way before, seemingly, levitating towards him. Keir wanted to back away but his legs refused to work, despite his brain screaming for him to run away. Now.
"Don't say a word," The figure commanded in a ghostly but soothing tone, "I would like to ask you a question, if i may?" The voice didn't match or fit the powerful aura and mysterious nature of the figure, but something told Keir to play along for now, so he nodded slowly in silent confirmation.
"What do you truly wish for? What are your true desires and wants?" They asked in a straightforward manner, but the question caused Keir to pause and genuinely think the question over. What did he truly want? No… He knew what he wanted, and it was power, strength, and self-respect. Before Keir could open his mouth to say something in response, the figure spoke up with a raise of their hand.
"Your answer intrigues me, young human. The desire of true happiness and power. All I needed was one glimpse into your soul to know what it yearns for." Keir was caught off guard once more. How did they know that? Did this strange entity really catch a glimpse of his soul and true desires?
However, without warning, the figure placed their hands onto Keir's shoulder, and the black aura from them slowly seemed to gravitate towards him, "You see, I don't have much time to explain, but listen carefully." They commanded in a more urgent tone, grabbing Keir's undivided attention. "What I'm about to do is something that could grant you those wishes, an unique ability that will be related to what you enjoy most in life. Stay calm, you won't get every answer to all the questions you may have, but in the distant future, you will."
With that said, the figure dashed and retreated back into the black vortex, leaving Keir in a state of confusion and swirling questions he wouldn't get the answers to. However, he noticed that the black aura that was surrounding his body suddenly grew in intensity. The energy swirled and traveled across his body until it began to engulf him bit by bit. Keir felt like his mind suddenly went blank after being engulfed by the black energy, eventually seeing nothing but darkness.
"Who was that figure? And what did they mean by making my dreams and desires come true?..."
As if there was a notification indicator in his head, a sudden singing was heard ringing in his ears and the void. A single message on a floating, blue interface appeared before his eyes.
As he read over the message in confusion, he suddenly found himself growing fatigued and tired, as if he just spent hours running a marathon, and without warning, he fell unconscious.